|
The Match-Play
Coupon Circuit Part I Just
a quick note before we jump into this new subject. I
originally wrote this article in 2002. Some of the items discussed may no longer be
available or as widely distributed as they were then.
In particular, Gaughans Plaza match-plays are almost extinct. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If
I told you that there are a number of people who make a modest subsistence living
by using match-play coupons, you probably wouldnt believe me. It is true,
and in a minute, Ill show you exactly how some of them do it. Heres
a hint: Match-play
coupons turn the normal -0.8% negative-expectation game of craps into a +49.3% positive-expectation game! And that is before you factor in
any of your Precision-Shooting skills. A +49.3% positive-expectation in ANY casino game should
warrant a further look. What
are Match-Play Coupons?
Match-play
coupons are popular promotions that are used to bring people into the casino. They allow
you to match your bet with a coupon that effectively doubles the face-value of your money. It matches your bet. If you bet $10, then a $10 match-play coupon in
effect doubles the amount you have on the table to $20. How
Are They Used?
They are used
at gaming tables on most even-money bets. If
you win, you are paid for the total of your cash plus the match-play, but the dealer takes
the coupon. So a $10 bet with a match-play coupon pays you $20. If you lose the bet, the dealer picks up both your
money and the coupon. In that case, you
lose $10.
Are There
Restrictions on Using Them? Yes, you can
usually only use one of them per day per casino, but in a moment, well discuss a
couple of ways around that. In addition, you
cannot use a match-play to top up the minimum allowable bet. For example, you cant use a $5 coupon with
$5 in cash to reach a $10-game minimum bet. There are
some casinos where they dont restrict the number of coupons that you use each day. In that case, the challenge is coming up with
enough match-plays to generate maximum table-profit while minimizing your coupon-searching
efforts. Why
Do Casinos Offer Them?
Like I said,
they are a POPULAR casino promotion that attracts people to the tables. Its used as an incentive to get people to
play a game. The casino corporations figure
that once a person starts playing, they will continue to play
and hopefully lose. It also gets
people to try new games that they wouldnt otherwise attempt. While a new player may not have the first clue
about HOW to play a certain game, they are drawn by the something-for-nothing appeal of
match-play coupons. How
Do You Get Them?
There
are quite a few ways to get match-play coupons. Ø Sign-up
for a Players Card at EVERY casino that you enter. Quite
a few casinos offer sign-up bonus books.
Look in the book for the coupons.
Some casinos stipulate that the coupons are only valid if you tear them out
of the book in front of the dealer. This helps to avoid counterfeiting efforts. Ø If
you are already a Players Card member, check at the Players Club booth to see if they have
anything for current club members. Often you
will see discarded bonus-books nearby. People
look for the 2-for-1 buffet deals, or the 99-cent hotdog & Heineken specials and toss
the rest of the book onto a nearby slot-carousel. Ø You
can also call Players Card member-services using the toll-free number on the back of your
card. They occasionally send out freebies for
those who ask or show up. Keep in mind that
easy-going kindness tends to bring in more results than rude or arrogant demands. Ø A
lot of casinos do monthly mail-outs to their Players Card membership list. Frequently youll find both gaming-chip
vouchers and match-play coupons attached. Ø When
you check into a casino-hotel, ask if they have a fun-book or other discount
coupons. This is a great source for the
premium-value match-play slips at virtually all of the mega-hotels, except for Bellagio
and Venetian. Ø Likewise,
ask at the bell-desk and at the concierge desk of each hotel. Check both of those places, not
just one or the other, as they are commonly a good source. Ø At
some hotels, you can often get a fun-book even if you are not a guest. Just go to the check-in desk in the lobby. Always ask at any and all properties that you
enter. Ø Some
people keep their old credit-card style room-keys, so that they can flash it
when they ask for a fun-book at a hotel where they are not currently staying. Ø Often
times, you might sign up for a Players Card and be given nothing. Then if you go to the
front-desk where the hotel guests are registering and politely ask for a fun-book,
youll receive one. Just flash your
Players Card and be polite. Remember, the worst they can say is no. Ø Truck-stops
and rest-stop areas on the highway leading into Nevada are excellent sources for
match-play coupons. Just look for the rack
with all of the free brochures. The best gas
station/truck-stop locations are: §
Mesquite,
Nevada §
St.
George, Utah §
Beaver,
Utah §
Needles,
California §
Kingman,
Arizona §
Bullhead
City, Arizona §
Cal
Nev Ari, Nevada §
Jean,
Nevada §
Ontario,
California §
Searchlight,
Nevada §
Pahrump,
Nevada §
All
along the Cathouse Alley brothel trail in Armagosa Valley, Nevada. Ø Visitor
Centers at the state-line are another terrific source.
Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority locations offer a wide variety
of match-play coupons at: §
Las
Vegas Visitor Information Center 3150
Paradise Road in LV §
Laughlin
Visitor Information Center §
1555
Casino Drive in Laughlin §
State
of Nevada Welcome Center @ Boulder 100
Nevada Highway in Boulder City, near the Dam §
State
of Nevada Welcome Center @ Jean On
Interstate-15, Exit 12 (State Route 101 East) §
State
of Nevada Welcome Center @ Mesquite On
Interstate-15, Exit 122 (460 N. Sandhill Blvd.) Ø There
is also a LV Visitors Center on the Las Vegas Boulevard Strip near Polo Towers, across
from Monte Carlo Casino-Hotel. It has a
dizzying array of brochures in the hundreds of racks.
If you ask the info-person at the reception desk, they usually keep a
further supply of certain fun-books under the counter. Ø At
McCarran Airport main information desk. This
info-stop is located between the two main sections of baggage carousels as soon as you get
to the bottom of the escalator on the Arrivals-level of Terminal One. On the Departures-level there is one near the
A and B gates security checkpoint. Ø For
international flights and some charters at McCarran Airport, the Terminal Two
brochure-rack is also located in the Baggage Claim area, but the info-booth is tiny,
usually unmanned, and is easy to miss. Its
located right against the wall, diagonal to the Lost Baggage office. Ø Most
taxis have a brochure-holder on the back of the front-seats. Thumb through the magazines for more coupons. Some English-speaking cab-drivers may be helpful
in locating more of these items for you. Ø Another
great source for match-play coupons is the free magazines that are found in your hotel
room, or in some hotel lobbies. For example,
the Plaza Hotel-Casino magazine rack is near Subway Sandwiches and Mcdonalds. The brochure-rack at Gold Coast is beside the
bell-desk (across from the check-in desk). In
addition, they have a magazine rack just inside the bell-desk office. These two stops should load you up with a dozen
match-plays for various casinos. Ø Here
are three pay magazine sources for additional match-play coupons: § Casino
Player Magazine (casinoplayer.com) § American
Casino Guide (americancasinoguide.com)
book purchase comes with a horde of them. § Las
Vegas Advisors (lasvegasadvisor.com
) Pocket of Values (POV) has 39 gaming coupons, but not all of them are
useable at craps. These
hard-copy publications can be bought on the internet and delivered to your home or office. Ø Smaller
grind-joint types of casinos have tons of free match-plays that arent
normally found at any of the above-noted sources. They
use flyer-guys near their establishment to hand out coupons to passers-by. Again, this is a great way to get tourists into
their casino if it normally isnt on the patrons planned itinerary. Casinos with flyer-guys include: §
Imperial
Palace §
Lady
Luck §
Fremont
Hotel §
Fitzgeralds §
OSheas §
Barbary
Coast §
San
Remo §
Boardwalk §
Casino
Royale §
Westward
Ho §
Slots
o Fun §
Sahara §
Palms §
Rio
Suites §
Barleys
Brew Pub §
Las
Vegas Club §
Terribles
Hotel §
Tropicana
Resort §
Riviera
Hotel §
NewYork,
New York The
flyer-guys arent always located in front of the hotel that they represent. In the case of The Sahara, they usually stand at
the McDonalds near Stardust, and across from The Riviera. The
San Remo Hotel-Casino guy stands on the overhead walkway cattle-chute that connects NYNY,
MGM Grand, and Tropicana. The
Barbary Coast guy stands near the moving-sidewalk entrance in front of Ballys, or at the
bottom of the escalator to the overhead walkway in front of Bellagio. If
you are interested in Fitzgeralds Hotel-Casino match-plays, just look for TALL
Elvis in his star-spangled banner jumpsuit. He
usually has a handful of vouchers that will get you their time and play-activated
fun-book. Obviously
the flyer-guys arent out 24-hours a day. Some
are only out during the busy prime weekends, while others are only around during selected
convention or special-event periods. However,
it seems that the more obscure or smaller the casino is, the easier it is to
find their match-play coupons. Ø Las
Vegas On-Line (lvol.com)
has a fairly active Coupon Exchange Message Board, but you wont find too many
match-plays available there. Ø In
addition, billhere.com offers
a coupon clipping-service. The coupons are
free, and they either come directly from the hotels, brochure racks, from the
flyer-guys, or from some of the magazines that I list below. Even though all of the coupons are free, you have
to pay for shipping and handling. Bill offers an honest and reliable service, and he
usually has the following match-play coupons available: §
Aladdin Hotel-Casino has a coupon to get a free scratch card at
the Aladdin Promotions Center. If you ask
nicely when you redeem it, theyll usually give you a couple of match-plays, but be
sure to specify craps because their blackjack and roulette coupons are much
more difficult to obtain. §
CircusCircus has a free fun-book that has a $10 payoff if
you win a $5 Field bet coupon. And YES,
before you ask, it pays QUADRUPLE if the 2 or 12 shows up. These are excellent payers if you are a
Precision-Shooter who throws lots of crap-numbers. §
Excalibur Hotel-Casino Fun Book has a total of 28 coupons in it,
and contains the same 2-for-1 Field Bet offer as C-2. There is no limit on how many of these you use
every day. How you get them is up to you, but
Ill give you a few hunting and gathering tips later on. §
The south-strip Mandalay Bay Group Resorts (Mandalay, Luxor
& Excalibur) also have a fun-book placed in every room upon check-in. It contains the higher-quality $5 and $10
match-play coupons. §
The Slots-A-Fun Funbook has 12 coupons in it, and also contains
that 2-for-1 Field Bet offer. They
start to get a little crazy if you pull out a stack of these 2-Fers when
you start to shoot. Theyll tolerate
about four or five wins, then theyll tell you to save the rest for next
time. §
Four Queens coupon-sheet has eight items on it, but the craps
coupon is occasionally M.I.A., so heres what you do.
DO NOT go to the Players Club booth near the
$40-for-$20-slot-play promotional area at the front doors. Instead, trek all the way through to the back of
the casino near the hotel check-in area. Take
a sharp right-hand turn towards their converted bingo hall/showroom/convention center, and
you will find their VIP Players/Reel Winners booth. Ask
for the match-play coupons there. §
Also at the Four Queens, if you take their free spin
at the front doors near the westernmost corner (closest to Fitzgeralds), they give out a
different funbook there. However, it too
doesnt always contain a craps match-play in it either. §
Hard Rock Hotels famous six-pack coupon sheet,
has a double-pay on any even-money table-game bet, but you are only supposed to use one
per month. There are actually two match-play versions. The six-pack one has a $10 match-play,
and the other is for an unlimited match-play.
The
upside for the once-per-month unlimited coupon is that there is no max-bet
limitation, so its not unusual to see some 21-year old goateed kid come in and throw
down $5000 on the Pass-Line with the 2-Fer coupon laid at the top of the
cash-pile. Its a fairly regular
occurrence at the beginning of each month. Overall, that bet has an expected value of $7395
for a flat $5k wager. §
Billhere.Com also offers a blackjack-only match-play in the
coupon book from The Klondike Casino, which contains a great meal deal for one free 1/2
broiled chicken dinner with soup or salad when you purchase a beverage for $1.20. Hard to believe, but nonetheless true. §
The free Lady Luck Hotel-Casino fun-book has 15 coupons, but if
the match-play coupons are not in it, simply go the Mad Money Players Club booth and ask. Theyll give you a voucher which you take
over to the casino-cage and theyll convert them into match-play coupons. You can make this maneuver once per day. What a deal!!
In addition, table-game players should ask for a
separate Players Card which may get you premium treatment and additional
coupons from the Casino Host on duty. This is
a laminated black-cardboard item which Line-of-Credit, Front-Money, and
premium table-game players use instead of the normal plastic credit-card Mad
Money slot version. Lady Luck is currently in a state of transitional
flux as new owners take over, so their policies are apt to change on a daily basis. §
New Frontier has a free coupon book containing an excellent
craps-coupon. Ill tell you a little
more about this item in a moment. §
Primm Valley Resorts has a free fun-book. The coupons are good for Buffalo Bills Resort,
Whiskey Petes Casino and of course Primm Valley Resort. They hand out fun-book vouchers every day at the
Fashion Outlets Mall which is connected to the Primm Valley Casino. In addition, when you pick up your car from valet
parking at NYNY, they usually give you a Primm Resorts match-play voucher. §
The Riviera Hotel-Casino has a two-sided coupon that gives you a
free deck of cards or mug on one side, and on the other side a free Fun Book. However the coupon is for one of those lower
value $7-payoff-if-you-win-a-$5-craps-bet deals. Its not quite as good as a full match-play,
but it still offers a premium player-edge, and you can use as many of those as you want every
day. §
Sahara actually has two funbooks.
Both the Book of Riches and the Passport To Fun has
some match-plays, and you can have one of each per day. §
Heres an additional Sahara hint. If you open a Line-of-Credit or a Front
Money account, theyll give you a separate Players Card that is entirely
different than their normal Club Sahara slot card. This laminated Players Card opens up a world of
opportunities. If you go to the Players Booth
just up the two steps near Jitters Gourmet Coffee, they keep a horde of match-plays under
the counter that are available for Players Card holders, but not Club
Sahara slot card holders. §
Stardust has a Gamblers Choice fun-book which feature
those cheaper $7 pay-off for a $5 bet coupons. With out-of-state ID, you are
entitled to one book per day. Some of the
other Boyd Hotels (Fremont, California, Sams Town, Main Street Station) have the
same type of books, but they seem less generous in making them readily available. §
Terrible's Hotel Casino fun-book has one of my absolute
favorites; an Up to $25 match-play that is useable at any
table game. You can get one of these each
day if you have valid out-of-state photo ID. §
Stratosphere has a fun-book for first-time Player's Club
sign-ups only. It contains one of those cheaper bet $5 and win $7 craps
coupons. Again, if you take a quick glance
around the area of the Players Booth, you may spot some surplus books lying around. The free drink, free Tower ride, and 500 slot
points coupons may have been poached, but match-plays may be intact.
What
Magazines Have Match-Play Coupons?
§
24/7
Magazine §
Best
Read Guide §
Las
Vegas Style §
Where
Las Vegas §
Gaming
Today (weekly) §
Las
Vegas Today (weekly) §
Showbiz
Weekly (weekly) §
Today
in Las Vegas (weekly) §
Tour Guide of
Las Vegas (weekly) §
Whats
On in Las Vegas (every two weeks) In a few
hotels, you will find Asian versions of a couple of those magazines. Even if you dont speak or read Mandarin,
Shanghainese, Nihongo, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Tohoku, Southern Fukiense, Minnan, Shikoku,
Chaouzhou, or Cantonese, you can still take advantage of the multilingual match-play
coupons found therein. How Often Can
You Use Them? You are
usually limited to one match-play coupon per game, per day, per casino. Even if you have a pile of $10 vouchers, you are
generally only supposed to use one per day. In practice, you can almost always use at least
one per shift, and sometimes even changing tables where a different Floor
Supervisor is overseeing the game is usually enough to allow multiple coupon-plays. At other
casinos, there is no limit on the number of coupons you can use per day, but they have to
be legitimate coupons, and it is a criminal offence to counterfeit them. Photocopies (even high-quality full-color laser
copies) obviously are not permitted. Can
You Make Money From Them?
Yes, on
Pass-Line or Don't Pass with no Odds, $10 in cash (or chips) will become $30 in 49.3% of
your matched plays. This gives your $10 an expected value of $14.79. Match-play
coupons turn the normal negative -0.8% expectation game of craps into a +49.3% positive-expectation game! And that is before you factor in any of your
Precision-Shooting skills. A +49.3% positive-expectation in ANY casino game should
warrant a further look. A big
THANKS goes out to Alan Krigman (Winning Ways) and Mike Shackleford (The
Wizard of Odds) for supplying the math. How
Much $$$ Can You Make?
Lets
take that $14.79 in EV, (expected value) one step further. There are
obviously many LV casinos that offer these coupons. If
you travel the match-play circuit, it isnt
unusual to yield upwards of $150+ per day. A
concerted effort can obviously yield more. Like I said
earlier, this is a subsistence living for some Vegas residents who have a
low-overhead lifestyle. I suppose it
is similar to an African peasant who scrapes out a living by cultivating a half-acre or so
of semi-arid soil to feed his family on maize, sorghum and cassava. Likewise, most people on the
match-play circuit dont make a great living off of them. Instead, they just augment their service-industry
income or pensions with reliable coupon earnings. Shortly,
Ill show you exactly how they do it. Of course,
there is nothing to say that you wont lose every bet that you make with the coupons. However, with sheer luck, you should be able to
win at least half of your attempts each day. If
you combine that positive-expectation with even modest Precision-Shooting; then you should
yield an even better rate-of-return. Keep in mind
that you dont have to stay and play. All
it takes is one line-bet; then wait for the outcome.
A strict shoot n scoot playing method should produce
a reliable dividend. Reduce
Your Risk & Increase Your Chances
Most players
use their match-play coupons as intended, however, here is a way to further reduce your
risk, and increase your chances of winning: Ø Ask a player
who is already in the game if you can add your match-play coupon to their line-bet. Ø You do this
when the Point hasnt yet been established. Ø You slip the
coupon under his line-bet chips. Ø If it wins,
he picks up his winnings and he gives you your share.
Ø You
havent ventured dollar-one of your own money, yet you win free money by
piggy-backing on his. Ø If the bet
loses, you say your thanks to the player, and you walk away. You havent lost a dime! Okay,
Ill give you one more example. Station Casinos (Boulder Station, Palace Station, Santa Fe
Station, Sunset Station and Texas Station) each have their own Coupon Sheet, but it is for
new Players Card sign-ups only. Their Coupon Sheet includes $5 in free cash, and some great
match-plays. One guy I know hangs out near
the Players Booth at his favorite Station Casino, and asks those new sign-ups if they are
craps players. If they arent, he asks
them if they would be willing to give him their craps coupons. Most people are quite willing. He manages to get about ten of those per hour. He then goes to the tables and spends
them. That is his entire daily routine. He does this during the busiest sign-up times during the day,
and especially on the weekends. In the
off-hours, youll find him at the craps tables. He is a decent enough Precision-Shooter, but I can
tell you that if he wasnt making the match-play routine part of his game-approach;
then his income would hardly ever approach its current $60 per hour average. Are
There People Who REALLY Do This Everyday?
YES,
there are quite a few who do this every single day of the week! Other
than the chap mentioned above, there are numerous LV-regulars who augment their income
with match-play coupons. If
Im playing at a popular match-play house like the Frontier Hotel-Casino (or Riviera,
Terribles, Lady Luck, Imperial Palace, Fitzgeralds, San Remo, Stratosphere,
Tropicana, etc.) it isnt unusual to see the same faces step up to the table, and
make one Pass-Line bet with cash-over-coupon (a $10 bill placed over a $10 match-play
coupon). Win or lose, they leave right after
the hand ends, on the way to their next match-play destination. And
YES, they do the same thing at the same places virtually
EVERYDAY! You
wont get rich doing stuff like that, but for some players it provides a steady
income and it keeps them from living under bridge-overpasses out on Interstate-15. For
others, it is a way of adding even more money to their Precision-Shooting efforts. If you play four days each week and you make $500
a week from your match-play ventures; then the additional $25,000 per year when added to
your Precision-Shooting income can help to make things a little more enjoyable. Again,
you are NOT going to get rich by using these coupons, but it certainly broadens the number
and scope of casinos that you will find yourself in on a regular basis. For
some players, I suppose that makes craps into more of a job instead of an
entertaining diversion, but for some people, that is exactly what they
want. For
others, it can provide additional profit-predictability for their Precision-Shooting
labors because it smoothes out the off-day volatility of bad-shooting. It is certainly something to think about if your
current dice-shooting ability lacks consistent reliability.
A
Couple More Profit Opportunities
Here
are some further examples of what coupons are out there: Ø If
you are a Player's Card holder at Casino Royale, simply go to the Club Royale booth, which
is around the far corner of the bar (nearest The Strip).
The entrance to it is across the casino floor from Subway sandwiches. You will be given a sheet of discounts, which
contains at least one $5 match-play. Ø When
you check-in at any PPE-property (Ballys, Paris, Flamingo, LV Hilton, etc.) always
ask for a fun-book. It contains Paris and
Bally's $10 match-plays, or Flamingo, OSheas and LV Hilton match-plays of the
same value. The coupons are NOT
interchangeable between all properties, and none of them are redeemable at Caesars. Ø Frontier
has a great craps match-play in their booklet. DO
NOT go to their Players Card booth. Instead,
you have to go to the time-share booth beside the keno lounge to receive one discount
booklet everyday. Do
not go to this booth with your spouse
go
alone
otherwise youll be roped into a time-share spiel. Just tell them that you might be interested after
your current bankruptcy is settled, or that your parole officer wont let you invest
in real-estate just yet, or your plane is leaving in two hours
theyll give you
the booklet and leave you alone. If
you ask for a fun-book at the Frontier check-in desk, theyll usually
give you some loose meal coupons and a couple for match-plays. If
you go down the hall past the Sports Book Deli, youll see an Allstate show-ticket
& tour desk. They almost always have some
great freebies. Ø Allstate
Show-tickets as mentioned above, has several other locations around town, which sport
multi-racks of freebie magazines. Youll
find their booths at:
§ McCarran
Airport-
South Baggage Claim Area
§ Boardwalk
Holiday Inn-located by the escalators leading to the buffet. The Boardwalk Player's Club occupies the same
location.
§ Caesars
Forum Shoppes-sports two locations: (i)
next
to the Endangered Species store. (ii)
near
the giant winged-horses fountain. § Flamingo
Hotel (i)
near
the Valet Parking escalator. (ii)
in
the Tour Lobby. § Harrahs
Hotel-Casino also has three locations: (i)
at
the end of the front Check-In counter. (ii)
beside
the 3rd floor Clint Holmes Showroom. (iii)
Outside,
between Harrah's and Imperial Palace in Carnival Court. § Westward
Ho-the booth is near the front entrance. § Las
Vegas Convention Center- the booth
location varies with each convention, but is generally just inside the entrance doors to
most marquee conventions.
§ Sahara
Casino Resort also has three booths: (i)
directly
in front of the front lobby Bell Desk. (ii)
located
by the main rear Valet entrance. (iii)
located
upstairs across from the Buffet. This one is
quite a hike to get to. If it feels as though
you have walked halfway to Los Angeles, that means you are almost there.
§ Stratosphere-
Their booth is located upstairs on the way to the tower-elevator. Its on the left side behind the front-desk
Check-In and between the Budget Rent-a-Car office and the Stratosphere's own Box Office. If
you venture far enough into the Strats Worlds Fair Shoppes, youll find
the Tower-Ride ticket booth. They usually
give a match-play with every thrill-ride ticket purchase (must be 21 years old to
qualify). To find the booth, just keep
walking past the sports-memorabilia store and the slot-machine/video-poker machine store,
and you are halfway there. § Palace
Station- located in the east-end of the hotel lobby, across from the gift shop. Ø Tropicana has a
fun-sheet at their $40-of-slot-play-for-$20 promotion desk. You dont have to stand in line; the free
sheets are usually in a page-size brochure holder on the counter. It has a $5 match-play on it. They also keep some fun-books under the counter
where they hand out and bag the merchandise from that slot-play promo. Ø If
you are downtown, but not under the Fremont Street Experience roof, they hand out two
great match-play flyers for the Four Queens and Lady Luck.
The best place for these is at the corner of Fremont Street at 6th
Street near the 7-11 convenience store. Ø Another
good spot is at 4th Street and the FSE in front of the new Neonopolis
entertainment-complex. This is midway between
the El Cortez Casino-Hotel, the Hilo Hatties Hawaiian shirt store, and
Fitzgeralds Casino. The guys handing out the
fliers are so happy that you actually WANT one, theyll happily give you a handful. The $5 match-plays for Four Queens have a
one-a-day limit, while the Lady Luck $5 ones are not limited that way. Ø Harrahs
and Rio coupons are handed out daily in the Carnival Court of Harrahs from mid-afternoon
to early evening. In addition, when Cook E.
Jar is performing his free weekend shows at midnight, the performing-bartenders give them
out with any premium call-drink that you order. Ø Speaking
of generous bartenders; they do the same thing at the Riviera Hotel during the 1 a.m. Lon
Bronson All-Star Band shows during weekend. Ø If
you buy your gas at Terrible Herbst gas stations or your groceries at Vons
Supermarkets, they occasionally have promotions where they give out the $25 match-plays
for Terribles Casino. Ø Imperial
Palace always has on-going match-play specials. Their
current Winter promotion gives you twenty $5 match-play chips that you can play at any
table in any amount up to the full $100. The
only catch is that you have to do your buy-in at the casino-cage, and you have to buy a
full $100 worth of real $5 chips, which they match with $100 worth of $5
match-play chips. It is a true and
amazing bargain that is currently bringing a lot of action into their house. Ø A little
further out of town in Laughlin, Harrahs has some fantastic $25 match-play coupons. For Total Rewards players-club
members, you are usually entitled to at least one, if not more, when you book a comped
room using your comp-points. However, those
match-plays offered in the Casino Perks gambling edition discount-book have
been discontinued due to counterfeiting. This
fact alone may give you some idea of how valuable and sought after these coupons can be. Still need
more sources for these valuable coupons? Ø Shuttle Buses
which run between related resorts are often good suppliers. The Gold Coast-Barbary Coast-Orleans-Suncoast
shuttle-drivers occasionally have some. The
Boyd Bus (Stardust-California-Fremont-Main Street Station-Sams Town)
shuttle-drivers may have some for their resorts or for San Remo Hotel-Casino on-board. The Harrahs-Rio bus rarely has match-play
coupons available. The Hard Rock Hotel
shuttle-driver almost always has a ton of six-pack coupons available. Ø The free Tour
Buses to Laughlin, Mesquite, Jean and Primm are also excellent places to receive
match-play coupons. These are the buses where
you pay $10 upfront, then they give you a cash-voucher for $10 at the casino destination,
together with a buffet voucher, and a fun-book which contains the match-plays. Ø Tour desks
where you book shows and excursions, like the small booths youll find in virtually
every hotel, usually have coupons or at least free magazines which contain those coupons. Ø On-line
Casino Guestbooks are another great source. You
know how you visit, say, the Hard Rock Hotel-Casino website to see their upcoming concert
schedule at The Joint? Well if you sign their
guest-book, theyll usually send e-mail offers which include those
unlimited match-plays. Ø Likewise,
Terribles Casino-Hotel and the Imperial Palace have some of the best e-mail offers going. The free gas (Terribles only), free cash, free
food, free rooms, and match-play offers from both are quite astounding. Ø Another
on-line freebie that pays dividends is to sign-up for various casino newsletters. Gaughans Plaza Hotel & Casino has a super $25
match-play that they send out four times each year. NYNY,
Jerrys Nugget and Aladdin also do the same with $5 and $10 match-play coupons. Ø If you are a
shareholder-of-record for any of the major gaming stocks (MGG, MBG, PPE, STN, BYD, AZR,
HET, etc.) then you should be receiving quarterly fun-books, along with a once-yearly
coupon-pack with the Annual Report to Shareholders from each of these companies. If you show up to their annual Shareholders
Meeting, they also have tons of them there. Ø If
you are a frequent-flyer on Southwest Airlines (SWA) or JetBlue Airways (B6), take a look
at their in-flight magazine for a small host of LV coupons or convertible vouchers. Ø If
you take the Eiffel Tower elevator at Paris or go to the Top of the World at the Strat,
they usually give you a $10 or $25 match-play too. Ø Anytime you
go to see any show in Vegas, be sure to check the back of your ticket-stub. In a lot of cases, it is a $5, 10, or $25
match-play ticket from the host casino. Ø If you are a
conventioneer who goes to COMDEX, MAJIC, CES, or any of the other major whore-fests
I
mean conventions, they usually have a number of match-plays in your trade-show Welcome
Pack. Ø Likewise, if
you go to any of the major fraternal-organization type of conventions like Shriners,
Lions, Moose, Masons, VFW, Legionaires, Tailhook, etc., then you should be receiving like
or similar coupon-packages. Again,
some guys hang around the convention-registration areas looking for discarded fun-packs. In my article entitled
The Mad
Professor's Dictionary, this could be
loosely defined as fielding grounders. Heres
a short excerpt: § FIELDING GROUNDERS- to search the ground for already-smoked yet
salvageable cigarette butts, or to look for cashable tickets that have been accidentally
discarded in the sports-book or race-book area of the casino. This is usually performed by
the homeless. As in "Hey Tommy, isn't
that your dad fielding grounders over there?" Ø If you fly
into Vegas on a vacation-package, the charter company usually includes several vouchers
for either fun-books or direct coupons in your ticket-pouch folder. The
Match-Play Circuit
In Part
Two of this article, Im going to tell you about a couple of people
who actually make a modest living on the match-play coupon circuit. I think a
number of you will be surprised at just how much money this can all add up to in just one
week or even one day. While it takes a fair
bit of time, and a decent amount of short-trip driving and walking, the results are pretty
amazing considering that it is all done in a casino at a craps tables. Some people would rather be no where else. Okay, One
Last Source
Youll
laugh at this one, but Ms. MP discovered a great source of match-play coupons one day when
she was leaving a housekeeping tip for our maid at Luxor Hotel-Casino. We were
staying in one of their mini-suites in the newer ziggurat tower. We normally leave a tip everyday, and the
housekeeping staff clue into the names of regular clientele on the room-cleaning manifest
who are considerate on the tipping end of things. The maid
asked Ms. MP if she wanted any of the unused coupons in the standard-issue Mandalay Bay
Group fun-books that had been left behind by departing guests. Knowing that the originals that are put into every
one of MBGs 15,000+ rooms contain a valid craps match-play, Ms. MP wisely said yes. She proceeded to eviscerate the stack of used
fun-books and liberated all of the unclaimed craps-coupons. She then
volunteered to go on a coupon-redemption campaign to see how many she could bet, and how
many she could win. It was a fun change of
pace for her. Normally it
is hard to get her to play more than 20-minutes or so, a couple of times each day despite
her ample Precision-Shooting talent. For this
task, she was totally enthused, and proceeded to bet most of them over a four-hour period
spread over the three south-end MBG locations (Mandalay, Luxor & Excalibur). Her profit
yield was pretty much in line with the ~50% profit advantage cited by gaming-math experts
Krigman and Shackleford. She didnt even
throw the dice once. Instead she just picked
a table, waited for the Come-Out roll, and then laid down the coupon with the required $10
in cash. A total of 43
coupons produced a net profit of just over $200. Like
I said, you are not going to make a living off of these things, and you cant always
luck into scoring a huge pile of them. Instead,
if you find them, dont be shy about using them
a +49.3%
positive-expectation should not be ignored. Good Luck
& Good Skill at the Tables
and in Life. Sincerely, The Mad
Professor
|
|