How Much is Enough?

[FloridaPhil]

[quote=BobDancer]Most of the knowledgeable video poker players i know
played the minimum possible to qualify for the airfare reimbursement (I
don't know what that is yet --- Harrah's New Orleans insists you play 2
hours --- I'll check before I play off my free play --- I will very
possibly play V-E-R-Y slowly --- even dollar 9/7 DB slips to an
unplayable 99.06% with the Mississippi tax) and then I'll quit simply
because there is no intelligent play there.[/quote]Bob recently posted this comment in the Casino Talk Forum and it brought up a question of great interest to me. I play a lot of single coin video poker, but there are times when I switch to max coins. My wife and I have recently become fond of the Hollywood Hard Rock Casino in South Florida.  It's a nice resort/casino and they have a bank of our favorite Airport Deuces machines in quarters.  After playing there for a few days last month we were surprised to find they offered us free rooms on non peek days. This has real value to us as the casino is only three hours away and our son lives nearby. We want to keep the free rooms but don't know how much max coin play would be required.  How do we find this out?  Thanks!

[BobDancer]

What casinos want from you in order to give you benefits is a moving target.The two best sources of information on this are other players who play a similar mix of games as you do --- and casino hosts. If you visit the same casino over and over again, and usually play the same machines each time, you'll begin to see the same faces over and over again. Depending on your social skills, you may be able to talk to them and ask what they've found out on this subject.Hosts are "professional friends." It's their job to talk to players. They usually have some guidelines as to what they can and cannot comp, and sometimes they will share that information with you. If you say something like, "We've played quite a bit this trip and lost a lot. Has it been enough to have our room and meals picked up?"Often the host will give you a general answer and sometimes a more specific answer. If you talk to the same host over several trips, while sometimes bringing them a small gift or asking about their family or otherwise befriending them in a way that makes them feel more like a person and less like "just an employee," over time you'll learn their policies.Each casino has it's own rules. It may well be that one casino you like caters to higher rollers than you are and they just won't fork over anything for your amount of play. Okay. Try another casino. Other casinos cater to lower rollers.

[misterlister]

Phil, anyone who plays for something "free" instead of to win something needs to better understand what's going on. And hosts aren't our friends. Last I looked they worked for the casinos, and the casinos use every effort they can find, including getting hosts and us to buddy up, to take our cash.

If you want to know what it takes to keep getting those free rooms from the HR, the best way is to do your own research until you discover a formula that works. Don't fall into the trap of giving hosts gifts (who does that) or relying on them for particular information. You are your own best source of info.

[FloridaPhil]

Thanks for the reply.  I'm sure Florida is a lot different market than Vegas.  From my observations, it's mostly made up of a mix of vacationers and local gamblers.   We do have high rollers, but most of the regulars are seniors or occasional gamblers at best.   What's interesting is that I never asked for any comped rooms before.  I called the Player's Club and they told me to log into my account and see what they would offer me in the way of a discounted rate.  To my surprise about half of the nights were fully comped.  This amazed me because I only play about $250-$300 a day, but I play at least once a week.  On our last vacation my wife and I probably ran $3-5K though the machines a day.  It just goes to show you should ask anyway because you never know what you can get.  I'm pretty sure the answer to my question would come from someone in the player's club itself.  The slot hosts in Florida casinos are mostly just change makers.  The Hard Rock player's club hosts are very helpful if you're nice and ask intelligent questions.

[spxChrome]

[quote=BobDancer]Most of the knowledgeable video poker players i know
played the minimum possible to qualify for the airfare reimbursement (I
don't know what that is yet --- Harrah's New Orleans insists you play 2
hours --- I'll check before I play off my free play --- I will very
possibly play V-E-R-Y slowly --- even dollar 9/7 DB slips to an
unplayable 99.06% with the Mississippi tax) and then I'll quit simply
because there is no intelligent play there.[/quote]

You paying MS tax playing in New Orleans

[notes1]

hosts do not work for the player, they work for the casino. i have stated many times, they are not your friends anymore than the casino is your friend. it is a business relationship. each party wants something. and, many properties do not even give low limit players access to a host. as far as tampa goes, i have only gone there 3-4 times and got a host each time. they can do nothing more than what the computer tells them they are allowed. and, getting a room is a lot easier in the summer than getting one in the winter. 

[misterlister]

Whatever he says is truthful. I believe him anyway.

[FloridaPhil]

[quote=notes1]and, getting a room is a lot easier in the summer than getting one in the winter. [/quote]I'm sure that is true.  I was told by the Tampa Player's Club that it's much easier to get a compted room in Hollywood because they have so many more rooms.  I don't want to stay in Tampa anyway.    We're switching over to the Hollywood Hard Rock instead of the Beau Rivage.  We're done with Mississippi until they get some halfway decent VP odds.  Too bad because we used to go 3-4 times a year.  I'm sure they will have plenty of other fish to fry. 

[notes1]

[quote=notes1]and, getting a room is a lot easier in the summer than getting one in the winter. I'm sure that is true.  I was told by the Tampa Player's Club that it's much easier to get a compted room in Hollywood because they have so many more rooms.  I don't want to stay in Tampa anyway.    We're switching over to the Hollywood Hard Rock instead of the Beau Rivage.  We're done with Mississippi until they get some halfway decent VP odds.  Too bad because we used to go 3-4 times a year.  I'm sure they will have plenty of other fish to fry.  [/QUOTE]
 no doubt that tampa does not have enough hotel space, only stayed at hollywood once (great property), do not remember the size of the hotel, compared to size of casino. it seems that it was not that long ago that you were in favor of the beau, which i found odd, considering the results i was hearing and had experienced.  here is the best advice i can give you and everyone else when it comes to asking for something comp from a casino, the worst they can say is no. big deal, they say no, you gave it a try and don't give up asking. i consider it my obligation to get every legal thing i can get from them.

[FloridaPhil]

[quote=notes1]it seems that it was not that long ago that you were in favor of the
beau, which i found odd, considering the results i was hearing and had
experienced. [/quote]In years past we have had some great times at the Beau Rivage. I remember when they had 9/6 jacks on the main floor.  In the past five years they have been in a race to see who could have the worst VP odds in the Country and they won.  Biloxi was getting a little better when Margaritaville was open, but since they closed all the other casinos pulled their better VP games.  The last two trips to Biloxi we played Cheap Strategy quarters and did OK.  Good thing, because we would never play max coins with odds like that.  What good are free rooms, airfare and buffets if the slot machines turn you upside down and dump out all your money? At least the Hollywood Hard Rock is trying...  98.9% isn't giving away the farm, but 95.96% is a never win situation.We don't need free stuff.  What we want is a nice getaway Resort/Casino with at least 98% VP pay schedules and we don't think that is too much to ask.   We can get better VP odds in a small one room tribal casino than the Beau Rivage is offering in their high limit room and that is crazy.If we call out some of the worst offenders in public maybe they'll fix the problem instead of pretending it doesn't exist.