Assume you’re trying to figure out which casino to frequent in Las Vegas. You’ve heard that I’ve played at the South Point and have done well there. Does it follow that the South Point is a good place for you to play?
Some factors to consider:
- What game(s) do I play there?
- Is that (are those) game(s) available there at stakes that are comfortable for you?
- Do you know that (those) game(s) well?
- Do I limit my play there to cases when certain promotions are going on? If so, is that promotion going to be in effect when you wish to play?
- I am a senior, and South Point has senior days. Do I play on senior days and are you a senior?
- For the right promotion, I can play many hours starting at any time of the day or night. Are you comfortable with playing any shift depending on promotions?
- Are you eligible to play there? South Point, like most or maybe all casinos, has restricted certain players from getting mailers, and others from even getting slot club points. Are you such a person?
- I play there as a local. Out-of-towners receive a different package of benefits than locals do. Are you a local?
- Do you like the South Point? Liking any particular casino is an individual preference. If you don’t like the South Point for any reason, it’s probably not a good choice for you.
- The casino has removed several of its loosest games recently. There are still plenty of good games — though not as many as there used to be. Is the game you want to play still there?
- If I lose several thousand dollars playing a promotion where I believe I have the advantage, it’s not really a big deal to me. Are you that sanguine about losses?
- The promotions at the South Point are much less generous than they were a few years ago. How does this affect the profitability of playing there?
- They used to have a better selection of persistence slots than they now. While this affects the casino’s desirability from my point of view, if you’re not a slot player, this is irrelevant to you.
- The casino recently slashed the cash back rate in half for video poker players — going from 0.30% to 0.15%. Does this change how much, if at all, I still play there?
I could extend this list, but you get the point. Even knowing I play there, there are things about my play that you do not know. I don’t publish exactly how much I play there, on which games, and why I’m playing certain promotions and avoiding others.
What prompted me to write this blog is that I recently read “You’re About to Make a Terrible Mistake,” by Olivier Sibony. This book uses behavioral economics concepts previously explored by authors such as Daniel Kahneman, Dan Ariely, Amos Tversky, Richard Thayler and others to examine mistakes made in business and how to avoid them.
One of the concepts that he spends a lot of time on is that it rarely makes sense to exactly copy what somebody else is doing. Circumstances are always a bit different when you’re trying to follow somebody else’s footprints. It’s usually better to do something similar, yet different.
While it was addressed in terms of Fortune 500 companies, I suggest it applies to video poker players as well — where each of us tries to manage our own gambling business. Those who take it beyond the strictly recreational level make decisions and actions aimed at trying to succeed.
So how should knowing thatI play at the South Point affect your decisions? Probably as a “check it out” type of deal. Even if you aren’t trying to copy me exactly, that fact that I find it a worthwhile place to play (or at least I did before they cut the slot club cash back rate) should indicate that there’s probably something worthwhile there.
As much as I’ve heard about South Point being a fun place to play with good, reasonably-priced dining, their reputation as not providing good upfront offers to out-of-town players coupled with a reputation of not comping winning players at the back end even if they’ve played a lot keeps me away, especially considering I already have great offers downtown (primarily 4 Queens/Binion’s and D/Golden Gate/Circa). Their halving point earning on video poker and taking away some of the better machines makes my decision not to play there that much easier.
Another aspect to “Does it follow?” would be “Does it follow if Mr. Dancer is getting benefits he didn’t mention and that are a significant contributor to his success at South Point?”
I for one would not ever mention if I was getting a juice break on a regular basis from certain sports books, which could reduce breakeven numbers from the classic 52.4% to something much less. My superior half routinely negotiated better than -110 back in the day, some places a lot better.
For example, Mr. Dancer could be getting a rebate on annual (or quarterly) losses, which he shouldn’t be expected to report. That kind of rebate would be the result of negotiating and the fact they want him there. He would be foolhardy to report it publicly. There’s no motive to do so.
Similarly, some sports books give annual, or even monthly, rebates on losses. Not that uncommon, but the average middle-class player isn’t going to get a sniff of them, and bigger players have no reason to explain that they get them. Yeah, I get a 5% monthly rebate at one offshore for example, and I have no motivation to say where or why.
So, in summary, someone aspiring to be Dancer isn’t seeing all of what he has available. Trying to be a mini-Dancer without all the info is a fool’s errand. You have to expect that there is certain info you simply do not, and will not ever, have.
I am wondering exactly which video poker games they have recently removed since I have been unable to determine that from other websites so far.
Marcus
If you haven’t tried VP FREE2, it’s a great resource/website.
Find the casino you’re thinking about depending on what part of the country you’re in. If you click on the COMMENTS section for each casino, players will tell you what they’ve found to have been removed and/or added.
This site will also give current VP games/pay tables for each.
Bob,
An email inquiry with Southpoint informs me that the only Senior Day offer they have is for movies. I’m not sure that’s enough of an offer to get anyone to play there. It certainly doesn’t override what the machines themselves and/or the casino has to offer.
VV14
try this link….a little more than just the movies
https://southpointcasino.com/casino/slots/50-prime-time-mondays
SP is losing it. I don’t know what prompted this. Point reduction. Offer reduction. Promo reduction. There was ONE decent Good Times Pay game there, and that was surgically downgraded. The free play no longer gives points. Either they have been losing money for a while or some new grinch is in power. I am not going anymore. I played 300k last year there.