How would you take free play- chips or slot credit?

[Greyhound3]

Going on Princess in a couple weeks and have $500 free play waiting. Debating whether to take it in chips or slot credits and asking for opinions.

 

I normally play WPT Texas Hold ‘Em or a similar variant on the tables and Double Double Bonus on video poker (but not much, due to the garbage pay tables). If I find a slot I like, great, but usually play at a lower level than max bet as $5 or more a spin would blow the bankroll. VP, though, is always at max bet for obvious reasons.

 

So, what would you do, fellow cruisers?

 

 

Grey

 

 

[AmazedByCruising]

Do want a maximum return in real money and leave the casino after that? If so, I'd say Black Jack. If you do want to have the most fun for your $500, you really should try Black Jack.  😀

 

[Greyhound3]

4 hours ago, AmazedByCruising said:

Do want a maximum return in real money and leave the casino after that? If so, I'd say Black Jack. If you do want to have the most fun for your $500, you really should try Black Jack.  😀

 

 

I had considered blackjack; however, there are a couple of factors I'm not comfortable with.

 

First, I do not trust automatic shufflers, and I will NOT play a table with a 6:5 blackjack payout. This would put me at a $25 minimum table (assuming they are dealing from a shoe), with a maximum of 20 bets. Maybe 10 minutes to play it through?

 

Second, the free play chips are good for one play, win or lose. How this would work on a "push" hand, I don't know. In theory, the bet should be left in play, but in practice... who knows? Not sure I want to find out.

 

PCL used to give players cash instead of this "free play" stuff, but too many people stuffed the cash in their pockets and walked - which is why it's now given as freeplay. 

 

 

Grey

[Casino Comp Chick]

5 hours ago, Greyhound3 said:

 

I had considered blackjack; however, there are a couple of factors I'm not comfortable with.

 

First, I do not trust automatic shufflers, and I will NOT play a table with a 6:5 blackjack payout. This would put me at a $25 minimum table (assuming they are dealing from a shoe), with a maximum of 20 bets. Maybe 10 minutes to play it through?

 

Second, the free play chips are good for one play, win or lose. How this would work on a "push" hand, I don't know. In theory, the bet should be left in play, but in practice... who knows? Not sure I want to find out.

 

PCL used to give players cash instead of this "free play" stuff, but too many people stuffed the cash in their pockets and walked - which is why it's now given as freeplay. 

 

 

Grey

 

Since you lose the chips either way and I am pretty sure you lose your chip in a push I would take it in slot cash. 

[Mike_DeA]

You don't lose your chips in a push.

[MrMike45]

Never been on Princess.  You have to pick whether you want slot cash or chips with Casino comp money?  And if you pick chips, have to pick the game?  Never heard of anything like that before.  

[Greyhound3]

Yes, you have to pick whether you want free play chips or slot credits. You can choose which game (or games) you play, though.

 

 

Grey

[WonderMan3]

Take the slot credit. When you add slot credits to a machine once you play through the initial amount credit (your spins will always deduct from the free credit first) whatever is left on the machine after you have played through the free credit is yours to do with as you please. Note though that on most cruise lines and most land-based casinos, once you add free play to a machine you have to play it out on that machine, but I know some more recent slot credit programs do allow you to transfer it back to your players card. Check with the casino before you start to play as you don't want a situation where you have $100 of free play, you add all of it to a slot and then find after a few spins that you don't like the game. If the casino operates that way then just transfer the amount that you actually want to play on that machine.

 

The reason you don't want to take chips is that your free play chips always stay with you even when you win; the casino will pay you your win by including the free play chips as part of it. You actually have to lose a bet to get rid of those chips. So the slot credit is a better deal. Of course your odds are much worse on slots...

[LaCal]

Take the chips 

 

Go to the roulette table and put $225 on Red, $225 on Black and $50 on 0-00 

 

If Red or Black comes up you now will have $450 in Real chips 

 

If 0-00 comes up you’ll have $900

[LaCal]

16 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

Take the slot credit. When you add slot credits to a machine once you play through the initial amount credit (your spins will always deduct from the free credit first) whatever is left on the machine after you have played through the free credit is yours to do with as you please. Note though that on most cruise lines and most land-based casinos, once you add free play to a machine you have to play it out on that machine, but I know some more recent slot credit programs do allow you to transfer it back to your players card. Check with the casino before you start to play as you don't want a situation where you have $100 of free play, you add all of it to a slot and then find after a few spins that you don't like the game. If the casino operates that way then just transfer the amount that you actually want to play on that machine.

 

The reason you don't want to take chips is that your free play chips always stay with you even when you win; the casino will pay you your win by including the free play chips as part of it. You actually have to lose a bet to get rid of those chips. So the slot credit is a better deal. Of course your odds are much worse on slots...

That’s match play chips you are taking about 

 

With the ships fun play chips if I Bet $25 in fun chips and win I get back $50 in real chips.....they take the fun chips 

[AmazedByCruising]

On 6/13/2019 at 6:31 AM, Greyhound3 said:

 

I had considered blackjack; however, there are a couple of factors I'm not comfortable with.

 

First, I do not trust automatic shufflers, and I will NOT play a table with a 6:5 blackjack payout. This would put me at a $25 minimum table (assuming they are dealing from a shoe), with a maximum of 20 bets. Maybe 10 minutes to play it through?

 

Second, the free play chips are good for one play, win or lose. How this would work on a "push" hand, I don't know. In theory, the bet should be left in play, but in practice... who knows? Not sure I want to find out.

 

PCL used to give players cash instead of this "free play" stuff, but too many people stuffed the cash in their pockets and walked - which is why it's now given as freeplay. 

 

 

Grey

 

 

Why would automatic shufflers be bad? It would need a house that's willing to cheat. They would be caught eventuallly, and for ships the money made in the casino is a minor source of income. The "Art" auctions earn more than the whole casino, and on a ship the Casino does use a lot of valuable space.  I think there's a casino only to add more to the vacation, similar to a swimming pool. 

 

Push = push. Nothing happens.

 

Free play chips are just as good as real chips, but understandably they simply want to make sure you use them to actually play. So they're not 100% worth what the face value says, but I'd love to buy them at 95 cents/dollar. 

 

[bulldog on water]

The last. 4 cruises I have been on (princess &RCL) 2018-2019, the free play chips are taken weather you win or lose and when you win you only get back what the value of the free play was ie.. a $25 free play chips win, gets yo $25 in real chips not $50 as stated above.

the red/ black/ 00 roulette bet example is wrong! Or maybe the above writer  got on a table that liked him! 

Slot credit is best (if you play slots) in that this is treated just like you normal slot bet.

if you play $5 real money slot and win $100 ( you get $100 added to your account, you don’t get your original $5 bet back)

if you play $5 free play slot and win $100 ( you get $100 added to your account, )

 

if you really  want the value of your free play to play at table games......

then go to roulette and play as follows:

$150 in free play chips. Plus $40 I in real money...

Play $5  on every #, thus you are guaranteed  that you will get back either $175 or $180 in real money to then take to your table games!

Edited June 20, 2019 by bulldog on water

[Mike_DeA]

23 hours ago, bulldog on water said:

The last. 4 cruises I have been on (princess &RCL) 2018-2019, the free play chips are taken weather you win or lose and when you win you only get back what the value of the free play was ie.. a $25 free play chips win, gets yo $25 in real chips not $50 as stated above.

the red/ black/ 00 roulette bet example is wrong! Or maybe the above writer  got on a table that liked him! 

Slot credit is best (if you play slots) in that this is treated just like you normal slot bet.

if you play $5 real money slot and win $100 ( you get $100 added to your account, you don’t get your original $5 bet back)

if you play $5 free play slot and win $100 ( you get $100 added to your account, )

 

if you really  want the value of your free play to play at table games......

then go to roulette and play as follows:

$150 in free play chips. Plus $40 I in real money...

Play $5  on every #, thus you are guaranteed  that you will get back either $175 or $180 in real money to then take to your table games!

That's exactly what I did on a recent Caribbean Princess cruise.  I won the (free) Queen's Sea Poker tournament and $200 of free play.  Took it to the roulette table and covered every number (Princess has added a third green number (their sea witch symbol) so I had to cover 39 spots, but still won $175 (35 x $5).

[dbrown84]

vI love the idea of covering all the numbers in roulette, provided you get chips in $5 denominations.  I usually pick slot play whenever given the choice.  I think play video poker with it (jacks or better).  I only play thru the free amount once and cash out.  Even on terrible pay tables, I'd expect to cash out at least 60% of the free play amount.  Usually I average between 70 - 85%.  If you play $1.25 per hand, that would be 400 hands.  Very good chance you'd get some nice hits (4 of a kind, couple of flushes and straights)

[marden1970]

Hi Greyhound, If you are going on the Grand Princess (an older ship) they still give you your free play in cash.  Their system has not been changed for machines to accept free play.  Our last few cruises have been this way including the one we were on last month.

[Greyhound3]

On 7/7/2019 at 10:42 AM, marden1970 said:

Hi Greyhound, If you are going on the Grand Princess (an older ship) they still give you your free play in cash.  Their system has not been changed for machines to accept free play.  Our last few cruises have been this way including the one we were on last month.

 

That is exactly what happened! Unfortunately, I didn't have much luck with it...

 

Grey

[marden1970]

Yeah, we didn't either.  Oh well, it's only money, as they say.  Hope you had at least a little fun with it.

[MishelleMcc]

Good Info!  thank you everyone!

[Knighton]

I know the OP is going on Princess, but just as an FYI, on Celebrity, I paid ahead on the website for chips because they give you 10% extra.  Not the best deal, I found out.  I was playing craps and on other cruise lines I'm used to them replacing the free play (not really free since I paid ahead for them) chips with regular ones once you win a bet.  Celebrity does not do this, at least when I was on the Infinity last year, so the only time I got rid of any of those chips is if I lost.  At least for Celebrity, I'd take free slot play.

Edited August 18, 2019 by Knighton