THE SWITCH

[FloridaPhil]

I do believe many casinos would like video poker to go away. Why else do they keep reducing the number of machines? It would be interesting to hear what the experts have to say about this.

[olds442jetaway]

I really believe the casinos would like to eliminate video poker all together. There is virtually no maintenance on these machines they do continue to reduce the numbers of machines in play and for the most part place them in the most inconvenient and disruptive parts of the casino. Pay tables are being reduced across the country. In Connecticut the player return on SlotZ is somewhere around 90% that does include returns on video poker. Both casinos in Connecticut still have some 99% Machines. They also have quite a few 95% machines no one plays absolutely perfect play but even so factoring in video poker with regular slots makes it obvious that the return on what us video poker players call slots is somewhat less than 90%. If I had a business and could make more mommy one way and the other with no additional cost I would do the same thing. What I think the casinos are missing and do not take into account how are the hours and hours and hours of play video poker players give the casino. If they looked at the average loss in cash per year per patron on slot players and then look at the loss per year of video poker players I think the casinos would be very surprised. I have already posted about using myself as an example. They got 1/3 of my coin in in 2018 compared to 2017. Based on the first three months of 2019 they are going to get about 1/2 of my 2018 already reduced play in 2019. We all know that total coin in means money for the casinos. The more coin in the more money they make. Well that’s my take on everything anyway. I am actually on my way up as we speak to Mohegan sun but plan on a nice relaxing evening with a few Perrone‘s hey hopefully not too bad for me dinner maybe a little TV R&R and maybe even a little video poker. I think just for the heck of it like I posted above I will jump around machine to machine tonight just to see what happens unless it is too aggravating everyone have a safe trip if you are traveling. Sorry about some of the mistakes in grammar punctuation etc. but I’m using Siri and don’t want to even try to post anything while I’m driving. Good luck and as always good health. Period. Olds no Siri 0LDS

[tech58]

Serious good luck at Moh.
Royal report pending?

[case]

Casinos do not want to eliminate video poker. Why would they? They make money off those machines. If they removed the vp those players would not go to play slots. Most would quit going altogether. Also many bring a spouse who might play slots and they might lose that business as well. If they removed all the vp you would see the profits go down a lot.

My home casino is very large and they have not reduced the pay table OR any machines. I mean at one time casinos were very over crowded and all casinos have opened up more walking space but that is a different issue.

If I find a machine with sticky buttons or something else I call for service and have it fixed. If they can't do it right away I ask them to shut it down and they always do. They are glad I brought it too their attention because with out our help they do not know there is a problem. Players have a responsibility to keep things playable and working right.

[olds442jetaway]

I think your casino is an exception but im glad for you

[FloridaPhil]

I think your casino is an exception but im glad for you

Definitely an exception. Everywhere we go, the number of video poker machines has declined. There was a day when video poker was grouped by denomination with rows and rows of machines. Progressives were common. If you go back before the financial meltdown, the average house edge was around 1%. Today, it's more like 2-3%. Back then, casinos made errors and you could find games with an advantage.

When we go to a new casino today we have to hunt for video poker. When we find it, the odds are terrible. The Scarlet Pearl in Mississippi is a good example. This beautiful new casino is full of new video slots with only a few video poker machines stuck in the back. The machines that are there aren't worth playing.

Maintenance on video poker machines all over the country is terrible at best. I am convinced casinos are using poor maintenance to increase the house edge on video poker. In many casinos, video poker is ineligible for bonus comps or no comps at all. At the Mohegan Sun, you get to choose between decent odds with no comps and bad odds with comps.

I can think of many reasons for this situation. The first is obvious, video poker players have become better players. With training software and more knowledge, players have significantly reduced the profit on these machines. Secondly, I believe casinos want to attract younger gamblers. They believe younger gamblers are attracted to video slots over video poker because they play action video games. The joke is younger gamblers hate losing even more than older ones. The third reason is financial pressure from governments. Many of the newer casinos made deals with the States in order to be approved. The States aren't getting the money they thought they would, so they put pressure on the casino to increase their profit.

I predict video poker will eventually go the way of "Pong". As long as a few will play the game, it will remain in the back of the bus. The odds will be reduced to a point where the return is equal to slots. Right now, the worst video poker game I have seen is 95% nickel video poker. Those machines are so full you can't get a seat. In a few years, I predict 95% will be sought out as the best game to play.

Vegas and Atlantic City will be hold outs. There is enough competition and demand there to keep video poker. At least for awhile longer.

[Webman]

Rather than locking yet another thread, I've deleted the recent posts that were purely personal instead of adding to a group discussion.

[tech58]

I think your casino is an exception but im glad for you

Strongly agree. Wonder where case plays?
Thanks Webman, same cast of characters?

[FloridaPhil]

Rather than locking yet another thread, I've deleted the recent posts that were purely personal instead of adding to a group discussion.

Thank you. I would like to see more members initiate their own posts. Surely their must be something going on in our casinos that we can talk about?

How about this? The food at the Tampa Hard Rock coffee shop is great!

[advantage playe]

hey olds I didn't forget the dinner and drinks I owe you if I get to foxwoods !