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Thread: A couple of random questions

  1. #1
    Senior Member dalmatian's Avatar
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    A couple of random questions

    Hey y'all. I have several topics I wanted to discuss and they're not particularly related to each other at all, just randomly plopped them all together. Sorry, my mind is erratic these days.......

    1) How many blackjack players (pro/semi-pro/casual) play video poker? It is my understanding that this is mostly used for +comp EV. There might be a few video poker games where there is positive cash expectation from perfect strategy but they are hard to find and they limit the max bets so that you're only making tops ~15$/hr. So it seems that this game is to be used mostly for getting free hotel stays, food, match-play, etc. Is it worth the hassle? Whole new set of rules to learn but I guess it depends on how much comps mean to the player.

    2) I noticed something related to my comps at a distant store. Originally on my first visit when I signed up for their players card I used an old address on the other side of the country. On my second visit I updated my address, which is halfway between the store and the old address. With the old address I got very generous comps related to hotel visits. Upon updating, my new comps were roughly cut in half. Is this related to my distance from the store? Other factors might include the fact that I didn't go back to the store ever again (i.e. they cut the comps down bc I wasn't visiting them so much as before) or the time of the year (more generous comps were given earlier in the year with less tourists I imagine).

    3) I want to buy a blackjack table. I found this one on amazon:

    https://www.amazon.com/Giantex-Folde...ck+table&psc=1

    Does anyone have this exact model? I've read in reviews that it isn't sturdy or built so great. Nice to hear some opinions from possible owners.
    Last edited by dalmatian; 05-19-2018 at 03:46 PM.

  2. #2


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    1. A decent number of blackjack players will play a good video poker game, usually on a day when they get point multipliers on their card. It's not a bad idea if you're trying to build your card status for room comps and the like, or building a decent amount of free play on each visit which you can flip a good chunk of into cash easily. If you're getting a lot of comp value out of a place you may not want to play blackjack at that particular shop, or if you do, be less aggressive, if you're getting expense free trips to the area out of the place and have good blackjack games at the other nearby shops, it wouldn't be a good idea to get yourself 86ed from the place hosting you.

    2. I'm not 100% sure of the workings of the marketing there, but it's possible they cut your comps either since you weren't visiting often, or your location was too close to another gaming market. I don't know that for a fact, but I can tell you another player and I get vastly different comps and offers from one casino for about the same amount of play, because I live in an area nearby without gaming and he lives in a major gaming market.

    Someone with more info or understanding of the comp and marketing system at casinos, feel free to correct me.

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    Quote Originally Posted by 5¢5¢ View Post
    Someone with more info or understanding of the comp and marketing system at casinos, feel free to correct me.
    I wouldn't say I am that marketing expert guy. But I have worked a bunch of different casinos comp systems. Some casinos marketing systems are great to work and others will never offer you much and basically aren't worth working their marketing system at all. The ones worth working do it by your average per visit play over a period of several months or more. If you want to work their marketing system always show a lot of play when you use your card for anything on their property on a visit. Machine play gets the best return but a skilled player can do well while making the casino suits rate their play highly. I remember one night I played for hours when it was very busy. Every time I bought in I was max betting. I hit a lot of high advantage situations and it didn't go to well. When I left I was told they rated all my play at my top bet, which was the table max. I should have been rated at about 1/3rd of that. Learn the comp system for where you play. Work the system. Often getting an advantage is more about beating the comp system more than beating the game.Casino hosts may help you learn to work the system so they can give you what you want. You can also learn from the players card services or the casino's website. Probably the best way is networking with other APs about working a marketing system.
    Last edited by Three; 05-19-2018 at 10:13 PM.

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    That makes sense, thanks for the response. It is very evident that some places aren't worth the time to work the marketing systems, I'll do some more work looking further into marketing systems at some joints.

    It's funny how one place gives you a host, double card privileges on the machines, loads of freeplay and free rooms, and then another which you've given more action doesn't so much as send you a mailer, and all you get for your visits is $10 in free play and maybe a dollar of coupon to the cafe.

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    Quote Originally Posted by dalmatian View Post
    Is it possible to get labeled a card counter but still be allowed to play, the catch being you don't get the usual comps as ploppies?
    The label they put on you is most likely their highest skill-level rating, which will earn you next to nothing in comps.

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    Quote Originally Posted by dalmatian View Post
    Hey y'all. I have several topics I wanted to discuss and they're not particularly related to each other at all, just randomly plopped them all together. Sorry, my mind is erratic these days.......

    ....or the time of the year (more generous comps were given earlier in the year with less tourists I imagine).
    The time of year has a huge impact on comps especially when it comes to hotel rooms. Here are a couple of examples. There is a Midwest casino located on a beautiful inland lake. For the months of April and May they usually send me comps for free rooms Sun-Thur. This is after snowmobile season and before summer tourist season starts. During season peak they will raise their hotel room prices way above a hundred and will give me a coupon for something like $10 off.

    Second, I will usually qualify for a free trip to Laughlin if it occurs during off peak season. They are much more picky about giving free flights in peak season. By the way, just a little bit of video poker will go a long way towards qualifying for a free flight. They do have a few 9/6 JOB machines at the Riverside. Last time I actually broke even playing video poker there and it was enough to get free flight.
    Last edited by Midwest Player; 05-20-2018 at 11:27 AM.

  7. #7
    Senior Member MJGolf's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bigdaddy View Post
    The label they put on you is most likely their highest skill-level rating, which will earn you next to nothing in comps.
    Agree 100% with this. Comps a few years ago for BJ play were much more generous before they started skill rating players. And they seem to be refining this a bunch so that you don't seem to even accumulate many points from BJ whatsoever. With the increase in resort fees charged in Vegas, it's getting more and more expensive just to get a room. For example with the tier credits given for food, beverage and entertainment spending at the Evil Empire, it seems that sometimes I earn MORE points from eating and drinking v. playing BJ. LOL
    "Women and cats will do as they please, and Men and dogs should just relax and get used to the idea" --- Robert A. Heinlein

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