Fiesta Rancho

Who has your favorite video poker games? Who should have more?
Sea Lion
Senior Member
Posts: 323
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2009 1:01 am

Fiesta Rancho

Post by Sea Lion »

Their slogan is "Royal Capital Of The World" however I have never hit ore even seen a royal at this place in over a year. Now I have had plenty of good hits here, even 3 dealt SF - A2345 twice, and 9, 10, J,K,Q in the last month, but no royal. I get an abundance of the infamous dealt and drawn "missed it by one" hands, but no royal, even on their full pay machines. Maybe they should change their slogan to "Foyal Capital Of The World"! 


alpax
Video Poker Master
Posts: 1913
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2014 4:42 pm

Post by alpax »

The Maloof family being part of casino operations was during the golden days of video poker. I believe the slogan was the result of the casino having 1000 video poker machines (or vast majority) on the casino floor. With that many machines and with good pay schedules, it can rightfully out produce royals than any other casino to be considered the Royal Capital of the World.

Time passed by and the Maloofs are not so much in casino operations for a reason, Stations acquired the property.

I have not been Fiesta Rancho to know about the changes that Stations made when they've acquired the property. I do not think they've rigged the machines, but maybe lowered the quantity of video poker machines.

WhitneyReed
Senior Member
Posts: 131
Joined: Sun Sep 28, 2014 4:00 pm

Post by WhitneyReed »

The Maloof family being part of casino operations was during the golden days of video poker. I believe the slogan was the result of the casino having 1000 video poker machines (or vast majority) on the casino floor. With that many machines and with good pay schedules, it can rightfully out produce royals than any other casino to be considered the Royal Capital of the World.

That makes sense. It would seem that legally they'd have to back up the statement, even if in some convoluted way.

My main playing casino is Casino Queen in East St. Louis which bills itself as "Home of the Loosest Slots" and some the ads have an asterisk which cites an industry publication that confirms they do, in fact, have the loosest slots.

Sea Lion
Senior Member
Posts: 323
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2009 1:01 am

Post by Sea Lion »

All the "Up To 99.8% Payback" machines are now set at $12 in for 1 point, just like the "Over 100% Payback" machines are there. Those machines also do not qualify for any point multipliers.I remember last summer at casino in the Summerlin area an employee mentioning that it is being talked about monitoring VP machines from a central server and controlling what is paid out. If this happens (if it hasn't already) that means the paytables, RNG, etc are out the window as far as being properly regulated. With how tight Vegas has got over the last year or so (machines rarely hitting RF's, paid parking on the strip, scaled back paytables, etc), this would not surprise me one bit if they found a way to get away with this.

alpax
Video Poker Master
Posts: 1913
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2014 4:42 pm

Post by alpax »

All the "Up To 99.8% Payback" machines are now set at $12 in for 1 point, just like the "Over 100% Payback" machines are there.

Damn. Hard to believe it happened to the bank of sub 100% and over 99.4% games, somewhat significant news to me as a fan of the locals casino scene in Vegas. It becomes more favorable to players to head over to the SouthPoint.

I ditched MGM because of their Profit Growth Plan, and transitioned into the locals scene. I picked Boyd over Stations because of the no-mailed rumors at Stations for playing those games, Stations however have better games than Boyd. Boyd is a better choice for me even though they've cut my mailer value.

I seriously doubt Stations will do anything to violate the Nevada Gaming Regulation, if they do and get caught in the public's eye, they will stand to lose a ton. I just think it is a system in place to monitor their accounting.

EDIT: The Station's website sclv.com does not show this change of earning points rate. Would be nice if you can, to go to multiple other Stations location to see if the change is consistent throughout.

Sea Lion
Senior Member
Posts: 323
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2009 1:01 am

Post by Sea Lion »


 

Damn. Hard to believe it happened to the bank of sub 100% and over 99.4% games, somewhat significant news to me as a fan of the locals casino scene in Vegas. It becomes more favorable to players to head over to the SouthPoint.

I ditched MGM because of their Profit Growth Plan, and transitioned into the locals scene. I picked Boyd over Stations because of the no-mailed rumors at Stations for playing those games, Stations however have better games than Boyd. Boyd is a better choice for me even though they've cut my mailer value.

I seriously doubt Stations will do anything to violate the Nevada Gaming Regulation, if they do and get caught in the public's eye, they will stand to lose a ton. I just think it is a system in place to monitor their accounting.

EDIT: The Station's website sclv.com does not show this change of earning points rate. Would be nice if you can, to go to multiple other Stations location to see if the change is consistent throughout.I'm about 10 minutes from Fiesta and Texas Station, and about 5 minutes from  Santa Fe Station, so I'll check these out and report back. The change in the 99.8% machines at Fiesta Rancho is fairly recent.  I already put money in and noticed the change before I hit the deal button. I immediately cashed out and went to another bank of machines.I also noticed that the quarter and 50 cents 9/6 DDB got dropped to 9/5 DDB. The 9/6 DDB is delegated to the $1 and up machines. Same with BP. 6/5 on nickels, 7/5 on quarters and .50, and 8/5 on $1. I still hold a Sapphire card with Boyd, but they too have got super tight with their mailers. My free play went down from $15 per week to 5 for the entire month, and food comps went down from $80 per month to a rat single ice cream cone good at Suncoast The only full pay machines I know of is at Sam's Town several rows back  from the buffet. Also, Orleans cut their base points eligible on point multipliers from 10,000 down to 5,000. Gold Coast and Sam's remain at 10,000, and Suncoast at 25,000. I do like the 9/7 TDB at Suncoast, and the 9/6 nickel 10-play DDB and the 9/7/5 DB 3-play nickel progressives at Orleans.  I too prefer them over Station, especially the Young At Heart offers which are way better than Stations "My Generation", it's just that some Station "fishing holes" are a bit closer to me. Station mailers aren't really nothing to write home about anymore either. Not for us locals anyway.

Sea Lion
Senior Member
Posts: 323
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2009 1:01 am

Post by Sea Lion »

I just got back from Texas Station and their 99.8% machines do not have the $12 in = 1 point sting that Fiesta has implemented on theirs. Neither do their 99.9% Triple Deuces machines. Also, the Fiesta casinos and Station casinos operate separate from each other, their mailers are separate from each other even though they are both Station owned casinos, except the kiosks are synchronized with all Station owned properties. If you go in to a Fiesta on a Friday and play the weekend kiosk game after earning the 5 points, you can't go across the street to Texas Station and do the same thing. With Boyd, you can do that between Orleans, Gold Coast, Sams Town, and Suncoast when they run their weekend 10 point kiosk game offers. What I've noticed is that the prizes that Station and Boyd advertise on their kiosk games are only for the top tier players, but they don't adverstise that. Only one person has won the Garth Brooks tickets so far and that was a Chairman card holder at Green Valley Ranch. The most I've hit with a Gold card is a stuffed horse or 2000 points

alpax
Video Poker Master
Posts: 1913
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2014 4:42 pm

Post by alpax »

Thank you very much for taking the time and effort to check another Stations property, I really appreciate these updates you've provided on Boyd and Stations today.

I suppose it will be a trend starting at the Fiesta Rancho, and will make its way to other properties if Stations decide to tighten up more in the near future. I suppose enjoy these 99.8% banks at other Stations location while it is still good for myGeneration point multipliers. After the change it will be rather difficult to move up in tier on Boarding Pass if the sub-100% games are at those rates. I've recommended this to whomever seeks casino gaming as part of their retirement lifestyle, but I guess I have to stop mentioning it. I played at the Palms and I am aware they are transitioning into the Stations ownership group, I think they will have their own mailers but I will be devastated if their Play for Prizes are discontinued.

I'll try out a trial and error process with the best game that are not on the 99.8% banks, which is probably 8/5 Bonus Poker. Hope they are available for $1, $2, $5 so that it is easier to get 40,000 points for Platinum Card. I'll see what I get as a non-local.

As for Boyd, I've only stayed at the Gold Coast and I used to get $40 once a month in free play and $40 in food credits once a month along with 2 nights free as a non-local player. After April of this year, my offer got reduced to just 2 or 3 hotel night stay ever since, but the stays are good for most weekends as well. I am in Sapphire tier as well, I get monthly invitations to the slot/vp/bingo tournaments. Only if I register for the Macy's Gift Card give away is when I can get $40 in free play which happens during 3 designated days in a month. I like the 40% off by paying with points from BConnected to ease the loss of dining offers.

I've only done just one 10 point weekend swipe, I believe they've introduced it this year. First one 5x points, the second one, a 2016 personal planner

Once again thanks for the updates, I hope you are not overly attached to Fiesta Rancho, I would recommend you take your game else where if it is possible. One thing for sure, it will not be the Royal Flush Capital of the World.

Rebus
Forum Regular
Posts: 72
Joined: Sun Jul 24, 2011 5:46 pm

Post by Rebus »

I have some good news about the "Up to 99.8% machines" at Fiesta Rancho.

I went there today and saw the $12 plaque on the three against the wall near the garage entrance. I looked at the other two banks of these. Neither had the plaque. I played four hands of 25c NSUD ($5 coin-in) on the ones by the slot club (with no plaque). Got the normal 5 points.

Then I went back to the three by the garage with the plaque, played four hands of 25c NSUD ($5 coin-in) and got the usual 5 points on those also. Good news!

I'm not a regular at Fiesta Rancho although I used to be. I believe that at one time the three 99.8% machines by the garage entrance were 100% payback machines. My theory is that the $12 plaques are still there from when the machines were 100% payback. Hard to believe they haven't removed the plaques.

Sea Lion
Senior Member
Posts: 323
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2009 1:01 am

Post by Sea Lion »

I've gone in there probably every day for the last 2 months as it is close to me. I just ran in earlier today to play my 5 points for the kiosk game in which I was awarded a rat 4x multiplier for today.

Just a couple of weeks ago there was four 99.8% machines on the wall, placed in a semi circle bank by the garage entrance before they moved the kiosks there. Those 4 kiosk you would run straight into when you entered those doors 2 of them back to back, but now they are against the wall. One of the 99.8% machines is also missing. Before the change, I am 100% certain that none of those 99.8 machines had those $12 - 1 point plaques on them. I would play 8/5 BP on them while my wife played 10/6 DDB on the 100% machines. The 6 100% machines are still there in the circle bank between the kiosks/ 99.8 machines and Blue Agave Cantina.

Anyways, glad you "test drove" them! I do think that they are getting close to fixing them up... for their benefit.     

Post Reply