Couponing the Casino
This weekend I visited Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT. They have been sending me $25 free bet coupons all summer and I have been wanting to take them up on the offer. Unfortunately the casino is 100 miles away from me, so even if I win the bet it doesn’t pay for gas. That’s why I was happy to find a local bus company that offers trips to the casino for $30. For your $30 you get a free buffet coupon ($18) and 3 $10 free bets on Wheel of Fortune or Sic Bo (Boggle as my friends like to call it). Basically you get your $30 returned to you, so it’s a free ride. They have similar deals on so-called “Chinatown” buses for $15 with the same gift at the casino but I’ve heard you get what you pay for with these… I wasn’t about to try the “Chinatown” bus by myself.
So I caught the bus at 8:00am about 1 mile from my house and arrived at the casino 2 hours later. The bus was not crowded, quiet, and the A/C worked great. They handed out the coupons as I got off the bus and off I went to use up the coupons. I looked all over for Wheel of Fortune and couldn’t find it. I asked at the Player’s Club booth where it was. The nice lady pointed me in the right direction but offered “Those coupons are also good for Sic Bo right over there, it’s alot of fun too.” Having never played Sic Bo, I went over to the empty table and asked the dealer for an explanation. “Choose one of these boxes to place your bet and it will light up if you win.” I responded, “OK which box is the even money 1:1 payout?” “The Big or the Small”, he responded. So I put the first coupon on big. “You win.” So I tried again on big. “You lose.” And one more try, “You lose.” 1 out of 3… Grrr… Stuck on the wrong side of my expected return of $14.58. In retrospect I am glad the lady sent me to Sic Bo as the house edge is lower than Wheel of Fortune (”Not even the Rain Man can beat the Wheel of Fortune”) but nonetheless I was a victim of probability and failed to get my expected return. Better luck next time.
So, off to the Blackjack table to use my $25 bet. I find an empty seat and place my bet. First card dealt to me, an ace, awesome. Second card… a f$%^*& five. Dealer’s card, a face. So I draw out to what ends up to be 20. Dealer turns over the hole card, another face. A push. The shoot runs out so I have to wait for a shuffle, grrr. This time I draw out to 19. Dealer ends up with another 20… Damn it.
So, off to the craps table to actually gamble some money instead of coupons. After an initial bad start, I’m up $150, and 3 hours (and many beers) later I cash out for a $175 gain. By this point I’m starved so, off to the buffet. I’m glad I didn’t pay $18 for it. The only really good things were the roast beef and creole seafood stew. So I ate lots of those and lots of dessert which was also good.
Then I’m off to 25cent video poker to kill some time. Desiring a bit more excitement than Jacks or Better(it’s no coincidence that the abbreviation is JoB), I opted for Double Double Bonus (DDB). It sucked $20 right out of me. I reluctantly put in another $20. Shortly thereafter hit a 4 of a kind, which brought me back to even for the second twenty. 2o or 30 hands later another four bagger. Alright now I’m back to even. I continue as I’ve still got half an hour before the bus is to leave. Sure enough another four bagger. I’m up a solid $20. I then go through another dry spell before cashing out for $42.50, up $2.50. Oh well. At least I recorded some decent cheapskate play to my comp card which should hopefully keep the coupons coming.
After all expenses I was up $155 and a free lunch, not a bad day.
