Many casinos offer free or discounted meals for active and retired service members on Veterans Day, November 11. Check casino Web sites and newspaper ads closer to the date. And for non-casino discounts for active and retired service members on food and many other purchases, both for Veterans Day and all year long, check out this valuable Web site – http://militarybenefits.info/.
Local Offers
Admission to Madame Tussauds Las Vegas is just $15 for locals through December 31, 2014.
Many locals take the opportunity to see a lot of shows free by joining one of these:
SILVERTON
Remember how I have always drummed on this issue – always read the fine print?
The “Earn-and-Win” dining offers offered by Silverton for November – which require two times the points on video poker than on slots – has this fine print: Any machine containing a Video Poker game is classified as a Video Poker machine. Don’t be fooled – just another reason to check out the details of any promotion before you start playing.
PALMS
“Play for Prizes” is running as usual Monday through Friday. The first period is Nov 3-14, featuring T-J-Maxx gift cards. The second is Nov 17-28, with Costco gift cards. Redemption times are the same as usual, Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m., and Fridays 10 a.m.-midnight.
Gift days for November are 1, 15, 22, and 29. To earn the gift-of-the-day, you need 100 base points on video slots or 500 base points on video poker between 12:01 a.m. and 6:59 p.m.
Weekly drawings have moved back to Fridays, at 7 p.m.
From the monthly mailer: “Random Giveaway Just Because” – November 1-30, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Anyone with their Club Palms card inserted in a slot, video poker, or video keno will be eligible. Win up to $100 in free slot play per day! See Club Palms for details.” Yes, I’d have to carefully check details on a promotion like this, looking for exceptions and limitations!
TUSCANY
The rotating 20% all-month senior discount moves to hotel rates in November. [Correction – I was given the wrong info on the phone – the discount is for the gift shop – just in time for holiday shopping!]
One of the benefits for seniors on Thursdays this month will be a pull-tab promotion.
ELLIS ISLAND
A reminder: if you haven’t visited Ellis Island since the middle of October, you will find out your old players card won’t work in the machines or at the kiosks. You will need to go to the club desk and get a new card.
The bank of machines with some “good VP games,” near the slot club desk, is gone, replaced with slots.
BOYD PROPERTIES (Sam’s Town, The Orleans, Suncoast, and Gold Coast)
Free buffet on November 11 for all active, inactive, and retired military personnel. Must present your military ID or DD-214 and players card.
Progressive drawings on Saturdays at all 4 properties. Check individual property Websites for more details, including varying times for the drawings. Swipe on Fridays for “mystery” entries, up to 50x extra ones.
Gold Coast continues their Mondays Senior Bonus Days with specials and promos for slot club members 50 and over. They also run a free VP tournament on Thursdays for anyone (of any age) who has earned 50 base points that day.
Check each casino Website for property-specific promotions.
FOUR QUEENS
You can no longer use the 4 Queens parking garage just to go to other downtown casinos or enjoy Fremont Street entertainment. The little machine at the cashier which for years you could use to stamp your parking ticket to get 3 hours of free parking – it’s gone. Now you can get those free stamps only if you eat at one of the restaurants (ask the cashier) or you are playing the table games (ask the pit boss for a stamp) or the machines (call a floor person). You probably can get a stamp if you buy a show ticket although I’m not sure whom you would ask. Of course, if you have a room, parking is free the whole time – they will give you a placard for your car when you check in.
The Hard Rock promo isn’t as good as it first appears, because the base rate is a paltry 0.05%–as in 1/20th of one percent. Therefore, a 7X increase is equivalent to 0.35%. The best game available is Bonus Poker at 99.17%, so the multiplier alone doesn’t cover the loss you’ll suffer. That 5,000 bonus points is worth $5, and the rate is $2 coin-in = 1 pt. You therefore have to put through $800 coin-in to earn the 400 base points you refer to. This results in a roughly $6 theoretical loss at BP. The resulting 22,800 points are worth a little over $21. So you get a net of $15 for an hour or so’s worth of play. Good but not spectacular, especially since it’s only good once a day, two days a week. You could play FPDW at any one of a number of places and get that return in two hours or less.
Of course, what makes or breaks the deal is whatever mailers you get. Those seem to be pretty good from what I’ve gotten, but there’s a catch. The discounted rates they quote in their mailed/e-mailed offers are always “sold out” when you call. I’m sure that the low rates they offer (plus resort fee, of course) only apply to the two rooms on the second floor behind the steam boiler that don’t have any toilets.
Hard Rock Hotel: Every Sunday and Monday in November 45+ : 15X Reels/Video Reels & 7X Video Poker plus earn 100 base slot points win 5,000 Bonus Points. Max of 4 each day. Do the math: 400 points x 7 = 2800 + 20.000 bonus points = 22800 points. That is 57X NO other casino offer that kind of players program for Classic Rockers. Then add the free food, top shelf liquor, free play and comped rooms. Plus $17.99 1.5 lbs Loster dinner Fridays and 9.99 Prime rib AYCE Sundays Back Stage Pass is the best.
i go to Main ST . I play 1/2 HR and get my parking fee back. U don’t have to play big money .
[Tuscany Correction – I was given the wrong info on the phone – the 20% senior discount is for the gift shop this month – just in time for holiday shopping!]
Though it’s less convenient than the 4Q garage, you can park at the El Cortez garage for free by showing the drone at the entrance a current players’ card. There are very few free parking options downtown, and most of the casinos charge for it or make you get a validation. It is truly amazing to me that the people who run casinos continually are thinking up ways to discourage people from patronizing their establishments! You can park for free at any casino on the Strip–kind of ludicrous that the Aria and Bellagio let you park for free, but the swanky Four Queens doesn’t!!!
Also, if you DO get a validation for your parking “privilege” at the 4Q, that three-hour limit sure as hell means you’ll be going somewhere else after a couple of hours. Just what they want–to give you a reason to leave!
Casino execs continually blame the economy, the government, the weather, anything but their own massively stupid decisions for the current malaise in the industry. You can screw people over for only so long, though, and eventually, they’ll start looking for other places to spend their money.