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Scot Krause's Slot Club Spotlight - 8 MAR 2016

#1

I certainly would not dispute this observation, but it certainly is a turnabout from twenty years ago.
When I was playing blackjack and card counting, I started out shunning players' cards, not wanting to provide any ID that could contribute to identifying me if I were detected. After a few barrings, I looked around at the "regular" blackjack players so that I could try to look more like them, and one of the things I observed is they were constantly using their players' card and asking hosts for comps for meals, etc. etc. -- so I started doing that (I also bought some "bling" and made sure I was sharply dressed to match my level of play, among other things). I did much better after that in terms of avoiding being barred, and I also did much better in terms of the freebies I got, with limos, suites, and comped meals every night at gourmet restaurants.
My point is that my initial attitude of "don't tell 'em who you are, it might hurt you" proved wrong back then, but it appears that it now may be the correct way for an advantage player to approach games. If I ever take up blackjack again, I'll keep that in mind.
I certainly recognize that the value of players' clubs is greatly diminished from those days (and that today, asking hosts for comps rarely gets anything without burning points, other than perhaps the courtesy of making a reservation for a player), so I can see how things may have changed. Personally, I still use my card, knowing that I get very little in the way of benefits, but since I'm not seeking out advantage plays as actively as some (although I always keep my eyes open when I'm walking around a casino), I also don't see that I have much to lose, and it does cover my meals on casino trips and lets me avoid the long lines, and takes a little bit of the bite out of playing games with a small casino edge (yeah, I do that, but at least I know I'm doing it -- I guess I'm really a recreational player at heart, although I do make some effort to reduce the cost of my recreation).
--BG===================
3a. Re: Scot Krause's Slot Club Spotlight - 8 MAR 2016

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Makes a lot of sense especially since a lot of card clubs these days have such meager benefits. You see more and more gamblers refusing to play with slot cards and refusing tracking at table games. It's funny sometimes when you see some casino employee going around offering to get players slot cards and you see the reactions of the players against even the mention of "slot card". I've seen players just cash out and walk out which makes the nice casino employee, generally a nicely dressed young lady, look like some sort of escort or drug dealer or panhandler or something. More and more players don't like being treated like criminals if they should happen to win something in a casino.

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#2

Don't see the benefit of no card if you're playing VP medium to high stakes.

Hit a Royal 50 cents denom and higher and they've got your info anyway.

BTW at the Borgata in AC if you play BJ without a card they limit the amount you can bet. Forgot exactly what that limit might be.

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#3

lfcmja wrote: "Hit a Royal 50 cents denom and higher and they've got your info anyway."

The tracking card gives them much more information. If you download a casino app to your smartphone, they may be tracking you that way also. For w2g's you can request that they withhold the tax and you apply to the IRS for it later using a tax id number, to protect your SSN. These days, you really should NEVER give out your SSN or carry your SSN card on your person. Check identitytheft.gov for details.

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#4

BG wrote: "I guess I'm really a recreational player at heart, although I do make some effort to reduce the cost of my recreation"

One way to reduce the cost of recreation is to reject the tracking card. Now, in the past, the benefits of the 7stars card probably outweighed the costs of being tracked, but with all the cutbacks in the program and the bankruptcy, the value of the 7stars card is in doubt. At one time, other, non-CZR casinos, would give you free stuff just for having a 7stars card, but that's much rarer these days.

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#5

As always, I respect your sensibilities, noti.

However, in my personal experience, very few plays are "playable" in absence of slot card promotions (and expect that is true for most players here).

Fwiw, there no question for me about the current value of 7* (hard to say what's coming down the pike, but short of outright property closure, I'm not sweating it.)

---In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, <nightoftheiguana2000@...> wrote :

BG wrote: "I guess I'm really a recreational player at heart, although I do make some effort to reduce the cost of my recreation"

One way to reduce the cost of recreation is to reject the tracking card. Now, in the past, the benefits of the 7stars card probably outweighed the costs of being tracked, but with all the cutbacks in the program and the bankruptcy, the value of the 7stars card is in doubt. At one time, other, non-CZR casinos, would give you free stuff just for having a 7stars card, but that's much rarer these days.

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#6

vp_wiz wrote: "However, in my personal experience, very few plays are "playable" in absence of slot card promotions (and expect that is true for most players here)."

I think there are a lot of different definitions of "playable", so I suggest just looking at slot cards on an EV basis. The cost of being tracked is difficult to determine, but I suggest that it is HUUUGE and almost always substantially more than the return benefits of the card, hence the modern slot card is almost always negative EV.

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#7

I completely disagree. I play at some casinos where the benefits that I get from using a slot club card are staggering, cash back, free play offers, high dollar tournaments, that's not even counting comps. The worst that has happened to me in over 30 years of playing is that I do too well at a casino and my offers dropped. In Mickey's case where the benefits are small from his card and he moves around to a lot of properties then I can see where there would be minimal benefit to a card, but for someone playing in Vegas or anywhere else where you are a regular player the benefits from a card are just too high to give up.

Regards
A.P.

ยทยทยท

________________________________
From: "nightoftheiguana2000@yahoo.com [vpFREE]" <vpFREE@yahoogroups.com>
To: vpFREE@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, March 11, 2016 3:07 PM
Subject: [vpFREE] Re: Scot Krause's Slot Club Spotlight - 8 MAR 2016

vp_wiz wrote: "However, in my personal experience, very few plays are "playable" in absence of slot card promotions (and expect that is true for most players here)."

I think there are a lot of different definitions of "playable", so I suggest just looking at slot cards on an EV basis. The cost of being tracked is difficult to determine, but I suggest that it is HUUUGE and almost always substantially more than the return benefits of the card, hence the modern slot card is almost always negative EV.

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#8

Depends where and how you're getting your advantage. If you've found a 10/6 DDB with 2-pair paying 2-for-1 (instead of 1-for-1), you have a huge advantage. If all you get is 0.1% cash-back and maybe 1% back in mail.....using a players card is probably not the best idea.

If the advantage comes directly from using the card (CB, mail, promos, etc.), then you have to use your card to get the advantage.

You're either beating the machine (FPDW, gaffed machine, machines in a +EV state) or you're beating the casino/marketing (promo, mail). If the machine is slightly +EV, then of course ya wanna add on the players card benefits. But if you're playing huge +EV games, like I believe mickey is playing, staying away from a players card is probably the better option.