What makes a promotion worthwhile to you

[Alan Mendelson]

Just for the record, this doesn't have to be just about VP.

My free play offers are good anywhere in the casino and we can also include gift promos in the discussion, though taking any gift is likely to lead to gambling too.

[slobdinger]

Has nothing to do with any sort of skills mickey. It has everything to do with being unable to play where you want, when you want, and how you want. People that chase promos are simple gambling addicts who are pawns of the casinos. AP's like to claim casino managers are stupid and don't know what they're doing when all these "lucrative" sounding "+EV" promos pop up all the time, but the truth is they're constantly trying to rope in as many of the so-called advantage players as they possibly can, because they are the ones who will bring in as much cash as possible from any means possible and play for as long as possible.

Alan you can stop with the envy over my Palms offer. They tried to rope me in to play hi-limits and then to return to do the same, and they failed. And the only reason I got the offer was because I was a big player there in the past who hasn't been in for several years, and I was a Legend card holder as well.

Rob, you lie like a rug. For prevarication, the only people who can remotely compete with you are these presidential candidates I'm watching in the debate tonight.

[RS__]

RS__ I've never seen a spin the wheel offer like that. How about sticking to the conventional free play?

What about sticking to conventional free play?

[Alan Mendelson]

What about sticking to conventional free play?

You did an excellent analysis of the "wheel promo" how about doing that kind of analysis with an offer of $40 free play?

[RS__]

You did an excellent analysis of the "wheel promo" how about doing that kind of analysis with an offer of $40 free play?

What's to analyze?

[slobdinger]

"CASH YOUR PAYCHECK HERE AND RECEIVE A 125 COIN BONUS ON YOUR NEXT 4 OF A KIND..

"How much are you offering them?" I asked
"Fifty dollars and the card benefits" Tim responded.
"Not much incentive."
"Should be plenty of incentive. It only takes a half hour or 45 minutes."
"Are you getting any takers?"
"No."
"You have to look at it from their perspective. You are asking them to put down a $5 video poker play for just $50. They're thinking 'what if I hit a royal?' They have to sign a $20,000 W2-G and all they are getting is $50."

Tim and I were having a comped lunch at the Golden Nugget/Laughlin. The Pioneer was putting on the paycheck promotion. I didn't know many people in Laughlin but Tim did. He was in the catbird's seat. A former poker dealer in the Edgewater, he had lots of friends that drew paychecks. His objective was to bankroll his friends on the paycheck promotion.

"Offer them half the royal" I said.
"Half the royal? Are you crazy? That's $10,000!" Tim responded.
"No, it's 1% of the payback. It will give them some incentive to put the play down. With 9/6 Jacks you're gonna have 5.4% the best of it. The $50 is about another half percent. So you're going to have a 3.9% edge. The quad cycle is 423. That's close to $11,000 in action. It's worth about $570 a play. Even giving up that 1.5% it's still worth over $400 a play to you."

Tim sat there thinking for a minute.

"Thanks for the ideas" he said. "I think I'll try it. See if I get any takers."

Over the next few weeks I would see Tim in the Pioneer sitting next to an Edgewater or Belle employee who was playing video poker. They would cash their paycheck at the Pioneer cage and get the coupon. Then play $5 video poker until they hit a quad. Of course, they were playing on Tim's money. And Tim was the one who was really making all the money.

One day I was standing in line at the Pioneer cage when I heard a cashier yell to the back "We got another Belle paycheck!"

Weeks later one morning in my hotel room I was shaving. The TV was on a Bullhead City channel. The morning talk show about the Laughlin casino industry was on. They were interviewing the Pioneer casino manager.

"I see you've disqualified the $5 video pokers from the paycheck promotion" the interviewer said.

"Well....sometimes....when you put on a promotion....you get beat!" the Pioneer manager said.