MAssachusetts CAsino wars are heating up

[notes1]

ko, the recession may be officially over, but don't try telling that to millions, who are still waiting. household incomes have still not recovered to 2006 levels. i liked your story about the business takeover and how it refers to the attitude of the casino industry.  just reading the different threads on this website, it is amazing the number of players who have cut their play, reduced their play or stopped temporarily/altogether. the industry needs to change away from only having 'steve wynn' type properties. i would have more confidence in that happening, if the government were not so involved in every aspect of the gaming business. if it were truely a free market, with the government only involved to protect the consumer, i think we would have a better chance of things improving.

[ko king]

ko, the recession may be officially over, but don't try telling that to millions, who are still waiting. household incomes have still not recovered to 2006 levels. i liked your story about the business takeover and how it refers to the attitude of the casino industry.  just reading the different threads on this website, it is amazing the number of players who have cut their play, reduced their play or stopped temporarily/altogether. the industry needs to change away from only having 'steve wynn' type properties. i would have more confidence in that happening, if the government were not so involved in every aspect of the gaming business. if it were truely a free market, with the government only involved to protect the consumer, i think we would have a better chance of things improving.

I was being a bit sarcastic when it comes to the recession being over, let's just say it may not be as bad as it was. Best casino I have ever had the pleasure of playing in was The Grand in Tunica, hands down, no other casino I've ever stepped foot in can hold a candle to that place. The Grand was packed 7 days a week, an exciting, electrifying atmosphere. We used to walk the floors just to look at all the jackpots, back then I played a lot of slots also and hit jackpots all the time. There used to be a bank of about 60-80 (can't remember the exact number) $1 slot machines that were arranged to form a square, inside the square the casino had 2 employees that only handled hand pays or any other issue that popped up, tough to get on those machines, The same thing went for the video poker machines, many times I had to wait on getting a machine to play, it was rare that I didn't see a royal flush or two every time I went, hit my share also. Anyway the casino was bought by Harrah's I believe, first thing that happened was all the video poker machines were replaced (nothing was wrong with the machines that were there, no sticky buttons or screen issues, well taken care of), the square of slot machines were removed also and replaced with new machines. Players weren't happy with the changes but the crowds were still present. You couldn't help but notice that there didn't seem to be quite as many jackpots when you walked the floor, people were still playing the machines like crazy but things had seemed to be a bit slower, little less excitement and electricity in the air. Same went for video poker machines, where had all the royal flushes gone to all of the sudden. I knew a couple that were at the Grand every time I went, they told me they were retired so they spent most of their free time playing vp. They said they averaged hitting around 50 royals a year between the two of them, that's a lot of vp no matter how you look at it. Anyway the first year playing on the new machines they only hit two royals and lost a ton playing that year. I didn't hit a single one that same year but I managed to hold my own by hitting everything else, I was surviving without the royal flush. The same thing went on for years, I couldn't hit royals but the other hands were popping up like one would expect, no real complaints from me but others seemed to be a little ticked off. Then came Caesar's Entertainment as the new owners, things seemed to rock along about the same for several years, not good but still decent, still drawing a respectable crowd. It really took a while for things to get bad, every year the cost of playing was going up, took it's toll on players. The casinos were either the victims of mean machines or changes had been made. I continued to play there because I'm a creature of habit and it didn't get really bad for me until a few years ago, even the quad aces were getting harder to find, quit playing the slots completely, wouldn't touch one. The last 10 years I played in Tunica I only hit 2 royal flushes and I played a ton of vp, only saw two others hit by other players. First year I started playing away from Tunica I hit 4 royals that year, next year 3, the royals were back just not at Tunica. To this day I continue to hit royals, I've had 6 dealt royals in the last 5 years so it's easy to see I play a lot of vp. Now I know a lot of people on this site will swear by the RNG's and say they're completely random, I don't believe it for one second, I've seen all I need to see. There was one casino in Tunica that I played at because they still had the old style machines, hit royals at that place. That casino was also bought out by the big boys and the vp machines were replaced with the new style machines, never hit another royal there.

[notes1]

ko, years from now, when historians are writing the obituary about tunica casinos, they need to talk to you. 

[olds442jetaway]

For those of us who play between 500k and 2m hands a year, it is obvious that something is different in the way the machines pay out no matter what paytable is played. I still tend to think that the total number and type of each ending hand falls within the norms, but I think the big wins are all bunched together to make up for the long dud strings. I think they hope you run out of both time and money before those big hits come in and also hope they will suck in the people who just happen to hit the big ones close together. That is how I got sucked in to playing with a bigger budget some 6 years ago. I had a couple of trips where I would hit 2 Royals in one day, 2 dealt Royals in the same year just a couple of months apart, and strings of Aces with kickers. I think I just happened upon one of those pay everybody cycles for a short time. I have seen it happen many times since, but I have not been on the receiving end. Sometimes entire banks of machines will light up or the players will tell stories on how they only put a twnety and have been hitting and playing with the same money all day. Most of those players tend to take long pauses, move aroud, and not play a machine for too long. They are just lucky in catching the cycles. That is my opinion anyway.

[ko king]

ko, years from now, when historians are writing the obituary about tunica casinos, they need to talk to you. 


Well it would have to be based almost entirely on fiction, most of my rants contain nothing more than personal feelings and thoughts. I know it seems I do a lot of hating on Tunica but the truth is I miss something it once was and wonder what it could have been. As it stands now though I wouldn't shed a tear if there wasn't a single casino left in Tunica. I mean think about, if your business is experiencing declining revenues due to the lack of paying customers would you cut back on services and raise prices, seems like a recipe for disaster if you ask me. Common sense tells me the only true and lasting way to increase revenue is to attract more customers and you can't accomplish that by offering less. I'd love to see just one of these casinos break away from the pack and go on offense instead of playing defense. I'll say it again, I would love to have a shot at running just one casino there for a couple of years. I'd quit offering free alcohol, sell it for my actual cost, do away with most of the free offers also, maybe offer discounts based on play, cut all the extras to the bone and sink the savings back into the gaming and pay back percentages on all games.

[DaBurglar]

Thank you Ko king for those posts, I really enjoyed them and agree with everything you stated regarding the "changes" that have taken place, and I applaud your bold, forthright statement that "You do not believe for a second that the games these days are random", etc.    I hope your conviction is noticed by others here who insist on attacking me and harassing me for making the same statement/argument.And thank you olds for also supporting and backing this point up.....The undeniable, incontrovertible truth is that in the last 10 years, but especially the last 6-7 years, video poker games and machines have CHANGED to the extent that the premium hands (especially royals) simply do not show up any where near the same frequency.....SOMEHOW, the RNG technology has been modified to still be in compliance with state regulations but yields far fewer winning hands.    You can spin it anyway you want, but the results do not lie.....And the whole rationale that "people only remember what they want", and "people were LUCKIER in the late 1990s and early 2000 and hit more royals than they should have so now its evening out" is a total crock........who in their right mind accepts that bogus logic besides shadowman and our own "Mr 80%"?   

[wlebear]

Just was at Monticello in NY and saw the model for their new casino, hotel, waterpark, golf course. Looks like they want to be a destination casino

[DaBurglar]

The recession IS over, in the technical sense.....but having studied BOTH economics and government, I can tell you that the way in which the federal government (and many so-called economic experts) measure and keep track of statistics is extremely deceptive and NEVER is more than partially accurate.....in other words, there is a whole lot of room for both error, interpretation and unforeseen factors.The reality is the economy is still (and probably will never be) as STRONG as it was either in 1999-2001 (before 9/11 and during/after the so-called TECH Bubble)  or in 2004-2005 when the Bush Admin and the Fed decided to leave all the things in place they did when they attempted to counteract the negative forces resulting from the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent war on terror (people forget the effect it had on the economy the 6 months after 9/11)   The Bush Admin and the congress, along with the Fed, loosened many regulations that were meant to keep banks, lenders and financial markets in line and they intentionally kept interest rates low when they should have allowed the market to take its natural, cyclical course......anyhow, the economy during these times WAS strong on the surface at least, but the problems we see today were still simmering under the surface even back then.There is no way to deny the fact that the GAP in wealth is killing the prospects of strong sustained economic growth in the USA ......we can debate the origin and the cause of this, but there is no doubt having so much wealth in the hands of so few is NOT good for the economy as a whole.     Billionaires as a rule KEEP a disproportionate amount of their wealth in NON-liquid, non-circulating assets or "storage", like off shore accounts, or in the various savings and bond holdings common to the rich.  They can only spend so much of their vast wealth and the rest just "Sits".......it is NOT, as the fairy tale often unfolds, being "invested" or utilized to generate new jobs and such, not anywhere near the rate or to the extent certain political parties like to portray!People like Warren Buffet are the total EXCEPTION......most super wealthy people just SIT on their wealth .

[ko king]

Thank you Ko king for those posts, I really enjoyed them and agree with everything you stated regarding the "changes" that have taken place, and I applaud your bold, forthright statement that "You do not believe for a second that the games these days are random", etc.    I hope your conviction is noticed by others here who insist on attacking me and harassing me for making the same statement/argument.And thank you olds for also supporting and backing this point up.....The undeniable, incontrovertible truth is that in the last 10 years, but especially the last 6-7 years, video poker games and machines have CHANGED to the extent that the premium hands (especially royals) simply do not show up any where near the same frequency.....SOMEHOW, the RNG technology has been modified to still be in compliance with state regulations but yields far fewer winning hands.    You can spin it anyway you want, but the results do not lie.....And the whole rationale that "people only remember what they want", and "people were LUCKIER in the late 1990s and early 2000 and hit more royals than they should have so now its evening out" is a total crock........who in their right mind accepts that bogus logic besides shadowman and our own "Mr 80%"?    



My problem is say what I think or feel, right or wrong. The good thing about me is I'm willing to learn and I will admit if I'm wrong and gloat very little if I'm right. Check out my post tomorrow, had a very long conversation with someone who plays vp for years and works at a casino.

[notes1]

correction time. ONLY the federal reserve sets interest rate policy, not the president or congress. the federal reserve is also the primary regulator of the banks. the GLASS-STEAGELL ACT, enacted in 1933, limited the commercial bank activities with securities firms. this was done in direct response to the crash of 1929. it was during the BILL CLINTON administration that much of this law was repealed. bill clinton not george bush. starting in the 1990's, the wall street journal wrote dozens of editorials warning about the growth of fannie mae. george bush, in the mid 2000's also warned about the problems building at this quasi government backed private enterprise. but, congress wanted no part of reigning in the problems, both sides, for political reasons. it was also during the clinton administration that bernie maddof was first investigated and the ponzi scheme was taking place at that time. so, it was bill clinton that signed the repeal of glass-steagall, it was alan greenspan that kept interest rate too low for too long and it was both parties in congress that would not reign in fannie mae. and, let's not forget that ben bernacke and tim geitner, were both on the federal reserve while all the problems were taking place. as far as the rich just 'sitting' on their money. when your state wants to build a new road or bridge or some other government project, where does the money come from. your state has no savings, they must borrow it, via bonds. who funds those projects, those who have savings 'sitting' around. when some large corporation wants to build a new facility that creates jobs, how do they fund it. they issue bonds and that money also comes from those who have money 'sitting' around. the majority of the rich do not just sit on their wealth, they put it to work, that is how they keep getting richer. it is the middle class that is too afraid to invest and their money is largely sitting around. buffet is not the exception, you just like him, because he is a liberal.