The "New" VP machines/games

[DaBurglar]

My recent trip to AC (june 7 thru 18) saw me dabbling with the "new" machines prevalent throughout Ballys and CAesars, the machines that combine the tabletop style with the vertical screen, with big rubber cushion seats and the hard metallic buttons replacing the plastic buttons of old.   The new machines are obviously server based, as in the case of both Ballys and Caesars there were "many" progressive machines on display and they were all tied together by the same jackpot(s).I personally HATE these new machines and NOT for the reasons you'd assume.......while it is true the play results from these new machines suck,  the really crappy feature of these new machines is the shear DISCOMFORT they produce.Has anyone else here noticed how HARD the buttons actually are to depress?    It is especially uncomfortable if you like to play fast and are used to hitting the buttons with some force (and speed), the new buttons just do not have the 'give" the old buttons did, such that when you have played for 15 minutes on the new machines, you begin to feel an acute soreness in you joints and hand, and your wrist feels like it was caught in a vise!The old buttons (plastic) on the old machines were easy to depress and had very little resistance to being depressed.......not the case with the new machines!   And if that was not enough, when I was in Caesars AC last week,  at least five (5!) of the "new" machines had buttons (hold/dont hold) that actually were defective (i.e. sticky or unable to work)!!!     

[Vman96]

Yes I definitely hate the new IGT machines. I don't like the design at all.

[BillyJoe]

I figure that the new machines need to get 'broken in' a bit, which should make the buttons more responsive.

As far as comfort, if I found a new machine that paid regularly, I would stand on my head to play it.

[DaBurglar]

I figure that the new machines need to get 'broken in' a bit, which should make the buttons more responsive.

As far as comfort, if I found a new machine that paid regularly, I would stand on my head to play it. yes well that certainly goes without saying!     If I found a machine that pays out, I'd probably put up with anything short of internal bleeding to keep playing......!  And it is also why I prefaced my comment by also pointing out that, thus far, from both my own limited play, as well as the more extensive play results I have seen and observed in friends and other people who play the new machines at Ballys and Caesars AC, these new machines are even worse than the ones they replaced in terms of results, which is truly saying something.   One really huge difference I have noticed is with these new server based games, it is far less likely to get on the proverbial "role" we all have experienced in the past....where you catch a veritable string of significant wins, perhaps 3 or 4 quads within a hundred hand span, or a crapload of fullhouses coupled with a premium quad....you know what I mean.     with these new machines it seems a lot more spread out....almost as if they are forcibly performing close to expected statistical results (like ONLY getting a quad at roughly every 450-500 hands, or fullhouses every 90 hands ...... etc etc)     This has the effect of consistently producing sessions where you follow a consistent pattern in terms of credits level.......you fall into a early hole and stay there, occasionally rising back up when you hit a quad, but falling a little further behind until the next quad shows up, and so on and so on.......unless or until you are the lucky stiff who happens to be there for hand number 50,001 from when the last royal was hit, and then BOOM, the next royal pops in and up and you have the chance to be one of the precious few to walk away a signigicant winner.....UNLESS you keep playing!At least with the old machines with the own individual chips and RNGs, the possibility of catching lightning in a bottle and getting a string of huge hands was always a possibility, and the hope with which we all began our playing sessions with......One last point......in Ballys AC, over by the Chinese Restaurant on the main casino floor, there is a bank of 5 progressive new machines that feature a 25 cents 3 line version of 8/5 bonus poker ( a theoretical 99.2% game)    there are three royal progressives, one for each line, as well as a fourth progressive for a dealt royal that fills all three lines.     Now when I first saw this game almost 5 months ago, soon after the Ballys casino was remodeled and these new machines were installed, I had my hopes elevated because here was actually a paytable that the previous Ballys rarely offered at the 25 cent level!    But after playing about 12,000 total hands and experiencing a actual 79% return and a 61% dud/zero value hand rate, as well as observing other players get likewise slaughtered, my hopes are dashed.   These new server based set ups bode ill for all of us, whether casual, serious or professional players.

[olds442jetaway]

The new machines s..k period!! My favorites are the old worn out plastic buttons that require the slightest touch to respond. The only downside to that is you may deal before you hold the cards. We are probably going to end up with carpal tunnel or worse if we don't have it already.

[KingofAmerica]

I have to agree about the new machines. I played quite a bit of high stakes VP at Harrah's last year and had very good results. Normally multiple hand pays per trip. Even when luck wasn't so good, I got quite a lot of play out of my buy in before busting. Since CET switched to the new machines my results have been dreadful. Lost almost every trip, with noticeably fewer quads and very few hands that were even playable. I finally vowed to quit CET and only play at casinos that still had the older machines, and my results have been drastically better. At first I attributed this to random luck, but I now firmly believe the new machines are less advantageous to the player, for whatever reason.

[ko king]

While I've pretty much quit playing I have to agree that the new machines are complete crap, if I didn't know better I would think they came from China. I had a lot of trouble with the buttons not holding cards and most of the time it was the button for the first card, it really cost me a few winning hands so I quit playing them. The old style machines can still be found at a couple of casinos in this area but I don't really care anymore, I've grown tired of the bad results and paytables.

[tommiedee]

While I've pretty much quit playing I have to agree that the new machines are complete crap, if I didn't know better I would think they came from China. I had a lot of trouble with the buttons not holding cards and most of the time it was the button for the first card, it really cost me a few winning hands so I quit playing them. The old style machines can still be found at a couple of casinos in this area but I don't really care anymore, I've grown tired of the bad results and paytables.

[tommiedee]

Agreed, found many similar vp machines at Harrahs and Borgata in which I lost a few winning hands due to stuck buttons, some screens too!  Just walked away in disgust, hard enough to win without the distractions.  Why can't they fix them during mid week when most places are dead??

[tommiedee]

Hey, I know a guy who hit the progressive royal on that bank of 3 hand machines this past April or May, I believe it was just under 15K.  We are all regulars around the VP machines at Harrahs, we were in a cafe line and passing the time when he told me about his fortunes at Ballys. But I also agree that the new machines have cost me  fortune everytime time I have gone this year.  Lost big, especially in the Diamond Cove $5 machines.  Used to be time when you hit a nice one 10K or 20K to keep you coming back, haven't had one of those at any CET properties in a long time.