A Frugal Poll

Posted on December 18, 2013 by queen of comps

A reader suggestion, for one of their famous polls, from today’s Question-of-the-Day: “What is the most frugal thing you’ve done in Vegas (all nods to Jean Scott)? Put another way, what have you done that has saved you the most money?” Pick as many of our (at times tongue-in-cheek) suggestions as apply, and please send us your own stories, schemes, and scams.

Okay, everyone, go to the poll link and see if you can out-frugal me!http://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/poll.cfm

Posted in Comments | 2 Comments

The Royal Road

Posted on December 15, 2013 by queen of comps

The many  comments on my last blog entry prove that everyone likes to remember their first royal.  And if I had run a contest to see who had the most unusual way to spend that first royal money, it would have been easy to pick a winner.  I had to giggle at the husband who spilled the beans in spite of his wife’s protest: they bought two burial niches!  How’s that for a positive EV investment!

At first I kept very detailed records of our royals since we didn’t have that many, being in Vegas only on short trips from our home in Indianapolis.  In 1992, we had only two royals, with Brad hitting one at the Riviera and I hitting my first at the Stardust. Continue reading →

Posted in Video Poker | 6 Comments

Do You Remember Your First Time?

Posted on December 10, 2013 by queen of comps

Recently someone asked me how many royal flushes Brad and I have hit and that question sent me to my VP records – not a fancy-dancy spreadsheet but a good old-fashion spiral notebook. Wow, what a trip down Memory Lane!

You all probably remember your first royal. Our first one was hit by Brad on December 31, 1991. Actually that isn’t exactly accurate because Brad had been “messing around” with VP for a couple of years before– behind my back mostly because we were supposed to be “professional” card-counting BJ players. Continue reading →

Posted in Memories, Video Poker | 17 Comments

You Ask – I Answer

Posted on December 3, 2013 by queen of comps

First, I need to answer some questions  about the Palms gift card promotion.  You can earn one of EACH item, i.e., one $100 Visa card, one $50 Visa card, etc.  So if you earn 96,400 points on VP you can get one of everything on the list I printed in my last blog.

Kevin, in the “Comments,” tried to give the EV of playing various games for this promo and his figures were correct IF you are looking only at the game and promo EV’s.  However, there is much more value available, including the drawings.  And if you are a local, there can be strong free play amounts in your monthly mailer plus extra “mystery” free-play mailings.  The mailers also include food comps which might be valuable to some.  I like the salon/spa coupons because that saves me real money that I would spend elsewhere for mani-pedi’s.

So you can see that what is a “good play” depends on the individual and it is not possible to judge  that for another person.  You just don’t know all the factors involved.  There are many skilled VP players at the Palms who are finding good value there.

 

Q:  Where might we run into you and Brad these days?

A:  We don’t play as much as we used to, or at as many different casinos. Continue reading →

Posted in Q+A | 7 Comments

MORE DECEMBER PROMOTIONS

Posted on December 3, 2013 by queen of comps

CAESARS PALACE

I imagine many of you will be town December 4-8, using your shopping points at the Great Gift Wrap Up at Caesars Palace.  Brad and I will be there on Saturday and Sunday, the 7th and 8th.  We will likely be playing in the early afternoons in one of the High Limit areas so stop and say “Hi” if you spot us.   I’ll be the one with the antlers!    Continue reading →

Posted in Caesars, Casino Promotions | 2 Comments

DECEMBER VEGAS PROMOTIONS

Posted on November 30, 2013 by queen of comps

Can’t be December already – seems like 2013 just arrived.  Time flies faster and faster the older you get!

House Seats  2-for-1 offer expires tonight at midnight.  A good frugal option if you like to see a lot of shows.   http://www.houseseats.com/ Continue reading →

Posted in Casino Promotions, Slot Clubs | 5 Comments

Can You Still Do It? – Part 5

Posted on November 26, 2013 by queen of comps

Okay, it’s time I wind up this series – I suppose I could ramble on forever about this general subject but I think I would start repeating myself.  Plus there are other topics in my file that are begging to be addressed.

First, a short review of some of the “needs” to be a successful video poker player – 30 years ago or today: Continue reading →

Posted in Video Poker | 7 Comments

Can You Still Do It? – Part 4

Posted on November 19, 2013 by queen of comps

I hope by doing the “assignment” in Part 3, you are convinced that things might not be as bad as some pessimists want you to believe!  Okay, now for some other ideas that might help you if you are wondering if you can do today what we did when we started playing VP 25 years ago.

1.  Brad and I were very lucky that we both loved casino life and shared the common goal of doing only advantage gambling.  Having a “gambling buddy”  can be an economic advantage, Continue reading →

Posted in Video Poker | 7 Comments

Can You Still Do It? – Part 3

Posted on November 13, 2013 by queen of comps

Okay, some specifics as I promised in Part 2.

CHOICE OF GAME

When Brad and I started playing VP, we mostly played Full Pay Deuces Wild (FPDW) because it had the highest EV of any game we knew about at the time.  We would sometimes play 9/6 Jacks or Better when we found it with a promotion that made it as good a play or better than our trusty FPDW.  We had to fly from Indiana to Reno or Las Vegas to find these plays.

Okay, can you find one of those same situations today? Continue reading →

Posted in Bankroll, Slot Clubs, Video Poker | 11 Comments

Can You Still Do It? – Part 2

Posted on November 9, 2013 by queen of comps

Sigh!

People, did you carefully read Part 1?    Did I say that you could still take up VP like we did 25 years ago and make tons of money?

PLEASE STOP WRITING THAT VP IS NOT AS GOOD AS IT USED TO BE!  Yes, I am shouting.  But this is not news.   Anyone who is even half-way knowledgeable about good VP paytables knows this.  And we who are trying to play at an advantage struggle with this fact constantly.

So, let me repeat what this series of articles is about. Continue reading →

Posted in Video Poker | 6 Comments