Another AC fiasco

[DaBurglar]

I managed to get down to AC on March 4 jusssst ahead of the latest winter travesty, super storm "THOR" which dumped 10 or more inches on wide areas from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, up into New York and beyond.    I stayed at the Golden Nugget March 4 & 5, and Resorts MArch 6.The first night, March 4, I played only video poker in the Golden Nugget and hit almost nothing.....they have about 12 machines with 99%plus games (9/6 JOB, 8/5 BP, 9/7/5 DB  etc) and I plopped about 700 bucks into them, played 3-4 hours or so 25 cent denom and cashed out about 150 bucks, for a return of around 92% (when I extrapolated my total coin-in to be about $6,000 or 4,800 hands ).......Woke up Thursday March 5 planning to enjoy live Texas Holdem poker in Golden Nuggets poker room, but since the blizzard struck, the hotel was empty of both PLAYERS and staff so the poker room never opened, and neither did many shops and restaurants......so I was marooned literally at GN.   Nothing at all to do except play more VP and proceeded to lose another 600-700 bucks again on the so-called "good machines", and went to bed early (9pm)....so far a lousy experience.Woke up at 1 am and went down and played a "lousy" paytable machine of 9/5 DDB, and hit AWAK so I made up a chunk of that day's losses.....go figure, the lousy paytables offer a huge hit but the 99%plus games are duds.....i think they plan it that way.Friday I play at Resorts and the Taj, and was trounced, hit almost nothing no matter what game I played, or how positive I thought.......news flash:  Your attitude has ZERO effect on the RNG in your chosen VP machine.....ZIP   ZERO  ZILCH  impact.     What I did see was lost of evidence that AC casinos are running amok and may be juking their machines since there is virtually NO real onsite oversight anymore due to the shrinking GAming enforcement agencies actual AGENTS in the field.      If there ever was a chance for them to cheat, it is now.I saw so many games just spitting out dud after dud after dud.......out of sheer boredom I allowed myself to play STP 25 cents 10 line at both Resorts and the Taj......I bricked almost every 3 of kind dealt, hitting NO quads except once when I was dealt a pair which generated a single quad......5 times I was dealt 3 aces on a STP machine at RESORTS, and bricked all 50 ensuing draws/lines....not once did the ace show up for the quad.     and many other three of a kinds were bricked and nO quads hit on all ten lines.    had to be over 250 total lines!    absurd........total BS.But I did learn this from a Resorts pit boss.....he said that STP (super times pay) is one of the BEST games for the casino....it really generates a lot a revenue, almost into a "SLOT machine-like" range, he said.   I asked him how this could be if it was truly a video poker game  with even crappy 97% paytables.....how could this be as  profitable for the casino as slots which are in the 88-89% range?   He just shrugged and said rather flippantly "it's just the way the game is designed".........now wtf did he mean by that do you suppose?

[JIMDUECE`SWILD]

DaBurglar: I got the same thing from one of the Execs. at the Borgata. He also told me that they make a lot of money from those machine.

[notes1]

db, read your entire post. couple of comments; -why do you keep going back to AC? each of your visits increases your frustration. i mentioned many times, i used to go to AC each month for years, gave up in 2012, other than a couple to borgota. i can go on a free junket, rooms, food each week, just not worth it. you need to consider someplace else. -used to be a single premium hand was enough to allow one to break even at a casino for a days play. i/m/o, those days are gone. if one wants to break even or win, you need multiple big wins, if you are playing 8 hours or more. -surprise, i agree with you, attitude has nothing to do with win or lose. -also agree, strange comment for slot attendent. -big wins come on any paytable machine, better paytables should only allow one to play longer.   with all the posters on this site, how many do we see from those who are playing and wining in AC. I have not read very many. no matter how much you complain, it is not likely to change. the best thing that any consumer can do to punish any business that does not deliver, as you expect, is to not go to that business again. 

[Vman96]

The likely answer that the employee couldn't give on the fly...

STP machines get so much coin-in that the casino win is comparable to a crap penny slot. How many penny slots are being played $15 a round like you were betting? $180/hr expected loss at 400 hands/hr for the likely 97% machine, btw.

People in STL surely love their STP and Ultimate X too. I'm 99.54% certain those are the highest grossing VP machines in the casinos here. Weekend evenings they are hard to get on even when there are 40 STP/Ultimate X total.

[Vman96]

duplicate

[Tedlark]

DaBurglar I'm sorry to hear about you having a poor outing and maybe next time you go, you'll knock'em dead. Keep your chin up,think good thoughts and, don't let the man keep you down. Just think about how well you may do when that casino opens down the street from you in MA.

[Carcounter]

DB, If you are at GN, why can't you get to the Borgata. Maybe the Borg doesn't give you rooms and GN does? My last 2 visits to the Borg to play SDB, 1st trip, was down $500 and changed to $1.00 denom because I only had 15 minutes left, held 2 Jacks, drew the other 2 for $600. Left up $50. 2nd trip 3 hrs. on .50 SDB, lost $500. So 1 premium hit in 6 hrs.

[DaBurglar]

DaBurglar: I got the same thing from one of the Execs. at the Borgata. He also told me that they make a lot of money from those machine.Well it is a bizarre situation to say the least, and while the amount of coin in certainly impacts a machine's performance (OBVIOUSLY), my experience in limited play on STP, and watching others play, suggests to me the game somehow has an algorithm or some feature to ensure the casino does not get soaked with huge payouts too frequently (which is a distinct possibility IF....IF the game is producing a statistically "normal" spectrum of hand results.)   Seriously, if the STP hand results were normal, we would do a lot better, but it is SOOOOOO obvious now that games like STP, UltimateX, Good times pay, etc somehow  generate a lot more CRAPOLA for end hand results (multipliers not withstanding........when I just focus on the end results, clearly something is going on with these machines.....I allowed myself to play the 5 cent STP so I could play for a LONG time, and since last October I have had several long playing sessions on STP 5 cent machines, again simply looking at the end hand results to determine what if anything is going on.......so far, it just really looks like the game of STP is somehow set up to deal a lot of crap.)As for what the Pit boss stated, I think it was a combo of him being somewhat disgruntled at the casino and the state of things/AC in general, and partly due to him being a little clueless as to how VP games really are SUPPOSED to work  versus what I was describing and asking him about (remember he was a pit boss, and in his late 50s so he is NOT a young, tech savvy kid......)

[DaBurglar]

db, read your entire post. couple of comments; -why do you keep going back to AC? each of your visits increases your frustration. i mentioned many times, i used to go to AC each month for years, gave up in 2012, other than a couple to borgota. i can go on a free junket, rooms, food each week, just not worth it. you need to consider someplace else. -used to be a single premium hand was enough to allow one to break even at a casino for a days play. i/m/o, those days are gone. if one wants to break even or win, you need multiple big wins, if you are playing 8 hours or more. -surprise, i agree with you, attitude has nothing to do with win or lose. -also agree, strange comment for slot attendent. -big wins come on any paytable machine, better paytables should only allow one to play longer.   with all the posters on this site, how many do we see from those who are playing and wining in AC. I have not read very many. no matter how much you complain, it is not likely to change. the best thing that any consumer can do to punish any business that does not deliver, as you expect, is to not go to that business again. Fair questions notes1....but in fairness to myself, first off I have answered these issues previously as others have posted asking the same stuff.....I continue to go to AC (although not nearly as much or often as I did  2009 thru 2013), mainly because of its proximity, and the fact that I really LIKE the rest of it, even with all of its problems and issues.     During the summer, I LOVE AC, so in order to keep myself current in terms of free room offers and stuff, I do need to play at least a little during these winter months....remember, MAy thru September is AC's  "BUSY time"  and unless you have a certain level of play, you can find yourself unable to book rooms on some days......Also, in the last year and a half I have greatly curtailed my Video Poker play and instead now play a lot of LIVE poker  (texas holdem, tournaments  AND cash games!)    THIS IS BY FAR the biggest reason I still frequent AC......they have the most  LIVE Poker options east of the Mississippi, and Borgata's Poker room is second to none......Golden Nugget, Harrah's  and Ballys also have good poker rooms, in that order, and I typically spread my play around depending on who has the best Tournament value.       I still play just enough video poker to keep me current with the latest games, and keep my "SKILLS" at a decent level of sharpness.And I have done well enough playing live poker in AC over the last year and a half to keep going back.......my profitability is pretty good at the cash tables in AC and I have placed in the "money" in about 1/3 of every tournament event I have entered since early 2013, so until or unless I can no longer succeed at Live Poker/texas holdem in AC, I will keep going.Does that answer your question(s)?

[Tedlark]

Just a few more questions DaBurglar: did you play ANY live poker during this trip that you can report your results on?; does AC have any winter attractions to visit or spend time at if not spending time at an AC casino (for example could you have dove off the famous steel pier)?; don't you have a girlfriend, a nurse if I recall, that lives in AC and wouldn't SHE be the main reason why you would go to AC?

I am doubtful of your claim of placing in the "money" that often because your previous trip reports do not support this.