Printable View
Since last week, all 3 properties in ac will not allow you to exchange your direct bet for free slot play. This really pisses me off. If you run your free play through 8/5 bonus poker once, u will get about 80% of ur money back on average but direct bet is one shot hello or goodbye. CET must have figured that out and are now trying to once again nickel and dime us.
What is a direct bet?
A free bet coupon that is taken on a win or loss. Wins are replaced chips. Worth slightly less than 50% depending on which game you play it on.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Druff
Some games are worth more, though!Quote:
Originally Posted by jbjb
Are the coupons good on any table bet or just even money?
Depends on the casino chain. Never had a CET one so not sure. It'll say on the back of the coupon. I do know MGM 'FreeBets' are even money propositions only. I posted a link in a thread somewhere to James Grosjeans "Beyond Coupons" link that gives you the various values depending on the type of coupon and which games you can use them on.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan Mendelson
http://www.blackjackforumonline.com/...ouponsbjfo.pdf
With direct bet, u can only play bj, 1-18, odd or red on roulette, baccarat player only. If u have 10$ direct bet and say u hit red, u get $10. U lose its gone. So much volatility with direct bet vs free slot play running once through video poker.
In this case, baccarat is the best choice.Quote:
Originally Posted by lucky
And correct. Being able to exchange it to free play would be the obvious better choice when allowed.
Some properties will allow you to play free bet blackjack, which in my opinion is the best choice. I love my home property, Caesars Windsor, because they allow you to split your DB into three amounts.
Ive never gotten a straight answer on free play at Caesars for table games. For slot play it's simple: if you get an offer, for example, of $100 of free play, they'll give you tickets for any of the available denominations -- it's player's choice.
But for table games it's not clear. Suppose you have $100 of free play:
Sometimes you will get only $100 vouchers and if your free play is for $110 (as an example) you can get a $10 slot ticket OR you lose the $10. But...
Other times the $100 of free play is divided into TEN vouchers of $10 each. But....
Other times the $100 of free play is divided in FIVE vouchers of $20 each, or 4 of $25 each.
On my last trip to Caesars I had $250 of free play and I asked at the cage BEFORE redeeming my free play at the Total Rewards desk. And the cage told me that if I asked for the $250 in TABLE PLAY the computer would print out whatever the program is set up for on that particular offer. It could be ten vouchers of $25 each, or two $100 vouchers, or anything else.
I've always redeemed for slots (video poker) with one exception: I had a $1,000 offer and got ten $100 vouchers which I used at craps. I had a friend there (another forum member) and while I played pass he played DP with real chips and after ten plays we split the return.
If you get an odd free play amount (like $137 or something), I've heard they'll give you the extra in pure ca$h!
Here's an example:Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Druff
http://s33.postimg.org/tri88wwin/image.jpg
So was the "exchange a direct bet for freeplay" an official policy? Or was it an allowance they were making, and decided to discontinue?
It was official policy. All three CET properties in AC allowed it.
The Directbet is only of value when you lose. For example, if you are playing BJ at $10 a hand, if you win the hand, you get $10. That's the case whether you use your own chips or a coupon. However, if you lose the hand, all you lose is a coupon. Therefore, the only time a directbet is of value is when you lose, which is why I hate them.
But it's a free bet, isn't it? And getting $10 after a free bet is still $10, right?Quote:
Originally Posted by njdiceplayer
Is it really a win if you would have won anyway? You're a craps player so you probably take the pass line each time. You really only make out if the shooter 7s out since the pass line bet would have cost you nothing. Instead of calling it Directbet, they should just call it "Get out of your losing bet for free" - if you lose, we won't take your money.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan Mendelson
Free/direct bets are nothing but an immediate 100% loss rebate. No different than a match play, except with the former, you don't have to make a cash bet along with it.
Here's an interesting story regarding free bet coupons: back in 2009, when I used to work for State Street Corp. as an analyst, my colleagues and I often took bus junkets on the weekends to a certain Connecticut "sunny" casino from Boston to play cards.
At the time, this "sunny" casino offered a bonus package consisting of three $20 free bet coupons (relinquished on any win or loss), valid on ANY bet on Sic Bo, Baccarat, or the Big 6 wheel. We saw that 99% of the Asians at the table were hedging big/small/$2 on any triple and locking up some guaranteed money. Occassionally, we would see someone "take a shot" and throw down a $20 free bet on 4 or 17 (pays 60:1) or a specific triple (pays 180:1). I didn't know it at the time, but these two bets have identical expected values and I would end up making many thousands of these wagers.
There was an Asian guy named "Shorty" who was always there and offered $25 to anyone who wanted to sell their bonus package. He would then play them off at the Baccarat table betting player when the tie bet was available. For any vagrant on the bus who took the ride for $15, this seemed like a good deal. I looked up and eventually found James Grosjean's Beyond Coupons paper for a way to attack this inefficiency (Grosjean called free bets "Funny-Chips).
To make a long story short, I started offering $2-3 more than the going rate of the day (which leveled at $30). The bonus package was worth more than $50. I ended up taking two weeks off from work and basically cornered the free bet coupon market, buying up to 300 to 400 packages a day until they implemented the "you must have a player's card" policy and went to "even money bets only".
On the last day, I was furiously trying to sell off several hundred coupons at a loss. It ended up being my only losing day, but the overall tally was unbelievable. I was back in downtown Boston for work the next day.
Interesting story. Many more just like that. A good while ago, casinos were giving out free Ace coupons for BJ, MatchPlays, and other coupons in the mail to everyone (i.e.: the ones marked to Resident). I know people who'd go through the trash cans at the mail center area of their apartment complex and grab 20+ a day. A free Ace is worth more than half the bet (I think like 65-75%), with a max bet of $50 I reckon.....not too bad of a play for easy money (likelihood of losing after 20 free ace coupons is probably about the same as seeing 18 yos in a row :) ). Unfortunately I didn't know about it until after the fact, since the place I was living in didn't get that mail. :(
Edit: I believe JG considers funny chips to be the ones that are only relinquished on a loss (i.e.: the best type).