RISK-FREE GAMBLING: Via Fatwallet, I learned of an intriguing promotion from Revel Hotel-Casino in Atlantic City. The Washington Post reports:
Starting July 1 and continuing for the entire month, Revel will refund 100 percent of slots losses to anyone who signs up for a players’ club card from the casino. It also will match any other casino’s slots offers.
Nice! You get the possible upside of playing the slots, but no downside. Risk-free gambling is my favorite kind of gambling!
Now, it’s not going to be that easy. As another article reports:
Beginning July 1, anyone who gambles away $100 or more in slot play during the month will see a complete refund to their players’ card. That refund will start in August and come at 5 percent a week over 20 weeks in an effort to give customers a reason to keep returning.
So if you want your money back, you’d better be within a reasonable distance so you can make all 20 trips. Is it worth it? FWF poster barbcole had a pretty good summary:
Lets say you’re willing to go up to $10,000.
I would say 7% would be a very aggressive return for the current market, so using that its roughly $270 you’d be out from taking your $10,000 out of your investments and having it help up for 20 weeks.
You said parking was $5, I have no idea. 20 weeks of parking at $5 is $100.
So you’re out $370 plus gas and the cost of your time.
And for that you get the possibility of what $10,000 worth of slot play would win. When there’s no risk of loss of principle, the upside looks good.
Plus you should be able to swing sufficient comps based on $10,000 worth of play to overcome that $370 – odds are you’ll cycle it quite a bit before losing it all or wining enough to decide you’re going home. Drinks, dinner, tickets, shopping. If you can’t get $370 in comps out of that much play, you’re doing it wrong.
They are, of course, counting on people betting more money every time they do return over those 20 weeks and/or not coming back every week. But we aren’t discussing what the average person might do, we are discussing how a smarter person could exploit it.
Have at it, folks! Hopefully a few of you live within striking distance. Other posters in the Fatwallet thread mentioned similar promotions at local casinos–it may be worth looking into your friendly neighborhood gambling establishment.
CHEAP CHILD ENTERTAINMENT: Slickdeals has a list of free or cheap things to do with your kids this summer.
MANUFACTURED SPEND UPDATE: I hadn’t realized this, but apparently AccountNow, formerly a churn-friendly prepaid card issuer, has cracked down on people using its accounts to generate points and miles on the cheap. Jason Steele has some advice for anybody whose account was closed, and he also recommends a product I haven’t read too much about: the H&R Block Emerald Card.
If you’re interested in churning via gift cards, Chasing The Points has a great idea: consignment stores. He’s found one that sells gift cards at below-market prices, so you may want to check out your local consignment store.
COMING SOON TO AN ATM NEAR YOU: Some people unload prepaid debit cards at ATMs, but soon you’ll be able to do the reverse:
What if ATMs dispensed prepaid debit cards? This seems like a terrible and counter-intuitive idea to us, but it’s real. You can already make your withdrawal in card form at a few credit unions in Washington, D.C. and Arizona, and more big banks are prepping to introduce the technology to their ATMs soon.
So instead of inserting prepaid debit cards into an ATM and getting cash, you’d be inserting cash and getting a prepaid debit card? It’s the complete opposite of manufactured spend–though I still wouldn’t be surprised if somebody figures out how to generate credit card points from this.
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