My wife and I just returned from Vegas (staying at the Palazzo) and
witnessed something I did not know happened. A bit of background
first. In late July we were there and noticed an individual playing
VP at a machine in front of the high limit lounge and the game was
9/6 Jacks and no other machine had the same. He was playing $2
single line. There was also a machine in another bank with 3/5 line
games that was shown to be out of service. A bit later we witnessed
that same individual at the "out of service" machine playing $1
triple line 9/6 JOB. The other machine that he had been playing was
now out of service. I inquired to a slot supervisor if I could play
the now out of service machine and she said it was reserved for a
specific player and that it was arranged by a host. It puzzled us
but we did not persue it and perhaps thought we misread the pay
schedules. This past Thursday, the same individual was there playing
the triple play machine and this time I sat next to him to verify the
game. Sure enough, it was 9/6 Jacks. A slot attendant was standing
by the single line machine guarding it so nobody would use it. A few
minutes later, a couple of "suits" came by along with the previously
mentioned slot supervisor and waited with the slot attendant by the
single line machine. Shortly later a slot machine technician came
by, lifted the lid and performed some work. Within a few more
minutes, everything must have been done, the slot attendant disabled
the machine and they all left. This same machine I had checked out
the previous day and the Jacks were 8/5. Later in the day, the
player was at the single line machine (the multi-line was now out of
service) and was playing $2 9/6 JOB. It then provided proof to us
that some players were certainly able to request certain games.
While we were angered by this, from the standpoint of the casino, if
the player is a large enough gambler, I can understand their
decision. As I watched the patron, he was playing correctly, so the
casino was not getting an unusually large hold due to his poor play.
We did see the patron when he was not playing and apparently had a
spouse or friend. Perhaps the spouse/friend was a big loser and the
casino was accomodating him for her action. We don't know.
I inquired about this with a host and he did indeed confirm that for
large players (he said a credit line of $50,000+) they will make
those types of accomodations. As I have been reading in this forum,
there are certainly a number of posters who would qualify as a large
player. Never have I heard of this game change for a single
individual. Virtually everyone has been writing about the VP
downgrade at the V/P complex. Is this one of those "unspoken"
advantages that only the "in crowd" know about?
My wife and I have had a lot of discussion and debate about this. On
one hand, I can understand a casino giving more inducement to larger
players. I can accept paytable improvements as the wager increases
from $.25 to $1 to $5 and so forth. I can accept more comps, better
offers, better rooms for bigger players. What I have a real problem
with is a better paytable for the same denomination that I or others
play. To me that is BS.
I thought this might generate some lively discussion and I would
appreciate some feedback as to the frequency of this occurring.