Comments on: Hammond Horseshoe Trip Report

By: Marsial

Marsial — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:48:35 +0000

Hi Jean, nice to hear about your trip. Sorry you ran into awful weather — so common in our Windy City area. I was sorely tempted to run over to Hammond to look you up and say “hi” in person, but I really hate the trip back. Our trip TO Hammond from northern Illinois takes only about 80 minutes (if we leave early on a Saturday or Sunday AM). But the trip back is often twice as long (or more) because of never-ending construction, accidents, etc. on either the 90 or the 80. So, the only time we ever go anymore is when we are traveling back East, and we use it as a stopping place for a couple of hours. Too bad, because they offer us much more generous comps than does Harrah’s Joliet, but we just hate that trip home from Hammond.

We will be in YOUR town in a few days. We’re coming on a non-Harrah’s experimental comp trip offered by one of the other casinos. So far they’ve annoyed us by switching the carrier from United to American, and by telling us that we might not sit together on the plane. Ugh! But, it is a comp, so I guess I shouldn’t complain. So, where should we be sure to play while we’re in Vegas (we’re not in your league — just dollar players)?

By: Vince P.

Vince P. — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 01:48:31 +0000

Kevin, there are good $1 50 plays listed in VpFree2. You can play any number of lines on these without being penalized, so $5 per hand instead of the $25 you mentioned would work.

By: Kevin Lewis

Kevin Lewis — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:17:24 +0000

Per VpFree2, if you’re willing to play $25 a hand, then HH has some plays that are almost positive. If–as in, IF–your play on such machines gets treated on the basis of coin-in, then the perks might be worth the -EV. But Harrah’s (or CE, or whatever they wish to call their evil selves) has fine-tuned and refined the art of not giving people any more than a carefully calculated fraction of their theoretical loss. If you get a nice trip to somewhere and some meals, etc. etc., it’s a certainty that you have given them 2-3 times the cost of the trip in -EV/theo. In other words, even the Frugal approach to Harrah’s is a loser. There’s no way you can beat them.
One approach to a casino/casino group’s tightening the screws is to take advantage of the time lag between your play and promotions offered. This works, to some extent, even with Harrah’s. You give a given place a burst of play, ideally concentrated in one day, and then ignore them for the next year. You will get lots of nice offers on the hopeful presumption that you will be back and give them the same play. But you ignore them, except to cash in the free offers. The offers gradually taper off. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. A side bonus is that occasionally, probably due to some new marketing manager being hired, you get a juicy offer from someplace whose doorstep you have not darkened in years. The key is, SPREAD OUT YOUR PLAY and NEVER, NEVER let there be such a thing as “customer loyalty” in your play.