It’s been said that a dog is a man’s best friend. This
may be true, but a good slot host is the video poker player’s best friend.
The slot host has
one mission in life: To keep you happy so that you play as much as possible in
their casino.
Despite
what you might think, they often do not care at all if you win or lose -- they
get credit for your amount of play. This seems a little strange, but when you
stop and think, it makes good sense. The casino knows that, for most players,
more play equals more income for the casino.
Do they realize
that some games offers a slight edge to the player? Yes, they do, but it is
not so easy to separate the good players from the bad players. In general, the
casino only has a record of how much you have played and how much you are ahead
(or behind). Fortunately for the player, it is generally not possible to
determine if the player is ahead because they are an expert player or if they
are lucky (or both). There are some advances in video poker technology which
may track how a player plays (e.g., if he is playing with expert strategy) in
the near future, but it is likely that this technology will not become
widespread for several years. In addition, it is not clear how the casino would
use this information -- it might be very bad publicity to start banning large
numbers of video poker players.
So, because the casino slot host wants you to play in
his/her casino, s/he will be willing you offer you a number of things you to
entice you to play.
In order for you
to be eligible for rewards, you must join the slot club. This is a painless
process requiring filling out a form that takes about a minute. It costs you nothing
except the minute to fill out the form. They then give you a card that you
insert in the machine whenever you play. You
should join a slot club in every casino you ever play at. Even if you are
only playing for 5 minutes, it is still important to join because many casinos
send out offers to everyone who has a card, even if they have played very
little.
Perhaps the most
valuable thing that a host can offer you is a free room. Almost all casinos
will give you free rooms, but each casino requires it’s own level of play to
generate a free room. This level may vary dramatically -- in some casinos, you
can get a free room with about $2500 (3 or 4 hours of playing), while other
casinos might require that you play as much as $10,000. Remember,
this is not money you’ve lost or won, but how much money you have bet. You
will only get these free rooms by asking a slot host. Often, you can get free
rooms for the nights you are playing, and other times you can get free rooms
for the next visit. If you don’t have enough play to generate a free room, you
can often get better rates (called casino rates) that will still save you some
money.
The best way to
maximize your comps is to establish a relationship with a slot host. When you find a casino that you expect to stay/play
at. Join the slot club, play for a while and then ask someone at the slot club
to speak with a slot host. Then just ask the slot host how much you’ll have to
play to get a free (or discounted) room. They will look up your play on the
computer and tell you, it’s just that easy. If you are not satisfied with one
host, ask for another. If you can’t
find a satisfactory host at a casino, play elsewhere -- there are plenty of
casinos that have many good hosts.
After you have established yourself with a host,
they can set you up for a future trip. Whenever I go to Las
Vegas, I call my slot host ahead and say “I’m coming into Vegas on
such-and-such a date for 4 nights”. They tell me that my room and food will be
free. Some casinos give you cards (e.g. “silver” and “gold” cards at Sam’s Town
and Main Street Station) that can be used at their restaurants for free food
(This is easier than having to get a food comp from a host or the slot club
every time you want to eat).
Free rooms can add
a significant return to your playing. At many casinos, you would pay at
least $50 for a room that maybe given free with $2500-$5000 of video poker
playing, which adds about 1-2% to your total return. If you are playing a
negative reward game (e.g., Jacks or Better), the room comp can make up for the
expected loss.
You can also get
free meals from slot clubs. Again, how much food you get (and the quality)
will depend upon your play. For some casinos, playing $5,000 a day will earn
you enough points to get all your meals for free. Of course, you can usually
get some meals with less play than this. You just go to the slot club and ask
them if you can get a comp to eat at a particular restaurant. Many of the
casinos have buffets which can be quite tasty and getting a comp for these is
relatively easy. This also adds a
significant amount to your return -- between .2% and 1%. Most casinos have one
high-end restaurant that you might get a comp for if you play enough. Every
time I go to Vegas, I have lobster almost every night. I never have lobster at
home because it is too darn expensive!!!!
You can even get
cash back from slot clubs. In fact, most slot clubs actually give you cash
back. While the average is about .2%, some clubs will give you up to .7%. This
doesn’t sound like much, but if you play $15,000 in a weekend with a slot club
that gives you .2% cash back ($30) -- a nice little bonus.
If you play a lot,
you can even get transportation. With enough play, you can often get
limousine rides to/from the airport. Some casinos may even pay for your
airfare, but this usually requires quite a bit of play. It never hurts to ask
your slot host for anything.
Finally, a slot
host can help you out in those unpredictable situations. I once booked a
night at a Las Vegas casino but had to cancel at the last minute. The
reservation agent told me that I had to pay for the room because I did not give
48 hours notice for a cancellation. The reservation agent told me that they
never made exceptions to their cancellation policy. I spoke with the slot club manager (the slot host was not there,
so I was referred to the slot club manager). She looked me up in the computer,
and saw that I had played a significant amount of video poker at the casino.
She then told me that their cancellation policy was strictly followed, BUT
since I was a good customer that she could let me cancel the room without
charge. This saved me $60 and also made
me feel like a big shot.
If there is
something that you need, it never hurts to ask your slot host for help. If
they can help you, they will unless your request is unreasonable.
When you play at a
casino that has a good slot club and good slot hosts, your overall return goes
up significantly. While you may have a return of 0.7% playing a full-pay
version of deuces-wild, your total return might reach 3% when you throw in the
cash back, the room comps, and the free food. There is a slight tendency for
casinos to be a little stingier in comps if they have a lot of positive reward
games, but there are many casinos that offer both (see the next chapter to find
out where to play).
With a good slot
club and good hosts, you can turn a negative reward game into a positive reward
game. For example, if you play a short-pay version of Deuces Wild that
returns -1%, but you get .5% cash back, .5% food comps, and 1% comps on a room,
then you are still playing with an expected return of +1% (-1+.5+.5+1).
To summarize,
joining a slot club and establishing a relationship with a host is crucial to getting
the most reward out of video poker.