Cash Back

[wildman49]

I been seeing more of you post this cash back. I have never seen this
and would like to know what it is. It must be a Vegas market thing. Here
in Michigan where I play we get a mailer once a month, It tells how
much free play we get, what day to get our gas card, free gift and the
promos for the month. NO cash back whatever that is.

[FloridaPhil]

Casinos allow you to redeem your earned points in different ways.  In many casinos the points can only be used for purchases in the casino or the resort itself.   Some casinos give you the option of converting your points to free play, in house credit or cash.   Others have a catalog of items you can choose from or an attached mall where the points can be used.    I believe the cash back option is a Vegas thing as I have only seen it once in our travels outside Nevada.  Bob Dancer has spoken a few times about casinos that will return a portion of your loses if you play big enough money.  I am sure other forum members that have more experience with cash back will elaborate further.

[Bobbi]

Hi there - sorry I missed you in Colorado Phil... If you were playing at Ameristar - they do have a cash back system - as you were playing you earned tier points but you also earned points that could be used as "cash back", Freeplay or to shop in their on line catalogue. Although these points add up slowly - they can also be used in house in the restaurants or the store they have there - if you use them in house - they are worth double the value - $40.00 in points gets you $80.00 in the restaurant.. I have used them in their on line shop for a garmin gps watch and dozens of golf balls.

[FloridaPhil]

I noticed the cash back option when we played at the Ameristar last week. Evidently they don't give much back for 98.9% quarter video poker play.   We both played max coin quarters there for at least 3 hours a day for three full days and our cash back was only $5.  For that much play in South Florida I could have had a free room for the night or a nice meal.  Each casino is different.  The Ameristar has great quarter odds, but they seem to be light on their comps.

[Bobbi]

Yes - you are correct - also they don't offer much in the way of freeplay - I try to stay at the same casino to maximize benefits - I played at Ameristar for the last couple of years, I go at least once a week - moved up in tier, have access to the VIP lounge (meals,drinks) but the free play is awful. They give me $15.00 a week. I switched back to the Reserve - for the last month and a half I went once a week and my weekly freeplay is already up to $65.00 a week.

[POKERKAT]

Had played for years at the old "Union Plaza" and one time decided to turn in all my points for cash. The points weren't doing much else for me. It was well over $300, so I had some extra to play. Soon after that they changed, redid the Plaza and all those points went away. That was a bit of Luck on my part in timing. The cash return was more generous in those days.

[FloridaPhil]

If given a choice, I much prefer better odds than generous comps. I know some people would disagree with me,  but I can pay for my own meals and rooms.  What I want is to play a game that doesn't turn me upside down and clean out my pockets in a few hours.

[wildman49]

Where I play we do have two sets of numbers come up on our players card. First is your points, every 1000 points can be downloaded to a machine as $1 in free play. The second numbers is in dollar form that can be spent on rooms, food, elt. Some days of the month we can turn it into free play at the players club. Is that what you all call cash back? Bob said something like he gets a check in his flyer. I have seen the pay back for new players at some casinos down state that will give you some free play back on your losses but only for new players and a one time deal. Then you have to go back to play it off. But cash back? Never seen it. Everything is free play around here.

[onemoretry]

At Casino Rama, where I used to play a lot, and now play a little, they have true cashback. When you want to cash in some points, you go to the cashier's cage, tell them how many points you want to cash in, and they hand you money.

When I first started playing there (2003), the cashback rate was 0.33%. In 2008, they introduced a revised players card system where the top card levels received 0.4% cashback. Alas, in early 2011, the rate was halved to 0.2%, where it remains to date.

[FloridaPhil]

The Hard Rocks used to have special coupon days where you could convert some of your points to free play.  That went away when they brought in the new comp system.  The new system is quite generous, but the points expire.  It's a good deal for someone that plays every week. not so good if you only go once in a great while.   The only real cash back system I have seen so far is the Ameristar and it doesn't look like it's worth much to a small time player.Bob seemed to indicate the reason he was playing at Dotty's was due to a good rebate on losses.  If this is true I'm sure this would require some significant amount of play.   I'm positive he wouldn't have taken the chance if the numbers weren't on his side.