I think they have one thing to lose, upset regular players. I have
witnessed this many times at Golden Nugget Las Vegas. The $1 8/5 JB used
to have a fast progressive meter on the machines by the escalators.
These machines would frequently become positive and pros or semipros
would occupy all the seats and play in shifts with friends, relatives,
teammates or whatever. The regular players who would play the machines
even at low jackpots would get very upset when they were shut out of the
good play. Golden Nugget has now remedied the problem by slowing the
meter so much that the machines very rarely get positive. Another
approach that Barbary Coast uses is to kick players off progressive
machines when the jackpot is high and a high rolling regular wants to
play them (ie the infamous Tony). This situation also causes hard
feelings but now it is by the skilled players who think they have a right
to play the machines only when the return is positive. Advantage players
also frequently are upset when they witness individuals tying up the
machines who they see playing in shifts who are or they perceive to be
members of a team.
Over time casinos may profit from progressive machines. Unfortunately
these banks frequently sit practically empty for days on end waiting for
unknowledgeable players to eventually build the jackpot to an acceptable
level for the knowledgeable players to descend and play the machines for
a few hours. The jackpot is finally hit, everyone hits cashout
simultaneously and the casino has empty machines for another week. I
think casinos prefer machines which are frequently busy but I could be
wrong.
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On Tue, 30 Dec 2003 01:20:51 -0000 "brumar_lv" <brumar_lv@yahoo.com> writes:
And I bet the casinos themselves know about them even before the
pros do. ie Before those machines even hit the(ir) floor!>>
Here's what I personally wish would happen. Make ALL the VP games
with lousy pay schedules standalone progressives. Then the tourists
can sit down at any machine and play without knowing a thing about
the game. Meanwhile, the pros and skilled amateurs can search for
that great play (a high progressive) and play endlessly until they
finally hit a RF. That way the casinos can have their cake (a lousy
pay schedule with big profits) and eat it too (continue to attract
everyone, including the pros and skilled amateurs). The casino
managers are missing a HUGE opportunity by failing to do this IMHO.
They have everything to gain and absolutely nothing to lose.
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