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Bob Dancer writes a video poker column for beginners to experts. He also writes a column with Jeffrey Compton, "Player's Edge", featuring information on promotions at various Las Vegas casinos. Player's Edge is published each Friday in the Neon section of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Click here to send Bob Dancer an e-mail.

Oct. 14, 2003

Video Poker on a Cruise Ship

Generally speaking, onboard casinos on cruise ships offer extremely tight games. The reason for this is obvious. Once the ship is at sea, they have absolutely no competition from other casinos. Video poker players who can judge pay tables usually see this at a glance. Generally speaking, video poker players on a cruise ship are clueless. And anybody who plays slot machines on a cruise ship shouldn't have any illusions that they're gambling with the odds in their favor.

I was approached by Norwegian Cruise Lines to help them design the games for the Norwegian Dawn, their newest and largest ship, which would generate interest among video poker players without bankrupting the casino. I asked them for the desired profile of the customers they wanted and asked them what their slot club would entail.

They told me they were looking for $1, $5, $10, and $25 players and that their slot club was currently being redesigned. The slot club, which should be unveiled within a month, will include three levels of benefits. The highest level is for when you're spending your points for certain shipboard expenses, such as alcohol and meal upgrades. The middle level will be if you wish to spend the points on shipboard expenses owned by outside contractors, such as at the health spa or perhaps on-shore excursions. The lowest level is if you wanted the money as cash back, which will be in the form of "must play it through at least once" vouchers.

The games I suggested are 9/6 Jacks or Better (returning 99.54% when mastered) and NSU Deuces Wild (returning 99.73%). Adding a slot club to each of these will make the return in excess of 100% for the knowledgeable player. On board a luxurious cruise ship! Not a bad deal at all.

I then asked them if they'd like Shirley and I to host one of these cruises and teach some classes. They said, "Sure. Why not?" and we agreed on the dates of February 22-29, 2004, and then later dates in May and September if the first cruise goes well. The ship will leave New York City and have ports of call in Cape Canaveral, Florida (Orlando), Miami, and two stops in the Bahamas, including Nassau.

Five weeks ago Shirley and I spent 4 days on the ship to check it out. It is luxurious. First launched in December 2002, the Dawn is brand new and we're very pleased to be associated with it. We'll be teaching Jacks or Better, NSU Deuces Wild, and "Getting the Most out of WinPoker".

One nice thing about a cruise is you'll get to meet other players from around the country. On this cruise there will be ten multi-denomination, multi-game ticket-in ticket-out machines with both games on them (among others, such as 9/6 Double Double Bonus for those who prefer that game) and over the course of the weeklong cruise, you'll see many of the same faces over and over again. The casino will also have hundreds of other video poker and slot machines at lesser pay schedules.

Seeing the same people every day is a plus as far as Shirley and I are concerned, as many of our friends were originally met at casinos during some sort of special event. We expect to make many more friends on this cruise.

Another benefit to gambling on a cruise ship is that there's plenty to do IN ADDITION to gambling. In many marriages (like mine), one of the partners likes to play video poker a lot (that would be me), and the other thinks there are other things in life (that would be Shirley). A cruise ship has all sorts of structured and unstructured activities, plus Shirley expects to meet other "video poker widows" on the cruise so she'll have buddies to attend some of the events with.

If you're interested, drop me an email (bobdancer@cox.net) for more information or just call Norwegian Cruise Lines themselves (1-800-PLAY-NCL) and ask for information about the Bob Dancer cruise. See you sailing!

I understand that using this column as an "advertisement" is something I rarely do. To make up for it, next week's column will be twice its normal length. That way, nobody's shortchanged.