I was catching up on “Today’s News” on the LVA homepage and saw this September 24 item: “ECan Tops Market.  According to Majestic Research, which tracks "game usage" (i.e., number of bodies on the games) at Vegas casinos, Eastside Cannery is #1 in the locals market during the third quarter of 2008.” 

I was wondering when they took their survey. If it was on September 15, that was the first day of a 10-times-points promotion and I saw more skilled VP players than I had seen in one place since Tuscany had their 4-to-a-royal promotion several years ago. Some had driven in from Nevada border states and even flown in from points more distant. However, it is not just those players who live and die by their math calculations who are attracted to good promotions. There are hundreds of Vegas locals who may not be able to figure the math of a promotion but when they see 10x points, they will guess that it is good and make an effort to take advantage of it. 

So, if the newly opened East Cannery was wanting to plump up their database, this 10x promotion was a good idea that worked. However, it may have been more successful for the players than for the casino. What was to be a continuing promotion on Mondays and Wednesdays the rest of September was abruptly cancelled after that first Monday. So if the 3rd quarter survey was taken a couple of days later, the results would have been much different – you would have seen a much less crowded casino floor. 

A personal note here: Although this was a super promotion, with a strong EV (theoretical return), Brad and I lost about $4000 that day, even counting the $4000 we earned in bonus slot points. High EV does not guarantee short-term wins. However, after gambling with a good advantage percentage for 23 years, we have proved without a shadow of a doubt that it is the key to long-term profits.    

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