thoughts on Mohegan Sun

[Cranky pants]

Hi
I frequent the Mohegan Sun and have been a steady player for many years. I've noticed some significant changes. I've gone from Sagamore level to just a players club. The reason being some machines are not giving points, payables have been tightened up and give aways are non existent. To top it off the free play has been significantly reduced.
Any one else notice these major changes or am I imagining things ? I think the Mohegan is making drastic moves to save money, and by doing so the loyal patrons like myself are going to be looking else where to spend my gaming money.

[gregorio]

Yes, indeed as of August 2011 the Mohegan Sun no longer gives player club points for playing video poker machines, so if you want Sagamore status you'll have to play regular slots. I guess they figured video poker players are so addicted to it, they'll play anyway. Foxwoods is the alternative if you want to stay local. However, there is nothing like Vegas if you want to play VP, even though even Vegas Casinos are slowly removing video poker machines in favor of slots.What a shame!!!!!!!

[spoofapp]

I feel really sad about Mohegan Suns situation. I was a sagamore for all of 2011 and things just really have gone down hill with them. I probably spend 75% of my time playing video poker and this no points for video poker deal has turned me into a Foxwoods only player.

The free play for Sagamore members has become a joke. Its around $100 - $150 in free play every month which is laughable if you think about how much play it takes to reach and maintain Sagamore status.. Foxwoods offered me that much after only playing at their casino for a few hours.

Heres a tip i can you give about Foxwoods...

Foxwoods hosts are WELL aware of Mohegan's situation, and they know things are not looking good for them with this soon to be MA casino competition. With that said, I had a nice conversation with a Foxwoods host introducing myself and telling them that i was interested in taking my play from Mohegan to Foxwoods. I showed them my Sagamore card and they upgraded me from wild card to an Ace card member without having dropped a grand into the machines.

After my trip to Foxwoods, they even called me up to see what i though about my time at Foxwoods. Sorry Mohegan, i love you to death, the atmosphere at your casino is awesome, your rooms are amazing, but i need to get some more out of playing at your casino and i hate to say it because it hurts you and me, but Foxwoods has it.

[4625601]

i went to mohegan for probably my last time last night...i am strictly vp player and was sagamore for last 5 years...out of 1600 pts needed i made 1300 oct 2011-april 2012..about 1/3 of my play was on machines that give no points..so if they had not initiated the cuts during 2011 i would have easily maintained my status..when i started playing it was 90$ in for one pt...they then doubled that to 180$ in for the same pt...and in 2010 they raised it again to 270$ in for 1 pt...as others have stated free play became a joke going from 75-100 2 or 3 times a mth to 25 2 or 3 times a mth...there is no doubt in my mind that they have "juiced "the machines starting in 2010..cutting pay tables is to be expected but the 4 of a kind frequencies dropped drastically..it was nothing to go thru 500 playing quarters with no 4 of a kinds...it is now so bad that most 4 of a kinds are dealt or on a 5 card redraw...i can not remember the last time i drew a 4 of a kind on 2 or 3 of a kind on the deal...they also have installed these obnoxious screen shrinkers that are distracting(maybe intentional)and unless u have 20/20 vision make it difficult to read hands..at least once every time i go a machine jams and you sometimes have to wait 1/2 hr for a floor person to fix it...they have 10 times more floor sweepers than machine attendants...it used to be you could go there and feel that u had a 50/50 shot at winning....no more....maybe thats the way they want it...to get rid of all vp and replace them all w/penny slots..i overheard 3 floor people talking to a floor mgr complaing they arent making any $ because there are not many machines "lighting up" meaning 1200 or more hits...the floor manager said "i know but what can i do about it"..i know what i am going to do about it...i have already got fee rfb thru a fellow player w/harrahs properties in a/c..i can only do that once a month so like the last respondent did i am going to foxwoods and try them

[DaBurglar]

This should surprise no one, considering the awful financial position that the wamponoag (sp?) tribal gaming corporation finds itself in these days, its debt is massive and is threatening their viability both short and long term....they are desperate to raise revenue to build one of the three new properties in Massachusetts, but that will take years (3 to 5) to come online and impact their books, so they are squeezing what few drops of "blood" they can out of their turnips by cutting comps and rigging machines to pay virtually nothing.   Juicing/rigging video poker machines to alter the actual cards and hands dealt occurs more frequently than people think....simply cutting the paytables is NOT the only way casinos can influence video poker machines.  The computer programing that is in the latest vp machines is simply a random number generATOR tweaked to fulfill the requirements of the game of video poker.  The machines are calibrated (during initial setup and during periodic reboots and maintenance sessions) to allow the casino to change the typical results that would normally appear over time if the game was left alone and allowed to just spit out true random results.  The casino can, if they choose, tell a machine to deal certain results (hands) like royals, or four of a kind, on a more frequent, or less frequent basis than normal. The harsh reality that we see these days in all gaming markets, including vegas, a/c, reno and everywhere else, is that casino gambling is no longer the foolproof, "SURE THING" that corporations used to enjoy.....the recession and the resulting debt loads and blown plans reinforce this;  the largest gaming corporation in the world, Caesars (formerly Harrahs) currently has a debt load of 30+ BILLION dollars, even with their 50 odd large properties all over the world.....these idiotic corporations road the wave of success through the 2007 crash as if it would never end, building and adding on ever greater monstrosities, until they hit the wall, and now they are struggling to just survive.

[mrgrandpiano]

Evidence of RNG "tweaking"?

[edog743]

Daburgular, last time I checked slander is still a crime. Unless you have solid evidence to the contrary you should probably cease and desist from making accusations you cannot back up with fact.

[EDC1977]

Why would they risk losing their gaming license to increase revenue? Whether you're Native American or a conglomerate owner, fiddling with the RNG is just plain foolish. Highly unlikely unless there's proof.

[DaBurglar]

slander???  wtf   You guys cannot be this naive.  You automatically assume, everytime the issue of "fooling" with the games comes up, that a casino (at all employee levels) is going to NEVER do the wrong thing because they are just "automatically going to lose their license"...???  Come on... Do you even have a clue how the whole investigative process works with the various gaming commissions, in Nevada, in New Jersey, in Connecticut?   There are huge differences in each state just in protocol and procedure alone, not to mention punishment, but in the unlikely event a casino was caught redhanded with even one rigged VP machine, they'd be given every chance and opportunity to simply fix the machine, pay a fine, say a prayer, whatever, the proverbial slap on the wrist before it ever gets to "losing their license".... When I say a machine is rigged, I base it on my objective evidence of extremely BAD play results (like the aforementioned poster at the Mohegan who had 500 plus hands with NO quads or anything else much good)....I have encountered many machines in many places where ridiculously bad results were experienced, like blowing through 400-500 bucks on a 25 cent 8/5 BP machine in 60-70 minutes, where I had multiple streaks of zero value-non paying hands numbering 40 plus in a row, and I am sure some of these machines were fixed to pay almost nothing (of course I have also found some machines that were ridiculously GOOD indicating they were possibly rigged in FAVOR of the player.)  Its a game within the game that the casinos play to try and keep the balance sheet positive.  Remember, these are desperate times....who disagrees with that?  And if a casino is faced with bankruptcy/oblivion, even if it did mean risking losing a license outright, don't you think it's possible SOME might decide they have nothing to lose at that point??  why is that IMPOSSIBLE to fathom or believe??? But suppose I report my "bad" result to a gaming commision...do you honestly think they just mobilize the goons and bust into the casino and demand to examine the innards of the machine I claim robbed me???  um noooo    In fact, they could have dozens of complaints before they even start to think about investigating, simply because it is quite common for gaming commisions to get irate complaints from players who lost who "swear" they were cheated. 

[faygo]

slander???  wtf  
 

 
it is quite common for gaming commisions to get irate complaints from players who lost who "swear" they were cheated.
 

 
I agree with this statement.