Ask the Slot Expert: Two people, one slot club account

I occasionally play at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tampa, Florida. Can you tell me what kind of slot machines they have there? Are they Class II or Class III? Also is the video poker a random play or are they Class II?

The Seminole tribe has a compact with the state of Florida, so the Seminole Hard Rock can offer Class III machines. If the machines display a bingo card, then they are Class II. Another way to tell on video poker machines is if there is a fairy godmother or other device that gives you a payout even when you have a losing hand.

Class II devices are not not random. They just use a different method than an internal Random Number Generator to determine their results. On a Class II video poker machine, strategy is useless. The machine is not duplicating the experience of dealing from a deck of cards. Some other system has already determined what you will win on the hand.

My wife plays penny machines only, usually for less than max bet. Since she'll never qualify for the top jackpot (with max coin bet), how much worse does it make her payback percentage on standard non-progressive jackpot machines?

Most non-progressive penny slots are like straight multipliers — there's no bonus for playing max coin on a line. Therefore, your wife isn't giving up anything in long-term payback by playing less than max coin.

As long as she is betting enough coins to enable every way to win, she's getting the maximum long-term payback possible on a non-progressive machine.

First let me say that I am an avid follower of yours, as well as the entire Casino City Times crew.

This e-mail is in regards to a situation that happened to me. Probably many of your followers are doing the same thing, but this should serve as a warning to them.

Since it opened, Resorts World Casino at Aqueduct has been a fairly regular place to go for myself and many fellow New Yorkers, which has certainly contributed to the demise of Atlantic City. Anyway, what has become a fairly regular thing for many casino guests may be on the verge of changing.

My wife has a second card of mine, on which she plays often. My comp rate is higher than hers. On my last visit, when I went to the free play kiosk, I received a message that I needed to go the the rewards center. After swiping my card to retrieve my info, I was duly informed that my card had been "BLOCKED" because someone else had either been using my card or redeeming my free play.

Is there a new form of detection that the casinos are employing? Obviously, they do have a method to find out this info — just checking my play would show that I can't be playing two different machines at two different locations.

I wonder if other casinos are going to start to crackdown on this surely widespread misuse of player cards. Just a heads up to you and your fellow readers.

On behalf of myself and the Casino City Times staff, thank you.

You're absolutely right that the casino can detect two different people playing on the same card by looking at the distance between machines when the one account is registered in two or more machines at once. Side-by-side machines can very well be one person playing two machines, so that won't raise any alarms. Any distance greater than side-by-side is almost certainly two people using the same card — especially when one player is in the high-limit room and the other is at the penny slots.

Some casinos don't care if two people use one card. Some let two people residing at the same address link accounts to share benefits. Others strictly enforce a one card/one player rule.

I found the rules for the Genting Rewards Club at the Resorts World Casino site. Rule 3 is (emphasis is mine):

The benefits of the Genting Rewards card are intended for the use of the person listed on the account (member). Points, rewards, invitations and all other items that are a result of membership are non-transferable by sale, assignment or otherwise and are the property of RWNYC and must be returned upon the request RWNYC. The member may not allow any other person to engage or transact using his or her card.

I've never had a problem in Las Vegas locals casinos when I've played using my cousin's card. It seems to be a pattern that Las Vegas, which has had gambling for 80 years and slot clubs for 20, is more flexible than new gaming jurisdictions. But then again, I've played using an extra card on my cousin's account only a few times a year. If I did it regularly, the alarm bells might go off.

This is a good heads up for two people thinking of combining their play on one account. Before you start playing on the same account, it's best to check the slot club rules to see if that is allowed.