Who else could care less about video poker?

I put in $5.00 and hit the Jackpot. I don't play it anymore, as I am now way out front of this game.

Jackpot? Do you mean Royal flush? What did you hit?

I believe - rightly or wrongly - that video poker pay tables are a reasonable indicator of how tight or loose the slots are.

I agree with Mikey7777 as we also stay and play at Caesars because of their generous comps. We go to Vegas 3-4 times a year and still enjoy it. We've slowly moved up to the nicer casinos from our first trips and for us, it's worth playing video poker with a lesser pay table to be able to stay at the nicer places. If I lived in Vegas, we too would try and frequent the casinos with better pay tables, but since we don't, we're very happy getting comped rooms and food on the strip for our playing a little less desirable pay schedule. There's still nothing like the strip for us. As far as playing video poker for hours, we both don't seem to get tired of it and will play as long as our daily budget holds. The nice thing about the strip is when you do run out of money, there's plenty of other things to do.

I think that's definitely true.

Mikey & Candy - You guys/girls seem to think Caesars is GIVING you comps. If you think their comps are generous, you are probably playing enough to be comped a suite elsewhere in town. The idea in playing video poker is that there is some skill involved, and it's not just luck (I play slots too, so I'm not above some expensive fun of my own.). We've graduated from the strip, since (contrary to your views) there's nothing to do there except watch the fountains or see the conservatory at Bellagio. Shopping is out of the question, since you could go anywhere else in the world and buy the stuff much cheaper. The shops are only there to cater to wives and girlfriends while the spouses are losing even more money at the tables. There are lots of nice properties that aren't on the strip, and most of them have much better returns than any strip casino.

At least you recognize that you are getting less than optimum returns. I am more amazed that banks of machines returning 100%+ sit empty, while the facing bank with the same games paying much less is often full of people. These are the people who need to get a clue.

With a car, there's no reason to play tight machines. Red Rock, GVR, even Rampart or Alliante all have nice rooms, plenty of good VP and several other things to do available.

Roy

Roy,

I think that this is because most people either pay no attention or don't care (when they really should) or don't want to be "bothered" with learning what's there.

I'm sure that most people are just "playing to play" (instead of playing to win) even though if they knew how to play (at least Video Poker) in the best possible manner, they would then be much more likely to be able to play for a longer time before their money might run out.

I do what I can to encourage people to play smartly and I even give them a copy of a good playing strategy chart and tell them to just consult the chart when they want to make the most correct move.

RecVPPlayer

There are many people playing video poker in Vegas who probably figure all VP is the same. They dont know that pay tables vary and dont know that the game is random. They dont know that there are different vp games. They just play whatever game is already on the screen when they put in their money.

Not everybody is informed like the people on these boards. It's not just video poker, it's everything. I've seen people playing progressive slots betting one coin at a time. I've seen blackjack players stand on soft 16 or 17 against a dealer 10. I've seen crap players take no free odds on their pass line bet but play all the hardways. These are the same people who say " there's no way anyone can ever win in Vegas".

In the long run they are probably right. But anything can happen in the short run. I've had plenty of winning trips. If I never won, I wouldnt gamble.

Although I understand the philosophy and math of playing machines with better paytables, I usually get more paying hands when I play the shorter pay machines, high pairs, 3 of a kind, etc. Perhaps if I played one machine for 40,000 hands the math would work, however, I've never had any luck playing the optimal pay machines. I've lost more quickly playing VP at 4 Queens than at Bally's. YMMV, however, this might be one reason why optimal pay and 100%+ machines sit empty.

Lisa, I debated whether to answer your response or not. I'm sure you might actually believe you get more paying hands on short pay machines than you do on better pay schedules, and that might be the case in the short run. I don't think you actually understand either the philosophy or the math if you actually believe that. It only takes one flush or full house on a 10-7DB machine, and you are ahead of any shorter pay schedule. Nowhere near 40,000 hands are needed. Do you think there's a little Leprechaun inside the short pay machines that increases your paying hands? If you're just gambling to give money to tha casinos, I don't see the fun in that. There's a reason the casinos put in short play schedules, and it's not because more paying hands come up. I wish you the best, and I'm sure you'll keep getting plenty of comps as long as you keep playing them.

Roy