Jean Scott's Frugal Vegas

4/5/2007

Time flies when you’re having fun!

I know how worn a cliche that is, but I can’t believe that seven years has passed since I volunteered to write a short weekly column “for a little while” to draw more hits to the newly reorganized LVA Web site. Since April 2000, I’ve threatened to quit several times when I’ve been overwhelmed by book-writing projects, and I’ve taken a couple short vacations. But the truth of the matter is that I’d miss being able to hold forth in my little niche in cyberspace. Casino gambling is such a challenging and ever-changing beast and I love staying in the fight, trying to tame it so it doesn’t devour its prey.

People often ask me if I have a hard time thinking of something new to write about every week. The answer is “No.” I often leave the task until right before the deadline, but that’s because I’ve been busy, not because I couldn’t think of anything to say. I have a hard-copy file that’s stacked 14 inches tall (I just measured it) with notes and clippings of ideas I want to discuss. Plus the Frugal Friday folder on my computer desktop has scores of subfiles containing hundreds of ideas that beg for attention.

How long will I keep writing Frugal Fridays? I really can’t say for sure, but I imagine I’ll write it as long as I think I’ve something interesting and helpful about casinos to share and as long as my fingers can navigate a computer keyboard. And since I often write a bunch of columns ahead, I might even speak to you, my frugal friends, from the grave!

“”You’ve achieved success in your field when you don’t know whether what you’re doing is work or play.”” — Warren Beatty

4/12/2007

Hopefully, most of you have already submitted have your income-tax returns and some of you speedy filers have already received — and spent! — your refund. (I hope you didn’t have too big a refund, though. I hate letting the government have very much of my money for very long without paying me interest.)

Some of you, I imagine, are still struggling with your gambling figures. I gave you some help back in the March 22 column. Here’s some more that might be of benefit when doing this year’s return or those in the future.

W-2Gs
Always check any W-2Gs you receive to make sure that all the information is correct and ask for a correction if needed. This probably won’t make casino employees happy, since they must redo the whole slip. However, slot-machine attendants can be very rushed, especially in a crowded high-limit room, and mistakes, although rare, happen, like the wrong amount or wrong date. Another mistake can be made if you’re playing on someone else’s card. Occasionally, because it’s connected to the players club system, machines in an office will spit out the W-2G before the attendant has gone to check the ID of the player. This may not matter if you’re playing on your spouse’s card and you file jointly anyway; otherwise, you may want to correct this information.

Even if you don’t bring this to their attention, casinos are usually strict about enforcing the gaming regulation that the W-2G go to the person whose actual fingers played the hand that resulted in a jackpot, not to the person whose players card is in the machine when the jackpot is hit. Telling them you’re married and filing jointly so it doesn’t matter or pointing out that you’re playing out of the same bankroll usually cuts no ice. However, recently I’ve come across a few instances that if you’re playing side by side, they’ll relax this rule.

The reason that you want your W-2Gs correct is that the IRS may want, at some point, to match up your reporting information with the copies of all your W-2Gs. You don’t have to include your W-2Gs with your federal return unless you’ve had federal tax withheld, but you’d want to keep them with your gaming diary (which you also don’t have to include), so you’d have this information to prepare for a possible audit in the future.

Casino Win-loss Statements
You also don’t need to include your casino win-loss statements with your federal return, but they’re valuable supporting evidence in any future audit of your gambling figures. Therefore, even if you’ve already filed your 2006 return, I highly recommend that you get win-loss statements from all the casinos in which you played in 2006 and file them away with your W-2Gs and gaming diary.

Getting these statements is much easier now than it used to be. Most mega companies that own more than one casino will send you one statement, with a breakdown of your win-loss figures for each individual casino. MGM Mirage and Harrah’s are the biggest help here. Most mega companies and many individually owned casinos now allow you to request these statements online and some give you the figures online as well so you can print out the statements. Others who give online capability to request the statements will send them by snail mail. Only a very few, I’ve found, now require you to request the statements by phone or in person.

Tax-Time Promotions
Okay, your return is in. Now’s the time to check out the casinos that are going to try to make paying your taxes a little less painful. In Vegas the Gold Coast is having a “1040 EZ Tax Giveaway” April 10-16. Twenty winners will receive $1,040; one winner will receive $10,400. Binion’s is having “Tax Relief” day on Tuesday April 17. Present proof of your tax refund or payment and the casino will double it in player’s club points.

Local newspapers are a good source of info on these kinds of promotions and many of you may have received details from casino mailers. As usual with all kinds of promotions,

4/19/2007

I don’t save all my casino mail, but I read every word of it. And a month doesn’t pass that I don’t make money or enjoy some extra benefit because I do this. Sometimes it’s cash I pick up in a drawing or a promotion that I learn about through a casino mailer. Sometimes it’s a date I need to save on my calendar so I won’t let holiday points go to waste. Sometimes it’s about changes in a slot club that require me to adjust my playing schedule for that casino. And of course, the biggest moneymakers are the bounce-back coupons I need to clip and/or put on my calendar.

Not all the information do I use for my personal benefit, but many times I tuck in my memory (or write it down, since my memory isn’t what it used to be) some promotions or cut out some coupons that some of our out-of-town guests can take advantage of.

Here’s a sampling of our April casino mail:

Terrible’s
– Their quarterly oversize magazine is full of information and coupons. They run many promos at the same time and a savvy player who is detail-oriented can sometimes put together some good plays.
– New-member special – free T-shirt or hat
– Free play – they’re starting a new slot club benefit, where 2500 points = $5. Points to game credits right at your machine.
– Car, cruise, and cash drawing details
– Double-pay royal promo continuing through June
– All-new players club in Pahrump
– Bingo and food coupons
– Bonus-point days
– Free-gas promotion details

Luxor
– Dates for Holiday Gift Shoppe – Nov. 25-Dec. 2
– List of upcoming entertainment dates
– Neat new idea: reserve your own table – play where everybody knows your name – To reserve a table game for your group, contact the table game shift manager on duty at 702-371-7741.
– Special room packages for your friends and family

Station
– Tucked in the envelope with our April free-play pickup calendar and hotel, food, and gift offers was a flyer for a neat vacation benefit. If you’re going to be out of town, let them know before you leave and they’ll adjust your rewards-earning time period when you return. See Rewards Center for details.

NY-NY
– sent a calendar of future special events for the rest of the year. I like that; I’m able to plan ahead.

These are examples from snail mail, which is the primary source of casino information. We also get some from the local newspaper and the Internet. We’ve registered on a few casino sites and receive e-mails from them. It’s often “canned” information that we already know or aren’t personally interested in (like discounted room rates, since we can always get comped rooms). However, sometimes the e-mails detail offers for comped shows, room nights, or food specials and occasionally for extra free play. The Palms in Vegas does this occasionally. Wynn has started sending out free play offers to locals via e-mail rather than their usual snail mail. And lastly, we occasionally get electronic phone messages from our host or another hotel executive, giving a special invitation to a VIP event or letting us know about a special promotion.

As I’ve often said, there’s no such thing as casino junk mail – at least not until you’ve given it a read!

4/26/2007

Of all the products that have the Frugal name on them, I’m probably proudest of my latest baby, “The Frugal Video Poker Scouting Guide.” It’s not because I was “in hard labor” for so long, although this was certainly the project that drove me the most crazy with so many minute details. I would’ve never made it with out some major help from Viktor Nacht and Bethany Paige and the input of many of my video-poker-playing friends.

However, the main reason for my pleasure with this work is that it’s a tool that video poker players have really needed for many years, and especially now that good games are rapidly decreasing in casinos all over the country. I’ve said so many times in my writings that choosing a good paytable is the cornerstone of smart VP play. All the skillful strategies you learn and big bankrolls you amass, although helpful, can’t overcome a bad game in the end.

Casual recreational players will love this guide, because they certainly don’t have all these almost 200 pay schedules in their head and now they can scout a casino and don’t have to guess what’s the best game to play there. And the volatility ratings further help them choose a game that fits their financial and psychological bankroll.

However, many serious VP students have told me that they’ll love this guide, getting rid of all the papers they carry around, on which they’ve scribbled notes and/or printed off the Internet to aid them in their scouting. They especially like the breakeven information for almost any royal progressive they might come across and the returns for Multi-Strike and Super Time Pay games. Now it’s all accessible in a single sturdy compact booklet they can carry in a shirt pocket, fanny pack, or purse.

You can order “The Frugal Video Poker Scouting Guide” to add to your VP Tool Kit at www.shoplva.com/ or queenofcomps.com/.

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Now for a personal note. Many people have asked about my Army Ranger son-in-law, Steve, wondering if he’d be going back to Iraq for a second tour of duty.

Well, we thought this wouldn’t happen. After almost 19 years in the Army, going to almost every trouble spot where the U.S. was involved, he was assigned, when he got his E-8 rank, as a First Sergeant in charge of a basic infantry training unit at Fort Benning. That was a non-deployable position and we all felt he was doing his duty by training the younger soldiers to take the place of the older ones who would be retiring. So the whole family was happy to know that he’d stay in Columbus, GA, where they’ve bought a home, for the rest of his Army career.

Wrong! The “surge” caught up so many and changed so many plans. Steve was pulled off his “non-deployable” job and is now in Iraq – and for a 15-month assignment instead of the usual 12.

I must confess I’m not taking this very well, and I walk around the house muttering not-so-nice words about Bush and politicians in general. Why do old men continue, as they’ve done since time began, to send young men out to do battle and risk their lives? But I’ve decided I must put on a stiff upper lip for Angela’s and the kids’ sake. They’re a good Army family and they’re coping bravely. They’re concentrating on their pride of Steve’s devotion to duty and country – and not watching any TV news.

I’ll post an APO and e-mail address for Steve as soon as he gets settled – for those of you who might want to send some cheery messages.

3/2/2007

More good stuff that had to be cut out of Frugal Video Poker.

Q: What’s the RNG in a VP machine and how does it work?

A: RNG is the abbreviation for Random Number Generator, the electronic device inside a VP machine that makes sure the results are random. I like the way Mike Fields, a VP expert at Action Gaming, puts it at the videopoker.com Web site:

“The RNG’s sole responsibility is to shuffle the deck of 52 cards (or 53 in Joker Poker) constantly. This manic activity goes on and on until you hit the ‘Deal’ button. When you hit that button, the machine displays the top five cards from the ‘deck’ at that precise moment. The RNG works all the time, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

“It is this highly regulated and closely monitored piece of technology that keeps VP games mathematically fair and accurate. It cycles through all the conceivable outcomes for a five-card deal until that ‘Deal’ button is hit. There is no ‘pattern,’ no strategy for how it works. It just constantly cycles random card combinations until you hit ‘Deal.’”

Q: I heard that on some VP machines when you hit “Deal,” the RNG chooses 10 cards, five that you see and five behind those front cards. For any card that you don’t hold, when you hit “Draw,” the card behind it takes its place in your final hand. I don’t think this is fair – the card you really need might be in another position in the back and you had no chance to make the hand you wanted. My friend says I’m wrong, that the RNG does choose 10 cards, but those second five are kept in a “computer stack” to replace any discarded cards on the “Draw” and each replacement card will come off the top of the stack. Which of us is right?

A: Actually, if you’d asked me this question many years ago, the answer would have been that either way is legal and random, and each VP machine manufacturer can make their own choice – which they did back then. The first method you describe is called “parallel dealing.” Your friend’s method is called “serial dealing.” However, today most manufacturers have gone to a third way of dealing the cards. When you press the “Deal” button, only the five displayed cards are chosen. The RNG keeps shuffling the 47 (or 48 if it’s a Joker game) cards remaining in the electronic deck while you’re thinking about what to hold. It doesn’t choose the replacement cards until you hit the “Draw” button.

Although this method may seem more “fair,” all three methods are equally random. However, manufacturers prefer this latest method, because it thwarts cheating opportunities for computer-whiz thieves. I like it because it keeps me from second-guessing myself. For example, what if I have a choice in a JoB game between holding a high pair vs. three to a royal? I correctly hold the high pair – and the two royal cards I needed pop up first. That doesn’t mean I’d have made the royal if I’d held the original three royal cards. That slightly larger sliver of time to hold three cards instead of two would have put the RNG in a different place and two different cards would have come up. Knowing that has saved me a lot of unnecessary grief!

3/7/2007

More good stuff that had to be cut out of Frugal Video Poker.

Q: People are always talking about RFB or RFBL when they’re discussing casino comps. What do those abbreviations mean?

RFB is short for room, food, and beverage. If you check into a casino RFB, you can usually eat and drink at any restaurant or bar owned by the casino (not by an outside contractor), and your room is free. RFB usually covers only the person who registers into the room and one guest. To take more guests, you’d need to ask your host for more comps.

RFBL is short for room, food, and beverage, with the “L” standing for limited. Your room is free, but you’re limited in your restaurant choices, sometimes to just the buffet and coffee shop and not the finer restaurants. You need to ask when you check in what restaurants are covered when you’re RFBL, so you won’t be surprised by charges on your bill when you check out.

Q: What’s the difference between cashback and free play?

A: Cashback is cold hard U.S. currency that the casino puts right into your hand, money that you can stuff in your pocket, then walk straight out the casino door. Free play is a given number of credits you must play through the machine once before you can cash out. To redeem your free play, sometimes you’ll get a ticket to put into the machine; other times you download it into a machine using a PIN. Often, some machines are excluded from free play, and sometimes you must play it on specific machines.

Obviously, players prefer cash, but casinos prefer to give free play. A good number of people continue playing on these credits until they’re gone. You don’t need to feel obligated to do this, though. Play it through once, then stop and decide whether it’s wise to cash out or count it as part of your gambling bankroll and continue playing.

Q: What’s the difference between coin-in and coin-out players club systems?

A: Most casinos figure your points by coin-in. That is, when you put $100 through the machine (either in new money or replaying credits), you earn points for that $100, win or lose. A few casinos, however, award points according to the amount won, which is the coin-out figure.

Which way is better? If you’re playing a negative-expectation game, the coin-in system is better, because over the long run you’ll lose, but your points will be based on the larger coin-in figure. When we play positive-expectation games, we like coin-out, because in the long run we earn more points that way.

Some players don’t like the coin-out system, even though they understand the long-term advantage to those who play positive games. They feel it’s a double whammy when they have a losing session: They lose money and get fewer slot club points. However, because so many hands, especially on video poker, are ties, this difference is not as big as you might expect.

A good Internet friend wrote the following post, which shows the math that perhaps will keep you from worrying needlessly about whether a slot club bases its award system on coin-in or coin-out:

“The only reason I don’t like the coin-out system is that it’s harder to make sure you’re getting the proper amount of points credited by the machine.

“But you really shouldn’t be that concerned about dry spells and being penalized during losing sessions. There isn’t that much difference. For example, say you play six hours of 25¢ full-pay Deuces Wild and you average 600 hands per hour. You just put $4,500 through the machine. At $1 equaling one point, you’ve earned 4,500 points with a coin-in system.

“Now, let’s assume you don’t hit quad deuces or a royal, and you lose about $40 an hour, which is about your expected average loss. With a coin-out system, you’re only penalized six (hours) times 40 (points), or 240 points altogether. You’ve still earned 4,260 points for the session. This is not the major calamity that people seem to have in mind for losing sessions using a coin”

3/15/2007

The Stardust is now just dust –- and a pile of rubble. But it will forever be in my memory, for it provided so many years of casino pleasure and profit for Brad and me.

It was the scene of many firsts for us. It was the first slot club we ever joined, while staying there for the first time on January 12, 1990. And there I had the thrill of my first royal, on Dec. 14, 1992. By this time we had completed our game transition from blackjack to video poker and the Stardust had became one of our first core casinos.

It was at the Stardust that I began my serious study of the casino comp game, laying the foundation for all the books I later wrote. We mastered the art of never-ending free food, and never standing in line to get it. Here we discovered the joys of free gifts and comped show tickets. After a while we experienced the thrill of being “special,” with invitations to VIP parties and a red VIP light illuminating when we put our slot cards in a video poker machine. We enjoyed a seemingly boundless supply of free rooms, starting in the simple garden rooms at the back of the main building. But as we slowly upped our play from quarter to fifty-cent and dollar video poker, we were promoted to the luxury of the main tower rooms.

During one of our frequent stays at the Stardust, in January 1995, our first TV gig was filmed, a “”48 Hours”” crew in tow while Brad and I did our frugal thing. But since all the Vegas casinos were mad at “”48 Hours”” for doing a negative story on their town a couple of years before, all the shooting was done undercover. And our first big (and still the biggest) drawing win came during that shoot, when my name was pulled out of the Stardust drum for a shiny new Mercury Mystique. I guess they forgave “48 Hours,” because in later years in their gift shop they were selling my first book, The Frugal Gambler, which carried the story of that secret filming and car win!

And now it’s gone.

But as long as I and thousands like me are around, the Stardust will not be forgotten.

3/22/2007

The good news for everyone: You have two extra days this year to file your 2006 tax return, because April 15 falls on a Sunday in 2007, and the following day, Monday, April 16, is Emancipation Day, a legal holiday in the District of Columbia. The bad news for some of you is that you still haven’t figured out what you need to do about reporting those W-2Gs a casino has given you, whether you have just one or two or a whole stack of them.

The first thing you need to remember is that when you get a W-2G or a 1099 from a casino, the IRS gets a copy of it too. The second thing you need to know is that the government has a computer-run “Information Reporting Program.” A computer matches up various reporting forms (like W-2Gs and 1099s) to returns with the same Social Security number and, if it can’t find that you accounted for these amounts, it kicks out your return. You’ll get a CP-2000 letter informing you that you owe taxes on this “income.” This isn’t a full-fledged IRS audit, but what’s informally called a “letter audit.” However, any letter from the IRS can strike terror within a taxpayer’s pocket!

In the book Tax Help for the Frugal Gambler, Marissa Chien and I have discussed the wide range of issues that the gambler must face in dealing with the IRS. Some basics are clear: All gambling income must be reported; you must maintain records as you play; you must keep wins and losses separate and can’t net them out at the end of the year. But a multitude of details aren’t specifically discussed in IRS publications, including how exactly to handle the reporting of W-2Gs.

In the book, Marissa and I discuss what seems to be a logical interpretation of sketchy IRS explanations, reporting winning “sessions” as income and, if you itemize, reporting losing “sessions” as deductions. If you do this, then you’ll need to attach a list of your W-2Gs and/or gambling 1099s, with an explanation that these are included in your session wins and losses on lines XXX. If you don’t do this, you’ll probably get hit with the above-described letter audit.

However, some people have been hit with the letter audit even though they’ve done the above. And much to their dismay, they’ve had difficulty in dealing with entry-level IRS personnel who know little or nothing about the taxation of gambling. Some have even had to go to tax court to explain their position. So, to avoid this problem, many gamblers simply use the W-2G total as their total gambling “income,” even if it means paying more taxes, as it often does. If you decide to do this, you still should have a diary of your gambling sessions, separating your wins and your losses. Because in the case of an audit, this diary is what the auditor will want to see. He/she will want to know about ALL your gambling, not just the sessions you hit a jackpot and received a W-2G.

How you handle the reporting of W-2Gs on your tax return will depend on your individual situation. Marissa and I discuss in detail some of the following factors you might need to think about. Do you have a lot of W-2Gs or just a few? Is your diary win total larger or smaller than your W-2G total? Is your total income large enough that big gambling wins will negatively impact other parts of your return, like reducing the number of deductions you can claim? Do you live in a state that allows no deductions for losses, so you’ll have to pay high state tax on gross wins even though over all you lost for the year? (That’s called a double whammy!)

If you feel you need to be more knowledgeable about tax issues relating to gambling, either so you can do your own return or you can give your tax preparer the proper information needed to do the return for you, you can order Tax Help for the Frugal Gambler at http://queenofcomps.com/ or http://www.shoplva.com/.

3/29/2007

In my book Frugal Video Poker, I included toward the end a long chapter called “Fine-Tuning Your Strategy Accuracy.” Although I talk at length early in the book about the importance of learning proper strategy for each different game that you play and give detailed instructions on how to read a strategy chart, I wanted to stress that improving your accuracy is an on-going goal. I talk about basic errors you can work on at home, mechanical and distraction errors, and those errors you make because you’re a human being and not a robot.

Then after I provide a laundry list of playing hints to improve your accuracy, I share my favorite practice technique, using the Frugal VP software:

Choose a game in FVP on which you want to improve your accuracy. Go to “Tutor Options” and mark “Don’t signal errors during play” and “Don’t show best hand on deal.” Go to “View Options” and be sure you’ve marked “Don’t highlight dealt winners” and “Active Marquee.” While you’re there, change the background color and card colors that you’re used to using when you’re practicing. Go to “Audio” and select “Disable all Sound Effects” and “Enable Music,” choosing the selection you hate the most and turning the volume up high.

You’re trying to duplicate the crazy noisy distractions of real VP play in a casino, so it would help to have two friendly cats that like to jump up on your desk and look at the screen and/or two dogs that bark all the time. If possible, work on this lesson while you’re babysitting two toddlers who constantly pull at your sleeve for attention. And have a loving friend or spouse offer you an alcoholic drink every 15 minutes. Play as fast as you can for about 30 minutes, without looking at strategy cards and without thinking too long about each hand.

Then go to “Session Errors” and see what types of mistakes you made. These are the things that you need to watch for as you play.

Now go back and set all the software choices to the ones you use when practicing. Be sure to go to “Replay errors” under “Options” and enable this valuable teaching feature.

I’ve found that this is one of the best ways to identify weaknesses in my strategy skills. Do I often miss small pairs? Straight-flush draws? Now I know where and how I need to be more careful in my play.

You can order both the Frugal Video Poker book and software at http://queenofcomps.com/ or http://www.shoplva.com/.

2/1/2007

After I wrote in last week’s column about cashing in your players club points and/or using up your comps, I found the following in my files, an e-mail that a friend had sent me after reading my June 10, 2005, column, which talked about this same subject. You can read that original column by going to the Frugal Fridays Archives; the link is at the end of the column.

This friend, who has contributed here before, wants to remain anonymous, but I’m grateful for his always-helpful input.
————

To Cash or Not To Cash

The savvy player does not automatically cash out his points each time he leaves a casino. Lots of factors enter into the decision

1. Are you local to the casino in question? If so, you can always get there to cash out your points if necessary.

2. How valuable is your time? Are there lines at the slot club and/or the cashier? When do you anticipate your next visit to this casino will be? If you are a regular player there, why waste your valuable time cashing out your points each visit?

3. Are you a “”big fish in a small pond?”” If so, and you’re an advantage player, frequent large-point cashouts can be a red flag to management. Better to just let the cash points accrue — Nevada Gaming Control says they cannot be taken from you even if you’re barred from the premises. [My note here: A big balance can also draw unwanted attention!]

4. Does the casino in question offer the option of cash or comps for your points? If so, are comps granted at a significantly higher rate than cash? How much do you value the comps at that casino?

5. Banks are only open 40-50 hours a week. Casino slot clubs are open many more hours, sometimes 24/7. If you need cash in a hurry, cashing out points at a casino may be a more viable option than waiting for a bank to open.

6. As Jean mentions in her June 10, 2005, FF column, there’s always the possibility that the casino will offer a better deal for your points. Not a frequent thing, but it does happen. This applies even more if the casino maintains a separate “”comp account”” for each player. These are sometimes converted to cash or cash equivalents when a casino changes slot club procedures or changes management/ownership. A few years ago, my Hard Rock comp account was converted to cash — $4,300! Earlier still, my Orleans’ comp account was converted to cash, over $2,000! Nice unexpected windfalls. [Note: Also, occasional promotions let you redeem, at a much higher value, all your accumulated cash points as free play.]

7. On the downside (to letting your cash points accrue), points sitting in a slot club account don’t earn any interest. It has also been known to happen that some or all of your points “”disappear”” into the computer void. Not a common thing, but possible. If this should happen, you won’t have the FDIC
on your side, as you would in the case of a bank error! It’s always smart to make a note of your point balance after each session, so you’ll know if there is a problem upon your return.

2/7/2007

I’ve been cleaning out my files and have come across some updates for past columns. You can easily find old articles in the FF Archives at http://lasvegasadvisor.com/frugalfridays-archive.cfm.

Concerning my January 4, 2007, column about getting around Las Vegas, from a couple of posters on vpFree:

1. “The monorail no longer has separate locals pricing, because the arbitrage opportunity that should have been predicted did develop. What are the police going to do? Arrest the very tourists that Vegas and the monorail are dependent on? Is this a good use of local law enforcement resources? It was an incredibly stupid idea.”

2. “When you’re heading north out of the airport, you’re on Swenson, not on Paradise. From just south of Harmon, all the way to/from the airport, each is one way, with Paradise heading south and Swenson heading north.”

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I’ve written several times in the past about the gift cards/certificates that casinos now frequently give as a way to redeem your points or simply as an extra comp benefit.

One reader wrote: “A couple of years ago, I got several Simon Mall gift cards from the Golden Nugget. I’d planned to use them until I read the fine print, which said that they could be redeemed for cash by mailing them to a specified address. I followed the instructions and received a check for the full face value of the cards.”

Another wrote: “If you find yourself with mall gift certificates that are going to expire before you need to buy anything, often you can use them to buy gift cards that don’t expire at individual stores in the mall like Sears and Penny’s.”

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For my May 18, 2006, column:

Dear Jean,

As a Bible student I was overjoyed by your mention of Joseph and dreams. Keep in mind, however, it was NOT Joseph’s dream, but rather Pharaoh’s dream that Joseph interpreted. GENESIS 41: “”After two years’ time, Pharaoh dreamed he was standing by the Nile, when out of the Nile there came up seven cows, handsome and sturdy, and they grazed in the reed grass. But presently, seven other cows came up from the Nile close behind them, ugly and gaunt, and stood beside the cows on the bank of the Nile; and the ugly gaunt cows ate up the seven handsome sturdy cows. And Pharaoh awoke.”” D.N.

Oops. It’s been too long since I went to Sunday School!

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Dreams just might have valid meanings. Here’s a post from a friend after Brad hit his big tournament jackpot last June and I wrote about it June 15, 22, and 29:

”I just had to share this dream I had about both of you. I was somewhere looking in a big plate-glass window, like they used to have in department stores. The window was filled with children of all ages dressed in costumes and they were having the best time. From the ceiling of the window was a big thing and out of it floated dollar bills. The children were running around picking up the money. I was standing next to you and you told me that Brad had won all this money and decided that this was what he wanted to do with it. He said it was only money and he wanted to make the children happy. I woke up with a smile on my face and the desire to get into that window myself.” P. C. from Ohio

Correction for the Dec.1, 2005, column about the Coffee Bean chain, from David, whom I misquoted:

“Although the drink products at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf everywhere may very well be kosher, all of the other products (specifically the sandwiches, cakes, bagels and pastries) that are in the Coffee Bean outlets outside of Southern California (most specifically outside of the Los Angeles area) are likely not kosher.”

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Sad update for my Nov. 28, 2006, column:

The hot dogs from the cart at the Gold Coast have gone up to $1.25!

2/16/2007

Another Coffee Bean note this week, from a reader who got this information from a close friend who works in Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf corporate in L.A.: The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf stores in the Las Vegas area were initially not kosher — but awhile back were changed to selling kosher food. All CB&TL stores in the Greater Los Angeles area (and Israel) are kosher as well. Elsewhere in the U.S. and the rest of the world, they may not be, since it’s up to the franchisee. Next time you’re in the Palms, you can see they have a little sign indicating that the food is kosher. The chain has developed a well-known reputation in the Jewish community, so even where the stores aren’t kosher, they often go out of their way to stock some kosher products. For example, the Phoenix-area franchisee stocks pre-packaged kosher cookies.

This same reader also added some information about kosher shopping in the Vegas area. Albertson’s in Anthem has a huge kosher market within the store, similar to the Smith’s on Rampart in Summerlin and the Albertson’s on Ft. Apache and Sahara, though larger than either.

—–

Update on the January 26th column about Free Play Rewards, from a faithful reader of FF: “The Cannery is now giving free play some of the time. For February, we got free play for several dates during the first week of the month and bounce-back cash coupons for the other three weeks. Also, Main Street Station, the Cal, and the Fremont are now giving free play instead of bounce-back cash. All of the machines were upgraded last year to allow for this. In fact, I believe Sam’s Town is also doing this. Both the Cannery and the downtown Boyd casinos do NOT require you to put in your own money first. You simply download the credits to your machine.

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In the past I’ve written that I don’t like Las Vegas being referred to as Sin City, because there’s probably no more sin here than anywhere else. “White Jeeps” tackled this subject on an Internet forum recently and I asked him if I could pass it on to my readers. I like his point of view!

“Seems to me Sin City is an antiquated term used by people who claimed, in the old days, that gambling was a sin. They were wrong. As I remember, gambling isn’t even one of the Ten Commandments. In fact, if we use the Commandments as a gauge for sin, there is probably less sin in Vegas than anywhere else. One of the big sins, adultery, is probably more prevalent in those sleepy towns where there’s nothing to do. Who in the heck has time to chase the other sex when in Vegas? We go to Vegas to play … play … play and it’s not with the other sex. If cheating couples
go to Vegas, that was set up back home.

“Lots of murder in Vegas? No more than other bigger cities.

“The Tenth Commandment might be violated a lot. One shouldn’t desire someone else’s things. That means you should not wish that you had your neighbor’s royal instead of him getting it. But the Tenth is violated everywhere else also. When in Vegas, who has the time to desire the neighbor’s house or car? We only break the Tenth perhaps wishing for jackpots or large wins. Really, I don’t consider that a breaking the 10th as we are not wishing for our neighbor’s money. We’re just wishing for that of the gambling joints.

”Sin City is a misnomer.”

2/22/2007

When Frugal Video Poker was edited, some good stuff had to be cut to keep the book a manageable size. But it hasn’t been forever lost. For the next three weeks, I’ll give you what I hope will be some useful information from the Q+A chapter that was dropped.

Q: What are my chances of being dealt a royal?

A: The theoretical chance of being dealt a royal is once every 649,740 hands. (Remember, in real life on real machines this is an average over a very long time.)

Q: Okay, what are my chances of getting the fifth royal card I need when I am dealt four to a royal?

A: 1 in 47 (or 48 if it’s a Joker game).

Q: Do you recommend the “Double-Up” feature offered on some VP machines?

A: Many VP players like the double-up option. They think it adds another type of gamble that’s fun.

I don’t generally use the Double-Up option, which is also sometimes called “Double Down,” for the following primary reason: It’s only a 50/50 proposition – an even bet. In the long run, you’ll neither make nor lose money. If I’m playing a VP game with an over-100% theoretical return, I don’t want to waste my time doing something on which I’m merely breaking even when I can be making a profit.

However, for someone who plays negative games, the same reasoning gives that player an incentive for using the double-up option. Making an even bet is better than one where you have the short end of the stick – and technically, it lowers the total house edge ever so slightly on a negative game.

There are also a couple of other considerations. First, you don’t accrue slot club points on the money you risk in the double-up phase. Second, this isn’t a good way to stretch a small bankroll. You need to think of this feature as a separate game. Once you win credits on the base game, that money is yours. You have to choose to take those credits and play them, so to speak, on another game. Now, if you double-up only on tie hands, such as high pairs that return your original bet, you probably aren’t inviting bankroll problems. However, when you double-up on wins that are bigger than your original base bet, you’re definitely in danger of going on a bankroll roller-coaster ride that might prematurely crash when you go broke. This is the reason most players put a limit on how far they go with the doubling game. (If you want to see how this feature works and how it affects your bankroll, without risking any of your money, the Frugal Video Poker software has this option you can use in your practice. Select “Options > Double Down” to enable it.)

Most machines, especially those manufactured by IGT, have the double-up option available, but most casinos disable it; however, many activate it for anyone who makes this request. Conversely, if it’s enabled, some casinos turn off the option for you if you don’t want to be slowed down at the end of every hand when the machine asks you whether you want to double-up or not.

One final warning: On a few machines, this double-up option comes up automatically on W-2G wins even though it hasn’t been active before. Don’t let it confuse you as it did me once, when I accidentally punched “Yes” to doubling-up a $2000 royal. I got lucky and beat the machine card I had to top – but I could scarcely breathe the rest of the day!

1/4/2007

Parking for casinos near the four corners of Tropicana and the Strip: Don’t park in the MGM garage; it’s too far from the casino. Instead, we park in the New York-New York garage and use the skywalks to the Trop, MGM Grand, and Excalibur. Then there’s a short elevated tram from Excalibur to Mandalay Bay, with a stop at Luxor.

If you use the main monorail, be aware that the stops are way in the back of east-side Strip casinos, so sometimes walking between two casinos can be almost as fast as taking the monorail — after paying for a ticket.

Speaking of monorail tickets, I read on the Internet that out-of-towners should not be tempted to buy the cheaper “locals” tickets from a friend or someone on the street. Some locals are trying to make a cottage industry out of this – and there’s an intensive crackdown, with uniformed officers checking for local IDs.

You can catch a free shuttle between the monorail station at the Convention Center and Wynn Las Vegas from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.

The best way to get to the airport is to take Tropicana Avenue to Paradise Road. It’s several miles and at least 15 minutes shorter than taking I-15 to 215 and coming in under the runways. Coming from the airport, traffic builds up on northbound Paradise and westbound Trop more than in the other directions, but it’s still shorter and faster to the Strip than the freeways. If you’re going to the center or north Strip, you should continue north on Paradise and Koval and cut over from there.

If you’re taking a cab from the airport, tell the driver how you want him to go to Point B (a good driver will ask if you have a preference). Ignore anything a cabbie might tell you about traffic on Paradise or Tropicana in an effort to get you to take the freeways. If the driver still takes you the long way, simply inform him that you know what he’s doing. Demand to be put in contact with a Road Supervisor, then ask the supervisor what the proper fare should be from the airport to your destination and don’t pay a penny more. The supervisor might make the driver “”eat”” the fare and most companies will suspend him for a day or two.

If even that doesn’t work, threaten the driver with the Taxicab Authority. If the TA shows up, the driver will get a ticket with a hefty fine, plus a possible suspension.

1/11/2007

Have you made some resolutions in regard to your gambling in 2007? If so, I hope you haven’t broken them already!

This is a common topic for discussion when we visit with our gambling friends, both the pros and the recreational players. We share our results from 2006 (and earlier years) and talk about whether or not we’ll make any changes in our 2007 play. Here are some of the comments from our friends and the many acquaintances with which we share e-mails.

“We won so much last year that we’re thinking about going down in denomination this year so we can conserve these wins longer in our bankroll.”

“I won some last year, but I know I got lucky, so I’m going to go down in denomination, because I know I’ve been playing above my bankroll. A long losing stretch, which I know is always possible, would put me out of business until I could save up another bankroll.”

“We won so much last year that we’re going to go down in denomination, because we just couldn’t stand the psychological pain of losing it, even though our bankroll is adequate for the level at which we play.”

“I lost last year, but I’m going to continue on the same path. I’ve been playing video poker at a good EV, with good accuracy. The VP gods don’t know that there’s a break between Dec. 31st and Jan. 1. I know the long term might be longer than one year, since I don’t play as often as others do.”

“I just moved to Vegas this last year and have really been putting in the hours in a casino. My results aren’t making me happy – I lost at a much faster rate than my saved bankroll will sustain indefinitely. I think I better spend less time at the slots, even though I love them, and concentrate on choosing the best VP plays I can find, or else curtail the number of casino visits I make. You just can’t gamble the same way when you’re a Vegas local as you could when you’re just a once-in-a-while visitor.”

“We won a whole lot last year, but that included a couple of big hits that aren’t very frequent occurrences. We won’t play differently this year, but we’re preparing ourselves mentally for more ‘average’ results next year, and perhaps even for the inevitable long losing streak.”

“Next year I plan to move back to the state where I used to live, one that doesn’t have nearby casinos. I just can’t control my gambling living in Vegas, with so many casino temptations around. My wife has said we must move or she will leave me. She just can’t stand my not being able to control my gambling.”

“I’ve lost the last 3 years at VP – not much, and I can afford the loss. However, I want to be a long-term winner. I realize that I’m going to have to be more flexible; I can’t play just in my ‘favorite’ casino, which usually has marginal plays. I’m going to have to quit being lazy and look for better EV plays, even if that means driving a bit farther or playing in a casino that doesn’t have all the amenities or exact atmosphere I prefer.”

“I don’t guess we’ve ever had a winning year – but that’s not our goal and we don’t keep track exactly. My husband and I go to a casino strictly for entertainment. We take only what money we’ve earmarked for entertainment. If we lose it, it doesn’t hurt our style of living. Sometimes we win and that’s a thrill. We play whatever game we want to and really don’t care to study a bunch of math. But we do always use our slot cards and enjoy the comps we earn, which make up for some of our losses.”

Now, I took some literary liberty to mix up the above facts a bit to protect the innocent (and the guilty) and you might guess that some of our own personal experiences and thoughts are scattered in. But hopefully, these examples might get you to thinking about your future gambling plans, if you haven’t already. Not everyone has the same bankroll, personality, and goals – and no one has the right to judge your style of gambling. However, anyone can benefit from a little bit of inventory taking once in a while!

1/18/2007

It’s important to keep track of the constant changes in the policies and practices of players clubs.

Harrah’s slot club made a change as of the first of this year: no more combining of accounts for determining tier status (which some Harrah’s properties allowed in 2006 and prior) or marketing offers. Although not all Harrah’s properties have the same policies or promotional details, it looks like the mother company is trying to achieve standardization in as many “children” as possible. Of course, with the sale of the company looming in the future, who knows how much will change. Probably so much that it will set back my retirement a year or two as I try to keep you posted!

Speaking of Harrah’s, its property in Laughlin considers anyone living in Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, as “locals,” so you can ask for all local discounts, including one-half price for their breakfast and lunch buffets.
____

When you get a Boyd slot card for downtown Vegas, to be used at Main Street Station, the California, and the Fremont, you should tell the clerk at the slot club booth from which casino you want to receive mail. There have been reports that you don’t get mail offers from all three casinos, even though you might play at all three. This policy is different than at the former Coast properties they bought. If you play at the Suncoast, Orleans, and Gold Coast, you’ll get offers from everywhere you play.

____

Station Casinos’ monthly-mailer program has been changed. It’s now based on 90 days instead of 3 months. For example, the December mailer was based on play from August 3 through October 31.

This new policy was put in place last May. I was surprised when I found out about it just last month; Stations is usually pretty good about announcing major changes. This time they never notified players, by individual letter or signs or in any other way. You might not notice this until you play sometime on the 1st or 2nd of a month and later find one or more of your monthly mailers have decreased.

I hate it when casinos do sneaky things like this. Of course, they can do anything they want — but a good PR move is to let players know of changes, especially when they’ve been doing something routinely for many years. But the more burning question is why change a logical system to an illogical one in the first place?

_____

Because players clubs are constantly changing, many players are diligent about picking up cashback frequently and using up comps even when they can be banked indefinitely. There’s a lot to be said for this practice. In times past, players have lost benefits when a casino closed or was sold. Usually, arrangements will be made to see that everyone gets their owed cashback, but in an emergency situation this might not be possible. When Hurricane Katrina hit, many records were lost and some destroyed casinos never resumed business.

Comp banks are more at risk than cashback, since comps are considered casino “gifts” and there’s no legal requirement for them to be distributed. When the old Frontier was sold, there was a very short redemption time to clean out comp banks, and many customers couldn’t make it to Vegas in time. Some of the same problems have occurred during the recent mergers of major casino companies.

It pays to know the details of the comp time limits in the casinos where you play. Many Las Vegas Strip casinos and also many in other venues empty the comp banks of out-of-towners at the end of each visit. Those casinos may or may not have a time limit for the comps earned by local players. The comps at some casinos stay in the bank for an indefinite time, but often they require that at least one point be put on the player’s card at specific intervals, like every 3 or 6 or 12 months.

You can check at the players club or with your host for the use-or-lose comp policies at your casino. You need to verify this information every once in a while, especially in casinos that have been inv”

1/26/2007

Rewarding players with free play instead of cash is a strong trend, as casinos are quickly updating their machines to give this option. All of the former Mandalay Bay properties went from cashback to free play as they were absorbed into MGM Mirage, which had already been completely changing over to free play.

The Gold Coast has now joined the Orleans and the Suncoast in giving monthly bounce-back rewards in the form of free play that you download from your players card (and must play through at least once), rather than in cash you pick up when you take the mailer coupon to a change booth. You can redeem points for same-day cashback or comps at the same rate, although often they run a promotion with the comps having a bigger dollar value.

Right now you can get same-day cashback at the Venetian, Hard Rock, and Tuscany, but bounce-back is in free play. Ellis Island, Cannery, and Rampart have both same-day and bounce-back cash. Station Casinos, the Palms, and Silverton have comps instead of cashback and their bounce-back is in free play. You can use your points for comps at Harrah’s properties, but in some (like in Vegas) you do get cash in the mail. Their bounce-back for Vegas locals is in cash, but requires a minimum amount of play. Wynn advertises “cashback,” but it’s given at the machine in free play, as is the bounce-back to Vegas locals.

I predict that within a few years, most casinos will no longer give much in cash rewards, either as same-day or bounce-back. It’s to the casino’s advantage to give free play: First, “breakage” (free play not redeemed) has a much higher percent than cash coupons. Furthermore, once people play through the free play, many are tempted to play until they hit a big jackpot or until it’s all gone, the latter being the more frequent. Cashback often walks out the door. And finally, if free play is used at a less-than-100% machine, the theoretical worth of the free play is reduced by the casino edge.

If savvy players are only redeeming the free play without playing any additional hands, they’ll do so at the highest-percentage game they can find, although some like to choose a game with lower volatility even if EV (expected theoretical value) is lower. If we’re collecting free play when we’re playing anyway, we count it merely as part of our bankroll and therefore it has full value for us.

A friend pointed out that another advantage of free play for the player is that if an offer is lost in the mail, you can still download the free play at the machine, whereas you might not be able to get a bounce-back coupon replaced. This was just reinforced for me personally. This month I didn’t get my regular mailer from one of my core casinos. However, sometimes this casino doesn’t send out any mailers and I assumed that to be true this month. But I decided to call the players club booth to make sure. (At this casino, as is true with many, a slot club clerk can look up an account on the computer and tell what mailings a customer has been sent. At some casinos you might need to contact the host for this information.) I was glad I called to check. I’m $900 richer! And I didn’t have to go through the hassle of trying to get a bounce-back coupon replaced; I merely went to a machine and downloaded the free-play credits.

Some bounce-back free play earns points/comps/cashback as you play it through the machine. Some doesn’t. It depends on the software system the casino uses for its machines. At places like the Palms, Tuscany, and Silverton, where you download your free play to the machine in advance of placing your bets, you earn credit while running through your free play. At places like the Stations, Fiestas, MGM properties, and Wynn where you have to put in your own cash for the first bet and then are refunded your free play in increments as you continue playing, you do not earn points/comps/cashback on that bounce-back free play.

12/7/2006

http://wizardofodds.com/ – The Wizard of Odds is a frugal-gambler’s best friend when you want to find detailed and reliable based-on-the-math gambling information. You can find the answers to many of your questions, no matter what the game. Especially valuable is the Wizard’s analysis of new games, both machines and table games. I highly recommend that you subscribe to his free monthly newsletter.

http://www.snopes.com – A frugal gambler doesn’t want to be led astray by false Internet rumors and fraudulent tricks. This is the Web site to run down iffy information and learn the truth. A discussion on vpFREE recently mentioned gift cards as a good present for hosts, then someone suggested checking on this Web site for information on possible gift-card fraud. Searching for “”gift cards”” on this site brings up a warning about a new scam, where crooks record the numbers from gift cards you can buy off a rack in a retail store. They wait until the cards have been purchased and authorized, then quickly use the number to buy items on the Internet (where the actual card isn’t needed). When the original purchaser tries to use the card to buy something at a later date, it has been drained and shows a zero balance.

http:fatwallet.com – Again at vpFREE (talking about ordering a gambling book), I read that this is a great portal for the frugal to use to get to overstock.com and many other Internet stores, because you can get 6% cashback. As a new user, you’ll also get $5 added to your cashback. And you can get the 10% off the entire order ($15 off a $100 order total) as well. “”With all of the stores they’re a portal for, you can really build up a substantial amount of cash back by using them … and you don’t lose anything compared to shopping at the site the way you normally would.””

Then Mike, a frugalite who out-frugals even me, posted this added information:
“”Great post, and one that trumps the frequent-flyer angle of 4 miles for every $1 spent, which equals 4% if miles are valued at a penny each. (The only advantage to earning the miles is that it will keep your frequent-flyer account “”active”” and miles won’t expire.)””

http://www.houseseatslv.com/ – For one annual subscription price, you’ll be offered free last-minute show tickets in Vegas. Performers don’t like empty seats in their theaters! I haven’t checked this one out personally, but it’s a good idea if you can find out what type of shows are usually offered and how often. I’d appreciate reports from anyone who has used this service.

Casino Web sites – Tax season will be here before you know it and you’ll be thinking about getting win/loss statements from the casinos where you’ve gambled in 2006. Save yourself some running around by checking each casino’s Web site. Many offer the service online. This is a big time saver if you played in more than one casino in one of the consolidated casino companies. You can make one request for all the casinos in that group.

12/15/2006

Here are a couple of messages I’ve received in the last month, indicative of the email I get in which people wonder if Brad and I’ve left the frugal-gambling ranks.

1. “First, I want to thank you for your excellent books and articles. Secondly, your tips have been very valuable and I use what I think suits my personality. However, a $5,000 entry fee for a tournament is a bit much for us lowly coupon clippers. I envy you, but I think you have lost sight of your humble beginnings, which I think 90% of your readers are from. Am I wrong?

“Anyway, still an avid reader.”

2. “My problem is both you and Bob Dancer have been writing for a long time about a kind of playing that’s not relevant to most of the people who are reading your articles. Just go into any casino and you’ll see that all the nickel video poker machines are full (and most of the players aren’t even playing full-coin). Quarter machines are fairly busy, but you can always find a seat. And the $1 machines have more empty seats than players. You’re talking about playing with $5,000-$10,000 (or more) and for most of the people we know, this would be their whole year gambling budget and if they lost it they would be sick – really sick.

“We wish we could play larger amounts, but with two people playing it takes a lot of money even at our level. You’re living a dream that we wish we could live. Maybe here in Mississippi the people are just poor; I don’t know. My wife is an RN and I have a very good-paying job and I wish I could figure out what we’re doing wrong so we could play with the large amounts like you and Mr. Dancer. But I hope you and your husband have fun and keep on winning.”

Well, tackling these issues will take me more than one column. This one is the first of three.

Let me start out by saying that I’m grateful none of the people who’ve written these kinds of comments and queries seem to resent our winning, even the monster half-million payoff in a tournament last June. And they’re still reading my books and articles to find helpful gambling and casino information.

Also, I need to remind you that I wrote a three-parter in August/September 2005 about the word “frugal.” Go to http://lasvegasadvisor.com/frugalfridays-archive.cfm if you want to review those columns. I talked about people having a negative impression of the word and ended up the series with my summary of “frugal”: “I’ve always said that being frugal doesn’t mean being cheap. Instead, it means always getting good value for your money at any level.”

Reinforcing this meaning is a fact I just found out about recently: Warren Buffet’s license plate is just one word: THRIFTY. Hey, if the country’s second-richest man is proud to ride in a luxury vehicle with this label, we’ll continue to proudly tool around Las Vegas in our purple PT Cruiser with a similar license plate: FRUGAL.

Next week I’ll address some of the specific issues mentioned in the above letters.

12/22/2006

Last week I included in my column some posts from fellow frugalites who were wondering if Brad and I had left the ranks of frugal gamblers. I promised that I’d address that issue this week.

First, I’ll repeat what I’ve said many times: Frugal means getting good value for your money at any financial level.

Second, we’ve found that if you’re frugal when you don’t have much money, you’ll get to a higher financial level more quickly.

Third, if you’re a naturally frugal person (or, if you become motivated to train yourself to be one), you’ll be frugal your whole life, even when you reach a level where it isn’t a necessity to be quite as value-conscious.

How do these life lessons apply to our gambling?

When Brad and I started casino gambling 21 years ago, we didn’t have a large amount of discretionary income. Our children were all grown, so our living expenses weren’t high, but we were heavily into the save-for-retirement mode. When we found out we loved the entertainment the casinos provided, our goal immediately became building our small gambling bankroll without hurting our retirement plans.

After some research and study, we discovered that the smart way to play in a casino was always choosing the best games – for us, first blackjack, then video poker – and by learning to take advantage of all the extra benefits casinos gave for our play. Being frugal meant working the slot club and comp systems endlessly, staying in modest casinos, and never finding a coupon we wouldn’t try to use. We never turned down a bump at the airport no matter how long or inconvenient the wait for the next plane – this provided us a free trip the next time we wanted to fly from Indiana to Vegas. And if we got another bump from that free trip, well, neverending freebies is frugal heaven.

Actually, the casino freebies allowed us to build our bankroll in our early quarter-video-poker casino days. If you don’t have to put out your own money for hotel rooms or meals and the casino comps your shows, parties, and other entertainment, that means you can plow any winnings from your play into growing your bankroll. That same concept allowed us to go from the quarter level to fifty-cent machines, then to dollars, and now to the higher denominations. Aging and medical factors have slowed us down quite a bit and we aren’t able to do the Vegas frugal scramble quite as intensely as we used to – and Brad is constantly reminding me that we can “loosen up the purse strings” since we’ve arrived at the “old age” we’ve been saving for – I still find myself in frugal mode almost every waking minute.

You may be a nickel player with a tiny entertainment bankroll for an occasional night out to a casino – a young couple with the expense of raising a family or a retiree on a small fixed income. You may be in the bankroll-building stage, hoping to be able to spend more time in the casino in the future. You may have worked hard and saved all your life and have retired with a big nest egg that allows you to play at the higher levels. Most of my advice is applicable to all frugal gamblers.

Next week I’ll give you a list of some of the things that have made us successful all along the way, from the lower levels to the higher ones.

12/28/2006

The last two weeks I’ve been addressing questions about whether Brad and I are frugal anymore. I’ve explained that you can be frugal no matter at what level you gamble and I promised you a list of things any frugal gambler can do to become more successful. We’ve applied the following tips to all of our plays, whether we were sitting at a quarter video poker machine or at a hundred-dollar-a-hand blackjack table.

* Decide on your main goal in a casino. If it’s entertainment, but you want to lose less, choose the best games you can find and learn how to play them skillfully.

* If your goal is entertainment but you want to make a profit too, accept the math-based fact that you can’t win in the long term unless you always do plays where you have the advantage over the casino. Also realize that winning gambling is always hard. It takes a lot of work.

* Read as much as you can to find new gambling strategies and opportunities.

* Be satisfied with grinding out small wins slowly. The “big one” comes rarely, if at all.

* Know the bankroll requirements for what you play. Never overplay your bankroll.

* Learn as much about the slot club and comp system as the games themselves. These benefits will leave more money in your pocket for playing.

* Constantly look for casino promotions. There’s usually more money to be made in promotions these days than from the games themselves.

* Take advantage of study aids, like software programs. Practice at home when you don’t have money at risk!

* Broaden your game choices whenever possible. If you’re a video poker player and the opportunities for a good game are getting scarce, perhaps learn how to count cards and play blackjack. Many skilled players in other games are learning to play live poker.

* Be a good casino scout. Keep an eye out for new machines and new games. Don’t get in a rut and play only in one casino, but visit others as much as you can. Casinos change management and policies all the time – and you never know when you’ll find a new good play opportunity.

* Be aware of the tax consequences of your play and take them into consideration when you figure the value of a play.

* Learn how to lose. No matter how skilled a gambler is, he’s not going to win every time he plays. In fact, since an advantage player’s edge is usually quite small, he’ll probably lose more sessions than he wins. Remember, winning gambling is always over the long term. You must learn to learn to trust the math and keep the faith during losing streaks – or you’ll go crazy!

* Understand that smart gambling takes intense motivation, extreme self-discipline, and the patience of a saint.

This is just a short list of general concepts that have helped Brad and me become winning gamblers through the 21 years we’ve been visiting casinos. But our success has been built very gradually, by doing hundreds of thousands of little frugal things along the way. These aren’t secrets. I’ve shared them with the world in the four books I’ve written.

My New Year’s wish is that some of these frugal ideas will make your 2007 casino visits more rewarding!

11/2/2006

How many of you, who come to this Web site every week to read Frugal Fridays, have spent much time cruising the other pages of it?

If you haven’t dug a little deeper into all the data on this site lately, you should do yourself a favor and look around. Since Anthony Curtis and his able crew redesigned the site a couple months ago, LasVegasAdvisor.com has become what has to be the best Web site on Las Vegas. It’ll take you hours to get through the Vegas Info alone.

There are a whole lot of Las Vegas Web sites on the Internet and some of them have good information. The problem is that an enormous amount of what’s out there is woefully out of date. Now, I have a little inside info about LasVegasAdvisor.com; Huntington Press is my publisher and I’ve had a weekly column on LVA.com for going on seven years. So I can tell you that all the information on the site is updated on a regular monthly schedule by two dedicated researchers who do almost nothing but make sure the data is up to date. That puts this site head and shoulders above almost all the other sites out there.

After you’re done reading this column, go back to the home page and click on the first link under the “Vegas Info” banner: Activities. The introductory paragraph at the top says it with flair: “One thing’s for sure: The only way to arrive in Las Vegas and not find fun things to do is in a coffin.” Under Activities, the first heading is bowling, where you’ll find links to current and comprehensive information on Vegas’ ten bowling centers, each with its own page of vital statistics, including hours, prices, specials, notes, and an interactive function where you can rate the facilities and experience.

Next comes Exhibits, with everything from a coffee-roasters tour and M&M’s World to the American Cocktail Museum and Backstage at Jubilee — each, again, with its own page of data, ratings, and comments.

After that comes Free Spectacles, with a baker’s dozen of listings of freebie entertainment around town; you could spend a whole day seeing them all, without investing one thin dime — music to my frugal ears!

Then there are all the movie theaters in the valley, including the IMAX and drive-in; every thrill ride available in Las Vegas and vicinity; and all the shopping opportunities, such as the five major malls, the outlet centers, and the casino promenades. Finally comes the two theme parks, the Adventuredome at Circus Circus and Star Trek at the Las Vegas Hilton.

And that’s just for Activities alone!! There are also complete listings under the other headings, including Buffets, Casinos, Graveyard Specials, Maps, Convention Dates, Nightspots, Restaurants, Shows and Events, Spas, Transportation, and much much more.

Allow me to add, here, a note about Transportation. One of my most frequently asked questions is about the free casino shuttles that run around town. This is important information for people who don’t rent cars, are too frugal to take taxis, and find the public buses too crowded or slow or inconvenient. But the shuttles are difficult to keep up with, because schedules and routes change frequently (and casino hubs, like the Stardust, even close!). But on LasVegasAdvisor.com, you’ll find complete schedules, maps, and phone numbers to verify whatever information you need. It’s the best presentation of free casino shuttles I’ve ever seen.

And it’s all free. You don’t have to be a subscriber to the Las Vegas Advisor newsletter. You don’t have to register on the site. All you have to do is show up and surf. Of course, the member areas are also highly recommendable, especially the newsletter and its archive, which dates all the way back to March 1999. Not to mention the member forums, which are among the most active in terms of Las Vegas on the Internet.

I’m proud to be one small (but vital!) cog in such a well-oiled and useful machine.

11/10/2006

For this week and next, I have a guest columnist, Dan Paymar, who’ll give us a historical view of the development of slot and video poker machines. It’s an interesting story.

The Nine Ages of Slots and Video Poker – Part 1
by Dan Paymar

Casino gaming machines have evolved over the years. Here’s a history, broken down into nine phases. Of course, there’s considerable overlap of the ages.

The Iron Age
This was the age of the mechanical slot machine. Most machines had three reels with 20 stops per reel. Since each stop had equal probability (limited only by the precision of cutting the internal gears and wheels), the probability of any particular 3-reel combination was one in 20x20x20, or one in 8,000. This limited the size of a jackpot. With one bar on each reel, a jackpot combination of three bars could be expected, on average, once per 8,000 plays.

For the intelligent player, this offered one advantage. With less than an hour of play, one could map the symbols on each reel. With that information and knowing that each symbol had one chance in 20 of appearing, it was easy to calculate the expected return of the game. Of course, the manufacturers knew this, and therefore set up the symbols for the desired casino hold. To enable larger jackpots, some machines were made with four, five, or even six reels. The problem was that this made the handle harder to pull, and maintenance became more of a problem.

The expected return (ER) was always under 100%, so it would seem that there could not possibly be any way of beating the machines, but some players found that by adjusting their delay between one play ending and pulling the handle for the next play, they could control the stopping position of at least one reel. This was a windfall for a small number of skilled players, until the manufacturers added a “”randomizer”” mechanism to make the games much harder to beat.

I kind of miss these machines. I enjoyed playing nickels at the Pioneer Club in downtown Las Vegas in the ‘60s when I knew very little about gambling and had very little discretionary money. I could play several hours a day and not lose more than $20 over a weekend trip, and sometimes I went home a small winner.

Of course, this was before I learned anything about gambling math. Unfortunately, these machines are unlikely to be seen in any casino today other than for display only, and they’ve become collectors items. You can buy one of these old machines for something in the range of $1,000 to $10,000, depending on the make, model and condition.

The Electronic Age
This began when manufacturers added flashing lights and other embellishments to mechanical machines, but electronics also allowed progressive jackpots. For these, the computer adds a small percentage of the coin-in action to a progressive meter. For the player, this has the benefit that the game can exceed a 100% expected return when the meter gets high enough.

Progressive jackpots started as an addition to mechanical machines, making profitable slot teams possible, but real electronic machines soon started taking over. The big difference is that the outcome is determined by a random number generator in the machine’s internal microprocessor, then the reels are spun by stepping motors to display the result. Typically, there are 40 physical stops on each reel, made up of 20 symbols with intervening blank stops.

There may be 512 logical stops for each reel, allowing the manufacturer to assign any number of those to each physical stop. Three reels with 512 logical stops each makes it possible for the jackpot to have a probability as small as one in 5,123 or one in over 134 million, thus allowing huge but very rare jackpots.

The drawback is that it’s impossible to determine the game’s basic payback, because we don’t know the mapping of logical stops to physical stops unless we have some inside information. This put a big crimp on the slot teams.

The Early Rebate Age

11/16/2006

This week Dan Paymar concludes his history of casino slot and video poker machines.

The Nine Ages of Slots and Video Poker – Part 2
by Dan Paymar

The Age of Progress(ives)
As the graphics and buttons improved, so did the action. The casinos wanted to increase the 800-for-1 payoff for a royal flush to attract more players, but without reducing their hold (net profit). The answer was the progressive jackpot. It was effective on reel slots, so why not on video poker? A portion of the action (coin-in), sometimes as much as 1% or even 2%, was added to a progressive-jackpot meter. Realizing that this would cut deeply into the casino’s hold, the payoff schedule was reduced, usually to what we now call an 8/5 game. When a royal is hit, the meter resets to the base value ($4,000 on a dollar game). At that point, the game’s payback is a bit under 97.3%, but it wasn’t long before a few sharp players realized that if the meter climbed above $8,700, the expected return was over 100%. That’s when professional slot teams began attacking banks of progressive video poker machines. If you’re interested in how the slot teams worked, watch for a new book that a friend and I are currently working on. It will be announced on my Web site, and many other places.

The Age of the Average Man
To attract even more players, new variations were developed. The first flat-top game (fixed 800-for-1 for a royal) to offer over 100% was a Joker Wild game. Lenny Frome was the first to publish a strategy that actually yielded somewhat near that ER. Then came Deuces Wild, which had an even higher ER if anyone knew the correct strategy, but Frome’s analysis put it at less than 99%, so it didn’t get a lot of play until the first edition of my Video Poker – Precision Play was published in 1992, giving an easy-to-learn strategy that yielded over 100.7% on full-pay Deuces Wild. Finally, anyone willing to put in the small effort to learn the strategy could play at an advantage over the casino.

The Age of Diminishing Returns
As a result of Frome’s books and mine, thousands of players became skilled enough to achieve over 100% ER on certain video poker games. The casinos over-reacted, just as they did in the ‘60s when Beat The Dealer showed that it was possible to gain an advantage in the game of blackjack. The managers just couldn’t get it through their heads that it was the perception that the game could be beat that attracted thousands of new players. Instead of reaping the profits from all those players who would never put in the effort to learn the necessary strategy, they changed the rules and drove a lot of those losers away. The casinos were still getting a reasonable hold, because the vast majority of players didn’t bother to learn an accurate strategy, but they cut the payoff schedules anyway, again driving away many losers, not because they could no longer beat the casino, but because their money didn’t last as long. Of course, the casinos couldn’t really be blamed; many good plays were burned out by players who became affectionately known as “”vultures.”” These weren’t slot teams, but independent self-proclaimed “”pros”” who’d lock up all the machines and give one up only to a buddy. So, of course the casinos lost money and were forced to cut the payoff schedules.

The Age of Promotions
Las Vegas casinos have always offered comps (complimentary meals and rooms) to high rollers, typically giving back up to 30% of their expected win, and free booze for everyone who’s playing. But now slot clubs and promotions were becoming a variation on the comp system to attract low-limit slot and video poker players. For a while, some slot clubs were offering a cash rebate of 1% or more of a player’s action. Now it’s more likely to be in the 0.05% to 0.3% range, but some casinos frequently offer double or triple points. There are other types of promotions too varied to go into detail here. The point is that now you must include comps

11/24/2006

Recently, on the vpFREE forum, someone wrote about wanting to follow in a VP hero’s footsteps. He then went on to list the things that made Bob Dancer his VP hero:

– VP strategy “”perfected””
– A million-dollar win
– His books, strategy cards, vp software
– Big gifts/prizes/cars won in casino promotions

But then he posed a question, “”If you see your hero lining up for $50 drawings or eating burgers or hotdogs at the Gold Coast, would you still want to follow your hero’s path?””

This post got me thinking.

Liking those Gold Coast juicy hot dogs on warm buns with all the trimmings – and only 75 cents plus a quarter tip – you don’t have to be hero material to love them. They’re one of our favorite treats – and we sometimes make a special stop there when we have no other “”business”” in the casino. We don’t play there anymore because they took our name off their mailing list – but we haven’t been barred from their hot dog cart!!

What level we play has nothing to do with what we get hungry for. We might stop off at Taco Bell for a Mexican pizza after playing $5 Five Play ($125 a hand) at Caesars. Slot club boothlings and hosts are always trying to force upon us comps for gourmet restaurants. But in spite of comp banks worth thousands of dollars, we usually insist on a buffet or the coffee shop.

$50 drawings? Most high-level players wouldn’t make a special effort for one of these, but they might participate if they were playing in the casino at the time anyway. We don’t make a special effort anymore to use $5-10 BJ coupons, but we’ll stop by any BJ table we pass if I have a coupon for it and there is a seat open, no matter how small the coupon is. For me that is still fun. Brad laughs at me. We’ll lose $3,000 at Ellis Island, but after we finish dinner I get happy winning with the two $5 BJ coupons I cut out of their restaurant placemats.

We do have to think about the use and value of our time when we analyze which promotions and offers to do. However, being a successful VP player has always been a grind-out-the-profit endeavor. Sure, once in awhile you might get real lucky – like Bob Dancer’s one six-month period he wrote about in Million Dollar VP. But most of the time – and I’m sure Dancer would agree – it is a day-by-day grind, always playing in positive situations. It’s a continuous roller coaster ride, spending lots more time in the valleys but keeping the faith that you will reach hilltops every once in a while – and the mountaintops on special but rare occasions.

If I wrote a book, I’d have to give it a much less glamorous sounding title, like Grinding Out A Million Dollars in 25 Years. Oops, I did just write a book on the subject. But I went for short and just called it Frugal Video Poker!