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Casino Slots and Promotions

Casinos Slot Clubs

There are many reasons why casinos have slot clubs, and each slot department manager or promotions manager probably has different reasons. Some possibilities include:

1. Once you join their Online Casino club, you may be likely to play there more often than in other casinos.
2. Identification is required, so they will have you on their mailing list for future promotions. (Mailing lists are valuable and may be sold, but that’s not likely because most casinos are probably jealous of their customer lists.)
3. The casino’s computer will record when and how much you play. Most clubs now record all of your wins and losses, and some will give you a printed summary at the end of the year on request. (How long will it be before the IRS demands this data?)

Some casinos have made a big thing of not having a slot club, claiming that it allowed them to pay more jackpots or to set the machines for higher payback. These claims mayor may not be true with reel slots since it’s impossible for us to determine the actual payback. Assuming they are not biased, however, we can determine the payback of most video poker games just by analyzing the payoff schedule, so the payback of the machine itself is not affected by the presence or absence of a slot club.

Jackpot with Slot Machine

It’s interesting to note that during such ads in Las Vegas several years ago, one casino that has a good slot club (.25% cash rebate) also had many full-pay machines, some with 4700-coin jackpots. Another that touted the absence of a slot club had only 4,000-coin jackpots and very few full-pay machines (but it did offer good food comps).
The moral is to consider all factors when selecting a casino game like Bank Craps. Don’t depend on the advertising but on what you see. A cash payback slot club will often compensate for the difference between a 4700-coin and a 4,OOO-coin jackpot, but it seldom comes close to making up for short pays on a full house (Jacks-or-Better and Double Bonus Poker) or on quads (Deuces Wild and Joker Wild). When shopping around, look first for full-pay machines and meaningful bonus payouts. Then, if the casino has games you like, check out other factors such as slot clubs and comps. In some cases, however, a poorly thought out promotion may add enough side benefits to make almost any game attractive.

Promotions

From time to time casinos offer promotions in an attempt to attract new regular customers and increase their profits. Some are short-lived, and some last a long time. The temporary promotions rarely seem to actually benefit the casino to any great extent, but the ones that are connected to their video poker games are often a great boon to a skilled player who can analyze their value.
Perhaps the all-time best video poker promotion (or the worst from the casino’s viewpoint) was held by a Las Vegas area casino during the first year it opened. For two days, they paid an additional 125 coins on all natural quads. This increased the payback on most games to over 104%, and every knowledgeable player from miles around was there day and night. The Casino paid out millions extra in two days and even ran out of cash the second evening, but when the promotion ended almost everybody left, and the place was just as deserted as before. The casino had given away a lot of money, but instead of attracting new players, the promotion had an adverse effect in that the regulars were frustrated by not being able to get on their favorite machines and went elsewhere.