Learning2Cashout wrote: the casinos understand something that maybe Rob singer has really hit upon, that short term play matters.
You are absolutely correct about this. Short term play matters because the longer you play, the more you will lose and the more the casinos will win. This is why casinos give free rooms, free meals, show tickets, and other perks to get you there and to keep you there. They know that the more you play, the more you will lose over time.
I am surprised that you found higher limit games with lesser paytables than lower limit machines. The casinos will make a profit from 8/5 Bonus whether its at the $100 per coin level or the $5 per coin level or the 5-cent per coin level. I'd really like to be the fly on the wall in the slot manager's office when that decision was made to try to understand the reasoning for that.
In most casinos when it comes to true slots, the higher denomination machines have the better paybacks. So why they would reverse that for video poker with a house edge surprises me.