Holy crap! I want to go, and I haven’t been using my soul much. All I need is a firstborn.
So… Ladies, want to help me win a free trip to the Bahamas? They have dolphins.
The casino near Louisville is Caesar’s which is owned by Harrah’s which to my knowledge is the tightest (gives out the fewest comps.) The fact that she seemingly has nothing to lose does not matter in the slightest. You can easily max out every credit card before you start embezzling. This is a very well trod and dangerous path she is on. She needs help and in a hurry. (This is true even is she somehow has shown a profit.)
What are the signs that your MIL is in financial trouble, other than you think she is because she wants to go back to work? Has she asked you for money? Are her creditors calling or visiting you seeking information? Has she been threatened with eviction? If she hasn’t asked you for help, merely disapproving of her lifestyle is not grounds for your intervention. If she has asked you for help, intervene away.
“$150 in comps” is not $150 in cost to the casino/hotel. You know that $8 Walker Black Label on the rocks you just ordered? That’s $2 of cost, and $6 of profit to the bar. That $25 steak dinner? $12 of food cost and kitchen labor. A $150 a night hotel room? Amortized over the life of the hotel (say, 25 years) it costs them about $20-$30 a night.
There are plenty of ways to lose money in the service business, but the casinos–particularly the Disneyfied, corporate-run, accountant-managed casinos–understand the business and exist purely to make a profit. Very shrewd individuals like silenus may be able to take advantage of the situation (and kudos to them for exploiting the exploiters) but most people take a bath on gambling at casinos, and as any statistician will tell you, this is by very intentional design. It’s not the high rollers that are paving the Yellow Brick Road, either; it’s all the people flying in for a long weekend from Cincinnati, and Phoenix, and Kansas City, and Bowling Green, and Atlanta, et cetera that are guaranteeing the casino profits. If you’re playing regularly (even at the minimum bet) the odds are not just good but virtually inevitable that you’re losing more than you gain, even factoring in comps.
I haven’t worked in the casino industry, but my second-hand experience from those who have is similar to Athena’s; it’s a great way to make easy cash, but boy is it ugly, even (or maybe even moreso) in the post-organized crime era.
Stranger
Yes. it is true it is ugly today because every facet of the business is expected to make money and while the comp may not cost the enterprise face value, it is my understanding that it does cost the casino a high percentage of face value, accounting wise. Thus the casino is still expected to make money even writing off the “expense” of the comp, while the restaurant for example, shows a profit. Given this fact (I am not certain of this it is just what I have been told by people who should know, but who may not) it makes it many times more likely that she is losing large sums of money.
Like I said in the OP, we live in another state and to say we aren’t close would be an astonishing understatement. The other day was the first time I had seen or spoken to her in a year.
This is why I tried to make it very clear in the OP that I do not like this woman and only care about this to the extent that it can bite my husband and me. Frankly, I could live with her being on the street. My husband couldn’t, no matter how casually he’s approaching this.
Edited to add: Oops. I didn’t say that in the OP. Well, again to clarify: We live in another state, 6 hours from my MIL. I do not speak to her unless there is no choice, as she is an abusive, racist, hateful person. Still, I fear that were she to lose everything my husband’s instincts would kick in and he would want to help her.
I don’t work at a casino. I work at a dog track that has pari-mutuel wagering and poker. We are classified as low stakes. We recently had a stake increase. However…
Before, our tournaments cost $45. We ran 2 main tournaments a day. Our record for single tables a day was 86. We are only open 12 hours a day. In order for you to get our players card, which allows you to call ahead to register for a tournament, and costs $75 is that you must play in 10 tournaments a week. We have a very regular tournament clientele who are typically in a tournament at all times. Figure a conservative estimate for on of our tournament players, is about $135 a day. Typically 5-7 days a week. I see players in 4-5 tournaments a shift. Tournaments are the slow way to lose money.
We have a lady that is going through difficulties in her marriage. She’s there every night I’m there. She has a baby that is about a year old and a 3 year old. She comes because everyone is nice to her there and knows her name. People smile when they see her. She’s going down a very dangerous road.
I’d rather no one know my name and I get to keep all my money, thanks.
My response to this would be; “So I guess this means that if she loses everything and is turned out on the street, she can take care of herself then, as well. After all, she is an adult, with an adult mindset…”
For my wife and I, it means that we take our $2000 budget for the 3 day trip, and divide it by 6 (2 people, 3 days). So that $333 is my stake for the day. If I end the day with cash, I roll it over to the next day; if it runs out…the day’s done. Go to the gym, watch a movie, see a show.
Uh…whatever. I’m not the casino’s accountant. I don’t care if it’s $150, 150 rupees, or 150 Happy Meals. It’s a form of payback commensurate with my play.
Sure, and if it’s disposable income for you then all you care about it is that you’re getting the entertainment you expect. But for someone living on a fixed income and limited means who doesn’t have disposable income, rationalizing that she “gets” more in comps than she loses at the riverboat is both poor money management and not really true in any sense. If I take a $20,000 car, mark it up to $30,000, and then give you a $5,000 rebate, you’re not really getting a great deal; I didn’t give you $5,000 of consideration, I scammed you out of an additional $5,000 you would have kept if you’d gone elsewhere.
Casinos are in business see a [del]fool[/del]customer and his money parted as expeditiously and painlessly as possible. Granting comps is just a way of keeping people happy and making them feel like they’ve gotten some kind of deal. As long as you enter into that with full knowledge and consider the money that you take to the table to be disposal entertainment cash that you’d have spent some other way, the comps are just a perk. And if you walk away with money in pocket (or, like silenus, work the system to your advantage, albeit at the expense of other, less astute customers) all the better. Don’t think the casinos are doing you any kind of favors in offering comps, though. For them, it’s just a marketing expense, and a very effective one at that.
Stranger
Agreed. But the question in the OP wasn’t “is she making an astute financial decision?”, and I’m not trying to perform an audit on the MIL’s finances, or judge her moral status. Based on the comps MIL gets, and I get, I’m guessing she’s playing $100-$200 per trip to the boat, which is what the OP wanted to know.
I periodically spend very small amounts at a casino, but still get flyers in the mail for a free weekday hotel or buffet, presumably just for having one of the players club cards.
No, as I said in my earlier post it is possible to gain more in comps than you lose on the tables. If you know the optimum strategy and always follow it, that is.
I am not a casino host, nor do i know anyone who is, but I have spent a lot of time on riverboats in that area and I can guarantee you that nearly everyone on the boat who is not hustling someone loses more than $100 and probably $200 on an average visit and many, many of those players visit 5 or more times a week. There is no way the casino will ever give any of them a 4 night weekend stay, let alone give back $75 to $100.
And if she’s “She is retired and living with her sister’s family, in a converted garage,” I’m going to hazard a guess that $200-$400 a month is probably stretching or beyond her means.
I have nothing against the morality of gambling–I don’t see the appeal in it, personally, but then, I feel the same way about musicals–but the casino industry as a whole is a pretty ugly business from the underside. Of course, so is Wal-Mart.
Stranger
Well location is everything but caesar’s is the largest riverboat in the country and has relatively few hotel rooms. If you are in Iowa or Evansville Indiana where there are far fewer players the situation might be different. casinos always try and use giveaways to get you in there on slow days. If they are already at capacity you need to be a very good player to have your needs met.
Actually I did not pick up on how much you dislike the MIL; I jjust assumed it was the normal antipathy one feels toward that person. If you don’t care if she is on the street soon I sure don’ t either, but my guess is she will be.
Comparing casino hotels in Nevada with riverboats in Ohio may be an apples & oranges thing, then. Because that level of play gets you comped fairly well in Reno.
And it sounds like you know some fairly unlucky people. I can play quarter poker, $5 blackjack all day, and if I’m down $200 I consider that a pretty bad day.
On certain tables in certain places. Mostly, not.
Well, as I say, I’ve made myself some pocket money by carefully choosing casinos offering a bonus that is greater than expected loss.
If you saw those riverboats on a friday night you wouldn’t believe your eyes. Also it is my belief that you can play $5 blackjack from now until doomsday and never get a comp greater than a monthly buffet or a hotdog, you might get some promos, but not a comp. (in the Indiana boats I mean.)