11/1/2002
You might think I need my head examined — and I might agree. But crazy as it sounds, we’re leaving sunny and warm Las Vegas tomorrow for a week deep in the Minnesota woods, where they’ve already had a major snowfall. Fortunately, we’re spending this week in a luxurious casino-hotel — with an indoor pool and spa — the Grand Casino Hinckley.
I’m speaking at two conferences for casino executives being held here, the first the Raving’s 4th Indian Gaming National Conference and the second, one for casino hosts in the area. I love this chance to tell casinos executives what I like — and don’t like — about players club procedures and systems and comp and host policies.
Fortunately, it’s not all work and no play for the week. I won’t have Internet access on my computer (I’m on cable in Vegas) and I’m not sure I’m close enough to civilization for my cell phone to work. That alone is my idea of a vacation! Plus, the Wednesday between the two conferences is free and we plan to hit the Mall of America down in Minneapolis for some major shopping. And then, of course, there is the casino — although my idea of a vacation these days is to enjoy non-casino activities I don’t have time for in busy Las Vegas.
Brad and I are especially looking forward to one event: On Sunday November 3, the casino is sponsoring an informal meet-and-greet session for us from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Gold Card Lounge, adjacent to the hotel lobby. I’ll be glad to autograph books and Brad is always willing to spin a gambling yarn or two. It will be a pleasure to meet in person many we have known only from the Internet lists and to make new acquaintances of people who have been following our frugal gambling ways for a long time. Everyone in that area of the country is invited!
BRIEFS
Good news for everyone who hates to pay the exorbitant prices at casino-hotel sundry shops: CVS has opened a 24-hour pharmacy between the Monte Carlo and the Boardwalk on the west side of the Strip, across the street from a Walgreen’s Pharmacy. There’s also a Walgreen’s at the other end of the Strip, across from the Stardust, and one a little north of the Stratosphere, on the east side of Las Vegas Boulevard. These all are good places to buy inexpensive souvenirs, as well as to pick up aspirin and antacids when your losses are making you feel ill!
In the Did-You-Know? Department: The European roulette wheel was invented in America, and the American wheel was invented in Europe. House edge on the American wheel (using numbers 0 and 00) is 5.26%; the European wheel, with one 0, has a 2.7% house edge. Which one do you want to play? –CasinoWire.com
Here’s a scenario: You walk into your favorite casino and head for the table games. You sit down at the poker table and get ready for some heated action. You probably expect the dealer to go about his usual task of dealing the cards and handling the bets, but to your surprise, your dealer is quite the entertainer! It’s like being at a Broadway show, and the casino floor is the stage. Your dealer is outgoing, stylish — with personality-plus. Your dealer is the actor! According to Vic Taucer, professor of casino management for the University & Community College Systems of Nevada, “”The casino dealer of the new millennium is expected not only to deal and protect the game, but also to keep the customers entertained and happy.”” The concept is called “”player entertainment”” and is considered to be the casino dealer’s upcoming new role. But is this concept something a card player will relish? The idea could work well — so long as the dealer isn’t wearing a tutu and playing a ukulele while dancing on the table. That would be a little distracting, especially if you’re a card counter! –CasinoWire.com
Smile for the day, from an Internet bookmaker: “”Gambling is the future on the Internet. You can only look at so many dirty pictures.””
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11/8/2002
“SPIRITUALITY IN GAMING? YOU BET!” is an amazing online article by Sudhir Kale, an article that really made me think and I wanted to share it with you. His quote that “spirituality is not about religion; rather, it subsumes all religions” goes to the very heart of my beliefs. You can read this article at
www.urbino.net/bright.cfm?specificBright=SPIRITUALITY%20IN%20GAMING%3F%20YOU%20BET%21.
An interesting and amusing article about an online casino:
www.msnbc.com/news/822523.asp?pne=msn
From a good friend of mine and a bit of a wag, on Skip’s VP List: “A security guard at Texas Station told us that he knew the ultra-secret name of the new (Station) casino to be built at 215 and Charleston. This name is so imaginative, I can hardly believe it. The new casino will supposedly be named Charleston Station.”
From the Rampart Casino on Rampart Avenue (hey, I see a pattern here) on the far west side of Vegas, here are some November freebies, with only small betting required and you don’t have to redeem the points, thereby saving them for cashback. On November 11th, earn 5 points and get a free Veteran’s Day T-shirt. And too bad Brad (a notorious sweets-lover) and I will be in Reno on Nov. 26 and 27, because if you earn 15 points on that first day, you can claim a free apple pie; earn 15 points on the second day and take home a pumpkin pie. I suggest you snap up any of these you want early in the day — the fine print warns that, besides having a limit of one per customer, the promotion only continues “while supplies last.”
The lure of the new nickel slots: “Iowa’s riverboat casinos have been quietly, and legally, tipping the odds on slot machines in their favor, and casino officials say gamblers have been helping… There was no plan to make the odds worse for players… Rather, the worse odds reflect player demand for new multi-coin nickel slot machines, even though players are less likely to win. The players have voted with every pull on the arm or push of a button on nickel slots… We look at all slot machines like voting machines… We put out the machines that get the most votes.”” Read the whole story at www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/gaming/2002/sep/03/513935165.html.
One solution for people who don’t get to gamble as much as they’d like.
Move to Vegas or someplace where you can gamble anytime you want. And after just a month or two, you’ll find you don’t want to as much. I know that seems unbelievable to you all who don’t live in Vegas, but I would imagine that everyone (or at least most everyone) who moves here notices this tendency. In fact, Brad and I sometimes complain to each other about having to run around and collect bounce-back cash!
When you look at a die (that’s English-teacher-speak for one of the little cubes — dice is the plural form), notice that every number when added to the
number opposite it on the die will always total 7. For instance, the 5
is opposite the 2; the 1 is opposite the 6; and so on. Crooked dice do
not match. This is the first thing a boxman or player will look for if
he doubts the dice are on the up and up. — K.I.S.S. Guide to Gambling by John Marchel
“”I play… like crazy in Vegas.””
–Britney Spears
Okay, like, I am out of here.
11/15/2002
Help! I’m flooded with e-mails asking when More Frugal Gambling is coming out!
Here’s the down and dirty: I cornered Anthony in the Huntington Press parking lot and told him that the delay of the book was making a wreck of thousands of holiday gift-giving lists. I held him up against the wall and said I wouldn’t let him go until he gave me a release date I could give out. He sheepishly apologized for the delay. I told him I was not only well aware of his perfectionism, but I also understood, because I’m that way too. I said I appreciated his very careful editing, but we all really needed a realistic date.
“Super Bowl time,” he then told me. “I’m hoping to finish the editing and send to the printer by Christmas and be able to start shipping by the end of January.”
There you have it, straight from the mouth of the HP head honcho.
As soon as More Frugal hits the printer, I’ll start offering a special frugal price for pre-publication orders on my website, http://www.frugalgambler.biz. An added perk is that I’ll personally autograph all books ordered from the frugalgambler Web site. Pre-pub orders will also be shipped immediately after the book arrives at HP; I’m hoping to meet the truck that comes from the printer!
What to do about your holiday gift list that included copies of More Frugal? I suggest you make creative IOUs, with the promise that this delayed gift is worth waiting for; it may be the only gift that will eventually save them money!
Now on to another Huntington Press item: Did you miss the three new Travel Channel shows about Vegas that aired last Sunday evening, the ones that “starred” Anthony Curtis and many of the HP authors, including Bob Dancer, Jeff Compton, Michael Shackleford, and yours truly? Well, don’t despair. All three shows will be repeated TWICE this Saturday night, November 16. Check your local TV schedule for times.
The first show is called “Vegas Cheaters Exposed.” The second one is “Top Ten Ways to Win in Vegas.” For everyone who has commented that Brad never gets enough camera time when we’re on TV together, watch for the #7 segment on Couponing in this show. Brad finally gets a chance to shine, on the casino floor and in a casino bowling alley! The third show is “High Rollers.”
All of these Travel Channel shows on Vegas get repeated often. (I say that Brad and I and Gomer Pyle will live forever in reruns!) You can check the Frugal Calendar page at my Web site if you’ve missed some. I try to update this page every Monday and list both new and repeated shows where we’ve appeared.
This same calendar page also lists our public appearances. We’re ALWAYS so happy to meet fellow frugal enthusiasts. Whether you see us at one of the events listed or just playing video poker in a casino, please feel free to stop and introduce yourself and say hi. We’re always happy to take a break from playing and chat awhile.
We had a great time in Minnesota last week. Tune in next week for a trip report.
11/22/2002
Last week I promised you a trip report on our stay in Minnesota. Brad and I really enjoyed our week-long stay at the Grand Casino Hinckley. It’s always fun for us to take a break from the busy pace in Las Vegas — and for me, to be able to unlock the chain that has me a slave to my cable-service computer. In fact, we were so far from the hustle and bustle of civilization that even the Verizon nationwide plan on my cell phone couldn’t give me a connection! We were pleasantly surprised at the nice weather, allaying our fears of the terrible shock from leaving our warm and sunny home. All signs of a big snowfall the previous week had disappeared and the crisp air was refreshing, especially during the abundant daytime sunshine.
A large Indian gaming conference took up the first part of the week — attended by executives, supervisory employees, and tribal members from Native American casinos from all over the country, particularly in the Midwest. The second part of the week was a smaller conference for hosts and other departmental supervisors from the two Grand Casinos in the area. I was impressed by the intense desire of so many of these attendees to give good customer service and make sure their slot clubs, comp systems, and other departments were doing it right. So it was gratifying when they listened to my presentations with keen interest — and I felt that some of my suggestions would actually end up being implemented in some casinos. It’s always great when you feel your energies are not in vain!
This week was not all work and no play, however. On the first day, Sunday, we had the pleasure of meeting a lot of fellow frugal players from the area for an informal meet-and-greet book-signing session in the Grand’s Gold Card Lounge. We also looked forward each day to getting our exercise swimming in the indoor pool and each evening to relaxing in the spa. And a very frugal LVA forum regular, JokerEddie, a bus driver in the area for years, was kind enough to give us, on the way to the airport, an interesting tour of Minneapolis/St. Paul, including the giant Mall of America.
And what about video poker, you might ask? I’d told everyone that I hoped there wouldn’t be any good VP anywhere near us, so we could have a break. One of my “problems” in Vegas is that there’s so much good VP and so many good promotions connected with it, we almost feel lazy when we stay at home. Well, there was to be no rest in this area. We found a new-to-us and extremely fun-to-play VP game called One-Eyed Jacks. There’s no published strategy for this game or software that can analyze it, so we weren’t sure of its return. But a friend had told me that it was similar to a Double Joker game; with a simplified strategy he figured out that was probably close to 100%, we decided to try it out, mainly on a nickel progressive. With a .25% cashback slot club, we felt it was an acceptable recreational play. We didn’t come out winners for the week, but it provided some fun hours of small-risk play when we didn’t have anything else we needed to do.
We had time to visit only three casinos in the area, Mystic Lake and the two Grands, Hinckley and Mille Lacs. Although they’re among the largest and most established in the state, we were in awe of how similar they are to Vegas resorts. And we heard from executives in smaller casinos who have big plans to expand. We said we no longer felt sorry for people who were stuck in a Minnesota winter. They have some great choices nearby where they can enjoy the excitement of the bright lights and continuous action of a modern casino.
Next week we’ll be jetting out of Vegas again, spending Monday through Friday of Turkey Week in Reno and Tahoe. We just had to plan this trip; we have more than $2,000 in bounce-back cash, free play, and coupons to collect. Do we love the holiday time of year only because casinos dangle in front of players all sorts of juicy promotional carrots in order to get warm bodies in their casinos?
11/29/2002
While we are in Reno and Tahoe I will leave you some interesting links to keep you surfing:
For all of you who drive back and forth between California and Las Vegas on I-15: http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,208%7E12588%7E996085,00.html.
Please be careful!
For residents of Las Vegas who are proud to be that: http://www.dmvstat.com/platescharitable.htm#Centennial. For locals who would like to be proud of something else in Nevada, there are other specialty license plates offered on that page. Or, get creative and order a personalized plate — but sorry — FRUGAL is already taken — at least in Nevada. Someone else can have it in another state!
If you’re looking for hints about promotions, especially drawings — and can’t wait until More Frugal Gambling comes out in January or February, with a huge chapter on the subject — check out http://makeashorterlink.com/?K20A31072. Although this article is talking about the Chicago area, many of the suggestions could be used anywhere.
Salmonella, e-Coli, Staphylococcus, tiny insect eggs. This is not a pretty list — and it’s downright gagging when you read the article at http://www.msnbc.com/news/829189.asp?cp1=1#BODY and find out this could be in water you drink on an airplane. Take it seriously if you want to arrive at your casino destination in good health, ready to tackle the slots and/or the tables.
Got a complaint about a Nevada casino doin’ you wrong. Then check out this website and learn how to complain: http://gaming.state.nv.us/inv_main.htm.
Want to read reviews of gambling books before you buy them? Of course you can always go to www.amazon.com and check a particular title, but the following links will give you some thoughtful opinions on a long list of books on gambling:
http://www.jetcafe.org/~npc/reviews/gambling/ and http://www.thewizardofodds.com/game/books.html
When you plan a trip to Vegas and call or go online to reserve a rental car, do you take the first price you are given? Go to http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/gaming/2002/jul/22/513746959.html to see how much it could cost you for not shopping around. You might not be surprised too much if you’ve had similar experiences comparing airfares.
Okay, so you didn’t like the picture of me at my desk on www.frugalgambler.biz. I didn’t either — plus Brad gets left out too often when he is an integral part of everything I do. So I hope you like the new picture better.
And for our smile of the week, go to http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,5483665%255E13762,00.html. It seems like everyone wants to get into the lucrative gambling business these days!