Something important to note about “Bonus Poker” at Harrah’s Rincon (don’t be fooled!):
I went to play some of the new machines recently installed in the video poker area. I looked for bonus poker, and lo and behold there was 8/5 “bonus poker” (quotations here are important). I only checked the full house/flush ratio (the game was clearly labeled bonus poker with the same font/artwork you usually see for the game) then finally, I hit my first quad: four two’s! Yippee, right? Except I was rewarded 150 quarters instead of the usual 200. I scrolled up to check the paytable to see what gives, and I couldn’t believe my eyes. The only “bonus” in this game is that all 4 of a kinds pay 150 quarters at max bet instead of 125.
There is no bonus for different kinds of 4 of a kinds, the game essentially is 8/5 JoB with a 30 credit quad instead of 25 credits. Probably a little dumb of me to not check out the entire paytable first, but I was just there to relax and have some fun. Feeling like you’re being conned is the opposite of fun. If I want to play “Bonus Poker” I expect actual Bonus Poker, not JoB with a crap paytable. Having JoB with a crappy paytable labeled as “Bonus Poker” is blatantly misleading. It really rubs me the wrong way and I won’t be going back to Harrah’s again, that’s for sure. I think I’ll stick to Barona for now.
Anyone else encountered “bonus poker” in their region? It’s not so much the shitty EV that bothers me (though that’s certainly part of it), it’s that IGT is apparently changing the definition of what “Bonus Poker” is for their games to something much more bland. I enjoyed Bonus Poker because it was more volatile than JoB, but not incredibly volatile like DDB and its variants. It was the middle of the road option that fit my playstyle and budget perfectly. Having it and JoB on the same machine seems redundant, and I can’t figure out why it exists except to trick people only checking the flush/full house ratio into thinking it’s a decent paytable.
There’s a lesson in this too, of course. Never, ever, ever let your guard down in a casino! (especially a harrah’s property) 
Cheers,
Brian
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On Mon, Oct 28, 2013 at 6:14 AM, Tom <coach…@…com> wrote:
Hi Gang:
Harrah’s AC has been slowly replacing all their video poker machines over the past month or so with newer table-top models and Friday they turned on the four new machines in the Diamond Cove that replaced the ones that had 9/6 jacks on them.
Shocker! The four machines now have seven games on them that sport pay tables which return over 99%! Besides 9/6 jacks, they have 8/5 bonus poker, 9/7/5 double bonus, kings or better joker poker with a 4,700 royal and three Aces and Faces games. The Double double Aces and Faces returns 99.45. The games can be played at the $1 and $2 levels and the three machines on the opposite side of the bank offer the same games at the $5 and $10 levels.
There is also some scuttlebutt that the three machines out on the floor in the non-smoking area that had 9/6 jacks will feature the same menu when they are eventually turned on. Those machines are multi-denominational and can be played from quarters to $2.
So, the question is, What’s going on here? Caesars/Harrah’s has been notorious for downgrading their video poker inventory at casinos all over the country yet this signals a significant upgrade at Harrah’s AC. Does it have something to do with the new GM, Rick Mazer?
With business falling off every month, is this a desperate move to get more players in the casino and a message to Borgata which has a much larger inventory of playable VP games?
Whatever the reason, it will be interesting to see how it plays out … and how long it lasts!
Regards,
CoachVee and Hedy
Sent from my iPad