Now that all four new casinos in Ohio are open for business, gamblers there may not know some of the tax implications they will have to deal with. It is a good news/bad news situation. The good news is that as of January 1, 2013, Ohio residents got a new state tax break they could not enjoy in the past, that is they can now deduct gambling losses from gambling wins just like they can do on their federal return.
However, the bad news Continue reading
Here are some promotions I didn’t find out about until after I posted the earlier monthly report. I hate when casinos don’t get their mailers out BEFORE the first of the month. Some of ours came late this month and we missed some valuable offers!! 🙁 Sometimes casinos will give that fact some consideration – I always ask. However, sometimes it isn’t possible to “make it up.” Continue reading
PALMS
The “Play, Earn, and Win” promotion continues on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and it’s back to “stuff.” I really liked the free play option they gave last month and I hope they offer it again – and often!!! Also returning this month is the feature that allows you to combine your points over multiple days, so be warned that the lines in the Promotion Center probably will be very very long on Friday late afternoons and evenings.
A mini earn-and-swipe promotion continues on Tuesdays. And their usual drawings continue Continue reading
Brad and I were out and about yesterday and today, both on the Strip and in local casinos. All I can say – the recession must be over! It is a zoo here in town. The traffic is horrendous. Koval is as clogged as the Strip, with everyone thinking that it is a good street to use to avoid the Strip! The sidewalks are so crowded you can hardly make your way from one casino to another, and casinos everywhere are swarming with tourists. Continue reading
I am not surprised that we are seeing a lot of comments on my last blog discussion about comps for table game players. It is rare that we see consistency in casino policies, even among the children of a mother company. Dysfunctional families in most cases!
So I suggest that if you are interested in learning more about table game comps, you go back and read the comments following that last blog entry. Continue reading
I write a lot about video poker in this blog because that is the game we play the most. However, we do play blackjack once in a while, mostly on cruise ships where the VP schedules are usually extremely low-pay. And sometimes I encounter questions about table games.
Recently the Las Vegas Advisor editor tossed me a question about getting BJ comps that they had received from a Question-of-the-Day reader. I am going to reprint here the answer I wrote. If you are a regular reader of that daily feature, you know what a wealth of information it contains. And if you are a subscriber, you can access these Q+A’s anytime by searching in the archives. However, even if you don’t subscribe to the monthly magazine, you can read the current QOD the day it is published. In fact you can sign up for a daily notification e-mail that contains a link to the current question and its comprehensive answer – so you don’t forget to check it out.
The question I answered was from someone who didn’t want to be embarrassed by asking for a comp and being turned down. Continue reading
I love to read your Comments and try to respond to them as soon as I can – but that doesn’t seem to be as prompt as I’d like. However, the more I try to cut back on our schedule the busier I get. Maybe I’m just not able to keep as many balls in the air as I did when I was younger! 🙂
Anyway, I want to address one question that comes up often in the Comments and in my mail: Should I keep playing at casinos where I seem to lose so often, or stick with ones where I have been having better luck? Continue reading
Once again I must stress that this “monthly report” is not a comprehensive one by any means. From the beginning I have emphasized that I am trying to help people who don’t get mailers, especially from Vegas locals casinos, find out about promotions that are not widely publicized elsewhere. I don’t have the time or energy to check out every casino in Vegas or keep track of all the “perks” each of them offer. With casinos changing benefits and promotions constantly, this would take a large team working night and day. However, in past reports I have recommended quite a few Web sites that will help you keep up. I suggest you go back and bookmark some of those resourses if you didn’t do so earlier. Also I usually don’t list multiple point days since I have told you to check Scot’s list for these, not just at the first of the month but often since he notes changes and additions whenever they occur all during the month. If you think I have missed some important promotion or benefit, don’t waste your time and energy getting on my case, but just add the information in the Comments. We’re all in this together! I really appreciate those of you who have contributed very useful information, some of which was new and helpful to me personally! I am still learning, as are all wise gamblers. Continue reading
Recently, a poster on the vpFREE forum discussed his belief about casino promotions and that they were geared to make gamblers lose more. And then he asked, “Doesn’t everyone think so?”
At first, I thought this person was all wrong So I started writing the following: No, I don’t think this way and neither does any wise advantage player. Here is what I do: I evaluate a play by adding the EV of the game to all the extra benefits, including slot club points, free play, and promotions. (Some people add the value of comps, which is fine in many cases, but our personal choice is not count them, only cash or cash-equivalent benefits. We consider them “gravy.”) This total must be over 100% in order for us to play. Most games are now under 100% and you MUST use promotions/extra benefits to find a good play.
However, I stopped writing there and started thinking about how some people might get in trouble even if they always choose 100%+ games. Continue reading
Here are some questions I have received in the last few months:
Q: How do you know when a royal progressive on a VP machine is high enough to make it a good play? Continue reading
