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How's your origami? Origami, of course, is the art of Japanese paper folding. What does this have to do with the promotion? At least a fourth of the tickets in the drum were bent in some way in the hope that this will make the ticket more "pickable". Others soak their tickets in water or some other liquid to make them a little different. Is this legal? Well, it's not expressly illegal and many people do it. Does it help? I'm not sure, but Shirley and I have been known to do it sometimes.
Do you like crowds? Every night about 200 or so people squeezed together so they could hear if they were one of the lucky ones. I'm used to this. This is no big deal to me. And actually 200 is not very many. I've been at drawings where far more people than that were present. But not everybody feels this way. If you are claustrophobic or intimidated by crowds, this is not the promotion for you.
I stand near the back (but close enough to hear the microphone) and when my name is called, I give a loud "Here!" People make way and I make my way forward to collect my booty. Some folks congratulate me on the way. Some even make it sound sincere, although you know the reason they are there is they wanted to be chosen. And some folks are heard to mutter, "Damn! Didn't he win last night too! How many tickets did he have?" (Answer: Yes I did and about 100 per night.)
Are the prizes worth winning? Here some of the winners got cash (always acceptable), some got show tickets (which at this casino were easily convertible to cash because the show was sold out every night and there is a line of people waiting for "no shows" so they can buy tickets) and some people got gift certificates. The gift certificates are only valuable if there is something you can spend them on. I am blessed with a wife who can always find something to buy, so this was not a problem. But I would have preferred $200 in cash to a $250 gift certificate. Just because you get to buy $250 worth of stuff doesn't mean it is worth anywhere near that much to you.
At this casino the rules were "no change given", so you had to find a store and buy the full amount at one place. But most of the stores would give you change if you bought something worth $60 or more. [I know one guy who tried to buy something for $1.98 plus tax and wanted change. (He showed his slot club card to get a 10% discount too.) The store wasn't interested. SURPRISE! It's one thing to always look for the angles. I certainly do that. There's no way to be successful at gambling if you do not look for the angles. But looking for the angles and APPEARING to look for the angles are two different things. You have to leave enough on the table for the other guy to win too.]
Do you have to be there to win? As a local Las Vegas resident, I prefer this type. Were I a tourist, I wouldn't. If my plane was going to leave at 4:00 in the afternoon, what good does it do to have a drawing at 7:00 pm? In some states (including Iowa, I think), it is against the law to have a drawing where you must be there to win.
You can bemoan the fact that a particular promotion isn't advantageous to you. Or you can spend your time looking for one that is. I prefer the latter approach.
How long do your tickets stay in the drum? This drawing emptied the drum every night. It took less than fifteen minutes to call all the names, and then it was over. I liked this a lot. There are other drawings where they call a name every two hours for twelve hours straight. I don't like those nearly so much. I do not want to feel like I "have to" stick around the casino to get my equity from the drawing.
Some casinos have 3-month-long drawings. They draw a few tickets every day, but the rest of the tickets stay in the drum. Personally, I avoid this type of drawing like the plague. I will not get locked into going to the same casino every day unless there is a real good chance that I will win each time I go there. Even being a Las Vegas local and within 5 miles or so of dozens of casinos, it takes a while to get there (making sure you are there in plenty of time in case there are unexpected delays somewhere), park and get out of there. There's no way I would put up with that unless this casino was the best place to play anyway.
Is this a casino where you feel comfortable? This actually should be the first item on the list. There are casinos that I feel are too smoky. There are casinos where I have safety concerns. There are casinos where parking structures have spaces so narrow that fender-benders are commonplace. There is one casino where the only machines worth playing are in a wind tunnel. Some casinos have aisles that are too narrow for comfort. Or whose parking lot walls smell strongly of wine-soaked urine.
Everyone's list is necessarily personal, and your list won't likely be the same as mine. Before I was married, I took these factors much less into consideration than I do now. Some people are convinced that they'll never win at a particular place. Or something bad happened there in the past that bothers them a lot. Or somebody you don't like goes there a lot. Whatever. You're going to be spending a lot of time at this casino during a promotion. Why do it in a place that you don't like?
Bob Dancer is America's best-known video poker writer and teacher. He has a variety of "how to play better video poker" products, including the software "Video Poker for Winners," Winner's Guides, strategy cards, his autobiography Million Dollar Video Poker, and his two novels, including Sex, Lies, and Video Poker. Dancer's products may be ordered at www.bobdancer.comor by telephone at 1-800-244-2224 M-F 9-5 Pacific Time.
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