Worst casino for video poker ever

[DG2010]

Visited new Orleans for 4 days (5/13-5/17) stay at Harrahs the VP machines are horrible . Played mainly DDB . I'm a 7 stars player ,which is Harrahs top players card,so you know I play a lot. GOT KILL....the vp machines stink, you get no play ,never saw anyone get hand payout. Over 4 days maybe I got 5-4 of kind , no 4aces ,no 4-2s ,3s, or 4s and of course no royals. I have played VP in most gambling destinations even cruise ships and Caribbean islands but by far theses were the worst ever. The pay schedules seem to be ok but 9/6 ,9/5 DDB but they don't pay out . Will never play at that casino again. BEWARE maybe it's voodoo!!!

[shadowman]

If one randomly goes to 10 casinos and plays the same games their results will vary considerably. By definition you would have to do "the worst" at one of the casinos you play at. The fact you did poorly at this casino is likely just bad luck and nothing more.

[DaBurglar]

I believe you and I think I can explain how/why this happened, based on my own past experiences, freindships with people who are in a position to know, and anecdotal evidence from other players I have watched and conversed with.... I have a few friends who work or have worked in the gaming industry in middle and upper management, and they confirm that today's VP machines all have a "user interface" or otheriwse known as a calibration menu that casinos use during setup and maintenance, whereby they can essentially tell the computer that generates the so called random numbers that determine hand composition, to increase or decrease the frequency of certain hands appearing over time.....it isnt hard to imagine or understand, and everyone likes to put faith in the gaming commisions of the world ensuring that casinos pay out what they are supposed to pay out, but how all that works out over the course of a year or years is NOT known by average players.  I dont want to get into how that works out, about the technicalities of how the average Vegas casino complies with the gaming regualtion requirement that they payout/payback the 92% or 91% or whatever it is percent of total (TOTAL) intake/revenue....I just know that, depending on when you hit the machines in ANY casino, the VP machines may be set to virtually EAT all your money without giving any back, OR you may be lucky enough to hit it when they are set normally or even in your favor because the casino is trying to attract customers or trying to payout its required, mandated share etc.    Who knows.....I just know that today's incresingly sophisticated VP machines offer the user much more in terms of control than the old machines of the past, which only allowed casinos to alter paytables as a way to increase or decrease the take from VP machines....it is the RESULTS, the actual hands that drive the game, and now casinos have control over that.  why is that so hard for people to aaccept??

[Quad Deuces]

It's hard to believe there are people who think Video Poker machines (In Nevada) are anything more than random number generators.  To call Harrahs Orleans the worst casino for VP because of one losing weekend playing a moderate-variance, negative game is kinda silly.Bonne chance.

[Quad Deuces]

I dont want to get into how that works out, about the technicalities of how the average Vegas casino complies with the gaming regualtion requirement that they payout/payback the 92% or 91% or whatever it is percent of total (TOTAL) intake/revenue....Please do.

[DaBurglar]

well, seeing as how I do not actually KNOW what the current state requirement for payout/payback is in Nevada, that's the main reason, but I do know that each casino meets that requirement in its own way.....if the payback is supposed to be 92% of total revenue, a casino can choose to payback a higher percentage of the "92%" via its slot machines and have its VP machines keep (or hold) a higher than normal percentage of its total intake, or vice versa.....it is part of how casinos market and differentiate themselves from one another. You see, Nevada law requires that ALL casinos maintain Truth in advertising, and if a casino says it has "looser slots" or "better payout on its VP machines" then it better have evidence that that is in fact the case or is in place to be the case. Come on, I know I am not telling you anything that is not fathomable or is too complex.....havent you heard of the property in vegas owned by the Maloofs (not the Palms) I believe it is or was Red Rock, and it was on one of those Travel Channel Specials back in 2006 when the property advertised "More Royals than anyone else in Vegas", and it had a customer who hit 7 royals in one day and 17 over the course of 3 days....now how did they do that??  Well, by setting their bank of VP machines with the advertisement to generate Royals at a rate 2 to 3 times higher than AVerage (like once every 15,000 hands instead of the usual once in every 42,000). Havent you ever installed a computer roleplaying or strategy game on your pc??  yOU CAN easily alter or weigh the combat results generator (which is nothing more than a Random Number generator) to favor or disfavor a certain side or player or unit.   That's all I am saying.....

[shadowman]

 Who knows.....I just know that today's incresingly sophisticated VP machines offer the user much more in terms of control than the old machines of the past, which only allowed casinos to alter paytables as a way to increase or decrease the take from VP machines....it is the RESULTS, the actual hands that drive the game, and now casinos have control over that.  why is that so hard for people to aaccept??


 
Silly nonsense. None of what you say is allowed by Nevada gaming regulation 14.04.
 
You are claiming casinos, the Nevada Gaming Commission and manufacturers like IGT are in collusion to break the law and not a single person has ever blown the whistle. Yeah, right.

[Quad Deuces]

"For gaming devices that are representative of live gambling games, the mathematical
probability of a symbol or other element appearing in a game outcome must be equal to the
mathematical probability of that symbol or element occurring in the live gambling game."Any regulation mandating a "payback percentage" for Video Poker machines would be in irreconcilable conflict with the above (14.040.2.b).

[DaBurglar]

Wow, you totally dont get my point.....read the regulation below and tell me what I said "violates" what it says!?!?!14.040 Minimum standards for gaming devices. All gaming devices submitted for approval:
1. Must theoretically pay out a mathematically demonstrable percentage of all amounts wagered, which must not be less than 75 percent for each wager available for play on the device.
(a) Gaming devices that may be affected by player skill must meet this standard when using a method of play that will provide the greatest return to the player over a period of continuous play.
(b) The chairman may waive the 75 percent standard if the manufacturer can show to the chairman’s satisfaction that this requirement inhibits design of the device or is inappropriate under the circumstances, the device theoretically pays out at least 75 percent of all wagers made when all wagers are played equally, and the device otherwise meets the standards of subsections 2 through 6. A waiver will be effective when the manufacturer receives written notification from the chairman that this standard will be waived pursuant to this paragraph. A waiver of this standard pursuant to this paragraph is not an approval of the device.
2. Must use a random selection process to determine the game outcome of each play of a game. The random selection process must meet 95 percent confidence limits using a standard chi-squared test for goodness of fit.
(a) Each possible permutation or combination of game elements which produce winning or losing game outcomes must be available for random selection at the initiation of each play.
(b) For gaming devices that are representative of live gambling games, the mathematical probability of a symbol or other element appearing in a game outcome must be equal to the mathematical probability of that symbol or element occurring in the live gambling game. For other gaming devices, the mathematical probability of a symbol appearing in a position in any game outcome must be constant.
(c) The selection process must not produce detectable patterns of game elements or detectable dependency upon any previous game outcome, the amount wagered, or upon the style or method of play.
3. Must display an accurate representation of the game outcome. After selection of the game outcome, the gaming device must not make a variable secondary decision which affects the result shown to the player

[Quad Deuces]

That regulation covers both Slot machines and Video Poker machines.  The regulation that specifies Video Poker (and Video BJ, Keno, etc) machines must be fair is also there at 14.040.2.b.The probability of win on a Video Poker machine is determined by the (random) cards dealt, the cards the player holds, the (random) cards drawn, and the paytable.