I recently returned to the Riviera with my wife to play the remaining $500 in credits I had from their $1,000 loss guarantee for new players club members. I headed to the machine I had played during my first visit, which had what appeared to be $1 8/5 bonus poker on it, which would be the best video poker game in the casino with a long-term payback of 99.17 percent with maximum bets and perfect strategy.
Except that, as my spouse noticed immediately, this game wasn't really 8/5 bonus poker, even though the pay table showed payouts of 8 per coin for the full house and 5 for the flush. What my spouse saw was a very unusual change near the bottom of the pay table. Instead of paying 2 for a full house, this game paid only 1. Because two pair occur very often in bonus poker, this change makes a huge difference in the game's theoretical payback, bringing it all the way down to 86.31 percent -- yes, that's 86, not 96 -- and making it by far the worst video poker game I have ever seen.
This alteration is perfectly legal, as long as it's disclosed on the pay table, which this was. The main lesson here is to look at all the numbers on the pay table before playing any game at any casino for the first time. Most of us are in the habit of looking at certain numbers on the pay table to determine what version of a game is in front of us -- in bonus poker, what varies is typically the payouts for the full house and flush -- but any number on the pay table can be changed. Also of note is that the same change in payout will have a bigger effect on the return of the game the farther down the pay table they are. That's because the closer you get to the bottom of the pay table, the more frequently the hands occur. One coin less for two pair hurts a lot because two pair is a very common hand in bonus poker.
I was glad I was able to avoid playing this awful game but couldn't help wondering if the pay table was the same during my first trip to the Riviera, when I played the same machine. I know I didn't check the bottom of the pay table, but I would hope I would have noticed the short pay for two pair as I played. Maybe the payout for two pair at that time was the standard 2; maybe I didn't notice the short pay. Either way, I hope I'll never fall for something like this in the future.
Since this happened, I've given a bit of thought to the ethics of it. It's standard for casinos to offer different versions of the same video poker games, but usually with the common variations in the pay table. For example, 9/6 jacks or better and 8/5 jacks or better, the first numbers referring to the payout for the full house and the second numbers for the flush. Video poker players with any level of sophistication know about these "standard variations" and look for them before choosing a game to play. The ethics question posed here is whether it is fair for a casino to make a highly unusual change in the pay table, one that most players would never think to look for -- especially one that makes an enormous difference in the payback of the game. In my mind the Riviera's pay table raises the question of what other ways it might try to take advantage of the people who play there (I have seen absolutely no evidence of anything else at all questionable). I'm not sure whether people who would do this are the kind of people I want to do business with.
Incidentally, I got the information on the payback of the Riviera's version of 8/5 bonus poker from the invaluable "Frugal Video Poker Scouting Guide" by Jean Scott and Viktor Nacht. That the Riviera's version of 8/5 bonus poker was in the book indicates that it has been found in other casinos (the book predates the current management regime of the Riviera). That doesn't make it any more fair, but it does reinforce the message of buyer beware when playing any video poker machine for the first time.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Follow-up on HRH point confiscation
I'm happy to say that my host came through and restored the points the Hard Rock Las Vegas took to pay for a comped room. He indicated that the policy may change but as for now it is still in effect, so Hard Rock customers are advised to use up all their points each session and ask for comps for anything they want.
This story won't be over until the HRH changes its system so points aren't seized for comped hotel rooms. If and when I become aware of any change, I will report it.
This story won't be over until the HRH changes its system so points aren't seized for comped hotel rooms. If and when I become aware of any change, I will report it.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Follow-up on the Palms
As predicted, the 50-cent full pay deuces have been removed from the Palms.
This violates the general rule that it's better for a casino not to offer something attractive to players and yank it away, then never to offer it at all.
One clue that the 50-cent deuces wouldn't last was that there were a number of them adjacent to one another, making it possible for several people at once to play two machines at a time. And these machines were fast! The set-up was a magnet for advantage players.
When new management took over from founder George Maloof at the Palms, it removed the 25-cent full-pay deuces progressive (and other potential advantage plays). Why the new management thought the 50-cent deuces wouldn't hurt the bottom line as much as the quarter deuces is beyond me.
I was told a few months ago the new management's changes in video poker at the Palms were over. Apparently that wasn't true.
This violates the general rule that it's better for a casino not to offer something attractive to players and yank it away, then never to offer it at all.
One clue that the 50-cent deuces wouldn't last was that there were a number of them adjacent to one another, making it possible for several people at once to play two machines at a time. And these machines were fast! The set-up was a magnet for advantage players.
When new management took over from founder George Maloof at the Palms, it removed the 25-cent full-pay deuces progressive (and other potential advantage plays). Why the new management thought the 50-cent deuces wouldn't hurt the bottom line as much as the quarter deuces is beyond me.
I was told a few months ago the new management's changes in video poker at the Palms were over. Apparently that wasn't true.
A rude shock at the Hard Rock
My monthly mailer for May for the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas offered two free midweek room nights, with an upgrade to a suite if available. Near the end of the month I called my host there and asked for a room if one was available. Despite the hotel's hosting a gigantic meeting, he came through not with a room, but with a pool villa. Sweeter than a suite!
A couple of days after checking out, I went to the HRH to play video poker, I stuck my players' card in the machine and the reader said I had no points. I checked my records and confirmed that I should have been shown a substantial points balance. I went to the players' club expecting to be told there was some technical problem and my points would be restored.
Instead, I was told that when the Hard Rock revamped its players' club, it went to a system in which there are no longer comps -- everything must be paid for with points. I had taken advantage of room offers in the past and never was charged, and was not given notice of this alleged change when I made the room reservation, when I check in, or at any other time. I later reviewed the brochure describing the new players' club benefits and didn't see anything there indicating such a drastic change in policy. The only thing that might have been a hint something was amiss came when I tried to check out using the TV in the suite. Usually when you have a comped room the charges come up as $0.00, but what looked like a normal hotel bill with charges for each night, taxes, etc., came up instead. I have had mistaken charges show up in the past and they have always been removed with a call to the front desk. I did that at the HRH and the clerk confirmed that my room was comped and I owed nothing.
After my points disappeared, I called my host and told him everything that had happened. He said this was wrong, my points should not have been taken, and he would try to get them back. He also said, however, that he is advising his local players to use up their points at every visit. This indicates to me that other people also have experienced disappearing points.
In the past few years I have seen casino executives do some pretty stupid things, but this is probably the worst. It's hard to imagine anything more certain to piss off a casino's customers. I'm not an expert on the gaming regulations, but it is my understanding that Nevada authorities don't allow the confiscation of points a player has earned. Given the lack of any advance disclosure in this case, "confiscation" is a mild word to describe what happened.
I'll post again with further developments.
A couple of days after checking out, I went to the HRH to play video poker, I stuck my players' card in the machine and the reader said I had no points. I checked my records and confirmed that I should have been shown a substantial points balance. I went to the players' club expecting to be told there was some technical problem and my points would be restored.
Instead, I was told that when the Hard Rock revamped its players' club, it went to a system in which there are no longer comps -- everything must be paid for with points. I had taken advantage of room offers in the past and never was charged, and was not given notice of this alleged change when I made the room reservation, when I check in, or at any other time. I later reviewed the brochure describing the new players' club benefits and didn't see anything there indicating such a drastic change in policy. The only thing that might have been a hint something was amiss came when I tried to check out using the TV in the suite. Usually when you have a comped room the charges come up as $0.00, but what looked like a normal hotel bill with charges for each night, taxes, etc., came up instead. I have had mistaken charges show up in the past and they have always been removed with a call to the front desk. I did that at the HRH and the clerk confirmed that my room was comped and I owed nothing.
After my points disappeared, I called my host and told him everything that had happened. He said this was wrong, my points should not have been taken, and he would try to get them back. He also said, however, that he is advising his local players to use up their points at every visit. This indicates to me that other people also have experienced disappearing points.
In the past few years I have seen casino executives do some pretty stupid things, but this is probably the worst. It's hard to imagine anything more certain to piss off a casino's customers. I'm not an expert on the gaming regulations, but it is my understanding that Nevada authorities don't allow the confiscation of points a player has earned. Given the lack of any advance disclosure in this case, "confiscation" is a mild word to describe what happened.
I'll post again with further developments.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
No points may not mean no comps
A disturbing trend I've noticed in some casinos is eliminating some machnines from eligibility for earning slot club points. The first time I saw this was at the Gold Coast, maybe a year and a half ago. Labels were placed on the 100 percent-plus payback machines saying something like "This machine does not award slot club points." Soon after that, the machines were gone. A while back player at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut told me that casino had stopped awarding points for play on the full-pay pick 'em poker machines, which return just under 100 percent. We discussed the situation and decided he would try to find out if no points meant no comps at all. He spoke with his host and learned that the casino would still track his play if he used a players' club card, and he would still get free play and other offers. This has turned out to be true, and the benefits have proven to be fairly substantial.
I recently noticed that the virtual blackjack games at Casino Monte Lago at Lake Las Vegas were labeled as not awarding points. Previously, craps and roulette machines at that casino had such labels. I was told that the reason was that offsetting bets could be made on those machines, allowing players to amass lots of points with minimal risk. That's not possible with blackjack, but the house edge on the games offered is slight enough that the casino couldn't offer points and make the profit it expected from those machines. I was told by a casino executive, however, that the casino would still track rated play on the blackjack machines and award appropriate benefits through players' mailers.
Not being able to earn points is a big deal. At Monte Lago, unmultiplied points at 0.25 percent to the return of the game. The casino awards double points several days a month, which made the blackjack game a hair over break-even for a perfect basic strategy player, not counting the mailer and promotions. It's possible but unlikely this game will be worth more than 100 percent without points.
One of the advantages of points is that they're easy to put a value on. It's not always possible to predict how much free play a casino will give you for a particular amount of play, so that benefit, though real, can be hard to figure in. The value of other benefits, such as drawing entries, can be even more difficult to pin down. The bottom line is, if you're looking to get the most value for your gambling dollars, figure out as best you can the total return of the games you're interested in and play the one that offers the best total return, regardless of whether players' club points are part of that return.
I recently noticed that the virtual blackjack games at Casino Monte Lago at Lake Las Vegas were labeled as not awarding points. Previously, craps and roulette machines at that casino had such labels. I was told that the reason was that offsetting bets could be made on those machines, allowing players to amass lots of points with minimal risk. That's not possible with blackjack, but the house edge on the games offered is slight enough that the casino couldn't offer points and make the profit it expected from those machines. I was told by a casino executive, however, that the casino would still track rated play on the blackjack machines and award appropriate benefits through players' mailers.
Not being able to earn points is a big deal. At Monte Lago, unmultiplied points at 0.25 percent to the return of the game. The casino awards double points several days a month, which made the blackjack game a hair over break-even for a perfect basic strategy player, not counting the mailer and promotions. It's possible but unlikely this game will be worth more than 100 percent without points.
One of the advantages of points is that they're easy to put a value on. It's not always possible to predict how much free play a casino will give you for a particular amount of play, so that benefit, though real, can be hard to figure in. The value of other benefits, such as drawing entries, can be even more difficult to pin down. The bottom line is, if you're looking to get the most value for your gambling dollars, figure out as best you can the total return of the games you're interested in and play the one that offers the best total return, regardless of whether players' club points are part of that return.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Notes and thoughts on a few new things:
1. The Orleans has changed its Tuesday seniors program to include a drawing at 4 p.m. This drawing is unusual in a couple of a little unusual. You don't have to activate your tickets -- everyone who has played during the eligibility period is entered automatically. But you do have to present to win. Three names are called. Each winner who is there gets $1,000. Any money that isn't claimed carries over to the following week. The first week, none of the three winners was there. I suspect the prizes will sometimes be substantial, but with everyone who has played during the earning period entered, the chances of winning are reduced. I plan to time my visits to the Orleans to be there for this drawing and see how it goes. Incidentally, exactly what the earning period is is unclear. It was announced in the casino that it's just the day of the drawing, but I was been clicking the "drawings" button on the kiosks and finding tickets for this drawing on other days. Next chance I get, I'll review the written rules, which are on a sign in front of the players' club.
2. I was very disappointed in a promotion at the M Resort that started Friday night. The deal was, earn up to five swipes by putting $250 coin in on video poker. Some swipes would award free play. In my case, five swipes resulted in nothing. My wife got a total of $10. A near-Strip resort has been running a similar promotion this month and the same week I got nothing at the M I got $140 in free play at the other place (which I am not naming because to keep competition at its drawings, which have been very good to me, to a minimum). At both places I play 15/9 "pseudo not so ugly" deuces for $1 on the five-play machines, betting $25 a hand. I would think that kind of play would earn something, especially on the first day of a promotion. I cannot understand why casino executives implement promotions that will tick people off instead of promoting the casinos' business. In fairness to the M, its seniors' drawing on Tuesdays offers a good chance of winning meaningful prizes, but this new promotion appears to be a big stinker. Another disappointment at the M: The convenience store on the property apparently has been sold and no longer accepts M slot club points for payment for gas or other purchases.
3. Guess what's back at the Palms? After all the 100-percent payback games had been removed, two or three weeks ago I walked over the area where the $2 "not so ugly" 16/10 deuces were and found them replaced by two rows of 100-percent-plus payback machines, with big signs on top advertising their presence. The games on two rows of machines are double bonus, double double bonus and deuces wild at 25 and 50 cents. Points are earned at one-quarter the rate on other games, making them worth 0.625 percent. Double bonus, which is very difficult to play accurately, and double double bonus, which pays back barely over 100 percent with perfect play, are still fairly common in Las Vegas and can be found in denominations as high as $1. Deuces wild, which pays back 100.76 percent with perfect play, has become relatively rare even at quarters and is found at 50 cents only in two small casinos in Henderson that don't have slot clubs. So the 50-cent full-pay deuces at the Palms is quite a find. Unfortunately, if history is a guide, it won't last long, so enjoy it while you can.
4. Stations continues its comeback with a surprisingly strong promotion this month. Each day through May 28, players' club members can swipe their card at a kiok for prizes. When Stations has run this type of promotion in the past, the prizes have often been disappointing. In particular, they would often be drawing tickets, which were worse than worthless because any edge an individual would get would be swamped by the extra entries awarded other players. Other prizes included slot club points, dining credits and free play. This time, the types of prizes are the same, but in my and my wife's experience, the prizes are many times more valuable than they have been in the past. Point prizes have ranged from 5,000 to 25,000; free play from $10 to $100, and dining credits from $10 to $50. This promotion is been run in conjunction with daily drawings in which five people at each of the eight Stations and two Fiestas wins $500 and a chance to win a Cadillac in a drawing held that night. Winners who are present get an extra $500. The best news about the swipe card part of the promotion is that the drawing ticket prizes have become quite rare and the number of tickets awarded enough to give the winner a real advantage. I was awarded drawing tickets only once in this promotion and the 5,000 extra entries may have been responsible for me winning one of the $1,000 prizes that night (the free drawing tickets, unlike tickets earned during the promotion, are good for one night only). Kudos to Stations for running a promotion that gives its customers something of real value every day they come in.
5. A small casino in Henderson, Club Fortune ticked me and at least a couple of other players off a couple of weeks ago. At this casino it has long been possible to download free play only on certain machines, but these included virtually every machine in the high-limit room. I walked in one day to find labels on almost all the machines in this room saying "this machine does not accept free play." My wife, who preceded me into the room, heard one player saying he was going to the players' club to complain. I tracked down a slot attendant and asked to speak with a manager. The explanation I got was that the slot director wanted to spread the availablilty of free-play compatible machines throughout the floor to give more people a chance to use free play on their favorite machines. This might have made some sense if I had not also been told that the move was made in conjuction with a doubling of the number of machines available for free play. The only sense I could make of this move is that it is a crude attempt to force customers to play at least their free play on machines with worse pay tables, but I did not express this opinion to the manager I spoke with, because it can be hazardous to become known to casino management as a player who knows too much. At any rate, this appears to be a particularly petty, stupid move by a casino's management in terms of possible gain versus irritation of bigger players. Here are two good rules for casino executives to keep in mind: 1. People don't like to have things taken away, even relatively minor conveniences, and 2. People don't like to be told they can't do something at your casino that they can do at other casinos (at most casinos, free play can be used at all or a vast majority of machines).
1. The Orleans has changed its Tuesday seniors program to include a drawing at 4 p.m. This drawing is unusual in a couple of a little unusual. You don't have to activate your tickets -- everyone who has played during the eligibility period is entered automatically. But you do have to present to win. Three names are called. Each winner who is there gets $1,000. Any money that isn't claimed carries over to the following week. The first week, none of the three winners was there. I suspect the prizes will sometimes be substantial, but with everyone who has played during the earning period entered, the chances of winning are reduced. I plan to time my visits to the Orleans to be there for this drawing and see how it goes. Incidentally, exactly what the earning period is is unclear. It was announced in the casino that it's just the day of the drawing, but I was been clicking the "drawings" button on the kiosks and finding tickets for this drawing on other days. Next chance I get, I'll review the written rules, which are on a sign in front of the players' club.
2. I was very disappointed in a promotion at the M Resort that started Friday night. The deal was, earn up to five swipes by putting $250 coin in on video poker. Some swipes would award free play. In my case, five swipes resulted in nothing. My wife got a total of $10. A near-Strip resort has been running a similar promotion this month and the same week I got nothing at the M I got $140 in free play at the other place (which I am not naming because to keep competition at its drawings, which have been very good to me, to a minimum). At both places I play 15/9 "pseudo not so ugly" deuces for $1 on the five-play machines, betting $25 a hand. I would think that kind of play would earn something, especially on the first day of a promotion. I cannot understand why casino executives implement promotions that will tick people off instead of promoting the casinos' business. In fairness to the M, its seniors' drawing on Tuesdays offers a good chance of winning meaningful prizes, but this new promotion appears to be a big stinker. Another disappointment at the M: The convenience store on the property apparently has been sold and no longer accepts M slot club points for payment for gas or other purchases.
3. Guess what's back at the Palms? After all the 100-percent payback games had been removed, two or three weeks ago I walked over the area where the $2 "not so ugly" 16/10 deuces were and found them replaced by two rows of 100-percent-plus payback machines, with big signs on top advertising their presence. The games on two rows of machines are double bonus, double double bonus and deuces wild at 25 and 50 cents. Points are earned at one-quarter the rate on other games, making them worth 0.625 percent. Double bonus, which is very difficult to play accurately, and double double bonus, which pays back barely over 100 percent with perfect play, are still fairly common in Las Vegas and can be found in denominations as high as $1. Deuces wild, which pays back 100.76 percent with perfect play, has become relatively rare even at quarters and is found at 50 cents only in two small casinos in Henderson that don't have slot clubs. So the 50-cent full-pay deuces at the Palms is quite a find. Unfortunately, if history is a guide, it won't last long, so enjoy it while you can.
4. Stations continues its comeback with a surprisingly strong promotion this month. Each day through May 28, players' club members can swipe their card at a kiok for prizes. When Stations has run this type of promotion in the past, the prizes have often been disappointing. In particular, they would often be drawing tickets, which were worse than worthless because any edge an individual would get would be swamped by the extra entries awarded other players. Other prizes included slot club points, dining credits and free play. This time, the types of prizes are the same, but in my and my wife's experience, the prizes are many times more valuable than they have been in the past. Point prizes have ranged from 5,000 to 25,000; free play from $10 to $100, and dining credits from $10 to $50. This promotion is been run in conjunction with daily drawings in which five people at each of the eight Stations and two Fiestas wins $500 and a chance to win a Cadillac in a drawing held that night. Winners who are present get an extra $500. The best news about the swipe card part of the promotion is that the drawing ticket prizes have become quite rare and the number of tickets awarded enough to give the winner a real advantage. I was awarded drawing tickets only once in this promotion and the 5,000 extra entries may have been responsible for me winning one of the $1,000 prizes that night (the free drawing tickets, unlike tickets earned during the promotion, are good for one night only). Kudos to Stations for running a promotion that gives its customers something of real value every day they come in.
5. A small casino in Henderson, Club Fortune ticked me and at least a couple of other players off a couple of weeks ago. At this casino it has long been possible to download free play only on certain machines, but these included virtually every machine in the high-limit room. I walked in one day to find labels on almost all the machines in this room saying "this machine does not accept free play." My wife, who preceded me into the room, heard one player saying he was going to the players' club to complain. I tracked down a slot attendant and asked to speak with a manager. The explanation I got was that the slot director wanted to spread the availablilty of free-play compatible machines throughout the floor to give more people a chance to use free play on their favorite machines. This might have made some sense if I had not also been told that the move was made in conjuction with a doubling of the number of machines available for free play. The only sense I could make of this move is that it is a crude attempt to force customers to play at least their free play on machines with worse pay tables, but I did not express this opinion to the manager I spoke with, because it can be hazardous to become known to casino management as a player who knows too much. At any rate, this appears to be a particularly petty, stupid move by a casino's management in terms of possible gain versus irritation of bigger players. Here are two good rules for casino executives to keep in mind: 1. People don't like to have things taken away, even relatively minor conveniences, and 2. People don't like to be told they can't do something at your casino that they can do at other casinos (at most casinos, free play can be used at all or a vast majority of machines).
Monday, April 30, 2012
'We want the hardcore gambler ...'
The above is an unusual, almost heretical, statement by a casino executive, yet it was made by Noah Acres, the Riviera's director of player development (more about this ironic title later), in material aimed not at industry insiders but at new players at his casino.
The reason such statements are so rare is that the "gaming" industry has taken great pains to paint gambling as just another form of entertainment, one with minimal negative effects on the communities where casinos are found. Casinos stress that they love winners, but what they really love are ignorant players who win by dumb luck. Anyone who knows enough not even to win but just to lose less than most is considered a threat by many if not most gaming executives.
Of course, the ugly truth about gambling is that it ruins lives. Not many, as a percentage of those who gamble, but undoubtedly thousands each year in the United States. The extent to which the gaming industry is responsible for creating, enabling and increasing addiction is beyond the scope of this post, because it is beyond my knowledge of these issues. But I do know that the industry does everything it can to disassociate itself from anything hinting at exploitation of addicted gamblers.
The context of Mr. Acres' statement was an information card on a promotion at the Riviera offering new and some inactive players a $1,000 loss guarantee. There's nothing new about this kind of promotion but in five years in Las Vegas I have never seen one this big.
The idea is simple. You sign up for a players' club card and go play a slot or video poker machine until you have had enough or lost $1,000. If you are unlucky enough to win, it's as if the promotion didn't exist. You cash out as usual and that's it. If you lose, you get half your loss back immediately in the form of free slot play and half on your "next visit" (if you take advantage of this promotion, be sure to ask when the second installment becomes available and how long your have to use both installments of your free slot play).
Before we went to the Riviera, my wife and I listened to a discussion of this promotion on the radio program "Gambling with an Edge." Based on the discussion among hosts Bob Dancer and Mike Shakelford and guest Richard Munchkin, we set a goal of winning $2,000 or busting out trying. Losing, say, $300 would be taking advantage of only 30 percent of the value of the promotion. We made sure to get to the casino early in the evening to give ourselves plenty of time to run through $1,000 each.
Several types of slot, video poker and virtual table game machines have been excluded from this promotion. We both decided to play video poker at the highest denomination available, $1 single line. My spouse opted to play double double bonus even though the pay table, 8/5, is horrendous (we looked it up later and found the payback was less than 97 percent). This game offers a lot of opportunities for big hits, including $2,000 for four aces and a kicker, meaning that if she got lucky, she could reach $4,000 without hitting a royal flush. The downside of this strategy is that if she didn't get many four-of-a-kinds she could go down quickly. Of course, with the loss guarantee, the downside risk was greatly reduced. I took a more conservative approach, playing the best game available, 8/5 bonus poker (slightly over 99 percent payback). I knew I'd need a royal flush to hit $2,000, but I planned to alter my strategy a bit to increase the chance of hitting a royal (but in the process decrease the statistical return of the game). I hoped that playing a game with a higher return and less variance would keep me alive longer, giving me more of a chance to hit the royal. Another factor is that I am more comfortable playing bonus poker than double double bonus, though I have played the latter in tournaments.
In retrospect, I think both decisions were defensible, but my wife's was better -- and not just because she wound up hitting four aces with a kicker (after hitting four aces without, which kept her going awhile). I wound up losing $1,000 in less than two hours. At that point she was up a couple of hundred. I went and got my first $500 in free play and ran it through the machine. We decided I'd take advantage of some opportunies at other casinos and come back in a couple of hours. A half hour, maybe 40 minutes later she called me and said she had hit the four aces with a kicker. She was down only about $200, so if she quit right then she'd lock in a $1,800 win. The alternative under our plan was to try to win more or lose a full $1,000, and there probably wasn't time for that. So she "settled" for a win that was $200 short of her goal.
The reason her strategy was probably better than mine is because she had more chances to win. She also had much more of a chance of losing, but the entire loss would be reimbursed. Of course, had she actually lost, she would have played the free play much more conservatively because at that point any losses would be hers, and real.
Now, a word about the title of that executive who said he wanted "the hardcore gambler." To the unititated, "director of player development" might sound like someone in charge of educating players, making them better. But this is the last thing the casinos want. The development in this title refers to the casinos' business, not the quality of its players (unless quality is defined as losing more).
As for Mr. Acres, I think he's got quite a challenge ahead of him. The Riviera, one of the oldest casinos on the Strip, is, by today's standards, a dump. Think the Tropicana before its recent makeover. Furthermore, it's in a really bad neighborhood, by Strip standards, stuck amid closed casinos, failed projects and that butt of jokes, Circus Circus.
The loss guarantee will bring tourists in and maybe some locals. But whether they'll come back is another issue. The Riviera has introduced some better-than-usual games, for the Strip, including single zero roulette. But the games mostly aren't as good as those available in locals' casinos. I'll be back to play my second $500 in free play, but after that Mr. Acres and his colleagues will have to come up with something else to hook me as a regular.
I wish them luck in trying to revive the Riviera, and I'm afraid they're going to need it.
The reason such statements are so rare is that the "gaming" industry has taken great pains to paint gambling as just another form of entertainment, one with minimal negative effects on the communities where casinos are found. Casinos stress that they love winners, but what they really love are ignorant players who win by dumb luck. Anyone who knows enough not even to win but just to lose less than most is considered a threat by many if not most gaming executives.
Of course, the ugly truth about gambling is that it ruins lives. Not many, as a percentage of those who gamble, but undoubtedly thousands each year in the United States. The extent to which the gaming industry is responsible for creating, enabling and increasing addiction is beyond the scope of this post, because it is beyond my knowledge of these issues. But I do know that the industry does everything it can to disassociate itself from anything hinting at exploitation of addicted gamblers.
The context of Mr. Acres' statement was an information card on a promotion at the Riviera offering new and some inactive players a $1,000 loss guarantee. There's nothing new about this kind of promotion but in five years in Las Vegas I have never seen one this big.
The idea is simple. You sign up for a players' club card and go play a slot or video poker machine until you have had enough or lost $1,000. If you are unlucky enough to win, it's as if the promotion didn't exist. You cash out as usual and that's it. If you lose, you get half your loss back immediately in the form of free slot play and half on your "next visit" (if you take advantage of this promotion, be sure to ask when the second installment becomes available and how long your have to use both installments of your free slot play).
Before we went to the Riviera, my wife and I listened to a discussion of this promotion on the radio program "Gambling with an Edge." Based on the discussion among hosts Bob Dancer and Mike Shakelford and guest Richard Munchkin, we set a goal of winning $2,000 or busting out trying. Losing, say, $300 would be taking advantage of only 30 percent of the value of the promotion. We made sure to get to the casino early in the evening to give ourselves plenty of time to run through $1,000 each.
Several types of slot, video poker and virtual table game machines have been excluded from this promotion. We both decided to play video poker at the highest denomination available, $1 single line. My spouse opted to play double double bonus even though the pay table, 8/5, is horrendous (we looked it up later and found the payback was less than 97 percent). This game offers a lot of opportunities for big hits, including $2,000 for four aces and a kicker, meaning that if she got lucky, she could reach $4,000 without hitting a royal flush. The downside of this strategy is that if she didn't get many four-of-a-kinds she could go down quickly. Of course, with the loss guarantee, the downside risk was greatly reduced. I took a more conservative approach, playing the best game available, 8/5 bonus poker (slightly over 99 percent payback). I knew I'd need a royal flush to hit $2,000, but I planned to alter my strategy a bit to increase the chance of hitting a royal (but in the process decrease the statistical return of the game). I hoped that playing a game with a higher return and less variance would keep me alive longer, giving me more of a chance to hit the royal. Another factor is that I am more comfortable playing bonus poker than double double bonus, though I have played the latter in tournaments.
In retrospect, I think both decisions were defensible, but my wife's was better -- and not just because she wound up hitting four aces with a kicker (after hitting four aces without, which kept her going awhile). I wound up losing $1,000 in less than two hours. At that point she was up a couple of hundred. I went and got my first $500 in free play and ran it through the machine. We decided I'd take advantage of some opportunies at other casinos and come back in a couple of hours. A half hour, maybe 40 minutes later she called me and said she had hit the four aces with a kicker. She was down only about $200, so if she quit right then she'd lock in a $1,800 win. The alternative under our plan was to try to win more or lose a full $1,000, and there probably wasn't time for that. So she "settled" for a win that was $200 short of her goal.
The reason her strategy was probably better than mine is because she had more chances to win. She also had much more of a chance of losing, but the entire loss would be reimbursed. Of course, had she actually lost, she would have played the free play much more conservatively because at that point any losses would be hers, and real.
Now, a word about the title of that executive who said he wanted "the hardcore gambler." To the unititated, "director of player development" might sound like someone in charge of educating players, making them better. But this is the last thing the casinos want. The development in this title refers to the casinos' business, not the quality of its players (unless quality is defined as losing more).
As for Mr. Acres, I think he's got quite a challenge ahead of him. The Riviera, one of the oldest casinos on the Strip, is, by today's standards, a dump. Think the Tropicana before its recent makeover. Furthermore, it's in a really bad neighborhood, by Strip standards, stuck amid closed casinos, failed projects and that butt of jokes, Circus Circus.
The loss guarantee will bring tourists in and maybe some locals. But whether they'll come back is another issue. The Riviera has introduced some better-than-usual games, for the Strip, including single zero roulette. But the games mostly aren't as good as those available in locals' casinos. I'll be back to play my second $500 in free play, but after that Mr. Acres and his colleagues will have to come up with something else to hook me as a regular.
I wish them luck in trying to revive the Riviera, and I'm afraid they're going to need it.
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