Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Danger Will Robinson!! Danger!!!

Cashless gaming has long been the apple of the casino industry's eye. Linking an app to your bank account to allow them to more efficiently drain you of your funds is the gold-standard for an industry that plays lip-service to "responsible gaming" but really doesn't back that up with any solid action.

And suddenly.....it's here:


Cashless gaming system introduced at downtown Henderson casino. Richard N. Velotta, Las Vegas Review Journal.


Customers can download an app, available to Android and iPhone users, and register with a phone number and an email address. They then link their bank account to the app and, after registration, are told if they’re approved and offered a line of credit. If qualified for the program, the maximum charge is 1 percent, normally less expensive than a traditional ATM fee.


While casino gambling has traditionally been a cash-centric business, the goal has always been to move away from hard currency and into the realm of digital.  Having an app that allows gamblers to link to their bank account and more easily withdraw funds is exactly what they're looking to do. Prior to this when you felted, you had to get up, walk to the ATM and withdraw money, usually with a very high withdrawal fee (from $7.99 to $9.99 in some places). Gamblers referred to this as a "cooling off period" where, ostensibly, the gambler might decide that pulling out more money is a bad idea and just call it a day.

In reality this never really happened, due to a combination of alcohol and dopamine.

I foresee a LOT of issues stemming from these apps, and cashless gaming as a whole. While casinos already are willing to take every last dollar from you, they will find it easier to do now, protestations of being advocates for responsible gaming to the contrary.

Let me tell you a quick story about my last trip to Vegas. I'll leave the casino name out of this.

On Sunday morning Mrs. TPM and I woke up, got ready, and went down to a video poker bar for a round of Bloody Marys as is our custom. While playing VP, an obviously drunk and tired man walked up to the bar, sat down at a machine, and tried to ram his credit card into the cash slot. The bartender yelled at him to STOP! that he was going to lose his card in the machine (they could get it back but would have to open it of course) and that they were "cash only".  He then responded "So, I need a debit card then?"  Bartender: "No, cash only".

At this point it was very clear that this man had been up all night.  He said out loud that he was down $10K and had been playing craps all evening. He was clearly not in a right state of mind and should have been backed off, offered an escort back to his room or pointed toward an Uber to get him to wherever it was he was staying.

What did the casino staff do?


They pointed him to the ATM machine.


Now imagine if he had an app on his phone and had the ability to cheaply, and easily, load even more money onto his card.  Given how much he had lost, he was NOT going to make it up on those machines. It's possible that, had he just taken a time out, he might have woken up after a nap refreshed, and made some kind of come back the next day, OR he could have had a clearer head and just accepted his losses and moved on.

The point is, even without cashless gaming the casinos do little more for patrons than putting those "when the fun stops" flyers by the ATMs. They do absolutely nothing to actually promote responsible gaming. In a world where online sports books are starting to receive much (well deserved) scrutiny about entangling problem gamers, should not the casinos face the same level of scrutiny?

I understand that you might be reading this and are probably thinking "Wait, this guy gambles, why is he so up in arms?"


Fair question.  The reason I am so up in arms is because I work hard to gamble responsibly. I only bring gambling the money I am willing to lose, I never hit up the ATM, and I quit when my daily budget is done. I also have a wife who does not gamble much at all to keep me in check when I've had 4 too many, and I've learned from mistakes I've made in the past. Trust me, these lessons were hard earned and I've seen too many people on the casino floor who have not learned them, or cannot learn them because of addiction.


I view gambling as a form of entertainment. My gambling budget is the cost of being entertained. Too many people view it as a get-rich-quick scheme, and while it may be a LOT of things, a path to financial freedom it is not.


It's a path to financial ruin, and the cashless gaming movement is only going to make it worse if not reigned in early.


Tuesday, March 22, 2022

Las Vegas March 2022: Falling Behind Early (and Staying there all Trip Long)

I last updated on February 1st that we had a couple of gambling trips lined out for later that month (Lake Charles, LA) and then in early March (Las Vegas).


Those two trips have come (and gone) and the gambling results were.......not good.

In short, I fell behind early, and stayed firmly behind on both excursions. VP life was a mixture of missed draws and bad results. Premium quads are a myth to me right now, and I've missed more dealt trips in a row than I can ever remember.  

Not to mention 4 to a Royal and not being able to draw flies.  Since my last October trip to Las Vegas, I have been cursed. It's to the point that we're considering a live chicken sacrifice to appease the gambling gods. (those bastards)


Not that I'm not getting quads, but they're the baby type. Forced to grind it out on Bonus poker I'm hitting 5s-Kings for 125 credits, which is enough to keep you playing, but not nearly enough to cut into a first night deficit, or to eek out even a tiny profit.  I've tried triple-play quarters, Dollar single play, desperation two-dollar single play and, yes, even quarter single-play as things get really dire.

My quad count in Lake Charles was 4. For the entire weekend. Over 6 days in Vegas I had 49 quads and 3 straight flushes, none of the royal variety.  As I said though most of those were the BP 125 variety, which just brought up a low $100 bullet to less than $100.  In other words, they were great for points and comps but awful for building my actual bank roll.  That's where I am in video poker right now. A ton of missed draws as the machines are doing a great job of giving me exactly the cards I don't need.

Trying to change it up to slots has been even worse. I haven't had a meaningful slot win since my BS $1206 "jackpot" at the Golden Gate in October.  In Lake Charles I did not have a bonus 'win' over $100 and in Vegas nothing over $50. 

In short: A slump.

Such things happen in gambling however and it's not something the various You Tube slot and Vlogger channels typically highlight. You Tube is a land of big wins, hand pays and big bonuses. The land of comped suites, even for those who don't gamble much, which misrepresents what Vegas has become for many.

To be fair: I get comped rooms, meals and (in some cases) suites because I do gamble, a lot. For example, I have hosts at the two casinos in which we stayed. Getting two nights comped at Circa, some free play and around $200 off my dinner at Barry's Prime.  At GVR I got a Jr. Suite with a balcony comped for 3 nights, some free play and a free meal at Bottiglia. Not too bad.

Despite the bad run of gambling we had a LOT of fun on this trip. Circa is a GREAT resort in which to stay, especially if you don't have children, the service there is very good, the staff very friendly and the drink service that I experienced was top notch.  Fremont Street remains one of my favorite places to stay and play.

Green Valley Ranch is still my home away from home. I love that casino, the District adjacent to it, and everything in the area. The comps there are fair and, during the weekend, running away from the madness of the Strip and Downtown is something so much fun that it's hard to say no to. The dining there is varied and relatively cheap and they have one of my favorite pools in Las Vegas.


From that perspective: I still love Las Vegas. I just wish that I could find a way to break this slump I'm in playing VP.


Our next trip is Tulsa, in May.  Maybe some Tribal casino gaming will break this slump?

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