There’s more than 1,000 casinos in the United States, and yet more continue to open periodically. Is it worth going out to play the first day?
I have a new casino opening up by me sometime in the next year. Is it a good idea to go gamble the first day it opens?
Joshua S.
There’s not necessarily any specific reason to go on day one or day five unless there’s some sort of grand opening promotion going on that is worth your time.
Many times when casinos first open, they’ll introduce scenarios like tier matches or extra offers to get players to give them a try. They can be nice but not necessarily over the top, given that many players will just be curious to check out a new casino as well.
When we asked viewers of Brian Christopher’s YouTube channel if they had ever attended a grand opening, only 15 percent confirmed that they had.
There are a couple of things though that may make not visiting the very first day so urgent.
Operational Teething Issues
We vividly recall the day the Hard Rock in Atlantic City opened. The place was jammed, so getting a players’ card and tier matching was something that took a good hour to do, something that would be a lot faster to complete just a few days or weeks later.
But another aspect was their drink service system was all sorts of glitchy. Three of us in a row of machines would order drinks at the same time. Each of us were assigned a different server, which might or might not actually show up. The first night was all sort of chaos.
One night later, while still busy, all of these issues had been hammered out quite cleanly, and we didn’t have the same issues.
When you go into a brand new business that’s literally just opened its doors, there will be the inevitable hiccups. If that’s not something you’d prefer to work through, waiting a few days might be smart.
Progressives Pay Less Initially
Payout settings won’t differ at a new casino – they’re not going to launch more generous and turn them down, for instance. In fact, when we looked at data in a number of public places when casinos have opened, their paybacks actually start a bit lower than they end up. Why would that be?
Well, one is that high-limit players will usually be slower to come to a new casino because they’re established elsewhere with perks accompanying it. Their play on machines with higher payback can pull the average up a bit.
But another element is that progressives at a new casino all start at their reset value, and on day one haven’t really accumulated all that much. So if you’re playing a machine and win a grand on day one, it’s probably going to be something like $10,005 vs. a reset value of $10,000. But if that machine had been building for a month or two, it will often be a higher number.
Now, we know the odds of winning these bigger prizes isn’t necessarily massive, but as we’ve shared about comparing progressives, given the opportunity to play one with a lower or higher value, we still recommend the higher value.
For at least a little bit of time, some other casino nearby may have the better option. And they’ll probably be a bit quieter with everyone racing over to the new casino to check it out.
Takeaway
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with going to the new casino on day one – it’s a unique experience, and it’s one that can only be lived once. But there’s also some drawbacks, and so like any other decision on where to patronize a business, it’s up to you if those trade-offs are worth it.
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