Flamingo - 6/11 - 6/14/16

This trip included my husband, son (24) and his girlfriend (26). After all the horror stories about TSA lines we arrived at Chicago Midway 3 hours before our 12:45pm flight. My husband and I had TSA precheck and were through the line in less than five minutes. My son and his girlfriend were through a few minutes later. I have a medical device that cannot go through the scanner or x-ray, so usually had to get a hand patdown - so for me the $85 for TSA recheck was well worth it.

Sat. Used Uber to get to the Flamingo - a little walk to get to the rideshare area but well worth it for the savings.
Checked in (always takes so much time which I don't understand as they have all your information from when you made the reservation) and headed to get something to eat. Had planned on using the LVA coupon for Bonano's but it was $35 for a pizza. So grabbed a quick hotdog at Casino Royale and $1 beer, then headed to Venetian to see Human Nature. They have really changed the show but were fantastic as ever! A little gambling and then called it a night.

Sunday - Had breakfast at PHW buffet, using the $10 off coupon. It was just ok, but should have gone to Cheeseburger's in the Miracle Mile. Walked down to M-Bay to see the shark reef. Glad we didn't pay (MY Vegas) as it was small and took about 30 minutes to go through. Dinner was at Planet Dailies. My husband and I had the prime rib special (it was really only a slice of roast beef that was over cooked) For $12.99 not really worth it. The kids went to see Beatles Love and said it was the highlight of the trip. We saw Ka and it too was entertaining. Went over to Tropicana to see the changes - slots were generous there! Got hooked on the Lightning Link games. Stopped at Flour and Barley at the Linq promenade for a late night pizza snack.

Monday - Took Lyft to Main St. Station for the breakfast buffet. We each had the LVA coupon book so breakfast was less than $20. We cashed in all the $10 free slot play. The kids made around $100 from then and us about $50. Played BJ at 4 Queens for about an hour. Dealer was very patient - we each lost about $10 but had a great time. Headed back to the strip for some afternoon pool/rest time. Used the LVA coupon for Cravings at Mirage - got our money's worth there as it includes wine and beer! Spent the remainder of the evening playing some of my favorite games (quick hit platinum, which did not pay off) and Goldfish 2 at Margaritaville - which did pay off and put me ahead for the trip.

Tues. - Early flight home - no waiting at the TSA! All in all a nice trip.

Thanks for the trip report

Nice report. TSA Pre-Check is the best thing going.
I had read about the problems in the Chicago airport. Later read they were corrected.

Friend and I were hooked on Platinum Quick Hits for a while, but we think now they have been tightened.

My theory: New games pay well; after a while they get tightened.

Congratulations on coming out ahead. Goldfish 2...I'll have to try it (before they tighten it!).

First, I want to thank jmduke57 for the report. This sounds like it was a very nice family trip and good going on using all of the FP and whatnot LVA coupons!

As for Candy's theory, casinos are given the option by the machine manufacturers of one or more sets of return rates for Slot Machines. There is a small section on this each year in the American Casino Guide book with things updated year to year. He gets his hands on the information that the manufacturers supply the casinos with on what range of returns each machine offers and then from there the casino can decide on what pay schedules they wish to carry!

Uh, so is that a "you may be right" or a "you are full of it"?? LOL

What I'm saying is, you may be right. Since the manufacturers offer casinos a whole range of return rates for a specific game, it could very well be that the casino may have the choice of several different return chips for the same game and so they could change the rate of return on a game at any time (after at least what I think is getting the okay from the State Gaming authorities in at least Nevada).

RecVP, exactly what is a "return chip"?
Is one installed initially when the machine is placed on the floor, set to "change" at some pre-determined time?
Or one that is 'changed' (after approval by the authority) at some point when so directed by casino managers (after paying out too much)?

One example that comes to mind is the Walking Dead machines. Those were so hot, I saw people stand in line to play them in Vegas and in Biloxi. My friend would score very nicely, very often. Then...cold. I don't see people playing them for very long anymore.

Sex And The City...hot at first, now cold. Cost too much to play for little return.

Decades ago, Wild Cherry and Double Wild Cherry were good for some winnings. Now...not so much.

For me, DDB used to be my cash cow. Could count on Royals and Aces/Kicker every trip.
Now, not so much.

Of course, there is that luck (or lack of it) factor, I realize.

Well I don't have the 2016 American Casino Guide yet, so I can't answer for machines this year. Do check out in the Slot Machine section of the book and you will see different rates of return that the manufacturers offer to the casinos.

For example, in the 2015 book, on Pages 30 and 31, Steve Bourie provides a listing of the entire range of percentages that can be programmed into each different kind of machine through the placement of a computer chip. As for "The Walking Dead" machines, the entire range of percentages that can be programmed into each machine (this would be done by inserting a specific chip that offered that specific percentage return) may still today range from as low as 88.50% to as high as 93.50%. And so a casino could order more than one chip or set of chips that could have more than one of those returns or any other return that the manufacturer of "The Walking Dead" machine may offer that is between 88.50% and 93.50%.

And as for the other machine that you mentioned, the range of percentages that can be programmed into that Multi-play machine may still range from as low as 89.90% to as high as 94.90%.

But in order to change the chip (at least in Nevada), the casino first has to get the okay from the state regulators.

And so a casino could for example decide to switch out a chip with a higher returning rate program to a lower returning rate as long as they have the okay from the regulators first.

Although I should say that with a slot machine, it's a lot harder to know if something has been changed since you can't necessarily tell what it returns and pays.

As for DDB VP, although the pay schedule can also be changed (by removing and switching out the chip), a knowledgeable player can tell that the pay schedule has been changed by the combination of knowing exactly what every single solitary line of the pay schedule should say (should be paying) and then that should be compared with what the pay schedule for what the game's pay schedule says right now (do not always think that just because the name says DDB [or JOB or whatever], that the pay schedule might be anything decent). Pay schedules should always be checked very carefully to make sure that nothing on the pay schedule has been made worse (lowered).

Information on pay schedules and the game's variance (volatility rate) can be found through the Wizard Of Odds website.

But as I said earlier, Double Double Bonus is a very volatile game (even more volatile than Double Bonus Poker) with higher cycles for the Royal Flush and getting Aces with a Kicker (since it is only one type of 4-Of-A-Kind).

But since you say that you were getting Royal Flushes and Aces With A Kicker every trip, be aware that that is way beyond the average that they should (on average) be happening. That may certainly have to do with a combination of good skill and luck (the more skillful that a player is, the more likely the player is to end up being around for "Luck" to happen), although a better pay schedule could also end up helping that kind of result happen.

But do be aware that the longer that a player plays, the more likely that the player is to get to end up at the stated long-term return of the game. Again, check the pay schedules carefully. As far as I understand, the best DDB returns just a bit over 100% (with a 10/6 plus other things in the pay schedule).

I hope that this helps you!

Very helpful! Thanks, RecVP.