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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.

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Aug 27, 2007

Casinos Versus Pubs

In greater Las Vegas there are dozens of pubs, saloons, and restaurants that include fifteen or fewer video poker games. As a general rule, the pay schedules on these machines leave a lot to be desired. This rule is not iron clad, however, as there are some very lucrative games in pubs. Exactly which games at precisely which pubs provide these opportunities is something you'll have to find out for yourself. Holding your hand and telling you exactly what and where to play is not the purpose of this article.

At these pubs, all games are "at the bar." While many casinos have bars with games on them, playing at a pub is much different than playing at a casino. There are players who prefer pubs and virtually never play at casinos. Likewise there are players who prefer casinos. I'm one of those folks that go both ways.

At pubs, drinking, smoking, and socializing are far more important than they are in casinos. The attractiveness and personality of the bartender are probably the largest determining factors in how busy the pub is. More important, even, than pay schedules. Players drink (and often eat) for free, of course, and unaccompanied attractive women players often get comped as well. Higher-priced liquor is routinely served to players.

Many pubs are reminiscent of the old "Cheers" sitcom on television. You see the same regulars all the time and they all get to know each other. It becomes a home away from home and the social life of these players. You see this much less frequently in casinos simply because of casinos are much larger. In a pub with 15 machines, you can carry on conversations with most of them simultaneously.

At casinos, slot clubs and promotions, along with the pay schedules, are important considerations. Pubs have slot clubs and promotions too. Some give you a significant bonus if you hit a royal flush. Many have a "card of the day" where you get a bonus for getting a specific four of a kind.

Every casino has its own slot club, although there are some mega-clubs that include several casinos. Some pubs have their own slot club, but probably half of them in Las Vegas belong to the "Gambler's Bonus" system. This club grants 0.10% in cash back plus a 4-of-a-kind bonus system. If you get all 13 ranks of quads quickly, you'll receive a nice bonus (I've heard of players receiving $50,000). Usually you receive a much smaller bonus. I don't know how to determine exactly how much this is worth, but it's not trivial.

Casinos have slot club cards, where you frequently need a pin number to download free play. Pubs using the Gambler's Bonus system have no cards. You sign in with a personally-selected card number and personally-selected pin number. To me this is a better system. I carry bunches of cards on me from various casinos and it would be better if I didn't have to carry that many.

Cash back is limited at Gambler's Bonus pubs. The most you can collect is $100 per day, but you must play a lot before you get to that level. I'm not sure how much you need to play, but it wouldn't surprise me that it's a half million dollars in six months to get to that level. Players start off with daily limits of $25, $35, $50, and $75 before you get to withdraw $100. The casino day begins and ends at midnight so if you show up at 11:55 p.m. you can collect two days worth of cash back in short order. It takes $100,000 worth of play to earn $100, which is very large amount of play for small-denomination players, but the bonuses at some of these pubs add up and betting $50 or more per play is allowed at most of these places. Many players have thousands of dollars worth of cashback that they can only redeem $100 per day. I think some of these places award excessive bonuses because they understand how long it takes to collect the bonus.

There is a difference in machines between casinos and pubs. In casinos, more than 80% of all video poker machines are made by IGT. In pubs, it appears that more than half are CEI machines, a brand that casino players haven't even heard of. Most of the remaining machines in pubs are IGT, with a few by Bally.

The CEI machines that I've seen are old and slow. The technology is likely more than 20 years old. Most are 10-coin machines where the royal is worth 4,000 coins if you bet 5 coins and 10,000 if you bet ten. The games have different names than IGT, but are essentially the same. The machines do appear to be fair. One chief financial officer of a company that runs several of these pubs told me that the CEI machines don't hold like they're supposed to. I took this as a good sign for players.

Last fall, the local election in Las Vegas had a smoking initiative on the ballot. This initiative said that you couldn't allow smoking in the same place as food is served. This has affected pubs much more than casinos as the pubs are small, serve food, and smoking is ubiquitous.

Some pubs have put up walls because of this initiative. A few have gone totally non-smoking, although during graveyard when the kitchen is closed, you can usually get an ashtray if you want one. Some serve food in "to go" containers so that officially the food isn't intended to be eaten at the pub, although most people do. Some pubs appear to have ignored this law completely. So far the health department hasn't rigorously enforced this particular law. Whether it does or not in the future remains to be seen.

In the past I've ignored pubs due to my perception that pay schedules there are very bad. I've since learned that at a least a few pubs, the games are better than they are in casinos.