In the 5/25/10 QoD, we explained that playing video poker free-play is the same as playing with real money. The question was answered, but our resident video poker expert, Bob Dancer (who's currently on vacation in Europe, but is still reading QoD!), felt that we left out some important related information and we agree. Here are Bob's comments.
Playing free-play on a video poker machine is very similar to playing regular cash through the same machine, but it's not quite identical. One consideration is the slot club. At some casinos you receive slot club cash back when you play your free play. At other casinos you don't. While this doesn't affect the proper play of each hand it does affect the expected return. If you're playing at South Point, for example, and have $50 of free-play, the .30% the slot club offers gives you an extra 15¢ that you wouldn't receive if you played at Suncoast, for example, which does not award slot club points on free-play.
If you have a choice of picking up your free-play on a multiple-point day and the slot club awards points on free-play, it's slightly better to pick up your cash during the multiple-point day. But don't get carried away on this point. For "normal" amounts of free-play, say a $20 pick-up, getting double points is worth an extra 6¢ at South Point and 5¢ at the Palms. Hopefully you have enough going on in your life that a 5¢ or 6¢ premium doesn't affect you. But sometimes it does matter. In drawings at some casinos, you get a choice between cash (which comes with a 1099 tax form) and free-play (which does not). Avoiding the tax form is worth something to many people. If you get, say, $2,000 in free-play from one of these drawings, now it can make several dollars of difference whether you play on a single-point day or a multiple-point day.
Even if you won't get multiple points on your free-play, playing it on a multiple-point day can still be the best way to go. Many casinos look at how much you play when you come to pick up your free-play. If you "pick up and run," you might be penalized with respect to how much free-play that casino sends you in the future. If you play a reasonable amount beyond your free-play, you won't be penalized. However much this "reasonable amount" is in your particular case, it's worth more to play it at double points than single points. Some casinos look for reasons to exclude unprofitable players from their system. Playing only on multiple-point days, playing only on the highest-returning games in the house, and not playing "extra" when you pick up your free-play are three "indicators" that some casinos look for and act upon. Making sure you don't fit this stereotype is one way to extend your longevity in the casinos.
