Check Everything

[billryan]

The night the Saints won the Super Bowl, I was partying with a bunch of transplanted Louisianans(?)

at the Trop in Laughlin. I'd won some money on the game and had a few nice hits right after, but hit a cold stretch and gave back some $300.

I was still a smoker in those days, but stayed in non smoking rooms. Heading to the elevator, I decide to have one last smoke before going up and plop down at the closest machine. Throw in a $100 bill and incredibly I get a bonus round on first spin. It's a fairly long bonus and after getting next to nothing on several spins, I get one spin where I win 360 credits. Bonus ends and I won around 475 credits plus my money still in the machine. I cash out, don't see any ticket machines nearby so I take the ticket to my room.

Next morning, I try to cash it at one machine but its rejected. Same thing at another. A slot attendant sees me having trouble and asks if she can help. I show her the ticket and she says I need to go to the cashier, that machines only pay out up to,I think, $1600.
I look at my ticket. While I had indeed won 475 credits, it turned out the machine was a $5 one, not a $1 so I'd won well north of $2,000.

[Tedlark]

Russian Roulette anyone?

Suicide really isn't a laughing matter. Just ask anyone who's lost a family member or other loved one to it.

[FloridaPhil]

Suicide really isn't a laughing matter. Just ask anyone who's lost a family member or other loved one to it.

Definitely not. I was not poking fun at suicide. I was poking fun at getting lucky. Since you brought it up, gambling problems are no laughing matter either.

[Tedlark]

I didn't bring it up, you did. Maybe you were just talking about recreational suicide then?

[FloridaPhil]

I didn't bring it up, you did. Maybe you were just talking about recreational suicide then?

What is Recreational suicide when it comes to VP? We paid 4 cents a hand to hit three royals at $1,000 each. In VP, the anticipation of a jackpot is much of the fun. More fun equals more entertainment. Where's the problem?

On the other hand, if we were playing $5 point, 4 cents would add up to real money. We play quarter VP to keep our entertainment costs reasonable.

Perhaps you are someone who equates profit with entertainment? If I want to make a profit, I have a lot more reliable ways to make it than counting on an RNG. When you go to the movies, do you sell popcorn on the side so you can profit from your trip to the theater?

[Tedlark]

I do not equate profit with entertainment nor do I consider video poker as entertainment to me. When I go to the movies I leave the popcorn selling to the professionals.

If you are one who equates profit with entertainment, do you consider your investments in the stock market (or other financial markets) to be entertainment?

You have made it known here over the years that you consider video poker to be entertainment to you but I've seen a slight change in your sermons as of late: you talk more of taking advantage of offers, freeplay, and give aways, etc. from the casinos. To me these are not the actions of a person who considers their video poker play to be just entertainment.

I'll look for your response in which you'll comment that you use offers, freeplay, and give aways, etc. from the casino as tools to stretch your gambling funds to lessen your losses.

[FloridaPhil]

I'll look for your response in which you'll comment that you use offers, freeplay, and give aways, etc. from the casino as tools to stretch your gambling funds to lessen your losses.

I do not consider investing as entertainment. Some of my friends do. That attitude costs me money. I choose my investments strictly on their long term profit potential. I use real time expert opinion to decide what's best for me. When I pick stocks by my "feelings" it never works out. I am sure this is exactly how a professional VP player conducts his business.

We do not consider playing VP a money making enterprise. It may be for others. For us, it's an escape and a way to enjoy some quality time together doing what we both enjoy. It's more entertaining for us to go for jackpots than have another 4 cents to play with. I suspect there are more players like us than successful VP professionals. Those are the players I want the Recreational Forum to attract.

There was a time when I did not consider comps and incentives as having value. 15 years ago when I first started playing the game, I didn't get many comps and those that I did get were fairly worthless. I eventually learned to play the comp game. Much of what I learned came from this forum. Of all the advice the experts have given me, I consider this to have the most real value.

My free play averages about $25 a week, which equals one extra royal each year. I can get a comped room in most casino cities including Vegas. We use them to take cheap vacations. If I want, I could stay free at the Hollywood Hard Rock 2-3 days each month. I never pay for casino lunches. If I save up my points, I can buy my wife a nice dinner. I am in countless drawings. I have never won one, but it could happen. I could get all the free booze, jackets and trinkets I want to carry home.

If you add up the comps and subtract them from our losses, the annual net cost to be entertained by VP is a few thousand dollars. All this while playing 96-98% quarter games. If we had 100% games, we would play them. We don't, so we do the best we can.

Playing quarter VP gives us the ability to bend the rules to fit our entertainment goals. The 4 cent sacrifice described above is one example. If I was to play $5 games, I would make some adjustments. First, I would always go with the computer perfect play. Second, I would never play unless I had the advantage. Third, I would expect my comps would be substantial enough to make it worth our while. None of these things are possible for us, so we stick with quarters which works just fine.

[onemoretry]

We paid 4 cents a hand to hit three royals at $1,000 each.

How many times did you pay the 4 cents with no payoff?

[billryan]

Same nonsense, different year.

[FloridaPhil]

How many times did you pay the 4 cents with no payoff?

We don't care. To us 4 cents is worth the excitement of going for the royal. In Deuces Wild all kinds of good things can come out of that 4 cent investment. Wild royals are much more frequent. Often you will get a flush or a straight. If you like math formulas, divide 4 cents into $3,000. My calculator tells me that is 75,000 hands. We could never hit anyone one or we could hit 20 more. Is it worth it to us? Yes. Would we take that chance playing $5 games. Hell no.

Here's what you do. Walk up to our forum expert. If he will talk to you, ask him what he thinks of our playing style. He will tell you it's not the most profitable. He will also tell you we are entitled to have fun with our money any way we define it. He will also tell you there is a cost to hitting more royals that way, but it works.

We are not on this forum to teach people to play VP. We are not on this forum to dispute the experts. We are here to discuss playing Recreational VP for the most entertainment value.