A Positive Look at the Future

I must caution everyone not to take every piece of gambling information you read on the Internet as “gospel.”  That goes especially for gambling forums, where sometimes people post information about video poker games, or promotions, or casino policies that turns out to be erroneous.  These are usually inadvertent mistakes:  A poster doesn’t do a thorough scouting job.  Or, a casino employee gives out incorrect or incomplete details. Or, a casino makes a sudden mid-stream change.

This problem even exists in the “Comments” right here on my blog.  I try to keep a light touch on the comment monitoring and I rarely choose to not “Approve” a comment so it won’t be available for the public to read.  (I even try to restrain the English teacher in me, but sometimes I might correct a misspelling or punctuation error!)

However, sometimes I allow some “rants and raves” to go public even though they might be generalized simplifications of complex situations and not entirely accurate in the smaller details.  I understand many of you are disappointed …even extremely frustrated about the decline of good video poker games and you just want to vent this frustration.  I too have seen many of my favorite plays disappear over the last few years.  But I don’t want readers to give up just because someone might have said that there are no good plays left, that it is no longer possible to be a “frugal gambler.”

First remember – there are many kinds of “frugal gamblers,” a group that contains players who have a very wide range of goals. Yes, it is getting harder for those of us who are determined to always find a monetary advantage.  But there are many of us still plugging away at this.  Some are learning new games.  Some are changing denominations.  Some are traveling out of their home area.  Many more these days are scouring the database at vpFREE2.com.  Most are chasing more good promotions.  Everyone is having to be more flexible – in their selection of casinos, their choice of games, their scheduling of playtimes, their monetary expectations.

But many others, actually most “frugal gamblers” I would guess, have more modest goals.  They want to get the best value for their money in a casino, enjoying this entertainment option for as little expense as they can.  And there are still many many frugal ways to cut these expenses – and I expect that you will be able to continue to always find them in the future.  One reader gave this example: Thanks for the info [in “Senior Discounts]. If we seniors save on other things, we have a little more money to spend in the casinos. I love checking out the “Senior Days” at the casinos on my yearly trip to Las Vegas.

Knowledge continues to give power.  The diligent “frugal gambler” will always find ways to stretch their gambling bankroll.

 

 

 

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4 Responses to A Positive Look at the Future

  1. Hi Jean! Don’t know if you remember me but I worked at Eastside Cannery for six years (that’s where we met)until 2010 when they showed the way to the door!
    Well, I won’t bore everyone with my old days blabber.

    Been reading your blog for a loooong time, you sparked my interest in this post about the “Future of Gambling”. I am re-building the same old website I’ve been running since 1998 {site name is on my registration here}#3 on Google for my anchor keyword. OK, enough sorry.Not Spam!

    I am in the middle of writing a whole page on “The Future of Online Gambling”.Since I now live in the tiny mountain town of Central City, CO (12 Casinos) I’m observing many of the same issues you guys are talking about out there. The reduced mailer cash comps, freebie meals, lower tournament play etc. What can land-based casinos do, we already know we can’t do anything, hell we’d set every machine in the place at 10-7!:)We have to do as Fred said make the most of what we have.

    When the bottom fell out of the Online Casino market in USA anyway, back in 2006 hundreds of casinos closed there “doors”. Today, what they are realizing is that what it takes is money. By that I mean Bonuses, I can’t believe the astronomical amounts they are giving people, I have one that is offering a match bonus to $50,000!Just to get people to commit and sign up! Many offering from $10 to $4,000, how can they do it? Well, with wagering requirements, play about 20X the bonus before you can withdraw the bonus.

    Now why can’t/won’t land based casinos do something like this? Simple…GREED,Stockholders.

    The Future for Online Gambling…..what do YOU think?

    Denny

  2. jack potts says:

    As always u have to have a bankroll and patience to win.As u people have noticed do not play at the strip. u might as well give your money at the door. Having said this i play at the Rampart (which Gaughn son now runs)Point,,and RED ROCK

  3. Fred Oyang says:

    Seeking out the best plays and values is somewhat of a game in itself. As a 50+ vp and bj player, I do my homework prior to the trip: checking various websites like LVA, Advantage Player, ACG, and individual casino sites as well for any promotions that will stretch my dollars. I can then cluster those deals by location and dates to reduce driving all over town. It may not be 100% EV in all cases, but it’s pretty close and I enjoy the fact that I’m having fun and making the most of my $.
    That said, as Kevin alluded to, there are plenty of ploppies, even at the off-Strip casinos that I frequent: rarely do I ever see anyone check the vp paytables and at least a third of the bj players play that Royal Match sidebet (I’ve seen some bet more on that than their bj bet!).
    To those who lament the good old days, well, times change. Make the most of what is still out there!

  4. Kevin Lewis says:

    Of course it’s still possible to uncover decent plays–but increasingly, those plays are high-volatility, limited to a very few machines, and require a large bankroll and perfect play to realize any advantage (for instance, NSUD at Coasts during a 7X point day, which confers about an 0.4% edge).
    The REAL downgrade has been in mailed offers. My play has been consistent for almost a decade and the offers I receive have gone steadily downhill. A notable exception to this has been the El Cortez.
    As far as any outlook for the future goes, I think it’s obvious that positive VP is all but extinct and good VP (like 9/6 Jacks or NSUD) is rapidly dying out as well. Harrah’s/CE is leading the way in restricting player perks and comps. More and more players everywhere are being restricted or no-mailed for having the temerity to not lose.
    What can we, as players, do about this? Probably nothing, since antagonizing us seems to bother the casinos not at all, but we can make the gesture–play ONLY at those casinos that offer the best deals (even if the bast deals are a pathetic shadow of what the best deals used to be). This would mean avoiding the big Strip megajoints, and in general, all Caesar’s Entertainment, MGM, and AcePlay properties, to name just a few. If we plunk our butts in the $249 rooms and happily play 8/5 Double Bonus poker, we’re telling them that they can freely rip us off. Maybe the tsunami of ignorant ploppies that hits town every Friday night overwhelms anything we value-conscious players could do or say. The ideal Vegas visitor, from the point of view of the casino, is someone who has left his brain in the glove compartment.

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