Is dream card a fair game?

[shadowman]

         4.  jazzman12 is a new poster here --- at least by that name. Welcome. You are clearly knowledgeable and willing to share your knowledge. Similar in some ways to Shadowman, who hasn't posted here recently. Whether you are the same guy or not, welcome.


 
Not.

[DaBurglar]

I've played a crapload of Dreamcard poker at Caesars AC since the beginning of this year...... to put it in perspective, from early March thru last Sunday (june 29) I earned 13,900 tier points on my Total Rewards Card, of which slightly more than 12,900 were on the Dreamcard games on the Five Star Machines near the Horsey Parlor.  Since I played exclusively 25 cent denomination with the full 10 credits bet everytime, and since it takes four (4) hands of Dreamcard @25cents max coin bet to earn 1 tier point.....ergo, I played in excess of 50,000 hands of Dreamcard during this time.   I think this qualifies me as a short term expert.....Including my very last trip from last week (which btw, was a complete f-ing disaster, but more on that later in my other thread),  I finished this "50,000 hand mega-session" with a net Profit of around $850 playing the dreamcard game(s), and this includes several really awesome sessions which I posted about earlier in a different thread but also includes several incredibly AWFUL, frustrating sessions that had me swearing out loud at times becuase the machine(s) simply would not deal ANYTHING remotely worthwhile.   IS it a fair game....??   I hesitantly say YES, but with reservations based solely on my experience and results......consider the following: 1)  Even though I showed a small profit after all my long arduous playing sessions, and when/IF you include the "benefits" from my total rewards card the profit is obviously greater, I cannot say that this game is any better or worse than other VP offerings....it does, however, require a little more thought and awareness/alertness simply because of the nature of the dreamcard feature/function, so that, if you are someone who likes to kick back and relax and have a few BREWSKIS or Wine Coolers or shots of Tequilla while playing, you might want to look elsewhere....this game can be a Buzzkill if you cannot think and drink at the same time! 2)  The Volatility of this (Dreamcard) game is about as Combustible as a room filled with the National Soccer Team of Mexico eating a Postgame Victory Celebration of Rice and BEEAAAANS and guzzling Dos Equis Beer...in other words, EXPLOSIVE!   Your Bankroll(s) can, and will, easily and rapidly vanish (poof) like farts in the wind if you hit extended periods of nothingness (which you inevitably will).   Even if you do get a lot of Dreamcards they still can easily amount to NOTHING and that 10 credit bet you are obliged to make each hand looms forebodingly large the longer you go without hitting any large payoff.....it is not, repeat NOT, enough to simply hit a fullhouse or even quads at regular intervals and expect to at least stay in the game.   On just about every game selection available on Dreamcard, you will LOSE money hitting 2 pair (except with JOB, where you BREAK EVEN hitting 2 pair), and on the Deuces wild game, you LOSE money hitting three of a kind and BREAKEVEN hitting a straight!!!   In other words, BRING lots of cash you can afford to kiss goodbye. 3)  The Dreamcard selection criteria for all 6 game variants available appears to select the BEST card to complete your hand almost ALL THE TIME, but I did notice several consistently questionable (and in one case downright BAD/wrong) dreamcard selections the computer tries to throw at you:         a -  in JOB, anytime the Dreamcard is activated on a hand where the first four cards are some combo of suited 10 J Q K A  in two of the four cards and the other two cards are random garbage, the Dreamcard will always be posted as one of the remaining 3 cards to the royal.   Example:   Jh  8c  3d  Ah  is dealt and the Dreamcard popsup as either K or Q of hearst ("h") with the subsequent idea being we hold the three cards to a royal and go for it.......BUT, is this really the best play hand after hand?  I have found myself, when I am behind and not hitting diddlypoop, I will change the Dreamer to match one of the face cards giving me AT LEAST a pair of Jacks or Better and drawing with that to hopefully catch two pair or trips or whatever, thus making bankroll preservation a priority here.....if I am ahead, however, I will often go with the computer recomendation and try for the Royal.         b-  in Deuces Wild, theoretically the BEST dreamcard game variant to play in terms of payback, there is one HUGE HUGE fiasco that the Dreamcard tries to perpetrate on the unsuspecting player, and I had this EXACT scenario happen to me a total of three times, on three of the four different five star machines at Caesars;  check this out........I was dealt the following hand on 25 cent deuces wild:   2w  Jd  2w   2w     and then I heard the lovely soft female computer voice say "dreamcard....winner!"    As I'm about to pump my fist in celebrating my scoring 1000 credits with the fourth wild deuce, my eyes instead see the following appear as my "dreamcard"...... Ad !?!?!?!    WTF!?!?!?   The computer gave me a Wild Royal Flush instead of putting up the fourth deuce for the 1000 credit payoff, even highlighting the paytable payline of 125 credits for the wild royal flush.       This happened to me 2 other times each on a different machine.....after recovering from my intitial shock/disbelief I carefully changed the dreamcard(s) to the correct Deuce  card and hit draw and received my 1000 credits.    Just BEWARE this awful pitfall.    

[BillyJoe]

I, too, spent some time at the Five Star Machines in Caesars AC on my last visit. I liked the machines, since they included TDB in many offerings, which is my game of choice, and offered a $1 play denomination. I played a lot of Double Pay, but also dallied with DreamCard. I do not play JOB or DW.
 

I do not track the number of hands that I play, but I will say that I found the frequency of which the DC came up while playing $1 TDB to be very enjoyable on that particular bank. Yes, I had my share of real poor starting hands with a DC, but that happens. Overall, though, my impression was that those machines gave me what I was looking for out of a 'bonus' game like DreamCard - that is, a lot of DreamCards. There is nothing worst than paying for a 'bonus' that you never see. On any return trip to AC, I would not hesitate to play them.

[DaBurglar]

^^^Billyjoe   FYI:    And I may be stating the obvious to you here, but with Totalrewards games where you use your card, it is very easy to track you total number of hands played, simply note the number of points you have earned before you log out (or conversely, note the number of tier points you have as your beginning TOTAL Balance)......knowing that for Video Poker it takes $10 coin to earn one (1) tier point, it is easy!    In your case, if you are playing $1 credits, and you are betting Max coin each dreamcard hand, everytime you are dealt a hand you are earning 1 full tier point!   I always keep meticulous records whenever and wherever i play so i find playing at all Total rewards casinos exceptionally easy to keep score.  Those four games at Caesars offering Five Star are incredibly STREAKY and really tempermental.   Not only was my week long playing there incredibly lousy, but everyone else I was watching or playing next to did crappy as well, NO one hit anything worth noticingd all the while I was in or around these machines (which was a LOT of hours).....it really is a little troubling that these supposed random machines go so completely cold for extended periods of time like this......and while they also do get "hot" seemingly at times and I have had some good wins there, the "hot" periods are NEVER as long or extensive as the "cold" spells.....

[BillyJoe]

Well, Burglar, I know that I COULD count the number of hands I play, but then, what would I do with that information? Personally, I do not care about hands - just results and comps.
 

As for that bank of Five Star machines, they are also able to be played at lower denominations, so without a hand-pay trigger, I am not sure how you can determine how anyone else is doing. They may be getting quality hands, with several hundred dollar in payoffs, playing at a lower level denom, which would still equate to a good return for their investment.

[oxymoron]

Thanks for sharing here Bob.