Response to Comments

One reader wrote:  “Crooks? Coming from someone who is supposed to be an advantage player I find that pretty harsh. He took advantage of a glitch in software just as pretty much any advantage player would do.”

–Not “any.”  Every player, casual or advantage, has to draw his/her own line in the sand of moral standards.  As for me, the action taken by these “accused crooks” is not even in a gray area in my sandbox, but in the jet black corner.

–I keep getting questions asking me where are the “best” places to play VP in Vegas or some other jurisdiction.  I have said many times that I can not recommend specific casinos because I don’t know what your bankroll is, how many hours a week or month you plan to play, what games for which you have studied the strategy, what denomination you prefer, what your goals are, or umpteen other factors that would influence your choices.

Related to that question is one about why Brad and I play at a certain casino even thought there are “no good games there.”  We do not make our choices on “good games” but on “good plays.”  Big difference.  A “not-so-good game” may be a great play because of extra bennies, like special promotions, multiple points, tournaments, drawings, mailed free play or cash extras, etc.  Many of these are known to the public – i.e., advertised bonus points on holidays – but many are not because they come in special mailed offers or calls from hosts just to specific  customers, often with different offers for different levels of past play.  Also not every “good machine” is known to the general public, although most we play could be found by anyone who scours the extensive database found in vpFREE2.com.

–The last question I want to address is one I have discussed frequently in the past.  Do we ever pick up free play at a casino and not play any there that same day?  Yes, if it is one which doesn’t send out their free play mailers based on daily average. There we can wait and play on another day, perhaps when there are bonus points or other promotions which make it a better “play day.”

However, some casinos, even if they don’t use the daily average method, frown on this practice and  have even taken measures against such  players, usually something like cutting off their mailers entirely.  So in these casinos we usually play at least a little on the free-play pickup days.  

How do we know what any one casino’s policy is on this subject?  Word gets around pretty quickly in the VP community.  Players tell their VP-playing friends.  The news is posted on VP Internet forums when someone finds he is on the no-mail list.  But sometimes you just can’t know for sure, so it never hurts in those cases to play at least a bit when you pick up your free play.