Do you like to gamble?

Ok, let me get one thing straight, you're probably not going to win on slots. You may at some point, some days, some weeks, but not always, not 'on average' and not in a million years going to make a living doing it. But you could. Possibly. Although it's very very unlikely.

Why? Because you're enjoying the process more than the result. Because you're a rat in a cage and you want to get more sugar and you don't see outside the cage. Because you are, basically, releasing too many damned endorphins for your own good, except that's why you're there and that's what you want. Except you don't really. But you do when you're there pressing the buttons.

Why? Because you're at the casino and you're totally immersed in the fantasy world you've created for that moment in time and you don't have any kids, parents, work, school or money issues, you aren't hungry, thirsty or desperate for the restroom, you aren't about to go to a meeting or see a show or pick up a date or get on a plane or go to bed. Not currently. You're in a world of your own and you are currently loving it, even if you're losing (as long as you still have money left in your wallet).

Why? Because you are an optimist and you think the next time you hit that button the screen is going to be filled with lots and lots of whatever-it-is you need it to be filled with, and there will be flashing lights and music and your heart will warm to the spirit of the universe and everything will be wonderful. And it might happen. Really, it might. Sometimes it does. You know its true because its happened to you before. So you know it could happen again. Soon. Really, very soon. On this next spin...bugger...next one...bugger...next one...ooh, so close, must be the next one...

Now, slowly, I'm going to tell you how you can and (unless you're stupidly rich) should, change that!

Do you want a drink?

Please don't get me wrong, I know there's a part of you that is sane and logical and intelligent and calm and professional and mature and nurturing and loving and happy and so on, but I'm not expecting that part of you to turn up at the casino. I'm expecting the other part. You know the part I mean don't you ;-)

If you drive to the casino thinking I'm going to lose twenty dollars, get a free drink, tip the waitress $2.00 and leave whenever I hit $50 or lose my $20 then good luck to you. But I doubt you're the kind of person reading this blog. But if you are there's still going to be quite a bit for you to learn here, so do keep reading. But if you're the kind of person that I think is reading this blog, which basically means someone like me, then this is going to take a little while to explain, so please be patient, because what I'm going to say will take a fair few pages. Also, you may know quite a lot of what I'm about to tell you, may be even quite a lot, but probably not all, and definitely not thought about it all in the same way as I'm going to explain it to you. So again, be patient and let me explain it all. And finally, I need to say that this blog cannot possibly be for everyone. It's not a one-size-fits-all answer. We aren't all crazy in the same way. Our preferences change, our habits change and our finances change. Also, our location changes (this is important) and our freedoms change (also important) and our lives are not one straight line, so you'll need to use the advice I'm going to give according to your current ability to appreciate it, and perhaps change the plan of action later according to future situations.

Getting back to that free drink though, do make sure its a White Russian, and think of me as you sip it slowly, I drank it in one gulp through the tiny straw once, and 15 minutes later I was totally wasted.

Anyone fancy going to the casino tonight? Good! But don't! Wait until you've read some more of this blog!

Do you want a smoke?

I've kept every page short because I know you have a terrible attention problem and you can't read anything much at the best of times, but you know this is about gambling so you are invested in it by page 3, and now I have to convince you to get to page 4 before I lose you. Oy, you still there? Good!

Ok, so I mentioned earlier this won't be useful for everyone, but I wan't to define that a little better now. What I've done is discovered a set of foolproof methods that mean I never lose at the casino (overall) and it works amazingly well for me. So well that my wife even approves. So well that I go to Las Vegas perhaps 5 or 6 times a year basically for free. So well I take the kids in the summer and then again in the winter and they love it and can't wait to go back. In fact, probably my second favorite trip ever was a week in Vegas with my 14 year old son. We spent one night free at The Linq, 3 nights free at The MGM (they gave me $50 free play and $50 food credit) and then 3 Free nights at The Wynn (they gave me $400 free play and that was the second time they had given me free room plus $400 freeplay). We saw five shows, ate an incredible amount of food, and I am being 100% honest when I tell you I went on that trip with $200 in my pocket and should have come back with most of it except I got a little too excited on my last night and wanted to carry on gambling long after I should have gone to bed. (No one's completely perfect are they!)

I've lost my thread. Let me get back to the point. So, this "system" works for me for a number of reasons. Firstly I live in California near a Harrahs Casino. Secondly I live near enough to Las Vegas to drive there with my wife or kids, or fly there in 45 minutes if I'm going alone (because its cheaper to drive if more than one of you are going obviously, and if I'm going with someone else then it'll be an action packed trip and I'll need the car to get around. If I go by myself I won't in all likelihood leave whatever casino I'm in.)

Ok, so first of all if you live outside of the US of A then a great deal of my blog will not be for you. However, some still will, so I apologize for making you read through stuff that won't be beneficial to you, but there'll be enough in there to hopefully make the read worthwhile overall anyway. Next, if you live in the middle of nowhere, in a state that doesn't have an Indian Reservation in it and if your wife is a devout Mormom, then Oy Vay, what are you doing brother? Again, I don't think you'll get much out of this blog either. But have a Blessed Day nonetheless. But if you live within spitting distance of a casino, if your spouse lets you go there perhaps once a week, or worse if she goes with you (that is NOT fun in my opinion, but to each their own!) and if you are allowed to visit Vegas alone or with "the boys" every so often (what kind of wife do you have? Answer: A VERY trusting one like I have, or one that really wants you out of sight for a while, so she can get her mojo on, sipping gin and tonics by the pool without you annoying her - I know that type, and good luck to you my friend) then this blog will really be for you.

Dammit, I lost the thread again. So, you get my point I hope. You will make the absolute most of this blog if:

1. You frequently go to a local casino.
2. That casino is preferably linked to a chain in Las Vegas (very useful, but not essential).
3. That you vacation or otherwise visit Las Vegas every so often (should be twice a year or more to maximize various benefits).
4. You play SLOTS. If you play table games. poker, roulette or blackjack then the calculations are WAY off. I'll explain how to get the most out of the house anyway, but trust me for comps there is NOTHING like playing slots.
5. You have some money, but not millions. At least not so much that you've stopped caring about getting shit for free, working the system, losing without losing, or actually winning. I have friends that go to Vegas just so they can drink like fish without their wives being around, or just go for poker tourneys, or go with their wives for romantic weekends. Well good for you, You can all stop reading. No, I'm joking, you'll get something useful out of this too.

Now, don't worry, I'm not JUST going to tell you to join the players club and put your card in the machine and that's the whole story. No no no! There's so much more to tell you. So, now, go outside and light up a cigarette (I know you smoke still) and when you come back we'll make a start on how I never EVER lose at the casino, and how you can do it too.

Do you want some pie?

Sorry, but I've realized I really need to do one more thing before we really kick off. I have to tell you a little bit of my personal history so you understand how I came to discover all the things I'm about to explain to you. If I don't tell you my story then why would you trust me?

As I've already said, I live in Southern California, where there are a great GREAT SURPRISINGLY GREAT many casinos. But I was born and raised in the UK, where gambling is ridiculously legal, to the point there are bookies on every single road in the land. Google it. William Hill, Ladbrokes, Corals, Betfred, Paddypower, Stan James, the list goes on and on. Each store has slot machines and a dozen TV screens and in the good old days were full of ashtrays and newspapers and torn up losing betting slips. If you liked to gamble you could live in these establishments. Later on I joined my favorite snooker club, which also had slot machines and big TV screens and lots of snooker and pool tables and ashtrays. And eventually a poker room too. And then came online gambling. So that after a long day gambling I could go home and gamble too. And then everyone was suddenly into online poker. And then I started making twice-weekly trips to the casino to play poker with real people. And later still I would save up enough money to make an annual trip to Las Vegas and get to the universal home of gambling. And finally, when I was 40 years old, I moved to California.

I didn't come here for any other reason than to better the lives of my family, to work hard and to live the dream in sunshine and luxury. But I quickly discovered there were SO many casinos near where I lived and they were so inviting for someone who loves to gamble. I also quickly realized that gambling in the US was a very different experience to gambling in the UK, on many levels, and I had to go through various growing pains to come to appreciate their differences and ultimately come to discover how I could get the most out of what the US casino's had to offer me.

The most important lesson for me came in about 1994 on one of my Vegas trips. I was there for 2 weeks (that was my first mistake!) and after 7 days was running low on funds, so to pass the days more cheaply I decided to visit ALL the casinos and see what was happening in each. I also broke the back of the Englishman inside me and actually started to TALK to people! That proved to be SO beneficial it grew on me. The Brits do NOT talk to strangers. But I started chatting to all the Americans (who LOVE to talk to strangers!) and I got to learn so much about what makes Vegas tick. And since then I've continued to learn that way, until now, when I get to tell you all that I know.

So, it has been a long journey here. But I think I've got this mastered now. 

OK, You can go and grab some pie now, and on the next page I will begin the bit you really came here to read.

Bank Roll

Bank Roll

How much money do you take to the casino with you? How much more can you get your hands on if you need to? How in control of your finances are you? What 'tactics' do YOU use to make sure you have fun and that you don't lose your shirt every time you go?

These questions assume you go to have fun. The reason you rarely win is often less to do with the winning bit, and more to do with the having fun bit. You've been there 100's of times when at some point you were up, possibly quite a good amount up, but then you got all excited, raised your bet, and kept on going till you lost it all. The house know this. You also know this. You don't have a problem losing, but you have a BIG PROBLEM winning. You are, in fact, great at losing - you've mastered it 1000 times. But you are a very poor winner. It might be guilt at taking the house for a loss, might be the excitement and thrill of making the big win ever bigger, might be you just didn't have your brain engaged at the time and all you wanted to do was just carry on playing and having fun, or it could be you couldn't stop as you don't have an "off button" unless and until you either lose all your money or hit something so big (taxable big) that the delay in getting paid calms you down enough to remember who you are and that you need 2 new tires really badly.

So, back to my first question - how much money do YOU take to the casino? If you are lucky enough to be very well off, and take thousands of dollars with you, then enjoy life, and appreciate what you have. But I also hope you are making the most out of those dollars you spend, although I suspect you probably don't worry too much about that anyway. Or, if you have saved a few dollars each pay-packet and have finally got $40 together and are going to the casino for the first time in 4 months and hope it's going to be your lucky day, then good luck to you too. But I don't think you're going to get to the higher levels of benefits my plan has to offer as you're not quite doing enough turnover to get recognized/appreciated by the house. On a side note - if you want to pace yourself so you have the longest time at the casino for your money, try the Keno or Poker machines rather than the quick turnover slots machines, but note they are far worse for getting comps and benefits.

Now, all the rest of you, listen up. You are my people! You have perhaps $100 to $500 a week to play with that is affordable money. You care about it, and you'd prefer not to lose it, but you do, almost every single week. You lot, keep reading this blog very very VERY carefully!

Real Bank Roll

Real Bank Roll

Continuing from the previous page, I'm going to assume you walk in to the casino with a couple of hundred dollars. That amount is perfectly acceptable. Should make for a good night. Should last the evening. Should. The problems start if it doesn't. Let's think about things for a moment. You went in with a basic expectation that the money you went in with would last you a certain length of time. If you just keep winning then move along, nothing to see here. But if you lose your money before your time-expectations have been satisfied, the question arises as to what you are going to do.
The problem with gamblers is they rationalize everything. They validate. They calculate and then re-calculate. They consider the facts, work them another way, bend them and ultimately, if needed, just ignore them. I've done it 1000 times myself, so I know. On 1000 occasions I have promised to spend no more than X, sworn it to myself, and then completely ignored that promise. Perhaps mischievously, perhaps by re-calculation of what I must have originally imagined were the facts concerned, or perhaps I couldn't think of any other reason except I WANT TO CARRY ON. That ultimately means I haven't reached my time expectation or I'm having so much fun I want to continue at all costs. I'll come back to the "at-all-costs" discussion another time, but for now let's focus on the time-expectation factor. This is important stuff. Well, for me it is. As an example I almost always use the valet when I park at the casino in the evening (I'm not wasting time looking for a parking bay, and then only find one miles from the entrance. Forget about it. I'm above that). The thing is, when I have to go retrieve my car if it's only been 20 minutes, or even only an hour, I feel a right idiot. So I'd rather hit the ATM for another $100 than see the valet guy. I know in my heart the valet guy not only probably hasn't a clue when I dropped the car off, he 100% doesn't give the slightest shit about it. But for some reason the shortness of my gamble bothers me.

Now, I go in with good intentions. I'm here to have fun. I'm here to enjoy myself for a few hours. I'm NOT trying to win per se, more realistically just hoping to lose my money nice and slowly. What happens is I put my money in the slot machine, hit 40c, press play, and then go immediately up to 80c because who the hell wants to win anything playing minimum stake! That has happened SO often it's a joke. And it's only worse if I win. Then I always move up to $1.20 or $1.60 or more likely to $2.00 a spin. And if I win say, $341 on some free spins or a feature, I guarantee I'll have a conversation that starts off with me saying I'll just play it down to $300 even, but when I get there I'll always redefine my stopping point at $280, no $250, no $200. I might actually stop at $200. But equally I might not.

OK, I've given you the scenario. You've been there, I've been there. What are we going to do about it? Obviously, you'll just have to keep reading the blog!

Real Actual 4am Bottom Line Bank Roll

OK, so you've been playing for a while, and you're sat drinking a (insert favorite drink) and maybe you're playing a casual $1.00 a spin and then you get the free spin feature. You automatically light up a cigarette before you hit the start-feature-button and then you just sit back and relax and let the money roll in baby. Sounds familiar? It's what you are there for. Living the dream baby.
What are the chances at that precise moment, that you could consider leaving? Probably almost zero? What about the chances of you cashing out after your free spins have finished? Also pretty close to zero I'd guess. Well, I don't blame you. I'm totally with you. Normally. You're there to gamble and this is exactly what gambling is. So why would you want to stop right at the peak of your pleasure?

Well, you have to. Or you have to at least start to think about it.

Let's consider your options: You're going to carry on. You're going to cash out then carry on. You're going to cash out and stop. I'm not going to suggest you stop right after each big win, but it's a definite consideration when you get to the ultimate level of slot-play skills. What I want you to do is just consider the benefit of cashing out after a decent win. You get one automatic benefit which I will call a DT - Delay Tactic. This gives you that moment you need to keep your sanity (or get your sanity back) in the middle (or at the end?) of a session. What you need to be able to do is take just about 2 seconds out of your current reality and THINK. Just ask yourself why are you there? To play, to win or to play until you lose all your money? If you want at least a chance of either playing for longer, or playing and winning, or possibly playing then winning and then actually leaving with winnings then you have to, you just have to, learn to introduce some Delay Tactics into your play. And every time you get a decent win this is what you have to do. Once you've gotten into a new habit of doing this, two things quickly happen: Firstly it'll become second nature - every time you win big you cash out. And secondly you'll see the financial benefits of doing it. You'll see these benefits VERY quickly. So quickly in fact that you'll love it, and look forward with incredulity at getting another decent win just so you can cash out.

What you want to do, at the night goes on, is end up with a pocket full of cash-out slips.

Now, it's easy to just end up putting them back in to the slot machine, be it the one you just won on, or another you end up moving to. So there are a couple of additional DT's I will share later on. But for now I will just say this: YOU MUST GO TO THE CASINO WITH A BIG PILE OF $20 BILLS. Do not go with $100 bills. You can hide a few of those inside your wallet if you like. But to get the confidence of hitting the cash-out button you have to KNOW you are going to immediately put in a fresh $20 from your pocket. Again, as your confidence in doing this grows you will learn to look forward to doing this. You have a different mind-set when you have $20 to play with and not the $448 you just cashed out. It tells your subconscious that if you lose this you'll move. And that is high up on the Delay Tactic skills I will get to in later blog entries.

But basically, for today's lesson - go in with a bank roll of $20 bills. Cash out after any and every win over $100 and don't put more than one $20 in THAT slot unless you get back to winning ways enough to cash out again. Sometimes you'll be able to stay on that slot for a good long time, gradually exchanging $20 bills for cash out slips. Sometimes it's one and done and move along. But get into this new habit and start to see the benefits of changing your slot play today!

Now, the title of this blog page is what happens at 4am when you run out of money. The answer should be GO HOME. The new answer should be go to the Ticket Redemption Machine and switch out all those cash-out slips for cash! And then RUN! Don't hit one last slot, or you'll never leave. But sometimes, you are going to lose without hitting anything big. You are going to have a disaster night. I've been when I haven't even hit a single frickin feature! Well, on those occasions you need to be able to remember that winning isn't guaranteed on any single visit. So whatever your bank roll is for that day or week, keep to it. Don't advance on next weeks. Don't use the profit from last weeks. Keep to the plan. Focus on the long game.

Mission number two is gaining credibility with your players card company, and that is based strictly on turnover. You want to do lots and lots of turnover, but you want to do it on their money, not on your own. Later on I'll give you some numbers that show you how much the house is willing to give you, once you've got to various tier levels, and the numbers are awesome. But you don't, in effect, want to just be paying for them out of your own money. I'll come back to that whole calculation later also, but the second take-away from this entry is learn to roll with the house money when the going is good. Have fun on their money, but keep your wallet tight. Stick to the plan and you'll be amazed at the results. Now, go get yourself a bundle of $20's and see how much fun cashing-out after a win can actually be.

Staying At The Casino Differences

The most I have so far recorded staying for free at casinos in one year was 42 nights. That's absolutely true, and they were all absolutely free nights. If you haven't got the free offers then that's probably because they don't know your address. Almost everyone who joins up get some kind of offer to stay. And when they say its free they mean it. The only time they don't is if you are already a known shark, stay in a huge suite, maybe get a limo to pick you up from the airport or have dinner with your host/ess - in those circumstances (and I have friends that are invited that way) there is a 100% expectation that you will be gambling to the level of their expectations or you may be liable for room fees. But the way I do it, there is zero expectation. I have been on enough trips to casinos where I've not put one single cent in a slot machine (usually because I was busy playing at another establishment, but sometimes because I went with my family, and when I do that I am there to be fed, sunbathed and/or otherwise entertained, and then rarely gamble). The point is I've already done the work to get the freebie, so the freebie is FREE, with no obligation attached.
Anyway, what I'm actually trying to say, is that I have stayed at casinos overnight A LOT. And what I want to say on this page is that playing for a few hours and then driving home, or staying at the casino and then waking up at the casino and perhaps staying there for a length of time (the longest I actually stayed in Vegas on one trip was 2 weeks - about 4 days too long frankly, but you learn your lessons the hard way!) are two very different things.

Staying overnight means if you spend your allocated funds you are FAR more likely to dip in to your un-allocated funds. Often. So you have to be far more cautious in your play. Also in your ploys to not let yourself do that.

The number one rule is simple. If you don't trust yourself just go downstairs with your room key, ID and cash - no credit/debit cards at all. You'll feel the pinch immediately. A niggle that says play conservative, it's going to be a long night (hopefully) and I don't want to have to go upstairs to continue. Also, when you do go upstairs the fire in your belly usually burns out and you end up turning the TV on and phoning room service for a burger instead. I don't think I've ever gone down to carry on playing if I'm staying more than one night. What's the point? I have plenty of time to carry on playing the next day.

If you trust yourself a little bit more, but not too much, then I've got a nice half-way trick for you. I bought a Bluebird American Express card from Walmart a few years ago. I have it connected to my bank account so in theory I could load it from the floor of the casino with my phone, but pretend I never said that. Anyway, I use it when I'm at a really dodgy looking liquor store or 7-11, but I also use that as my back-up cash card when I'm at the casino and don't trust myself with my real money cards. It's great. Mostly because I forget I have it when I need it most of the time. (I should add I have a second wallet for taking downstairs, and often an ugly hip fanny pack, and the card is in the wallet in the fanny pack. So when I run out of cash the number of times I forget I took the card with me is in the double-digits by now. Which is fine). Point is, stick a couple of hundred on the Amex card, and if you need it (I mean feel you need it), then it's there for you without the trip upstairs. Ok, you get my point.

Now, there's another thing I do on the longer trips (to Vegas) that I don't do on the drives to the local casino - I always start my day buying some random $10 Keno tickets (100 plays). Then I go the sports book for an hour and place literally 100's of random 50c bets - I've spent decades betting on horses and know two things - you can't win, and you have no idea who will win. So lucky numbers, colors, any old combination you like, is just as good as reading the form, following the jockeys, knowing the weather and which track is considered most favorable. It's all total luck, unless you know the owner and the jockey. Then maybe. But in general I bet for fun only, and 9 times out of 10 when I go back at the end of the day I get most of my money back from two or three races where 4 beat 7 beat 11!

After I've had all the free coffee and orange juices I can handle at the sports book, I move to a comped breakfast to get me ready for my day. Then I go to the poker area and sign up for the afternoon poker tourney. I love tourneys. I hate cash games. If you play cash games good luck to you, but in my opinion there's always someone richer, stupider or luckier at the table, and I'm never the rich, stupid or lucky one. But in tourneys I have two advantages. Firstly, I already know my total outlay (OK, that's not always true as sometimes there are buy-ins, but I know the approximate outlay in those games anyway) and second of all, every second I am playing poker I am not playing slots. I want to be playing slots, and so I don't mind losing at the poker, but if I win then I've got more money to play with without dipping in to my funds, so hoo hawwww. And, as it happens, I seem to do very well at poker. I just don't rate myself as a player in my head. And I'm not there to be a poker player. I'm there to play slots and use the poker to keep me off them for a while. Also, sometimes I sunbathe, but that's like super rare.

Anyway, I play slots for a bit until the poker starts, then I try and focus on the poker game till I'm done. And as another side note can I say I frickin hate getting to the final table and then negotiating how to divide all the money so we don't even play another hand. I hate that!

OK, pokers finished, got plenty of cash. Have dinner and then...

Well. Actually. I usually go to bed! Because I hate playing slots when there are literally a million people walking past me. I much prefer to play slots after about 1.30am. But whatevs. To each their own, I can't make you be a night time crazy bird, so play when you like, but keep your wallet upstairs OK!?

I have some friends who are shark-like (not HUGE sharks, but shark enough to not have to pay for anything, and therefore eat like kings, which I jump in on thanks very much) - and they play slots all day, then sleep, and wake up at 4am to play serious blackjack till 8am. I then join them for breakfast and have to hear endless stories of how that stupid drunk guy ruined the first table or the hot dealer was a total bitch, or whatever. Don't care. I'll listen to their moans for free Kobi steak in the evening! The point is they focus their energies between 4 and 8am. I focus mine from 1.30am until I drop.

So the point of all this is to PACE yourself. It's a much longer game plan for an overnight or short vacation than for a drive to a casino followed by a drive home. Change your game, make a plan, add in other things because you cannot afford to play slots all day and all night. Not even me! I'll add plenty more about other things to do another time.

Alright, I think that's enough for tonight's entry. Go to Walmart and buy a Bluebird card (no monthly fees is why its the one to buy) and load it with an emergency $200 and then leave your real cards upstairs the next time you stay overnight at the casino and see if you ever go upstairs and then back down ever again.

And finally, don't ever ever EVER cash in your comp points for cash. NEVER. First of all you lose 50% by doing that, and second of all, the whole comp thing works to spend that money appropriately, and wasting it as a cash back up ruins that whole set up. So don't. Please.

And one other caution, if you have a gambling problem seek assistance with gamblers anonymous. I have had friends with the addiction and it is so close to looking like exactly the same level of fun that I am having it is hardly noticeable that at the end of the night I had a great night and they have lost everything they had. It's a shame but some people can't control the fire. For those people I am sorry, but this isn't for you. And if you are halfway between the two then at the very least never ever mess with your wife's joint account money!

Driving To The Casino Differences

OK, I'm started to get excited because some of the upcoming blog entries are going to get really interesting and I am looking forward to sharing the info with you. But for the moment I need to mention a little about the opposite of the previous page on staying overnight at the casino - namely driving to the casino.

When I was a young gambler I used to get super excited about going out for a night of gambling. I would get butterflies the whole way and would drive with such high hopes and dreams, and could barely control myself. It's now many many many years later, and it hasn't changed one bit! I know I'm going to leave exhausted and sometimes with less money than I went in with, but I don't care. All these years of going and you can't diminish my excitement or enthusiasm one tiny little notch. I have no idea why that is. My parents are total non-gamblers and my poor Mother has spent my entire adult life in frustration at my enjoyment in this genre. She literally cannot understand why anyone would want to throw their money away. Especially their hard earned money. Leaving aside that I now have a sweet little niche where I don't actually lose, the point is there's a large percentage of the population that not only get no pleasure at all from gambling, but many literally despise it. Some with good reason I guess. if they've seen the consequences of an addiction or something. But the point is, they derive zero enjoyment from it. (They can still love Las Vegas though people, so please go and enjoy a show, sunbathe and eat at the finest restaurants).

My point is, I do love it. I love love love it! I haven't quite figured out what the core underlying psychological urges are based on, but the result is I still get totally excited when I'm driving to the casino. Sometimes I tell myself how I'm going to play when I get there. I might talk myself into starting off on a certain machine and then plan that if I get lucky move to another one I like or if I have a bad run may be play keno for 2 cups of coffee to calm me down. I would say try the video-poker machines, but they just don't do anything for me, so I can't calm myself on those as I'd fall asleep trying to decide which cards to hold.

Sometimes on my way to the casino I'll say to myself, if I lose (or win) x then I'll definitely have my (free, obviously) buffet, or may be the (yeah, yeah, free) steak and eggs. Whatever.

And once in a while I'll utter a little prayer in hope that I hit 9 frickin QuickHits (the most I've had is 8, but that's another story). And then I might even go home and give my wife a cut of the money for once!

However, what usually happens is that I go in, sit down (may be on the machine I was planning on going to, may be not) put my Players Card in, download some free money (more on that another time) and then press the start button. At that precise moment whatever thoughts had been going through my head on the drive in get moved to a new place, called fantasy/fiction land, and stay there until 30 seconds after I leave the casino.

Doesn't matter how sane, clever, logical or desirable those car thoughts are, once I hit start, they vanish into thin air. Every time. And I know this because it's happened a gzillion times in a row now. So the barriers that you want to set up to control any activities that go on in the casino have to keep that issue in mind. You cannot go in with good intentions, they don't work. You have to go in with physical barriers! For this post I am talking about my wallet, inside my ugly-arse hip bum-bag. Every time I want to load another $20 in to the slot I have to open structure A, pull out structure B, take out one and only one $20 bill, and then return B in to A and zip up A again. This singular onerous chore is something I now tend to stick to as a new religion. I have a bundle of singles in my pocket for tips, but they aren't important compared to the storage planning of my bigger bills. But I would recommend keeping dollars closer by if you are a regular user of the beverage options provided by the casino.

Speaking of tipping, that's another whole story to discuss. But for high-rollers there is a definite issue of over-tipping and I'll need to return to that at some point. But for now, in case you're not American: For coffee $2 or $3 unless you're down to your last $1, in which case that's OK, but apologize! Beers tip $3 minimum, and spirits (ah, bless you, I'll have another White Russian please) go bold and give $5 if you're in a nice casino ($3 in a dive). Food tip at two times tax then round up. Luggage/bell-boy $5. Car valet $5 in a nice hotel, $3 if you're in a dive might be ok, but not really. I have a friend who only gives $1 and i'm like, what?! I don't take taxis or Ubers or whatevers, so haven't a clue what to tip there, sorry.

Alright, the point of this is why driving is different to staying overnight. The answer is that you can leave at any time. {Hotel California suddenly jumps in my head}. But actually can you? I have often overstayed on a work night and crashed to sleep at 4am knowing I'm going to wake up a 6.30am and wish I had left earlier. Leaving on a high is almost impossible for me, compared to leaving on a low! I lose my allocated money and I'm done. I'm generally very good at doing that. Not always. Sometimes I leave frustrated or angry with the machine (or the bitch next to me that kept winning), but either way I leave. When I'm winning though, time stops being an issue. My wife could phone me and say "Come home NOW" and I'll say I'm on my way - but I know I mean I'm working my way towards the exit, very gradually. Super gradually. She probably knows this too by now. She's a good woman.

But is there another way to overcome this? Honestly? Fuck knows. I think old age will help. I'm almost at the point where I actually KNOW I HAVE TO LEAVE by 2am or I'm going to be sorry the next day. But it used to be 4am. And before that I would just go home, shower and go straight to work. So, just keep going until you get old enough to appreciate your body can't take it no more. There's little else I can say. Winning is a bitch.

So when I stay at the casino's I start late and keep going until exhaustion overtakes me (or I'm sick from drink and cigarettes, but I don't need to share that on a public forum!). But on a work night, it's just about some inner maturity, otherwise that enthusiastic kid driving to the casino stays at the casino till he just can't carry on.

Which is why sometimes I go with a sane friend. I treat them to dinner, they return the favor by dragging me home at a normal hour, sometimes with my profits, way before I would have left by myself. Friends are good. More on that in the next entry!

OK, so there's not much of a secret here I'm afraid. I use the wallet trick to delay me pumping $20's in the same slot. It works for me because I stick to it. But ending a night early when you're winning. Good luck with that level of maturity because I haven't quite mastered that yet!

Going Alone vs Going With Others

I'd guess that most of the times you go to the casino, there's actually little choice as to who you go with. You have a day off and want to just pop in by yourself. You're on a business trip in LV and after the meeting/training you're free to do what you like alone. You are going on a family vacation and won't have a chance to really gamble. You want to take your wife out to dinner and fancy steak at the casino's smart restaurant. But once in a while you may consider inviting a friend/work colleague/spouse just for the company. May I suggest that you DO invite someone else along as often as you can. The reasons are fairly obvious. Firstly, you are unlikely to lose yourself, and stay till 4am. You are less likely to hit the ATM with your wife next to you! And you are less likely to hit the slot machine when you lose your last cent if your work colleague is sitting next to you. But more importantly to me, is that going with someone makes the experience SOCIAL instead of financial. If you look hard inside yourself you may find that although you love gambling, you also love your wife, or spending time with your friend, or getting to know your work colleague. Life isn't just about money, and tagging someone else along to your gambling experience lets you get it out of your system while also benefiting from the time spent there. I'll talk more about the effects of time spent on gambling in another entry, but for this post I just want to say I find going with someone, anyone, a very different experience from going alone. And although I don't get to gamble like I would otherwise, driving together, eating together, drinking together and driving home together making shared memories of a fun night out are more valuable (well, equally valuable) to just winning some money.

Nuff said.

Also, don't take your work colleague unless they are gamblers too. Non-gamblers really aren't good company.

Player Card (Volume 1)

If you know anything about gambling in Las Vegas there's a very good chance you've already heard of the term 'Players Card.' Every casino has one, and most will offer you something for signing up as a new member.
Some of you just don't like to give your personal information out to 3rd parties unless absolutely required. I understand. Information  gets lost, sold, stolen. I know where you are coming from. However, if you aren't going to sign up, then this chapter isn't for you, but read it anyway, just to see what you are missing out on.

There are also some of you who feel that by inserting the players card the house are somehow tracking you, and for whatever reasons you can think of, believe that you will win less, or maybe not at all, if you use one of those cards. Again, I appreciate your emotional resistance to getting a card, and I am not here to convince you to do otherwise, but please read this anyway so I might at the very least make you aware of what the world of owning a Players Card opens you up to. You may also find THIS article and THIS article of some interest (click NO to the annoying pop-up ads)

I have no idea how many casinos there are in Las Vegas (Apparently there are (as on 1/1/16) 171 in Clark County of which 42 are in The Strip area!), nor do I have any idea how they are divided up among all the giant mega-owners. But the 2 big groups that own the majority of the most famous casino's you have heard of are under the wings of the MGM group and Caesars Group. The Rewards system for the MGM is call MLife Rewards and for Caesars is called Total Rewards. Each offers some benefit for joining, and then increases the perks as you go up the tier levels.

MLife Tier Benefits - This shows you Mlife's various levels and benefits.

Total Rewards - This shows you Total Reward's various levels and benefits.

This is not the exclusive list for Las Vegas by any means, just the "big two" groups, which offer the widest benefits in and outside of Las Vegas. But if you love one of the Station Casinos, they have a MyBoardingPass program that comes close, and also the Red Card from The Wynn/Encore has good benefits, as well as the Grazie card from the Venetian/Palazzo. But there are many others for you to consider and enjoy making use of in similar fashion to the big two. In fact I'll have to come back to some of those other one's later on, because they need to given a much bigger shout out really.

But for now, let's focus on the big two.

MGM group owns the following Las Vegas establishments where one player's card will work in all venues:

(Full international list courtesy of Wikipedia)

1. Bellagio
2. Circus Circus
3. Aria
4. Vdara
5. Excalibur
6. Luxor
7. Mandalay Bay/Delano
8. MGM Grand/Skylofts/The Mansion/The Signature
9. The Mirage
10. Monte Carlo (soon to be rebranded as two new casinos - The Park MGM and The NoMad)
11. New York

Caesars group owns the following Las Vegas establishments where one player's card will work in all venues:

(Full international list courtesy of Wikipedia)

1. Bally's
2. Caesars Palace
3. Harrah's
4. The Cromwell
5. Flamingo
6. The Linq
7. Paris
8. Planet Hollywood
9. Rio

So on the face of it the two are about equal in terms of casino counts. But in reality that is almost irrelevant because no one plays at 10 venues! You may just play at one or two or even three, but no one plays at more. What actually matters is where you like to play, or stay, or eat. Going back twenty odd years I remember playing poker at the Off-strip Hilton Casino (no longer present) which housed the Start Trek Experience (which was awesome) and on a break chatted with a little old lady playing the $5 slots. She told me she would fly in whenever that particular bank of slots reached 4 million dollars. She didn't say she had ever won the jackpot herself, although I got the impression she had, but the point is she basically didn't play anything else, anywhere else, because that was where she felt lucky. So between all the venues above, is there somewhere you prefer? Do you like the rooms at one hotel in particular, or the restaurants somewhere, or the pool? Well if you do, keep that in mind when deciding which players card to focus on. I once stayed at the Orleans Casino with my kids, and vowed never to stay there again because the lines for the restaurants were so long we could never eat. Likewise I adore beyond belief the temperature of the swimming pool at the Wynn, which I consider a big pull for summer trips. I also can't always get the rooms at Caesars in the wing nearest the pool (Augustus), and I can't be bothered to walk to the pool from any other wing, so if I'm not offered it for free, I am not staying there. These are just some of the reasons I have in mind when staying, but for you the choice may be something completely different. But ultimately keep in mind which players card scheme you'll be affiliated with, and keep focused on the requirements to reach your target tier for your best rewards.

OK, I don't want this page to go on forever, so I'll close out here, and on the next entry start getting in to the actual benefits offered. That's where it all starts to get VERY interesting!

Players Card (Volume 2)

OK, time to get serious. Let's start with Total Rewards:

For reasons I will explain later, there is almost no point trying to get to Seven Stars unless you happen to be a millionaire. Getting to Platinum will definitely get you plenty of free offers to delight you, but getting to Diamond is the objective with Total Rewards. It makes ALL the difference reaching that  milestone. And I will explain later, I promise.

The website showing this information is HERE.

Gold - zero
Platinum - 5000 Tier Credits
Diamond - 15,000 Tier Credits
Seven Stars - 150,000 Tier Credits*

You earn 1 Tier Credit for each $5 turnover on a slot machine. (There are many other way to earn them, but I'm sticking to slot play for the moment). So in basic cash terms:

Gold - zero
Platinum - $25,000 TURNOVER
Diamond - $75,000 TURNOVER
Seven Stars - $750,000 TURNOVER*

* - Seven Stars is by invitation only - meaning they want to vet you first!

Now, those numbers may seem high, but they also have bonuses if you do a high turnover in 24 hours (Starting 6am to 5.59am the next day):

Earn 500 Tier Credits and receive bonus 125
Earn 1000 Tier Credits and receive bonus 1000
Earn 2500 Tier Credits and receive bonus 5000 (Platinum in one day)
Earn 5000 Tier Credits and receive bonus 10,000 (Diamond in one day)

So if you gamble $200 a week and rarely achieve 100 Tier Credits in a day, it could take you longer than a year to make Diamond, and since the system resets every January 1st, you'll never do it. Sorry.
On the other hand, if you only go to the casino once a year, take the same amount of money (52 x $200 = $10,400) and manage to earn 5000 Tier Credits, you'd be diamond in a day.

So, for Total Rewards, you are definitely rewarded for playing more money less often. On a personal note I would say that during most of the last 7 or 8 years of being Diamond I achieved it mostly from playing $200 a week, and then rolling my bigger wins into those targets to achieve bonus levels. I rarely did it with my money! One Christmas I did dip in to my money to make sure I got the last few Tier Credits needed to get over the hurdle, as maintaining Diamond is worth a lot of money to me. But in general I have just gone along each week with about $200, not particularly worried about winning or losing, but focused quite intently on having fun, eating a free meal, drinking some free drinks, and if I should happen to win anything useful, then keeping one eye very closely on my Tier Rewards to make sure I maximize my evening's enjoyment by reaching the relevant bonus target. Once I've made diamond for the year then there's a whole different reason to play - profit! But until I am diamond, that is the ONLY target I have in mind.

OK, let's look at MGM's MLife Tier structure now:

With MLife Rewards you are trying to get to Platinum to get the really worthwhile comps. Also note that with MGM their Tier Credit accumulation is determined from October 1st through September 30, not January 1 to December 31 like TR does!

Sapphire - 0
Pearl 25,000
Gold 75,000
Platinum >200,000
Noir - by invitation only.

Tier Credits are earned in Las Vegas, on Slots only, at a rate of 25 credits per dollar turnover. So the actual cash equivalents here would be:

Sapphire - zero
Pearl - $1,000
Gold - $3,000
Platinum - $8,000

I find those numbers incredibly low, so I'm tempted to double check that now I see them in writing, but for the moment that does appear to be the case.

Let's take a quick look at the benefits offered for Diamond vs Platinum:

(this is really looking ONLY at the Diamond and Platinum benefits, I'm not so bothered about any lesser benefits!)

(You should be able to click on the image(s) to expand them)

Now that's clearly far too much information to understand, so I'm going to just leave that here for you to refer to, hope that it never changes or I'll be screwed, and on the next entry go over some of those, and some additional pointers in a little more detail. But let me leave you with this one story - many years ago I was in Las Vegas with my family, about to get in line for the Buffet at The Paris, which was not less than a three hour wait. It's a good buffet to be sure - but 3 hours? Anyway, there's a door that is separate from the main entrance, marked nice and clearly "Diamond and Seven Stars Entrance". We walked in, showed my Diamond Card and were seated IMMEDIATELY. It was at that point in time that my wife conceded that whatever it took me to get to Diamond Status in future, she must be told to let me do it. Diamond has many many awesome benefits, but few are more satisfying than saving three hours standing in line for a buffet with 3 starving kids next to you.

Players Card (Volume 3)

I'm sorry its taken so long to reach this point, but I have to get through all the technical stuff to get to the real point I've been trying to make all along about the Players Cards. From the moment you get the lowest level entry card you have some significant benefit. I remember convincing one friend to join TR and within a month of joining he was invited to Las Vegas with a free room offer and free tickets to see Jerry Seinfeld. And I promise you he hadn't gotten off the basic intro level tier. All he did was a few hundred dollars of turnover and got supremely lucky. I didn't get free Jerry Seinfeld tickets! I couldn't have gone anyway, because I was there the week before to see Celine Dion for free, or it may have been Elton John actually, I can't remember. But either way I've seen my fare share of free shows now, I just haven't seen (and would dearly love to see - if anyone with any power is reading this!) Jerry Seinfeld!!

So just joining up MIGHT be enough to get you some freebies. Continuing to play will guarantee it. Once you hit the first hurdle, whatever company you choose to play with, you will get the invitations and benefits coming your way. I have a colleague at work who I also convinced to sign up - actually I had some coupons for non-TR members to stay at The Rio for free, but required them joining up to the TR program. They enjoyed a free vacation, played a little on the slots, and now they are getting free invites on their own, and making family vacation plans based on it. How awesome is that?

But that is really only the start. The companies that invite you know you well enough to reward you even better than just free rooms. They put actual free money in to your account to play with. Some more than others and obviously more so as you move up the tier structure. I've had some absolutely AMAZING one-off invitations, which I can't pretend come around too often, but have convinced me to take vacations I didn't really need! When they opened the MGM owned Aria Casino, I was invited for free and given $500 in free play, $50 in food and $100 in other comps. I wasn't going to miss out on that! And far more recently Steve Wynn in his genius decided to offer me free rooms at The Wynn and The Encore, both with $400 in free play to get me excited. I follow Steve Wynn enough to know he was just trying to convince me that he owns the best casinos in Las Vegas and that I would then tell everyone else how good they are. Well, he was right. I loved both hotels, the classy casinos, the excellent pools and the wonderful rooms. And I will willingly pay to go back. Maybe not now, because I'm currently getting offers to stay at The Venetian for a pittance, the MGM for free and the entire Caesars chain generally for free with no resort fee (not including Friday's or Saturday's). But eventually I will go back to the Wynn, because his free offer plus free play won me over.

Also, the benefits don't end with free rooms or free food or even free free-play! I said in the last post that jumping the line at the buffet was one of the best benefits (to my wife and kids at least) of holding a Diamond card with Total Rewards. But also jumping the entire taxi-line outside Caesars Palace was pretty sweet too. As was getting on the courtesy shuttle ahead of all the people who had been lining up for far longer than I had was particularly nice also for my family (Free shuttle runs from The Rio to Paris every 30 minutes). And what about checking in at a dedicated lounge for Diamond members? No lining up with the riff-raff for my family. We get plush seats and cookies and coffee and cold drinks should we have to wait at all. And then there's nothing better than free food in the Diamond Lounge - one located in each of the Caesars Group Las Vegas casinos. I believe I've visited them all now. My wife loves them because if we are going to see a show and we want to eat afterwards, but we're a little peckish beforehand (or vice-versa) then we'll grab some free chicken wings and salad and chips and a free cocktail and ice-cream to see us through (Please tip appropriately!). Diamond also comes with 2 free show tickets each calendar month. The list of free shows changes, but we have seen Penn and Teller more times than I can count as they are almost always on the list and they are top notch, and change their act every so often so it's never the same set of tricks.

Now, I've focused on the Diamond Rewards because that is what I know best. But I know that the MGM tier structure offers somewhat similar benefits as you move up to Platinum. The ability to line jump the buffet and the Cafe (best place for breakfast) definitely holds power worth attaining.

In addition to all the above, the MGM has partnerships with The Hyatt, Southwest Airlines, and MGM resorts in Chicago and Mississippi. Total Rewards has partnerships with Starwood Hotels, Atlantis Paradise Resort, Norwegian Cruises, Hawaiian Airlines and more. All these may be useful to you or not, but as an example I've been offered free cruises and even free accommodation at the Atlantis Paradise Resort. Very tempting. Not for now, but maybe I will crack and go one day.

OK, so I've hopefully given you a glimpse of some of the benefits of holding a rewards card. Some benefits can be calculated very specifically (to get to the Tier structure you are aiming for) and some seem almost random - mail offers are always exciting to open and see what I'm being offered. But even with those chains I have frequented far less often, and have far lower standing with, I still get inundated with amazing offers - sometimes unbeatable - just for joining up and playing a small amount on the slots.
 

I'll probably end up adding enough additional things here to add another entry but here's one I just thought of that want to add already!

With TR, to keep your rewards credits active you just need to earn 1 point ($5 of turnover) every 6 months. Those rewards are your spending benefits, not your Tier Rewards that get you promoted to Diamond, etc (those vanish every January 1st).

With MLife Rewards your rewards also stay on your card for 6 months on the lowest tier (Sapphire), but for Pearl and above you have 12 months to earn 1 point to keep your Express Comps (Spending money) alive. Use it or lose it if you're not going to back in time. MLife Tier Rewards are earned from September 1st through October 30th.

Players Card Comparisons

 (Photo of The Wynn Casino)

Time to be a little honest here, and say I am only a member of about 6 Casino groups (that I could find membership cards for in my safe anyway), so I can't really speak for all of the many, many, many casino membership options that are available in Las Vegas. Furthermore, I go as a tourist, looking for high quality resorts and on-strip locations. But Las Vegas in the larger sense has far, far more to offer than just one (albeit) long street. I'm not even a fan of Fremont Street and it has another whole set of very famous casino's, that offer a great deal to its clientele. I'm just not in to that vibe. But I know people who wouldn't stay anywhere else. And the locals love Ellis Island, Golden Gate, El Cortez and the Station Casino's which are anything but 5-star, but they are known to offer some of the best odds in town and also have excellent players card benefits - I'm just not in to those as resort destinations. I like sparkly clean casinos, soft pillows and gigantic beds, fine dining and all mod-cons in total luxury. Expensive Luxury. But I want that as cheap as I can get it, and I'm happy to put a fair amount of money through a slot machine to prove willing. But if you are not that pedantic about needing a 5-star resort, or if you're a table-game player wanting better odds than the strip offers, or if you like video poker and understand the differences between the various machines and their advertised returns well enough to know a good deal or a bad deal when you see it, then you really should go to these other destinations to gamble, and stay the hell away from the worst paying odds in town - namely any casino on The Strip!
Having said all that, and having been as brutally honest about it as I can be, let me re-state the whole point of this blog - how to play slots without ever losing. I'm not trying to get you to win a million dollars gambling, I'm here to help you put $10,000 in a slot machine and get $20,000 of free and luxurious hotel rooms, food, shows, limo's, flights, cruises, sauna's, facials, massages, show tickets and so forth, completely irrespective of what happens with your $10,000 investment. Winning or losing you are winning, so you can have a lot more fun knowing you don't really care about the money because you've definitely already won compared to just paying for that luxury, and this way is FAR MORE FUN. Also, later, we will actually discuss winning on the slots for proper - but that's way down the line I'm afraid.

Oh, I was supposed to be talking about the various players cards wasn't I, and got sidetracked somewhat. So, my point was that I am NOT talking about ALL the players cards because I don't care about any that won't land me in a 5* hotel on The Strip, with added benefits. So we are just comparing Total Rewards (Caesars), MLife Rewards (MGM), The Red Card (Wynn/Encore) and Grazie (Venetian/Palazzo). But if you have a LONG trip to Vegas planned and want to get to see some of the sites and sounds of the town and have fun while doing it, then I'd recommend following the top 10 list HERE and seeing how much you can get from each location while you're there.

Now, in a sentence, comparing the fancy four TR, MLife Rewards, Grazie and Red Card - the answer is fairly straightforward - if you live anywhere in mainland USA within a driveable distance from a Harrah's casino (and they have nearly 40 as listed HERE) then you really have to join their program. If you happen to live near to one of the MGM properties in Tunica, Biloxi or Detroit, then you really have to join their program, and if you live no where near any of those, then you should join them all! Perhaps not all at once though. Focus on Caesars first, because they will give you free hotel stays most frequently. Then join MGM for the same reason and you can mix and match their free offers so you stay perhaps Sunday though Tuesday at The Paris and then move to The MGM for a couple of extra nights stay either for free or very cheaply. Then later join the Wynn and make sure you earn enough to get a free buffet as well as entry in to their daily free Slot Tourney (someone has to win) and see what offers you get in the mail. Then finally sign up at The Venetian and keep your fingers crossed - but you'll almost definitely get some super deals on stays with them too. I'm off to Las Vegas next month and I'm doing 2 nights at The Palazzo for $60 a night including free entry in to their $25,000 slot machine tournament (worth $100 otherwise). I'm then at The Paris for one night for $60, followed by one night at The MGM for $44 including a suite-upgrade and $50 in free-play. Why am I paying at all you may ask - well firstly I stupidly missed the deadline on the MGM for a free room which I didn't realize had a use-by date. Secondly I'm going during the World Series of Poker season so rooms are hard to get (and I think there must be a convention or something else going on too as The MGM is actually full). And finally I really want to stay at The Palazzo, and I'm willing to pay $60 a night for that luxury. I just checked and those nights at The Palazzo are now fully booked too, but the same days the following month on Hotels.com show a room rate of $299 per night. I'm not complaining, especially if I happen to win anything in the slot tourney! But all this is kind of against the history of my trips to Las Vegas over the past 7 or 8 years where as a norm I have actually never paid for a room. Oh, and once you're Diamond with Caesars there are no added fees, so free really means totally free with them.

How Much Does Free Still Cost?

Ok, it's been a LONG summer for me and as Fall approaches I can finally get back in to the swing of writing this blog (if you hadn't noticed already, the dates used for the blog are all backwards, because blogspot hasn't yet worked out a way of doing last post first, so I just amend the posting date to get them to read in the correct order). Anyhow, I'm back and need to share some more info with you based on my last Vegas trip:

As I've mentioned before, over the last 8 years or so I really haven't ever paid for a hotel room. But on my last trip I really wanted to stay as The Palazzo/Venetian and thought $60 on an offer seemed worth taking up. Well, let me change my opinion a little! The offer price may well be $60 a night, but all the hotels then add a Resort Fee of around $32 a night - which they value based on it allowing you free access to the Spa and fitness club, free in-suite wifi, boarding pass printing, unlimited local calls, daily newspaper and a 2-1 drink at a bar. OK, writing that makes it seem legit, but even so, for a penny-pincher like me, the total for my two night stay was nowhere near the $120 I imagined, but (including taxes) was something around $278 (I can't find the receipt now I need it!).

So, when I stay at a Ceasars Casino for free, it means ZERO. NADA. ZILCH. And if they offer me the room for $60, then it means $60 + tax = $64.80. That's it. But anywhere else, where I'm not diamond, it's going to cost me a lot more than the advertised rate. So beware.

Now, having said all that, let me introduce you to my latest batch of offers. I will next be visiting Vegas for 4 nights, 2 free of charge at The Bellagio and 2 free of charge at The Venetian. How much will these free rooms cost me? Well, like I said, I just cannot avoid the daily Resort Fee, so my total at The Bellagio is $71.68 and my total at The Venetian is $78.40. This time I've done my homework! And I also checked to see what deposit they will ask too. It's $300 if you want the facility to put incidentals on your room, or $100 if you don't. I'll opt for the latter option thank you!

Now, how did I get these free room offers? The Venetian was an offer I got by email, but I do get them by snail mail also (which I like because I can keep them where I work in case my schedule suddenly opens up for a trip). The Bellagio offer I got using some gold coins I have collected on a free Facebook game, which I will go in to properly on the next blog posting. But both are free, and both will still cost me about $40/night. That's $40/night for 5-star luxury in what would normally be a $300+/night suite in the best hotels in Las Vegas. Yes, I could stay at The Paris for free (I checked), and free means FREEEEEE there for me as a Diamond member. But I'd still rather pay $40 a night and live it large.