JC: The schedule on the Deuces Wild game she was playing is very different from the "full-pay" version that Mr. Dancer covers in his reports and on his (and Liam W. Daily’s) strategy cards. That schedule returns 100.76 percent with prefect play, is rarely found at the dollar level, and does not exist anywhere at the $5 level. If it did, sharp players could clear (factoring in slot club cashback) over $150 an hour.
The DW schedule found in the Venetian high limit salon returns, at best, 98.9 percent, and requires a very different strategy. For example, in the full-pay version covered by the Dancer/Daily cards, you discard one pair in two pair combinations. In the version she was playing, you keep both pairs.
My high limit game of choice is usually 9/6 Jacks (and the Venetian has plenty of these machines). With correct play (using Dancer/Daily cards), the game returns 99.52 percent. Add in the slot club, and you have an almost even game with free suites, gourmet food and other benefits thrown in.
Of course, all these percentages are based on max coin play. Because a one-coin royal returns only 250 coins (as opposed to 4,000 coins when you are playing five coins), playing less than max coin further decreases the machine payback by approximately 1.5 percent.
Needless to say, I didn’t have the chance to make too many mistakes. After only 25 minutes, my $200 was gone. I was flabbergasted. How could it go so quickly? You’d think little hits—a straight, a flush, a full house or two—would keep me alive for a little longer than 25 minutes!
I fed $60 more into the machine. Bills, this time. I felt silly going up to the cashier for less than one row in a coin rack.
In 10 minutes, that was gone, too. I had $40 left. No one else had approached me. No one came to offer me a glass of champagne or little hors d’oeuvres. And I felt sick. Okay, $260 may not be an enormous amount of money. But it’s nothing to sneeze at. And I felt like I had just sneezed all over it.
I took my remaining $40 to the quarter video poker machines. It was noisier. It was more crowded. But the cocktail waitress was still there in minutes, and at least I got to play for a while.
JC: She was lucky! Given her level of expertise, I’d say that, in most cases, she wouldn’t last nearly that long.
Underestimating bankroll requirements is the major miscalculation made by most first-time visitors to the high limit salon. After hitting their first-in-a-lifetime $1,000 jackpot (playing quarters), they run to a $5, $10 or even $25 machine and watch their winnings disappear in 10 minutes.
Assuming you want to play a couple of hours at a $5 max-coin 9/6 Jacks or Better game, I recommend at least a $3,000 bankroll.
I spent much of the night thinking about my high limit theories. Maybe I was playing the wrong game in the salon. A $5 slot machine—not video poker, but one of the old-fashioned reel spinners—might have been a better choice. At one coin at a time, the jackpots on those machines are still more than enticing. With frequent hits—even those which simply return your money—a slot machine could keep you going. And there wouldn’t be the stress of second-guessing myself every time I pushed the button.
Then I started wondering about my choice of the Venetian. It’s such a high-brow property. Playing $5 machines is probably pretty common among their clientele. It certainly wouldn’t warrant any special pampering. I should have been playing at a more middle-market property. One which might not attract as many $5 slot players.
I should have gone to the Luxor, a beautiful property that caters more to the average-income tourist.
I made up my mind. I was going to take another $300, and try it again.
While the high limit salon at the Luxor isn’t as private or grand in its decor as the Venetian’s, it is an attractive area. There was no dedicated cashier, but a change attendant was on hand to exchange my $300 for coins (three tiny rows, this time). There is a private lounge, behind a closed door. There was no one around to tell me it was okay for me to open the door, and it looked so imposing, I wasn’t about to risk the embarrassment of opening it myself and being told by someone on the other side that I didn’t belong there.
JC: She’s right. She didn’t belong there with only $300. But the high limit room at the Luxor is another one of my top choices. Besides a nice selection of reels and competitive video poker, the Gold Chamber Club rebates 1 percent for reels and .5 percent for video poker, which is one of the highest rebates on the Strip.
A completely closed door to the high-roller lounge (with no sign or attendant) borders on rude, but many casinos are struggling with how to properly offer amenities, including free food and beverage. They want the real players to feel welcome, without attracting leeches.
In my opinion, anyone who has played in the salon for an hour is entitled to a visit to the lounge and whatever else it may offer.
Once again, I tried to choose my machine wisely. I found a two-coin $5 Double Diamond machine with a pay schedule that didn’t penalize for playing only one coin at a time. At one coin in, the top prize is $4,000. Not a bad incentive.
I’ll spare you the gory details. Suffice it to say that no one approached me for a drink or a slot club card, because no one had time to approach me. Fifteen minutes. That’s as long as I lasted. Fifteen minutes, and my three little rows were gone.
JC: This might surprise you, but I like her slot strategy much better than her video poker maneuvers. She wanted to play in a high limit area and found a game that she couldn’t screw up, and didn’t penalize her for one-coin play. As a rule of thumb, $5 slot machines have a smaller percentage hold than $1 machines. Please remember, though, that playing $5 a hand is 250 percent as expensive as playing $2 a hand.
I’d had it. I had to admit defeat. I was not cut out for the high limit slots.
The sad part of it is, my illusions of the slot salons were shattered. The pampering service I expected wasn’t much different from the service I receive when I play quarters, or even nickels. No one cared much when I entered the salons, and they certainly weren’t concerned when I left. And as for the lounges, well, $300 for a miniature sandwich and a piece of fruit doesn’t make much sense. Besides, the last thing I wanted to do was lounge. I wanted to play. And when my play time turned out to be so much less than I thought it would be, I wanted to get the hell out of there.
JC: Assuming you can afford it and understand of the game you are playing, there are many reasons to play at a $5 and up level, including upgraded accommodations, gourmet-level meals, special invitations, etc. Many professional-level players find opportunities in the high-limit salon that do not exist elsewhere.
On average, though, the amenities of the salon itself do not justify the expense. You can lounge in your room, you can buy the same eats rather cheaply in the coffee shop, and they serve free drinks in the nickel room.
Of course, Jeffrey could have predicted this outcome. Jeffrey could have told me that "going for it" on a small bankroll doesn’t work unless you get ridiculously, outrageously lucky on your first few spins.
But, like I said, I’m stubborn. I had to learn this lesson the hard way. Well, no more! Next time, I’ll make the call first!
JC: Yeah, sure she will!