Sunday, January 24, 2010

Las Vegas coupons can add real value

It's January, and for savvy residents of and visitors to Las Vegas, that means it's time to purchase two coupon books. Normally I'm skeptical of any deal that involves spending money to save money, but both these books are worthwhile, and most people who buy them should be able to save many times their price by using just a small percentage of the coupons.

There are important differences between the two books. The first, the American Casino Guide, is particularly suited to relatively inexperienced gamblers and visitors to Vegas. In addition to coupons, it contains detailed, reliable information on most forms of gambling. Some of the coupons are good only for players' club sign-ups. For example, we used a coupon for my daughter recently that doubled the $10 in free slot play offered by the Silverton to new members (that one coupon covered nearly half the list price of the book). The American Casino Guide has coupons for casinos throughout the country as well as in Las Vegas and is available in major bookstores and through online booksellers.

The other major book is the Las Vegas Advisor Member Rewards, which comes with a subscription to the Advisor, a monthly newsletter that is an excellent source of information on all things Vegas. The price is $37 for the online edition, $50 for print. Unlike the American Casino Guide, the Member Rewards book contains only coupons that all subscribers can theoretically use –- no offers for new players' club sign-ups only. And the coupons are almost all for casinos in Southern Nevada.

There’s also a difference in the way the coupons must be handled. The Casino Guide is a bigger book, and users can cut out the coupons they plan to use and leave the book behind. The book does come with a cardboard card to identify the purchaser, but we have never been asked to show it. Coupons in the Pocket Book, which fits in a pocket or purse, must be torn out in the presence of an employee of the businesses where they are used. You must bring the whole book with you and leave the coupon in it until you are ready to use it. At a buffet, for example, take the book out tell the cashier you would like to use the coupon. In most cases, she will ask you to tear out the coupon. Do not remove the coupon until you are instructed to do so; in rare cases, an employee other than the one you initially show the book to may need to see the process (for example, a floor person rather than the dealer for a table game match play coupon). This sounds more onerous than it is; you’ll quickly get the hang of how the book works, and the process is usually smooth and fast.

To avoid potential problems or disappointment, be sure to read carefully the general instructions on use of the coupons in each book and on each coupon you plan to use. Many coupons, for example, are not valid on holidays, and some are not valid on weekends.

OK, so what are these coupons for and how much can you save? Both the American Casino Guide and Las Vegas Advisor Web sites list all their coupons, which change from year to year. A few generalizations apply to both books: Smaller, locals' and downtown casinos are represented more heavily than the giants on the Strip. Most of the coupons are for dining or gaming. Typical are two-for-one buffets (or 50 percent off one), free drinks and snack items such as hot dogs, players' club point multipliers free slot play. There also are usually coupons for items such as T-shirts and decks of cards, and discounts on restaurant meals, hotel stays, rental cars and show tickets.

Until this year, both books contained table game "match play" coupons. With one of these, a player can double his bet up to the amount of the coupon. For example: A player puts down a $10 bet and a $10 match play coupon and wins; the casino pays him $20. (If he loses, the casino takes his $10 and the coupon; if there's a push, he can use the coupon again.) This year's Las Vegas Advisor book does not contain match plays, but does have a few coupons for an increased payout for a blackjack. The idea is to discourage the "hit and run" use of coupons -- people playing one hand with a match play, then leaving the casino. The American Casino Guide still carries match plays.

For those with casino players' club points, many coupons can be leveraged. In most but not all cases, buffet coupons can be combined with players' club discounts, and the non-free buffet (or half of the price) can be paid with points. For example: A casino offers $1 off the price of its dinner buffet to anyone with one of its players club cards. Give the cashier your card and a coupon, and in most cases you’ll get the dollar off the buffet you have to pay for, whether you pay with cash or points.

Both of these coupon books have been around for years, and there are rarely problems, but sometimes a casino will refuse to accept a particular coupon, usually because it has been fraudulently reproduced or otherwise abused. The casinos generally reserve the right to alter or cancel all offers, but rarely do so. Occasionally a casino employee will not understand how an offer works, but usually someone is available who does.

Other sources of coupons are the free tourist magazines, coupon sheets of "fun books" given to hotel guests when they check in, the daily newspaper and online sources. Once you’ve signed up for a casino’s players club and gambled a bit there, you may get coupons or other marketing offers in the mail.

Keep in mind that any coupon may not offer the best deal available. For example, a discount show ticket outlet may beat the box office price less the amount of a coupon from a tourist magazine.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Drawings -- the big picture

A big part of the locals' casino culture is drawings. Most casinos have them at least weekly, often on Friday and/or Saturday nights. In addition, many have added drawings on weekdays at part of their seniors' days. Some have daily, several-times-daily or monthly drawings. Drawings for cars and other big prizes are not uncommon.

Drawings and other events such as tournaments can add to the return on a player's gambling dollars. But with all the drawings out there, which ones are worth entering? (And remember, in most cases, winners must be present to collect the prizes they're awarded.)

Entries to most drawings are awarded based in whole or in part on amount of money bet. So if you're a frequent player and a high roller, you're in a good position to win. If not, your chances are slim. This may seem unfair; many casinos depend on a large number of small players for their profits. If it's any consolation, the prizes awarded in most drawings may be only a small fraction of what the high rolling winners wagered to earn their entries. If you're a low roller, your chances will be better at small, neighborhood casinos than at the Stations or Coasts.

The move by many casinos to electronic drawing tickets has allowed them to award large numbers of entries to each qualifying player. To an individual this may seem advantageous, but if hundreds or thousands of other players also have a virtual drawer full of tickets, it doesn't improve anyone's chances of winning.

For all but the highest of rollers, I believe the drawings that still use paper tickets are best. Among big casinos, the Las Vegas Hilton is the only one I know of that still uses paper for its weekly drawings. This drawing also gives low rollers a good chance. Players can earn two tickets a day by playing any slot, video poker or table game at any denomination for 40 minutes. Regular players get coupons in the mail for a few additional entries if they earn tickets on specified days. Those who play every day earn more tickets, but not so many more that anyone has that much more of a chance of winning than anyone else.

The drawings are held at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays in the Spacequest Casino. Five people are called to spin a wheel, which has spaces for prizes ranging from $1,000 to $5,000. Some of the $1,000 spaces have a decal awarding a bonus that the player claims by picking an envelope. If any of the people called to spin are not present, names are called until five people get a chance to win.

One more thing -- tickets must be obtained at the players' club booth the day they are earned. If you play Thursday, plan to pick up your tickets before 7 p.m. The lines at the players' club can get pretty long as the drawing approaches.

Should you be impressed?

At least two locals' casinos have in recent months advertised their large numbers of video poker games returning 99 percent or more. At first glance, 1 percent sounds like a pretty thin profit margin. But what does 99 percent return really mean?

It most certainly does not mean that if you play one of these casinos' 99 percent payback games, you can bring, say $100 for a session and expect to lose an average of only $1. This is because the 1 percent applies to the money you cycle through the machine and not the amount you put into the bill acceptor.

Let's say you play for quarters. At max coin, which you must play to get the 99 percent return, you're betting $1.25 a hand. Some hands result in a loss; $1.25 is deducted from your credits. But some hands are winners, resulting in additions, some quite substantial, to your credits. With a little luck, after an hour and, say, 800 hands, you haven't had to feed the machine anything other than your original $100. But you've put $1,000, including recyled winnings, though the machine. At 99 percent payback, your theoretical loss is $10 -- 10 percent, not 1 percent, of your $100 buy-in. After an average of 10 hours of play, on average, 100 percent of your original $100 will be gone, a return of 0 percent, not 99 percent.

And your $100 may not last nearly that long. Returns stated for video poker games assume perfect play, which few players can approach; strategy errors can multiply the house's 1 percent take. Returns also assume maximum coin betting at all times. This is because of the premium for a royal flush with max bet, which is a significant part of the overall return of any video poker game. And the stated returns are long-term mathematical averages; what serious gamblers call variance or fluctuation (and ploppies, or novices, call luck) can make any session or number of sessions much worse (or better) than average.

On the other hand, stated returns are for only the games themselves and do not include the value players receive in the form of slot club points or other benefits. For example, the Orleans, one of the casinos that touts its 99 percent games, offers point multipliers of up to nine times. With base points worth 0.1 percent, nine times brings the theoretical return of a 99 percent game to a much more acceptable 99.9 percent. (Points can be converted to cash or free play or for comps.) In the above example, this reduces the average hourly loss from $10 to $1.

At most locals' casinos, the returns of many video poker games fall in the range of a little under 99 percent to a little over 100 percent. To the casual player, it doesn't make much difference. The main thing that determines winning or losing in the short run is variance. But to regular, serious players, the real questions are where in the range is the payback of a game and what is the casino doing to add to the players' return. If a game's payback is near the low end of the range, they will play it only if a point multiplier, progressive jackpot or other benefit significantly increases the total return.

Another thing to keep in mind: A casino that advertises that it has many, many games with 99 percent payback or better also is likely to have many, many games with payback that are worse. There are numerous versions of all major video poker games, and some pay back players much less than others. The return of a particular game is determined by the pay table, which can be found on outside of the machine or on the screen. You must know which pay tables for the games you play offer acceptable returns.

It's raining in Vegas -- and in Sam's Town

The part of Sam's Town in the area of the buffet and movie theaters has a metal roof with what appear to be large skylights. As I was playing video poker there yesterday, employees scrambled to cover machines with plastic bags and place garbage cans to catch the water dripping from the ceiling. My wife was there today and told me the same thing was going on.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Full-pay deuces wild for more than a quarter

Full-pay deuces wild offers, far and away, the best percentage return to the skilled play of any widely available video poker game. With perfect play it yields 100.76 percent. It's relatively easy to learn, and it's loads of fun to play. But in recent years, full-pay deuces players have run into some roadblocks.

As more people have learned to play the game well enough to beat it, casinos have taken countermeasures. Most give reduced reward points for playing full-pay deuces and other positive games; at least one, the
Gold Coast, gives no points at all (the Palms, acorss the street, still gives full points for play on positive games). Some, such as Sam's Town, have set the speed on their full-pay deuces at slow. Station casinos no longer mail calendars with free play, point multipliers and other offers to those who play only positive machines. And of course, some casinos have simply taken these games out. (This is one example of the best games being at locals' casinos; there is no full-pay deuces anywhere on the Strip.)

Because players can make money from this game, many would like to play it at high denominations. And because players can make money from this game, almost all casinos have eliminated full-pay deuces for anything more than quarters. At this denomination, a player who pushes $1,000 an hour through the machine can average a maximum of $7.60 an hour. This isn't enough to interest the professionals who can do a casino's bottom line some real damage.

At this time I know of no casinos that offer full-pay deuces for more than quarters. But I do know of two small casinos in Henderson that have machines that allow maximum bets of 10 coins rather than five, effectively making them 50-cent full-pay deuces machines. Neither of these casinos has a slot club, so players earn no points that can be used for comps, cash back or free play. (They do have promotions that can add to the return of the game.)

I noticed a few machines with this game recently during my first visit to Peppermill's Rainbow on Water Street downtown. There are no signs to help you spot these games; you'll have to look for the pay table and "bet 10" on the screen.

The other casino with these games is the Skyline on Boulder Highway just south of Sunset Road. Its machines are old coin droppers outfitted with bill acceptors along the back wall and in the "Deuces Wild Corral." The face plates above the screens say in large characters "Win 8,000 coins." The pay table is printed on the glass. A short cut for spotting full-pay deuces that it's the only version of the game that pays 5 instead of four for four of a kind.

These machines are a bit slow by modern standards, and if you hit the four deuces for $500, you'll have to wait for a hand pay. When you cash out, the machine will drop a load of quarters, which you'll have to take to the cashier's cage to be converted to bills.

Monday, January 18, 2010

A good day for a quarter video poker player

Playing at the Orleans today, I saw a fellow player on a 25 cent triple play progressive hit a jackpot for more than $6,800, then, about 15 minutes later, for more than $2,100.

This progressive, outside the buffet, has jackpots for each of the three lines and a separate jackpot for a dealt royal, which resets at $5,500. (A player who is dealt a royal gets this jackpot only, not the three jackpots for the individual lines, which remain unaffected when the dealt royal jackpot is hit.) The individual-line jackpots reset at $1,000, the standard amount for a royal flush with full coin played on a 25 cent machine.

Incidentally, there is a similar quarter triple play progressive between T.G.I. Friday's and the Club Coast booth. Sam's Town also has two similar progressives, but there the dealt royal jackpot resets to $3,000.

OK, you might be thinking, this guy hit for almost $9,000, but how much was he down before that? I don't know how long he had been playing, but I noticed the game he was playing was 9/7 double bonus, which returns just over 99 percent with perfect play. A fast player can put through $3,000 an hour on a triple play machine, for an expected loss of about $30 an hour. Because the royal flush is part of the expected return, a player can expect to lose more than 1 percent before hitting the royal. Also, all games of chance are subject to variance, meaning the results of any one session can be much better or worse than average. As pretty much a wild guess, I would be surprised if this lucky guy was down much more than $1,000 for the day when he hit. Even if it was twice that, I'd say he had a pretty good day.

More on L.V. Hilton blackjack

In a comment to my post, a reader asked whether the Hilton dealers hit soft 17. Yes, they do, on all games that I've seen there. This has become the standard rule in Las Vegas, with only a few exceptions, and gives the house an additional .2 percent edge compared with the dealer standing on all 17s. The reader also asked about penetration, a reference to what percentage of the pack of cards is dealt out. This is of interest to card counters for two reasons. First, the more cards that are dealt, the more likely that a high count will be reached. Second, the more cards that are dealt, the more accurate the information is about the composition of the remaining cards.

Penetration in double deck games generally ranges from about 50 percent (very poor) to about 80 percent (excellent). In most casinos, pentration is determined by the dealers, who place the cut card manually, usually according to a house standard. Other casinos, including the Hilton, eliminate variations in penetration by having the dealers use a notch placed in the discard rack (for double deck games) or shoe (six or eight deck games) to place the cut card. Double deck penetration at the Hilton appears to be between 60 and 65 percent, about average. A player can "improve" the penetration by spreading hands, which requires each bet to be double the table minimum.

A welcome sign at Green Valley Ranch

Since Green Valley Ranch Station Casino closed its cafe, there hasn't been any place to eat in the casino late on weeknights except the Fatburger (a fast-food place) in the food court. On weekends the Turf Grill by the Sportsbook has been open all night, but its menu is limited. In the casino last night I saw signs announcing some welcome news: China Spice is now open until 1 a.m. on weeknights and 3 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays, serving American as well as Chinese cuisine.

Las Vegas has long had a reputation as a 24-hour-a-day town, and a part of that was the cafes or coffee shops at most casinos. In the past couple of years, to reduce costs, many casinos have closed or outsourced their cafes or cut back the hours they are open. Station Casinos, for example, replaced the cafes in its two Fiesta properties with Dennys and some of the cafes in its Station branded casinos with Coco's Bakery Restaurants.

This has created a bit of problem for Vegas residents who are used to eating at the cafes and paying with their slot points. Station points, for example, can be redeemed at company-owned restaurants at a rate of 600 points for a dollar but at non-company-owned restaurants at 1,000 points for a dollar, the same as for free play. Station's closing its cafes deprived their customers of a 40 percent discount.

So the recent move by Green Valley Ranch does more than give its customers the option of getting a nice meal at a sit-down restaurant late at night. It gives the casino's loyal players another option for getting good value for their slot points.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Blackjack at the Las Vegas Hilton

You might not think of the Las Vegas Hilton as a locals' place, but compared with other big casinos on and near the Strip, it does a lot to appeal to Las Vegas area residents.

For one thing, locals get a "Hometown Hot Spot" sticker on their players cards entitling them to 25 percent off at all restaurants in the hotel.

The games at the Hilton are a notch above those found on the Strip, especially for lower-denomination players. Several video poker games, including 9/6 Jacks or Better and 16/10 Deuces Wild ("Not So Ugly Deuces") return more than 99-1/2 percent with perfect play. The best video poker is found in the Sports Book.

In recent years the blackjack at the Hilton has been, at best, mixed. A six-deck shoe game with surrender was offered with a $5 or $10 minimum, but usually only on one or two tables. Double deck was available, at $25 minimum, but with doubling after split not allowed. There were often numerous tables of single-deck 21 paying only 6-to-5 for blackjack, a rip-off game that's also found in many Strip casinos.

On recent visits to the Hilton, I found several tables of the good shoe game with a $10 minimum. I also found that the double deck rules had changed to allow doubling after split, resplitting aces -- and surrender. To the best of my knowledge, this is the only double deck game in Vegas with a full 3-to-2 payoff for blackjacks in which surrender is allowed.

For those not familiar with this rule, it allows players, after receiving their first two cards -- let's say a 10 and a six against a dealer's 10 -- to fold, and keep half their bet. I always surrender a 16 (except a pair of eights) against a dealer's ace, 10 or nine, and any 15 against a dealer's 10.

This double deck game is available with a minumum of as low as $10, compared with $25 for decent double deck on the Strip. At least it was on a recent weeknight. On a weekend day, the minimum was $25.

It's good to see the Hilton bucking the trend of making games worse for players, and taking on the locals' casinos for the blackjack business of players who appreciate rules that give them the best chance against the house.

Welcome

Welcome to Vegas off the Strip, a blog about all things Vegas with an emphasis on what's going on at the locals' casinos throughout the Las Vegas Valley.

My wife and I first visited Vegas about five years ago. After weeks of research in our attempt to find the perfect low-cost place to stay, we decided on the Orleans, a big locals' casino not far from the Strip. We loved it so much, while walking through the casino at one point I said to my spouse, "I feel like demanding to see a manager -- to tell him how fabulous this place is!"

We moved to the Vegas area about 2-1/2 years ago and settled near the Boulder Strip. We soon became regulars at Sunset Station and Sam's Town. We explored the gamut of locals' casinos throughout the Las Vegas Valley, finding much to like in places as disparate as Red Rock and Ellis Island.

Although we occasionally visit the Strip and downtown, most of our gambling, dining and entertainment is at the locals' places, which in general provide better gambling and better value overall than the big Strip places.

It's my goal with this blog to provide in this blog information on gambling, comps, dining, entertainment and shopping to help visitors and locals alike get more out of their time in Las Vegas. If you have information that others might find useful, please contribute. Thanks!