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The GameMaster's Secrets
The Value of Slot Clubs

I see a lot of you playing video poker without a slot club card inserted in the machine. I've heard some say that they won't use the card because the casino somehow rigs the machine against them once they see you're there. Drivel! You are throwing money away by such superstitious nonsense! Believe me, dear reader, if the casino was going to rig their games against anyone, it would be the guy who has hit over a dozen Royal Flushes this year (me) and I have never failed to use my slot club card. They may or may not know how many $$$ I've taken out of them, but they all cheerfully redeem my points for some serious cash.

Just what is a slot club worth to me? Of course, it varies from casino to casino, but let me give you a good example. The first thing to do is figure what percentage of all my play is rebated. If a one dollar bet is credited with one point for the slot club, and it takes 40,000 points to get a $100 rebate, that club is returning .25%. Now, if I play a dollar video poker game and bet 5 each hand and play 600 hands an hour, I'll bet a total of $3000 an hour. A .25% slot club rebate is then worth $7.50 an hour. Of course, that $7.50 carries a lot of risk with it, since I can easily lose 10 times that much on the machine. But, since I only play machines on which I have a long term advantage, all those slot club bucks eventually add up - as a profit to me.

But the best part of slot clubs are all the nifty bonuses they offer. Almost every casino here in the St. Louis area has, at one time or another, given double or even triple slot club points and that can be significant. At some games (like Jacks or Better), I can rock and roll at 800 hands an hour, so 'Double Points Day' can mean $20 an hour to me. A good day's play of 8 hours gets me $160, plus or minus any win or loss from the machine. While most casinos announce such promos in the local paper, the best way to find out about them is through the casinos' mailers which go out to slot club members.

Casino newsletters often include coupons good for all kinds of stuff. Harrah's likes to give a coupon which will double the points for any single day's play and they have sent out coupons good for doubling all the points earned in a month's play, though the maximum is usually $100. Even so, that is, to me, a free Ben Franklin and I take advantage of them whenever possible. Recently, Players Island casino offered double points for the entire month, with no limit. Their club rebates .26%, so double was worth .52% and that translates into over $20 an hour for my play. Fifty hours of play in that month got me $1000 in rebates. And you don't use a slot club card?

I could go on and on about all the free dinners, Champagne brunches, hotel rooms and other amenities I've received from slot clubs, but I think you've got my point: if you don't belong to the slot clubs at your favorite casinos, join as soon as possible. They're giving away $$$ and I'm happy to take them you should be, too.