Comments on: Can You Still Do It? – Part 4

By: Rob Reid

Rob Reid — Tue, 26 Nov 2013 19:14:09 +0000

The six aspects of successful play that Jean mentions are the things that have made our play successful also. We started late enough that we missed some of the better pay schedules, but when we started we were still able to find low roller full pay Jacks and Bonus on the Strip, in Harrah’s properties no less. I remember many all night sessions at Caesars, first in the casino proper and finally in the corridor leading out to the parking garage. We played at Casino Royale leveraging the profitable monthly coupon books for some time after that.

When things dried up on the strip, we moved to downtown, and we still play there. We can consistently find advantage plays at both Four Queens and Main Street. And the Fremont has has done nothing but increase the number of full pay Pick’Em machines over the last few years. There are still a couple of other advantage opportunities left downtown besides the ones I’ve mentioned.

If things do dry up downtown, and I don’t see any evidence of that at this point, then we will move out to the locals casinos. The one great thing the Vegas has that most other gambling markets don’t have is abundant competition. That competition forces casinos to do something to attract gamblers, and now and then that something results in advantage play opportunities. Contrast that with the Kansas City market where state law actually limits the number of casinos that can operate. No wonder that the few that are here see no reason to continue to offer VP with good paytables.

By: djatc

djatc — Sat, 23 Nov 2013 19:51:51 +0000

I am making a decent living out in Las Vegas playing video poker….. it’s not all about finding the best paytables, but more of analyzing promotions. I don’t play high denoms neither (Quarters 90% of the time, sometimes 50c if I don’t feel like playing for a long time)

By: Kevin Lewis

Kevin Lewis — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 23:36:47 +0000

One thing that hasn’t been mentioned is the idiotic and irrational casino practice of punishing winners. It used to be that your total action was the determinant of the offers you got. Then, most casinos became more sophisticated and parsed the goodies you got against your theoretical losses; the effect was that if you ran forty billion $$$ through a +EV game, you still wouldn’t get squat. Now, however, even if you play a -EV game and you–evil, rotten transgressor that you are–WIN, God forfend, that’ll doom you as far as comps go. So the possible outcomes are: 1. Play good machines and win: possible barring 2. Play good machines and lose: studied ignorance from the casino 3. Play bad machines and win: studied ignorance 4. Play bad machines and lose: get approximate 10% of the comps you would have gotten ten years ago. My experience has been precisely that: if I played FPDW or FPDB, I got nothing, nothing, nothing; if I played mildly -EV games like JOB or NSUD, then I got little dribs and drabs UNTIL I WON. And by “won,” I mean had one winning trip even though I might have been down a thousand or more lifetime at that casino. The ax would then fall, and suddenly I was unworthy scum instead of “invited guest.” So once again, can you still “do it”? Sort of! You can NO LONGER COUNT ON perks and comps and cashback and free play to elevate a -EV game to positive. Sure, you can play the very, very dwindling few +EV games still out there; you can jump on the few promos that temporarily turn a bad game into a good one; you can sniff out the casinos that will still offer you decent comps for your play. But 90% or more of casinos have made it not merely difficult but impossible to win at video poker, no matter how you twist and turn. Here’s an example: various Coast casinos offer 7x points on certain days, sometimes for seniors, sometimes for everybody. Many of them offer .25 NSUD, so you can get a theoretical 100.43% return with perfect play. This $3 an hour opportunity was recently removed when Coasts destroyed the player accounts of over 150 people who only played on 7x point days!!! Can you still do it? Sure, as long as you keep losing; otherwise, only until they catch you!

By: William Clark

William Clark — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 15:18:46 +0000

It seems that this happens to both of us when we go to Vegas every year. Maybe following your suggestions will help the both of us.

By: waynegparker

waynegparker — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 00:17:19 +0000

Thanks for the article! That is awesome. I am looking for casino games arizona

By: Virginia Vega

Virginia Vega — Wed, 20 Nov 2013 13:09:12 +0000

so interesting….we all have our ups and downs….but you all are so successful…..much happiness and good health to you both!!

By: George Mikutowicz

George Mikutowicz — Wed, 20 Nov 2013 05:46:41 +0000

Jean,you definitely still have more than enough material for another book. Looking forward to Part 5.
George