This question, like yesterday's, had Jean Scott’s name written all over it. She’s one of the world’s great experts on the ins and outs of players club systems and her book, More Frugal Gambling, contains more of this sort of secret information about maximizing the comp system than any other book on the market.
Take it, Jean.
The obvious philosophy of "daily average" is the amount of action (coin-in or slot club points earned) you put through the machines in one casino divided by the number of days you play on the machines. But whether it’s called a daily average (for a day visitor) or a trip average (for the multi-day visitor), it’s a treacherous bog of peat and quicksand.
If you’re staying in the hotel-casino where you’re playing, your play might be figured as a whole trip average. Out of towners like you who staying for a period of time at a casino where their status is based on a trip average rather than a daily one need to be sure of how the casino defines the word "trip." Usually, a trip ends after there’s no action for three days, but some casinos start you on a "new trip" if there’s only one day with no play.
However, more and more casinos (including Harrah’s) are using a daily average rather than a trip average for out-of-town visitors. Since this average determines your future offers, it’s strongly recommended that you don’t "spoil" your daily average by diluting your play over all the days of your stay. In More Frugal Gambling I give this warning: "NEVER give ‘walk-through’ play in a casino that worships the God of Daily Average. If you can’t give a substantial amount of play on this day, don’t give any."
There are a number of ways you can be "tripped," meaning tripped up by the daily average, even if you don’t play on one day: using your points for a food comp; checking your point balance at a machine or kiosk; visiting a VIP players club lounge; using a free-play coupon that came in the mail; checking in (or out) of the hotel. I cover even more of these and many others in More Frugal Gambling.
There’s no standardized criteria for "tripping," same as there’s no easy way to find out what the policy is for a particular casino. Trial and error might shed some light on this subject. Some information is posted on Internet forums. Savvy players share information with each other. Sometimes a host may give you some information here, but it’s usually limited.
Without specific knowledge of a casino’s policy, your best bet is to try to clump all your play and non-play business with one casino into as few days as possible, so you’ll get the best possible future offers.
