What amount of slot cash makes it a 100% game?

[Jojo2018]

My casino has been having a "contest" where you pick a card on check in and get some free slot cash. For the past few weeks, I've been getting a minimum of $5 slot cash. Sometimes $10 the most has been $25 (1 time).

My question: what is the amount of slot cash that will make my session a positive one? Also, the best paying game in this casino is 98.45% and at the $1 level. Thanks in advance.

[New2vp]

You need a little algebra. If I interpret what you are saying correctly, you need the expected gain in $ from free play to exceed the expected $ lost. That will depend on the number of hands that you play.

On the trips that you get $10, your expected gain is 98.45% x $10 = $9.845 if you put the money through the machine that you've described. Your expected loss on that machine on each hand is 1.55% x $5 per hand or $0.0775. If you divided $9.845 by $0.0775, you get 127.032 hands (or coin-in of $635.16). This means if you play fewer than 128 hands, you will have an expected gain; and, if you play more than 127 hands, you will have an expected loss. Obviously, your actual results will vary.

If you get $5 in free play, the breakeven point is 63.516 hands. With $25, it is 317.581 hands.

If you always want to play the same number of hands, you will have to use some guess at the average amount of free play that you will receive and run it through a calculation as I described above.

In each case, your edge is greater with fewer hands played; however, I imagine that your future offers will depend on how much you play, making this a more complex problem.

[Jojo2018]

Thank you! This is the kind of answer I was looking for! Was an Arts major, lol.

Yes, I've been playing 5 hands ($5 per hand) on that JOB game. I may be getting appreciated more by this casino as before I was getting $25 gas cards. I was able to make that work for me as I use gasoline, lol. Also, figured out the math on that one. Thanks to the folks on this board for helping with that math. My offers dried up for a few months and now appear to be back.

Thanks again and Royal Flushes to all for 2019!

[FloridaPhil]

Interesting question. I never thought about a drawing this way. If he doesn't win anything in the drawing, can the game be positive? My casino runs a giveaway each month. On a particular day, they draw a different name every 7 minutes for $777 in free play. This happens from 2PM until 10 PM. The VP game I play at the denomination I play has a mathematical $15 an hour house edge. Does the drawing offset any of this?

[Eduardo]

My casino runs a giveaway each month. On a particular day, they draw a different name every 7 minutes for $777 in free play. This happens from 2PM until 10 PM. The VP game I play at the denomination I play has a mathematical $15 an hour house edge. Does the drawing offset any of this?

Yes, but you would need to approximate your odds in the drawing in order to determine how much the offset is. What does it take to earn an entry, how many entries total... that's if you want to determine the EV.

If you simply want to know if it helps... of course. It's a chance to win money!

[Waiting4RF]

Phil, I thought you read the expert's book 5 times. Did he talk about drawings in the book? I have not read the book yet.

[billryan]

Reading something and comprehending it are not tell same thing.

[BobDancer]

My casino has been having a "contest" where you pick a card on check in and get some free slot cash. For the past few weeks, I've been getting a minimum of $5 slot cash. Sometimes $10 the most has been $25 (1 time).

My question: what is the amount of slot cash that will make my session a positive one? Also, the best paying game in this casino is 98.45% and at the $1 level. Thanks in advance.

Let's look at this a bit more deeply. New2vp's answer was fine as far as it went.

You said "check in." Did you mean check into the hotel or swipe a kiosk to start your gambling day? If a hotel room is included, that adds value assuming you have use for the room.

Is this the only promotion? Do they award slot club points that are redeemable for cash, free play, comps, etc? Do they ever have multiple points? You say you get a mailer. $10 from a mailer counts just as much as $10 from this drawing.

My point is that all of these benefits are additive. Insofar as your financial bottom line goes, it doesn't really matter if the money comes from the game, the slot club, or other promotions.

Sometimes you need to play "on the come," meaning the math of the particular game doesn't add up, but mailers just might make it positive in the future. After you play enough to get some data on how this particular casino works, you can make adjustments. If you've been playing at a casino for months and you're not getting sufficient mailers yet, you probably aren't going to get them.

[FloridaPhil]

I can see how playing when there is a drawing has value. I have never won a casino drawing, so it hasn't done me any good so far. I believe what we are talking about here is "potential" value. I can see how playing when the potential is at it's greatest would influence your results in a positive way. If you are not in the drawing, you can't win. I have a hard time grasping the idea that a potentially positive gamble is worth actual money in your pocket.

The 777 drawings at my casino are open to all player's club members. You must be in attendance to win. I suspect the number of card holders at the Hard Rock could be a huge number with all the tourists and winter visitors. Then there is the question of what to do with the free play if I win? They make you play it within 24 hours. Since the free play is "free", does that make any game I play with it positive?

[billryan]

Your chances of winning a drawing are probably much better than those of drawing a royal and time spent at a drawing is time not spent at a negative game.