There’s a point where casino offers almost feel more expensive to print than are worth it. Of course, some players might respond to the $5 free play, but as a friend of mine in the industry Julia Carcamo says on some of her social media reminders, casinos need to do better than $5 free play offers to everyone.
I personally would take it one step further – casinos need to not overplay their hand by making what it seems like they’re extending feel bigger than it is. Casinos sometimes love to tout that your monthly offer is $100, only to discover you get $10 in free play twice a week for five weeks. Some casinos are more clear with this than others.
I personally hate when it touts a big free play dollar amount and then much smaller is the amount broken down into tiny slivers per date range. Put it all in basically the same size font and own that you’re trying to attempt to drive 10 trips with $10 dangled per visit.
One of my friends keeps getting thrown off by a two month offer cycle that proceeds to show the total amount across two months in big type, with much smaller type confirming half is for month one and half for month two. With each time he realizes he’s misread the offer again, he finds himself more unhappy with the casino.
I was getting so numbed out to this structure that when one of my locals recently showed $30 in free play and three date ranges, I automatically was dividing it by three and presuming $10 per range, only to be pleasantly surprised when I actually had $30 in the first window (meaning the offer cycle was offering me $90 in total – not massive amounts of difference, but enough so that it might encourage me to make the 15 minute drive).
My stance on free gifts continues to evolve. I would often prioritize visiting casinos on free gift days as usually the free play and the free gift would go together. Lately the free gifts have swung back around to gift cards, which I have been appreciating. (Some of them come with tight expiration dates, meaning it’s something you shouldn’t shove in a drawer and sit on)
In part, it’s because the gifts being given away were so uneven. As it happens our household got a lot of use out of the various gifts. One fan has been a workhorse in the Palm Springs summers the last couple of years, an amazing get. But the mop broke in a few weeks after just light usage. The pans continue to see use while the air fryer was subpar compared to one we had, but we were able to pass it along to someone who could use it.
The gift cards have been a nice touch, however. Last month, they had a complicated structure where you could play to earn up to six. Some players would receive free cards, but the play and earn portion would get you to six regardless of how many you got upfront – so someone who received five for walking in the door could only earn one more.
That creates an odd situation where the bigger players weren’t being enticed to do as much play as those who earned less (or none, like me).
The next month came around and the scenario changed. Players could receive cards for free like before (which this time I was in the lucky offer recipient bucket). Then, regardless of how many you received, you could play to earn one more. This at least made a bit more sense as everyone was encouraged to play to earn more.
There’s a bit of art and a bit of science to casino offers, but as a player I continue to find myself amazed the cleverness of some scenarios floated for casino offers and baffled by others. (I was once offered a baseball clothing patch to come in – it’s the sort of thing I would only claim if I was already on property.)
I happen to live in a location where there’s a lot of casinos that compete for my attention. Over time I’ve become appreciative of casinos that do their best to try to structure something that’s fair and fun. Play to earn scenarios work if they make sense. A mix of something physical and free play is fine. If I’m local, free nights aren’t particularly important.
Players are savvy enough to know what’s worth their time. Creating confusing scenarios isn’t going to entice that extra visit, and over time can erode a player’s
