Moving from Tables to Exclusively Playing Slots

After finally realizing I can get way better comps playing slots with a much smaller bankroll I'm considering playing slots exclusively. Anyone done this before? Seems like $3k to play slots can last a long time and generate a lot of comps.

 

My vote for the silliest post ever....

 

Thanks for being so supportive. We should share VP strategies.

 

Have you played slots a lot before? I have lately been playing more slots then table games and I like some of the new themed slots. Movie/tv themed ones can be fun with the bonuses. I have noticed better comps with the slots for the same amount of money. There are times however that a machine might just suck the money pretty fast. If you enjoy them go for it. I don't think it's silly. If ya are having fun why not take more from the casino. Just keep in mind most slots will be at about 85% payback at the penny level. Maybe 90% at the dollar level. That's way worse then a 6/5 blackjack game. Video Poker offers better paybacks and at strip casinos almost as good comps as slots. But if you have fun and can afford the loss go for it.

 

Yeah I have a lot of fun playing them. Losing a few thousand (I consider it spending a few thousand for entertainment) is a lot better for me than gambling tens of thousands at a time hoping to get some decent comps. Really any mid-level table player can easily become a high limit slots player.

 

I can understand your pain! I'm starting this trend of table games to slots (after a few trips with non-table game friends). I've been having horrible luck at the tables, and at $50 - $100/hand it can get expensive! Since my unintended 'switch' to slots, I've been getting the same type of comps, even better at the slots-only casinos (ex. Cosmopolitan, Luxor). I've played exclusively slots there and received free rooms and some free play at both.

So 3K in bankroll for slots is about my average. (I used to have about 5K for tables, and that would be gone pretty quick). I don't play VP, and play max bet on pennies and nickels.

Let me know how it goes!

 

I try to play $5-$25 a spin and find when I hit a jackpot it is enough to more than double my initial bankroll and at least cover all of my losses. Can't remember the last time I hit a midnight with $25 on it in craps but I can remember multiple wins at a $25 machine that made me more than happy.

 

I just meant that you are stating that you will lose 3k in order to get some comps like a free room.

 

wonder why that is ....

because slot players

ALWAYS LOSE!

pretty much anyway.

 

OK, all gaming (with less than .1% exception) is a negative expectation game . . . .

However, slots is the ONLY game in which you can go zero to HERO in 6 seconds.

 

I play mostly slots, some VP. But i just don't put money in any machine, i use a system depending on the denomination and particular machines.
I have a set time to gamble each day, usually 6 hours per with the same bankroll. Money management counts, that's why i get free rooms and heavily discounted rooms.
I don't play for comps, i play to maximize my daily limit for gambling.
In my case i only gamble at CET. They know i'm not a big gambler, but my ADT score is consistent on a daily basis. I'm only Gold, but Caesars feels that my ADT score is good enough to get most weekdays comped and weekends at a discount at a majority of CET hotels.
I will be at Bally's in June for 6 nights, 5 of the nights are comped and Friday is only $57.

When Caesar looks at my ADT score after my week in Vegas, he says "not bad for a Gold slot player, i'll reward him with some free rooms for the next time he's in Vegas.

 

So true.

Look, I don't agree with the idea of playing for comps, but I do agree with trying to get the most bang for your buck. I say dedicate a portion of your BR to slots and good VP and mix them in between table sessions. Gives you and your brain a break (slots) and with good strategy and favorable VP, you can grind out some points without having your money depleted in a few spins. And you should improve your comps.

May the Variance be ever in your favor.

 

Play what you enjoy and can't go wrong. I play VP because I enjoy VP. I play it on bar tops (even though that is usually not the best choice) because I enjoy playing at bar tops. I find VP relaxing, I found table gaming a bit stressful. I worked 20 in a highly stressful job and I choose to avoid anything that causes me anxiety at this point in life. To each their own. I play a modest amount in LV, we enjoy lots of other things so I really don't have near as much time to gamble as most and I still end up with COMP rooms and some free play.

 

Mathematically BJ and craps have less than a 1% hold but consistently the casinos rake 12% or better from those tables every year according to what's reported to the gaming commission. This includes the AP, the bad players, the drunks and the sucker bets. Very few true people can play at perfect BJ strategy and booze it up and few can resist the allure of the stick man and his high house advantage one timers.

Either way you choose we are all individually responsible for plunking down our cash, enjoying ourselves and winning or not. Obviously the majority is definitely a not because otherwise the casinos would be out of business.

 

I used to be a table player the far majority of the time. Mostly $10 mins. I play a little of every thing. My wife was primarily a slot player. I won way more times than her. Usually we play lower limits to make our roughly $600/day gambling budget last. I used to complain to her all the time to play more tables than slots because the odds were better.

Up until last year our best hit was my $2500 win at 3 card. Last year, while waiting for the wife to get ready, I was wandering around just trying to make the time go by without spending much money. It was our first morning in town. I hit a Quick Hit with a $2 max for $5200.

How can I preach table games now?

And a side note: We used that money for a great trip. We like to walk the strip and basically play everywhere. I really should concentrate my play at one casino / company. Well I guess CET saw our play a we now have 5 nights comped at Caesars in June. Usually we only got discounted rates at any of the higher end properties.

To each his own.

 

seems to me that playing something just for the hope of better comps is not the way to go.

 

This is correct but I'll take my sub 2% house edge in blackjack with nearly perfect strategy and craps over a 15% or higher house edge on a slot anyday. I've had just as many times tht I've triple or quadrupled my money at a craps table as I have ever broke even mindlessly pushing a slot button.

So yes playing slots it takes less to become a "hero" but it also takes substantially less to become a "zero."

 

Getting more comps, in and of itself, is not a good thing.

But if slots are more fun for you then it may be worth it.

Reading this board I think a lot of slot players have a different mindset towards gambling than table players. I wonder if that will happen to you too. Things like treating their bankroll as "spent money" before they even start playing or considering it a "win" if they come home with any amount of their bankroll. Most table players don't think like that.

 

FWIW I play literally a bit of everything (except carny table games and roulette). I think you're right in that most players who exclusively play slots are counting their money as gone before the trip starts, and are happy to have anything left at the end. That's the nature of the game with slots. You really need to hit a jackpot that's equal to or greater than your trip bankroll to come out ahead most of the time.

I think what the OP may be alluding to is this; If you have a bankroll of say $3k, and you have two general options, play table games, or machines. On table games (let's say BJ for example) you will have to play about $10 a hand to make sure that your risk of ruin isn't too high. $10 isn't going to get you squat in comps. Now, I'm sure that the average Vegas visitor who brings $3k to play BJ is probably going to think they can play BJ at $25-75 or even $100 a hand and be able to play for a while. Of course, one run of bad variance and you're busted out, and even at those levels your comps are going to be limited. In short, most table game players are probably under bankrolled for their level of play, which will wipe out their entire bankroll before they can weather the storm and recover most of their losses.

Now the slot player with the same $3k bankroll, will probably cycle that through the machines 7-10x (more if they're lucky). They might ultimately lose the whole bankroll, but they're generating $2-3000 or more in theo, which is going to get them free rooms, and some FB/FP. At the end of the day both options they're likely to lose the majority of their bankroll, but slots will generate more comps between the two.

In a perfect theoretical world, all table games players are properly bankrolled and will usually stay fairly close to their expected loss, with a couple of bigger loss trips and some winners. However, in practice, I think most people are under bankrolled and they're just as likely to blow their wad as the slot player.

 

Being a player of both table and slots I readily admit as time has went by I am spending more time on slots than the tables, 6/5 higher minimums and worse service has led to that and the comps have gotten far better with the same BR. As to the slot players losing yes you can but you can also damn sure come out well ahead with far lower bets AND less time invested, all these wins are since the start of the year for example and only one was over a $5 bet these were all in Oklahoma and are not all the big wins and trust me Oklahoma slots are far tighter than Vegas. Say what you like, look down on slots as mindless but do not act like the expectations and rewards are far less.