{"id":12474,"date":"2017-10-17T15:00:39","date_gmt":"2017-10-17T22:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/?p=12474"},"modified":"2017-10-17T11:09:49","modified_gmt":"2017-10-17T18:09:49","slug":"something-didnt-expect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/something-didnt-expect\/","title":{"rendered":"Something I Didn\u2019t Expect"},"content":{"rendered":"

In early September, there was an invitational event at the M resort for their Icon guests, which is their highest tier level. Perhaps others were invited as well, but I\u2019m not sure.<\/p>\n

Just for showing up, you received your choice of nice brand name gifts — there was a Fitbit Watch, Dooney and Burke handbags, some TUMI accessories and some more choices. About 1\/3 of the gifts were geared towards men and 2\/3 were geared towards women. Since I\u2019m no dummy, I took Bonnie along and let her pick what she wanted. In addition to the free gift, there were some better-than-average hors d\u2019 oeuvres and an open bar.<\/p>\n

While you didn\u2019t need to play to get the gift, they had three separate drawings — 9 p.m., 9:30 p.m., and 10 p.m. — for some Louis Vuitton \u201cpackages,\u201d consisting of a handbag, sunglasses, and one additional item. And entry tickets for this drawing was based on play.<\/p>\n

Bonnie isn\u2019t much into brand names. She took the attitude of, \u201cDon\u2019t play extra for me. Louis Vuitton accessories are way more expensive than what I normally use. Plus, I already have three handbags in closets won in other promotions that I haven\u2019t used yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s nice when Bonnie takes this \u201csensible\u201d attitude. However, this time it would have been nice had she been a bit greedier. I had already decided that I should probably play at least $100,000 in coin-in to justify the invitation. The casino was putting out quite a bit of money for this promotion, and when they put out that kind of money, they expect players to play. If I took their nice gift without playing at all, perhaps I wouldn\u2019t receive the invitation next time.<\/p>\n

There was a combination of promotions going on there, so playing that much was probably a decent play — if I valued the Louis Vuitton package at close to retail. Bonnie\u2019s sensible attitude took some of the value away. If she had a \u201cBoy, that would be so special to win that prize!\u201d attitude, clearly winning the package would be more valuable. Dollars and sense is one way to measure value, but how happy something makes Bonnie is also part of the equation for me.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t know how good of a chance for the Louis Vuitton package playing $100,000 coin-in would get me. I didn\u2019t see a lot of players \u201cgoing for it.\u201d One lady who typically plays a lot at this kind of event had concert tickets somewhere else, so wasn\u2019t going to play for a \u201cmust be there to win\u201d drawing. She went, ordered her gift, and then went to the concert. Like Bonnie, she had a number of unused handbags from other casino promotions.<\/p>\n

As luck would have it, my name was called at the 9 p.m. drawing. (Perhaps I had a competitive number of entries. Perhaps it was simply blind luck. I really don\u2019t know.) There was a choice of three Louis Vuitton packages, so Bonnie decided which one suited her best. In addition to the Louis Vuitton package, she picked out a Dooney and Burke bag for her regular gift. So much for having too many handbags!<\/p>\n

I checked to see if you could win more than once and found out the answer was \u201cNo.\u201d That was the fair way to do it, but in case they didn\u2019t have that rule, I\u2019d make sure to stick around for the last two drawings as well. Since we couldn\u2019t win again, we didn\u2019t stick around.<\/p>\n

Just before I left, one of the promotion managers came over and had me sign a $3,000 Tax Form 1099 for the Louis Vuitton package. Whoa! What\u2019s this? I was not expecting this at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the retail price for the prize, so if you want to keep it, you have to sign for it. If you don\u2019t want to keep it, we\u2019ll call somebody else\u2019s name.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bonnie had already fallen in love with her new handbag, so there was no way in the world that I would make her give it back. But the tax implications did surprise me some.<\/p>\n

Had I known of the $3,000 1099 would I have still played for it? Probably. I get enough W2Gs and 1099s throughout the year that one more would not be a showstopper. It\u2019s just most of the ones I get come with cash (like winning a $3,000 drawing). Having the tax form come with a gift is a bit unusual for me. And, na\u00efve guy that I am about designer things, I was thinking $600 or so was the appropriate price for the gift.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not complaining. Winning this prize was far more good news than bad. It was simply a surprise I wasn\u2019t expecting.<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"youtube\"<\/a>\"instagram\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In early September, there was an invitational event at the M resort for their Icon guests, which is their highest tier level. Perhaps others were invited as well, but I\u2019m not sure. Just for showing up, you received your choice of nice brand name gifts — there was a Fitbit Watch, Dooney and Burke handbags, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[2,9],"tags":[428,258,293,196],"yoast_head":"\nSomething I didn't Expect - Tax form on a casino prize<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Winning this prize is far more good news than bad. 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