A reader asked a question after checking out my post about an example of when not to use a player’s card, although I advise as a whole you should (almost) always use one.
The player was curious – if you’re betting at one level, but then want to bet down, should you continue to use the card, even though you’re not betting at your normal level?
My answer is absolutely YES. And the reason is pretty simple, actually – you’ve already shown yourself to be on casino property. So any and all activity should be logged to the card.
The more you play, regardless of level, the more coin-in and time on machines you’ll get credit for. Both are important aspects of casino offers. For instance, bring $500 and losing it on a single spin of roulette looks differently to a casino than a slot player playing on slots for four hours with that $500.
The more unique wagers you place, the better the chances for the casino, as each wager is placed with the odds favoring the casino. One wager, it could be a win for them or you. When you get to 10 wagers, or 100 wagers, or 1,000 wagers, it gets a bit better for them as that number grows.
Meanwhile, as you keep making wagers, the amount overall wagered grows, and that is important too, as they calculate not just your actual loss, but what would be expected to be lost based on the math – known as your theoretical loss.
So even if you’re lowering your bet because you got smacked down already at the casino, if you’re still playing, record it all – because it’ll boost your numbers, however incrementally, even if it’s below your normal wager size. It would be more costly to cut your card usage short, leaving some play off the system, as you’ll have less wagered overall, and less time on machines to account for your visit, which would ultimately be more costly.
If you haven’t started playing, and you’re taking a casino trip with a budget vastly off from normal, and that number is way smaller, that’s when you should consider not swiping your card at all for that day, as the long-term impact on offers vs. any potential benefits of logging that play would be tilted in favor of leaving that day out of your average.
This is especially true if you expect to play at your historical norm in the future (if you’re going to permanently play with less, it won’t matter as eventually your offers will catch up to your new play level, so you might as well use the offers and card.)
So hopefully that helps explain why you should keep going with your card once you start a particular day off.
