Ask the Slot Expert: Rip Van Slot Player?

Question: After 10 years of visits to Red Rock, we may be just staying in Palm Springs-area casinos. On our last three visits to Red Rock, there were ZERO offers or promotions for non-local gamblers.

Answer: It's a shame you won't be coming back to Red Rock. Since Station Casinos dumped Palms, the company has renewed its attention on Red Rock. For a few years, Palms took over the premiere property spot in the Station Casinos portfolio and pushed Red Rock and Green Valley Ranch down a tier. Now that Palms is gone, Red Rock and GVR are the top properties again. The new Durango casino will join the group when it opens in about a year.

Red Rock just opened a beautiful new high-limit slot room to go with the high-limit tables room it opened a few months ago. It's also going to have a few new restaurants. Some of these amenities are where the buffet used to be, so it looks like the odds of hitting the PowerBall are higher than the odds of having a buffet meal at Red Rock again.

I'm surprised but not shocked that Red Rock isn't sending you any offers. It seems like the casinos in Las Vegas took the months they were closed for Covid to reevaluate all aspects of their marketing promotions -- gifts, comps, points, and who they're targeting. I know one formerly loyal, but low-level local player who didn't get any mailers after the casino she frequented reopened.

Based on the number of California plates I see in the Red Rock parking garage on the weekends, I'm surprised that you're not getting offers. But then again, Red Rock is much more affordable than a Strip casino so maybe Red Rock is a better deal even without any sweeteners. You can get Strip-like ambience without paying Strip prices.

I'm not shocked, though, because some casinos revamped their marketing philosophies. Perhaps Station decided it was a locals casino company and it was going to target local players only. Maybe that approach is appropriate for Boulder Station and Palace Station, but Red Rock seems to get a lot of non-local visitors. Another possibility is they raised the level of play needed for the marketing machine to kick in for non-locals.

I don't know what kind of offers you were getting before. I assume that they were pretty good. Five dollars in quarters may be enough to get people to ride a bus to Atlantic city for two hours, but it's going to take more than that to get people to drive or fly for hours to Las Vegas.

If it's any consolation, I used to get a monthly dining credit at Red Rock. I don't think I've been given one since it reopened.

A few weeks ago I wrote about being dissed by my favorite Quick Hit Blitz machine after not playing it for a few weeks. When I went back to play it last week, it and the other seven machines in its immediate vicinity were moved out of position, disabled, and roped off.

When I went back to the casino a few days ago, I was prepared to have to go on a treasure hunt to find where the machines had been moved to. And I was prepared to find out that they were gone for good.

I was pleased to see that all of the machines in that area were still there and back in action. And, no one was at my machine.

The machine treated me better this time. It was hot for a while and I thought I would have a profit when I had reached my point goal (gotta requalify for an upper level in the slot club before the end of the year).Well, it turned cold at the end and I finished with a small loss. But I got my points in. I won't say I'm happy, but I also won't say I'm sad.

There are two Chinese-themed machines across a narrow gap from the Quick Hit Blitz machines. I don't remember the name of these machines. They have three strings of fireworks. The fireworks on one string are red, on the second green, and on the third purple. When a firework lands on the screen, it lights a firework on the string of the same color. The bonus round is triggered when all fireworks on a string are lit.

There was a man playing the machine farthest from the one I was playing. He had a beer in front of him, even though it was only 10 in the morning.

The volume on these machines is set kind of high. I knew whenever he got a bonus round. And he got a lot of them. I wasn't getting what I considered to be my fair share of bonus rounds, but he was hitting them right and left.

After playing for a while, I realized that I hadn't heard a bonus round from across the gap in quite some time. I figured that he must have left.

I took a quick glance to my left. He was still there. He must just be having a run of bad luck.

When I didn't hear any bonus round sounds after a few more minutes, I took a longer look. His machine was in the middle of a bonus round. The machine has one of those bonus rounds in which you have to periodically press the Spin button.

He wasn't reaching for the Spin button. He wasn't moving at all. He was asleep.

At least I hoped he was asleep. I didn't have a mirror with me to put under his nose to see if he was still breathing.

Surely, he'll wake up any minute now.

Well, don't call me Shirley and he didn't. He was taking this opportunity to catch up on some Zs.

I was surprised that the machine didn't play out the bonus round for him. Many machines will do that in an interactive bonus round like a Pick'Em bonus if the player doesn't interact with the machine after a certain length of time. This machine, however, just patiently waited for the man to hit Spin.

Should I go over to him to make sure he's okay? Should I hit the service button and tell one of the slot floorpeople?

The cocktail waitress came to service this area of the slot floor, walking behind me towards Sleeping Beauty.

"Drinks. Cocktails. Dri- Hey! This guy's asleep. Sir. Sir. Wake up. You're in the middle of a bonus round."

He stirred. Phew. Still with us. He opened his eyes and then went right back to sleep seconds after the cocktail waitress left.

He eventually did wake up and finish out his bonus round. It was like he came out of hibernation or finished rebooting. Everything was back to normal.

The next time the cocktail waitress came by, he ordered a cup of coffee.

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