Monday, November 28, 2016

A better way to run a slot tournament

In the casino world, a tournament is an event that gives players an opportunity to compete against one another for a flat entry fee or on the casino's dime. Tournament formats include just about all the major casino games, including slots, live poker, video poker, blackjack, craps and other table games. In the Las Vegas area, many locals casinos offer small slot, video poker and blackjack tournaments on a regular basis, mostly weekly, often as part of their seniors' day programs. "Destination" casinos and some locals casinos sometimes offer bigger tournaments, often to attract out-of-town guests during slow weekends.

The latter used to be a significant source of income for my spouse and me. It seemed that we had at least one tournanent opportunity on many weekends and sometimes had to scramble to participate in two on the same weekend. For us, the entries to these tournaments we always free, based on our play. Prize pools of $50,000 or more were fairly common, and I was able to play in a few blackjack 
tournaments at what was the Las Vegas Hilton (now the Westgate) with prize pools of $100,000. Alas, many of those tournaments have dried up since the recession of 2008.

From the players' point of view, the main problem with playing in a tournament has been the time commitment involved. Typically, you would get an invitation in the mail, to which you would have to respond by phone or e-mail to reserve a place. Then you would have to go to the casio during a specified time, usually a couple of hours during the day before the tournament, to register. At registration you would be assigned your times to play, usually in from two to four sessions during the weekend. Sometimes you would get some choice of when to play (but often sessions were linked so you could pick your morning times but the afternoons times would be set at, say, two hours later in an attempt to keep you in the casino). Sometimes you would have to take the times you were given. Often it was difficult to plan other activities, such as playing in another tournament, around these times.

The M Resort in Las Vegas has come up with what to me is a better tournament format that makes things easier not only for the participants but also for the casino's special events staff. About once a month the casino invites both local and out-of-town players to a slot tournament worth about $35,000 with a $10,000 first prize. The first great thing about these tournaments is that you don't have to call to reserve a spot, which means you also don't have to call if you need to cancel. Your plans can remain flexible right up to the first day of the tournament.

The next great thing is that you don't have to show up in person to register. In fact, you don't have to register at all. But wait, there's more! There are only two sessions, one each on Saturday and Sunday. You can play them any time you want, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Before playing, you print out a ticket at a special tournament kiosk. I sure wish this format had been in effect when we were trying to play in two or more tournaments on some weekends.

Given that the traditional tournament format requires players to spend a lot more time in the casino, you might be wondering why the M would allow players to "hit and run." There are, I think, a couple of anwers. First, players know they won't be invited to these events if they don't maintain a certain level of play. They just don't have to do it on the tournament weekend. Second, the M provides some incentives to get people play during the tournament and on the day before. Starting Friday, players can earn up to two extra entries for Saturday and two for Sunday by earning 1,500 base points on slots or 3,000 on video poker for each extra entry. During the same period they can earn entries in a $5,000 drawing at 5,000 base points per entry. The same base points can count towards the extra tournanent entries and the drawing entries.

The M also has slot or video poker tournaments Tuesdays as part of its seniors' day and Thursdays for everyone. Seniors get one free entry on Tuesdays. On both days, a maximum of five entries can be earned for 250 base points each. Also on both days, you can use these same points toward a free dinner buffet, which requires 1.300 same-day base points on video poker, fewer on reels (you keep the points). 






Monday, November 14, 2016

A long day at work on a huge progressive

I've written before about video poker progressives, games in which a small percentage of the money played through accumulates into an ever-growing jackpot that is paid out to the first player who hits a royal flush. Progressives can become positive for the players when the jackpot reaches a certain amount, which depends on the paytable of the game. Most progressives have such tight paytables that the jackpot has to be so huge for the game to be positive that they rarely reach that point, and even if they do, you are going to lose so much money if you're not the winner that they just aren't worth playing.

Fortunately, there are still a few progressives that I check regularly and play when they reach a certain point. The best of these is a seven-machine dollar progressive at a small casino far from the Strip and downtown Las Vegas. The best game on the multi-game machines is 16/10 NSU deuces wild, with a maximum payback at reset (when the meter goes back to $4,000 after the jackpot is hit) of 99.7 percent. (When the meter reaches about $7,000, it's actually better to play a lower-payback game, 9/6 jacks or better, because royal flushes come more often in that game.) This progressive also has a fairly fast meter, taking one-half of one percent of the money played through for the jackpot. The only negative is that the casino doesn't have a players club, so you aren't earning any points for playing.

I usually check this progressive pretty regularly but had let it slip a recently. On Thursday night, I stopped in and was surprised to see the meter at well over $7,000. My strike point on this progressive is around $6,000, so I sat down and began to play. Only one other player was there, a friendly acquaintace of mine. I played until about 1:30 a.m., losing $1,000. Because he was still playing, I knew I was taking a risk by leaving.

Whether an when to stop playing a good progressive is always a difficult decision. There is simply no way to predict when it might hit. The chance of a player hitting a royal flush on a particular hand is exactly the same, regardless of how long it has been since the last royal flush for that player or on a particular machine or group of machines. That is why there is no basis for belief that a progressive is "overdue" to be hit.

I was willing to take the risk that one player would hit the jackpot late at night to avoid possibly spending all night at the casino and not being able to play until late the next day. That turned out to be the right decision, but it just as easily could have turned out to be wrong.

Before returning to the casino the next morning, I went to get some money out the bank. Unfortunately, it was Veterans Day and the bank was closed, something I hadn't considered. I got my limit of $500 from the ATM. I could have gone to a nearby casino and cashed a check but I wanted to get back to the progressive, and hoped that, with the $500 I had left from the night before, I would have enough to play until the jackpot was hit.

As I walked into the casino, I reminded myself that I was facing three possibilities: 1. The progessive had been hit; 2. It was still there, but all the machines were taken; and 3. It was still there and a seat was available. I knew that of the three, the last was by far the least likely. If it had been hit, at least I could get some breakfast, cash a check and go about my other business. If all the seats were taken, I would ask the players about their plans and make a decision about waiting for a seat to open up.

I was surprised to see both the meter at close to $8,000 and one seat open. I practically jumped into it and began shoving $100 bills into the machine. Of course, it was the slowest machine of the group, but I was glad to get it.

It was about 10:15 in the morning. At first things went well, but then I began to lose. A few hours in, it looked as if my $1,000 might soon run out. I called my wife, but she wasn't in a position to be able to get money to me quickly. The acquaintance who had been playing the night before heard the gist of the conversation and offered to lend me some money. I was very appreciative but wanted to avoid that if at all possible.

When I did run out of money, I took a bathroom break and stopped at the cashier's cage to see if I could cash a check. They didn't take my check cashing card but said I could get a cash advance off a credit or debit card. I had never done this -- in my mind, it was something done only by the worst degenerate gamblers -- and I knew the cost would be high. But I slso knew this play was worth hundreds of dollars an hour. Under the circumstances, taking the advance was a good business decision. At least I could use a debit card and avoid having interest start accruing immediately on a credit card. I also hoped that by using a debit card I could avoid a report that might affect my credit.

The cashier asked me how much I wanted. I thought $500 should be enough but asked for $1,000, just to be safe (I thought). She said the fee would come up on the keypad screen -- $27. I tapped "accept," got the money, and went back to play.

And play and play and play. Afternoon turned to evening and the meter reached $9,000. The casino manager announced that the progressive was setting a record for that casino, and every time a seat opened up, he made an announcement, noting the amount on the meter and saying a couple of times that the jackpot was overdue to be hit.

As the night wore on I ran out of money again and took another $1,000 advance, paying another $27 fee. Except for a few breaks to go to the restroom and get money, I hadn't been out of my increasingly uncomfortable seat all day. A few times I stood up for relief, continuing to play. At about 9:30, standing in front of my machine, I was dealt three cards to a royal flush in diamonds. I hit the draw button and the other two cards popped up. The meter was at $9,920.

The other players murmered congratulations and slinked away. A few minutes later a slot attendant showed up, called the security manager over, and began the half-hour long process of doing the paperwork by hand and getting me paid. While I was waiting, a woman playing one of the old coin dropper machines behind me asked me how much you tip on that kind of a jackpot. I had asked some of the other players the same question earlier. One had said $50, another $10, saying the work involved was the same regardless of the size of the jackpot. Normally I tip one-half of one percent, but I decided to go to $100. The smaller the casino, the bigger a jackpot of a given amount seems to the employees, and I wanted them to be happy to see me the next time I came in.

In addition to the money I won, I was given 100 paper tickets to casino's cash drawing and a chance to spin a prize wheel, which got me a dinner comp for two.

Most gamblers would be ecstatic to win $9,920. I was more relieved than excited. It was a slog, and I had lost $3,600 before it hit. Normally I don't feel it much when I don't win -- losing is a big part of the business -- but in this case it would have hurt more than usual. I have had a pretty tough year, particularly on progressives, and losing this one would have made for an unusually bad streak.

But win or lose, I did the right thing. I only wish I had checked the progressive earlier. If I had, I might have hit it earlier, making less money but saving myself a lot of time and stress.

But maybe not. The thing about progressives is, you just never know when they're going to pop.