Visitreno

[BC Dave]

The Sands website http://www.sandsregency.com/ has a feature some might want to try. At the bottom of the home page is a "play free games" link. Click on that, register, and you can play "20 points" on a variety of free games per day. You can win up to $500 in free play at the Sands and other prizes. It seems you always win a minimum of $12 in free play with perhaps a buffet thrown in. I hit $100 in free play a few days back. Unfortunately there's just one drawback. The "wins" come as a printable coupon that's only good for only 2-3 days after you play. So the offer sounds best for Reno locals and out of towners who are about to leave for Reno.

* Note... When you register you're required to enter your Sands card number. If your card starts with a zero, leave it out or you'll find yourself struggling with accessing the free games as I initially did.

[CaSwede]

I have been playing daily. Like you mention, the shelf life on these wins is very short. You got $100? The best I have done is $30 in free play. I have also had two days where I got zilch.

I was planning on a trip to Lake Tahoe on Monday, but.....if I hit the $500 in free play, my plans could be changed.

[RenoLady]

Thanks for the info!

I haven't gone in since the new ownership, it's Terrible's now, isn't it? I have a Terrible card from Vegas, do you think that would work on the site? It's also why I haven't gone in for their new member free play, I figured my Terrible's slot card would kick me out.

[stan_allen]

I just tried it, and they gave me $25 in free play for no reason that I could see after about five minutes - sure, a hundred would be nice, but twenty-five dollars free play will do just fine!

Also, the coupon's good until March 26th, which seems like a pretty good window - I'll be back in the area the week of the 13th, so it's all good, as they say!

[stan_allen]

Okay, so the $25 free play coupon is handed out more or less automatically, just for signing up, meaning I'll have to go there and pick up my actual card.

This will be my second time signing up at Sands - the first was nearly ten years ago, when they were handing out Sands coffee mugs with your signup. We still have at least one of them, which proudly sits on a shelf with other mugs.

So how's this free play going to work? I find it difficult to imagine that they'll put twenty-five dollars of credits into a machine of one's choice - what's to stop me from just immediately cashing out and leaving? Surely there must be some sort of hook/catch/trick, like the fine print that says you will merely be "Reimbursed for losses" or some such pseudo-scam?

Not that I necessarily want to do this, and risk invoking bad karma which would no doubt manifest itself on every other machine in Reno for the one night I was attempting to play - but really, if the coupon says "Twenty-five dollars in free slot play", what else could it be?


-CalNevheart

[BC Dave]

Stan
As a guest of the Sands last year, I was granted some free play. They put the free play right onto your card. You're then free to choose a designated machine (which includes most of them) to play your credits. I believe you have to make an initial small bet of your own and then the credits kick in.

[alison]

[stan_allen]

Thanks, folks; it's becoming a bit clearer.

One strategy that is emerging in my head, then, is to keep track of any wins that accumulate over the course of the twenty-five bucks, and then cash out when only that amount remains on the machine.

The temptation, of course, will be to sit there, and keep going until there's nothing left - let's see if I can eke something out of this!

[lvbear584]

One strategy that is emerging in my head, then, is to keep track of any wins that accumulate over the course of the twenty-five bucks, and then cash out when only that amount remains on the machine.

The highest EV strategy is to play as few hands as possible on the highest-denomination machine in the dump. for example, if it has $5 video poker, play one hand at max coin-in ($25). Win or tie, cash out. Ties are common in video poker, but with these free play offers they normally can be immediately cashed out. If you lose the hand, cash out whatever small amount was required to "seed" the free play (if any) and walk away.

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[stan_allen]

I must admit that I didn't follow LVBear's very sensible advice, and instead dragged my play out, mostly because I wanted to get at least a little action - but it worked out quite well!

I finally saw how it worked, and this will be old news to most board members, but I have never been a recipient of any free play, since my bankrolls are always so puny; in any case, you are required to put in a dollar (that would be the "Seed" money, I guess), and then the amount you've bet is added to your available credit, independently of your total balance, which includes winnings.

So I didn't have to "Keep track of" my winnings at all; I simply watched the free play go down, and cashed out once it reached zero.

I had a good time on the ride; I selected that '50's beatnik-themed machine - can't remember the name - and began betting pretty aggressively. This machine has the option of betting against one, five, ten, thirty, forty, or fifty lines - the mapping of the lines was pretty wacky, as you may imagine - but in any case, the aggressive betting helped (40 lines), and I had a couple of nice scores involving a multiplier, and my balance started to rise - got to the twenty-five mark, then thirty, then forty, and then, just as the free play was beginning to wind down, I crossed the fifty line.

By the time the free play was done, I was at fifty-one dollars. I played one more dollar, then cashed out, and walked out of the Sands with forty-nine dollars of their money in cash.

What a deal! I can't wait to use this next time I go! Of course, their internal computations may just reveal the fact that I've sunk no money whatsoever of my own into their machines, and I may just get no more free play coupons - but I can live with that, having profited so nicely from this experience!

BCDave, I can't thank you enough for that tip!

[hawk]

At yhour suggestion, I tried the free play. Best I got was 10 bucks free play. BUT, I only had a two day window EACH TIME to collect.
Makes me wonder why you had so much time to redeem yours.

Nice going with the win, though. I am impressed.

[stan_allen]

Hawk, I'm pretty sure it's because I was a "New" signup - I didn't yet have a card, or anything.

Now that I'm "Regular", my results will probably be much more like yours - but heck, I'll take ten bucks free play anytime, and I'll make sure it's just a day or so before I leave for Reno!

[jerry]

Is 3X pay or $30. Certainly not worth hustling to Reno for.
Now if I won , say, $500, I just might jump in the jalopy and head SE.

[john]

Just for giggles, I went to the Sands site and signed up for a card even though I've had one for several years. It accepted the application, but would let me play for "fun", probably because I haven't been down to confirm the application. As some point, I noticed a little blinking envelope icon and clicked on it. The message was that I got $10 in free play that expires April 17. Must be a sign up bonus.

[stan_allen]

Funny - see, that's just what I did, but I got a more sizable coupon.

Here's another thing you can try: sign up again as though you were a new member - again (which is what I stupidly did two or three times before figuring out that I had to actually go there and get a card for it not to be "Fun" play) - and you might just score a better sign up "Bonus".