Gaming Guru

Leaving Free Play on a Machine

John,

I enjoy reading your articles.

My question is about free play coupons. When put in the machine you must play it all through once before you leave the machine. My wife was playing and cashed out, leaving $40 on the machine. She moved over one seat, put her ticket in and realized she had left the money on the last machine. A person sat at her last seat and started playing the money she left.

She called a slot attendant and was told, "Too bad. You need to be more responsible about your tickets."

Could something have been done for her or is she or anyone else that makes that mistake just out of luck? The casino was Ballys in Atlantic City and we are both diamond players.

My answer is mostly the latter with a little bit of the former.

If the requirement that the entire free play amount must be played through on one machine is clearly spelled out, then it is the player's responsibility to follow the rules of the promotion. On the other hand, we all make mistakes. Perhaps the casino could have taken steps to ensure your wife wasn't trying to pull a fast one and given her some extra points or an extra buffet on her players card.

Overall, though, I think it's up to the players to be as careful with their free play as they are with their cash.

Best of luck in and out of the casinos,
John

Send your slot and video poker questions to John Robison, Slot Expert, at slotexpert@comcast.net. Because of the volume of mail I receive, I regret that I can't reply to every question.