In the last two columns, I’ve described a too-good-to-last promotion at the Horizon, in Vicksburg. Shirley and I played there in the first week in February, 2004, but were too busy to go back. We suggested to our friends, Pedro and Maria, that the situation was too good to pass up. During the second week in February, they played a few days, but the casino stopped offering “double royals”. The casino management hadn’t planned to offer the promotion on video poker machines anyway, but somehow that word didn’t get passed down effectively to the front line workers. Pedro and Maria won several thousand dollars during their two days of play, visited with some family for a few days and then decided to come back during the third week of February to see if the promotions still had any legs.
When Pedro and Maria got back to the Horizon, they immediately went to the Fifty Play machines to check them out. Last week they had 9/6 Jacks (99.5%), NSU Deuces Wild (99.7%), and 8/5 Super Aces Bonus (99.9%), but were shut down when they left so the casino could do some painting in the area. This week the painting had been done, but the games were now 8/6 Jacks or Better (98.4%), pseudo NSU (15-9-4-4-3) (98.9%), and 7/5 Super Aces Bonus (98.8%). These were still pretty good games by the standards of most of the casinos in Mississippi, but the slot club paid “only” .67% and Pedro and Maria were only interested in playing a game where they had the advantage, so they skipped these machines.
The best game they found was $5 9/6 Jacks or Better. With the current slot club, this would be worth $30 per hour back in Las Vegas, but only about $20 in Vicksburg because of the confiscatory 3% non-refundable fee on all W2Gs in Mississippi. Pedro and Maria didn’t know it, but with this fee it changes certain plays, like from Ah Kc Qd Jd 5s, you should hold QJ in Las Vegas (where royals pay $20,000 and straight flushes pay $1,250), but AKQJ in Mississippi because royals there pay “only” $19,400 and straight flushes net only $1,175 but you still get a tax form.
Pedro and Maria wouldn’t have traveled to Vicksburg for a $20 per hour opportunity, but since they were already there, they made the best of a so so situation. Especially since the next day would yield double points for ten hours, and even in Mississippi, this would be $120 per hour and THAT was worth staying for.
When they came down to play during double point days, they couldn’t get to the $5 machines because that entire area was closed for painting. The best game they could find was $1 9/6 Jacks with a progressive that was currently a little over $4,300. This wasn’t a bad play at all with a 1.33% slot club, but it wasn’t why they were in Vicksburg. When they were psyched up to be playing $62.50 a hand on 25¢ Fifty Play, playing $5 a hand on a single line dollar machine was downright boring. Oh well. They knew the promotion wasn’t guaranteed to last.
At the end of the double points on Wednesday, they cashed out their points, checked out the hotel, and arranged to fly back to Las Vegas. Overall they lost a few thousand dollars on their trip because the $5 Jacks or Better machine ate up all of their profits from the previous week, and then some. But that’s what $5 machines do when you don’t hit the top jackpots.
But in sum, Pedro and Maria were extremely happy they had this adventure. They got to see a new part of the country (for them), experience video poker in a totally different environment than they were used to, and got to play a day and a half on a lucrative 25¢ Fifty Play machine. These machines are a kick and a half.
Before the trip started, I offered to take any percentage of their “action” if they felt $62.50 was too rich for their blood. This was a good deal, and if the promotions lasted, it was essentially impossible to lose. They declined my offer (a wise decision in my opinion), experienced the promotions changing, and ended up relatively small losers --- given the stakes they were playing. That’s gambling.
Bob Dancer is America's best-known video poker writer and teacher. He has a variety of "how to play better video poker" products, including the software "Video Poker for Winners," Winner's Guides, strategy cards, his autobiography Million Dollar Video Poker, and his two novels, including Sex, Lies, and Video Poker. Dancer's products may be ordered at www.bobdancer.com or by telephone at 1-800-244-2224 M-F 9-5 Pacific Time.
