Quote:
Originally Posted by
mickeycrimm
The 18-machine linked Flush Attack bank at the Riverside was the premier Flush Attack bank in Laughlin. It got lots more action by the ploppies than any other bank in town. The bank attracted lots of pros because of it. The ploppies created the Flush Attack modes. It took 15 points worth of Flush to send all the machines into Flush Attack mode. A person betting five coins would put in 5 points when they made a Flush. A person betting 3 coins would put in 3 points when they made a Flush. A person betting one coin would put in 1 point when they made a Flush. So when 15 points of Flush were collectively accumulated on the bank of machines it triggered Flush Attack mode. Across the top of all the machines it would say "FLUSH ATTACK!!! Next flush pays bonus." Then it was a race to see who could make the next flush, which payed 125 coins.
The trick to this game was not to play in non-flush attack mode. Let the ploppies play and create the Flush Attack modes. But you could draw heat doing that. So most of us who were exploiting the game would bet one coin per game in non-mode to look like we were players. Then go to to five coins in mode. It was a cash cow.
I met Bill Hartman of the Riverside Flush Attack bank in the spring of 1997. He was an old casino hustler. He was a pretty nice guy for someone who had done 13 years in San Quentin for manslaughter. We became fast friends. Up until that time I had been paying about $180 a week to stay in the casino hotels. I belonged to all the slot clubs but I had a Colorado ID and a phony address in Colorado. Who knows what happened to any mail they sent to that address.
Hartman did two things for me. First, he introduced me to his Riverside casino host. She would comp me into the North Tower for a week at a time. That is, as long as I gave her a $70 handshake every week. The casino hosts in the Riverside were on the take. Don Laughlin allowed them to take tips and it became a racket. So I would meet my casino host at the North Tower Bar every week with $70 palmed in my hand which I would pass off to her. This cut my rent bill considerably.
The 2nd thing Hartman did was he told me to go downstairs and rent a mail box in the Post Office. The Riverside had a U.S. Post Office down the escalator where you go out to catch the water taxi. I asked him why I needed a mail box. He told me I was missing out on the casino mailers that came with comped rooms, meal comps, bounceback checks, promotions, etc. I went downstairs and rented a mail box for $14 a year. Then I went to all the slot clubs and changed my mailing address.
By early 1997 I had the Pig plays working, the Flush Attack banks around Laughlin working, the Odyssey plays working, and I was playing FPDW on certain nights. Then I added two more video poker games to my reportoire. The first was another Sigma game called House a' Rockin'. It worked the same way as Flush Attack but was based on Full Houses. There was a linked bank in the North Tower Bar of the Riverside. It was 8/5 Double Bonus with every 6th Full House paying 200 coins. When I caught the bank getting ploppie action I sat down betting one coin at a time in non-mode then went to the five coin bet in mode. It was another cash cow.
The 2nd video poker game was called Jackpot Card. It was 6/5 Double Double Jackpot, a 95% game. But there was a bingo card on the upper right of the screen. Squares on the card would fill in as you hit hands, like two pair, 3 of a Kind, Straight, the four different flush suits, certain full houses. It basically left the 4 of a Kinds to hit. When you made a bingo on the card you got a 250 coin bonus. It was always the 4 of a Kinds you had to hit to get the bonus. You could find the card with 9, 10, 11 ways to get the bonus by hitting the 4 of a Kinds. If it was 9-way then the game was at 104%, and even higher if it was a 10-way or 11-way. They had these machines in the Riverside, the Flamingo, the Belle, the Pioneer, the Golden Nugget, and Harrah's. I keyed off the ploppies. When they left a good bingo card I played it off. Life was great on the river.
I started learning a few things about the slot clubs on the river. I started getting a mailer from Gold River offering me two days hotel comp per week. This was from my action on the Deuces. At the Pioneer a $3000 machine wager this month got you a two-day Getaway Package for the next month. At Ramada anyone with a local address got a 3-day Getaway Package every month that cost $11. So to cut my rent further I would stay at the Riverside for three weeks which cost me $210, then take the room comp from the other joints for a week. Then return to the Riverside.
At Gold River the slot card was worth .333% cashback and .333% comp dollars. On Thursdays I got triple cashback to play the Deuces. I used the comp dollars for meals.
The Pioneer had a $3 Steak & Eggs special from 11 PM to 7 AM every night. I was there pretty much every night. The slot card was worth .167% cashback and .333% comp. They had frequent double cashback days and promotions like Card of the Day. I mostly played the linked bank of Flush Attack, FPDW and the Jackpot Cards.
The Riverside card was worth .2% cashback and discretionary comp. They wouldn't tell you what the meter rate was on the comp dollars. I got discretionary meal comp. A $2500 wager this month got you a two-day Getaway Package for the next month. After my weeks stay in the other joints I would check back into the Riverside on the Getaway Package....then see my slot host to book the rest of the days.
The Edgewater card was worth .25% cashback and .5% comp. I got an occasional meal comp out of them from my action on the Pigs.
The Belle card was worth .25% cashback and .5% comp. And I got a meal comp out of them here and there from my action on the Pigs and Jackpot Cards.
The Golden Nugget card was worth .2% cashback. They had double point days. They also had FPDW.
The Ramada card was worth .333% for locals and you got .666% one day a month. And, as previously mentioned, I got a 3 day Getaway Package for $11 every month. I got discretionary meal comp from the Ramada.
