Question of the Day - 15 June 2020

Concerning the last question that you answered--free pay. The basic rule as I understand them is that you must play the entire amount (I usually get $100. You must play the entire $100 through the machine.  So here is what I do.  I take a small piece of paper and pencil to the machine.  Assuming I play the max on a $1 VP machine--that's $5 per hand for a total of 20 hands.  I simply count the number of hands.  After I have played 20 hands if any money is left I cash out and go buy a refreshment--a drink or ice cream for my bride of 54 years.  Or something similar. Just a little fun activity where beat the casino for a couple of dollars.

 Just another false pretense "come on" that society has copied everywhere, to "get 'em in the door". Don't expect much from these :promotions" and you won't be disappointed.

Some casinos might take exception to you taking notes like that. (Don’t ask me why.)

I merely keep a mental note. If I lose track, I simply hit the cash out button. If there are any credits left, those are the unplayed free credits, so I just play those down. 

The Trop used to have an interesting one. You paid $20 for $50 of free play.  I rarely saw anyone win anything on the machines.  However, if you won nothing, you then got to select a gift, may of which were probably worth close to $20.  So it was a fun activity that usually resulted in a nice prize, anyway.

On the comment on taking notes, I always have a notebook with me when I play to track the type of machine, machine number, cash in, and cash out, in order to correctly record my wins and losses when I file my taxes.  So I don't think I would have any problem with tallying 20 spins.  If they questioned it, I'd just show them my notebook and tell them it's my tax journal.  That said, I agree I'd have little problem counting to 20 in my head or on my fingers! :-)

I have gotten plenty of free play as part of promotions to come to Vegas or other casinos.  I have never found that the machine played any differently or the pay tables changed using free play.  I get them in $50 increments.  I have gotten hand pay jackpots using free play.  I have not found any VP machines or slots that will not take the free play at Caesars properties (they are property specific). I figure that the machines are set with a high enough house hold anyway.  I am still waiting to hear from my friends as to whether they have made the slots/VP worse for the player now that they are opening up.

There was lots of talk about hoping to be offered great promotions to get folks back to Vegas. I doubted it but waited with baited breath. When I go to Vegas I always go on an offer of free play. I get a free suite from my host and I have rewards points built up so I don't need free shows or meals. For years I used to get offers of $225 free slot play each visit and that's what I'd take. In 2019 they lowered it to $45.  My host upped that to $225 for my December visit. What am I being offered now? 40 whole dollars. Less than before. That gives me ZERO incentive to visit. (Until there's a vaccine or a zero COVID rate in the country I have no incentive anyway.) Just bringing this up since one of the topics is Free Play. 

Technically, you turn 21 on the day before your birthday. On the day of your birthday, you are beginning your 22nd year.

Technical or not you will never get any casino anywhere to accept the "day before".

The question about turning 21 in Europe 8 hours before turning 21 in the US may have answered one I've puzzled about for years.  I've watched dealers and pit bosses examine IDs (for age).  Many times they take a long time before deciding the player is legal age (or not).  I've always wondered, don't they have the "birthdate of the day" plastered somewhere, such as "today the legal birthdate is June 15, 1999."  So they don't have to take so much time with it?  Or maybe the different designs of DLs and IDs make it tougher to locate on the card.  Or, since I had to count on all my fingers AND toes to close get to the magic number, maybe it is harder than I thought!  LOL.

It’s not just checking the date. That seems like the easy part. But keep in mind that there is no standard ID design. If given one from out of there area, you gotta really look at it. 

Note that you also have to check to see if it’s a valid ID, and if the picture is really the person who provided the ID. Etc. 

@plikko is correct. I worked for the Federal government processing annuities for railroad workers at US Railroad Retirement Board. Your attainment date is the day before your birthday. If you were one of the lucky ones who's date of birth was the first day of the month then your benefit could start the beginning of the prior month since  your attainment date was the last day of the prior month. Now do the casinos know this or follow this? Probably not, agreeing with @Jackie's comment.

About being 21 years old, plikko correctly brings up a very good point about an issue that will never be resolved.

Remember? in what year did the 21st century begin? -- the year 2000 or 2001?

But each side refuses to think about the others'.  Think about a dozen eggs - do you start counting the eggs at zero or at one egg?  And then, when you start counting the second dozen, how many have you counted?

Not taking either side here, but just some logic.  When you're counting a year (or a decade, or a century, or a dozen); you start at the first one, then finish at how many of what you're counting makes up one of the group you're designating.

That's the logic.  Sandra cites one side, but unfortunately the legal ID definition is firmly on the other side of the issue.

Your birthday is the first day of life outside your mother's body, 364 days later you are 1 year old. The next day after that begins your 2nd year of life. By the time you are 21 years old you will have lived thru approx 5 leap years, which means an extra day you have been alive during each leap year. So when your 21st birthday arrives you are actually 5 days older than 21 years. But we don't count days, we count years, and your birthday is fixed to the day you were hatched. And the new day begins one second after midnight. So whatever day of the month you were born you reach 21 years of age just after midnight on the day before your birthday, which is when the day of your birthyear begins. A complication for casinos and liquor stores is when a person is born on Feb 29th.

How much free play should everyone get when they turn 21? Offer 'em $500 and a free trip to Vegas, and they'll be hooked for life, bwahahahahahaaaaa.

Any shows going to open by September