Posts Tagged ‘casinos’
The Bride Of Bulletman Part11
B-O-B: The ride back is just as much fun. We don't spend all that much time together because he plays craps and I'm glued to the machines. So the ride home we exchange stories. It's all a thrill, really. The socializing, the playing, the dinners, the trips to and from. It's all a part of a thrilling package. We have so much fun.
Frank: Do you ever play anything other than 25 cent joker poker?
B-O-B: I won't play the bigger denominations until I'm ahead a substantial amount. Then I'll move up to dollar machines and sometimes five-dollar machines. But I won't play those machines with what I call "my money." The money I bring with me I consider "my money." The money I win I consider "their money." When I have enough of "their money" I'll take my shot at bigger jackpots on the bigger denomination machines. The few times I've played the five-dollar machines I was too concerned with my bankroll so the game wasn't as enjoyable.
Frank: You weren't in your comfort zone. You get that uneasy feeling when you're playing over your head. Now, let's move on to a topic many players are interested in and that's comps. You and Bulletman are fully comped?
B-O-B: Yes, but it's based on both of our play. Neither one of us alone would merit full RFB [room, food, beverage] but we convinced our host to consider" us one person for the purposes of comping. In Atlantic City, you have to bet very large sums to get the full RFB treatment on weekends but between the two of us we qualify.
Frank: So a husband-wife gambling team should consider talking to a host and gettting themselves considered a single individual?
B-O-B: Definitely. It makes sense from the casino's point of view too. If for example a high roller has a wife who doesn't gamble, he'll still get his comps for two. Two medium rollers will equal the high roller's action so why not get the same treatment? With the competition among casinos, you want your players to stay loyal. This is certainly one way. So we get a nice suite on the weekends with a Jacuzzi, nice views, room service, gourmet restaurant and gift shop credits.
Frank: You do have casino loyalty. You tend to go to the same place time and again. Why not try other places?
B-O-B: Well, I have considered at times trying new places but I would have to scout out the machines. It's taken me years to learn which machines are the hitters and which aren't at the casino where I go.
Frank: In Atlantic City, things can be deceptive on video-poker machines. You can't always trust the payout scale to give you a true indication of the percentages because these machines could be programmed with variable programs. So you essentially select machines the way Mr. Handle recommends in Break the One-Armed Bandits!
B-O-B: Before I ever knew about Mr. Handle or any of that, I always had a feeling about the machines in Atlantic City. Just from playing as long as I do and as often as I do, I discovered machines that were consistent winners or, if not consistent winners, machines that would hit the progressives. I also know when the progressives have reached their critical mass; when they are about to pop.
Frank: You base this on instinct or analysis?
B-O-B: Partly both. I don't ever play a regular joker-poker machine. I only play the progressives. I've sensed a difference and the progressives in Atlantic City just seem to hit more.
Frank: That's the big scoop of my book. The rules for Atlantic City only stipulate that the sequences must appear in the programming. Let's say that the royal flush comes up once every 40,000 times. In Atlantic City you could have machines that hit this only once every 500,000 times or you could have a machine banging it out once every five or ten thousand times. So what you've sensed on these progressives…these are in-house progressives, yes? Not the ones linked to other casinos?
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Tags: casinos, dollar machines, high roller, jackpots
The Bride Of Bulletman Part6
B-O-B: But as we started playing more and more, we started to be courted. Our weekend room rates fell to a $100, then $75, then $45, then fully comped.
Bu I let man: When we really started getting comped was when the casinos began with their computer tracking of machine players. B-O-B always puts in long hours at the machines. But before that, I was always hesitant to ask for comps. I felt funny about asking for something. It was a psychological thing. You've written about that in your books—to always ask for everything you can get.
Frank: I write that to remind myself because I used to have that problem of feeling funny about asking for a comp. I have to overcome that.
B-O-B: I don't have that problem.
Frank: When did you discover video poker?
B-O-B: I think I played them the way you would play the slots. I wasn't really that conscious of them. But when I won my first jackpot, I realized that I enjoyed this game more than slots. It just seemed easier to win at them. It's skill and knowing that every so often something will happen. At the casino where we go, I know the exact machines to play. Which areas they're found in. I know the exact machines. I only play the progressives in Atlantic City. I know that video-poker machines are supposed to be based on their payout scale but in Atlantic City I'm willing to swear that some machines are loose and some are tight—even the exact same machines. Playing so much has shown me which machines these are.
Frank: How long do you play for.
B-O-B: I'll play for ten straight hours at one machine in a carousel. I know everyone in the place. I know which machines are loose. I always play machines that have hit a lot. I prefer to play these because they keep hitting.
Frank: I think you've discovered the secret of the Atlantic City machines. They are very much like slot machines and their placement probably follows the placement philosophy of Mr. Handle [see Break the One-Armed Bandits1.]. So you know where to find the loose machines.
B-O-B: I am a joker poker player…
Bulletman: A joker-poker fanatic.
B-O-B: Exclusively. That's my game. And I only play the progressives. Now in joker poker, you want to get five of a kind. But to get this, you have to be willing to spend a long time playing. You need a big bankroll.
Frank: So you combine bankroll with machine selection and you stick to joker poker only?
B-O-B: That's right.
Frank: You play ten hours straight—how do you do that?
B-O-B: Right from breakfast to the machines and except for bathroom breaks when I have them hold my machine for me, I just play and play and play until it's time for dinner. After dinner I'll hit the machines again.
Bulletman: She combines a solid strategy with enough of a bankroll. She also plays fast. She is like lightning.
B-O-B: I also must say that I do have hunches.
Bulletman: The amount she's won, some of our friends jokingly say that she was born with a horseshoe, uh, around her neck.
B-O-B: Well, they don't say around my neck. It's a slightly more colorful expression.
Frank: I get the idea. Somewhat scatological. The point is.. .you're lucky.
Tags: casinos, progressives, slot machines, video poker machines