vpFREE2 Forums

Casino Rama Trip Report March 25, 2006

#1

Some observations from a trip report on March 25, 2006:
1. Triple Play/Five Play VP is still there. Full Pay Jacks or Better
is still available. Other than myself, I only noticed ONE other
person playing JOB, although he was not playing maximum coinage.
2. The Firestarter Lounge now offers a buffet for lunch.
Unfortunately, there were no sneezeguards that I could see. I believe
that this is the same situation at The Willow.
3. The "Perfect Pairs" sidebet is now offered at about 50% of the
Blackjack tables in the regular area of the casino (7 spots), and it
was also offered at one Blackjack table in the high limit area (6
spots).
4. Two of the Blackjack tables in the high limit area ($100+ minimum)
used shuffle machines.
5. Four Card Poker is now offered.
6. The paytables for Three Card Poker and Four Card Poker are now
listed in the "gaming guides".
7. Gaming guide brocheures are now available at the Players Passport
club desk.
8. The Players Passport Gold card is now gold on the back as well! It
used to be white on the back.

I realize that most of this information has nothing to do with video
poker. Yes, I also know that much of this information is probably not
all that important to some folks. Anyway, replies would still be
appreciated.

#2

I certainly agree with what you said about play on the triple/five
play machines. My "guesstimate" would be that less than 5% of the
people on them play the best game available, JOB, at full coin.

Many have a love affair with triple double bonus poker because of the
large "special quads" payouts. I have seen many jackpots on this
game. However, the paytable offered makes it a 98.15% game, which is
no better than fourth best of what is available on the machines,
behind JOB, deuces wild, and super aces bonus. I am not sure where
the joker game ranks relative to these, other than to know it doesn't
beat JOB.

The good side of all this is that it allows the casino to keep the
full pay JOB on the machines. If everyone played exclusively JOB at
full coin, it would not likely be very long until they were
downgraded, or cashback and/or bonus cash reduced.

Did you ever have any success in running a simulation for triple
action poker?

As an aside, the vp inventory listed here is a little out of date.
Taking a tour around the casino the next time I need a break and
noting the changes is on my to do list.

Neil

···

--- In vpFREE_Canada@yahoogroups.com, "djmcosmo" <djmcosmo@...> wrote:

Some observations from a trip report on March 25, 2006:

#3

How did you do in the vp tournament?

···

djmcosmo <djmcosmo@yahoo.com> wrote:
  Some observations from a trip report on March 25, 2006:

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#4

Thank you for your reply. My responses follow....

Many have a love affair with triple double bonus poker because of

the

large "special quads" payouts. I have seen many jackpots on this
game. However, the paytable offered makes it a 98.15% game, which

is

no better than fourth best of what is available on the machines,
behind JOB, deuces wild, and super aces bonus. I am not sure

where

the joker game ranks relative to these, other than to know it

doesn't

beat JOB.

I agree with your view on the "love affair" with Bonus Poker. Often,
when I hit a four of a kind on JOB, people next to me will say
something to the effect of "you know, if you were playing one of
the 'Bonus Poker' games, you would have had a big jackpot!" In fact,
a four of a kind (250 coins) is actually a decent payout on Jacks or
Better. Sometimes, I will tell people playing one of the
Double/Triple Bonus poker games, "you know, if you were
playing 'plain old' Jacks or Better you would have won on a two
pair, instead of just a push", which occurs FAR more often than a
four of a kind.

The good side of all this is that it allows the casino to keep the
full pay JOB on the machines. If everyone played exclusively JOB

at

full coin, it would not likely be very long until they were
downgraded, or cashback and/or bonus cash reduced.

That is a good point. I guess I shouldn't "complain" about good
things.

Did you ever have any success in running a simulation for triple
action poker?

Sorry, I haven't run any detailed simulations.

As an aside, the vp inventory listed here is a little out of

date.

Taking a tour around the casino the next time I need a break and
noting the changes is on my to do list.

One more point that I forgot to list:

*** One of the Caribbean Stud Poker tables uses the round "light up"
spots (similar to Let it Ride Bonus), rather than the typical "drop
slot" for the jackpot sidebet. Also, the jackpot ($195,000+)was
updated less frequently, especially on the individual table displays.

#5

Thank you for your reply. I never entered the VP tournament. My
usual "bankroll" for regular VP is about $250-500. I set a reasonable
quit point so that I will end up winning about 1/2 of the time. If
Rama's slot tournaments were in the $125 range, I would consider
entering them. $250 for a slot tournament (which I would enter with
the expectation of losing the entire amount) is quite high compared to
the costs of tournaments in Las Vegas, which are usually under US$100.

···

How did you do in the vp tournament?