April 21st to 28 Trip Report

Day 7 monday, we slept late !    Breakfast was at the cafe, were we split the eggs hashbrowns bacon and toast combo.  After breakfast we checked out of our room, and then went back in to play until we head to our 5 oclock flight.   It is still 10 time  multiplier  , so we hit the high limit bar for one mimosa and some play and discuss what we wanted to do on our next trip.  Nothing was hitting so we just played on the floor for awhile and made some sports book bets to bring back next time.

       Then it was back to the cafe for lunch and the cheeseburger special.  The drive back to turn in the rental was easy and quick, and no lines at the airport.    We had a good trip overall after a bad start, but that was our fault for being stupid.   Our results were about average for a majority of our trips.   Good luck everyone

Thanks for the thorough Trip Report.   Always love to read how others spend their time and what places they eat at and find the best plays. 

Kevin and Candy we have been playing the 20 card keno, more lately. And yes you need to pay attention to the pay tables just like video poker.  But playing 20 card allows you to overlap, and see patterns, which allows for bigger pays.  Pay tables for a 4 spot range from 77, 85, 91, or 100 for a 1 coin bet.  Huge difference.  We don't always play all 20 cards if it is quarters.  Some bars maybe have a 2 dollar min quartes for keno, so 8 cards vs 50 cent or dollar single line vp for 2.50 or 5 dollar min bet.  The bar tenders all play some form of video keno.  If you decide to play learn the pay tables, and practice on some of the free sites   It has made a huge difference in our trips

I don't know if I've told you this before, but Emerald Island has the best paytables, plenty of multi-card, AND great promos for keno players that really boost your payback. Plus frequent point multipliers that add 1.5%. If I were to play video keno, I wouldn't play anywhere else!

Just want to remark on a couple of things: there ARE no "patterns" in how the numbers come up. Our brains are hard-wired to seek patterns--so much so that we see them even when they aren't there. In reality, the number 45 is no more "next to" the number 46 than it is next to the number 80. All the numbers have the same value and position is irrelevant, as far as the RNG is concerned.

Also, I play like you in that I "overlap" so much so that often, my 20 cards only hit seven or eight total numbers. Just be aware, though, that while doing so makes your big hits bigger, it also reduces your overall hit frequency. And there are times when it's an outright blunder--like when I'm at EI and playing for the 6 of 6 bonus. In that scenario, I want as little overlap/duplication as possible. The bonus, a wheel spin, is worth $15 on a penny bet (minimum total bet 20 cents)! Would you believe, it's actually a +EV play??

Kevin , you may feel like there are no patterns, but many of these machines do have tendences that vary from machine to machine.  As a player the sooner you can determine that the better.  Is the machine clustering ,  are there alot of boxes, are numbers repeating, are there very cold areas or numbers..  Two machines side by side will most likely have totally different programs, in my opinion.    And in my opinion the RNG is tied to the program on that machine.  As a video keno player you have to be willing to change your numbers or the area you like to play based on what is hitting on that machine.  Maybe over time all the numbers come up the same number of times, but what is that program doing now.  Why is that same 2 spot coming up, and can you pair it up with 3 or 4 other numbers or pattern that you may like.  Anyway I could be completely wrong, but learn the paytables and practice different strategies to find one that works for you on that machine.

  These machines are programmed to generate the symbols that appear based upon when the play button is pressed. Suggesting that these symbols are totally "random" is absurd. 

A woman got a $4 grand video keno payday yesterday afternoon at the Westgate's International Bar while I was playing VP there.  Hit 9 numbers on a 10 spot.   Not sure what game she was specifically playing, but she got a nice hand pay.  And then didn't tip the attendant.  Oh well. 

Brent, I have to reiterate, our brains are hard-wired to find patterns, so much so that a) we "find" them even when they don't exist b) we don't truly comprehend randomness. You ask, why is a number or group of numbers repeatedly coming up, and the answer is: THERE IS NO "WHY." There is no causation! The picking of one number does not in any way influence the picking of the next.

I know this answer seems deeply unsatisfactory. The illusion of non-randomness is due to the simple fact that in the short run, some numbers will come up more than others--they won't space out evenly. But if the number 79 comes up six hundred games in a row, the chance of it coming up in game #601 is...one in four.

If you like, think of it this way--if there WERE patterns, people would be making a living playing the game. Think of all the people huddled in their basements, desperately searching...

I should mention that a very few people have, with very sophisticated analysis, detected programming errors and exploited them...but they got detected and some didn't even get paid. But staring at the screen and trying to discern what numbers are "hot"--they'll let you do that all day.

The odds against that are over 163,000 to one, and based on a .25 wager, it paid...16,000 to one?? YECCH!

I worked live keno in Reno and Vegas many moons ago. My first job was at the Cal-Neva. We used ink and brushes to write the tickets. In all the time I worked, there and elsewhere, players hit a 9 out of 9 exactly once--on my very first day! The winner was a very pregnant young lady who, she told me, had never played the game before! Her win was $22,500, and she and her husband were talking excitedly about how the money would help them outfit their nursery. The money finally arrived. My task was to count it all out and spread it so the cameras could see it. That took a while.

Now, keno writer is kind of a shit job because you never get any tokes--because nobody ever wins. We averaged $3 a day. So all of us were practically drooling--will she toss us a couple of hundies? $500? $1000? It grew very quiet as I finished laying out those 225 big bills on the counter.

The young lady thanked us profusely. Her husband helped her put the money in her purse and his pockets. She turned to go, and looked back and flashed us a radiant smile. We smiled back.

Tip: $0.

I miss live Keno. I'm sure I would have tipped you well, Kevin.  Back in the day, husband and I played Keno in Bellagio Cafe every meal, managed several games a meal.  Also managed to hit a few 6 out of 8 spots for around $160 or so, big money to us!  Loved it.  Then one day they told the Keno girls no more after 'today.'  So sad.  We had all become great friends.  Tipped them well, and of course they loved to see us. 

When the B Cafe closed, Sadelles was a pathetic replacement.  Yet I was still seeing long lines.  Those people had no clue.  We never minded paying a little more for great food and great treatment.  Sadelles didn't meet those standards for us, nowhere close. Two meals, first one and then another to 'give them a chance.'  Nope.

Also played at Augustus Cafe at Ceasars, a super cafe.  It shut down Keno around the same time.  Then the  A Cafe shut down for a crappy place in its place.  Greedy sobs, to heck with what the customers enjoy.

Candy