Off Strip Local Casinos

[Sea Lion]

Or you only play the good machines. Then when the good machines go bad, you switch to the formerly bad machines that are now good.

Thursday night at Rampart- 9/6 DDB 10-play nickels - 1st $100 bill in - dealt 4 Q's. Up $125.
Friday night at SouthPoint - 9/6 DDB 10-play nickels (on the 50 play machines near the Oyster Bar. Quads were not hitting enough to stay alive. After losing the 4th $100 bill, threw in the towel and called it a night. Down -$400.
Saturday afternoon at Sams Town - 9/5 DDB 10-play nickels, yes 9/5 - 1st $100 bill. Hit various quads, and 4AWK off a pair. Cashed out and stuck another $100 in and hit a RF off 3 cards. Got my $400 back from the previous night. On the 9/5 if I get dealt 4 to a flush and 3 of them are to the royal, I go for the royal. On the 9/6 version, I go for the flush.

One of the things I did was if I stuck a $100 bill in and got the machine up to $200 or over, I would cash out and stick another $100 in and try to do the same. As of recently this has become a bit more difficult to do, so I cash it out when it hits or goes over $150, then repeat with another one. When this doesn't work I have to set my limits usually around $500 and if I hit that limit and no bite, then I have to accept the defeat and try again on the next visit.

Living, working, knowing people who work in the industry including IT, and having unlimited access to the casinos I tend to hear things from people that I wish I did not hear, and with as much playing as I can and do here, it is almost not impossible to believe some of this stuff. This has no reflection on this site, just my personal experience.

[dinghy]

Living, working, knowing people who work in the industry including IT, and having unlimited access to the casinos I tend to hear things from people that I wish I did not hear, and with as much playing as I can and do here, it is almost not impossible to believe some of this stuff.

I probably don't believe any of it, but I'm not very imaginative. Within the last 18 months I've played all 3 of the casinos you mentioned, and my sessions were unremarkable. Fwiw, my game selection was different. I seek to play high EV low volatility, for which DDB is rarely the best option.

I acknowledge casinos have tightened pay schedules, promos, and slot club benefits. I don't believe they've altered card probabilities.

I wish it were otherwise, but in general I don't consider casino employees credible sources of information. Their primary expertise is gossip.

I'm not opposed to gossip though. I wish more industry people would post on the forum. Do we have any casino employees here?

[Sea Lion]

I wouldn't be surprised if any casino employees with inside knowledge were under a NDA. Besides all that, we played Red Rock on Sunday for the first time in a long time. We wanted to give it another shot. Hate to say it but Red Rock is already a former shadow of itself. Almost every employee we encountered were not happy and probably wished they had a better job. Played 2- $100 bills in the Up to 99.8% machines on quarters- bounced around from BP, to DDB, to Aces and Faces DDB, TBP, and BPDX. Played on those 2 $100 bills and not 1 quad (fish) was hit. No one else around was hitting anything. In fact no one was hitting anything on VP, but heard quite a few penny slots go off for a hand pay.

1st machine I played I had $10 in freeplay that would not load onto the machine. A slot attendant came by to help but as soon as he got a call for a jackpot he all of the suddenly had to leave and told me someone else will be along. Can't blame him for chasing that tip, but not the best customer service either. After losing the 2 $100 bills in 99.8, I went to play an All-Star II 10 play machine near the Lucky Bar in hopes to get that $200 back. It was not one of the newer ones but a slant top. Discovered the machine had a 1-2 second "delay" on it once you hit the draw/ deal button. Not cool. I figure I'll play it for a few hands to make sure the button is not sticking and it was not sticking. Got dealt 3 4's and I save the 3 4's but when I hit the draw button, not only did the delay kick in but it only saved 2 of the 3 4's. I've had enough at that point and got a slot manager to get involved and they did in fact shut the machine down. They were kind enough to hand pay me for a quad 4's plus the remaining 3 4's that were supposed to happen. Wife waited over 20 minutes for a cocktail server from the time she ordered a drink at her machine- the server never came back. Those commercials they are showing in Vegas regarding Station Casinos could not be further than the reality of them. We won't be going back to Red Rock anytime soon. again.

Maybe the Webman can start a sub forum for Casino Employees for any inside tips, what to look for, what to avoid, current promotions, etc anything they could post without getting themselves in hot water.. ?

[dinghy]

Got dealt 3 4's and I save the 3 4's but when I hit the draw button, not only did the delay kick in but it only saved 2 of the 3 4's. I've had enough at that point and got a slot manager to get involved and they did in fact shut the machine down. They were kind enough to hand pay me for a quad 4's plus the remaining 3 4's that were supposed to happen.

Good job getting it resolved to your satisfaction. I found Station casinos to usually maintain their machines in good condition, although I wouldn't know about recently cause they haven't given me any reason to play there.

It was Sunday, so hopefully you were equipped with a 10x multiplier invite. That's one of their few remaining advertised promotions. I just noticed for February they only have an every-other-week gift day. I think Boyd did the same.

[Sea Lion]

Good job getting it resolved to your satisfaction. I found Station casinos to usually maintain their machines in good condition, although I wouldn't know about recently cause they haven't given me any reason to play there.

It was Sunday, so hopefully you were equipped with a 10x multiplier invite. That's one of their few remaining advertised promotions. I just noticed for February they only have an every-other-week gift day. I think Boyd did the same.

Wife got the 10x, not me. I don't play Stations much if anything at all anymore. Not since they butchered their players club even more after the 77 day covid shutdown when they reopened. Both Stations and Boyd casinos have the 10x on Sundays, and Boyd has the 10x on Tuesdays for 50+. I prefer Boyd between both of those as with Boyd if you use points for food its 600 per $1 as opposed 1000 per $1 with Stations. Boyd used to have an awesome players club for earning points 5 - 6 years ago until that got butchered.

Rampart used to have the best point earning and comps for off strip properties, but they also recently went the way of Stations and Boyd as far as $2 = 1 point, 1000 points = $1. Used to be 1000 points = $5. They do offer 5x points at various times for VP which is 1/2 the rate Boyd and Station does for VP point 10x multipliers. They sent some BS letter last summer saying that locals complained about point multipliers not being on par with their competitors... I've been playing at that casino for the last 15 years and I never complained about that haha! The hosts there though will take care of you as far as food vouchers if you play (and lose) enough.

For point earning, SouthPoint is now the go to for me. $1 = 3 points, and they have plenty of 99%+ VP throughout the casino. No mailer though if your $$ out is greater than your $$ in during their 3 month eval period. It's nice to use points at their restaurants as we take my 80+ year old father out every 2 weeks for dinner.

[dinghy]

For point earning, SouthPoint is now the go to for me.

They have half-point senior dining, but only on Mondays when some restaurants are closed. I only play there if they have a promo I like.

I would play M Resort if it weren't so far from everything. Same point structure, but they send a monthly calendar with scattered multiplier days. The 2x vp is worth 0.6%, and reel slot multipliers range from 8 to 12x. Their slots are probably tighter than South Point, but that's a lot of club value. And they have other promos such as drawings and slot tournaments.

I haven't played Rampart since the slot club devastation. If you live nearby, the drawings could possibly still be attractive, but it's a grind because you have to play on specific days for optimal entry earning, then on the actual drawing days there's no incentive to play.

[Sea Lion]

M had one of the best buffets hands down before the covid shut down. I used to play there, but they use the newer IGT machines, and I just can't get a good day on those. I tried and tried and tried.. I still have an advantage card that carried over, but I would rather play where I feel I have a shot at a positive session (like last night - up $112.50) . SP has the older machines that I prefer to play on and more 99%+ VP to offer and it's closer to where I live.

I'm about 25 min from Rampart and have been called 4 times for a drawing, one of them getting the $5000. They have there "usual suspects" they call every Friday and Saturday-the ones who come in there with an empty supply of $100 bills every day, but I am proof that anyone can still get called for those.

[dinghy]

I used to play there, but they use the newer IGT machines, and I just can't get a good day on those.

Probably most gamblers agree with you that such considerations are important. I don't pay any attention. I do try to be aware of how my results could influence rewards. You mentioned for example that South Point only sends mailers to losers. I've had trouble at M Resort where I've played intermittently but with long-term winning results. Mailers were initially good, but in recent years I've been stuck at either minimum or nothing. Someday I may try giving them bigger action to see how they respond.

[onemoretry]

M had one of the best buffets hands down before the covid shut down. I used to play there, but they use the newer IGT machines, and I just can't get a good day on those.

We always really enjoyed that buffet. And, we never had any difficulty at all in playing enough to qualify for it to be complimentary. It's quite disappointing that it's now gone. Its absence will definitely be a negative factor in any decision we make regarding future stays there (assuming we get some room offers).

Over the past two days, I've played about 13,000 hands of 25c video poker there. Most of it has been on 5 line machines ("airport deuces"), plus a bit on single line NSU deuces. All the machines have been IGT machines, and my results have been extremely good. I've had the deuces five times, in total, plus a royal. I'm up about $1450 for the two days. To me, there's nothing wrong with the machines.

[Sea Lion]

My wife has been getting pretty good mailers from SP, however I asked how come I didn't get one and the reply was that I was up $1600+ over the 3 month period, so since my coin out was greater than my coin in, I don't qualify for a mailer. I'm good with that. I get hit hard after that though. My December and January coin in was a hell of a lot more than my coin out (around $5500 out of pocket) so we'll see what awaits me for the next mailer period. I still get my weekly freeplay, they just don't tell me about that. Kinda like a secret menu at a fast food joint. Works for me!

M used to send good mailers to us, but they reneged on those after they reopened, They were supposed to keep our comps the same and they totally stripped them away. Being a local I do have choices where to play..

Happy to hear that the machines at M are working for you guys. My wife loves the 2 Quick Quads with the nickel and dime denom machines there. Just might have to give it another whirl.