What Time Is It?

It was approaching midnight recently as I played a progressive at a Las Vegas casino. This was a casino that changed multipliers every day, and today I was receiving the highest possible multiplier. Tomorrow my multiplier was likely to be smaller. It didn’t have to be, but I wouldn’t know what it would be until I swiped after midnight. It was not a casino where you had to swipe for your multiplier before you started playing, but rather one where you just had to swipe before you left.

The progressive was high enough that it was worth playing whatever the multiplier was, but obviously, the bigger the multiplier the better. 

With my card left in the machine, I didn’t know if the system would be smart enough to figure out whether my play changed from “today” to “tomorrow” at midnight, but I didn’t figure it was in my interest to make it easy on them. So, I left my card in and kept playing. 

I knew eventually the system would know it was tomorrow — either by me hitting a taxable, the hard count team coming through and pulling everybody’s cards as they replaced the bill acceptor boxes, or perhaps some other reason. I’d find out.

At about 3:30 a.m., I decided it was time to leave. I was exhausted and even though the progressive was high enough to still be playable, I was no longer thinking clearly. My TITO ticket was around $2,600, so that I had to go to the cage to get it cashed. 

On the way there, I stopped by the kiosk and activated my multiplier. As expected, it was smaller than the maximum multiplier I had received yesterday. If I had no play for that day, it would be multiplying zero. I still might come back later after I slept some, but I might not. It showed I had about 1½ hours of play, which indicated that “today” becomes “tomorrow” at 2 a.m. there whether you pull your card or not.

When I went to the cage to cash my TITO ticket, I figured they might ask for ID (some casinos do). This time they didn’t (perhaps I was recognized), but after my ticket was cashed, I showed my player’s card and ID and asked how many points I had played yesterday. I was given a figure that was consistent with how much I had played until 2 a.m.

Good to know. I filed that information away for later usage.

I still want to know what happens if I start playing at, say, 12:05 a.m. and I swipe. Do I get single points until 2 a.m. and the multiplier kicks in at that time? It’s at least possible. I’ll test it someday starting at 1:50 so I don’t lose too much with only single points.

If that’s the case and I want to play before 2 a.m., I’ll make sure to start at 11:50 the night before, so my “yesterday’s” multiplier is active until 2 a.m.  Other than that one test day, I won’t ever begin my play between midnight and 2 a.m. unless I had also played previously in the day. Right now, it seems like the multipliers take effect at 2 a.m., but you can activate them before or after midnight.

These aren’t the kind of questions you want to ask at the casino. First of all, whomever you ask will probably not know the answer since the IT guy who programmed the system is not likely to be available for questions. Second, even if you do get the right person to ask, this kind of question labels you as a sharp player. Normal players do not think of these things. Many casinos do not want sharp players as patrons, so try not to do or say things to make them think you are such a person.

Every casino does these things differently. If you’re ever playing during these hours, you have to accumulate the information as you go (or perhaps learn from somebody else). However, if you’re always tucked in and asleep by midnight, you don’t need to worry about such matters.