since moving to Nevada, I’ve visited a few casinos and always signed up for the card they keep track of you with. didn’t come to anything except with one casino that had the sense to send me 2 visits of $50 free play and $25 credit on their restaurant.
I say the sense because I think it’s working: I feel a warm fuzzy feeling about this casino.
AND when I played my free play dollars, I kept winning. well, and losing, the way you do, up and down. over all I ended up even after the first two visits.
I just went back for my free prime rib dinner - the food and the service was only so-so -and I put $20 in the poker machine in order to pass the time until I could order the prime rib.
I won $115 over all. and I took home the left over prime rib and chocolate cake.
so: did they make it so I won on purpose? or was it random?
It is absolutely forbidden for casinos in Nevada to alter gameplay based on the player. You just got lucky. (Now use the $115 to buy a better quality meal. )
My Dad would ask the cocktail waitress “Which machine is looking lucky? I’m a big tipper.” Multiple $1000 payouts resulted. If you’re big boobed, squeal a lot and play the machines near the entrance, you’ll do better than the elderly dude, on oxygen on a mobility scooter in the back.
Yeah, I’m sure that’s exactly how that happened. Because slots players are notoriously accurate in their accounting, and watered-down martini-slingers know how the machines are programmed.
The OP was asking if the casino changed the odds at a given machine because of the stats on his player’s card. I can state confidently that they did not. Nevada gaming regulators audit the ROMs in slot machines and have access to the source code. If casinos were doing this, the gaming commission would find out about it. (I’m not saying shenanigans never occur, but it’s extremely unlikely that an unscrupulous casino would risk their license over a $20 player.)
That said, it is true that individual machines may have their payout rates set differently, and some casinos will strategically lay out higher-paying machines. But the difference is slight, and it is not based on who is playing at any given time.
One of the things I always heard to do is, even if you’re not going to spend it, dump all your cash into a machine (with your card it in) and cash out right away, then you can turn the coins back into money at the cage. The reason being that it’ll rack up points on your card. Not that you’re running around in circles doing this, but the people I talked to might just do it once in the morning, then get their cash back later on. Again, just to rack up some points.
Then they would usually go a step further and say 'better yet, go to a table, hand them the $500 and ask for chips and have them swipe your card…it’s better if the pit boss sees your doing it since he can comp you an extra night or give you tickets to a show if he thinks you’re dropping five hundred or a thousand dollars."
These people weren’t exactly high rollers, but they managed to get a few free weekends out of it.
Right. With regard to table games, the pit boss keeps track of your buy-in, time spent playing, and cash-out. If you just buy in for $500 an cash out after two minutes, you’re not getting a lot of comp points.
For slots the calculation is similar but it is obviously all automated.
so, the question is: how confident can we be that this is true rather than just a theory? because I have to say, I find things in general are a bit…slack, here. people speed, people bring their dogs into bars where food is served…these things supposedly don’t happen either.
As sort of hinted above - the casinos are tracking your play. They make up promotions based off of past promotions - so on average - they have a pretty good idea how something will work.
They offer stuff like “match play” where you can go in and put $100 on red and they will match it (there is a limit) - obviously this gives you a positive expectation - and they know this, but they also know if they send out X number to Y type of player - on average - they will make a profit. They might even do it as part of paying back some of your winnings.
You can often get good deals on rooms - last time I was in AC I got a really nice room for $109 for 4 nights - total. I ended up a winner that trip - thanks to four of a kind in Let it Ride and rolled up trips - within my first hour.
They don’t care if you win or lose - they know statistically if you play x amount with a 3% house edge - at so many plays per hour - they will on average make such and such. All the comps are based on that (more or less).
I know that isn’t what you asked - and I agree with the others that state that they didn’t alter the machine based on your play. Sometimes you end up a winner - most times you don’t.
You’ll hear all kinds of people with theories on such and such.
Keep in mind people tend to tell their winning stories more than their losing ones. So often you’ll hear stuff that makes you think people are doing well at this. You can certainly decrease your house edge by taking advantage of the comps/offers. Sometimes you can even get a positive EV with them, but it takes a lot of work and willpower (plus knowledge) to know when to bet - there are often lots of conditions.
I can shed a little light on this, as I work as a manager in a major Las Vegas casino.
The Nevada Gaming Commission is a government law enforcement agency that is not affiliated with any casino. They regulate gaming licenses, and have a very “hands on” approach to enforcing gaming control regulations. This means that all casinos in Nevada submit to surprise inspections, reviews of their policies and practices, undercover “sting”-style operations on the casino floor, reviewing financial records and contracts, etc, all meant to probe and test casinos to ensure they maintain fidelity.
Gaming Control agents routinely serve exorbitant (in my opinion) fines for things as minor as not properly verifying someone’s age, or preventing people from gambling in certain areas in order to insulate your high rollers from the riffraff. They also inspect the companies that make casino playing cards, slot machines, surveillance equipment, and anything else having to do with gaming in Nevada. Casinos not only DON’T adjust games based on the particular player, they CAN’T. Gaming Control ensures this by regularly inspecting the machines and factories that produce them.
The relationship between casinos and Gaming Control is almost adversarial, and rightly so. There is absolutely no chance that anyone’s dad won a jackpot because they tipped a cocktail server, who told them which machines to sit at. Just think about that claim for a moment; a cocktail server knows which machines are “hot,” and uses that knowledge to give a guy a jackpot because he tips well. If she were going to (or if she were even able to!) commit a felony like that, why would she give the tip to a stranger, and not an accomplice?
This is not to say that the machines are infallible, or un-exploitable. There have been several cases of crooked scumbags altering machines to “break” them into paying more than expected, and there have been more than a few sharp minds figure out clever exploits to beat the slot machines without breaking them. There’s probably someone even now who has managed to defeat all the safeguards on a slot machine, but these are all cases of people circumventing or defeating the measures meant to keep the game fair. If a casino was caught doing this, they would immediately lose their gaming license, and all that free money you give us when you visit would go to someone else, instead. It just isn’t worth it.
In many ways, things are very “slack” in Vegas. For example, casual sex, even prostitution, is extremely common, even though prostitution is technically illegal. There are a lot of places you can get away with being caught smoking a joint, or having a couple of pills or powder. The Las Vegas strip is, after all, just one big glorified party. Don’t let this fool you, though. The atmosphere is carefully crafted by very sober old white no-nonsense businessmen. They DO NOT fuck around when money is concerned.
It was random. First, at the amounts and frequency you’re playing you’re hardly a blip on a casinos radar. They sent you the coupons and the dinner to try to entice you to play more.
On your second visit, you had a nice (though minimal) hot streak. This is pure luck. Not trying to diminish it, enjoy it! But again the casino probably didn’t even blink.
Enjoy your winnings and dinner - You can easily walk away now and be happy knowing you came out ahead. On the other hand, if you enjoyed it AND have the self-control to quit long before losing hurts, go back again. Use that players card to keep getting points (which are typically not that valuable until you’ve been playing for a long time.) Just don’t expect these two lucky visits to continue - you will have times where you just can’t seem to win. Always go in with the expectation that the money you bring for gambling is lost. Sometimes, you’ll end up lucky and leave with a bit more. More often, you will lose. Remember - the house always has the edge, and will win in the long run.
I go to casinos pretty frequently, and while I can’t say I’m plus on the money side, everything I take in I consider entertainment cost. If I win a bit, great; If I lose, at least I had a good time at the tables. I never gamble anything near what I could bear losing; I expect to lose and the occasional good night is a lucky happenstance.
Drug laws are Federal, and Federal laws override state and local laws everywhere in the country. The fact the Federal government isn’t prosecuting those laws very forcefully right now doesn’t mean they no longer exist.
And this isn’t even getting into the difference between decriminalization and legalization and selective enforcement at other levels.
This will come up as a legitimate issue sooner rather than later.
)
On the other hand, if you enjoyed it AND have the self-control to quit long before losing hurts, go back again. Use that players card to keep getting points (which are typically not that valuable until you’ve been playing for a long time.) Just don’t expect these two lucky visits to continue - you will have times where you just can’t seem to win. Always go in with the expectation that the money you bring for gambling is lost. Sometimes, you’ll end up lucky and leave with a bit more. More often, you will lose. Remember - the house always has the edge, and will win in the long run.