My History in Video Poker

[mickey crimm]

I made a post on vpFREE a few years ago on some progressives I analyzed at the 4 Queens in Las Vegas.  If you want to read it go to vpFREE, click on messages, then punch in message # 59009.   I don't know how to post links. 

[EDC1977]

   http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vpFREE/message/59009  Should navigate one there.
Don't forget to sign in to your yahoo account. This is a member only access.

[mickey crimm]

It was sometime in early 1997 that "Denny L." steered me toward Flush Attack.  It was all linked bank in Laughlin.  There was a 10 machine bank in the Pioneer, 14 machine bank in the Flamingo, 4 machine bank in the Ramada Express, 10 machine bank in Gold River,  8 machiine bank in the no smoking section of the Riverside.   


 
But the premier bank at the time was the 18 machine bank in the smoking section of the Riverside.   It sat at the base of the escalator up to the bingo hall.  There was a virtual hustler's convention around these machines at all times. 
 
Flush Attack is a double bonus game where the first 3 flushes pay 5 for one, then the fourth flush pays 25 for one. 
 
The payscale looks like this:
 
RF.................................800
SF................................   50
4 Aces.........................  160
4 2's, 3's, 4's..............     80
Generic Quads............    50
Bonus Flush................    25
FH................................     8
Regular Flush...............     5
Straight .......................     4
3K................................      3
2P...............................       1
HP..............................        1
 
The way to analyze this game is take the 10/7 double bonus payscale and punch in the above numbers but list the flush value as 10.  Because that is what you have.  The first 3 flushes pay 5 , the fourth flush pays 25.  That's an average flush value of 10.  The game comes in at 101.8%. 
 
But if you are playing on a linked bank you have to know how not to get picked off by the hustlers (vultures).  When the machines are linked together it takes 15 coins worth of flush to trigger Flush Attack mode and then it becomes a race to see who can get the next flush.  Anytime you are playing between attack mode your money is only at about 94%.  When playing in the light, if you have your strategy right, you are at about 135%.
 
The absolute best strategy is not to play between attack modes and only play in attack mode.  That way your money is always at 135%.  But this proposed problems.  You could get pitched off the bank by management.  More people were thrown off the Riverside smoking bank than any other bank of machines in the world. 
 
The way to handle it was to make yourself look busy by betting one coin at a time between lights then going to five coins in the light.  Even that could draw heat.  If one were playing about 300 hands per hour bettiing a quarter between lights the expected loss would be about $9 per hour.  And if one were getting in 150 hands per hour in the light the expectation is about $65 per hour.  That's a net edge of about $56 per hour. 
 
Another thing I learned to do was never play in a bad game.  If there were 3 live ones on the bank and 5 or 6 hustlers I would shy away from the game.   The lights are gonna come to slowly and I would be sitting there looking like 86 material.  But when the bank was loaded with live ones the light would come every 2 or three minutes.  One could make the money fast and get off the bank.  
 
 Overexposure was bad.  I seen alot of hard headed hustlers get pitched off the bank because they refused to take heed. I even got pitched off the bank in November of 1997 by the Assistant Slot Manager.  I got the bank back a year later when he got fired. 
 
 

[mickey crimm]

When I first started playing the linked banks in Laughlin I met Bill Hartman.  I don't know where he's at today.  Haven't seen him in a dozen years.   One day in the Riverside he told me I had to meet a casino host. 
 
"What for?" I asked. 
"Do you like cheap rent."  he said. 
 
Linked bank Flush Attack hustler's don't run much action so they got little in the way of comp.  But Hartman told me:
 
"The casino hosts here are allowed to take tips. So you tip the host off to get the room comp. I'm gonna introduce you to my host.  You start out by tippiing her $10 for every day of room comp.  Do that for a couple of weeks then get her down to $5 a day.  That's all I'm paying.  Just tell here you arent doing so good. "
 
So I would meet my host once a week in the North Tower Bar and with a $70 handshake I would be comped in for another week.  I was in the hotel, except for an occasional trip, for the next eleven months.   She kept me in an executive suite as much as possible-They are on the end of the south tower, two balconies overlooking the river, bathrooms as big as most hotel rooms, cable television.  I was loving it.  No more backpacking and day laboring for me. 
 
Besides the Flush Attacks and House a Rockin' I played the Jackpot Cards, the quarter and dollar Piggy Bankin', and the Odyssey machines, and other games when promotions were in effect. 
 
There were hoardes of hustlers paying off the casino hosts for the rooms.  One host was exceptionally greedy.  They said he had about 50 guys paying him.  Everynight I would see him blowing money on the sucker machines. 
 
Then, in October of 1997, the roof caved in.  I was sitting in the North Tower Bar when my host told me "The s--- has hit the fan."  A very unpopular huster got into it with some woman.  Security went up to his room.  He was in the process of dying his hair and got the dye all in the carper.  They 86'd him.  He went beserk and starting calling everyone, Gaming, IRS, Pat Laughlin, everybody and ratted out what the casino hosts were doing.  Gaming came in and cleaned it up. 
 
They said over 100 hustlers hit the steet that day.  I asked my host what would happen to me.  She said "You don't have anything to worry about.  You have a 700 point a day average." 
 
I survived the massacre but learned a valuable lesson about "homesteading " (staying in the hotel too long).  I never homestead another casino.   I'll post later on how I devised my  "Laughlin RFB 365" strategy. 

[mickey crimm]

Sometime in 1997 Bill Hartman told me "you have to get a P.O. Box here at the Riverside."
"What for?"  I asked.
"You're missing out.  There's a Post Office down the escalator to the boat dock. Go down and rent a box.  It's only $14 a year.  Then go to all the slot clubs on the river and change your address.  When you start getting mail you're gonna be surprised what you're missing out on."
 
So I went down and rented a box.  It was the very start of my Laughlin RFB 365 strategy.  Actually I should rename  it RFB 362--because the only three days I couldn't get comped in was the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday,  of the last weekend in April.  That was biker weekend, The River Run, and the rooms were sold out several months in advance--at very, very high prices. 
 
I once read an account of one person on vpFREE where he was in Laughlin  that Saturday, tried to get a room,  and they wanted $750.  The next night, Sunday night, went for $25.   More on the RFB 362 later.
 

[BOOPSAHOY]

RFB 362-WOW!

[mickey crimm]

LAUGHLIN RFB 365
 
After the Riverside Massacre in late 1997 I started moving around to the other properties in Laughlin.  And in 1998 and 1999 I spent considerable time in Las Vegas, Reno/Tahoe and Elko, Nevada.  I rotated back and forth from those spots to Laughlin.  But I would spend months at a time in Laughlin.  I left Laughliin in late May 2002 and have never returned.  I got involved in the Reno video poker scene, which was very good at the time, then other things and have just never returned.  But I do miss the place.  
 
Bill Hartman was right about that mailbox.  It was worth a couple of thousand a year in bounceback, plus room comp, and promotions. 
 
I'm sure things have changed considerably with the slot clubs since I was there last but feel I could do the same thing again if I wanted too.  But I wouldn't have the advantages in video poker that I had back then.  Laughlin is different than Las Vegas--the low roller is King.  Life is slow and easy on the River.  It's a great place to just kick back and enjoy the casino lifestyle.   
 
My Laughlin RFB 362 strategy centered around the Pioneer Hotel & Gambling Hall.  The reason was the combination of their comp system and video poker equipment.  They unlinked their 8/5 Flush Attacks, 101.8% which made it a great play to run comp with an overlay.  They also had Jackpot Cards, The Maxx, 4-Play 9/6 Jacks, FPDW, 9/7 Double Bonus with 4 progressive meters, and 8 coin dollar 9/6 Jacks with triple meter.  The slot card was worth .1666%, .3333% comp, with regular promotions like cards of the day, double cashback, double comp.  There were other infrequent highly lucrative promotions.  They had a promotion virtually every day.  Plus they had advantage slots. 
 
But it was their room comp system that was the nuts.  A room comp cost 15 comp dollars per day.  That's about $4500 per day in action.  And it didn't matter if it was a midweek night or weekend night or holiday night.  It was 15 comp dollars per day.  I ran my comp balance up to 400+ comp dollars and maintained it at that level.  And slot club members got a free two day Getaway package every month for running so many points.  It wasn't many points to run and I always got the Getaway. 
 
Then there was Gold River/River Palms.  The card was worth .333% CB, .333% comp.  I played FPDW on Thursdays with 3X CB, and Fridays with 2X CB.  They also had progressive that went positive and Bonus Playoff, along with advantage slots. 
 
I occasionally made trips to the Riverside and played either linked Flush Attack, House a Rockin', Jackpot Cards, Bonus Playoff, advantage slots.  I needed to run at least $5000 in action per month to get their two day Weekend Getaway package.  But I ran lots more acton than that. 
 
Locals got a three day Getaway package at The Remada Express, now Tropicana Express,  but it cost $11.  Locals got .333% CB on the card and room comp was discretionary.  They had some 10/7 double bonus and 9/6 Jacks so I generally had to play those games  when they had some kind of promotion going on.   They also had Bonus Playoff along with the Odyssey advantage games, and the IGT Series of advantage slots. 
 
The Belle and the Edgewater had video poker progressives that went positive, plus Bonus Playoff, and sometimes FPDW.  I don't remember exactly what their card was worth at the time but they had CB and comp.   Both places also had advantage slots. 
 
The Golden Nugget had FPDW, 9/6 DDJ, progressives that went positive, plus advantage slots.  The card worth worth .2% with double point days and promotions. 
 
The Flamingo, now Aquarius, had quarter and dollar  Bonus Playoff, plus advantage slots. 
_______________________ 
 
Sidenote on Advantage Slots:
 
The slot card falling out of the machine was highly effective.  If I was playing a Wild Cherry Bonus Pie with 5 cherries to go, I would pop 4 cherries in with the slot card in, then pull the card and complete the play.  You always looked like a loser doing that.  You were almost always behind on the drop when you completed the play but the bonus made you a winner.  But if the card is not in when you complete the play the card reader cannot record that you actually won.  It shows you losing. 
__________________
I checked my Laughlin mailbox regularly for offers.   I had lots of options but I'll give you a typical scenario:
 
I operated on a 28 day cycleto start with.   I would book three weekends in a row at the Pioneer all comped.  That's 6 days out of the 28.  That cost me 90 comp dollars. 
 
The Gold River/River Palms sent me 4 two-day packages a month--for free.
That's 14 days out of the 28 covered. 
 
I booked the two-day Getaway at the Pioneer, comped.  That's 16 out of the 28 days. 
 
I would call slot club operations at the Riverside and book the two-day Weekend Getaway at the Riverside, then ask them to comp me for 2 more days (a Sunday and Monday, easy to get).  It made it a 4 day package.  That's 20 days out of the 28. 
 
Then I would book my 3-day Getaway at the Ramada Express.  Tha's 23 days out of 28 covered. 
 
I filled in the other 5 days with whatever offers I received through the mail from the Flamingo, The Colorado Belle, The Edgewater, and the Golden Nugget----or----I simply filled in the days with my comp accounts from the various properties. 
 
The main thing was to cover the weekend nights, which was easy to do with the Pioneer and the Riverside.  The mid-week days were easy to get from any of the properties.  There are 10,000 hotel rooms in Laughlin--which is out in the middle of nowhere.  The occupancy rate mid-week is very, very low. 
 
When I would get about 14 days into the 28 day cycle I would book another two weeks worth of rooms.  And I kept an eye on upcoming holidays which I would book into the Pioneer about a month and a half in advance.  Those days had a tendency to sell out early so I booked well ahead. 
 
Did I ever actually do this for 362 days?  No.  But I did do it for months at the time.   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

[mickey crimm]

On moving day I simply packed up my one piece of rollaway luggage, checked out of whatever hotel I was in, cabbed over to the next place, asked for an early check-in.  If I didn't get it I left my rollaway at the bell desk and I was back in action.  I would just return later for the keys to the room. 

[mickey crimm]

NOTE ON LAUGHLIN RFB 365
 
I had comp accounts all up and down the River.  ln those days there was no self service.  Whenever I felt like chowing down I simply went to the slot club booth of whatever casino I was in and requested a comp.  I never got turned down. 
 
But I should also let you know how I looked at comp.  I didn't see a $100 dollars worth of comp as going to the $100 a plate Steak House.  I seen it as ten trips to the coffee shop. 
 
I occasionally had to make adjustments in my 28 day cycle to compensate for the Getaway days.  So I would book extra days in one of the joints. 
 
Comp is a byproduct of what I do.  I'm not in the business of losing money at gambling.  I always held an edge.  I took the comp as byproduct. 
 
You can call me a bum or you can call me Riley.  I lived the Life of Riley, and I hoped Riley wouldn't come home.  I didn't want to give up his lifestyle. 
 
The reason for rotating between the casinos was I didn't want to get accused of being a "homesteader."  It's okay to be a homesteader if you are a losing gambler.   They will take you in any time.  I wasn't a losing gambler.  They don't like people like me.  So I rotated
 
It helps if it fit your lifestyle.  I didn't have anything better to do.  All you kind folks are professional people.  You have jobs and people to support.  I only had my driftin' ass to suport. 
 
There are 2 slow periods in Laughlin.  The day after July 4th until Labor Day is one.  The other is the day after Thanksgiving Weekend until Christmas.  They give away the farm with promotions and cheap hotel rooms during those  periods. 
 
Did I lose money to get all that giveaway?  Kiss my ass.   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ouse.  I seen it as ten trips to the coffee house. 

[Eduardo]

Dude. You are hard core. Makes me dream.