What Would You Do?

[stevel96a1]

25$ a turn or 125$ a turn? i couldn't afford it at my level (either one) id leave and choose another casino either in PA or Nj

[stevel96a1]

im not really a big fan of slots as much as i like half naked girls holding swords theres no royal flush in slot machines just in VP maybe 97% wouldn't be so bad if there comps area really good that night but again not a big fan of playing nothing below 99%, caesars in ac has double joker poker jackpot was 2588$ which
winpoker claim to have a 1%+ edge over that game but i never got any offers from caesars/ballys in atlantic city

funny tho i play 1 night in resorts in ac got a hand pay and they gave me over 100$ free play and a free night just 1 night of gambling there some casino's i tell ya!

[notes1]

i am sure there are disciplined vp players that would simply quit or only play when they travel to nevada, if all casinos available lowered their paytables to 96-98%. but, i would bet that number is very small.

if one is older and has medical limitations, going to the casino may be one of the few things that interest them. older women dominate the casinos, it is no surprise. the casinos provide a relatively safe environment to gather. if one has acquired a certain amount of wealth, losing $2-5-10k or more per year, as your only entertainment expense, does not seem out of hand. if they lower the paytables, one always has the option to reduce their time there or play less than full coin. are these folks stupid or addicted? i do not think so.

if one's 'thing' is to eat out, travel, buy more crap or whatever, the cost has risen to do these things, over the years. not here to defend the casinos, but their expenses have also risen. to cover these expenses they need to either increase their hold or increase their volume.

if you live in an area where paytables have held up, you are lucky. my guess, it won't last forever.

[FloridaPhil]

if one is older and has medical limitations, going to the casino may be one of the few things that interest them. older women dominate the casinos, it is no surprise. the casinos provide a relatively safe environment to gather.

Being a junior senior myself, I can tell you this is the major reason you see so many seniors at the casino. I'm in excellent health, but I can't do many of the things I used to do. The summers are hot and sticky in Florida. The casino is comfortable. For me at least, it's downright cold. Most seniors don't gamble as much as I do. They talk with their friends, walk around, eat, drink and take a lot of bathroom breaks. I drive my own car. Many retirement communities have weekly bus trips to and from the casino. These trips are very popular.

My good friend Jack plays penny slots. I play Video Poker. He doesn't need a large bankroll. His minimum bet is normally less than 50 cents. Mine is $1.25 to $5 a hand. The largest jackpot I have seen him win has been around $400. I have cashed a half dozen $1,000 royals, at least as many $1,000 quad deuces and received two W2-Gs since I have known him. From what I have seen, video poker is a much better game than slots. It takes more money to play it. If you develop your skills and use them, the overall cost is lower.

Seniors are always looking for entertaining things to do with their time. Many have the disposable income and the time to do anything they want. What they lack is the energy and the physical ability.

[OTABILL]

We virtually stopped playing because of the smoke and health reasons. I don't think the paytable reduction would cause us to go home. Given that there are 7 casinos within an hour of our house here in AZ, in the future, we would have gone to another one all things being equal. Then again, most local casinos offer bingo which we enjoy and has been a good option for us. Ironically, we have had better success on machines with lower paytables than higher ones in the past. Of course, both my wife and I never have played the number of hands many of you do.

[FloridaPhil]

Back to the subject. Playing 97% video poker can be an entertainment bargain. I can play video poker much longer than I can play slots. Over time, video poker costs me much less. I run a lot of money through those machines. On a normal day, I play at least 3000-5,000 hands. At $1.25 a hand, that's thousands of dollars a week. If you want comped rooms, food and drinks, this is what it takes. I am sure I must be on some list of regulars, because we get offers from all over the country. Comped rooms are easy to get if they know you going to play a lot of hands. MGM lets my wife and I play on the same card. This is huge. It makes two small time players look like a valued customer.

Using these offers, we go on frequent vacations in some of the most beautiful parts of the country. If you have never been to Black Hawk Colorado, you should check it out. We pick our casinos by where they are, what they offer and what there is to see near them. We care about odds, but it's down on our list.

You can easily spend $500 a day in a Disney Hotel to see fake mountains and beaches. We stay in real places by playing a game we enjoy. So how much does it cost to play this much 97% VP? Not counting travel expenses, in the past ten years our combined gambling losses have never exceeded $5,000. Some years we have made money. This happens when I hit a jackpot on a $1 game pot shot. I limit my $1 play to a few hands a week. If I didn't, I would lose much more.

Some of you believe the casino is there so you can profit and losing any money is a bad thing. That's good. It keeps you going back. We are all in this thing together.

[FloridaPhil]

Some of you are going to say you only go to the casino to make money. You will say losing $5,000 a year playing video poker is paying your bills. I'll save you the trouble.

We worked and saved all our lives so we could enjoy retirement. I retired in my fifties, so I needed more money than most people. Here's what we discovered. When you get old, you can't do the things you had planned to do. You can't travel all over the world because you need to stay close to your doctors. You can't walk the streets of Rome all day because your legs won't let you. You can't fish all the time because your back will send you home early. My advice is to get those things off your list when you are young.

Could I play golf as much as I play video poker for $5,000 a year? My friend Jack lives in a country club. His annual fees are more than $10K and he doesn't even play golf. How about fishing? What kind of boat can you buy for $5,000? Unless it's a canoe you have to put fuel in it. The list could go on. However you spend it, recreation and entertainment costs money. That's the way it should be. The casino is a business. They provide entertainment so people will pay to keep their door open. This is not bad, it's the way the world works.

In a fantasy world, casino games are all positive. Players make millions off the casino and they are never banned. Huge royals happen and no one ever losses. I don't live in that world. The world I live in has 97% quarter video poker. I can chose to play or stay home. I chose to play on my terms.

[Carcounter]

hey car if there were full pay deuces 25 dollars 100.76% and the machines r on the level! lets see 125 dollars a pull,say 700 hands per hour.so near 100 thousand dollars coin in,760 per hour expected profit,we can go partners plating 12 hour shifts !15 thousand theo profit per day ! 3 million per year expection.we only have to figure out the name of our new casino.

I would take a shot with part of my retirement money, not all of it, but maybe enough to get to a 5 or 10% risk of ruin. If this works out the way it should mathwise, we'll double our retirement accounts.

[Eduardo]

Sounds great as long as you can also afford to lose it. If it's money you are counting on for retirement, then there is no sense in putting a bit of it at risk. Even a 5% chance of "ruin" is way too high for that.

If you've saved up expendable income beyond that to enjoy yourself... well, do whatever you want with it. I can't think of any circumstance where I would play $25 for a long time, short of winning the lottery first. Some people already have the money to do it... that's not my world so I really can't comment on it.

[FloridaPhil]

Even a 5% chance of "ruin" is way too high for that.

Any chance of ruin is too much for me. As far as I am concerned ruin in a casino is an inevitable consequence. Hope springs eternal, the casino thrives, the games continue and we all eventually cash out for the last time.