Updates

Here are some questions asked of me recently, either in the “Comments” or in private e-mails. By the way my e-mail address is queenofcomps@ cox.net. I do try to answer all e-mails as soon as I can. However, please don’t ask me broad questions like where you should play. There are just too many individual factors that enter into decisions like that.

• My own books that I sometimes mention in this blog can be ordered at http://queenofcomps.com/ or http://lasvegasadvisor.com/. (By the way, an updated version of Tax Help for Gamblers – both as an eBook and a hardcopy – will be available around the middle of March.) Other books usually are available at Amazon.com.

• No, I don’t think some casinos, especially the Nevada casinos, are manipulating VP machines, if you mean putting in rogue chips or programming them in some secret way to give us lower paybacks and/or fewer jackpots. Casinos ARE changing a lot of their VP machines so a player will lose more in the long run than they used to, but not in some sneaky way. They are lowering the paytables and we can see that quite clearly. It is our choice whether we continue to play these machines and suffer more severe long-term losses – or walk to another machine that has a better paytable or to another casino that still offers good paytables.

• Someone asked if they would be able to book their family at a casino with their extra comps, as we did for the Frugal Princess family over the holidays.  It depends.  If you mean you want to book a room in their name and use comps to pay for it – AND you don’t plan to be at the casino in person at the same time, the answer is usually “No.”  Although I have known a few cases when a customer was a very heavy and/or frequent player and had a good relationship with a host who could arrange this.  However the more usual situation is that the player with the comps will actually check into the room in person and then escort the guests to the room (or give them the key).  I’ve know players who have done this without giving the hotel the guest names or arranged this through a host, but this can cause problems, i.e., the guest loses a key and the front desk won’t give him a new one because his name isn’t on the room.  We have always made such arrangements with our host and told him/her who would be staying in the room.  And it goes without saying, that in almost all cases we would be playing in the casino even if we personally aren’t staying in the room.  Always being upfront with a host and giving the play a casino expects – that goes a long way in keeping your comps coming in the future.

• On getting a “fresh start” when you are playing video poker:  The freshest start is to not just change a game on the same machine or change to a new machine but to walk out of a smokey casino and breathe in some of nature’s pure air.  AOr, one of Brad’s and my favorite take-a-break suggestions:  Find the one you love and take them upstairs for some “fun in the room.”