CASINO PLAYERS EZINE #94

#1

Readers: I would like to correct an error in Issue #92—Gate and not Palace.
Gayle: In the most recent newsletter you state, “When it comes to dining 'on the cheap', it's tough to beat the Bay City Diner in the Golden Palace Casino downtown.” The last time I was there, the Golden Palace casino downtown was known as the Golden GATE. ;) John.
John: Oops, you are right, it is the Golden Gate. Come to think of it—the casino is more of a 'Gate’ than a ‘Palace’ except for the good eats. Gayle.

#2

For VP players, there’s a New Draw: Video Poker with a Guarantee.
The video poker slot machine is called ‘Guaranteed Play.’ invented by Jay Walker.
The devices, which are expected to be offered in Las Vegas casinos soon seem counterintuitive to the very act of gambling.
The machine allows players to buy a certain number of video poker hands up front for a set price, unlike the conventional video poker machines that may provide fewer or more hands for the money, based on the luck of the play and the gambler's decision to return any winnings to play more hands.
For example, Walker's games can offer 150 hands of ‘Jacks or Better’ for $20 and 400 hands for $40. Those hands could take more than 20 minutes to an hour to play. Games would offer more or less hands for the money based on the type of video poker game and the odds that apply to that game.
The gambler should assume that he will lose his money, but that he will have enjoyed playing a guaranteed number of games in the meantime.
"At the movies you know you're getting about an hour and a half plus some popcorn," Walker said. "You don't have that in a casino. We can assure customers that even before they leave their house, they know they're going to be on a game for a while."
Read more....

#3

Gayle: We are going to Vegas and wonder what comp cards work at which casinos, in other words, who owns who? Which comp cards work in which casinos? Perhaps your readers would like to know this. Thanks. Steve B
Steve: I believe you are right—readers would like to know, so here we go. Gayle.

Listing of US Casino MegaClub Cards
I have provided a listing below of nine MegaClubs and their participating casino locations.
I added Red Rock and South Point since this article was originally published.
There may be other changes, possibly in the MS. area, but it is a good overview.

1) Harrah’s--Total Rewards:
Harrah’s Atlantic City, NJ
Showboat Casino Atlantic City, NJ
Harrah’s Cherokee, NC
Harrah’s East Chicago IN
Harrah’s Joliet, IL
Harrah’s Metropolis, IL
Bluffs Run Council Bluffs, IA
Harvey’s Council Bluffs, IA
Harrah’s Prairie Band, Mayetta, KS
Harrah’s St. Louis, MO
Harrah’s North Kansas City, MO
Harrah’s Lake Charles, LA
Harrah’s Shreveport, LA
Harrah’s New Orleans, LA
Harrah’s Tunica, MS
Harrah’s Vicksburg, MS
Harrah’s Ak Chin Maricopa, AZ
Harrah’s Lake Tahoe, NV
Harrah’s Las Vegas, NV
Harrah’s Laughlin, NV
Harrah’s Reno, NV
Harvey’s Casino Lake Tahoe, NV
Rio Casino Las Vegas, NV
Harrah’s Rincon Valley Center, CA

2) Park Place--Connection Card:
AC Hilton Atlantic City, NJ
Bally’s Atlantic City, NJ
Caesars Atlantic City, NJ
Caesars Elizabeth, IN
Bally’s New Orleans, LA
Bally’s Tunica, MS
Grand Casino Tunica, MS
Grand Casino Biloxi, MS
Grand Casino Gulfport, MS
Sheraton Tunica, MS
Bally’s Las Vegas, NV
Caesars Palace Las Vegas, NV
Caesars Lake Tahoe, NV
Flamingo Las Vegas, NV
Flamingo Laughlin, NV
Las Vegas Hilton Las Vegas, NV
Paris Las Vegas, NV
Reno Hilton Reno, NV

3) Isle of Capri--Isle One:
Isle of Capri Bettendorf, IA
Rhythm City Davenport, IA
Isle of Capri Marquette, IA
Isle of Capri Boonville, MO
Isle of Capri Kansas City, MO
Isle of Capri Bossier City, LA
Isle of Capri Lake Charles, LA
Isle of Capri Biloxi, MS
Isle of Capri Lula, MS
Isle of Capri Natchez, MS
Isle of Capri Tunica, MS
Isle of Capri Vicksburg, MS
Isle of Capri Black Hawk, CO

4) Mandalay Resorts--One Club:
Grand Victoria Elgin, IL
MotorCity Detroit, MI
Gold Strike Tunica, MS
Circus Circus Las Vegas, NV
Circus Circus Reno, NV
Colorado Belle Laughlin, NV
Edgewater Laughlin, NV
Excalibur Las Vegas, NV
Gold Strike Jean, NV
Luxor Las Vegas, NV
Mandalay Bay Las Vegas, NV
Monte Carlo Las Vegas, NV
Nevada Landing Jean, NV
Slots a Fun Las Vegas, NV

5) MGM Mirage Card:
MGM Grand Detroit, MI
Beau Rivage Biloxi, MS
Bellagio Las Vegas, NV
Buffalo Bill’s Primm, NV
Golden Nugget Las Vegas, NV
Golden Nugget Laughlin, NV
MGM Grand Las Vegas, NV
Mirage Las Vegas, NV
New York-NY Las Vegas, NV
Primm Valley Resort Primm, NV
Treasure Island Las Vegas, NV
Whisky Pete’s Primm, NV

6) Station Casinos--Boarding Pass:
Boulder Station Las Vegas, NV
Green Valley Ranch Henderson, NV
Palace Station Las Vegas, NV
Red Rock Casino North Las Vegas, NV
Santa Fe Station Las Vegas, NV
Sunset Station Henderson, NV
Texas Station North Las Vegas, NV

7) Fiesta--Amigo Club:
Fiesta Henderson, NV
Fiesta Las Vegas, NV

8) Ultimate Rewards Club:
Arizona Charlie’s East and West, Las Vegas
plus the Stratosphere, Las Vegas

9) Coast Properties in Vegas: Barbary Coast, SunCoast, Gold Coast, South Point and Orleans.

1

Howie Mandel - MGM Grand

2

Dropkick Murphys - Mandalay Bay

2-3

Viva! Tribute to Santana - Cannery

2-3

David Spade - Mirage Resort & Casino

3

Tom Jones - MGM Grand

3

Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band - MGM Grand

3

Christina Aguilera - Mandalay Bay

9

Boney James - Boulder Station

9

Soul Jam 2007 - Texas Station

10-11

Ray Romano - Mirage

10

Confederate Railroad - Cannery

10

Taking Back Sunday - Mandalay Bay

10

Loverboy - Boulder Station

10

Eric Clapton - MGM Grand

10

Last of the Breed Tour Featuring: Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard & Friends-Aladdin/Planet Hollywood

10

Rascal Flatts - Mandalay Bay

13-16

Barry Manilow - Las Vegas Hilton

15-21

Lewis Black - MGM Grand

16-17

Rattle and Hum - Tribute to U2 - Cannery

17

Stephen Lynch - Mandalay Bay

16

Evanescence - Palms Hotel Casino

16

Rod Stewart - MGM Grand

21-23

Barry Manilow - Las Vegas Hilton

22-31

David Copperfield - MGM Grand

22-24

Don Rickles - Golden Nugget

23-24

Dave Matthews Band - MGM Grand

23-24

Jay Leno - Mirage

23

Carlos Mencia - Palms Hotel Casino

24

Blue Oyster Cult - Boulder Station

24

Al Stewart - Sunset Station Hotel and Casino

24

Ty Herndon - Santa Fe Station

24

The Freddy Eckstine Experience - Cannery

27-31

Elton John: The Red Piano - Caesars Palace

30-31

Jay Leno - Mirage

30

Jeremy Camp - Mandalay Bay

30

The Gatlin Brothers - Boulder Station

As reported by the Gaming Commissions.
Slot players know that payout %'s and top casino payout rankings can change monthly.
Note: Not all land-based casinos/regions are required to report payouts.

This link will provide current reporting for Slots Payouts.
easycasinogambling.com

1) Davenport, Iowa (AP) -- Slot machines that offer the worst odds for gamblers are increasing rapidly in numbers at the state's 10 casinos and now account for almost a quarter of slot machine revenues.
The number of 1-cent and 2-cent slot machines has doubled in the last year, according to a review of Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission records.
Also known as penny machines, they allow players to bet up to $2 per spin but offer poor odds.
Just two years ago, they accounted for 4 percent of slot machine revenue, or $70 million.
But for the year that ends June 30, casinos are on pace to collect $184 million from the category that includes penny machines.
Riverboat representatives say the slots are in high demand. They say the machines offer more entertaining games and make customers' money last longer because they take smaller bets.
Records show that some casinos keep twice as much money from a $1 bet on a penny denomination machine than from a $1 bet on a $1 denomination machine.
Nancy Donovan, regional vice president of The Isle of Capri, which owns casinos in Bettendorf and Davenport, said the trend in the smaller denomination games could go even further.
"We have half-cent games," she said. "There's going to be quarter-cent games soon."

2) In KC, penny ante is now the favorite by Rick Alm.
Penny slots are now Kansas City's most popular casino game. And there's a new king of the hill in the monthly battle for ‘Kansas City's Loosest Slots’ title.
December data, the latest available from the Missouri Gaming Commission, shows penny devices now are the most plentiful game on local casino floors - 34.1 percent of the market's total inventory of 8,088 slots.
Quarter machines, casinos' longtime top attraction, slipped for the first time to second place at 32.8 percent.
Payback averages for the most recent six months show Isle of Capri has supplanted the Argosy Riverside Casino as the market's loosest penny leader.
The marketplace grew in December by a net 282 slots, and most of them were penny devices like Aristocrat's Sun and Moon and Pompei games that swept the industry coast to coast in 2004.

from Gayle: Most casinos/regions that report payouts now report for pennies and looking at the last couple of months, the only region reporting higher than 90% overall payout is Nevada--most are in the high 80's, usually 87-89%.
As to my personal opinion, I prefer dollar slots, however I can understand a bankroll-conscious slot player who wants to play and have some casino fun with $20. I did this test recently.
A) I played $20 at a 20-line slot activating all lines at a penny per line=20cents/spin. Playing time=38 minutes.
B) I played $20 at the same 20-line slot playing 10cents/line—max spin=$2.00/spin. Playing time=11 minutes.

2) It appears that slots in PA begin with ‘a payout scandal’.
Bad News: Casino Voids Retiree's Jackpot
PA.--Associated Press--Stephen Wilkinson was feeding 50 cents a pull into a slot machine at a new Pennsylvania casino when a message board attached to the machine lit up. The message told Wilkinson -- by name -- that he had won $102,000 in a power play jackpot. The woman next to him screamed with excitement. But Wilkinson's six-figure payday was short-lived. Casino officials soon informed the retired carpenter that the message was sent in error." They offered me two comps for the buffet," said a deflated Wilkinson. Wilkinson suffered his reversal of fortune less than a month after 2,100 slot machines went into operation at Philadelphia Park. Spokesman Andrew Becker said, "It was just an error in the communication system -- an unfortunate one, I might add.”

Good News: Casino Caught in Own Wheel of Misfortune
PA--Stu Bykofsky, Philadelphia Daily News-- In the end, the Big Guy blinked - and the Little Guy walked away $102,000 richer. The story began when Stephen Wilkinson, 56, called the Inquirer to tell them he'd been ripped off by Philadelphia Park Casino. The story broke and it went national, lifting off like the space shuttle. Other reporters, including me, descended like ravenous locusts. The irresistible hook was Wilkinson's statement that in place of the 102Gs, the casino offered him a couple of comps to the buffet…The casino's story was that a message telling Wilkinson that he had won $102,000 was a "communication error" mistakenly flashed on the 25-cent Wheel of Fortune machine he was playing, and that his machine had not really hit the jackpot. The buffet, Philadelphia Park said, was offered to him to enjoy while they figured out what to do.
Read more....

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