CET Buffet Promo Pulled?

Posted on March 8, 2016 by queen of comps

I hate to report on a casino promotion about which I can’t get official information, but I also want to warn people when one I have described in earlier blogs seems to be changing.

Just got this from a blog reader: “The CET Buffet promotion that was advertised to last until the end of March does no longer exist! Am I the only one that is aware of this?”  

Here is a vpFREE post from a reliable source in answer to my query about this:

Jean, I just went to check another forum on what Dan Druff, probably the best expert on the internet today on CET Total Rewards, had to say about this. It was reported to him yesterday that the buffet promo was cancelled. He looked into it and reported today that the buffet offer “still exists ‘secretly’ for locals until 3/31. If you have a Nevada I.D., you can go to the TR desk and they will honor it. If you are from outside of Nevada it ended today.”

I am always dubious about anecdotal information that depends on a particular casino or comes from a particular casino employee.  What might work at one casino might not at another time or place.  So all I can say is that you should check this out before you play specifically for this promotion.

By the way, the forum mentioned above can be accessed here, and I found a lot of helpful information about the CET players club in the section of the forum called “Total Rewards and MLife.”  But I have been warned that there is a lot of troll infestation in the site.

Posted in Casino Promotions | 8 Comments

More Promotions Info

Posted on March 6, 2016 by queen of comps

Sometimes it might be hard to find the current Promotions list I have recommended you check weekly in The Sunday magazine. Usually you will find it in the article list when you go to the Las Vegas Sun homepage and click on “The Sunday” tab.  However, occasionally, for some reason, it is not in this article list, but you can put “promotions” in the Search box, and the current one will come up.

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As I have written about for many years, not all promotions are good for all players. People often ask me which ones Brad and doing and I really don’t like to give specifics since they might think because we are doing a certain one that it would be a good one for them. However, sometimes I can give some general details that might guide them in their choices.

A current example is the pull-tab promotion running at Silverton this month on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Continue reading →

Posted in Brad Stories, Casino Promotions | 2 Comments

MARCH VEGAS PROMOTIONS

Posted on February 29, 2016 by queen of comps

I have had some negative reaction to my no longer “spooning” promotional information here when it can be found in other places. I am not apologizing for this. A smart player will realize that one person can’t “do it all.” I don’t visit or play in every casino in town. No one does. If you depend only on the promotion information found in this blog, you are missing out big time. The more resources you can check the more you are likely to find promotions that fit your likes and circumstances. Some might appeal to high rollers; others might fit the low roller’s goals. Some might attract advantage players looking for an edge; others might be attractive only to purely recreational players.

I will continue to describe promotions, not just in the first-of-the-month blog but as I find them throughout the month. But I urge you to broaden your search with these basic resources Continue reading →

Posted in Casino Promotions, Meal Promo | 6 Comments

Blackjack Resource

Posted on February 23, 2016 by queen of comps

Although I usually talk more about video poker here, I want to tell you about a new frugal blackjack resource. My good friend Henry Tamburin’s Ultimate Guide to Blackjack is FREE to read on the Internet. This comprehensive guide can make you a better blackjack player, whether you are a beginner and need to study the basics or an experienced player who needs to hone his game. The Guide begins with the history of blackjack and then covers the playing rules, basic and advanced playing strategies with color-coded charts, money management, tournament strategies, and lots more. The guide is fully illustrated, contains an Index to make locating topics easy, and each chapter contains Key Takeaways and Test Questions (with answers). The first 10 chapters are posted; the others are in progress. Check it out.

Posted in Blackjack | 1 Comment

Short Term Palms Tier-Matching Promo

Posted on February 19, 2016 by queen of comps

From Mark’s Las Vegas:  “Club Palms, the players club for the Palms casino, is running a tier matching promotion.” Bring your high tier players card from another Las Vegas area casino and they will match your status and reward you with free play.  See full conversion schedule for many cards here.    Not only good for new Club Palms members but for those who haven’t played at the Palms within the past 12 months.

Posted in Casino Promotions | 3 Comments

New Promotion Information

Posted on February 14, 2016 by queen of comps

House Seats  is running a 2-for-1 special that ends on February 16. Get a 2-year membership for the one-year price, for new members or renewals. I highly recommend this if you like the opportunity to see a large variety of shows for free (after you have paid the membership fee). Unfortunately this is an opportunity only for Las Vegas residents.

Now for a good promo that can be used by locals and out-of-towners alike: Go to Mark’s Las Vegas  to read about a buffet offer for some of the Las Vegas Caesars properties, an expansion of a promotion that ran at Planet Hollywood and the Rio at the end of last year. This one goes through the end of March.

And to answer a question I’ve been getting recently:  Yes, if you see a red Mercedes convertible with the license plate FRUGAL, you did see Brad driving that car!

Posted in Casino Promotions | 1 Comment

Q+A

Posted on February 8, 2016 by queen of comps

Q:  Do you ever play live poker at casinos?

A: No – and not online either.  But we do know HOW to play live poker.

 

Q:  When can we hope for the release of the updated FRUGAL books?

A:  They are in to the editor – a big load off my shoulders.  I knew things had changed a lot – but I didn’t realize how time-consuming it would be to do the re-writes.  Publication due this summer, both in paperback and eBooks.

 

Q:  How do you use comps (rooms) for relatives? Continue reading →

Posted in Comps, Q+A, Video Poker | 2 Comments

FEBRUARY VEGAS PROMOTIONS

Posted on February 1, 2016 by queen of comps

I am changing how I cover promotions.  I am all about letting my readers know about casino information that is not readily or widely available, but I do not want to duplicate details that can be found elsewhere.  I don’t want players to become dependent on me to keep them from starving by providing them frequent seafood meals; my goal has always been to teach players how to fish so they can better keep themselves well fed!

I just recently discovered that the Las Vegas Sun was providing a casino promotions list in their weekly Sunday publication.  (Perhaps it is a new feature or I just hadn’t known about it before?)  This got me thinking that I should give a list here of the online resources I use to figure out where Brad and I want to play to supplement the information we get in the individual casino mailers we get in our mailbox and in emails.

Not that I won’t write about promotion any more.  Continue reading →

Posted in Casino Promotions, Online | 4 Comments

Preparing for Tax Time

Posted on January 27, 2016 by queen of comps

It’s that time again, gathering up all the paperwork from the previous year and crunching the numbers. And for 2015, we are facing an unusual situation, for only the 2nd time we have to chalk up a loss. We had a very small one in 2002, but this last year’s was a much larger number.

A gambling loss is never a happy number, especially if you have played only when you had an advantage. If you have played in negative-expectation circumstances, you hope you will get lucky and win but if you are being realistic you should expect losses.

An advantage player has to be realistic too, accepting that your expectation to win is based on the long term. And the gambling gods do not specify how long the “long term” is. They certainly do not co-ordinate with the IRS and define it as running from January 1 through December 31.

Because we are doing plays with smaller edges than in the past, we aren’t overjoyed with a yearly loss but we understand it and aren’t discouraged or tempted to change course. For one thing we can look back over 30 years of casino gambling and see a huge plus number for that very long term. The 2015 loss suddenly looks very insignificant, a very small percentage downturn.

But more interesting is to add the 2014 and 2015 totals together. In 2014 we had the second biggest win in our 30 years. Add the much smaller loss in 2015, average the two years, and we came out ahead with about the same average yearly amount as we had the last 10 or so years. Looking back through our records, we saw immediately the reason for the difference in the two years was the number of royals we hit – or didn’t hit. For us the long-term unexpectedly meant two years instead of the usual one year. And if you don’t play very often, your long term may be many many years.

Speaking of taxes, I’d like to remind you of my book Tax Help for Gamblers, which gives complete information for both the recreational and professional gambler. It will answer a lot of questions for new gamblers who are getting their first W-2Gs and for more experienced gamblers who may be thinking of moving to the professional category. Many players who have accountants who are not gamblers themselves will recommend this book to them. Marissa and I updated it  last year and nothing of major importance has changed for the gambler this year. This updated version is only available online. Go here  to check out the Table of Contents and a sample chapter – you might need to scroll down before they appear. You can order directly from Amazon Kindle, Nook, or iTunes.

Posted in Taxes | 3 Comments

The Vegas Life of the Frugal Gamblers

Posted on January 21, 2016 by queen of comps

People often have asked us, since we moved to Las Vegas, if we gamble every day.  I think they are looking at their daily activities when they visit Las Vegas for a few days and then think if a person moved to Las Vegas permanently their life would be like that 365 days a year.

Not!!!!  No matter how young and healthy a person is their body could not stand such a perpetual daily whirlwind!  Let’s look at Brad’s and my activities for the last month.

Visiting with family. Continue reading →

Posted in It's Personal, Non-gambling Activities | 10 Comments