Dreamcard is dream but ends in "nightmare"

[DaBurglar]

This story takes place over a 2 month period (March 1 thru Yesterday, May 17, 2012) at Caesars Atlantic city....there are four machines near the front entrance called "Five star Poker" that have 8 different games  to select from (including Quick Quads, double Pay, Random Rewards and of course Dreamcard)...the machines even feature this site's logo/address on the front for some reason, so hopefully a few of you know of the machines and area I am describing. Anyhoo, Back in early March I was putzing around and decided to plop a few bucks into these machines to see what these games were like, and I sat at the third machine from the left and chose dreamcard-Bonus Poker Deluxe.....your other choices for dream card are Dueces Wild, JOB, TDBP and DDBP....I started with $300 and after going down very quickly to half my roll playing 25cent BPDeluxe, I hit four of a kind 3 times in 10 hands to go up to $450, and then all hell broke loose and for the next 25 to 30 minutes I hit four of a kind at least 15 more times to finish out at around $1300....it was surreal, the machine kept dealing me four of a kind in all manifestations, with the dream card, without, on the draw on the deal you name it..... I figured it was fluke, and remembering that the dreamcard requires 10 credits per hand, I had no intention of making this game a habit, but 2 weeks later on March 17 I sat down at the very same machine again, put 300 bucks in again and started to play.....and the SAME EXACT STUFF STARTED HAPPENING, I kept hitting four of a kind on Bonus Poker Deluxe!!!  The machine kept dreamcarding me three of a kind, I'd draw for the fourth and it seemed every third or fourth time doing this I'd hit the quad!!  The dreamcard function which is supposed to only activate every third hand on average was running nonstop 80% of the time for all my hands!!!  it was like the stinking machine was broken or set to just PAY....I wound up leaving after 45 minutes with my 300 bucks ballooned to 2300!! 2 weeks later, APril 3, I bring my Mom along just for laughs and I tell her of my two previous "FLUKE" sittings at this machine, the ONLY two times I have played it, and so she sits next to me and watches as I put 500 bucks in this time and select my old lucky BPdeluxe.  At first, it looks like things are back to normal as the machine eats almost 200 of my 500 within 15 minutes, dealing almost NOTHING....but then BOOM, I hit four of a kind 5 times in 12 hands, twice hitting it back to back.....here we go again, another run ensues.....30 minutes later my 500 bucks is now almost 2000!!! Something is very weird about this machine I remember thinking and saying.....I am back on April 17, I get in to AC at 5 am, grab a coffee and take 500 bucks over to the same machine...no one is around at this time of day, it is spooky and weird....I start playing and within the first 10-15 hands, I hit a Royal flush...no dream card, I was just dealt four to a royal like normal and hit it!!   I didnt even stay to finish my coffee, I just took the cash and split to go eat breakfast, not believing what was happening.....I know this has to be now the fluke of flukes to have this same machine, same game paying out so onesidedly over such a long period of time.....I stay away until May 3... May 3 I sit down at the same machine and put my usual 500 bucks in, it is 2pm and I have decided to end this craziness once and for all....I am going to play this 500 until it is gone OR I have run it up to another hefty sum, or 2-3 hours has passed, far longer than I have played it before.   The first 30 minutes or so I was running in place, hit a couple quads and a lot of Fullboats, but also a lot of zeros.....then it starts again, another flurry of quads, several back to backs, such that I am soon well over 1500 bucks....and then I hit another ROYAL (again, no dream card, just normal) and I am looking at over 2500!!!  But I decide to keep playing, and switch over to TDBP!!!!  After running in place, staying at 2500 for about 45 minutes, I hit two QUad 3s with a kicker for 500 each to run the total to nearly 3600!!   I'm stunned, I have never encountered a machine, let alone one with a specialty game like dreamcard, to just pay and pay and pay....the SAME exact machine.  So far, this has been a dream, right??   Ok, now for the nightmare (remember, the horror element to this story is built in to the fact that it is 10 credits per hand....***play foreboding music***) May 14, this past week, I arrive in ac again early in the morning, before 6, and hit the machine, again NO ONE else is there.....I put 1000 bucks in this time and start playing, and within 15 minutes, I kid you not, I am down 200 bucks, NOTHING was coming up on BPDlx.....but then SHAZAM!!   I get "Dreamcarded" a royal, first time it has happened, I get the J Q A and 10 of clubs, the dreamcard function kicks in and yells "DREAMCARD WINNER" and there is the King of Clubs!!!!   I couldnt believe it and now I hooked, believing all my own press and propaganda, and convinced the machine is "rigged" or broken the opposite way to just PAY or some stupid thing, and I keep playing over the next two days......and the game goes totally cold, I give back all the last royal, all my 1000 initial buy in on May 14 plus another 500 when I gave it one more try on the 16th because I couldnt believe it was over....mind you during this losing, I think I recived MAYBE 5 or 6 quads total for the 2-1/2 days.....compared to the deluge of quads the previous 2 months. Ok ok, I know I am still way up, but it was such an ABRUPT and unexpected crash, I mean the friggin machine just STOPPED dealing any winners....hand after hand after hand of ZILCH!!!!   I'm definitely DONE with dreamcard for a while, and dont recommend the game unless you are already way up and can afford to buy in for at least 500 bucks a pop. 

[JIMDUECE`SWILD]

Congratulations on a winning streak. Those machines near the KENO/ SIMILCASTING window. I notice those last year when they put them in.
 Maybe one more time over Memorial Day Weekend.

[shadowman]

It's called variance which is higher in most of the carnival games like Dreamcard. What happened to you is probably a little extreme but not unexpected.
 
The highest return dreamcard game is deuces wild, but it's still quite high variance.

[DaBurglar]

Well variance is one thing, but if the game is truly "random", runs like these (both hot and cold) seem EXTREMELY out of place and fishy, but then again, I guess that is part of the fun right? Except I know for a fact that all of today's modern computerised games come with interfaces and menus to afford users/owners (i.e. the casino management) the ability to influence the likelihood and frequency of ALL or certain specific TYPES of hands.....sure they must set them to conform and complie with whatever regualtions they are subject to, but it does not preclude or prevent temporary monkeying and adjusting up or down a specific machine that is either being too generous or too stingy in the opinion of management. Who knows, but it is a risk I accept when I play VP wherever i play.....

[shadowman]

Well variance is one thing, but if the game is truly "random", runs like these (both hot and cold) seem EXTREMELY out of place and fishy, but then again, I guess that is part of the fun right?
 
High variance leads to these types of streaks. You can write your own program with nothing but simple random card selection and see the same thing. I've done it. As Frank has stated many times, most people do not understand randomness.
 
Except I know for a fact that all of today's modern computerised games come with interfaces and menus to afford users/owners (i.e. the casino management) the ability to influence the likelihood and frequency of ALL or certain specific TYPES of hands.....


 
Please provide evidence to support this claim. Show a picture of the screens you are talking about. It shouldn't be that hard.
 
Now, keep in mind that Class II games and VLTs allow the return to be set independent of the paytable. Those are different than the class III games people play in NV and most other states.

[spxChrome]

I have played this machine but was playing Random Rewards with a little mix of quick quads.  And yes it is very streaky.  First day I was getting Aces and all the little ones like a going out of business sale.  Then it just goes cold as ice.  Fun games but you have to know when to pack it up that for sure.  I actually think the Double STP is the best game on this machine but the Random Rewards are more fun to play for. lol.  Its just crazy seeing $1000 for a Full House. @daburgler at my casino they just take the machines out when they end up on the positive side of their randomness lol.  We have lost 5 good machines like this.  They were not replaced just removed and the holes are still there where they once sat.  I miss old "Silent Bob" as he was called.  He as always good for a quick 800. 

[BillyJoe]

I have played this machine but was playing Random Rewards with a little mix of quick quads.  And yes it is very streaky.  First day I was getting Aces and all the little ones like a going out of business sale.  Then it just goes cold as ice.  Fun games but you have to know when to pack it up that for sure.  I actually think the Double STP is the best game on this machine but the Random Rewards are more fun to play for. lol.  Its just crazy seeing $1000 for a Full House.
Played the one Five Star Poker they had @ Aria this past trip. I was surprised at how often the Dream Card came up playing TDB. I, like you, think Double STP is the best, but Double Pay is a close second, at the $1 level.

[celtics2424]

Does anyone know if they have any of the dreamcard machines at foxwoods or mohegan sun in CT? Thanks