Calculating free play

[RonDiaz]

My math escapes me today.My local casino still has full pay pickem poker.  Video Poker pays club points at a rate of $6 for one point.  Points can be redeemed at a rate of 100=$1 on food and merchandise and 150=$1 for FreePlay.  What does this equate to percentage wise.  They have comped me food before without redeeming points but I am not interested in figuring that in.  I am just wondering if i can get over 100% with these reward values.  Seems like with perfect 99.95% play I can but I am not doing the math right today.  Thanks.

[RonDiaz]

I think I figured it out to be .16% in food and .11% in freeplay.

[shadowman]

Your number indicates it costs $600 for one dollar of food and $900 for one dollar of freeplay. Looks to me like your numbers are very close.
 
1/600 = .167
1/900 = .111
 
So, rounding affects the first number slightly. In both cases the game becomes slightly positive.  Hopefully, the casino offers point multipliers occasionnally to increase your edge. Otherwise, you are certainly not a guaranteed winner. If your results are only slightly below average you will be a net loser.
 
I prefer to have an edge of at least .5% and, preferably, over 1%. However, if the entertainment value is significant then a smaller edge is acceptable.

[RonDiaz]

Thanks for the reply Shadow.I am in it for the entertainment value mostly. It is likely at this point my play is not 100%.  They do have point multipliers sometimes but sometimes they exclude VP too, which I am not sure why all the paytables in the casino are bad besides the 5 machines with Pickem. I like the casino. The beer is cheap and cold and they have music on the casino floor on the weekends now and I just plain like the casino.  They send me some extra FreePlay in the mail sometimes, and I have on occasion got comped food without redeeming points.  So I think I am getting a good deal.  I'm not planning on doing it for a living.

[shadowman]

When I compute the edge for a given play I always include all cash equivalent factors. So, I would include the freeplay in computing the overall edge. Everything else is just icing on the cake.
Your freeplay is probably based on your overall coin-in. It varies significantly from casino to casino so about the only way you can determine the percentage is to keep track of all your play and compare it to the freeplay. For example, there are two casinos that I play in about the same amount overall. In one casino I get $60/month. In the other casino I get $320/month.
 
Most important is to keep having fun.

[RonDiaz]

Aye I should start keeping track of all this. I will try to do so starting next month.  I only get down there a couple times a month usually.

[Shiny]

I have a similar question re. cash back:
 
It takes  $450 coin in to get $5 in instant cash back. Or $90 coin in to get $1 in cash back (post card offer).  What's the %. I will be playing full pay JOB.

[shadowman]

I have a similar question re. cash back:
 
It takes  $450 coin in to get $5 in instant cash back. Or $90 coin in to get $1 in cash back (post card offer).  What's the %. I will be playing full pay JOB.

 
Wow, better not let this one get out if this is for high denoms or the LV pros will descend like vultures.
 
1/90 = 1.11%
 
Add that to the base rate of 99.54% for FPJOB and you have 100.65% for a simple game.

[Shiny]

Thx, shadowman.