Do the slot decision-makers at Venetian/Palazzo know how desperate and unknowlegeable they have looked all month? First they offer a juicy (for the players) promotion - 3x points on Wednesdays. Then I am guessing they are surprised that it brought in “too many” players. Don’t they know that even the most casual local players have learned to look for bonus point days? 

But did they sit down and discuss sensible action – perhaps changing the promotion to 2x instead of 3x - or just pulling the promotion? No – they ravaged all the $1 and $5 Jacks or Better video poker so that someone had to play at least $25 a hand. They must have been surprised that there were so many players who could continue to play at these higher stakes. So now they have done another series of paytable cuts – and there is nothing below $25 machines, which require $125 a hand and up.

I wonder if the powers-that-be have ever gambled themselves. Do they have any idea at all how gamblers think? I think not, because this series of wild cuts has been a public relations nightmare. In less than one month the Venetian and Palazzo have alienated thousands of good customers, all this during a time when most wise casinos are working hard to keep their numbers up.  I don’t know what caused these conjoined twin casinos to make such drastic VP cuts. On the first 3x promotion Wednesday, did the video poker players just get lucky with jackpots one day, even though 9/6 JoB is a less-than-100% game and a long-term loser for even the most skilled player.   If that was the case, stripping out all the lower-level good paytables was just the opposite of what wise casino decision-makers would have done. They would have downgraded the games at the higher limits,  for 2 reasons. First, just a few big royals could hit their bottom line much harder than even a bunch of low-level jackpots. Second, on the whole, the higher the level a video poker can afford to play the higher his skill level would be and he would lose less over time, therefore being less profitable than a group of lower-level recreational players which will include many who are not highly skilled.

I know casinos fear “advantage” video poker players – but this fear is largely unfounded. For one thing, many skilled players have limited bankrolls and that limits their impact on the casino’s bottom line. Also, they bring relatives and friends with them to the casino, players who are not skilled and more than make up for the “damage” of the one skilled person. 

More importantly, there is an extremely small percentage of extremely skilled players who can “beat the casino” in the long term.   Many desire to do this, but few have the extreme discipline it takes to succeed. They won’t stick to the best VP games, often choosing ones that are “more fun” and even straying to the slots at times. They aren’t flexible enough to seek out the best promotions or knowledgeable enough about the math to exploit them. They don’t practice and study enough to play accurate strategy even if they choose the “good” games.   In short, being an “advantage” video poker player is HARD WORK. And most people are in a casino to have fun not to work! 

We know a casino has to make a profit – we players understand and accept that. However, Sheldon, you need to bring in managers who know how gamblers think. You need managers who understand the math and don’t panic over short-term results. You need managers who know how to treat customers with respect and don’t mess with their minds with constant changes. 

We are sad, but we won’t get mad – we will just go away! 

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