This is a response to "C:"
"C. Most importantly, if hands are random, how do people like George
Maloof claim to operate the "Royal Flush Capital of the World (first at
Fiesta, then at Palms). The "random" nature of video poker would have
you believe that a casino can't control how often a royal is dealt, but
I highly doubt the Maloof's just happen to be lucky enough to have more
royals come up at their hotels than at another property. They are
obviously "setting" their machines to pay more royals."
I didn't know that Maloof claimed to operate the "Royal Flush
Capital of the World," but I can think of several reasons why it
could be true even though these claims usually mean nothing. First,
his FPDW machines are progressives and his clientele often has good
players who can adjust their play to go after the royal more as the
progressive jackpot rises Second, unlike several other casinos, his
second best game 20/7 Jokers Wild is available on other machines than
those which have FPDW so people have a good different game to play as
a first choice or while waiting for a seat at the progressive FPDW
machines. Third, unlike say Sam's Town, Maloof has his machines set
to play very fast. Fourth, aside from attracting the most expert
local players, the Gold Coast, across the street, has very low rates
so fairly expert vp players from out of town play at the Palms now
that the Gold Coast has removed its FPDW machines. Fifth, unlike the
South Point, for example, Maloof's FPDW machines are slant tops
rather than uprights which allow players to play for more hours
without shoulder pain. Sixth, the cocktail waitresses are very
attentive even fairly late at night. Seventh, the machines are
always in good repair with no sticky keys, mute machines, etc.
There are more reasons, but the only negative I can think of is that
the Palms won't comp a player that plays +EV games. BTW, the icing
on Maloof's cake which brings in customers is the $50 Palms coupon
from LVA.
Maloof has other slightly positive vp games, but I discussed his
progressive FPDW because of the very high play they get vs. the lower
play on other vp machines. We should all be thankful that so many
people won't invest the modest expenditure of time to learn to play
well, and we should hope that the progressive FPDW machines return
enough to the Palms to keep Maloof from removing them.
John
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]