The Casual Advantage Player: AP Finds Are Gravy

I’ve mentioned here previously that when it comes to Advantage Play I’m more of a casual player. I’ll take advantage of opportunities when I’m in a casino in an effort to pad my balance, but it’s not my only or even necessarily my primary focus.

Although my play has shifted as of late, where I’m more likely to seek out opportunities and prioritize them, and thanks to having some of those opportunities I’m having more day trips to the casino ending even or up, I’m still going to the casino with my entertainment budget, and I’m ultimately still comfortable if I happen to lose the day’s bankroll.

Meanwhile, full time Advantage Players are aiming to draw more money out of the equation, or even make it their full-time hustle, and as such the pursuit, thought process and even goals may differ.

As the site’s chugged along more Advantage Players have started following the site and social media, and I’ve been chatting with a few of you on Twitter, and so I thought I’d talk about this a bit in today’s post because sometimes my perspective will differ a bit, as do some of the slot fans who also tend to read the site to just learn a bit more about the games they’re playing.

So this week, I’ll look at what I define as a Casual Advantage Player, and next week I’ll turn my attention to the Full-Time Advantage Player in contrast.

Traits of a Casual Advantage Player

Those who watch slot videos on YouTube may know players that incorporate Advantage Play scenarios. One I see this pretty often, and also happen to talk to most often about this, is Slot Queen, who will take time out to share what she’s spotting and why with her viewers. A perfect example of this is the video above on Reef of Riches.

We share certain philosophies about this, and I think other slot players are like us, and I call this player type the Casual Advantage Player.

Here are some traits of the Casual Advantage Player:

• A regular slot machine player among other games in the casino
• Understands well the various types of slot machines in the casino and pays attention when new games come out and what they have to offer
• Understand how persistent state games work and how to take advantage of them; likely to have a loose approach to this
• Understands how must-hit-by progressives work and how to take advantage of them; also likely to have a loose approach to this
• Will be more apt to pay attention to progressive values within a bank of machines and sit at machines with better numbers
• Is a gambler for entertainment first and foremost, so does not spend all their time on a casino floor searching for Advantage Plays
• However, will take advantage of obvious plays when coming across them
• May search harder for Advantage Play opportunities when the bankroll is running thin as a way to bolster it

Danielle (Slot Queen) and I talk about that last point periodically. If you go to the casino with a day trip budget, and you just can’t catch a break, but you find an AP opportunity or two, you have a better-than-average chance of bolstering your bankroll so you can enjoy a longer visit. If you’re break even and trip across a good scenario, it can pull you ahead.

Casual APs are Still Traditional Slot Players, But Pay Attention

Ultimately, all slots have a negative expectation, and as such some Advantage Play scenarios can fail. A Casual Advantage Player may accept less ideal scenarios because they would play a slot anyway, so having any advantage at all can be a plus. After all, as gamblers for entertainment, we’ll play a regular slot without any sort of Advantage Play opportunity.

Casual Advantage Players will take a moment to look at a bank of machines and select the one with a higher progressive since, all other things being equal, the short term expected payback of those machines are higher. Casual Advantage Players with Video Poker familiarity will also know how to navigate the basic pay table differences, progressives, etc. to make good machine selections when sitting down to play.

I personally have found my fortunes improving overall thanks to Advantage Play pursuits, and by making my budget more durable it lets me pursue harder games that I might avoid if I have a light budget to visit with on a certain trip, since I might already be ahead having found some opportunities on the floor.

One last trait: Casual Advantage Players tend to look more like your standard slot players as they will play other games aside from Advantage Play-connected ones, so they’ll roam the casino floor and sit down at machines in a similar way to other slot players. When I describe some of the traits of Full-Time Advantage Players you’ll understand why I call this out.