I just received a coupn in the mail for "free slot play" with a circular saying that all coupons from now on must be played in a machine until played out, and no more putting the coupon in and cashing it out.
Do you see any way to complain about that, or try to get that policy changed?
Harrah's: no more cash and dash
Judy,
There are two parts to explain my answer why this is possibly a long-term trend:
MACROECONOMIC - Texas Pacific/Apollo Group made a badly-timed financial move buying Harrah's early in 2008 for $90 per share ($20 billion or so). This private equity firm bought the company at the very peak of valuations early in 2008 right when the economy started tanking and casino revenues were taking big hits. As a result, Harrah's capital structure is literally impaired with a crippling amount of bond debt. How will the interest on this debt be serviced? Why....squeezing the players, of course! This is why all these Harrah's St. Louis players are suddenly seeing atrocious paytables (8/5/4 DB and 7/5 DDB).
MICROECONOMIC - Those new coupons are "free play" coupons in casino parlance. It is a fast-growing replacement to cash coupons because they are generally worth perhaps 60 percent as much as a good old face value cash coupon. If you are a really stingy casino chain like Catfish Bend in Iowa you force all the players to use PIN numbers and send out e-mails telling them how much free play they have so you don't actually have to pay any postage or printing costs on top of the reduced value of free play. Maybe this is the next step for Harrah's?
Right now, Harrah's players are getting squeezed hard because Texas Pacific/Apollo needs the player to pay for the bad timing of their Harrah's buyout.
Ameristar is a much more palatable option now. 50% of the company is still apparently owned by a spinal cord foundation that is probably counting its lucky stars Ameristar founder Craig Nielsen gave it to them in the first place. Playing video poker and cashing coupons against these guys should be a little more forgiving than paying for Apollo/Texas Pacific's mistakes.
Jim
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--- In vpFREE_StLouis@yahoogroups.com, "Judy" <judyfreiberg@...> wrote:
I just received a coupn in the mail for "free slot play" with a circular saying that all coupons from now on must be played in a machine until played out, and no more putting the coupon in and cashing it out.
Do you see any way to complain about that, or try to get that policy changed?
My host called me and invited me to come stay at the hotel this friday and try out the new system with a special free play coupon, but I have previous plans. Then he said they were going to make people play all coupons thru at least once, and I commented that I was surprised that it took this long as almost every other state already allows this. I believe california is the last place that you can cash n dash. Really not a big deal.
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--- In vpFREE_StLouis@yahoogroups.com, "Judy" <judyfreiberg@...> wrote:
I just received a coupn in the mail for "free slot play" with a circular saying that all coupons from now on must be played in a machine until played out, and no more putting the coupon in and cashing it out.
Do you see any way to complain about that, or try to get that policy changed?
MICROECONOMIC - Those new coupons are "free play" coupons in casino parlance. It is a fast-growing replacement to cash coupons because they are generally worth perhaps 60 percent as much as a good old face value cash coupon. .
Jim
The true value of a 'free play' coupon face value times the EV of the machine you choose to play it thru, so a coupon valued at $100 played thru a 9/6 JOB machine would be worth $99.50 aprox.
Really not an issue. Just less convenient.
BTW, the lowest EV machines in almost any casino are penny slots which generally return about 85%.
I stand corrected in a "long-term EV" sense.
But...usually the results are much worse than the long-term EV over the course of a few free hands offered by a coupon, which is why I pulled that 60-cent figure out of my hat.
Still though, it's a downgrade that has been carefully packaged as a new and exciting development. 
Jim
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--- In vpFREE_StLouis@yahoogroups.com, "jimnkelli" <jbecker11@...> wrote:
> MICROECONOMIC - Those new coupons are "free play" coupons in casino parlance. It is a fast-growing replacement to cash coupons because they are generally worth perhaps 60 percent as much as a good old face value cash coupon. .
>
> Jim
>The true value of a 'free play' coupon face value times the EV of the machine you choose to play it thru, so a coupon valued at $100 played thru a 9/6 JOB machine would be worth $99.50 aprox.
Really not an issue. Just less convenient.
BTW, the lowest EV machines in almost any casino are penny slots which generally return about 85%.
--- In vpFREE_StLouis@yahoogroups.com, "jimnkelli" <jbecker11@...>
The true value of a 'free play' coupon face value times the EV of the machine you choose to play it thru, so a coupon valued at $100 played thru a 9/6 JOB machine would be worth $99.50 aprox.
Really not an issue. Just less convenient.
I agree with Jim. The only real difference here is it'll take a few more minutes to get your money. Stick the coupon in the one 9/6 Jacks machine and run it through on quarters (or higher denom if the varience isn't a concern) and you'll almost always net between 90-110% of the face value.