Jean Scott's Frugal Vegas

I probably won’t have time to write here for the next week.  The Frugal Princess family is coming to town and we love showing them a good time!  Gambling is definitely put on the back burner.

This will be the first time in many years the whole family has been able to come to town for the holidays.  Read more… »

As a service to my readers, Brad and I periodically visit various area hospitals and give you reports.  Although Brad insists on doing most of these visits, I try to pick up the slack when his seven stents keep his arteries open and his heart stays beating nice and evenly.  So two days ago I visited St Rose Dominican Hospital, Siena Campus, a facility we hadn’t visited before (although Brad had stayed once at their San Martin Campus.).  The occasion was gallbladder surgery, Read more… »

Sometimes I feel like I need to be Mrs.Gumby, as flexible as one needs to be in today’s video poker world.  Changes in game selections, changes in casino policies, changes in promotions – I spend hours and hours every week in my office figuring out where we need to be playing before we actually sit down at a video poker machine in a casino.

Actually I think I spend more time planning than playing! Read more… »

I don’t read just the newspaper looking for promotions.  I read casino marquees as we drive by.  I read signage whenever I’m in a casino.  And I read e-mail from casinos.

I do the latter even when it is from a casino where we no longer play.  Never know when a promotion will make it worth our while to go back. So, even though we don’t play at South Point any more, we both still get Read more… »

The Palms has extended the date of their “$200,000 Cash –  Play, Earn, and Win” promotion that originally was to end this week.  This Monday-through-Friday promo now goes on another week, finishing up on Friday, December 23rd.

This bonus promotion pays out in cash, not free play - and is on top of the regular point value.  That is, when you pick up your “prize” amount, they do not take away any points.  Pick up a copy of the rules at the slot club desk , which will show you the range of cash you can earn, depending on whether you play slots or video poker.  As little as 350 slots points or 1500 video poker points will earn you a bonus of $5.  At the other end, 84,000 video poker points will earn you $280.  And, if you want to,  you can do this bonus promotion every day Monday through Friday.

While you are at the slot club, pick up the rules for the “Holiday Green Backs” promotion that is also ongoing  through December 23rd.  This is a very very small-value promotion, but you can always use even a tiny scoop  building your promotional ice cream cone.

Note:  This is one reason I read the daily newspaper.  This promotion extension that I hadn’t heard about anywhere else was mentioned in a Palms ad in the R-J.  You never know when or where you will find a kernel of information that might help you make better gambling choices.  I’m not saying that this promotion is for everyone, but the more options you have the better you can cherry-pick the best.

Recently someone asked about my sister, whom I had mentioned in a previous blog entry about our Thanksgiving family celebration.  So I asked her to write a little bit about her life since she moved to Las Vegas.  Take it away, Starr. Read more… »

No, we don’t spend all our time in casinos.  We have a richly filled “real” life.  Pictures below were taken on  Thanksgiving Day, Read more… »

This might surprise you but World Series of Poker Main Event winner Pius Heinz will not have to pay any U.S. taxes on his $8.7 million first prize.   Why is this?  Two words – tax treaties.  Heinz is a German citizen, and the U.S. has a tax treaty with Germany – as they do with many foreign countries.  Read more… »