Avi - The new countdown appears to be $5/pt for vp and $4/pt slots (about .2% and .25% respectively), at least for the .25 / .05c vp I checked. Freeplay cannot be used on ‘machines’ that have a disqualifer sticker on them (seems to be most of the 8/5 BP in the front part of the casino… middle to back is ok, as well as those 9/7 DB slants about 2 rows in from RR / Poker Room or towards Sportsbook, depending on your perspective.
Some machines have been moved around - suffice it to say ‘scattered’ 8/5 BP is probably a better description.
Specific big move is the “(12) slanttop .05/.25 BP near craps/table or near slot club”.
Now they ‘ring’ the ramp/rail walkway up to the buffet, or just outside the slot club area.
The area near the small bar/lounge outside the Cafe also had machines that are now further in to the casino. I think the slants still are .05/.25 BP on them.
Riverside - for .25 players, most of the machines that have $1 NSUD are 15-9 98.91 ‘airport’ ugly deuces, which I would consider possibly the best playable games for .25c level. Some machines also .50c ugly deuces (i.e. - the 4 slants by giftshop, which always seem busy while I pass by). I much prefer playing at the River Bar or at any other bar when less crowded (i.e. - not on weekends or weeknights, and not during any major sporting event on the TV…). Those things (nightlife drinkers) and sports will draw crowds to the bar- they seemed to be serving ALOT of drinks, too! Best time to play for vp=players who don’t want all those crowd noise/distractions? Try after breakfast, and up to early dinner during weekdays. Weekends, probably only after fball season is over…usually busy most of the days with college fball/basketball/ race cars and pro fball going on.
Most BP is 7/5 or worse, although some scattered 9-6 DDB may exist (alot of those are short as well)… For .25c games, usually the best games are without a prog RF on it. If the machine/multigames all have prog RF, then you can be sure the paytable is lower and thus more volatile – i.e. - attracts ‘royal chasers’ only for those shortpay games.
For non-smokers, there is the small bar near the southern most entrance that also is near the ‘staging’ area for guests who fly in <?>, and also the doors lead out to the parking lot with access to the long Riverwalk - okay in cooler months for exercise, but not in the heat of summer!
DOTTY’s as owner (but called the Laughlin River Lodge Casino) - didn’t have anything playable for .25c and less imho - and multi denom games from .01-.02-.05-.10-.25 each had DIFFERENT games for each denom - so took me a while to check most of them. Only the ‘deuces-joker’ wild games might have been close to ‘fullpay’…most games were not.
Also - be careful, as most of these denoms were also set as ‘1-100’ coin bet machines, so if you were to hit ‘max bet’…well, your buyin might be used up on 1 play!
sampling of games I saw:
USA poker 7-7-7 instead of 8-8-8, and probably short on sf also.
Pick-A-Pair only pays 20 vs 25 on the crucial 3K hand, and 4k 500 vs 600, SF 1000 vs 1200, and RF was not 10000.
BP 9-6-4-2-2-1 or 10-6-4-2-2-1 .10c/.05c and lower; .25c was probably 7/5 BP at best, but I also saw 6/5 (perhaps Ace$ bonus?).
9-6-4 DB, 8-5-4 ddb, you get the idea.
Even some new manufactured games list their returns for different games as 95%-98% at best.
Out of curiousity, though, most of the (penny) slots in the main casino area all have different multipliers on them. I played $3 thru some game costing .45c/min bet 30-line game and cashed out $8 ahead, while earning the min 300 pts for the Nov opening promo logo items (Logo water bottle, t-shirt, and hat)! Not bad for “$3” in play…lol! A friend of mine who’s retired and has more time on his hands is going to try and experiment…as he actually saw some ‘gifts’ that you can basically cash in your pts for. While many items were 15000 pts and higher (so maybe $15 in pts value at 1000 pts/$1), with the machine multipliers it really doesn’t take long to earn pts that way. As usual, though, VP is std 3x pts only (and other games on same multi-game like keno) are 7x on those machines. The boutique/room casinos had no bigger multipliers on their machines.
Promos - There are a few bulletin boards posting a monthly calendar and different daily promotions; These are also in the boutique casinos and near the slot club booth (as well as a self-serve soft drink machine in that area that would have led to Subways; Much of the open area with balcony, and 2 main escalators going down are ‘blocked off’ - future renovation project.
50+ age players get bonus pts multiplier 6am - noon daily (at least M-F) for now, although maybe that’s only for machines without a jumbo placard already with (25x, 30x, 40x, 50x, 77x, or 100x) on it (always slots, not vp).
We’ll see what the future holds. There’s ALOT of old casino/entertainment space that could be put to better use. (i.e. - the old Winner’s Wharf area and sports bar/lounge)…and even the bulk of the ‘downstairs’ casino. Even the former buffet is not yet open - only the Lodge Steakhouse and Denny’s.
Weird-too , Bingo is open, but it’s held in a former ‘convention’ area, river level. So unless you were a Bingo player, you would probably not find it.
Martin