Reaching for the Stars – Chapter 5
Many years ago when I first became interested in gambling, I read every book that came down the pike. I went to the Bob Dancer Video Poker classes; I followed Jean Scott’s columns and read her books. And I practiced, practiced, practiced on my WinPoker software at home. When I did play in Las Vegas (Laughlin, at the time was for old people on walkers), I played only at the local joints, the Reserve (now Fiesta Henderson), Sam’s Town, the Station and Boyd properties, and the only place that had decent video poker schedules on the Strip at the time, the Stardust. Occasionally, I would dare to play dimes. Quarter play was only for the rich or “those crazy dare devils.” At the time, full pay schedules were the norm. I would stick with Jacks or Better and occasionally venture into the bonus games, but staying clear of Double Bonus as the strategy was so hard and it seemed against every grain in my body to hold just three cards for no other reason than they were the same suit. It didn’t take long before I started practicing the Deuces Wild games and eventually hit my first Royal and my first Quad Deuces at the Stratosphere back in the day when they had +100% games (anyone remember having to make the choice between playing 9/7 and 10/6 Jacks or Better?).
Those days are now long gone, of course. Casinos finally were on to us. Educated video poker players, though not as sinister as the dreaded blackjack card counter, were scorned upon by the bean counters that could see that instead of making from 5 to 18 percent on their slot machines, they were now only making 1 to 2 percent on video poker. Something had to be done! The first major change began when earning a reward point would now have to be double what a slot player could earn (some places began posting small signs on the full pay machines saying that 10X the amount is needed per point; and even the Colorado Belle has a bank of full pay machines that require 50X the play required). Finally, the Stratosphere, once the place where players could find an abundance of 100%+ games, has glued little signs on their video poker games that read: Due to the excellent expected return, this machine does not award slot club points. Wow!
I used to get angry at the “suits” every time they lowered a pay schedule or moved a favorite machine, and when they systemically began removing the nickel and dime machines. Just try finding any true nickel slot machine in the Las Vegas area (there are a couple banks at the Gold Strike in Jean, NV). My local haunt, Harrahs, Rincon, for the a long time offered a bank of machines that had full pay Jacks, Bonus, and NSU Deuces in denominations ranging from quarters to $5. These remained for a good long time (to my knowledge the only full pay machines in all of Caesarsdom). It was no big surprise to see that things began to change. First gone was the 9/6 Jacks or Better, then the NSU Deuces were gone, and in the past couple of weeks, they have been removing all the older machines with new Game Kings that have even taken away the full pay Bonus Poker. I was there yesterday and the bank of machines I reported in Chapter 4 that survived have all been removed and replaced with these new Game Kings. Hanging in there are the full pay Bonus schedules at the bars and a few scattered stand-ups on the main floor, and my beloved Dream Machines. I expect to see them go any day now as you’re about to read.
I spent yesterday (Wednesday) at Rincon taking advantage of the many promotions that included 9X points on slots and 5X points on video poker along with some free play and extra reward credits. At Rincon (and all Caesars properties are slightly different), when you insert your card and if you have a benefit, the screen flashes “You’ve earned it.” This morning, mine said I had earned 3500 reward credits and asked if I wanted to accept it (who would say no?). I played quarter 5-play—I’m here to knock off one of the three remaining 2500 tier point days I need to get to the next 7 Star level—and things were moving along. After only the about the 20th dealt hand, I was dealt 4-to-the-Royal in clubs. I held them needing an Ace of Clubs to come up and on the third game, it did.
I had written in Chapter 4 that in order for me to get my needed 2500 tier points ($25,000 in VP play) I would need a royal for a chance to at least break even. It was such a relief to get one so early, which took much of the pressure off. As it turned out, I was glad because soon after that, I went into a relentless funk of bad dealt cards.
As I played, an older lady who came up to the machine with the aid of a walker sat down at the last remaining Dream Machine next to me. She inserted a voucher ticket and began playing 5-play at 50-cent level and playing the full Dream Machine bonus, which meant she was playing $25 per hand. I honestly do try to concentrate on my own machine. I have my Iphone’s Ipod on playing my music with earplugs to help me block out other casino noises and distractions. However, I can’t help myself but peer over when someone is playing the dream machine with the bonus. I’m as much as a fan as I am a player. I can’t afford to play the bonus as that’s just too much for me, but I do like to see others go for it. She hit a quad here and there and kept pretty much even. When I looked over a little later, she had changed over to $1 triple play ($30 per hand) playing Double Double Bonus. Three fours and a deuce came up and the bonus dream card activated giving her another four. She held the quad fours and was going to hit the deal button. I panicked, ripped off my earplugs and tried to stop her before she hit the button, but I was too late. Sure enough, all quad fours remained for $400 each for a total of $1200 (she had not gotten any kickers). The machine froze up for a hand pay, but I frightened her a bit so I had to tell her why. I told her I was sorry but I tried to stop her as she threw away the deuce. If she had held onto it, each hand would have paid her $800. She had made a $1200 mistake. After she was paid by the attendant, I apologized to her saying that had I not said anything, she would not have known and would be thrilled with the big win; however, she said she was thankful that I tried and grateful because she knew better and this would be a good lesson for her in the future. In only about three hands later, she hit quad Aces (no kicker) on two lines and was hand paid another $1600.
It occurred to me that on the machine I was playing, I was hand paid $4000 a couple of weeks ago when I hit two 50-cent Royals and last week, I was hand paid $6000 when I was dealt a royal on 50-cent triple play. The bean counters are going to catch on to these two machines. I’m going to continue to play them as long as I can get away with it because I’m sure they’re not going to be around much longer. This will force me to play single line bonus at a much higher level in order to maintain my time line—and who knows how long those machines will last? All of this will play a major factor in my decision to renew 7-Stars next year.
By 11:30 AM, I had put in all of the $1000 I had won with the royal and was now back to my first $100 I brought from home. Fortunately, things began to turn around and when I finally reached the 2500 tier points, I was up $150 for the day. I invited my son and his family to come meet me for dinner and I had two hours to kill before they arrived. So, I sat down at a Da Vinci penny machine (the newer version) and began playing at the lowest amount (40-cents). I was soon up and went to 80-cents a spin. I kept winning, and jumped to $2.00 a spin. I hit some bonuses and went to its highest betting amount of $3.20 per spin (odd amount). When I got the call from my son that they had arrived, I had added another 300 tier points and profited another $150. It was another good day at the games.
A final note about the day’s events: I wrote about getting the 3500 reward credits. About two hours later, my screen flashed again. This time it said I had $55 in free play. I used that. About another hour later, it flashed a final time, this time telling me I had a choice between accepting $100 in free play or 15700 reward points (odd number), which translates to $157 in comps. Making my decision (I had the same decision last Wednesday as well) which one to choose came down to this: I would normally take the free play IF I was down for the day and needed an extra jolt, keeping in mind that free play does not give you tier credits. Seven Star card holders are allowed to cash in reward credits at a rate of 125 credits per dollar, which means if I took the reward credits and simply cashed them in later, I would receive $125 in cash. I’m sorry, but that’s a no-brainer. I took the reward credits. When I go to Las Vegas next month, I’m going to see the Veronica show at Ballys and Jersey Boys at Paris, which I can use my reward credits keeping in mind that as a 7-Star card holder not only will I get priority seating but I will get a 25% discount on the cost of the tickets. This is what I call a Win-Win.
When my son and his family arrived there were four adults (my grandson celebrating his 12th birthday is now considered an adult at the buffet—outrageous—and three children. The bill for this night’s seafood buffet is $150.95. However, I received two adults for free (my 7-Star daily bonus) and I used my weekly $60 food comp. So, I had to use $24 of my reward comps for all seven of us. Crazy! The hostess told me that she was sorry but the VIP area was too full for a party of seven, and would I mind if we sat in the “regular” section or would I prefer to wait. Honestly, are there people out there who would wait for fear of eating their dinner with the “regulars”? If I ever become that that snobbish, just take my card away.
I have over $16K in royals this year (and the year isn’t over). This certainly is my best year ever exponentially. What’s my biggest concern? The Taxman. I’m single with few deductions. Yes, I’ve had some losses, but I’ve no doubt that this is going to be a profit year for me on the gambling scene. It boils me but I’m going to take $5K out of my toolbox and bank it for the dreaded April 15 donation. I am one who doesn’t get cute when it comes to tax disclosures. If I owe it, I pay it. Fortunately, 98% of all my play this year has been with Caesars, and they do allow you to print out your yearly balance sheet from their website. I’ll be sure to comb through it for any mistakes, but by in large, it’s been accurate. I know my Canadian readers are just smiling.
I wrote earlier about being a nickel and dime player in the beginning. This went on for years. I was teaching full time, playing in a band at night, and using any free time I had to study and practice Win Poker on my computer (any wonder I’m a divorced man?). I do remember moving up to quarters around the time that the Stratosphere was offering the 100%+ games. But quarter play only gives you so much. My offers were pretty much limited to a couple of free nights at the local casinos Sunday through Thursdays only, and the occasional $10 in food comps. It has remained that way until the fateful day that LVA member Mare invited me into the Diamond Lounge at Caesars Palace (see Chapter 1).
This whole 7-Star business came on as a fluke generated by Caesars policy change offering tier point bonuses. I haven’t looked back since. I’m very cognizant that all of this story could be turned around in a heartbeat. Everything had to fall right into place. I first was only going to shoot for the next two levels of Diamond and the offers that came with that, then the whole lure of 7-Stars and the chance to be able to have a new topic to write about was born. However, it took me having to catch some luck along the way. Let’s face it; I’m a retired school teacher. I don’t have much of a savings account, I budget my month-to-month living expenses with a keen eye, and the car I just bought is the first major purchase in seven years. All of these perks are just a little overwhelming for me—and this goes on for another 16 months, unless I choose to renew, which we all will figure out as the next year progresses.
Playing video poker at $7.50 per hand and playing for over 3000 hands per day is NOT in my comfort zone, yet here I am doing just that. It’s required me to play anywhere from 5 to 8 hours a day (depending on breaks and brain exhaustion) each time I’ve gone for the 2500 tier points. If I decide to renew next year (and assuming Caesars doesn’t change their policy again), this will require me to do this for 20 days. Like this year, I’ll need to have a good share of Royals. I’m certain that my full pay machines will most likely be gone, which means an even slimmer line of errors and losing streaks. Fortunately, I have a healthy toolbox to keep me afloat for a while. If you continue to read these chapters as the next year unfolds, you’ll be on the journey right along with me. With a little continued luck and good health, we can all see how a regular schmoe with a very limited budget can be a VIP with the largest casino company in the world.
Many years ago when I first became interested in gambling, I read every book that came down the pike. I went to the Bob Dancer Video Poker classes; I followed Jean Scott’s columns and read her books. And I practiced, practiced, practiced on my WinPoker software at home. When I did play in Las Vegas (Laughlin, at the time was for old people on walkers), I played only at the local joints, the Reserve (now Fiesta Henderson), Sam’s Town, the Station and Boyd properties, and the only place that had decent video poker schedules on the Strip at the time, the Stardust. Occasionally, I would dare to play dimes. Quarter play was only for the rich or “those crazy dare devils.” At the time, full pay schedules were the norm. I would stick with Jacks or Better and occasionally venture into the bonus games, but staying clear of Double Bonus as the strategy was so hard and it seemed against every grain in my body to hold just three cards for no other reason than they were the same suit. It didn’t take long before I started practicing the Deuces Wild games and eventually hit my first Royal and my first Quad Deuces at the Stratosphere back in the day when they had +100% games (anyone remember having to make the choice between playing 9/7 and 10/6 Jacks or Better?).
Those days are now long gone, of course. Casinos finally were on to us. Educated video poker players, though not as sinister as the dreaded blackjack card counter, were scorned upon by the bean counters that could see that instead of making from 5 to 18 percent on their slot machines, they were now only making 1 to 2 percent on video poker. Something had to be done! The first major change began when earning a reward point would now have to be double what a slot player could earn (some places began posting small signs on the full pay machines saying that 10X the amount is needed per point; and even the Colorado Belle has a bank of full pay machines that require 50X the play required). Finally, the Stratosphere, once the place where players could find an abundance of 100%+ games, has glued little signs on their video poker games that read: Due to the excellent expected return, this machine does not award slot club points. Wow!
I used to get angry at the “suits” every time they lowered a pay schedule or moved a favorite machine, and when they systemically began removing the nickel and dime machines. Just try finding any true nickel slot machine in the Las Vegas area (there are a couple banks at the Gold Strike in Jean, NV). My local haunt, Harrahs, Rincon, for the a long time offered a bank of machines that had full pay Jacks, Bonus, and NSU Deuces in denominations ranging from quarters to $5. These remained for a good long time (to my knowledge the only full pay machines in all of Caesarsdom). It was no big surprise to see that things began to change. First gone was the 9/6 Jacks or Better, then the NSU Deuces were gone, and in the past couple of weeks, they have been removing all the older machines with new Game Kings that have even taken away the full pay Bonus Poker. I was there yesterday and the bank of machines I reported in Chapter 4 that survived have all been removed and replaced with these new Game Kings. Hanging in there are the full pay Bonus schedules at the bars and a few scattered stand-ups on the main floor, and my beloved Dream Machines. I expect to see them go any day now as you’re about to read.
I spent yesterday (Wednesday) at Rincon taking advantage of the many promotions that included 9X points on slots and 5X points on video poker along with some free play and extra reward credits. At Rincon (and all Caesars properties are slightly different), when you insert your card and if you have a benefit, the screen flashes “You’ve earned it.” This morning, mine said I had earned 3500 reward credits and asked if I wanted to accept it (who would say no?). I played quarter 5-play—I’m here to knock off one of the three remaining 2500 tier point days I need to get to the next 7 Star level—and things were moving along. After only the about the 20th dealt hand, I was dealt 4-to-the-Royal in clubs. I held them needing an Ace of Clubs to come up and on the third game, it did.
I had written in Chapter 4 that in order for me to get my needed 2500 tier points ($25,000 in VP play) I would need a royal for a chance to at least break even. It was such a relief to get one so early, which took much of the pressure off. As it turned out, I was glad because soon after that, I went into a relentless funk of bad dealt cards.
As I played, an older lady who came up to the machine with the aid of a walker sat down at the last remaining Dream Machine next to me. She inserted a voucher ticket and began playing 5-play at 50-cent level and playing the full Dream Machine bonus, which meant she was playing $25 per hand. I honestly do try to concentrate on my own machine. I have my Iphone’s Ipod on playing my music with earplugs to help me block out other casino noises and distractions. However, I can’t help myself but peer over when someone is playing the dream machine with the bonus. I’m as much as a fan as I am a player. I can’t afford to play the bonus as that’s just too much for me, but I do like to see others go for it. She hit a quad here and there and kept pretty much even. When I looked over a little later, she had changed over to $1 triple play ($30 per hand) playing Double Double Bonus. Three fours and a deuce came up and the bonus dream card activated giving her another four. She held the quad fours and was going to hit the deal button. I panicked, ripped off my earplugs and tried to stop her before she hit the button, but I was too late. Sure enough, all quad fours remained for $400 each for a total of $1200 (she had not gotten any kickers). The machine froze up for a hand pay, but I frightened her a bit so I had to tell her why. I told her I was sorry but I tried to stop her as she threw away the deuce. If she had held onto it, each hand would have paid her $800. She had made a $1200 mistake. After she was paid by the attendant, I apologized to her saying that had I not said anything, she would not have known and would be thrilled with the big win; however, she said she was thankful that I tried and grateful because she knew better and this would be a good lesson for her in the future. In only about three hands later, she hit quad Aces (no kicker) on two lines and was hand paid another $1600.
It occurred to me that on the machine I was playing, I was hand paid $4000 a couple of weeks ago when I hit two 50-cent Royals and last week, I was hand paid $6000 when I was dealt a royal on 50-cent triple play. The bean counters are going to catch on to these two machines. I’m going to continue to play them as long as I can get away with it because I’m sure they’re not going to be around much longer. This will force me to play single line bonus at a much higher level in order to maintain my time line—and who knows how long those machines will last? All of this will play a major factor in my decision to renew 7-Stars next year.
By 11:30 AM, I had put in all of the $1000 I had won with the royal and was now back to my first $100 I brought from home. Fortunately, things began to turn around and when I finally reached the 2500 tier points, I was up $150 for the day. I invited my son and his family to come meet me for dinner and I had two hours to kill before they arrived. So, I sat down at a Da Vinci penny machine (the newer version) and began playing at the lowest amount (40-cents). I was soon up and went to 80-cents a spin. I kept winning, and jumped to $2.00 a spin. I hit some bonuses and went to its highest betting amount of $3.20 per spin (odd amount). When I got the call from my son that they had arrived, I had added another 300 tier points and profited another $150. It was another good day at the games.
A final note about the day’s events: I wrote about getting the 3500 reward credits. About two hours later, my screen flashed again. This time it said I had $55 in free play. I used that. About another hour later, it flashed a final time, this time telling me I had a choice between accepting $100 in free play or 15700 reward points (odd number), which translates to $157 in comps. Making my decision (I had the same decision last Wednesday as well) which one to choose came down to this: I would normally take the free play IF I was down for the day and needed an extra jolt, keeping in mind that free play does not give you tier credits. Seven Star card holders are allowed to cash in reward credits at a rate of 125 credits per dollar, which means if I took the reward credits and simply cashed them in later, I would receive $125 in cash. I’m sorry, but that’s a no-brainer. I took the reward credits. When I go to Las Vegas next month, I’m going to see the Veronica show at Ballys and Jersey Boys at Paris, which I can use my reward credits keeping in mind that as a 7-Star card holder not only will I get priority seating but I will get a 25% discount on the cost of the tickets. This is what I call a Win-Win.
When my son and his family arrived there were four adults (my grandson celebrating his 12th birthday is now considered an adult at the buffet—outrageous—and three children. The bill for this night’s seafood buffet is $150.95. However, I received two adults for free (my 7-Star daily bonus) and I used my weekly $60 food comp. So, I had to use $24 of my reward comps for all seven of us. Crazy! The hostess told me that she was sorry but the VIP area was too full for a party of seven, and would I mind if we sat in the “regular” section or would I prefer to wait. Honestly, are there people out there who would wait for fear of eating their dinner with the “regulars”? If I ever become that that snobbish, just take my card away.
I have over $16K in royals this year (and the year isn’t over). This certainly is my best year ever exponentially. What’s my biggest concern? The Taxman. I’m single with few deductions. Yes, I’ve had some losses, but I’ve no doubt that this is going to be a profit year for me on the gambling scene. It boils me but I’m going to take $5K out of my toolbox and bank it for the dreaded April 15 donation. I am one who doesn’t get cute when it comes to tax disclosures. If I owe it, I pay it. Fortunately, 98% of all my play this year has been with Caesars, and they do allow you to print out your yearly balance sheet from their website. I’ll be sure to comb through it for any mistakes, but by in large, it’s been accurate. I know my Canadian readers are just smiling.
I wrote earlier about being a nickel and dime player in the beginning. This went on for years. I was teaching full time, playing in a band at night, and using any free time I had to study and practice Win Poker on my computer (any wonder I’m a divorced man?). I do remember moving up to quarters around the time that the Stratosphere was offering the 100%+ games. But quarter play only gives you so much. My offers were pretty much limited to a couple of free nights at the local casinos Sunday through Thursdays only, and the occasional $10 in food comps. It has remained that way until the fateful day that LVA member Mare invited me into the Diamond Lounge at Caesars Palace (see Chapter 1).
This whole 7-Star business came on as a fluke generated by Caesars policy change offering tier point bonuses. I haven’t looked back since. I’m very cognizant that all of this story could be turned around in a heartbeat. Everything had to fall right into place. I first was only going to shoot for the next two levels of Diamond and the offers that came with that, then the whole lure of 7-Stars and the chance to be able to have a new topic to write about was born. However, it took me having to catch some luck along the way. Let’s face it; I’m a retired school teacher. I don’t have much of a savings account, I budget my month-to-month living expenses with a keen eye, and the car I just bought is the first major purchase in seven years. All of these perks are just a little overwhelming for me—and this goes on for another 16 months, unless I choose to renew, which we all will figure out as the next year progresses.
Playing video poker at $7.50 per hand and playing for over 3000 hands per day is NOT in my comfort zone, yet here I am doing just that. It’s required me to play anywhere from 5 to 8 hours a day (depending on breaks and brain exhaustion) each time I’ve gone for the 2500 tier points. If I decide to renew next year (and assuming Caesars doesn’t change their policy again), this will require me to do this for 20 days. Like this year, I’ll need to have a good share of Royals. I’m certain that my full pay machines will most likely be gone, which means an even slimmer line of errors and losing streaks. Fortunately, I have a healthy toolbox to keep me afloat for a while. If you continue to read these chapters as the next year unfolds, you’ll be on the journey right along with me. With a little continued luck and good health, we can all see how a regular schmoe with a very limited budget can be a VIP with the largest casino company in the world.
