vpFREE2 Forums

Is video poker at CA Indian casinos fair?

#1

This sounds like Jackson Rancheria though I didn't start playing it till a
few years later & I think it was on IGT machines with auto-hold & the
resets were normal $4000, $250, $125 but the same 1% rise on each. At the time
I played it with auto-hold it seemed fair & I did well without a royal
since hitting the 4K at high numbers & the occasional SF was all you needed.

Auto-hold is normally wrong since it favors SF & RF holds but in this
instance it was right when the prog got high & the locals were doing very well
by playing as fast as they could. At the high numbers, auto-hold was right
& increased playing speed tremendously so that local players were as fast
as more experienced players. Some of the prog hits were incredible, like
$2500 for a SF & $300 for a 4K.

These are all gone now & there's nothing worth stopping for except if you
have a slot card you get a nice discount on gas -- I think it's a dime a
gallon.

I felt it was fair when I played it & when Margaret Dalton, the chairwoman
of the tribe, was alive, she permitted a lot of favorable situations.
Hardly any pro play, probably because of its remote location. A bit of
miscellaneous info, even though she had her own casino, she had a home near Tahoe &
often played the $5 prog next to the Mountain Bar at Harvey's. This had a
prog on the RF & SF & it was 8-coins. Next to it were the $ with prog on RF
& SF & also 8-coin. Another note of interest were the Mountain Bar vp were
good for a $ or 2 over-run.

In a message dated 3/11/2011 1:09:07 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,
vpFREE@yahoogroups.com writes:

_Re: Is video poker at CA Indian casinos fair? _
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vpFREE/message/112827;_ylc=X3oDMTJzMzdlYWJ0BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE1BGdycElkAzQ2N
DEwMTcEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDY1NzMyBG1zZ0lkAzExMjgyNwRzZWMDZG1zZwRzbGsDdm1zZwRzd
GltZQMxMjk5ODM0NTQ0)
Posted by: "Frank" _frank@progressivevp.com _
(mailto:fr…@…com?Subject= Re:%20Is%20video%20poker%20at%20CA%20Indian%20casinos%20fair?)
_frankkneeland _ (http://profiles.yahoo.com/frankkneeland)
Fri Mar 11, 2011 12:30 am (PST)

There has apparently been a lot of chatter about my brief comment about
having played at an Indian casino and questioned the fairness of their
machines. Here's the whole story. First is was about 16 years ago. I'll share
what I remember.

1. Somewhere near Sacramento CA.
2. The machines were too good to be true. 9/6 JoB with a triple
progressive for the RF, SF, 4K. 1% Meter-Rise on each. THAT'S 3% TOTAL. The RF reset
to $5,000, the SF reset to $500 and the 4K reset to $150. Yet you couldn't
win to save your life.
3. Applying the chi squared test to a small sample of hands revealed that
pay cards were coming up about 15% less often than they should have.
4. They were off brand.
5. It was too far from home to worry about. We left it.

It should have been about a 4.8% edge from reset, but we left. That should
tell you something.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

#2

A few more clues. I called my old partner and he for sure remembers the incident, but had an even more cloudy recollection of it. Two useful bits came out of our conversation.

1. Somewhere between Tahoe and Sacramento. Perhaps south on the Gold Route.

2. Very rural and it seems like it was elevated on a hill.

I would point out that even if we did figure out where it was, the information is so old it's of no use. AS another poster pointed out, the laws have changed a lot since then.

~FK

#3

That has to be the Jackson Rancheria. Ted Chee is correct about the play. It was a $1 3 way progressive 9/6 Jacks with autohold. I was very sure it was fair and no reason to think otherwise. I saw several royals hit on that bank that was in the middle of the casino. They also had some quarter versions at a bar (no booze). I remember seeing Gallagher (watermelon smasher) perform in the showroom (Dalton Hall) and he stated that they must have snuck him in on a back road, as there was no way that was the main road into the place. Jackson Rancheria is located near Jackson off of Hwy 49 and is isolated on a hill.

Yes, they give a 10cent gallon discount on gas with a slot card or up to 20cent/gallon discount with a higher level card. I got gas there last week. They still have a few plays in the place and have expanded many times.

Also, you are correct- that play is history.

···

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "Frank" <frank@...> wrote:

A few more clues. I called my old partner and he for sure remembers the incident, but had an even more cloudy recollection of it. Two useful bits came out of our conversation.

1. Somewhere between Tahoe and Sacramento. Perhaps south on the Gold Route.

2. Very rural and it seems like it was elevated on a hill.

I would point out that even if we did figure out where it was, the information is so old it's of no use. AS another poster pointed out, the laws have changed a lot since then.

~FK

#4

A friend in Reno told me about the 9/6 Jacks prog. at Jackson Rancheria about 2001. He told me he made $30,000 on the bank.

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "hamstockman" <AB6PQ@...> wrote:

That has to be the Jackson Rancheria. Ted Chee is correct about the >play. It was a $1 3 way progressive 9/6 Jacks with autohold. I was >very sure it was fair and no reason to think otherwise.

#5

I just looked up photos for the Jackson Rancheria and it does look like the casino I remember.

~FK