Originally posted by: Boris Radtke
Kevin, I enjoyed reading your ultra-long response. I soak in everything you say because I know that there's quite some truth behind. You have knowledge and obviously know how to play the games. I'm still surprised how you cannot be comped there. But, if you're honest, 30k coin-in per trip is only a lot if you stay 1 or 2 nights. If you stay 5 nights and do that kind of play I wouldn't expect anything from them, either. My play is in the range between 15'000-20'000 usd coin-in per day, but not just 1 day. I give them quite some action, which results obviously in a fairly good comp situation for myself. Amazing how you could be ahead after giving them that much of action playing games with a RTP of perhaps 99.20 to 99.70 per cent. Mathematically this is not possible, even with the comp points. But you obviously have that extra luck other people don't have during their lifetime play.
I also like the 4 Queens to a certain degree. To me it's an ok place for a couple of nights. I wouldn't want to stay there for longer than that. At the Southpoint, to me, even 1 month is not enough. But each one his own, right? The progressives at the bars of the 4 Queens got my attention, yes. However, I've never hit a royal there, but I know that the games can become interesting at times while staying there. 4 deuces or aces/kicker are feasible. The noise and the weird combination of clients in the casino (including those undercover homeless, drunk idiots etc) are enough reason for me to avoid that place as a hotel destination.
First of all, my usual South Point visit has been three nights. But maybe I should refer to my daily action. I play an average of about 10K a day, with a mixture of .50 single line and .25 triple play. And I often exceed that average on the first day or the last.
Second, I never play any games worse than JOB (99.54%) or NSUD (99.73%). And I play a lot of DB (100.17%) at the 4Q. NSUD at SP used to be inherently breakeven, with 0.3% cashback. It was better during promos like the WalMart/Chevron gift cards, elevating the points' value to 0.6% and putting the games in positive territory. JOB was playable during those promo periods, with a total payback of 100.04%. In contrast, 4Q pays cashback and comps of 0.9125%, making their JOB and DB inherently positive even without promos--and they very often have promos that add an extra 1% return, or more. So I'm always in positive territory, which, as you note in roundabout fashion, has led to a lifetime positive result. It's not amazing at all that I'm ahead; in fact, it would be amazing if I wasn't, given the Law of Large Numbers and the fact that I shun any but the best games. Luck ain't got nuthin' to do with it.
As far as casino vibe is concerned, as you say, to each his own. I like the rooms at both places, though I don't like the walk walk walk to get to the South Point tower. As far as ambiance, well, South Point is infested with horrid cigar smokers, and a lot of them. There have been multiple days when I had to move four or five times just to get away from the stink bombs, which are far more potent and have a much greater blast radius than pigarettes. And yes, pigarette smoke can be a problem at 4Q as well. But I've never encountered such a concentration of cigar smokers as I have at South Point.
Parking at either place is super easy, and of course, free. One difference is that South Point isn't within walking distance of anything else, while the 4Q is downtown, with the obvious advantage of the opportunity for an LVA coupon run. However, that's counterbalanced by downtown being the site of the Fremont Street Annoyance, which makes it impossible to get a good night's sleep in roughly half of the hotel rooms downtown. The person who thought up the FSE and the various noise machines that accompany it--until four in the morning--should be boiled alive.
