Casino Rating

[scotty22]

I have heard that Carnival has a good rewards program in Casino. Do you accumulate points on the table games besides slots/video poker? Any video poker players out there - are the pay tables good? I am going on first Carnival Cruise on Triumph (6 on Royal 2 on Princess) on the 26th.

[clcjdn]

The Double Double Bonus are 6/5 machines, so not that good. Also, they are 10 coin. Good luck to you! I had decent luck on the Triumph, but no major wins (aces/kicker or royal). On the positive side, they are progressive for the RF.

[@homeinok]

My wife and I do play in the casino. we play blackjack and craps mostly. we usually get free drinks what ever that is called maybe drinks on us? Slot machines are controlled by a computer normally so don't play these except a random 100 here or there.

[scotty22]

Thanks. I do blackjack mainly with a little craps and 3-card thrown in. Nice to get some free drinks which is more than I could get from RCL or Princess.

 

I play Double-Double video poker as well. 6/5 payout is equivalent to Vegas airport numbers...not good at all. Oh well, maybe I will get a big one to negate the payout numbers. Gotta play.

[clcjdn]

I think it was 1000 points for the drinks on us card for the Triumph. 1500 on other ships for 7 day sailings. 2.50 a point for slots, 5.00 a point for vp. Good luck!

[@homeinok]

Thanks. I do blackjack mainly with a little craps and 3-card thrown in. Nice to get some free drinks which is more than I could get from RCL or Princess.

 

I play Double-Double video poker as well. 6/5 payout is equivalent to Vegas airport numbers...not good at all. Oh well, maybe I will get a big one to negate the payout numbers. Gotta play.

 

look for that 8/5 machine it is there but just one

[clcjdn]

8/5 on Triumph? Not on quarters as I played all of them in Sep. Maybe on dollars?

[scotty22]

I am used to searching the casino floor for the best paying video poker. I know it can sometimes vary quite a bit in the same casino.

 

Are points earned on table games?

[clcjdn]

You can ask for your play to be rated at the tables, but I don't have a ton of experience on the ships playing those.

[HENDRICKSFAN01]

Ask for your play to be rated at the tables. Give them your sail and sign card. Also here are some tips. If you sit down with cash they will rate it but if you sit down with chips they will not. Cash out every day!!! Start off at a tabke with 1000 or so and periodocally pull the chips from the table. It will appear as if your losing a lot. Lastly prior to your next cruise call the Players Club. The number is 1 800 522 7466 you want to ask for a casino vip services coordinator and ask if you have free play or drinks coming.

 

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[Cruising Rules]

My wife and I do play in the casino. we play blackjack and craps mostly. we usually get free drinks what ever that is called maybe drinks on us? Slot machines are controlled by a computer normally so don't play these except a random 100 here or there.

 

While I used to agree that the casino used to change the payout odds on he slot machines every day I have come to find out through a casino source that this is not possible. Every machine has a chip in it that controls the payouts and that to change this daily would in fact be impossible. There is no master control. With that said, most casinos on land set their payouts to anywhere from 88%-98%. Who knows where those payouts are set on a cruise ship (I'm thinking captive audience?)

[scotty22]

I like the idea of pulling chips off. Have done that a few times in Vegas when winning.

[jchris1230]

While I used to agree that the casino used to change the payout odds on he slot machines every day I have come to find out through a casino source that this is not possible. Every machine has a chip in it that controls the payouts and that to change this daily would in fact be impossible. There is no master control. With that said, most casinos on land set their payouts to anywhere from 88%-98%. Who knows where those payouts are set on a cruise ship (I'm thinking captive audience?)

 

Yes this is a huge myth. In order to change a slot machines payout the have to have

Regulators come in and oversee the whole process. It's not something they do very often.

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[HawkIVette]

Ask for your play to be rated at the tables. Give them your sail and sign card. Also here are some tips. If you sit down with cash they will rate it but if you sit down with chips they will not. Cash out every day!!! Start off at a tabke with 1000 or so and periodocally pull the chips from the table. It will appear as if your losing a lot. Lastly prior to your next cruise call the Players Club. The number is 1 800 522 7466 you want to ask for a casino vip services coordinator and ask if you have free play or drinks coming.

 

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I can echo these comments.

 

I just got off the Conquest where I had lucky play at the craps table. I only play craps.

I recommend starting wiht $1000 if you can afford that limit. Ask to be tracked or just give them your sail and sign card. They will track you and when you reach $1500 of "buy-in", they will most likely give you the "drinks on us" card. This will give you unlimited drinks while in the casino.

 

Now I said "buy-in" reaches $1500, not losses. Because they will track how much chips you walk away from the table with also. A way around this is, as you say, "pulling chips". I routinely will drop a $25 chip in my pocket from time to time when nobody is looking (not that the cameras don't catch it).

Cash these chips separately at the cashiers cage and the table will think you lost them instead.

 

Now, getting back to comps. Drink card at $1500. I was playing about 2 - $500 sessions a day besides the original $1000 buy-in the first night. Make them think you are a whale even if you aren't. I was up about $3000 (like I said, I got very lucky) after the 3rd day. Besides the drink card, they sent chocolate covered strawberries to our room. I ended up $5000 up by the end of the cruise and they sent a letter to our room the last night for a free 3-8 day cruise in the near future (had to book in the next 2 weeks and cruise before 5-31-14).

 

So they do comp you if you play enough. Just make sure you are getting tracked. This will go for all table games and slots.

 

Maybe see you on my FREE CRUISE on the Breeze in March!!

Edited December 15, 2013 by HawkIVette

[RCH1234]

I can echo these comments.

 

I just got off the Conquest where I had lucky play at the craps table. I only play craps.

I recommend starting wiht $1000 if you can afford that limit. Ask to be tracked or just give them your sail and sign card. They will track you and when you reach $1500 of "buy-in", they will most likely give you the "drinks on us" card. This will give you unlimited drinks while in the casino.

 

Now I said "buy-in" reaches $1500, not losses. Because they will track how much chips you walk away from the table with also. A way around this is, as you say, "pulling chips". I routinely will drop a $25 chip in my pocket from time to time when nobody is looking (not that the cameras don't catch it).

Cash these chips separately at the cashiers cage and the table will think you lost them instead.

 

Now, getting back to comps. Drink card at $1500. I was playing about 2 - $500 sessions a day besides the original $1000 buy-in the first night. Make them think you are a whale even if you aren't. I was up about $3000 (like I said, I got very lucky) after the 3rd day. Besides the drink card, they sent chocolate covered strawberries to our room. I ended up $5000 up by the end of the cruise and they sent a letter to our room the last night for a free 3-8 day cruise in the near future (had to book in the next 2 weeks and cruise before 5-31-14).

 

So they do comp you if you play enough. Just make sure you are getting tracked. This will go for all table games and slots.

 

Maybe see you on my FREE CRUISE on the Breeze in March!!

 

Great tips and I'm happy to hear you were on the Conquest! I'm on the Conquest Premier Cruise in March and hope to get a free cruise this time. I played A LOT (all table games) on the Breeze, lost over 7k in 6 days and still didn't receive a free cruise. I'm not complaing though, they sent me 60% off my Conquest cruise and $750 in casino cash. Hopefully the pit boss rates me properly and I get a free cruise. It's so much easier to get a free cruise on NCL but I don't like to stick to one cruiseline all the time. :)

 

You'll enjoy the Breeze, it's a great ship with a great crew.

Edited December 19, 2013 by RCH1234

[boxman]

In advance i will tell you that I am familiar with both sides of this discussion. I just got of the Breeze with a free cruise letter in my hand and my career is Casino Management.

 

While they do track your cash buy-ins, they also track chips that you bring with you to the game. A person that has a buy-in of $300 and has an average bet of $50 will get a better rating and more comps than someone who buys in for $1500 and has a $25 average bet.

 

The other misconception is, people who think they are secretly putting chips in their pocket and then cash them out and rebuy with this money will get a better rating. Wrong. This practice is called "false dropping". People who run casinos are not stupid, if a table has $3000 of green on it and someone buys in then a little while later pretends they lost all of their money, but wait now there is only $2500 in green chips. We know they didn't just fly away, either one of my employees stole them or 'Oh they are in that a**holes pocket'. Which is just an annoyance to the casino and here is the reason....It doesn't affect your win/loss, the casino's win/loss or your comps, it just affects the casino's hold. The hold is a percentage of the money that is dropped in the box that the casino wins overtime. While over short periods of time the hold fluctuates, it may even be in the negative. Over the long haul the hold is pretty consistent depending on the house advantage of the game

[winddawn]

There doesn't seem to be a lot of rhyme or reason to getting comps out of Carnival. Some people complain they get little even though they drop lots in the casino, and others say they get free cruises without playing much. Other than the "Drinks on Us" card which gets you free drinks while playing (within Carnival's rules), there really isn't much else in the way of comps unless you get a free or reduced cost cabin offer. Slots also have $10 cash back per 2000 points played. You might get some chocolate dipped strawberries or a bottle of wine. Sometimes the free drinks card isn't even offered until near the end of the cruise, so the value of that varies based on when they give it to you.

 

I wouldn't play expecting to be rewarded like you are at a land-based casino. The rewards are not nearly as good on Carnival ships.

[boxman]

We got comped at the Italian and the Steakhouse restaurants. I think a lot of it depends on the other people who are gambling on a particular ship. If there is heavy action they may not be as likely to be as generous to others or if there is hardly any action someone who may not normally get comped might get taken care of very well.

[kmc500]

There doesn't seem to be a lot of rhyme or reason to getting comps out of Carnival. Some people complain they get little even though they drop lots in the casino, and others say they get free cruises without playing much.

 

In my experience, both in Las Vegas back in the day, and more currently on Carnival, comps are earned based on dollars wagered, not how much you win or lose, both in slots or table games. The casino will get theirs regardless; so the more dollars you risk, the higher potential rewards you might receive. The "you might" is much more relevant to a table games player, as the rating is much more subjective than a slot rating. The computer tells the casino how much you have wagered on the slot machine, whereas a person tells the computer how much you have wagered on a table game.

 

The subjective nature of player rating while playing a table game, in my opinion, can be affected positively or negatively by how well one acts and how nicely one treats the casino personnel, both management and dealers. Both my wife and I have been treated very well by the Carnival casino staff. I am a $50 per hand craps player and she is a $5 per hand roulette player. Ironically, she generally gets more cash in the cage at the start of a cruise than I. She most certainly is nicer than I (although I try)!

 

I wouldn't play expecting to be rewarded like you are at a land-based casino. The rewards are not nearly as good on Carnival ships.

 

I slightly disagree; we've actually had better luck of late with comps on Carnival. We spent a week in Las Vegas in October at Bally's, where we used to stay for free. We get nothing there now.

 

I do agree that you should not play at all and expect comps to offset your losses; even 'back in the day' overall we had a net loss between amounts wagered and our free ride. To us it is all about having fun, getting the buzz from the wagering and minimizing losses. To that end, the drinks on us card (only available on 7 day or longer cruises) and discounted cruises helps a lot.

 

Kevin C