7/4/2003
This is my third and last column in this series on the fascinating 4-line video poker game, Multi Strike Poker.
I think almost everyone will enjoy the unique sound effects of this game. You soon learn to “read” your results with your ears, as the sounds build up the excitement by moving up a key when you progress to a higher level.
A danger for recreational and serious players alike: You need to really concentrate and keep track of where you are. A couple of times (in the later hours of the much-too-long session I described in Part One), I threw away a hand without holding anything because I didn’t realize where I was in the game. Especially if you’re switching strategies on each line (as I said in Part I, you need to do this if you want to get the best possible return), take care to be sure what line you’re playing. The game clearly labels the next line when you’ve earned a Free Ride, but it’s easy to forget when you should go back to basic strategy.
The biggest danger for players may be the tendency to play this fun game without checking the paytables. There are many available for casinos to choose from when they put in these machines, and many of those have very low returns. If you play your usual denomination, remember you’re betting four times the money as on a single-line game. So if you play these low-return pay schedules, you especially need to carefully limit your session loss to what your entertainment budget allows. Don’t go on tilt and chase your losses just because the game is so much fun and there are several possibilities for catch-up jackpots. You may go broke before these miracle hands show up!
Players who want higher returns will look for the better tables. As a rule of thumb, a pay schedule in a normal VP game will return about .2% more if you find it in Multi Strike and adjust your strategy as you move from line to line.
As I so frequently write, the more you study, the “luckier” you’ll be. Here are some resources if you want to have more luck in your play of Multi Strike Poker.
No currently available software offers Multi Strike Poker yet. But to practice playing this game, you can go to www.ledgaming.com. Larry DeMar, president of Leading Edge Design who designed this game, wrote to me: “It’s a practice version of Multi-Strike poker, which is nearly identical to the experience on the casino game. It’s provided to allow players to become comfortable on the game and to experience its volatility before putting their money at risk on the real game.” This is not a tutor, so it won’t warn you when you make strategy errors, like Frugal Video Poker and other software, but it will give you a good idea how the game works.
For a good introductory article on Multi Strike Poker by Bob Dancer that includes a simplified JoB strategy, go to www.igtproducts.com/IGTproducts/GameReview/MultiStikePoker/MultiStrikePoker.htm. Included is a valuable chart (which I printed out and carry with me when I go to casinos), showing all the pay schedules that return more than 98% if you use optimal strategy. You can also get helpful information by reading his June 10th and 17th articles at http://casinogaming.com/columnists/dancer/.
You can always trust the math information put out by Michael Shackleford. Go to his Web site www.wizardofodds.com/games/multistrike/index.html for a discussion of this game and a strategy for the best Multi Strike Deuces game paytable.
www.gamemasteronline.com/indexa.shtml?VideoPokerContent.shtml has very detailed information on the game.
Oh, by the way — people have asked us how we came out during that original seven-hour session. We were playing quarter Deuces Wild and got some lucky hits: 4 deuces on line 1, lots of straight flushes and other good hits on line 3, and a dirty royal and 5-of-a-kind on line 4. We ended up winning $1,052.
Did we lose in the health department? Probably. I already had a bad upper respiratory infection when I started playing
7/11/2003
Recently, while I was making out a list for Brad to take to the grocery store, I was suddenly struck by how similar our playing in a casino is to our shopping in a store. Each Tuesday I look over the grocery ad sheets we get in the mail and look for sale items. Likewise, all through the month, as casino mailers come to our mailbox, I look each of them over to see if I see any “bargains,” such as bonus-point days, coupons, or special promotions. When I read the local newspaper each day, I look for coupons and sales at Dillards and Macy’s department stores. Each Sunday I look for the newspaper supplements that tell me what’s on sale at Target or Home Depot or Office Max. But as I go through the newspaper, I’m also looking for casino specials that we can take advantage of to stretch our gambling dollar, like a new slot club launch or a new mid-month promotion.
Some grocery stores are nicer than others, but we aren’t too concerned about the ambience of a grocery store — we’re looking for a good price on fresh strawberries and caffeine-free diet Dr. Pepper. However, if one store routinely has fresher fruits and vegetables, we consider that place a better value even if the prices are a bit higher. If a casino has a great promotion, but no loose video poker machines, the better value might be to forgo the promotion and go to another casino with a great selection of good video poker with better paytables. I’ve said many times that I would go to Hell, where the Devil is the slot manager, if there were $1 full-pay Deuces with 1% cashback. Maybe that’s a little extreme — I’m allergic to smoke — but the ambience of a casino is way down on the list of how we choose where we play.
We don’t always buy our groceries at one store just because it’s closest and most convenient. We don’t always play at the same casinos just because they’re near to our condo. We read and research continually to be sure we’re getting good value for our money whenever buy anything, large or small. We read and study and plan carefully before we choose any gambling activity to be sure we’re getting the best odds possible.
Now, I realize that not everyone is like me. As Brad says, I’ve always been nutty frugal. Sometimes he ignores what I put down on the grocery list and goes where he wants to and buys things that are NOT on sale, just because he doesn’t want to stop at another store. And honestly, I don’t fuss at him when he does this. I can sit back and think, “I don’t have to be so nutty frugal anymore. Because I’ve been so nutty frugal all my life, we ‘ve accumulated a nice financial portfolio and can AFFORD to splurge and sometimes do what’s most convenient at the moment. In fact, I’m finally starting to find real value in relaxing (a bit) my strict adherence to the most cost-effective action.
See what happens when you get old? Yesterday when I went to a casino to cash a small bounce-back check, I decided to play, instead of 100%+ VP, LITTLE GREEN MEN!
”
7/18/2003
by Kaity Starr
The Little Frugal Princess
(Note from Jean: While I’m out of town, my budding-writer granddaughter, Kaitlynn (pen name Kaity Starr), age 8-1/2, has agreed to write Frugal Fridays for me. Her brother Zachary, age 10, helped her out some by adding a few facts and opinions.)
Zachary and I have been visiting our grandparents in casino areas since we were babies. We have always loved going to a childcare center in the casino while they and our parents play adult games. I would like to report on three we visited on our last trip to Las Vegas: the Palms, Texas Station, and the Gold Coast.
The Kids Quests at the Palms and at Texas Station are run by the same company and have a lot of the same activities. They both have the “Quest,” a giant climbing gym, kind of an indoor playground with slides, ladders, and tunnels. They show movies frequently and there are board games and a Lego Mania center. Some of my brother’s favorite things are playing air hockey and video games. I like the Barbie Playhouse Station, the art center, and the karaoke stage, where we can dress up to be a “star.” But the thing we both like the most is the “Disco Stage” dance machine, which is so popular you have to stand in line to wait your turn.
The Kids Quest at Texas Station is much larger than the one at the Palms and includes a ball pit and an air-filled jumping arena in their “Quest.” The Palms, unlike Texas Station, has a reading area, but as much as I love reading, I was having too much fun doing other things to spend much time there. Both have a snack bar and you can get anything from a drink or an ice-cream treat to a whole meal. The food does cost extra, but we don’t have to worry about that, because my grandma is the Queen of Comps and she never has to pay for ANYTHING in a casino. Now that’s frugal.
The Gold Coast childcare center is much different from the Kids Quest ones. They do have crafts, puzzles, board games, movies, and an area to play house. However, it is much smaller and there is no indoor “Quest” playground. The main activity is doing crafts, like painting, origami, and coloring, but there are no video games. In addition, the center provides sleeping pads for napping, but doesn’t provide any food or drinks.
I really enjoyed the Gold Coast when I was younger, especially the crafts. Now that I’m 8-1/2, I was sort of bored there this trip, especially after spending so much time at the much larger Kids Quests. But it is a very good place for little kids who aren’t very secure about leaving their parents, because the workers there are older ladies — it is kind of like going to Grandma’s house. It still is my grandma’s favorite — after all, it’s FREE.
Here are some of the details, taken from the brochures you can pick up at each center:
Texas Station: 5-hour max; Sun.-Thurs. 9 a.m.-11 p.m.; Fri., Sat., and holidays 9 a.m.-1 a.m.; charge for six weeks to 29 months — $5.50 (weekday) to $5.75 (weekend) per hour per child; 2-1/2 to 12 years old — $6.50/$6.75.
Palms: 5 1/2-hour max, same hours as Texas above; 3-12 years old — $5.75/$6.75.
Gold Coast: 3-1/2 hour max, 9 a.m-12:30 a.m., 2-8 years old (must be potty trained); FREE!
7/25/2003
Some people think I don’t take a stand on enough gambling issues. Fair enough, but this week I’ve decided to express some personal opinions. I don’t expect everyone to agree with me — and I might even change my mind on some of them next week. A woman’s prerogative.
1. Recently, Arizona Charlie’s put in a new bounce-back program called “Action Cash.” You earn points one week. Then the next week you have to come in EVERY DAY to collect your cashback. If you don’t pick up a particular day’s amount, it’s lost forever. The details in the press release went on and on, specifying various levels, redemption days, ad nauseum.
Nice try, you guys, but I don’t relish going to the same casino every day, no matter how much money it’s worth to me. I have a life. In my opinion, casinos should provide reasonable windows of time to collect any benefits. Too restrictive time limits just make people mad enough to cross that casino off their list.
2. Furthermore, I think that advantage players who play at one casino day in and day out to take advantage of a temporary promotion ruin a good thing for everyone else.
3. I’ve been reading a lot recently about people getting comped rooms being charged an extra fee. No matter what they call it — a “comp surcharge,” “resort fee,” or some other nebulous phrase — I don’t like it. To me, comped means free. However, with states looking for all sorts of new ways to tax casinos, I think this is a losing battle for me.
4. The Las Vegas Review-Journal recently published a feature article http://tinyurl.com/g65w) about advantage players, in which the writer strongly suggested that local authorities and the Nevada Gaming Control Board sides with and protects the casinos, rather than safeguarding the civil liberties of the player, when there’s a dispute. Actually, I vacillate on this issue. I’m an advantage player, meaning I rarely play a casino game in which I don’t have the odds on my side. I’ve put in many years of study to be able to become a successful gambler. I don’t use any illegal electronic devices in the casino, or cause a machine to malfunction, or break any state or federal laws to achieve this. I just use my brain, an achievement that’s rewarded in most human endeavors.
On the other hand, I know that casinos aren’t non-profit organizations, or at least they don’t plan to be.
How do I balance these two views? I think casinos and advantage players can peacefully co-exist. As long as people like me write about the possibility that the casinos can be beat, the casino gains great positive advertising. Players like to think they at least have a chance to win. However, no matter how many frugal ideas I write about, most players will not want to put in the study and practice that is required to put those ideas into action.
I consider the very few advantage players to be paid shills for the casino.
I may be wrong about all of these things, but these are my opinions. This week.