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Free room casino hopping, a long stay guide.

Discussion in 'Las Vegas for the Frugal (not Cheap)' started by aaisack, Oct 5, 2016.

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  1. aaisack

    aaisack VIP Whale

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    I thought I would share a few details here on how I manage longer trips with a modest budget.

    The short of it is that I give casinos enough action to generate basic room comps to keep the offers flowing. This is the comp I care about the most and I adjust my play accordingly. If you can get just 3 casinos to send you monthly 3 and 2 night offers you can stretch a stay out a couple weeks by simply booking a late month/early month trip. Example: 3 nights at X, 2 nights at Y and 2 nights at Z at the end of a month followed by 3 nights at X, 2 nights at Y and 2 nights at Z at the beginning of a month. This way you can get around 72 hours between comp stay requirements. I've managed 3 weeks straight doing this on one trip and I could've done it even longer. A pair both generating offers could really stretch things out.

    This is clearly not a strategy for most people, but it works for people like me who prefer a few long stays every year and aren't bothered by constant room switching.

    Boyd casinos are my bread and butter. Video poker is my game and they offer some of the best games in town. I'm able to generate room offers while playing full pay games at 3-5k in coin in a day. The theo is low and the rooms offers start to flow :drunk:. The downtown casinos are linked (your "home" casino sends you your offers) but their various off strip casinos operate as separate entities. I commonly do 3 nights at MSS followed by two at Orleans and two at Gold Coast. I can also add Sam's Town into the mix.

    I also try to earn teasers offers at other casinos. Some of these offers eventually fall off from light play but I always seem to have one or two that give me more options. In my experience even an hour or two of VP from someone who doesn't play at CET casinos and most of the downtown casinos will generate offers. This is easier to do if you have no play history there.

    Once I find an offer I like I make sure I give them what is expected to maintain it. I like my 3 night offers at Main Street Station and I give them the necessary play. Plenty of people on this board can give you a good idea of what it takes to generate offers at a particular casino.

    Other things I do:
    I don't "light play" a casino I care about unless I blow my budget. I give them the 3-5+ thousand in total bets a day.
    I usually stay away from the hosts. I learned this the hard way. Hosts can usually figure out you're getting over comped. There are a couple exceptions to this rule that I have picked up on at specific casinos. When in doubt though, stay away when you know you're already getting a great deal.
    I look for good games on machines that also have slots. Many casinos calculate theo based on an average of available games on a single machine.
    I play games as perfectly as possible. This means printing out VP strategy charts or checking my phone when I get a weird hand. Keep the theo high and your actual losses low.
    I regularly insert my players card into a slot to check my points or play just a few spins in the hope that this fools the system. This doesn't cost me much and I'm convinced it's helped me on occasion.
    I try not to waste my play. If i'm not going to generate something i'll stay away or quit gambling at one casino and go to another. There's a lot of trial and error here but eventually you learn from your experiences and others.
    I know what room offers I can book last minute if I want to extend a trip. I plan things out before I start booking. I look for slow times of the year and I book busy weekend nights first. I book a one way flight or a refundable return ticket when I want to stay longer than one week.

    I am able to swing these trips with a couple thousand dollar budget. I keep a little in reserve for entertainment if I blow my gambling budget early and deal with the room offer consequences if necessary.

    My final advice is do your research. This board is an excellent resource for doing just that!

    I hope this helps a few of you out.
     
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  2. phantomfj

    phantomfj High-Roller

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    Thanks for your post, sounds like you have it down to a well oiled science, bravo! One question I have.....how do you work your Daily $ throughput on those days you move? For example, if you allot $5 K through VP per day and you are leaving say MSS for Orleans, do you gamble at all at MSS that morning you leave, do your $5K at both that day, or split it into halves or some other portion? I'm curious as to your take of how Boyd handles ADT in situations like that,......... afaik, some other casinos (CET for eg) consider that move day a play day for your ADT, does Boyd do the same?
     
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  3. aaisack

    aaisack VIP Whale

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    I do one day of play a night and choose either arrival day or departure day depending on what it the most convenient. Occasionally I'll give a big day and then take a "no gamble day" at that property. This frees me up to check out new properties and maybe work on a future teaser offer or two. I try my best to get 12-15k through on a 3 night stay. Boyd varies what they consider a gambling day clock wise, but that's usually not an issue for me. I rarely gambling between 2 and 6 unless i'm pulling an all nighter. I'm not a big gambler at CET properties, so that's a guessing game for me, but my way of playing works out well at Boyd properties. I just keep those really light days to a minimum - it's better to do 10k one day and take a day off than 9k followed by 1k.
     
  4. xothan

    xothan Low-Roller

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    Curious about how to handle check-in and check-out date as well, also when moving between Boyd properties (e.g. downtown to Orleans or vice versa) on the same day
     
  5. VegasDaytripper

    VegasDaytripper Re-Retired Degen

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    i've been doubling or even tripling up on my free room offers (same trip, different hotels)
    usually so that i can give a room to a friend or other family members
    but it has not worked out for me in terms of play
    because i feel the pressure to have to go and play at those casinos even when things are not going well
    whereas if i was only redeeming one comp offer, i can just go with the flow
     
  6. eaglejohn

    eaglejohn VIP Whale

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    I usually book my 4 night MSS comps at end of month. Go to a teaser or myvegas free rooms 3-4 days (+resort fee) and do my next 4 day MSS for next month. Does sometimes cost a few days of resort fees, but 12 days for around $100-120 isn't bad for low roller
     
  7. Multifarious5

    Multifarious5 VIP Whale

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    Great post Aaisick, this is a great set of tips for people. We have very similar approaches to comps, including recognizing consistent play (and no low play) is critical.

    Also right there with you on liking to fly under the radar whenever possible, and just stick to solid corporate offers.

    I'm a mid player, not a High Roller...my play volume is at a level that corporate values, but it isnt necessarily the volume a host jumps up and down over, and worse, might think I'm getting too much...so under the radar works great for me too. (Plus I appreciate it's a hard, very demanding job, and unless they want me coming to them, I'd prefer to let them focus on bigger, more lucrative players.)

    Again, great post, and thanks for sharing, I think it can be a great resource for people looking to build a COMP-folio (couldn't resist the play on words!)
     
    Last edited: Oct 9, 2016
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  8. Chuck2009x

    Chuck2009x VIP Whale

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    Sounds like a solid strategy.

    One thing I'll say about hosts - if you do your own calculations and know for sure that you're probably overcomped, then it makes sense to go with the marketing offers and stay off a host's radar. But if you're not getting over comped, a lot of times, a host can extend your stay for additional nights as long as you can maintain the same play level. That could mean less moving, but it could also mean less freebies if your offers include throw-ins - because you'll be booking fewer offers.

    As long as your checkerboard strategy keeps working and you don't mind moving, no reason to change.
     
  9. kkinwi

    kkinwi VIP Whale

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    I do the same strategy as you and do not gamble on my check out day at the prop I am leaving. I do gamble heavily on the arrival day, because, hey, I'm here! I love stretching out my vacays with free rooms, and am not much of a foodie, so basically have to cover my flight and gambling costs.
    Even in January, the Vegas weather is WAY better than where I live!
     
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  10. Danielle

    Danielle Tourist

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    That's actually pretty interesting. I never thought of this before, but I don't think that I would be able to do it. Lol
     
  11. Lovegas95

    Lovegas95 Too much work...need more play.

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    I've done this, albeit at a lesser level. I've learned from this board how the comp system and theo work. My longest trip was 6 days at 3 properties.
     
  12. TXactuarial

    TXactuarial VIP Whale

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    This is a felony in Nevada, albeit not usually enforced. It is illegal to use an electronic device to aid in gambling.
     
  13. Royal Flusher

    Royal Flusher Savvy Gambler

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    Great post. A lot of your tips is what we do as well. Typically bouncing between Boyd, Golden Nugget, MGM properties (Mandalay Bay and Luxor), and T.I. To some extent Tropicana, although I burned them on my last super cheap trip.

    Thinking about getting the Orleans into the mix, I think we'll give them some play next time.

    It's good to get some offers at places you are willing to throw away. Like MGM. I don't care if they cut me off. But the offers keep coming and I often low play them. I use those nights to get established at other properties that have decent games.
     
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  14. Edserv

    Edserv Low-Roller

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    Great post- thanks for the info. I wonder if you could do this for like 6 months or a year (if you were able to keep the gambling losses to a minimum?) I wonder at what point it would be b/e with normal living in a home or apartment.
    Say you had a job or owned an internet business where you could work from anywhere. It would be interesting trying this out and seeing how long it takes to finally burn out or maybe eventually hitting a huge jackpot and calling it quits.
     
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