Frommer's Las Vegas 2004

THE GAMES 217
Another advantage is to join a players club that covers many hotels
under the same corporate umbrella. Park Place runs Caesars, The
Flamingo Las Vegas, Paris, Bally’s, and more, and their players club
offers discounts and point awards at all of their properties. The same
goes for the aforementioned Harrah’s hotels, those in the MGM
MIRAGE stable (The Mirage, Bellagio, MGM Grand, and so on), the
locals’ favorite Station Casinos (Palace, Sunset, Texas, and more), and
the Carl Icahn properties, which include Stratosphere Casino Hotel &
Tower and Arizona Charlie’s.
We’re particularly fond of the latter. In 2000 and 2001, Stratosphere
offered a guaranteed payback for new members, and offers of free
rooms, slot tournaments, meals, and more are common.
One way to judge a players club is by the quality of service when you
enroll. Personnel should politely answer all your questions (for instance,
is nickel play included, and is there a time limit for earning required
points?) and be able to tell you exactly how many points you need for
various bonuses.
Maximizing your players club profits and choosing the club that’s
best for you is a complex business. If you want to get into it in depth,
order a copy of Jeffrey Compton’s The Las Vegas Advisor Guide to
Slot Clubs ($9.95 plus shipping), which examines just about every
facet of the situation (& 800/244-2224). Compton gives high ratings to
the clubs at Caesars Palace, The Mirage, Treasure Island, The Flamingo
Las Vegas, Rio, Sahara, Sam’s Town, Four Queens, Golden Nugget, and
Lady Luck.
on one hand, maybe two. But now they are the casino. The casinos make more
from slots than from craps, blackjack, and roulette combined. There are
115,000 slot machines (not including video poker) in the county. Some of these
are at the airport, steps from you as you deplane. It’s a just a matter of time
before the planes flying into Vegas feature slots that pop up as soon as you cross
the state line.
But in order to keep up with the increasing competition, the plain old
machine, where reels just spin, has become nearly obsolete. Now, they are all
computerized and have added buttons to push, so you can avoid getting carpal
tunnel syndrome from yanking the handle all night. (The handles are still there
on many of them.) Many don’t even have reels any more, but are entirely video
screens, which offer a number of little bonus extras that have nothing to do with
actual play. The idea is still simple: Get three (sometimes four) cherries (clowns,
sevens, dinosaurs, whatever) in a row and you win something. Each machine has
its own combination. Some will pay you something with just one symbol showing;
on most, the more combinations there are, the more opportunities for loot.
Some will even pay if you get three blanks. Study each machine to learn what it
does. Note: The payback goes up considerably if you bet the limit (from 2 to as
many as 45 coins).