Comments on: A Positive Look at the Future

By: Denny Lauritsen

Denny Lauritsen — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 22:01:23 +0000

Hi Jean! Don’t know if you remember me but I worked at Eastside Cannery for six years (that’s where we met)until 2010 when they showed the way to the door!
Well, I won’t bore everyone with my old days blabber.

Been reading your blog for a loooong time, you sparked my interest in this post about the “Future of Gambling”. I am re-building the same old website I’ve been running since 1998 {site name is on my registration here}#3 on Google for my anchor keyword. OK, enough sorry.Not Spam!

I am in the middle of writing a whole page on “The Future of Online Gambling”.Since I now live in the tiny mountain town of Central City, CO (12 Casinos) I’m observing many of the same issues you guys are talking about out there. The reduced mailer cash comps, freebie meals, lower tournament play etc. What can land-based casinos do, we already know we can’t do anything, hell we’d set every machine in the place at 10-7!:)We have to do as Fred said make the most of what we have.

When the bottom fell out of the Online Casino market in USA anyway, back in 2006 hundreds of casinos closed there “doors”. Today, what they are realizing is that what it takes is money. By that I mean Bonuses, I can’t believe the astronomical amounts they are giving people, I have one that is offering a match bonus to $50,000!Just to get people to commit and sign up! Many offering from $10 to $4,000, how can they do it? Well, with wagering requirements, play about 20X the bonus before you can withdraw the bonus.

Now why can’t/won’t land based casinos do something like this? Simple…GREED,Stockholders.

The Future for Online Gambling…..what do YOU think?

Denny

By: jack potts

jack potts — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 03:36:03 +0000

As always u have to have a bankroll and patience to win.As u people have noticed do not play at the strip. u might as well give your money at the door. Having said this i play at the Rampart (which Gaughn son now runs)Point,,and RED ROCK

By: Fred Oyang

Fred Oyang — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 17:31:48 +0000

Seeking out the best plays and values is somewhat of a game in itself. As a 50+ vp and bj player, I do my homework prior to the trip: checking various websites like LVA, Advantage Player, ACG, and individual casino sites as well for any promotions that will stretch my dollars. I can then cluster those deals by location and dates to reduce driving all over town. It may not be 100% EV in all cases, but it’s pretty close and I enjoy the fact that I’m having fun and making the most of my $.
That said, as Kevin alluded to, there are plenty of ploppies, even at the off-Strip casinos that I frequent: rarely do I ever see anyone check the vp paytables and at least a third of the bj players play that Royal Match sidebet (I’ve seen some bet more on that than their bj bet!).
To those who lament the good old days, well, times change. Make the most of what is still out there!

By: Kevin Lewis

Kevin Lewis — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 17:23:40 +0000

Of course it’s still possible to uncover decent plays–but increasingly, those plays are high-volatility, limited to a very few machines, and require a large bankroll and perfect play to realize any advantage (for instance, NSUD at Coasts during a 7X point day, which confers about an 0.4% edge).
The REAL downgrade has been in mailed offers. My play has been consistent for almost a decade and the offers I receive have gone steadily downhill. A notable exception to this has been the El Cortez.
As far as any outlook for the future goes, I think it’s obvious that positive VP is all but extinct and good VP (like 9/6 Jacks or NSUD) is rapidly dying out as well. Harrah’s/CE is leading the way in restricting player perks and comps. More and more players everywhere are being restricted or no-mailed for having the temerity to not lose.
What can we, as players, do about this? Probably nothing, since antagonizing us seems to bother the casinos not at all, but we can make the gesture–play ONLY at those casinos that offer the best deals (even if the bast deals are a pathetic shadow of what the best deals used to be). This would mean avoiding the big Strip megajoints, and in general, all Caesar’s Entertainment, MGM, and AcePlay properties, to name just a few. If we plunk our butts in the $249 rooms and happily play 8/5 Double Bonus poker, we’re telling them that they can freely rip us off. Maybe the tsunami of ignorant ploppies that hits town every Friday night overwhelms anything we value-conscious players could do or say. The ideal Vegas visitor, from the point of view of the casino, is someone who has left his brain in the glove compartment.