Details and Fine Print

The devil is in the details.”  “Always read the fine print.”

I repeat those words often – so often that I’m sure many of you are sick of them.  I am weary of saying them myself.  But just when I think I will let up on these warnings, something bad happens to me or to one of my readers as a result of ignoring them.

Do sometimes I fail to check on details or neglect to read the fine print – even after 29 years of casino experience?  Don’t be surprised when I answer this with a “yes.”  There is a tendency to depend on one’s past experiences the longer one plays, but this is a dangerous habit in connection with casinos.  You can never assume that “the usual” will last.  Gambling smart requires constant diligence, not just in the big decisions, like choosing the right games.  All those constant small details often pile up and become the one deciding factor that determines financial success or failure.

Let me give you some examples, from my own experiences and from what I have heard from others.  Some are mistakes that cost gamblers big money; others are merely small annoyances, perhaps only costing gamblers time and energy.

Brad and I recently decided to use two $10 food coupons we had at a neighborhood casino that was advertising a specialty buffet for $9.99.  The cashier rang us up and said we owed $6.  We questioned that extra charge, and she said that the coupon stated that it could not be used with any other offer.  She had to charge us the regular price of $12.99 to use the coupons.  The amounts in the above examples are small, but I should have checked in advance about that fine print on the back of the coupon.  Would have saved a high frustration incident – and we would have just gone to the host earlier for a comp and avoided the whole problem.

Many food coupons do have that not-to-be-used-with-other-offers warning.  That could refer to special pricing (like above), other coupons, or tier discounts.  And it can be frustrating because it is not always standard across all casinos in the same umbrella company or even within one casino.  You can ask, for example, for the tier discount and give them a two-for-one coupon.  Be silently pleased if you are successful to score both, but don’t be surprised if you are asked which one you want to use!

Another time that details matter – and you might not find this in any written casino rules – is in the area of discretionary comps.  Many casinos have tightened up considerably in the comp area and made it company policy not to give out discretionary comps until a player has no comp points left in their slot club account.  When you find out about this change in policy it is not the time or place to rant to your hosts or exert pressure on them.  They almost never have any say in the matter; it is coming from a higher corporate level.

The rules of promotions and drawings – which often have much fine print – is another important area where knowing the details is key to success.  Find out if any machines are excluded from certain promotions.  Find out if there is a limit on the number of points which can be multiplied on bonus-point days.  Know the starting and ending times for any promotion.

I remember one very skilled player who was very bummed out at a recent drawing because he found out when he swiped before the start of the drawing that he didn’t have as many entries as he thought he should have earned.  He hadn’t realized (or had forgotten) that the quarter game he was playing was on a machine that had only quarter and up denominations on it.  He could have been playing the same quarter game on a different bank of machines (where he usually did) which started at the nickel denomination.  The number of drawing entries earned depended on the lowest denomination on the machine – and nickel-based machines earned at twice the rate of quarter-based machines.

Here is one specific suggestion for any drawing or promotion that has an end time limit.  Always remove your players card just before that end time limit, even though you plan to continue playing.  Some casino systems don’t finish their “calculations” until your card is pulled.  For example, if you are playing for several hours and there is an electronic drawing every hour on the hour, remove your card 5 or 10 minutes before each drawing so your entries are sure to be entered.  This is also a good idea if you are playing over two “casino days.”   For example, a casino day may go from 6 a.m. to 6 a.m. (not always switching at midnight as one would think).  Therefore if you start playing at 4 a.m., remove your card just before 6 a.m. and then re-insert after 6 a.m.  I always wait a minute or two between those two actions in case the system is a little slow in this turnover period and it is important that I accrue points in one particular day.

I’m sure some of you readers have examples of when you got tripped up by the fine print or some little detail you didn’t know.  That would make interesting reading in the “Comments.”  Go ahead – confess!!!

This entry was posted in Casino Policy, Casino Promotions, Comps, Couponing. Bookmark the permalink.

8 Responses to Details and Fine Print

  1. Dan Sowards says:

    To answer “Curtis,” in the future I’ve arranged with my host to obtain the tickets for me, either in person or through “will call” so that I don’t encounter the same or similar problem in the future.

  2. Mary Brown says:

    Yes the fine print is important. It reminds me of a funny incident from several years ago. I was using a coupon book, going to different casinos, getting buy one meal get one free coupons. Most of the casinos allowed me to buy the one meal with my comps from my card. It was a game my husband and I enjoyed. Stopped at MSS for the first time. Played for a while, then stopped at the players club to use the coupon. They insisted that if I wanted the coupon, I had to pay cash for the other buffet. Laughs, it really was not a big deal. Of course in the first place the buffet was not expensive, secondly they probably would of comped me both buffets.
    What was funny, was waiting in line for the buffet, then finding out I had to go to the players club, then being told I had to pay for one of the buffets. I am a very, very easy going person, and almost never lose my temper. But I left MSS really angry, claiming I wasn’t going back. If I had just read the fine print, could of saved myself a lot of exasperation. By the way I did eventually forgive them. laughs. Now I go often to MSS.

  3. jack potts says:

    It’s not important to stay at the strip . u get ripped off with expensive restaurant prices and gambling. u can stay off strip at the Golden Nugget or if u want can venture to Summerlin and stay at Rampart or RED Rock. A good steak restaurant is The Broiler Room at the Palace Stations. Dinner for 2 with a couple of drinks are only about $200 where at the strip would be twice as much.

  4. Jerry McEwen says:

    Just got back from 8 nights in Vegas. Ventured downtown and visited Binion’s, Four Queens, Golden Nugget, Fremont Street, and the Mob Museum. The casinos were nice, along with Fremont Street, but it was our first visit to the Mob Museum and it was just fantastic!. We stayed at MGM, Bally’s, and Red Rock. Loved Red Rock (our 2nd stay there). MGM was great as usual (loved the updated rooms). Ballys staff were super nice and had a very nice stay there, our 1st weekend on the strip in years. But we won’t do it again. The loud music in the casino and the rough looking young crowd that filled the casino over the weekend kinda rained on our parade. In our early 70s we don’t need this type of fun. We had 1 night compted at MGM and 2 casino rate, spent a lot of money at the BJ table, got no food comps. Spent 3 compted weekend nights at Ballys, spent even more money and got 1 meal compted on our accumulated points. Spent 2 nights at casino rate at Red Rock and got 3 meals comped for each of us. Next trip we will spend every night off the strip.

  5. Curtis says:

    I had the same thing happen to me at the box office at MGM Grand. I was forced to charge the tickets to my room (at Aria) and then get a host to remove the charge. The next day, it took several phone calls and much aggravation, but a host eventually removed the charge from MGM Grand and did not take any points from my account. What should you do, if the box office staff won’t honor the coupon?

  6. JimmyC says:

    Loved the advice about removing your card before the next drawing. You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve played hour after hour without doing this. Wondering now how many points I’ve missed out on

  7. Ty says:

    What do you do when rulesare not clear. One problem I always run into is asking a employee a specific question and being told one thing then after playing being told something different. Now it’s to late. IE. Tropicana lose $200 rebate I was told I could swipe my card to see how much my rebate for that day was SO FAR. Then continue to play and re-swipe if I lost or won more and it would readjust my free-play amount. NOT TRUE I swiped my card after losing $50 to get the $10 table game match play, before I ate dinner.after dinning I would continue to play. I was told by management sorry they could not do anything.

  8. Dan Sowards says:

    Jean my comment involves casino employees who do not know the rules, which, if you are too timid to follow u[p, can cost you big time. TO WIT: You have a coupon for “two free show tickets.” You are allowed to choose among ten different shows at six different casinos. You show up at the box office at the casino for the show you wish to see. You present the mailed offer to the staff. However, none of the three staff appear to know anything about the offer. Your casino host at your main casino is off. You have the staff check with their “boss.” He advises his staff to have you charge the tickets to your room so your host can clear it up later. However two days later you find out from your host that because you technically “paid” for the tickets, there wasn’t anything he could do other than charge your “points” account for the tickets. It ended up costing you over $200 worth of points for a show you would not have gone to except for the “free offer.” Lesson here: Never pay for something that’s supposed to be free by assuming it will “be taken care of” later!

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