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Thread: Locals Casinos Free Play Strategy -- do you have one?

  1. #1
    Do you have a strategy for how you use the free play you get from locals casinos where you life?

    For example, there are casinos with daily offers and weekly offers. Do you ever show up at the casinos to claim the free play credits and instead of playing them then and there you bank them?

    How long can you bank free credits for?

    I know of one casino that issues free play in the form of "tickets" which you literally can put in your wallet and save for another day.

    I know of another casino that has a combination of free play offers. While you must show up on particular days to claim them, they need not be played immediately.

    Do you ever "bank credits" with the idea of having a larger "free play bankroll" for a future date?

    Or do you claim them and use them?

    What's your strategy and why?

  2. #2
    I tried something different today. I was near a casino where I had $295 of free play. I went to an 8/5 Aces and Faces machine at the $1 level and ran through the free play money once. I cashed out $290. I hit one full house and one flush and a bunch of two pair. It was nice to walk out with $290 risking no money of my own.

    I am guessing that if I took advantage of all of my free play offers during the last few days of July and all of the offers in August I could do pretty well doing this. Including a $1,000 free play offer in Vegas, I expect to have a total of about $5,000 of free play between now and the end of August. Of course it is unrealistic that I could make it to all of the casinos on every day that free play is available. But if I could repeat what happened today at a reasonable percentage of times, I think I could pocket a few grand.

  3. #3
    Alan, that is exactly what I have been doing since they took out my positive games. So far I've made over $2K and counting. Of course, they will eventually cut the free play to nothing but until then it's nice to milk the cow.

  4. #4
    If I have comps/free play options (as at the Palms), I try to evaluate if meal or entertainment point discounts that are occasionally available make the decision close. For example, although meals can be considered to be worth half of their pricing, sometimes you can get a meal for half the regular points. If so, then the meal becomes a viable option instead of taking the free play. If the casino doesn't offer these occasional discounts, then one should just take the free play and play it through once if all that's available are negative expectation machines.

  5. #5
    Just walked out of Rincon with $435 cash. Had $475 free play which I ran through 8/5 Aces and Faces. Plus I picked up a $100 food voucher without using any comp points.

    Sunday I get a mystery free play promotion with $300 minimum guaranteed. This is fun. Ten minutes in the casino.

  6. #6
    Originally Posted by redietz View Post
    If the casino doesn't offer these occasional discounts, then one should just take the free play and play it through once if all that's available are negative expectation machines.
    Interesting comment redietz. If the casino offers positive expectation games then would you advocate continuing to play with the proceeds of your initial play-through? In other words, you wouldn't be satisfied with just the results of the initial play-through and you would keep on playing?

    What would be your goal if you continued to keep playing?

  7. #7
    If there were positive expectation machines included, I'd treat the free play as if it were cash and play as in a regular session. But since most free play has exclusions attached these days, I refuse to do more than play it through once. The Palms, for example, has FPDW machines, but you can't use free play on them. So I go to the NSUD machines and play it through once. If I wanted to continue to play, I'd then take the cash and go to the FPDW or 10/7 machines.

    I think the word "goal" has been blatantly misused on this forum, by the way. I'm playing to win money -- I would not use the term "goal" in reference to that because any moron playing any machine has a "goal" to win money. Playing on machines likely to provide income is one thing; playing on machines likely to not provide income is something completely and utterly different. Discussing the two disparate activities by framing each with the word "goal" is misleading and, in my opinion, is an obfuscation of the distinct difference between the two activities. "Win goals" on negative expectation machines are more accurately described as "win hopes."
    Last edited by redietz; 07-27-2013 at 04:15 PM.

  8. #8
    So redietz, you think that with "free play" money you are more likely to actually hit and win on a positive expectation game than on a negative expectation game?

    Or, does it just come down to your belief that with positive expectation games you will just win?

  9. #9
    Alan here's a thought. We'll be leaving this area in early Oct. and be somewhere near LV on and off for the next 6 months or so. We were going to park in an RV park nearby Phx. until my daughter decided to move outside St. Paul this month (and arci, we're helping them design & build a 5600 sq. ft. house on a 2-acre lot that might not be too far from your little duplex so we can stop by and bring flowers & some sugar-free treats and maybe even REAL mashed potatoes! when we're there next July & Aug.).

    So pile up the play and get as much free play as you can get at Caesar's or wherever. Send me your card and I'll play it thru once and send you the $$. No trips needed every month or week or whatever, and I remember I owe you a meal too!

  10. #10
    Do I think I will actually "hit and win on a positive expectation game?" Well, I guess that depends on what you mean, and you are getting trickier with the language.

    First, what do you mean by "hit?" I have no idea. Frequency of royals doesn't go up, obviously. I don't know what you mean by "hit." Now, do I expect to "win" on a positive expectation game? The answer is yes.

    Basically, on positive expectation games, I expect to lose less between royals. If by "hits," you mean royals, I expect to lose less between "hits." And that's what video poker is about -- losing less between royals.

    You'll notice the words "session" and "goals" didn't come up.

  11. #11
    I wrote about this in another thread. Had $300 of free play last night and got lucky and cashed out $3373. That brings my cash outs for three trips to $4,098, less expenses (gas, food) of about $200.

  12. #12
    What about tips, and taxes Alan? Gotta be nice to them floor people you know, because they're so congratulatory, they smile, and you know how it's up to you to help these people out with the wages they make! And scrape some of it off for the feds. After all, it's up to those of us who have it to make sure a good portion of it gets into Obama's redistribution pool so he can keep his 51%ers fat & happy and doing nothing but getting one handout after another, while you can be satisfied that we're "taking care of our own"!

  13. #13
    Well, Rob, there were no W2Gs so there were no tips. I self park now, because I was tired of waiting for the valet. They're not bad valets, but I just got tired of waiting. And yes we have to pay our taxes on our profits. Didn't you pay your taxes on your $960,000 of profits??

    Rob, does it trouble you that I won money and I didn't use your system? Does it really trouble you that I went up in denomination using winnings from lower denominations? And I didn't use any special plays. Unfortunately never had a chance to hold only the three aces when dealt a full house because the three aces I got last night were on their own -- no decision needed on what to do.

  14. #14
    I ALWAYS like like to hear about winning and any system is fine when that happens.

    No, I never paid taxes on any of my winnings as a pro....and I still don't. Only novices would do that. But you need to practice what you preach. What's the difference if no one had to come over to give you a tax form? You won some money, right....just like if you got a W2G, right? Are you really stiffing these poor folks just because it didn't involve a hand pay? I'd say that's absolute proof right there that the ONLY reason you ever tip these folks is because you're intimidated into doing so. Look at how you "escaped" this time with thousands in the casino's former money without having to deal with that hassle. Feels good, doesn't it. Now you need to grasp onto that when you spend a night collecting tax forms, win or lose. Handing away all that cash doesn't seem so smart or sensible any more, does it. Let your wonderful, fair-minded, and all-truthful president take care of these people so they'll keep voting for nutjob liberals.
    Last edited by Rob.Singer; 07-29-2013 at 02:38 PM.

  15. #15
    Originally Posted by Rob.Singer View Post
    No, I never paid taxes on any of my winnings as a pro....and I still don't. Only novices would do that.
    Would you mind explaining this?

  16. #16
    No. I simply never paid taxes on any gambling winnings as a pro or since.

  17. #17
    Originally Posted by Rob.Singer View Post
    No. I simply never paid taxes on any gambling winnings as a pro or since.
    How is that possible? If you have a net win of $1 million dollars (or $750,000 since in an earlier thread you said you lost $250,000 as an APer) you would have received those W2 forms, no? Did you just throw them away? Falsify returns or not report winnings?

  18. #18
    As I understand It you can claim your losses as long as they don't exceed your winnings. Plus a pro gambler can deduct expenses. With proof If needed.
    Last edited by spojoey; 07-29-2013 at 04:42 PM.

  19. #19
    Originally Posted by Rob.Singer View Post
    No. I simply never paid taxes on any gambling winnings as a pro or since.
    Originally Posted by spojoey View Post
    As I understand It you can claim your losses as long as they don't exceed your winnings. Plus a pro gambler can deduct expenses. With proof If needed.
    Rob, are you telling us that your nearly one-million dollars of wins were not net wins, or that you cheat on your taxes?

  20. #20
    Because I was an author, a writer, a trainer, and a professional gambler who filed schedule C for my 11 winning years, my yearly operating expenses--which included a very creative set of issues and ideas--nicely mitigated all of my tax liability from winning. And while no longer a schedule C filer, that creativity continues today.

    I've had 3 full-up audits in those 11 years and even one from 2011. Net result: I recently had to repay $675, and I received a check for just over $800 in 2009.

    The IRS is not something to fear. It's much more a person-to-person/face-to-face test of mutual respect than anything else. They want you to see them as ultimate power-wielders, and if you can do that while not appearing to be a weasely chicken little along with answering every question and, of course, taking all action items they give you seriously, the battle is nearly over. They are people, not geeks, and they are much more interested in gaining your respect--and therefore, no official complaints--than they are in nailing all the numbers perfectly.
    Last edited by Rob.Singer; 07-29-2013 at 06:14 PM.

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