Free play

Has anyone taken advantage of the $200 or so in free slot play you get for signing up for a player's card? Is this a joke or can you actually win money?

I've received $10 in free slot play from the Venetian, and could only use it on specially tagged machines of which there are a lot.

Won $120. Cashed out, played a dollar slot machine, which was similarly tagged.

It had three standard reels, and a fourth video reel. Hit the jackpot, then the video reel spun again, giving a 4x multiplier, so all the reels spun four times in a row, each time landing on the same jackpot.

Won over $2400. Security and a slot attendant came out, made me fill out a W-2G form, and paid me out in cash.


So, yes, you can win. From $10 free slots credit from signing up, to >$2400 bucks.

What is the current promotion? I'll be there tomorrow.

Regarding the Hooters promotion, it is not valid at all slots. It's only valid at special slots that do not payback much at all. The Wizard talked about this in some forum, I forget the exact amount, but he said the $200 slot play had an EV of around $10.

I vote don't do it.

I talk about that in my Hooter's review. As the above post said, it must be played on designated slots, with the value significantly less than $200. There is a similar promotion at the Casino Royale. I think both are blatant false advertising. I have half a mind to write a letter of complaint to the Gaming Control Board about it.

Quote: Wizard

I talk about that in my Hooter's review. As the above post said, it must be played on designated slots, with the value significantly less than $200. There is a similar promotion at the Casino Royale. I think both are blatant false advertising. I have half a mind to write a letter of complaint to the Gaming Control Board about it.

Hear, hear!

When I went to Casino Royale, the slot "free" play was good onlu for one bank of machines, and the only thing you could win was the big jackpot. Otherwise you were just there spinning reels until the "free" money ran out. At one point I was up substantially, but the employee in charge told me I couldn't cash out.

That was my most boring time in Vegas.

I'm still considering doing that. Let me bounce it off of my attorney first, to see if he thinks I have a legitimate argument. I see the Hooter's web site says it is "promotional" slot play. That word I think gets them off the hook. However, the Casino Royale web site has no such qualifier. Yet I hate to come down on the Casino Royale, because some of the other coupons they give new players are pretty good.

Working against me is Vegas has a long history of this trick. For several years the Vegas World (now the Stratosphere) ran an aggressive promotion in lots of magazines for a $1,000 Vegas vacation for $399. Much of that $1,000 was in promotional slot play, worth about 10% of face value. Nobody ever stopped them from that deception as far as I know.

I hate to side with the big casino companies here, and i know these offers are only worth a fraction a face value, but surely it is better to get something for nothing, and is a good idea for getting people through the doors.

I do agree that the promotional offers should be clearly signposted, and bait and switches are unfair, some people are more than happy to get these offers. normally it is people not as clued up as people in this site, and those that know better can choose not to take the offers if they object.

I do not work for either of the named casinos, and am playing devils advocate. But it is my personal belief that you may be being a bit hard on these (admittedly cynical) marketing ploys.

I wouldn't have minded the Royale promo had the coupon said "$20 for a chance at the big jackpot." Because that's what the promotion was. The coupon, however, said free slot play, which it wasn't.

At the Riviera the free play was restricted to some machines, but you could cash out when you used it up, likewise at other properties.

BTW my dad sued to tell a story of a man who advertised miniature portraits of George Washington for $25. Upon payment he sent a $1 bill to each customer. I can think of ways of describing a $1 bill as a miniature portrait, a limited print run, each authenticated with its very own serial number! Printed on high-quality, linen-based paper meant to last a long time!

It's still fraud, beacsue you're offering something of lesser value than the price you charge for it (hey, free shipping!!!), and you leave out essential information to identify the object as what it is.

Quote: Croupier

I hate to side with the big casino companies here, and i know these offers are only worth a fraction a face value, but surely it is better to get something for nothing, and is a good idea for getting people through the doors.

Fair point. However, some people may spend time and money to get to the casino to do the promotion. For example, if somebody downtown took a cab both ways to Hooters for the $200 promotion they would be out about $60 in cab fare. The Vegas Club offer was not even free, it was a part of something that cost $399. I think the comparison to the George Washington portraits is a good one.

Aside from the debate over whether this is legal, how can this promotion be effective? After spinning reels for a half-hour with almost no chance of winning, who is then primed to bet real money on similar-looking machines? I did this once at Royale and was bored to tears.

Quote: nyuhoosier

Aside from the debate over whether this is legal, how can this promotion be effective? After spinning reels for a half-hour with almost no chance of winning, who is then primed to bet real money on similar-looking machines? I did this once at Royale and was bored to tears.

Really boring, I agree.

While I wasted time spinning the reels, I chatted with an older gentleman next to me. We both were disgusted, bored and we complained to each other. But neither one of us would walk away, either. What if you did and someone then spun the jackpot with your coupon?

When I was finished I just said "Glad that's over. Good luck." Then went inside to see the rest of the casino. So I also don't see what Royale gets out of it, but it dind't put me off so as to leave the place and never return. I just know next time to ignore the promo.

Leave the Royale alone! I have done the Hooters promo and ya it sucks..but didn't take very long to go thru it and I got a blackjack matchplay with the signup ..think it was $10...better then nuttin!

"Aside from the debate over whether this is legal, how can this promotion be effective? After spinning reels for a half-hour with almost no chance of winning, who is then primed to bet real money on similar-looking machines? I did this once at Royale and was bored to tears."


This is an EXCELLENT point and I agree completely. And, for what it's worth, in my state this would absolutly constitute an unlawful deceptive trade practice.

So, these casinos are engaged in breaking the law for the sole purpose of boring people away from their properties. Only in Vegas.

The Hooters and Casino Royale free play/promo play are BS, I did both of these last week, now Hooters does $100 in free promo play where you play on a $5 credit machine and bet 2 credits and can only cash out if you hit a jackpot. If you have time to kill on your trip in Vegas this is worth doing but it is nothing like the free play that works on video poker/ lots of different slot machines.

Many transactions are based on misrepresentations or incomplete information.
The courts generally look to material misstatements or omissions.
Vegas could be a nightmare for sticklers for truth: most of the casinos are not even in Las Vegas. It seems every casino has Loose Slots. Free play and bonus play seem to be poorly defined terms. Most people playing slot machines don't know and don't want to know how they work.

Until a few months ago one casino had on its website that the odds were in the player's favor, so truth in advertising does not seem to be a Vegas strong-point.

That Hooter's certificate is worth somewhere around five dollars which to me means its not worth walking more than fifty feet to get there. Yet some people love the "freebie" concept and will actually pay for cabfare to run around town getting what I would term useless knick-knacks just because they are free.

Some fine print disclosures might help: This is a promotional slot machine so the usual rules do not apply or this machine is technically in our lobby, not our casino or maybe some other loopholes exist. I really don't know, I'm just inventing stuff. After all, just about every transaction in Vegas involves the customer getting the short end of the stick.

I really think its annoying that these cheapie ripoffs exist. I'd prefer an honestly presented offer. Let the certificate or advertisement say 200 dollars in free play if the casino wants to say that but make them also state clearly: on a limited machine, economic value is about five dollars.

When walking past the Tropicana last weekend they had the free pull to get you into their casino. Except that if the pull didn't win, they sent you on their way!!! Huh?

Quote: boymimbo

When walking past the Tropicana last weekend they had the free pull to get you into their casino. Except that if the pull didn't win, they sent you on their way!!! Huh?

I thought you at least won a deck of cards, but you have to sign up for a player card to get them.

It was that way last year. This year, nuttin!