One of the perils of this business is that things change … sometimes really fast. Home Plate had settled on making the offer you refer to, which we made a Top Ten selection in the December LVA, but then had a change of heart and adjusted it because of concerns over abuse. We understand those concerns, but if we’d known, we wouldn’t have touted it as we did.
The original offer was a $20 rebate for a $20 loss, good once a day, Mon.-Fri., throughout December. It was essentially a daily freeroll—win and keep the profit; lose and get $20 back. But before the kick-off, the deal was changed to require that you hit a natural 4-of-a-kind before you can cash out the bonus $20.
That requirement dampens the deal quite a bit. The average number of hands to hit a 4-of-a-kind is about 420, so the previous (almost) $20 expected-value giveback gets whittled down to about $4 at best, with most players coming away with nothing. OK, that’s a bummer, but think about it: Since you don’t have to put up extra money, you’re getting a complete free-shot at popping the quad (or something better). You still have to lose the first $20 to get the freeroll, so it’s not a promo that you should run to daily. But if you want to go to a cool bar and relax with some video poker and free drinks, you won’t find many deals better than this. Home Plate runs a good "gambler’s buffet" from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays, where a $20 buy-in gets you free pizza, pasta, and salad, so that’s the ideal time to give this one a go.
Ah, and there’s more.
In the November LVA we wrote about another Home Plate deal for a 100-coin 4-of-a-kind bonus good on 25¢ to $2 denoms, paying up to $200 at the $2 level. Playing on the best-returning game (6/5 Bonus Poker), it yields a 101.6% return with perfect play. This offer runs concurrently with the freeroll.
That's a strong play, but this one requires a coupon that was mailed to regular Home Plate customers and recently showed up in a Valpak mailing. But you can also get it from our online coupon site CouponsinVegas.com. This was originally an LVA-member-only coupon, but Home Plate is now making it available to everyone, and the coupon will be transitioned to the "free side" of the site by noon PST today. Hence, as of now, and remember that things change … sometimes really fast, this valuable downloadable coupon will be available once per week through the end of December.
Yes, Home Plate altered the deal even before it started, but this is still a play worth making, and we haven’t even mentioned the fantastic kitchen that puts out great pizzas and burgers, a monster ham & eggs, and likely the best fried clam strips in town. The Home Plate Bar is located at 4785 Blue Diamond Rd., just a mile west of Silverton.
