Can You Afford Free? (Part I)
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/6dp6k">
http://tinyurl.com/6dp6k</a>
New Jean Scott Frugal Fridays Column
On a cold hard math basis, I restrict the vast majority of my play
to three places and times:
1. Stations: I play $1 10/6 DDB or $1 10/7 DB at GVR or Sunset, only
on triple (or better) point days. Triple point days jump the fairly
crappy comps-only return from .166% to .5%, but this is HALVED by
Station's policy of only giving half points on breakeven (or better)
machines. $20-30K of action usually gets me a 4x$30 mailer (although
last month I got 4x$45).
2. Fiestas: i play $10/7 DB and .25 FPDW/FPJW. These are about $6/hr
plays inherently, and since I only play on 5X point days, i get .83%
comps, a healthy return. Bounceback mailers are fairly crappy; I'm
lucky if I get 4X$20.
3. Palms: I play 10/7 DB, also $1 Triple Play NSUD (on triple point
days only). About $60K of monthly coin-in gets me the 8x$50 mailer.
Palms base point rate is .25 so 3X gives me .75% comp rate.
The point of all this is that my total return on these plays is
HEAVILY concentrated in comps and bounceback mailers (plus the more
than occasional tourney invite or other freebie). Now, you have to
DISCOUNT the value of both of these things if you are a realist.
Some of the bounceback cash inevitably slips through your fingers;
you can't make it over to the casino in question in time; you simply
forget; you're out of town; trivia like your wedding or the death of
a close relative interferes. From my experience, I'm lucky if I pick
up 75% of everything I'm entitled to.
Looking at the "true" value of comps, the scale is HEAVILY tilted by
the consideration of: what's the value of this comp to ME? If you
like the restaurants in the casino, AND WOULD EAT AT THEM ANYWAY,
then you can value food comps at par value. We love to eat at
Garduno's and Little Buddha, and we also like to hit GVR for the
Sunday brunch buffet, so this isn't much of a problem for us. I also
treat guests and out-of-town visitors, so the points are useful to
me. But if you earn them faster than you can spend them, and you
don't eat out that much (or you're simply sick of eating at the
Golden Commode coffee shop because it's FREE), then their value
becomes dubious over time.
If you can exchange the points for something else useful in
the "real world", their value zooms upwards IMHO. Rampart and
Cannery have gift certs (gas, grocery, dept stores) on an irregular
basis. Stations will get you movie tickets (but only at the rate of
1000 pts/$1, not the base 600). Fiesta will get you gasoline, again
at the discounted 1000/$1 rate. Just about the only thing you can do
with the Palms points is to use them to get a spa treatment or to
pig out.
So because I find myself, for lack of any alternate use, spending my
points on something I wouldn't normally pay full retail for, or buy
at all, or I have to spend them at a discounted exchange rate to buy
something outside the casino, I no longer consider points to be
worth their full value. I assign them a 75% of "face value" worth.
As a visitor, you should view slot club points the same way. Will
you use all of them? Probably not. Every regular visitor has a
balance of unused slot club points sitting SOMEWHERE.
Here's another consideration: you want to go out to eat, and you'd
like to try that new reataurant that serves broiled anteater. Well,
the anteater turns out to be great (especially the tongue), but the
bill in -eek!- REAL MONEY is $118. Next week, will you defer a
return visit to Aunt Ettie's Anteater Eatery, and hit the coffee
shop at the Silver Dumpster instead, because it's "FREE"? The
presence of comps in your account can skew your decisions, keep you
in the casino longer than you had planned, or create a return visit
than you hadn't anticipated making. And if during one of these
return visits, you stop and tank a $100 bill in one of the VP
machines, well, the value of that comp just turned NEGATIVE. There
aren't any VP machines at Aunt Ettie's.
Tell Me, when you eat at the Golden Commode, do you prefer your broiled anteater, medium rare or well done?
···
From: "rockofjello333" <rockofjello333@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: vpFREE@yahoogroups.com
To: vpFREE@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [vpFREE] Re: New Jean Scott Frugal Fridays Column; defining "free"
Date: Sat, 20 Nov 2004 00:07:37 -0000--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "vpFREE" <vpFREE@C...> wrote:
>
> Can You Afford Free? (Part I)
>
On a cold hard math basis, I restrict the vast majority of my play
to three places and times:1. Stations: I play $1 10/6 DDB or $1 10/7 DB at GVR or Sunset, only
on triple (or better) point days. Triple point days jump the fairly
crappy comps-only return from .166% to .5%, but this is HALVED by
Station's policy of only giving half points on breakeven (or better)
machines. $20-30K of action usually gets me a 4x$30 mailer (although
last month I got 4x$45).2. Fiestas: i play $10/7 DB and .25 FPDW/FPJW. These are about $6/hr
plays inherently, and since I only play on 5X point days, i get .83%
comps, a healthy return. Bounceback mailers are fairly crappy; I'm
lucky if I get 4X$20.3. Palms: I play 10/7 DB, also $1 Triple Play NSUD (on triple point
days only). About $60K of monthly coin-in gets me the 8x$50 mailer.
Palms base point rate is .25 so 3X gives me .75% comp rate.The point of all this is that my total return on these plays is
HEAVILY concentrated in comps and bounceback mailers (plus the more
than occasional tourney invite or other freebie). Now, you have to
DISCOUNT the value of both of these things if you are a realist.
Some of the bounceback cash inevitably slips through your fingers;
you can't make it over to the casino in question in time; you simply
forget; you're out of town; trivia like your wedding or the death of
a close relative interferes. From my experience, I'm lucky if I pick
up 75% of everything I'm entitled to.Looking at the "true" value of comps, the scale is HEAVILY tilted by
the consideration of: what's the value of this comp to ME? If you
like the restaurants in the casino, AND WOULD EAT AT THEM ANYWAY,
then you can value food comps at par value. We love to eat at
Garduno's and Little Buddha, and we also like to hit GVR for the
Sunday brunch buffet, so this isn't much of a problem for us. I also
treat guests and out-of-town visitors, so the points are useful to
me. But if you earn them faster than you can spend them, and you
don't eat out that much (or you're simply sick of eating at the
Golden Commode coffee shop because it's FREE), then their value
becomes dubious over time.If you can exchange the points for something else useful in
the "real world", their value zooms upwards IMHO. Rampart and
Cannery have gift certs (gas, grocery, dept stores) on an irregular
basis. Stations will get you movie tickets (but only at the rate of
1000 pts/$1, not the base 600). Fiesta will get you gasoline, again
at the discounted 1000/$1 rate. Just about the only thing you can do
with the Palms points is to use them to get a spa treatment or to
pig out.So because I find myself, for lack of any alternate use, spending my
points on something I wouldn't normally pay full retail for, or buy
at all, or I have to spend them at a discounted exchange rate to buy
something outside the casino, I no longer consider points to be
worth their full value. I assign them a 75% of "face value" worth.As a visitor, you should view slot club points the same way. Will
you use all of them? Probably not. Every regular visitor has a
balance of unused slot club points sitting SOMEWHERE.Here's another consideration: you want to go out to eat, and you'd
like to try that new reataurant that serves broiled anteater. Well,
the anteater turns out to be great (especially the tongue), but the
bill in -eek!- REAL MONEY is $118. Next week, will you defer a
return visit to Aunt Ettie's Anteater Eatery, and hit the coffee
shop at the Silver Dumpster instead, because it's "FREE"? The
presence of comps in your account can skew your decisions, keep you
in the casino longer than you had planned, or create a return visit
than you hadn't anticipated making. And if during one of these
return visits, you stop and tank a $100 bill in one of the VP
machines, well, the value of that comp just turned NEGATIVE. There
aren't any VP machines at Aunt Ettie's.