In the past I have played video poker in order to establish free room offers. However, the volatility of the 10/7 DB game I have learned makes it difficult for me to be confident that my bankroll will support a string of free rooms through a losing streak.
also, my first love in gambling has become live poker..It is more complex. I do not have to play against the casino house edge. And as my game improves I expect that it will generate more wins. Also, just as I have established my play in places like the Orleans and the El Cortez, they have downgraded their games and their comps. I fear that the Four Queens is also going that route. At the Orleans I enjoyed a long string of free rooms during the last month they had full pay DB, but at the El Cortez I had lost a good bit of money when the good free room mailings stopped. So I lost my invested play.
This trip I discovered that Laughlin still has full pay VP and a really fine 2-6 spread limit poker game that at the River Palms will earn me free rooms, one room for every quad hand and for every 6 hours of play. That is unique in the country as far as I can tell.
At the same time I did want to seed a couple places in Laughlin for future trip offers. I was going to try it at the Colorado Belle, but just before I left they downgraded their comps on full pay machines. Some posters thought that I might still generate room offers, but I did not trust that. So I just played at Aquarius and at the River Palms, although I realize that the River Palms is probably not a good investment after this trip because I will be there many days on live poker comps and will not have the VP bankroll to keep up my daily average.
I did fine in my play in both places, breaking about even on the VP. At the Aquarius a fine straight flush bailed me out of the worst downward streak. I had two there. At River Palms I went back in to play more in order to get 7 points for their Frenzy promotion, lost almost a hundred and then again was booted back to even with a quad. I swiped the Frenzy and just got $10, missing other chances of up to $200 just by a wrong icon pick.
My VP play in Vegas was not as good. I dropped $300 one day at Main Street Station when nothing much came. Before that I was about even with quads coming fine but flushes leaving me altogether and other lower pays draining the quad winnings, even Aces.
I did not play VP at the El Cortez other than one time when I dropped $20 in an 8/5 Bonus in order to get a free bass ale and after a bit of slow play hit quad 3's and cashed out with a good profit.
I did practice before going to Vegas on Dancer's video tutor. I also brought Tomski's Strategy sheets and Dancer's Double Bonus book with me. These are good resources but complicated to read. If you are just starting out in VP or have been overwhelmed by books and sheets, try the book and strategy cards (in the book ) by Linda Boyd called "The Video Poker Edge" This simplifies strategy, leaving out the obscure penalty plays. It also lists "taboo" plays. Sometimes knowing what not to do is as important in gaining some edge as knowing what to do. There is a rare discussion too on Class II and ClassIII games which are here in New York and in Tampa where I winter. These are insidious liars, lottery slots pretending to be VP machines. Luckily they do not exist in Vegas.
Linda's expertise can also be enjoyed at:
http://www.midwestgamingandtravel.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=2
My live poker play was fine. I lost $300 one day in a 3-6 game at the Golden Nugget and otherwise broke about even. In that game was an interesting player, a Black woman with a "bad hair day" cap and the most abrasive attitude ever. I wondered if it was just part of an act to rile the other players. She went into the most bitchy rants when anyone said anything she thought wrong.
One fellow wondered to his neighbor why she had not raised with a good straight and she went off on him, lecturing as if she were the poker Queen. Another who lost with his trip sevens to her nut flush said she had been lucky on the river (that the board had not paired) and she went on and on about how could he say she had been "lucky" when she had the nut hand and bet the nut hand and she was still lecturing two hands later when by her definition she had been "lucky.' Well, I'll tell you, it seemed that there were more nuts than just good cards at this table.
One of the old white haired fellows who she went off on tuned out to be recognised later as a well known coach at one of the colleges (perhaps Arizona) by a tall Black man who may have played basketball where he coached, but not directly with him. This fellow just rolled his eyes at "bad Hair Day" princess and her antics. If she wasn't just pretending, then perhaps she was just borderline bi-polar because she did seem to bond well with another player who came to sit next to her. it was then I saw that the permanently downturned mouth of hers could actually laugh.
I avoided direct confrontation until she started to lobby the dealer to add a kill to the game. She asked for a vote. I spoke up and said, "I don't want a kill, so the vote is now over."
"Yes," she said, "it only takes one dissenter."
Others were in agreement with me. After they left and the subject came up again, she whined, "Yes, there is only one person who does not want the kill." I wanted to say something like, "Awwww, did the Princess not get her way about something." but I kept still.
She was a good player. There were other good players too. I lost big there. I think it was a bit too aggressive a table. Also, I just never got cards that flopped.
My play otherwise was fine. No big wins. I loved the 2-6 spread in Laughlin. At Colorado Belle this had a kill, but it was not a crazy group so the kill did not influence my play except to tighten it to play only super premium hands after I had won one pot so as not to lose six dollars of my second pot to a third.
The River Palms did not have a kill. They also had one other interesting form of poker. Anyone at at 2-4 or 2-6 limit game who wanted to play no limit could request an "over" button. Then in any round where all the limit players were eliminated, leaving only the 'over" buttons, the game morphed into no limit. In one 2-4 I held my limit status, but whenever I folded all other players were playing no limit so I had some good games to watch. I also had the advantage of seeing my opponents and watching them play a while. I could request an "over" button at any time, so had I detected play I thought I might beat, I would have joined in. Finally, the 2-4 game was much less loose because players did not want to just throw money at any cards if they thought in the last round it might be a no limit game. I liked all of that.
In a 2- 6 game a very new young Spanish speaking kid decided to play no limit. At the table was an aggressive player. I worried the kid would get killed. The last hand of the morning came when the flop was 10-10-7. Mr aggressive went all in because he A-X of clubs and there were two on the flop. The kid called with just a seven. The turn was a club making the one fellow's hand, but the river was a third 10 giving the kid a full house. He must have collected 2-3 hundred dollars on that pot.
This definitely was not a no limit game I wanted to be in.
I hit four 3's for $200. It was one of the many bonus pays. The River Palms rakes $3 and then takes $2 for bonus pays. So does the Colorado Belle. Compare this to the $5 rake plus $1 for bonus hands that any Harrah's property extracts. My 3's were worth so much because there was a picture card on the flop. This also got me a certificate for a free room within 6 months as did another hand of four three's even though on that one I did not get a bonus as I held just one three.
Actually, it was just a fluke that I got that room certificate. I had raised on the river saying "twelve" which the dealer at first took for "call." I brought out enough money so my bet was safe, but it raised doubt in my opponents when they folded. So I showed my fourth 3 just to set minds at ease that I had not been playing a scam. With 4 3's I would of course raise on the river. The dealer than told me that I would get a free room.
These rooms are a great benefit as they can be used on the weekends too and patched in with other offers as well. They will work to make the River Palms my main casino.
At El Cortez I had fun as always. There is is more the players than the cards. I made a bit of money, but not very much. Details on my opponents can be seen at the next snippet.
I usually play about seven pulls a day on the Megabucks with the money I don't spend on State lottery tickets all year. I still want the fantasy of megamillions, but not at over 50% virorish. I did not do very much on the Megabucks. One trip i hit for $900 and that was also how much I was up for the entire trip. Not this time. I went on tilt one afternoon while I was waiting for a friend for supper and played a bunch of different slots. I never play slots. I regret I played them then. i was not feeling right and was bored.
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