Monitoring of Indian casinos.

Who has your favorite video poker games? Who should have more?
notes1
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Re: Monitoring of Indian casinos.

Post by notes1 »



phil, have a question for you. only went to hollywood once, around 4 years ago. cool hotel, but there was not very much VP. have they added more machines in the last couple of years?

OTABILL
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Post by OTABILL »





I play regularly in Cherokee and at the Tampa and Hollywood Florida Hard Rocks. The quarter video poker odds in Florida are currently better than Cherokee. This wasn't true until recently.  For some reason, the Hard Rocks decided to have pity on us quarter players and gave us a few Airport Deuces games.  I for one am grateful.  It might amaze some people how big and busy these casinos are.  Outside of Vegas, I don't think you will find many with that much action. Florida is the perfect state for casino gambling; lots of seniors and tourists with expendable income and practically no competition due to the fact that the closest real casinos are in Mississippi.  The Bahamas are nearby but don't even think about gambling there.  Bahamian workers are the laziest people in the world and don't give a damn about visitors.  Sorry if this seems a bit rough, but it's true.





There are some similarities and some major differences here in AZ. We do have a large senior population and in the late fall to early spring it greatly increases with snowbirds and tourists. Summer is slow but with the heat, casinos are great place to go to cool down. Metro Phoenix is about a 5-6 hour drive, Tucson add 1 1/2 hours more to both Vegas and Laughlin. All told there are 23 Native American Class III casinos in the state. The ones around Phoenix are usually filled with patrons. One negative is that most have limited VP and few, if any, non-smoking areas. Regarding, monitoring (active), the state Department of Gaming commission has a budget of $9,725,000 with a regulatory staff numbering 100 according to the GAO.

FloridaPhil
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Post by FloridaPhil »

Video Poker has been significantly upgraded at both the Hollywood and Tampa Hard Rock Casinos.  I only play deuces wild, so that is what I am most familiar with.  They have lots of quarter machines with the normal "fooler deuces" pay schedule and a few with Airport Deuces.  It pays to scout these casinos as the better machines are there, but you need to look for them.  Airport Deuces is available throughout the casino starting at .50.  My wife and I will be staying at the Hollywood Hard Rock on July 6-7-8.   The good machines are in a group near the entrance to the parking garage. 

notes1
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Post by notes1 »


Video Poker has been significantly upgraded at both the Hollywood and Tampa Hard Rock Casinos.  I only play deuces wild, so that is what I am most familiar with.  They have lots of quarter machines with the normal "fooler deuces" pay schedule and a few with Airport Deuces.  It pays to scout these casinos as the better machines are there, but you need to look for them.  Airport Deuces is available throughout the casino starting at .50.  My wife and I will be staying at the Hollywood Hard Rock on July 6-7-8.   The good machines are in a group near the entrance to the parking garage. 
  my memory, and i could be way off, about 70 total VP machines in tampa and less than 30 in hollywood. on your next trip to hollywood, if possible, could you get a rough estimate? 

FloridaPhil
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Post by FloridaPhil »

I'll try to remember.  I'm sure there are more than 30 video poker machines at the Hollywood Hard Rock.  However, there is only one small row of good quarter deuces games.  I'm sure they are there for the few knowledgeable  players who care about those things. It is much appreciated.

alpax
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Post by alpax »

Hollywood Hard Rock has 9-6 Jacks or Better with full Royal Flush payout for $1 denomination according to vpfree reports. 25c or 50c may be thbere, but this was last updated in September 2014.

notes1
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Post by notes1 »


Hollywood Hard Rock has 9-6 Jacks or Better with full Royal Flush payout for $1 denomination according to vpfree reports. 25c or 50c may be thbere, but this was last updated in September 2014.
 appreciate the info. because i move from machine to machine often, i kind of like a big selection of quarter machines that offer DDB and/or TDB. i was only at hollywood one time, cool hotel, rooms come with a balconey and a very neat pool area. the one thing missing was a wide variety of VP machines. but, it has been 3 years since i was there.  i am no expert on florida, although we will be moving there within the next 1-2 years. but, for all those who live in cold weather (as i once did), if you want to get a warm weekend and do a little gambling at the same time, FL does have 2 nice casinos. the one in tampa is huge. i know enough about tampa, so i was hoping phil could give me/others a report on hollywood.

FloridaPhil
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Post by FloridaPhil »


The VP odds at the Florida Hard Rocks aren't bad considering they don't have much competition.  Much better than Biloxi, the VP Fleece Capital of the World. 

alpax
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Post by alpax »


The VP odds at the Florida Hard Rocks aren't bad considering they don't have much competition.  Much better than Biloxi, the VP Fleece Capital of the World. 


I would agree too by looking on the vpFREE reports in the Gulf Coast. It is hard to believe they can set their DDB to 8/5 and a ton of people would rather play that instead of the other games.

Probably stepping away from DDB can make a big difference in their lives.

Vman96
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Post by Vman96 »



I would agree too by looking on the vpFREE reports in the Gulf Coast. It is hard to believe they can set their DDB to 8/5 and a ton of people would rather play that instead of the other games.

Probably stepping away from DDB can make a big difference in their lives.

From an objective perspective, I'm not surprised at all.

DDB is nearly the "perfect" game for many recreational players. It provides just enough big hits to keep people happy without having to degrade the low payouts so badly to turn it into a complete vacuum when quads are not coming. And the "kicker" idea gets people focused on those desired premium hits. My g/f even sometimes has the bad habit that happens among many DDB players, she makes the quad and the first thing she says..."I didn't get the kicker!"    She's fairly risk adverse in general, but she loves DDB versus all other variants. Maybe because she was used to slots, and DDB variance mimics a slot machine a bit.

If I ran a slot/VP floor though, one thing I would NEVER do. That is to make DDB the highest returning game for any denomination. You're just costing yourself money if you do, imo. Like you say, people will play 8/5 DDB and not care at all.

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