SAME OR DIFFERENT?
When it comes to gambling, do you stay put or shop around?
By Frank Scoblete
Here is a question I’ve pondered: Do you prefer to go to the same casino(s) time and time again or do you prefer to spread your play around and visit many casinos for the first time? Of course, it is possible that you might like to do both.
DARREN
I enjoy going to the same two casinos. I have one in Vegas and one in Atlantic City. I will on rare occasions break up my play with a new casino or a little-visited one especially if I am not doing well at my primary casino. But my focus point of play are these two casinos.
If you visit the same casino and give it all of your action, the comps you get can be excellent. They know they have a good customer and they want to keep you. I am a medium player, green chip kind, and I think I am now getting comps that are better than average for that type of play. I play blackjack and craps with a little roulette thrown in.
I have a host who knows me and makes all my reservations for me. I like that. When I go to those casinos I kind of feel as if I am home.
JANETTE
I prefer to go to a lot of casinos and I always like trying a place for the first time, well, at least once. You never know what you will find. If you don’t try different casinos, you can get stuck in a rut.
When I go to Vegas I enjoy walking up and down the strip and visiting different casinos. Of course, I do this in late fall and early spring, otherwise you boil.
I will also visit downtown and I am now going to what are called “local casinos” where the citizens of Vegas tend to play. I figure their slot machines are looser since they have to keep their audience. So I figure that might be to my benefit.
Here is an interesting point: My husband prefers to stay basically at one casino, so we tend to go our separate ways. I play the slots, he plays blackjack. But we stay at the one casino because he gets good comps. But I play in a lot of different places as that suits my personality.
HOWARD
I go to about six different casinos in Vegas and when I go to Atlantic City I play four casinos. I like to spread my action around town but I don’t necessarily look for new, meaning first-time, casinos to play in—I have my half dozen or so and I enjoy them.
I am a fairly large bettor so any of the casinos where I play are happy to comp me rooms, meals and shows. I stick to my little grouping and that is great with me.
CARL
One casino basically gets all my action. I like walking in and having the pit people and floor people call me “Mr. C.” I know that sounds ridiculous but I will admit that I like the fact that the pit likes my action.
Maybe it’s because I came from a relatively small town and everyone knew everyone else. I like the casino people to know me and know my play. I also feel much more comfortable that way.
KAREN
There is also another way to enjoy casinos. Why not make them a part of a vacation trip? Go from casino to casino in the same and different states. Tour the areas and then hit a casino or two. Then head to the next place. You can actually hit several states playing this way so you have a casino trip and a sightseeing trip.
There are so many casinos in America that I think getting stuck at just one or a few diminishes your experience. I enjoy driving and so does my husband. You have Indian casinos almost everywhere. So my idea of spreading my play around means I go “on the road” with my husband to enjoy the sights, sounds and the casinos in different places.
There is an important thing to remember when you do this. You just have to budget your money accordingly and be careful not to go on tilt and over bet your bankroll. But with proper money management, you can have fun travel with fun and games in the casinos.
ROSE
I like to go to a few casinos. I take the bus down to them and usually that means two or three different ones a month for me. You get comp tickets and some free play. I enjoy the buffets. I have a lot of friends who enjoy doing this as well so I always have some company.
I am not a big traveler but my travels to the casinos are a lot of fun. I meet interesting new people too and between playing and socializing that makes my day. I just have to be careful how much I eat at the buffets. I don’t mind losing a little money but I don’t want to gain a lot of weight doing so.
Visit Frank’s web site at www.frankscoblete.com. Frank Scoblete’s latest books are I Am a Dice Controller: Inside the World of Advantage-Play Craps, Confessions of a Wayward Catholic and I Am a Card Counter: Inside the World of Advantage-Play Blackjack. Available from Amazon.com, Kindle, Barnes and Noble, and at bookstores.
