Ask the Slot Expert: 86ed at movie theater?

In my column two weeks ago, I thought about how something I did at a supermarket has gotten players into trouble at a casino when they did the same thing.

What was my transgression? I let my cousin use my frequent shopper card when she made a purchase. (Backstory: She doesn't shop at this chain, so she didn't have an account of her own. And I really didn't give her my card -- I entered my phone number into the keypad while the cashier was ringing her up.) She only bought a few items, so I didn't do it to get rewards points. I just thought she might have some items that were discounted for frequent shoppers.

I started thinking about using another person's rewards account after I received this letter from someone who let his niece play some free play he had earned. When the free play was gone, she continued playing with her own money and her uncle's card. Then the casino would not pay the niece a jackpot she hit because she was playing on another person's card.

I don't think I've ever played on another person's card, but I have on rare occasions had someone play on mine. When I've had visitors who wanted to drop a few dollars in a machine, I've put my card in the machine. At least I'm always with the player.

There is one time when I had a plan to play on someone else's card. When I first moved to Las Vegas, a casino near me had a new member signup promotion. Existing members could bring a new signup to the booth. After the new player earned a certain number of points, both players would get some free play.

My plan was to get my cousin to sign up because I already had an account. Then I would play 9/6 Jacks on her card to earn the points and we would both cash in.

We never got around to executing my scheme -- er, plan -- and now the issue is moot. The promotion ended long ago and the casino removed its 9/6 Jacks machines long ago too.

Something happened at my regular movie theater a few days ago that highlighted an aspect of using another player's card that I hadn't really given much thought. That aspect is that someone is getting benefits that they didn't earn.

In the original letter, the niece was using free play that she herself hadn't earned. Then the uncle was getting credit for action that he himself did not give. At the supermarket, my cousin could have received a discount that she wasn't really entitled to and I would have gotten rewards points for a purchase that I did not make.

Now, let's go to the movies. After the cashier rang up my popcorn and ICEE, he asked if I had a rewards account. I said that I did and showed him the QR code on my phone for him to scan. After I paid for my order and started walking towards the ICEE machine, the man behind me said that he didn't have a rewards account. "Do you want to use your code for my order too?"

I thanked him and said, "That's okay." We didn't have to do that.

One aspect of this situation was his intention to give me credit for his snack purchase. The other he could not have known about.

He couldn't have known that I didn't have the base-level loyalty account. I had the paid upgrade that gives you, among other things, one free ticket per month and a 20% discount on concessions. He also couldn't have known that I see so many movies a year that I qualified for the elite loyalty program and I get a 25% off on concessions, which brings the cost of my snacks down from ludicrously expensive to merely ridiculously expensive.

Had I scanned my code for his purchase, not only would I have gotten points for his purchase, he would have a gotten a large discount. I think the theater would not have looked kindly on my sharing my discount code with people not in my party. That's a big benefit for someone who didn't earn it.

Even if the casino doesn't know or care that you let someone else play on your card -- the casino equivalent of sharing your Netflix passsword -- it can bite you in the end. First, the other player is probably a small player and their small play may drag down your daily average, if your casino cares about that. Second, if the other player is very lucky, your net winnings will increase and your offers may decrease. Finally, you can't use the casino's win/loss report for your taxes.

If you would like to see more non-smoking areas on slot floors in Las Vegas, please sign my petition on change.org.

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Send your slot and video poker questions to John Robison, Slot Expert™, at slotexpert@slotexpert.com. Because of the volume of mail I receive, I regret that I can't reply to every question.

Copyright © John Robison. Slot Expert and Ask the Slot Expert are trademarks of John Robison.