{"id":121230,"date":"2020-08-25T10:27:35","date_gmt":"2020-08-25T17:27:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/?p=121230"},"modified":"2020-08-25T10:27:44","modified_gmt":"2020-08-25T17:27:44","slug":"you-cant-do-that","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/you-cant-do-that\/","title":{"rendered":"You Can\u2019t Do That!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I have played for more than ten years at Dotty\u2019s, a chain of 15-machine (mostly) establishments located throughout Nevada.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the promotions at Dotty\u2019s vary periodically, one constant has been their Jackpot Bonus promotion where 10% of all W2gs receive a 10% bonus. That is, if you hit a $4,000 jackpot, 10% of the time you\u2019ll receive an extra $400 in cash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I play there, I select my denomination with an eye toward getting W2gs. Let\u2019s say I\u2019m playing 9\/6 Jacks or Better. If I play less than $24 per hand, I\u2019ll only get W2gs on royals. Between $25 and $47 per hand, I\u2019ll only get W2gs on royals and straight flushes. At $48 and higher, I\u2019ll also get W2gs on quads. To get W2gs on full houses, I need to bet $135 or higher.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They have machines at Dotty\u2019s where you can play up to 50 coins for $1, $2, and $5 and you\u2019ll get full odds on the royal for all bets five coins and higher. This is why you have a much wider choice of denominations there than at other establishments. You can play these same machine for lower denominations as well, but invariably the odds on games denominated for 50 cents or lower are much tighter than the games denominated for $1 or higher.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For me, the sweet spot is $50. While I can afford to play for $135 a hand, these places don\u2019t have a lot of cash on hand and I often start getting paid in twenties, or sometimes fives. Imagine a $6,750 straight flush paid off in five-dollar bills. If I\u2019m playing $50 a hand, quads (the most likely jackpot) are $1,250 which allows for more jackpots before they run out of hundreds. (When I hit a royal, it\u2019s $40,000 and taking a check is basically mandatory. I could demand cash, but it would take several hours to get it.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For whatever stakes you play, when you hit a jackpot, you need to walk up to the counter, sign some paperwork, and get paid.\u00a0 The attendant then walks you back to your machine and unlocks it. There are modern ways to pay jackpots at some places that allow you to just sign one W2g per night no matter how many jackpots you get, but these conveniences are not found at Dotty\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s typical that you still have credits when you hit a W2g. When the machine is still locked up, nobody can touch those credits. But sometimes, when there are two or more attendants, one attendant will go over and unlock the machine before the player has been paid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When that happens to me, I make a scene. If I\u2019m forced to remain at the front desk and I have, say, $2,000 in credits unguarded at the machine, this is not a safe environment for my money. There are often players I don\u2019t know walking around and it would be very easy for them to walk by and cash out the ticket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the machine is unlocked before I am paid, I go back and sit down at the machine and tell them to pay me there. If they refuse, I cash out and demand that one of them stand by the machine to make sure I can reclaim it after I get paid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve had attendants swear that no one could cash out my credits on their watch. My response is, \u201cReally? Are you personally going to come up with the $2,000 on my machine if somebody comes by, grabs the ticket, and leaves? Are you positive that you won\u2019t be distracted by the telephone or something else when that happens?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These attendants aren\u2019t well-paid. Them covering a $2,000 jackpot is out of the question. Even if I would get the money from Dotty\u2019s (which is extremely likely), it would be time-consuming and require a lot of paperwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I really don\u2019t like to make a scene at any sort of casino. Many times, I\u2019m the only player at a particular Dotty\u2019s receiving W2gs. Many players are playing keno, 25 cents or less at a time, with no chance at getting a W2g ever, and I\u2019m averaging more than two an hour. They think I\u2019m the luckiest dude in the world and may develop a plan to separate me from my cash. Getting into a loud argument can cause extra resentment. And sometimes it could be the tipping point that eliminates my welcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t want that. But I need to let the attendants know that I do not want my machine unlocked early. So, I talk to them firmly about this. Not loudly.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Usually they get the message and, happily or not, go along with what I request.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Usually their intent was to give me better service, possibly in the hope that I\u2019d give a bigger tip. But in the process, they inadvertently exposed me to unnecessary risk. I\u2019m not mad at them. I merely need for them to understand the predicament they are putting me in. I\u2019ve never had to have this conversation with the same attendant twice!<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"youtube\"<\/a>\"instagram\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have played for more than ten years at Dotty\u2019s, a chain of 15-machine (mostly) establishments located throughout Nevada.\u00a0 While the promotions at Dotty\u2019s vary periodically, one constant has been their Jackpot Bonus promotion where 10% of all W2gs receive a 10% bonus. That is, if you hit a $4,000 jackpot, 10% of the time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"You Can\u2019t Do That! by Bob Dancer","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[29,2,3,9],"tags":[428,196],"yoast_head":"\nYou Can\u2019t Do That! - Gambling With An Edge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/you-cant-do-that\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"You Can\u2019t Do That! - Gambling With An Edge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I have played for more than ten years at Dotty\u2019s, a chain of 15-machine (mostly) establishments located throughout Nevada.\u00a0 While the promotions at Dotty\u2019s vary periodically, one constant has been their Jackpot Bonus promotion where 10% of all W2gs receive a 10% bonus. 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