Q: Do we play bingo?
A: I played it once or twice because I had a coupon. I was never more bored in my whole life. I’d rather watch paint dry. If we have a coupon, I sometimes send Brad to do it – it doesn’t bore him quite as much.
Q: Can we set up an appointment to meet you and Brad personally when we come to Vegas?
A: I really would like to do more of this but there are just too many requests for our energy levels to handle. However, if you ever see Brad and/or me playing in a casino, please DO introduce yourself and we will be glad to chat for a few minutes. We are always happy to meet old or new frugal friends! We don’t mind being interrupted in our video poker play – gives us a chance to rest our eyes!
A good place to find us is at South Point on 2x point days. Occasionally we play at the Four Queens. And you are more apt to find us in a casino in the afternoon or early evening. You can frequently find Brad playing without me – he plays more than I do. Often he plays at Tuscany on Wednesday and Friday afternoons – 10x points!
I think all slots and VP machines are more frugal with their rewards they are not programmed to pay out as many top awards due to the economy.
Up until quite recently, bingo would have been a good “frugal” option as it was a loss leader for the casinos, returning a statewide average of 104%. You could usually improve on that result by buying only the minimum number of cards, and concentrating on sessions when any card was eligible for the coverall, regardless of color (purchase price). The EV of a good bingo game (especially if you had some kind of coupon) was often far greater than the EV of an hour spent playing .25 FPDW. I had a +$11,000 year at one point.
Part of the Frugal philosophy is taking whatever advantage you have. For me at that time, an hour with +$20-25 EV was time well spent.
Of course, those “good old days” are mostly gone, just like the “good old days” of VP.
Miscellaneous Answers:
What do people find so great about Video Keno? Does it have a good EV? I can’t tell you the times that I’ve headed straight for my favorite full pay VP machine once inside a casino only to find it tied up by a Keno player. Some times they look to be in some kind of a daze. It looks like paint drying to me.
Maybe both myself and my wife will finally meet you when we come out to Vegas this year.
Can you tell me what VP games you prefer these days? We are still at the .25 level but do pump a good chunk of change into the machines. Full pay deuces wild is our game but for about a year just never seem to win not even the deuces. Getting ready to give up the game but we love playing it.
Curious what VP games you prefer to play these days. My wife and I have been strickly full pay deuces but seems like the last year we just can’t seem to win anymore. We pump a good amount of coin through yet have little success these days.
Considering changing games although I really like the deuces.
Jean: you and Brad appear to accrue a lot of points at locals casinos. What do you use them on? If you use them at favorite restaurants, by all means tell us about them.