A good promotion at South Point

South Point is one of the best casinos in Las Vegas for video poker players. It offers good games -- the best are double bonus deuces wild with up to 99.81 percent payback for quarter players and "not so ugly" deuces wild with up to 99.73 percent payback for quarter through $2 players. Slot club points are worth 0.3 percent and there are double points days on average about once a month.

In the past, South Point has occasionally run a "Spin 2 Win" promotion. After earning a specified number of points, players could swipe their cards at a kiosk and win prizes such a free lunch of breakfast buffet, points awarded to their account, or free play. The best prize, for those who could take advantage of it, was double points for that day.

This month South Point is running a revised version of this promotion. After a player earns 2,000 points on video poker (500 on reel slots or video reels), a wheel appears on the little screen right on the machine. The player pushes a button and automatically wins a prize. The bad news is that double points for the day is no longer a possibility. The good news is that a lunch or breakfast buffet also is no longer a possibility. All prizes are points or free play. Points, of course, are as good as cash, and free play is very nearly as good as cash, unless you are planning to quit gambling before you can use it.

The "worst" prize in this promotion is 2,500 points, which is worth $7.50. Four a $2 deuces player, this takes about 20 minutes to earn (South Point's machines with this game on them are on the slow side). The top prize is 100,000 points, worth $300. The best prize I have won was $50 free play. I would guess that I have won more than the minimum more than half the time.

Here's the best part -- you can earn up to four spins each day. Nothing in the posted rules suggests you can spin more than once, but my friend John was astute enough to ask at the players club how many entries a player could earn.

This promotion runs all day on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays through April. On Wednesdays, players can get a polo shirt by earning 2,000 points on video poker or 500 points on reels or video reels.