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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.

For more details and a schedule of Bob's free classes, visit www.bobdancer.com.

Nov. 17, 2009

Learning a New Game for a One-Time Deal --- Part I of II

Railroad Pass is an out-of-the-way casino located on the 95 Freeway between Henderson and Boulder City. It's right by turnoff to go to Laughlin, so a couple of years ago I checked it out.

The best games percentage-wise are dollar 9-5 Triple Bonus Plus. This is a 99.80% game and on "Triple Point Tuesdays" (0.75%) it's not terrible, although the casino is rather old and smoky. These are old coin-dropping machines where you can get perhaps $2,500 per hour through the machines. I played the game some on 3x point days primarily to see if they'd send me some interesting monthly mailers (they didn't).

After a while (past tense --- these pay schedules are no more) eight Wheel Poker games that went up to dollar Five Play and included 8-5 Bonus Poker. This is a 99.59% game. With a 0.75% slot club on Tuesdays, I could get about $18,000 through the machines per hour for about $65 hourly expectation.

In case you're unfamiliar with Wheel Poker this is a 6-coins-per-line that gives you a "wheel spin" every time you hit a 4-of-a kind. The wheel spin varies from 100 to 2,000 coins and averages 428 coins. To figure out the strategy you merely add 428 to each quad --- i.e. 828 for aces, 628 for 2s-4s, and 553 for 5s-Ks on Bonus Poker.

So I started playing every Monday midnight, when 3x points would begin, for six to eight hours. Sometimes I would come back later in the day and play some more. Although several employees recognized me they didn't kick me out or remove the game. The way I managed this was to lose $40,000 in about three months. (Pretty clever, right?) During this period I never saw any other strong player on the machines.

Eventually the game turned around. I was dealt a $20,000 royal and hit enough other jackpots that in the following three months I recouped the initial $40,000 loss and went on the plus side about the same amount. They decided "enough was enough," I guess, and downgraded the machine to 7-5 (98.79%). This wasn't interesting to me.

I accumulated close to $10,000 in comps and since it is less than ten miles from our home, I go get four to-go meals from their steak house two or three times a month. This dings my comp account $50 per meal each time I go there, and I make sure I play a little at least every six months to keep my comp balance active. Since Shirley can't deal with casino smoke, being able to bring food home is very useful.

Recently I received a mailer with a special coupon in it. On Thursday October 8, I would get 10x points (2.5%) for 24 hours. Now the 98.79% game was worth 101.29%, and playing at the $18,000 rate was worth more than $200 per hour. There were no restrictions listed other than the typical-yet-always-ominous "management reserves all rights."

I assumed this was a one-time deal. They had a 10x "one-hour-only" promotion a while back which I avoided. Apparently nobody came and played hard during that event so they thought they'd try it for a longer period. Whether I won or lost this time, playing $18,000 per hour for 16 hours would get their attention. If they ever run the promotion again, you can bet the pay schedule would be changed or the machines (or me) excluded.

A potential of $3,200 profit in a day was sufficient to get my attention. I brought out my old 8-5 Bonus Wheel Poker strategy sheet (that I hadn't used in more than a year and didn't remember very well) and started checking hands to see what changed.

I probably studied five hours before even going into the casino. I mastered most of the penalty card rules but neglected some of the more obscure ones. Back when I played every week I tried to identify and master every last case, but since this was to be a one-shot only event, I didn't want to slow myself down too much. Still, since I study so many games I can identify and learn penalty card situations faster than most people can.

The strategy was similar to 8-5 Bonus Wheel Poker, of course, but there were numerous differences. In the 8-5 Wheel Game, for example, you break a dealt full house for AAA, 222, 333, and 444. In the 7-5 version, you break ALL dealt full houses.

Most of my study was on the Tuesday the sixth, a little more than 24 hours prior to the midnight start of the play. I wasn't trying to master this game forever and ever, amen, but just for a 24-hour period. If I'd started my serious study any earlier there would have been the problem of getting the strategy confused with other games I was playing. But learning the game "just before" allowed me to be peak at the right time.

I taught NSU Deuces Wild at Eastside Cannery on Wednesday the seventh and checked into a comped room at Railroad Pass about 6 p.m. and tried to go to sleep. I set the alarm for 11:15 p.m., ate a "to go" sandwich I'd brought along, practiced for about 20 minutes and went downstairs to slay the dragon.

In next week's column I'll tell you about the play itself. In my mind, the way I prepare for such an event is more instructive than the actual play.