New Video Poker player here (So Cal)

Good day everyone,

I'm a relatively new casual video poker addict in SoCal (hah) - I play on videopoker.com a lot and mostly play Ultimate X, and super/double STP games, but I also enjoy regular Game King single lines etc.

The casinos I go to the most are probably
1. Harrah's Rincon
2. Pechanga
3. Valley View
4. Morongo
5. Any Caesars property in Vegas (I'm a diamond card so I'm stuck there)

I know the strategy in DDB/JoB, my favorite game is Deuces (on Ult X/STP) but the strategy seems more difficult, so I use my phone when I'm really stumped.

How are the games/paytables in SoCal? Best comp programs for VP players? especially for the casinos I mentioned.. My friends don't really want to go elsewhere, they prefer those places because it involves pretty good hotel/food etc. - I'm the big gambler in the group, but everyone will partake.

I didn't do any 'paytable scouting' - Are the games really that bad? What about compared to Vegas? Are the strip casinos really terrible? What about offstrip casinos like the Southpoint/Palms etc? Primm? I do make a trip up to Vegas every month or two.

Nothing beats free food and hotel room, while losing a few hundred per trip, slowly on some VP machines :). I'm the type of player who would sit at a 8/5 JoB and be content.. Some casinos have 6/5 JoB and that seems as bad as 6/5 blackjack.

Let's have a discussion with anyone willing to share anything. Much appreciated by a new player like me.

Also I noticed that only Harrah's Rincon is the only California casino I've seen so far to add quite a few of the new Ultimate X Bonus Streak machines... HUGE volatility but really fun.

Hi CCship:

Welcome to the board. The only southern California casino I have been to is Harrah's Rincon so I cannot provide any feedback to the other SoCal places. Rincon used to have pretty good access to 8/5 Bonus but only now has it on the $5 level but if you are satisfied with 8/5 JOB, you should find what you are looking for. Then only reason I go there is because it provides tier credits and comps for Ceasars which I also use at Vegas and Lake Tahoe.

You state you use your phone for VP strategy when you are stumped. I would caution you to be careful. Most casinos consider it cheating if you use a "computer device" to assist you when you gamble. This originated when Black Jack teams used computer input devices hidden in their shoes to keep track of the cards. So use your phone to provide strategy at your risk. At a minimum, don't use them when casino employees are nearby. You might look into a paper strategy card which is probably OK.

FAB

You can also go to wizardofodds.com and print out the strategy on a piece of paper (or a few papers, whatever it takes), and then bring the paper into the casino while you play.

That is 100% legal, as a paper is not a device.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FABismonte

Most casinos consider it cheating if you use a "computer device" to assist you when you gamble.

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Several Southern California casinos will not allow you to even have a cell phone out and open when you play blackjack, but I have never heard of any objection about using a cell phone to play video poker? Have there actually been reports about a casino telling a player not to use a cell phone while playing VP?

Welcome to the forum ccship. There is a lot of good info on here about CET and their total rewards program. If you are planning on taking one of the free NCL cruises offered by CET from time to time for instance Dan Druff has a thread on here somewhere that has some very useful info on it on how to get the most out of it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Alan Mendelson

Several Southern California casinos will not allow you to even have a cell phone out and open when you play blackjack, but I have never heard of any objection about using a cell phone to play video poker? Have there actually been reports about a casino telling a player not to use a cell phone while playing VP?

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Hi Alan:

I think it is specifically a crime in Nevada to use a "device" to work out the strategy of a game. http://law.justia.com/codes/nevada/2...rs465-075.html

I am pretty sure a cell phone with a video poker strategy app is a prohibited device. I do not have personal knowledge about someone being told not a use a cell phone while playing VP. But I would not want anyone, particularly a newbee to this Board, to be arrested for this given the pretty clear directive of the law. As for SoCal, your guess is a good as mine as the Tribal Casinos seem to be governed by their own law.

FAB

Thanks FAB. I never saw that before nor did I ever hear about this before.

It's ironic but when Morongo, the Indian casino near Palm Springs, California, had card craps with the cards dealt from two shoes (blue and red shoes), there was NO rule against keeping track which cards had been played.

Could the tote board at a roulette game be used to identify a biased wheel, and if so is the casino breaking the law by providing the results for all to see?

And is there really a difference between using a cell phone to access the strategy cards for video poker on a website, when the casino's own gift shop sells those same strategy cards in print?

I guess I am guilty. A few times when I played Deuces Wild, I consulted an online strategy site.

Lock me up.

Thanks for all of the information,

Reporting in:

During the last two weeks I made a trip back to Harrah's, Valley View, and Pechanga.

This time, I took a closer look and did some scouting on Video Poker paytables. Now the only game in which I know 'good paytables' for, is jacks or better (9/6 jacks, with the majority being 8/5). I would have to assume that the paytables for the rest of the games have to be similarly bad or good, right?

The only casino where I found 9/6 Jacks or Better were in Pechanga, even in $.25 denomination! $1 9/6 was found in multiple places but a couple banks had the $.25 - I think I just found my secondary place to play. Especially because Pechanga is doing some sort of super renovation that's set to complete sometime in 2017.

Now as far as using a device to look up VP strategies... I can't imagine that being illegal, how could it be the same as having a device out in a live card game? Where cards can be counted, dealers flashing cards, in other words - Cheating or real AP in any sort of fashion. Even if it was illegal, how could this possibly be enforced. If devices are not allowed and no one can be assisted, then cell phones should just be banned in the casinos... right?... anyways...

At Harrah's I actually won one of the weekend drawings, that was quite a fun and surprising experience: Three people are called each hour to play a christmas-themed dice and board game, where I rolled a really crappy foam dice on a banquet table to move spaces towards the finish line. I took first of the three and won $2,000 free play tickets, $1000 for second and $500 for third. I just thought it was so funny to have Hundreds of dollars determined based on a really crummy foam dice that had dings and some chips in it haha.

Once I received the free play, I had to choose how to spend it to convert it into cash, so I chose a low variance game, 100-hand jacks or better and deuces wild. Converted $2000 in freeplay to about $1850, not bad. Then I went on my usual way to Ultimate X..

Does anyone have any suggestions on what else I could have done with $2000 free play to achieve low variance?

I'll chime in since I am more in favor of local California places over Vegas. At the same time, I do not gamble anywhere that I used to.

I agree that your best bet is at Pechanga for low stakes play. You should look deeper for my detailed post about Pechanga VP on the forum subsection. You can play 9/6 Jacks or Better for as low as nickels. Your play only accrues comp value that can only be used at their resort, and only once or twice a year they'll let you convert it into easyPlay which is their free play.

Overall if you want the absolute best value in VP and can play for one dollar denomination, I think Pala is the best.

If you like 9/6 DDB for the one dollar denomination, I think Morongo is the best since you can convert your play into cash at 0.167% rate.

I have not been to Harrah's Rincon in more than 10 years to know whats going on there.
I heard Valley View is degrading their VP rapidly and they are barring winners from playing with the club card (in another words, cutting off benefits).

I think MGM properties are better suited for video poker players on the strip.