Although I sign up for slot clubs and use my card at the various casinos, I don't know anything about the slot club points, etc.

I rack up the points at the different casinos and whenever I want something (which is not very often), I take it off my card if possible.

At Binions I've always just cashed in on my points. At Boulder Station I get cigarettes with the points. And once in awhile I'll use my points for the Broiler Restaurant. At Showboat I've used my points for the Buffet.

Now let me tell you what I discovered. At Binions, you have to play at least 8 quarters to get one point. The countdown may even be as high as 20. Will check on this for sure next time I'm at Binions. The other night I cashed in my 20,000 points at Binions for $20.

At the Showboat, you have to play only 4 quarters to get one point. Last night I cashed in my 40,000 points for $80!!

Can you believe the difference? Now I can't wait to check out Boulder Station. Will let you all know. All the years I've been here, I never paid any attention to these details. But now I'm going to start paying more attention <bg>.

[This message has been edited by gailsacco (edited August 15, 1999).]

Gail, shame on you for not reading the fine
print... [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

Every slot club booth has brochures which explain their own point value system, so you
should be able to determine where the best
payback is.

I sign up for slot clubs everywhere I go also (since it's free), and usually just
check at the booth when I get ready to leave
to see what the results of my play amount to.

Dick

Unfortunately, there is no uniformity in approach among all the different hotel slot clubs.

Several websites are particularly strong on scoping out exactly what the cashback and comp policies of the different hotels are. Lodestone's site is particularly strong -- great stuff.

DF

Dick, Good point about signing up for every slot card since it's free. Should always take advantage of this no matter how small the cash back is.

I never read the fine print on the slot clubs because I figure I'm only going to get what they want to give me anyway <g>. The main reason I go to a particular casino is for convenience and if the machines play a little. The slot club is secondary to me for food, cigarettes, cash back (money) when the points gets high.

However, NOW it will be more of an issue with me deciding where I play- after taking the first two issues (convenience & play) into consideration. And this is the reason.

I have never cashed in my points at Boulder Station. Have only used the points for restaurants and cigarettes. Went up there last night and played a little. Checked my points- 55,000. I wanted to see what I was going to get for this. What??? No cash back at Boulder Station? For 55,000 I would get 92 dollars in Station Bucks. I left the 55,000 points on the card for future use. Would rather use the points for the Broiler Restaurant some time in the future.

But now that the Boulder Stations machines are not that good anymore, the NO cash back slot club makes a big difference to me.

Dave, Also, don't the casinos change their slot programs anytime they want? I would think it would be hard to keep track of each one.

Wouldn't you agree that the "cash back" slot program is secondary to play, convenience, atmosphere, etc.?

I think the cash back is the least importance. I want to use membership in the slot club for comps. I have found trading the points for food comps is a much better deal then the cash back. I have even use the points to get multiple buffets for everyone in my party and then make them pay me the buffet price. Normally double my value.

I also agree with Dick that you should signup for all slot clubs if your going to play in the casino. Nothing to lose and a lot to gain.

------------------

I can see where room and food comps would be great for visitors, but I would think cash back, specials and monthly promotions would be best for local people. Seems as though great offers in the mail never coincide with our planned trips. Also, we have learned of specials (such as 4 of a kind vp promotions) quite by accident. Yes, it is usually posted, but I seem to miss seeing the signs.

Guess I should probably pay more attention than I do to that sort of thing. But as someone else mentioned, we do move around a lot while in Las Vegas so it's tough to build up many points at any particular casino. We try to cram as much in a week as possible.... probably too much!<g>

[This message has been edited by Beth (edited August 17, 1999).]