vpFREE2 Forums

Bob Dancer s Column and YOUR Safety

#1

How was that dream card poker at Pala? Is it full pay? I m curious to try it.

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On Fri May 7th, 2010 2:00 PM PDT James Thompson wrote:

Great post...I agree with that completely. Vegas is the only place I carry large amounts of cash.

To: vpFREE@yahoogroups.com
From: mikeymic@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 7 May 2010 16:45:46 +0000
Subject: [vpFREE] Bob Dancer's Column and YOUR Safety

Bob Dancer's column this week deals with a Quick Quads promotion at the Tropicana. I'm not a serious QQ player. And I don't gamble at the Tropicana. But, I always read the entire column anyway to see if something else pertains to me.

Sure enough, about two-thirds of the way through, Bob mentions that his particular high max-bet machine isn't in High Limit but in a more public area. The use of the word conspicuous is certainly appropriate.

I raised this issue a few months ago on the vpFREE California website. Fantasy Springs placed its $1 8/5 Super Aces 10 Plays smack dab in the middle of their "low roller" area. At $50 a pop I mentioned the discomfort I felt while playing. And the attention of a $2K hand pay for getting Four Aces was the last thing I wanted or needed.

More recently, Pala installed Dreamcard in a similar "wide-open" location. This machine has $2/5 3/5/10 Play games on it. At the very least, you bet $60 per play max coin. It zooms right up to $500/hand for the $5 10 Play.

I have a few suggestions if you are caught in the situation of wanting to play a high max bet game which is not in the safest of locations:

1) Don't load your machine depositing one $100 bill after another in front of full view of bystanders. Instead, buy a ticket ahead of time in High Limit and deposit that into the machine instead of cash.

2) Hide the denomination of the game you are playing with an index card. People who pass by won't know whether you are playing 5c or $5.

3) Most machines offer you the choice of viewing CREDITS or CASH in the lower right corner. Always choose CREDITS. Many 5c players are used to seeing 1000 credits and don't react to it.

4) Request any large taxable jackpot to be paid at the cage.

5) Ask for a security guard escort back to your room or the parking lot if you feel the least bit apprehensive.

Good luck and have a great weekend,

Mikey

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#2

I have responded to this member privately but have a few general comments about Dreamcard for the group.

Pala's Dreamcard (there are actually two machines, back-to-back in different aisles) is full-pay only at $2 and $5. I am not willing to bankroll the thousands it would require to survive. So, Pala Dreamcard is off limits as far as I'm concerned.

Curiosity about a new VP game usually has a price attached to it. So, let's assume you choose to play a Dreamcard 25c 3 Play game anyway "for fun". You already know you're investing $7.50 on a bad paytable.

Meanwhile, about 50 steps away towards the pool, you have available to you single-line $1 progressives that offer both 9/6 Jacks and NSUD. You could be investing $5 on a much better paytable and a chance at an always better (than 800 to 1) royal. And, assuming you chose NSUD, even if you never hit the royal you might hit Four Deuces for $1000. And that payoff would equal a royal on the 25c Dreamcard machine.

The choice seems clear to me.

My experience has been that whenever I've used discretionary funds for "curiosity" games inferior to other options it has never worked in my favor. Meanwhile, it also reduces the bankroll then available after curiosity has been satisfied.

Everyone's luck is different. I can't predict whether you'll be the next "dealt royal Dreamcard winner" or, as I saw last Sunday, a woman playing 5c Dreamcard losing $50 in the time it took a cocktail to be served. I wish you the best, but, as I said, there is a price you will pay to satisy curiosity.

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--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, Tim Warr <timwarr@...> wrote:

How was that dream card poker at Pala? Is it full pay? I m curious to try it.

#3

My experience has been that whenever I've used discretionary funds for "curiosity" games inferior to other options it has never worked in my favor. Meanwhile, it also reduces the bankroll then available after curiosity has been satisfied.

Often, I play sub-100% games at the beginning of a day (when I can make up the money later) or if I'm showing a substantial profit (and I gamble 5-10% of my profits). But I get off the games VERY fast - sometimes after only $5 or $10. Occasionally (like with Dreamcard when I first saw it at the Orleans), I'll gamble $50-100.

Usually if I'm trying something new (VP or slots), I max bet the first bet, even if I'm going to bet more later. Often I try a pyramid scheme - betting more as I win.

On really freaky days, I can try many new slot machines, and hit bonuses on the very first spin. At the Venetian, I tried "Ultimate 7s" for the first time, and hit the second progressive for $216.51 (on a $2.50 bet). Luckily I max bet the first bet, because I missed the 1st progressive by only betting 5 coins ($1.25) and won $12.50 (instead of $68.00). Oops. Troubles of learning a new game.

I was teaching a guy to play Ultimate X Deuces at the Paris (when they had the 99.3-99.4% pNSU) version. He put in a ~$130 slip and ran it up to $2,000 within 30 min. Always nice to get paid to learn a new game. He was a VP player and familiar with Bob Dancer, but he never played Deuces before, so had no idea what to hold. DDB was 9/5 (bad...).