By Melissa Cook & Jeffrey ComptonWhen you’re surrounded by the best minds in the gaming business, you really have no excuse for not playing smart. So I can’t justify why I did what I’m about to tell you. All I can say is, I’m stubborn. I get something into my head, and I like to figure out my own way of doing things.
I had the brilliant idea that I was going to play high limit slots, and write about it for the magazine. It made perfect sense at the time. What I should have done, in retrospect, was called Slot Club Editor Jeffrey Compton, and discussed the idea with him first. This would have saved me a tremendous amount of pain and frustration.
Jeffrey happens to be an expert on high limit slots, in addition to his general expertise in slot clubs. He stays on top of every major slot program in the country, but due to time constraints, he can only gamble in any given casino a few times a year. So to earn the most slot club points (and continue to receive the best casino mail), he usually hits the high limit salons. Recently, as a professional consultant, he even assisted in the layout of several new high limit salons across the country.
I should have called him, but I didn’t.
Jeffrey Compton: So, Melissa calls me on a Monday morning in a foul mood, complaining that she "hates high limit slots." Well, after what she tried to do, it’s no wonder!
I always look at those high limit slot areas and wonder what it would be like to play with the whales. I had visions of how glamorous it would be—pampering service, beautiful private lounges with private bartenders pouring private champagne, huge jackpots everywhere you turn.
And then I started thinking, maybe it’s better to play in the high limit area, especially if you have a limited budget. If I’m going to a casino to have some fun, doesn’t it make sense to play a $5 slot, one coin at a time, and get all those glamorous perks? And wouldn’t I rack up more points, for even more perks, on my slot club card if I’m playing $5 at a time? And, even though I’ve only got about $300 to gamble with, if I’m playing wisely, it should last me a while, right? And if I win, I’ll win a substantial amount of money.
In my mind, it was simple logic. I wondered why I hadn’t thought of it ages ago.
JC: "High limit slot salons" haven’t been around for ages. In fact, the current boom is a rather recent development. A combination of inflation, higher-income customers chasing resort amenities, not to mention an increase in overall slot machine action, has created more and more players regularly hitting $5 machines (and in some cases, $10, $25, $100, $500 and even $1,000 machines). As with high-end table players, many of these players want an area of their own, away from "lookie loos" who would stand behind the player and stare, or even ask obnoxious questions like, "How much have you lost today?"
As with all things competitive, every new high limit salon tries to out-do the last one. A designated change girl isn’t enough; big nickel ($5) players get their own cashier who can issue markers upon request. Five years ago, I would see a plate of finger sandwiches passed around, now it’s a complete selection of hot and cold appetizers or even a dinner menu. A couple of chairs have grown to a complete lounge with mini-bar, large color TV and private restrooms.
I love luxury. So I took my $300 and headed to the Venetian.
The Venetian is a gorgeous resort—terribly elegant, with stunning attention to detail. From the ceiling frescoes and floors covered in marble, the venetian surrounds its guests in an atmosphere of refinement. I congratulated myself on a good choice for my high limit excursion.
The high limit slot salon is beautifully appointed, with a dedicated cashier; two large private lounges, complete with a buffet, televisions, and a bartender; and a spacious layout of slots and video poker.
JC: She got this part right. The Venetian is one of the better high-roller salons on the Strip in regards to the aforementioned amenities as well as machine inventory. The Venetian Players Club rewards a high .4 percent cashback for video poker and .67 percent for reels, and is pretty generous with comps.
The Venetian salon is one of the few high limit rooms with dollar machines; it’s too bad that she didn’t check these out. Of course, she had no business going to any high limit slot pit with just $300.
Rather than simply feed my $100 bills into the slot, I went to the cashier and changed it in for $5 tokens. I started with $200, figuring that would be enough to keep me going.
With a lovely smile, the cashier handed me a rack with two rows of coins. Twenty coins per row. That was it. Staring down at the three empty rows, it just didn’t look like $200 anymore.
But I’m an optimist.
I decided to be as smart about this as I could be. I figured video poker was my best shot, so I chose a $5 Deuces Wild machine and sat down. In less than five minutes, a cocktail waitress brought me an excellent cup of coffee in a real mug (you get it in Styrofoam cups when you’re playing quarters, and I’d swear the blend is different).
The salon was quiet. Only one other couple was playing while I was there. So I was able to spread out, sip my coffee, and enjoy the piped-in music while I played. Less than thirty minutes after sitting down, a slot host approached me and signed me up for a card. No one has ever approached me to sign me up in a casino. Not once. It was a nice feeling. I felt noticed.
JC: Big deal! She was one of three warm bodies sitting in the High Roller Salon in a casino that is actively marketing to big nickel business. I’m surprised that it took them half an hour! Many casinos today have a "hot player" function on their slot club computer that tells them when someone is playing $5 machines without a card. Also, the card reader lights are designed to flash a certain color when the machine is being played without one.
The more important point here is that no one, under any circumstances, should drop big nickel (or even a small one) into a machine without joining the slot club first.
Why did I choose to play Deuces Wild?
Because I was sure I remembered Bob Dancer saying that Deuces Wild is the best game to play. Of course, I temporarily forgot that he also adds "when playing for quarters at Las Vegas local casinos."
I also forgot the second and third parts of that axiom. The parts where he says, "Making sure the machine you are playing has the correct pay schedule is the most important thing, and knowing how to play correctly is the second most important thing." Oh well. How bad could it be?
As I plugged the heavy coins into the machine, I was acutely aware of how much they were worth. Five dollars. Gone. Five dollars. Gone. I desperately wished I had Mr. Dancer at my side. Or at least his strategy card. Why didn’t I grab one of his strategy cards? I was on my own, left to agonize over every play. Normally, I wouldn’t scrutinize the hands so thoroughly. But at five bucks a pop, making a mistake suddenly seemed like a monumentally bad thing to do.