Here's my VP strategy...

[macaroo]

 I too play the stair step method of betting especially on DW machines.  My local Racino is not a RNG based game.  It is based on a lottery system and the games are preloaded with so many winning hands.  I know this, but it is the only game in town and it is only 5 minutes away.  I also like to bounce around until I find a machine that is player friendly!
  Case in point,  this last 4 th of July was a rain day here.  The Racino was packed with players and nothing was paying off.  After a frustating day I was down an substantal amount I decided to call it a day and retire to the bar to have a couple of cocktails.  Since where I was sitting had a VP machine in front of it, I inserted a couple of bucks into it.  Instantly I recognized that this bugger was hot to trot and wanted to pay.  To make a long story short, I maximinzes my betting and hit 4 Wild Cards  for a jackpot.  This wiped out my losses for the day and let me go home happy.

[kjoh]

The law in Nevada and most other states require that the machines be random and fair
 
And here is where the debate really begins.  Nevada, the state that has legal prostitution!   Nevada a  state where basically one city finances the entire state.  A state where politicians  will do anything to make sure that the casinos win and win big so they can fill the pockets of not only the state coffers but the guys who run the state.  Do a bit of WWW research on the Nevada Gov. and the scandles it has been involved in over the years,  and then tell me that the gambling regulators are going to give us gamblers a totally fair shake.   Yep and Clinton never had sex and Bush is a right wing conservative, Gore never wastes energy, and Hillary isn't a man hating woman libber.
 
Gambling is just that.  A gamble.  Play for fun, don't spend more than you can afford to loose and if you win grab your money and  run like crazy....1 a : to play a game for money or property b : to bet on an uncertain outcome
2 : to stake something on a contingency : take a chance

[oej719]

all very good points.

[shadowman]

Kjoh, most of your points about the state of NV are right on.  However, there is one point that overrides all others. The casinos want everyone to know the game is FAIR. Their very existence depends on it. The casinos don't want to cheat anybody. They already they have the advantage without cheating and that's the way they want to keep it.
 
The same is true of the machine manufacturers. They have share holders and they understand that if they produced illegal machines and their competitors profited from that discovery they would pay the "corporate" price. Management heads would role. So, you can count on them to do the right thing for themselves which translates into fair machines. 
 
Everyone loves a good conspiracy theory. However, sometimes things are exactly as they are advertised.

[kjoh]

Shadowman, you are a good man.  Probably a conservative, mid western  Baptist, Republican...LOL  
 
What the casinos want us to know and what is fact may indeed be a conspiracy....This is an industry that was controlled by the Mafia not all that long ago, and people still flocked there.
 
I'm a share holder in IGT and have been for years.  They make a good product and I'm sure that whatever they make is totally legal.  However, I'm not sure that what they produce, ie: programs and games are what we the consumer may think they are. 
 
Many things are legal but that doesn't always translate into things that are in our best interest.   However I will admit I  read conspiracy theories a bit...The bottom line with me is I just love the game so I'm going to play no matter what.  RNG or PROGRAM.   Who knows for sure.   And either way no one is making us put our money into the machine.... 

[cddenver]

Nevada a  state where basically one city finances the entire state.  A state where politicians  will do anything to make sure that the casinos win and win big so they can fill the pockets of not only the state coffers but the guys who run the state.  Do a bit of WWW research on the Nevada Gov. and the scandles it has been involved in over the years,  and then tell me that the gambling regulators are going to give us gamblers a totally fair shake.
 
I'll disagree with you, starting with a point you made to support your argument to support mine.  In NV, regulators recognize the importance of Vegas to the state economy.  They also know that each and every year  more opportunities for gamblers to spend their money elsewhere come up, with the spread of gaming to more and more states.  Competition. Here in CO we're currently small stakes ($5 limit per bet).  Every few years there are initiatives here to raise the stakes limit.  I think at some point that will pass, and Vegas will lose some business from gamblers in this region that it currently gets.  So, in NV there is a real incentive on the part of regulators to keep the games there honest.
 
Politicians don't need to "do anything" to make sure the casinos win big - negative return games operating in a random manner are enough to do that (the more you play, the more you lose).  When a casino wants to increase profits, it can simply lower the paytables and hope that not too much of its clientele notices and moves on to other casinos.  They can also introduce new games that give gamblers more ways to lose money.  I've yet to hear any reason as to why anything over and above that needs to be done to make sure more money goes into the casinos than comes out.
 
Any industry involving lots of dollars is also going to have shenanigans of one sort or another.  I'd consider those to be exceptions to the rule, and it's really not fair to support general arguments using special cases.  Here in CO the casinos get cited regularly for violations of one sort or another, mainly of a technical nature (not getting machines upgraded by certain dates, things like that) and not attempts to cheat or defraud customers.  I'd be the first to say that more teeth need to be added to the penalties for serious violations.
 
Every company in any regulated industry has a steady diet of violations to deal with, sometimes serious but usually of the "phoo-phoo" variety.  That's not something special to gaming.  For twenty years I worked for another Great Satan (Qwest) and dealt with regulators in many states on a regular basis.  That usually involved getting lumps of one form or another (small, medium, and large).  Regulators recognize the importance of a large company like that to the local economy, but in my experience they always considered the interests of the consumers to be more important.  If anyone here knows someone in the gaming industry who deals with regulators, they will confirm that it is usually NOT pleasant.
 
 
 

[shadowman]

Shadowman, you are a good man.  Probably a conservative, mid western  Baptist, Republican...LOL  

 
One out of four. Hope you weren't betting on this one.
 
I think cddenver covered it all. Not to mention I have personal experience with winning year in and year out. Part of the reason I win each year is that I'm not really a gambler. I look for the very best plays even at rather low denoms. So, while it can be a roller coaster ride, the probabilities really do work out over time and that verifies to me that the games are fair.

[rascal]

Really, just follow the earnings reports and the dividends produced by the public gaming corporations and you will realize that casinos are wonderful cash cows. What casino manager in his right mind would risk losing a wonderful cash cow by rigging the games? When you can make a fortune legally, why would you need to go to the dark side?

[cddenver]

What casino manager in his right mind would risk losing a wonderful cash cow by rigging the games? When you can make a fortune legally, why would you need to go to the dark side?
 
Oh!  You said about what I said, but simpler.
 
I would like to add to what I said about stiffer penalties for violations.  At the company I worked for, management didn't seem to take violations very seriously until regulators began threatening executives with jail time for chronic problems.  *THAT* got their attention.  I'd like to see something like that for gaming.

[faygo]

[QUOTE]
 
Oh!  You said about what I said, but simpler.
 
I would like to add to what I said about stiffer penalties for violations.  At the company I worked for, management didn't seem to take violations very seriously until regulators began threatening executives with jail time for chronic problems.  *THAT* got their attention.  I'd like to see something like that for gaming.[/QUOTE]
 
Scoundrels and thieves! Hang them all!
Wait, then I'd have no place to lose my money!
Could just throw it in the river?