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The Match-Play Coupon
Circuit Part VIII
This
is the final installment in my ongoing seven days of living low on the
Coupon Circuit hog series. Wagering
countless match-play coupons resulted in mid-range (~$400 per day) revenue, and I learned
a lot of new angles that can generate tons of free rooms, free food, free shows, and a
high expectation of low-risk profit. On the
other hand, it was a lot more work than my current 25 to 35 hour per week
Precision-Shooting regimen. Are
Match-Play Coupons Relevant to Serious Players?
This
series has garnered a fair bit of e-mail asking that very question. Can
m-ps figure into a serious players game, and if so, are they worth the effort? My
initial response would be to indicate that if youve read this far, and you
havent figured out that a 49%+ advantage over the casino IS SERIOUS; then you have
much more to worry about when you walk into any casino, and it doesnt matter if you
are armed with a fistful of coupons or not. Of
course, that would be my initial response.
Upon reflection, I would probably suggest that you read as much as you can
on the subject, and then make up your own mind with an informed decision as to the
pertinence and applicability of match-plays for your own game. My
own experience indicates that anyone who has access to multiple match-plays for the game
that they play, yet chooses not to use them because the cheapskate image might
reflect badly on their self-esteem; indicates that this is the same type of player who
will probably only be contented with huge ego-satisfying wins (or ego-deflating losses),
and still remain largely unsatisfied with moderate, yet frequent profit. Match-plays
can and DO figure into many players game-plans, and in that vein, they are
definitely worth the effort. Even
Stanford Wong Recommends Match-Plays
Most
of you will recognize the name of Stanford Wong. Hes
the noted author who has written a dozen or so books about blackjack, casino
tournament-play, and horse-racing. His real
name is John
Ferguson,
and I was tempted to say that he is a professional blackjack player, but unfortunately
that would almost no longer be true. While
he still gets to play in a few casinos, hes been banned in more casinos than he is
still welcome at. For those of you who still
think that the casinos will never catch onto Precision-Shooting advantage-play, or that
they wont start barring players; you would do well to have a look at some of the
discussion about it over on bj21.com, especially in the Green Chip section of
his board. Unfortunately,
these days, Wong is mostly relegated to writing about the game instead of
being able to play it at an advantage as often as he might wish. Fortunately his ability to sell his
writings about the good old days (before mass card-counter barrings and
multiple disadvantageous rule changes) keeps his wallet full and his conscience somewhat
clear. In
any event, Wong
believes that with the steady elimination of opportunities for advantage-play BJ
aficionados, some of the best revenue-prospects for blackjack players today may be in the
special match-play and cash-incentive promotions that some casinos are offering. Wong
recently wrote: "One
of the best things now is all of the freebies that the casinos are giving out. Anybody that plays a lot of blackjack has got more
than they need in the way of room and food comps, plus many casinos are sending out
coupons that are valid for cash at the cage, or theyre sending out match-play offers
that can be played at the tables just like cash. Theres
a lot of free money being given out to entice people to play. So part of the income for a
professional player now, or even a regular player, is in these free cash and match-play
offers. That wasnt the case 20 or 30 years ago.
I recommend match-plays for any player who takes their winnings
seriously." Match-plays
are one method that savvy players use to bulk up their winnings. If gaining an advantage over the casino is the
main reason you are at the tables in the first place (instead of being entertained
by the thrill of the risk); then match-plays can play a significant role in augmenting
your casino-earnings. For
some players, match-plays will actually consistently move their plus/minus (win/loss)
figures into positive profit-territory for the first time in their gaming adventures. Now THAT is something to think about! Whats
It Worth? We
already know that match-plays provide roughly 49-cents of profit for every dollar/coupon
played. That equates to a ~$2.45 profit on a
$5 m-p, and a ~$12.25 profit on a $25 m-p. Not
too bad, especially when you consider that they are giving them away for free. Obviously, their hope is that you will stick
around and LOSE much, much more than that initial advantage costs them, but there is
nothing that says you HAVE TO. Las Vegas Advisor
recently did the math to determine the relative value of their Pocketbook
of Values coupons that I mentioned in
Part I of this series. A random look at the results is quite interesting.
Ø
For Gaughans
Plaza (with its BJ m-p, $10 bonus hand for Paigow Poker, a keno
coupon, entry into their daily slot tournament, a 99-cent breakfast buffet coupon, a
$5-off lunch coupon, photo key ring, plus a coupon for 1000 slot points, the cash-value
for the m-p, bonus and slot-point coupons is $20.73.
Ø
The LVA Poker
Palace funbook voucher includes three low-buck BJ m-ps, plus four free drinks,
and a 50¢ burger coupon. At first glance, the $4.22 cash value for the
match-plays may not be very enticing, but for the budget-player; ANY positive value
adds up to a better than 50/50 expectation of profit.
Ø
Likewise, the Sahara
coupon that gives you $50-for-your-$40 buy-in, and their matching $5 BJ-Ace, plus a free
Sahara cap, yields an $11.93 advantage to any player who chooses to use those
gaming coupons. As
far as WinCards are concerned, the calculation looks like this:
Ø
You can purchase $15
of non-negotiable chips for $10 at each of the following casinos: Aladdin, Boulder
Station, Circus Circus (monthly), Excalibur (monthly), Fiesta Henderson, Four Queens,
Santa Fe, Sunset Station, and Texas Station, to name a few.
Ø
On average, you will
be ahead $4.82 each time you use the WinCard promotion.
In some cases, you can do it every day, while at others you
are supposed to use it only once in a lifetime.
Ø
Of course, there are
multiple ways for you to get around this once-in-a-lifetime restriction, and
we covered that quite thoroughly in
Part VII of this series. Like
Ive said previously, there is a distinct and DEFINITE value to match-plays, along
with the attendant advantage-plays like WinCards, Phantom Stays, selling discounts and
freebies, subletting comps, coupon-swapping and swooping, purchasing discounted gaming
chips, and using BJ-only m-ps at the craps table.
You
arent going to get rich off of any single one of them; but anytime you can walk out
of a casino with a dollar more than you walked in with
well
that is a VERY good
thing! Another
Sampling of Opportunities If you take a
look at some of the ongoing casino offers, youll quickly realize that there are
ample profit opportunities that can augment even mediocre dicesetting skills. It is opportunities like this, which enable some
marginally-profitable Precision-Shooters to move their game into the steady
earnings category. Heres a couple
that highlight what Im talking about:
Ø
Imperial
Palaces current
promotion of twenty $5 match-play chips that you can wager at any table, in any amount up
to the full $100, has a positive value of just over $49.
The only catch is that you have to do your buy-in at the casino-cage, and
you have to buy a full $100 worth of real $5 chips, which they match with $100
worth of their own $5 match-play chips. The
prospect of nearly fifty bucks in quick profit CANNOT be ignored by savvy players.
Ø
If
you stay at Barbary Coast (on a comp or as a paying guest) you receive their
coupon-sheet which currently includes two more free nights (in addition to your current
stay), a dinner for two at Drai's (their excellent top-drawer restaurant/nightclub), plus
breakfast and dinner for two in their Victorian Room restaurant. To top it all off, you get $25 in non-negotiable
(must-play) gaming chips, plus one-thousand in
slot-points are loaded onto your Players Card, and you get a $5 Pai Gow match-play to
boot. Those must-play gaming
chips can be used at the craps table for any bet, and if they win, the whole thing (the
initial wager and the subsequent winnings) are paid off with real (regular)
casino cheques. Its an excellent deal
that can be garnered even if you only stay for ONE night.
Some savvy players alternate one-night stays at Imperial Palace (to get
multiple shots at their $100 in match-play chips) and Barbary Coast (for this offer) on
alternating nights during their entire Las Vegas vacation.
Ø
Terribles
Hotel-Casino has semi-frequent car sales out in their parking lot. If you take a test drive, you get a free buffet
for two (or in some cases, a $10 match-play). These
are three-day sales, so three test-drives will garner you six free meals (or three
m-ps). Again, for the value-minded
player with a limited bankroll, these types of offers serve to extend and strengthen your
bankroll (or at least your waistline). From
just this small sampling, you can quickly see why even guys like Stanford Wong are jumping
on the Match-Play bandwagon. From
The You Gotta Be Kidding Me File I
met up with the Coupon-Rustler once again during my last two days on the Circuit. We were enjoying free pizza out at Barleys Casino
& Brewery, when he brought up the subject of advantage-play against break-in (new)
dealers. He stated that they were good
targets in which to not only pass additional Match-Play coupons (beyond the stipulated
daily limit), but also that their relative weakness in being new to the game
could be exploited since they tend to make LOTS of mistakes. He
opined that an astute player could go to El Cortez Casino-Hotel and play craps at an
advantage based strictly on the amount of mistakes that the
dealers make in your favor. Since
the Coupon-Rustler only corrects a weak dealers error if the miscalculation goes against
him, he intentionally makes off-sized bets and then quietly helps
the new dealer with the calculation, especially on center-of-the-table Proposition bets. In this way, he is able to engender
more-than-perfect payoffs that are fueled by a few meager tokes and some
helpful payoff advice. He
said he found the best opportunities (wrong payouts in favor of the player) at the Gold
Spike (for BJ and Roulette) and the Western (for BJ only), and at a growing number of
major Strip casinos that have eliminated their craps-table boxmen, and reduced the number
of Table-Game Supervisors. He feels that this
new trend in corporate cost-savings will actually generate many MORE advantage-PAY
opportunities than his current weak-dealer gambit. Ive
got to tell you that it was at that point that I fully realized the extent to which the
Rustler would go, to gain a positive advantage over the house. It was also the exact moment that I realized my slightly-more-honorable
disposition was not cut out for a full-time spot on the Coupon-Circuit roster. It was not only hurting my wallet (due to lower
earnings than my Precision-Shooting), but it was also starting to hurt my conscience. If
You Let Me Put it In, I Promise it Wont Hurt
Thats
the basic approach that the Coupon-Rustler uses while cruising the high-denomination slot
areas of the mega Strip-hotels. Heres
the scenario:
Ø
Weve
all heard of the savvy players who obtain many extras Slot Cards (Players Cards) in their
name. Weve also heard of those same
people getting friends and family to use the one card so that more comps accrue to the one
account as opposed to being diluted over several peoples accounts.
Ø
Weve
also heard of a number of people who will put their card into unattended high-value slots
or into Big Bertha (those LARGE $1 slot machines usually located near high-traffic
entrance areas) in the hopes that points will rack up when a tourist comes along for some
impulse play.
Ø
However,
casino point-tracking computers usually time-out after a short period of
inactivity, so an unattended card will not rack up any points when someone else begins
play (it has to be re-inserted to re-register any activity at this point). So obviously, the Coupon-Rustler and a few of his
associates have to be much savvier than that.
Ø
Surprisingly,
in the big Strip resorts, there are more people who play slots WITHOUT the
use of a Slot Card than those who do. The
Coupon-Rustler will approach them and explain that he is close to winning some
obscure locals only gift but he needs a few more slot points. Hell then ask if he can insert his card
into their machine while they play. To
sweeten the deal, hell often offer some discount vouchers or coupons, all in
exchange for them letting him put HIS card in THEIR high-denomination machine. The
reason it works in the big places and not in the smaller off-Strip ones is that:
Ø
Most
off-Strip casinos are frequented by more knowledgeable locals who wouldnt dream of
putting one red cent into a machine before first inserting their own Players Card.
Ø
Most
first-time LV visitors (who can afford to play at the $5 and higher denomination machines)
are not even aware of how the whole nether-world comp game works.
Ø
In
fact, most tourists are not even aware of what a comp is, however, to the
Coupon-Rustlers chagrin, the Travel Channel is changing all of that.
Ø
Nevertheless,
most people dont think that their level of play would warrant a comp, and therefore
many dont use a card even if they have one.
Ø
On
the other hand, people who stay at the smaller lower-budget hotels tend to be more in tune
with the freebies that their low-stakes action can bring.
Ø
There
is never a shortage of drunk, young high-rollers at the Hardrock, Palms and Mandalay
casinos who like the attention that their $5, $25, $100 and $500-machine play attracts.
Ø
In
the alternative, the same type of player will load up a $25 machine with $1000 or $2000
for their girlfriend while they go off to smoke a cigar at the BJ tables with their
buddies. The high-denomination areas are
PRIME slot-point hunting territory for the Coupon-Rustler. The
other factor that plays right into his hand is that, as the major casinocorporations
tighten their comp policy; more and more players understand that they are entitled to get
less and less. Therefore, many players are
now less likely to go to the trouble of using their Players Card every time that they
play. The Rustler and the rest of his
confréres take advantage of that new reality, and milk it for all its worth. If
he can talk someone whos playing max-coins on a $5, $25 or $100 slot-machine to
allow him to use HIS card on THEIR play; his comps (and in most cases, his CASH-BACK)
rises quickly and dramatically. Total
cost to him? A
few minutes of patient cheering directed towards his newest best friend. When
you look at the numbers, the cashback component alone becomes a mighty big incentive:
Ø
At
places like Aladdin, Bally's,
Bellagio, Caesars Palace, Excalibur, Flamingo, New York-New York, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, MGM
Grand,
Mirage,
Monte
Carlo,
Paris, and Treasure Island,
the cash-back is set a .67%. That means for
every $1000 fed through one of their slot machines, youll receive $6.70 in cash (on
your Players Card account). This is in
addition to and on top of any comps that accrue to your account.
Ø
At
some other gaming-houses, the cashback percentage varies within that same narrow band. For example, youll get back 0.5% at the
Hard Rock
and MonteLago (at the Ritz-Carlton), while Gold Club play at the Venetian
garners .75%. Youll receive 1.11% from
the Las Vegas Hilton, if you can convince a drunk conventioneer to let you use your card
in any of the Hiltons high-buck machines.
Ø
To
put that into perspective, that means that a willing $5 full-coin slot player can earn you
~$80 PER HOUR for their kind generosity; so you can imagine how much even a few minutes of
slot-mooching will generate (in cashback and comps) when he sidles up to a lonely
had-a-few-too-many-Long-Island-Iced-Tea $100-machine matron.
Ø
Now,
I am NOT suggesting that you play slot machines ANYTIME or ANYWHERE. Rather, based on the Coupon-Rustlers If
you let me out it in, I promise it wont hurt mandate; if you get to slip
your Players Card into someone elses machine, the cash-back can be OUTSTANDING, not
to mention what it does in terms of building up your comps entitlement.
Ø
If
you add in the Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun, Double Your Cash-Back benefit
of double-points days, then youll have little difficulty acknowledging
the advantage of this particular type of play. Let
Me Sweeten That Deal How
about if I throw in a mug? has got to be one of the Coupon-Rustlers favorite
lines. Armed with overflowing boxes of those
freebie Aladdin and Riviera mugs, NYNY taxicab
caps,
and Hardrock shot-glasses that he keeps in the back of his SUV; hell use those items
to sweeten some of the deals he makes with the never-ending stream of
not-quite-as-knowledgeable tourists. It
shouldnt really come as a surprise as to how attracted they are to the casino-logo
trash and trinkets, but each trade and coupon-swap never fails to elicit a smile on the
face of both the trader and tradee.
Just
A Reminder
There
is a fairly active coupon trade forum over at Las Vegas On-Line (http://pub112.ezboard.com/flasvegastalkfrm3). For those of you whom are thinking about
increasing your access and use of match-plays; this spot might be a good place to start. The
End of My Coupon-Circuit Journey The
final two days of this adventure ended none too soon for me. I
was exhausted from virtually non-stop running around from casino to casino in an effort to
maximize the number of coupons redeemed. At
the end of seven day, I still had a pile that I hadnt gotten around to cashing,
simply because of the one-per-day restrictions, and the fact that I was just too darn
tired to continue the round the clock, three-shifts-means-three-opportunities
method of redemption. So
how good was the idea of spending an entire week on the Match-Play Coupon Circuit? Well,
it was interesting, it was enlightening and it was profitable. It
was also a hellish grind. On
one hand, it generated ~$400 of profit per day, but that was gained through roughly 13+
hours of concerted mentally
and physically
taxing work per day. When
compared to my normal Precision-Shooting profit (and MUCH shorter days), it pales in
comparison. On the other hand, it is a valid
and tangible method for aspiring PSers to supplement their current shooting income. In
any event, it opened my eyes to a whole sub-culture that I hadnt previously seen a
lot of in the quarter-decade that Ive spent at the craps tables. As enlightening as it was, I can tell you that I
wont be saddling up to play again on the Match-Play Coupon Circuit anytime soon. Good
Luck & Good Skill at the Tables
and in Life. Sincerely, The
Mad Professor
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