I have two brief things that came up recently and are worthy of writing about, but neither is sufficient to fill up an entire blog. So, I stacked them together. Hope you don’t mind.
New Rules
I was playing dollar 9/6 Double Double Bonus, with four progressives. I hit the aces hand for $844 and to my surprise, the machine locked up. I’d played at this casino previously and jackpots less than $1,200 never locked up. But it did today. I had earlier in the session hit $400 and $250 jackpots and those didn’t lock up, but $844 did.
When the floorman came, I asked if this was a new procedure casino-wide, or if this particular machine was mis-programmed somehow. He told me it was a casino-wide policy, requested by the employees in the hope of possibly generating more tips. The pandemic has been really hard on the staff.
I don’t like this policy, but I’m not going to complain about it or create a scene. It will cost me five minutes every now and then. I didn’t tip. Resetting the payout for aces back to $800 only cost about 0.15% and the other numbers were high enough to make things worthwhile, so I continued to play.
I’ve previously played at casinos–Palms and Eastside Cannery, among others–where for a time they locked up the machines at $1,000, trying to squeeze tips out of quarter royals. These moves were always unpopular with the players, and both casinos removed this policy after a month or so.
I can understand a casino wanting to take care of their employees, but they need to take care of their players too. The pandemic has also hit us.
Starting to get the Eye
I was the only one playing a progressive, and I was there for four hours. I didn’t hit the top jackpot, but had hit several of the lesser ones and it was still a positive play. However, the jackpot I hit four hours in (still not the biggest one), was enough to turn the play negative, so I left.
Shortly before I hit the last jackpot, some sort of slot supervisor came and stood right next to me, writing down the size of all of the progressive amounts on my machine. He could have done this on any of the other machines, but chose to do it standing uncomfortably close to me.
I’m not sure what he was doing. It could be that they were trying to understand why I was playing for four hours. It could be that they were sending a message that my play was unwanted or close to being unwanted.
So, what to do?
I could be kicked out at any time, of course. It has happened before at casinos. It will probably happen again. The first step is to do what I can to make this as costless as possible. This is a casino where you earn points that you can download as free play on your machine. If I’m restricted and can no longer play off the points, they might redeem them in cash at 50¢ on the dollar. Which is probably legal according to their slot club rules.
I didn’t have a ton of unredeemed free play, but I had enough that losing 50% unnecessarily of it would be irritating. So, I came back the next day on a different shift and played off what I had. It wasn’t a point multiplier day, and the game was no longer worth 100%, but it was worth well over 99% and on the amount I was playing, it didn’t matter much. Consider it cheap insurance.
If I don’t end up being restricted, well, no harm done. I’ll just start building free play again from zero. But if I do get restricted, I won’t lose 50% of what I had earned.
And, like most things in gambling, I needed to make my decision before I knew the actual result. If it turns out I’m not restricted, then some would say it was a wasted trip to go and cash out. But I can’t know if I’m going to be restricted until I’m actually restricted! So, I have to make an educated guess in advance and live with it.
Note that today I’m saying giving up a buck or two (plus the time and cost to get there) is okay to save $300 or so. A few weeks ago, I wrote that I’d wait a minute to earn an extra dollar when I was risking about $300. So how are these cases different?
It has to do with the probability of something bad happening. In the case a few weeks ago when I waited for a progressive meter to turn over an extra dollar, it was 8,000-to-1 or so that I wouldn’t lose out by waiting. This time, it might be closer to 10-to-1, or even shorter odds, that I’ll lose out if I don’t spend that buck. That makes all the difference to me. Every case is different, and you have to do it by feel each time, but those are the kinds of considerations that cross my mind before I make the decision.
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Casinos typically record progressive amounts once per day (or possibly more often) on paper or on an electronic tablet to have a backup in the event of a failure of the progressive controller.
In the event of a catastrophic failure of the progressive controller, they have a recent record of what the progressive meters were at and can program the new progressive amounts accordingly with some degree of accuracy.
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tampa, FL have a self-pay policy for W2 G jackpots ($1,200 and higher). You have to register at the player’s club to have that option. When you hit a jackpot, say $4,000, the machine locks up and an option appears giving you an opportunity to self-pay. You click on the option and then you enter your 4 digit pin and the machine unlocks and the $4,000 is added to your total and you can continue playing. When you cash out, if the amount is over $2,000 you need to go to one of the cashiers, show your player’s card and receive your payment. If you would like, they will give you a check. They refuse to take out federal tax on the payout, regardless of the size of the payout. Within a week, they will send the W2 G form to you. If you have more than one W2 G for the day, they combine into one W2 G. Unfortunately, the best game is $10 9/7/5 double bonus single line. They also have numerous $1and up five and ten play 9/6 double double bonus games. With the covid issues, this cuts down on contact with staff and also eliminates the tipping issue. They have had this policy for several years.
The Cosmopolitan in Vegas has a similar setup. It can be seen in many of the YouTube vlogger videos.
I can’t agree with you all more. I understand that in terms of casino employees, they all would appreciate a little higher salary and therefore the lock-up of a payout 800 Dollars and up may induce a generous George leave something. I just don’t get it, though. A slot machine tip and a tip to a black jack dealer or roulette dealer who is constantly working hard to be friendly and deal a proper game, that’s different from a handpay to a slot player. Since the casinos make 80-90 percent of their gaming revenues from slotplay, it’s clear who is losing all the money to the house. So, a mere 800 dollar payout from time to time should not be something to get too excided about. These people seem to ignore how much a machine player is actually investing until he gets such a payout. Therefore, it’s better to unlock the “handpay” system and pay the player until it’s a a taxable. That’s my opinion.
From Switzerland
Boris
I play at The Rampart and they lock up the machines on payouts of $1000 or more. My rule is that if I’m not issued a W2 tax form, then I don’t tip. Other nearby casinos lock up the machines on payouts of $1200 or more, which is reasonable since a tax form has to be issued. And, this isn’t a direst result of the pandemic; it has been their policy all along.
I agree with Boris, I tip the people I interact with on a sliding scale, some hand pay person is someone I don’t and likely will not know very well. When I win a poker bad beat jackpot I lavishly tip the dealer, and give less to the floor people, managers get zilch from me. One casino I frequent makes collecting your booty into a little ceremony, they take the players individually to a separate table, sitting there is the dealer who dealt it, one floor person, and one manager, they certainly do this to induce bigger tips. I believe in karma, as a retired person I respect working people, giving a big tip is a form of immortality, people remember and respect you for it. Recently I won one, my share was $6,,000, I gave the dealer three hundred, the floor lady sixty, the manager zero. I felt a little guilty later about stiffing the manager, but to me the manager represents something different than the worker…
Hello Michael , I read your comment. Thanks for sharing this interesting topic. The Mega tipping-mania made by USA helps mostly the people in the service industry…and of course, the owners of the casinos and restaurants etc where people must struggle and work hard to make ends meet. I am not saying it’s right or wrong, it’s just like it is. What I just feel whenever I play my slot machines , there are days when all I do is losing and then the only friendly face that I see is the cocktail waitress. And she certainly always gets my tip because she’s treating me good and takes care of me , so I take care of her. As it comes to slot personell, they only greet you if they know you or if you just hit a nice jackpot. Amazingly, and that’s what I learned… if the patron winning a jackpot is a female player then most of the times it’s a male attendant paying here, and vice versa. If it’s a guy who wins, then most of the time it’s a female attendant to pay. We know the reason. I dream of a casino that takes good care of its employees so they won’t have to depend on generous tippers. Reality looks a bit different, so these employees have no other choice but to hope for a little extra to make their time at work be worthwile….
Greetings from Switzerland
Boris
#1 At least 2 casinos in AZ pull this garbage. It is bush league. Their machines lock up at $400 But yes… there are lots of ploppies who give a tip. Once in awhile I might tell them the whole process is scam to generate needless tips, but mostly I just let them be morons.
The Fremont has done this on 1000 for ages. This is not just the coin drop machines.
It can back fire completely. casino managers should know that. it makes the customer and the employee feel bad when it becomes too obvious….
Bob, your comment about Covid has “hit the customer like is has the casino employee” is being a little naive. I’m not sure how it has hurt you more? I’m guessing that is because some of the casinos you play at have cutback their pay schedules on their machines, or because their business is so bad because of Covid, the progressives are not building up quick enough to suit your needs. So is this having a big effect on your income? I’m pretty sure the people in the service industry have been ‘hit’ a little harder than you. They have had to endure layoffs and the ones that haven’t are having to deal with decreasing tips because of restrictions of players playing at the casinos. You do understand that tips are a SIGNIFICANT part of their income, right? And you realize that even with that, it only allows for an income not much above the poverty rate. I do understand that tipping is always a negative EV in your eyes, but please, don’t try to compare your Covid issues with some low wage service person in the casinos. It’s not the same.
I figured out that the staff at El Cortez is extremely friendly, especially in the coin section with that army of old school videopoker machines. And the staff there is friendly and personal indeed. They do a hard job as they have to do refills all the time. A 4000 coin Royal Flush is never bein paid in coins , nor in tickets, as the old machines do not have a TITO feature. The problem is that people that opt to leave a machine cashing out run away with a bucket of coins but many people don’t like to feed the machines with all the quarters so some play with bills and leave with coins. This is a tough job for the employees filling up the machines all the time, so when there is a royal or so I think a tip is appropriate. And the staff is friendly indeed, with almost no exceptions.
First and most importantly, this topic is very sensitive and because it’s part of the Amerian way of seing things, there’s a majority that still believes that this is the way, and the only way, to go. We all know that somebody who depends on tips is interested to get as many of them as possible. On the other hand, there is always a fair and unfair if it comes to receiving and keeping or sharing the tips. If it comes to “bribing” your co-workers or your boss or sharing your tips with others to ensure your job tomorrow, then I have to say that the tipping system is failing. Many countries, such as the one I live, have established a method to contribute the employee with the tip but at the same time withholding some or most of them and at the same time guaranteeing the employee a paycheck that’s big enough to make a decent living. That way the state gets the taxes (while otherwise many tips go un-taxed), the company can reduce payroll costs, and the employees are save having an income and at the same time are motivated to get a little extra. I think the European way isn’t all that bad…. To put the burdon solely on the customer to tip the employees that otherwise would not have enough to have a normal life is not what I think is a fair contract between the 3 parties.
I love El Cortez. It’s like stepping into a time machine going back to the 50’s. You get a plastic bucket, buy rolls of quarters, and start playing. The sound of a winning hand dropping coins into the metal tray is like nothing else! Same thing at The California and Jerry’s Nugget.
And The California still has some one dollar metal token machines. Those old metal one dollar tokens hitting the tray on a jackpot is like nothing else.
The only problem is when you hit 4 deuces or so and the meter shows you some like 200-300 coins and you plan to cash out and get your empty buckets ready No 1 you will end up with really DIRTY hands from grabbing up the coins from the try and 2 you will end up in the rest room in need to wash your hands properly and 3 chances are more than 50 per cent that you will have to wait for the coin-refill. It happens to me all the time that’s why I usually play my credits down and only leave with a possible hand pay. Swapping machines is not recommended once you start your play.
I prefer the E-C over the Cal, but it’s also a great place to gamble. The Hawaiian people make that place somewhat special. I found other casino in Las Vegas that also have coin-operated machines: Jerry’s Nugget in North Vegas. I love that place also for their famous coffee shop. The t-bone steak dinner is top notch.