Misconceptions about gambling promotions are common, and this promotion is complicated enough so that it requires some explanation. In addition, it's always a good idea to assume that a casino promotion involving gambling will be full of fine print, so you should always ask for all the details before you put some of your hard-earned bankroll at risk participating in the promotion.
Here's how the Arizona Charlie's players-club gambling-rebate sign-up bonus works.
A new member who loses between $5 and $100 on his or her first day of play can swipe the players card at the players club kiosk at the end of the losing session. The kiosk prints out a ticket that states the loss. The member brings the ticket to the players club booth, where the club card is loaded with the amount of the loss. The member inserts the players card into the machine (in this case, machines that qualify for the bonus play) and the card loads up the machine with the amount of the player loss.
The member then plays through the amount on the machine and whatever’s left can be cashed out.
So, you get the $100 back, but you have to play it through a machine. It's wise to check and see what kind of machines qualify for the free play. An LVA staffer did this same promotion at the Peppermill in Reno (with a visiting friend) and found that all the good machines qualified. (Also, the $100 had to be lost within the first hour, as opposed to the first 24 hours, at the Peppermill. And there was no kiosk step; they just had to return to the players club booth, where the friend's card was loaded up with the $100. Always check the details.)
Two final words of advice. First, remember to stop playing after you’ve lost the hundred. And second, remember to count the number of hands you play through on the free $100. On a quarter machine, for example, with a max-coin play of $1.25 per hand, you'd count 80 hands to get to the $100. If you're up after 80 hands, you can keep playing on the free money. If you're down, cash out and you'll have received $200 in machine play for whatever loss -- $5, $10, $20 -- you sustain.
