My story of beating Piggy Bankin' and other +EV slot machines in Laughlin

[mickeycrimm]

(Dan Druff's note: I moved these posts from another thread, since I felt it deserved its own)

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I worked room and meal comp heavily in Laughlin over about a five year period, from Oct, 1996 until May 2002. It was a thing that started out slowly but built up over time to where I was getting a totally free ride in Laughlin. In the forums I called the strategy Laughlin RFB 362. That meant I could get 362 room nights, along with the meals, comped every year. The only 3 nights a year I couldn't get comped was the last weekend of April, Biker Weekend.

The story starts when I was thumbing down Hwy 99 in California in Oct, 1996. I was almost broke and on my way back to Las Vegas where I could at least credit hustle the machines. At Bakersfield I hit Hwy 58 and got dropped off at Tehachapi Pass. I spent the night in my sleeeping bag by the on ramp to the freeway. The next morning I got up, went to the convenience store, took a whore bath in the restroom, then bought a cup of coffee. I walked back out to the interstate. I counted up the change in my pocket, a whopping 99 cents left to my name. I had about a half pouch of tobacco left. I stuck my thumb out.

After a while a man in a van pulled over. He asked me where I was going. I said Las Vegas. He said he was going to Laughlin. I asked if he could drop me off in Laughlin. He said sure. Laughlin had machines and I wanted to be on those machines before the day was though.

He dropped me off above Harrah's. I stashed my sleeping bag and day pack in the desert and walked down to Harrah's. It was going to be a fateful day. I'll finish the story later. Time to go back to bed.

Walking down to Harrah's I was a guy that basically knew nothing about making money from machines other than how to hustle abandoned credits on them. I had played video poker before but it was all sucker stuff. Although I had been reading Lenny Frome in Card Player Magazine about FPDW, 9/6 Jacks and a game called Flush Attack. But I had never seen those games before and had no strategy.

I get into Harrah's and I'm hustling credits. I picked up maybe $6 in about an hour. I spied another credit hustler and struck up a conversation with him. He told me he came into Laughlin on a 3 day package, went broke on the first day, and had nothing to do but walk around. Some local showed him how to hustle credits. Then he said this local also showed him the Pigs. I asked what the Pigs were. He said they were some machines some of the locals were beating. I asked him to show them to me. He took me over to the smoking side and showed me the machines. Here is a screenshot of a Piggy Bankin' machine.

[mickeycrimm]

Walking down to Harrah's I was a guy that basically knew nothing about making money from machines other than how to hustle abandoned credits on them. I had played video poker before but it was all sucker stuff. Although I had been reading Lenny Frome in Card Player Magazine about FPDW, 9/6 Jacks and a game called Flush Attack. But I had never seen those games before and had no strategy.

I get into Harrah's and I'm hustling credits. I picked up maybe $6 in about an hour. I spied another credit hustler and struck up a conversation with him. He told me he came into Laughlin on a 3 day package, went broke on the first day, and had nothing to do but walk around. Some local showed him how to hustle credits. Then he said this local also showed him the Pigs. I asked what the Pigs were. He said they were some machines some of the locals were beating. I asked him to show them to me. He took me over to the smoking side and showed me the machines.

There were six quarter machines and six dollar machines. The quarter machines were the ones getting all the action. I'm standing there with this other credit hustler and I look over to see two guys sitting at a couple of video poker machines with buckets in their hands. They were staring intently at the action on the Piggy Bankin' machines. I thanked the guy for showing me the machines and told him I had to get back to work. I made a couple of laps around the casino then returned to the Pigs. I sat way back and watched these two guys operate. A tourist would put a twenty in a machine and play away. The Piggy Bank on the dotmation screen at the top of the machine started with ten coins in the bank. It was a two coin machine and thats what the tourists bet. When the reels caught all blanks on the line two coins were added to the bank. The coins in the bank would keep going up. There was a symbol on the third reel called "Break the Bank." When that symbol landed on the line you got all the coins in the bank. The bank would then reset to ten coins.

Sometimes a tourist would run the bank way up then run out of credits and walk off from the machine. That's when one of these two guys would get up and go to the machine. He would bet one coin at a time until he broke the bank. Then he would cash out and return to his seat. They just kept watching the tourists and picking off the plays as they developed. They didn't seem to like anything under 35 coins.

I was sitting there dead reckoning these two guys. It looked like they were making money to me. I figured they knew what they were doing. I knew I was going to have to give those machines a shot if I ever got some money. I took note of it and headed up river to credit hustle the other places.

[mickeycrimm]

There were six quarter machines and six dollar machines. The quarter machines were the ones getting all the action. I'm standing there with this other credit hustler and I look over to see two guys sitting at a couple of video poker machines with buckets in their hands. They were staring intently at the action on the Piggy Bankin' machines. I thanked the guy for showing me the machines and told him I had to get back to work. I made a couple of laps around the casino then returned to the Pigs. I sat way back and watched these two guys operate. A tourist would put a twenty in a machine and play away. The Piggy Bank on the dotmation screen at the top of the machine started with ten coins in the bank. It was a two coin machine and thats what the tourists bet. When the reels caught all blanks on the line two coins were added to the bank. The coins in the bank would keep going up. There was a symbol on the third reel called "Break the Bank." When that symbol landed on the line you got all the coins in the bank. The bank would then reset to ten coins.

Sometimes a tourist would run the bank way up then run out of credits and walk off from the machine. That's when one of these two guys would get up and go to the machine. He would bet one coin at a time until he broke the bank. Then he would cash out and return to his seat. They just kept watching the tourists and picking off the plays as they developed. They didn't seem to like anything under 35 coins.

I was sitting there dead reckoning these two guys. It looked like they were making money to me. I figured they knew what they were doing. I knew I was going to have to give those machines a shot if I ever got some money. I took note of it and headed up river to credit hustle the other places.

The next stop was Gold River. Besides hustling credits I was looking for the Pig machines too. There were none in Gold River at that time but they would later install 8 quarter Pigs. From there I hit the Golden Nugget. There were two dollar Pigs at the Nugget. And from the Nugget I walked over to the Ramada. There were just two Pigs at the Ramada but they would later install 10 quarter Pigs. Then I went into the Pioneer. There were no Pigs there at the time but they would later install 8 quarters, 2 dollar machines and one $5 machine. Then to the Colorado Belle where there were 2 dollar pigs and 10 quarters.

When I walked into the Edgewater I had about $20 and change on me from the credit hustling. There were 6 dollars Pigs and 10 quarter Pigs. A lady was playing a quarter Pig and the bank had 65 coins in it. Her husband walked up to her and said "C'mon, honey, we got to get on the bus." She cashed out. I sat down on the stool in front of the Pig machine. I didn't want anyone else to get the play while I thought about it. I only had about $20. Was that enough to play the game? I didn't know. It wouldn't be that much of a disaster if I lost the whole $20. I would just start back over credit hustling. So I decided to throw down on the play.

I dropped a quarter into the machine and hit the spin button. The wheels went around and around then the "Break the Bank" symbol landed on the line of the third reel. I broke the bank on the very first spin of the very first Pig play I put down. I told myself "I think I'm going to like this game." My bankroll was then up to a whopping $36.

I went through the Flamingo where there were no Pigs to be seen. Then the Riverside where there were 4 dollar Pigs and 8 quarters. I kept rotating though the casinos credit hustling but also playing off any quarter Pigs I found with 50 coins or more in the bank. I amazingly got through the window on the play. Two days later I had a $300 bankroll which was plenty for playing the quarter Pigs.

[mickeycrimm]

The next stop was Gold River. Besides hustling credits I was looking for the Pig machines too. There were none in Gold River at that time but they would later install 8 quarter Pigs. From there I hit the Golden Nugget. There were two dollar Pigs at the Nugget. And from the Nugget I walked over to the Ramada. There were just two Pigs at the Ramada but they would later install 10 quarter Pigs. Then I went into the Pioneer. There were no Pigs there at the time but they would later install 8 quarters, 2 dollar machines and one $5 machine. Then to the Colorado Belle where there were 2 dollar pigs and 10 quarters.



When I walked into the Edgewater I had about $20 and change on me from the credit hustling. There were 6 dollars Pigs and 10 quarter Pigs. A lady was playing a quarter Pig and the bank had 65 coins in it. Her husband walked up to her and said "C'mon, honey, we got to get on the bus." She cashed out. I sat down on the stool in front of the Pig machine. I didn't want anyone else to get the play while I thought about it. I only had about $20. Was that enough to play the game? I didn't know. It wouldn't be that much of a disaster if I lost the whole $20. I would just start back over credit hustling. So I decided to throw down on the play.

I dropped a quarter into the machine and hit the spin button. The wheels went around and around then the "Break the Bank" symbol landed on the line of the third reel. I broke the bank on the very first spin of the very first Pig play I put down. I told myself "I think I'm going to like this game." My bankroll was then up to a whopping $36.

I went through the Flamingo where there were no Pigs to be seen. Then the Riverside where there were 4 dollar Pigs and 8 quarters. I kept rotating though the casinos credit hustling but also playing off any quarter Pigs I found with 50 coins or more in the bank. I amazingly got through the window on the play. Two days later I had a $300 bankroll which was plenty for playing the quarter Pigs.

I recognized the Piggy Bankin' machines for what they were, a golden opportunity for me. It was a steady source of income. On my third day in Laughlin I checked into the Harrah's hotel. I didn't know it then but my homeless career was over for good. I transitioned from homeless drifter to full time gambler literally over night. There was nothing in between.

I discovered the linked banks of Flush Attack in Laughlin. I had read a Lenny Frome article about them in Card Player Magazine. The machines were linked together so that when the accumulation of three flushes were made it triggered Flush Attack mode and the next player to make a flush got paid 125 coins. I had been studying combinatorial math as it concerns a deck of cards for about 4 years. So I was able to calculate the strategy for the game. I then had two gigs in Laughlin, the Pigs and Flush Attack. The trick to the linked banks of Flush Attack was don't play when the game is not in Flush Attack mode. In mode you are at 135%. Non-mode you are at 94%. But not playing during non-mode made me stick out like a sore thumb. So I played one coin slowly between the lights. Then went to five coins in the light. There were two Flush Attack banks in Gold River, one bank in the Ramada, one in the Pioneer, one in the Flamingo, and two in the Riverside.

My dive into working comps started with getting a meal comp here and there. I was paying my own rent. The rent was cheap enough as it was, the Riverside was $16 per night midweek and Gold River was $20 per night midweek. The weekends cost me anywhere from $40 to $50 per night.

[james40]

I recognized the Piggy Bankin' machines for what they were, a golden opportunity for me. It was a steady source of income. On my third day in Laughlin I checked into the Harrah's hotel. I didn't know it then but my homeless career was over for good. I transitioned from homeless drifter to full time gambler literally over night. There was nothing in between.

I discovered the linked banks of Flush Attack in Laughlin. I had read a Lenny Frome article about them in Card Player Magazine. The machines were linked together so that when the accumulation of three flushes were made it triggered Flush Attack mode and the next player to make a flush got paid 125 coins. I had been studying combinatorial math as it concerns a deck of cards for about 4 years. So I was able to calculate the strategy for the game. I then had two gigs in Laughlin, the Pigs and Flush Attack. The trick to the linked banks of Flush Attack was don't play when the game is not in Flush Attack mode. In mode you are at 135%. Non-mode you are at 94%. But not playing during non-mode made me stick out like a sore thumb. So I played one coin slowly between the lights. Then went to five coins in the light. There were two Flush Attack banks in Gold River, one bank in the Ramada, one in the Pioneer, one in the Flamingo, and two in the Riverside.

My dive into working comps started with getting a meal comp here and there. I was paying my own rent. The rent was cheap enough as it was, the Riverside was $16 per night midweek and Gold River was $20 per night midweek. The weekends cost me anywhere from $40 to $50 per night.

I remember seeing those Piggy Bank machines a few years ago, they looked interesting, but I'm not much of a slot player. I've also seen those "must hit by" machines and always wondered how much it might take to get those last few dollars to the score.

You've probably covered it, but how much does each spin move the meter on the "must hit by" machines? In scouting these machines, is there a magic number that would make you think it's close? If it's much pay by $500 and it's at $450, pass or play?

Thanks, I wanted to get in before the troll jumps in and tries to interject his "I don't like Mickey" shtick, it's so old and redundant. But then again, so is he.

[mickeycrimm]

I remember seeing those Piggy Bank machines a few years ago, they looked interesting, but I'm not much of a slot player. I've also seen those "must hit by" machines and always wondered how much it might take to get those last few dollars to the score. You've probably covered it, but how much does each spin move the meter on the "must hit by" machines? In scouting these machines, is there a magic number that would make you think it's close? If it's much pay by $500 and it's at $450, pass or play?
Thanks, I wanted to get in before the troll jumps in and tries to interject his "I don't like Mickey" shtick, it's so old and redundant. But then again, so is he.

There are two keys pieces of knowledge about the "must hit by's" known technically as Mystery Progessives. The first is knowing that when the meter resets an RNG selects a coin-in number for the next jackpot to hit. The second is knowing the meter rate. Meter rates vary on these games. In Australia they have meter rates as high as 6%, highly lucrative. Here in the U.S. I've only seen one bank that had a 5% meter. And that bank lasted for only two months. When they were first introduced here, I think it was 1998, the meter rates were 1% and 2%. But that has changed. Nowadays the meters move at a snails pace.

If $1 in action moves the meter one penny then it's a 1% meter, If $2 in action moves it one penny then its a .5% meter, $3 and its a .333% meter, 4$ and its .25%. Let's say you find a meter at $48 and it must hit by $50. And you know the meter speed is .5%. Since we know that the coin-in number for the Mystery Progressive is chosen randomly then when you come into the game where the meter is at $48 then the average hit would be halfway to $50, or $49. How much action does it take to move the meter to $49? One dollar is .5% of $200. I always figure a 20% drop between Mystery Progressive hits to be on the conservative side. So 20% of $200 is $40. So we have a conservative estimate of $40 to get a jackpot that pays, on average, $49.

[mickeycrimm]

I recognized the Piggy Bankin' machines for what they were, a golden opportunity for me. It was a steady source of income. On my third day in Laughlin I checked into the Harrah's hotel. I didn't know it then but my homeless career was over for good. I transitioned from homeless drifter to full time gambler literally over night. There was nothing in between.

I discovered the linked banks of Flush Attack in Laughlin. I had read a Lenny Frome article about them in Card Player Magazine. The machines were linked together so that when the accumulation of three flushes were made it triggered Flush Attack mode and the next player to make a flush got paid 125 coins. I had been studying combinatorial math as it concerns a deck of cards for about 4 years. So I was able to calculate the strategy for the game. I then had two gigs in Laughlin, the Pigs and Flush Attack. The trick to the linked banks of Flush Attack was don't play when the game is not in Flush Attack mode. In mode you are at 135%. Non-mode you are at 94%. But not playing during non-mode made me stick out like a sore thumb. So I played one coin slowly between the lights. Then went to five coins in the light. There were two Flush Attack banks in Gold River, one bank in the Ramada, one in the Pioneer, one in the Flamingo, and two in the Riverside.

My dive into working comps started with getting a meal comp here and there. I was paying my own rent. The rent was cheap enough as it was, the Riverside was $16 per night midweek and Gold River was $20 per night midweek. The weekends cost me anywhere from $40 to $50 per night.

Between the Pigs and Flush Attack a month later I had about a $5000 bankroll. No more day labor for my ass! It was around Christmas time I decided to take a trip up to Las Vegas. I wanted to check out the Pigs in LV and also go by Gambler's General Store to see what I could find in the way of video poker books. I found two books by Dan Paymar, Precision Play and The Best of Video Poker Times. I also bought Paymar's strategy cards. The Best of Video Poker Times was a collection of Paymar's best arcticles in his monthly newsletter. It turned out to be a gold mine but I'll talk about that later.

The Pigs in Las Vegas were all dollar machines. The casinos up and down the Strip all had them. And the Horseshoe and Nugget downtown had them. But there was much more competition for the plays there than in Laughlin. People were taking some pretty low numbers. One day I walked into Circus Circus-they had 11 Pig machines-and all the machines were shut down. I asked the attendent what was going on. She didn't know. I jumped on the bus to downtown. When I got in the Horseshoe the Pig machines were shut down there too. Damn. I went over to the Nugget and they were shut down there too. Then I got real worried. Something was going on. They were messing with my cash cow.

I looked down on a Pig machine to find the manufacturer, Williams Gaming, Chicago, Illinois. I went to a phone book to see if they had a Las Vegas office. Sure enough they did.

"Williams Gaming, may I help you?" The voice on the other end said.
"Yes, Ma'am. I'm a big fan of your Piggy Bankin' machines but they seem to be shut down in every casino I stop in."
'IGT is suing us over the telnaes patent. They have a court order to have the machines removed but we are scrambling for an injunction" she said.

By the time they got the injunction 90% of the Pigs had disappeared out of Las Vegas. Bummer! So then I had to rethink and regroup. I figured I'd go on back down to Laughlin to play Flush Attack....and since I had Paymar's stategy card for Full Pay Deuces Wild (100.76%) I would start playing it too. When I got back down to Laughlin I was surprised-and happy-to find that the Pigs had survived the court order to be removed. What a relief. So I went back to playing the Pigs and Flush Attack....and teaching myself the strategy for FPDW.

The Golden Nugget had a bank of FPDW, the card was worth .2% and one day a month you got 2X points, and they also had comp but I can't remember the meter rate. The Gold River was much better. They had a bank of FPDW, the card was worth .333% cashback and .333% comp, and on Thursdays you got 3X cashback. I started playing FPDW at Gold River on Thursday nights because with the cashback the game was at 101.76%. I started getting more in the way of food comp because of the FPDW.

[mickeycrimm]

Between the Pigs and Flush Attack a month later I had about a $5000 bankroll. No more day labor for my ass! It was around Christmas time I decided to take a trip up to Las Vegas. I wanted to check out the Pigs in LV and also go by Gambler's General Store to see what I could find in the way of video poker books. I found two books by Dan Paymar, Precision Play and The Best of Video Poker Times. I also bought Paymar's strategy cards. The Best of Video Poker Times was a collection of Paymar's best arcticles in his monthly newsletter. It turned out to be a gold mine but I'll talk about that later.

The Pigs in Las Vegas were all dollar machines. The casinos up and down the Strip all had them. And the Horseshoe and Nugget downtown had them. But there was much more competition for the plays there than in Laughlin. People were taking some pretty low numbers. One day I walked into Circus Circus-they had 11 Pig machines-and all the machines were shut down. I asked the attendent what was going on. She didn't know. I jumped on the bus to downtown. When I got in the Horseshoe the Pig machines were shut down there too. Damn. I went over to the Nugget and they were shut down there too. Then I got real worried. Something was going on. They were messing with my cash cow.

I looked down on a Pig machine to find the manufacturer, Williams Gaming, Chicago, Illinois. I went to a phone book to see if they had a Las Vegas office. Sure enough they did.

"Williams Gaming, may I help you?" The voice on the other end said.
"Yes, Ma'am. I'm a big fan of your Piggy Bankin' machines but they seem to be shut down in every casino I stop in."
'IGT is suing us over the telnaes patent. They have a court order to have the machines removed but we are scrambling for an injunction" she said.

By the time they got the injunction 90% of the Pigs had disappeared out of Las Vegas. Bummer! So then I had to rethink and regroup. I figured I'd go on back down to Laughlin to play Flush Attack....and since I had Paymar's stategy card for Full Pay Deuces Wild (100.76%) I would start playing it too. When I got back down to Laughlin I was surprised-and happy-to find that the Pigs had survived the court order to be removed. What a relief. So I went back to playing the Pigs and Flush Attack....and teaching myself the strategy for FPDW.

The Golden Nugget had a bank of FPDW, the card was worth .2% and one day a month you got 2X points, and they also had comp but I can't remember the meter rate. The Gold River was much better. They had a bank of FPDW, the card was worth .333% cashback and .333% comp, and on Thursdays you got 3X cashback. I started playing FPDW at Gold River on Thursday nights because with the cashback the game was at 101.76%. I started getting more in the way of food comp because of the FPDW.

It was sometime in very early 1997 that Silicon Gaming's Odyssey machines appeared in Laughlin and the rest of the state. And this enabled me to immediately add two more vulture plays to my reportoire. The first was called Fort Knox. You can see it in the screenshot below. You can see the circle around the combination to unlock the safe. There were ten digits in the combination. You would average popping one of the digits in about every ten spins. When you popped in all ten digits you got a bonus that averaged around 100 coins. The trick to the game was let the ploppies pop in at least five digits then quit the game. Then you come in behind and finish the play to get the bonus.

[mickeycrimm]

There are things I now know about the Piggy Bankin' machines that I didn't know when I first started playing them. I eventually started collecting statistics when I played. The bank started at ten coins. While betting one coin, when all three reels showed blanks it would put one coin in the bank. This occurrs every 11 spins per average. So 1 divided by 11 meant a meter speed of 9.1%. With a meter rate that strong I consider this game to be a rapid progressive.

I was taking a 29% drop between "Break the Bank" hits. I averaged breaking the bank every 90 spins. This means the cost to spin a play off is 26 coins (90 X 29%). The tourists played the game betting two coins so every time they caught blanks it put 2 coins in the bank. So with the variance this caused the banks to sometimes climb to 40, 50, 60 coins. And I always loved it when the tourists walked off leaving these big numbers.

It was easy to calculate the average win. If there were 50 coins in the bank, and betting one coin, you are expected to put 8 coins in the bank on the play because of spins where you catch blanks. (90/11 = 8.18). So 58 minus 26 meant an average 32 coin win. An average 32 coin win meant the game was at a 35.5% advantage (32/90).

The game is a cash cow as long as you stick to playing good numbers....and you don't need much of a bankroll to play it.

[Rob.Singer]

mickey's implying--and probably sold it to some of the geniuses here--that he's been to Australia, when all he ever does is copy words from others' posts that he gleans from their work. And why on earth would anybody be interested in machines he says used to be available in a certain way years ago or are scarce now? Oh that's right--losers might be. Esp. the ones who would go all the way and spend a whole TWENTY DOLLARS! if and when they come across one of these pigs

There are more jokes than there are members on this forum.....

[james40]

mickey's implying--and probably sold it to some of the geniuses here--that he's been to Australia, when all he ever does is copy words from others' posts that he gleans from their work. And why on earth would anybody be interested in machines he says used to be available in a certain way years ago or are scarce now? Oh that's right--losers might be. Esp. the ones who would go all the way and spend a whole TWENTY DOLLARS! if and when they come across one of these pigs

There are more jokes than there are members on this forum.....

Maybe if you would have stopped your degenerate gambling at a whole TWENTY DOLLARS, you would not have driven your family into a whole BANKRUPTCY

[mickeycrimm]

And why on earth would anybody be interested in machines he says used to be available in a certain way years ago or are scarce now? There are more jokes than there are members on this forum.....

Because, Mr. Brain Surgeon, history has a way of repeating itself. Piggy Bankin' is a classic accumulator slot. I've explained how they work and how to exploit them. There has been a myriad of different type accumulator slots to come out over the years....and new accumulator slots are still being developed. They have different ways of being exploited. I personally inspect and analyze every new game that hits the casino floors. Its the person that has the knowledge and experience of how they work that has a leg up on everyone else in analyzing and exploiting them. Sure, some of the games I explain in this thread are pretty much extinct in the U.S, but the concepts of how they work never go extinct. You never know when a new game, with a new theme, will come out, but works the same way as some extinct game.

[mickeycrimm]

The second exploitable game on the Odyssey's was called Buccaneer Gold. In the screenshot you can see the dagger symbol on the third reel. When you caught that dagger on the line it would put one dagger in the log below. Catch 5 daggers and you were awarded a bonus. Here's a screenshot. When you found the game with 3 daggers already in the log it was a small advantage. If you found it with 4 daggers already in the log it was a big advantage.

[mickeycrimm]

Here's a couple of youtube videos of Buccaneer Gold. In the second video skip to the 5 minute mark.

[mickeycrimm]

Then Williams came out with some more exploitable three reelers. This game here is called Shopping Spree. Thee are Shopping Spree symbols on all three reels. When that symbol landed on a line you collected 1 or 2 points depending on the number of coins you were betting. When you collected 50 point you were awarded 20 coins and five free games that payed double. The trick was to spin it off when you found at least 40 points already collected.

[mickeycrimm]

Another Williams game was called Safecracker. There was a five digit combination and a safe on the dotmation screen. Certain symbols on the line put coins in the bank. On the third reel was a SAFE DIAL symbol. When it landed on the line it locked in one of the digits on the dotmation screen. When you locked in all five digits you were awarded the coins in the bank with a multiplier. It was a no brainer to spin this play off when you found four digits already locked in.

[mickeycrimm]

The X-factor slot by Williams was a real money maker. The multiplier on the dotmation screen started at 2X. The main symbol was called "POWER POINT." When power points landed on the line in nonpaying combinations it saved power points on the dotmation screen. When you collected ten of them it increased the multiplier to 3X. Collect another ten power points and the multiplier went to 4X. The advantage started at 4X. And the bigger multiplier you found the bigger the advantage was.

For example when you hit Power Point-single bar-single bar it would multiply the regular pay by whatever the multiplier was. And if you caught Power Point-Power Point-single bar it was a double multiplier. I spun the plays off when I found a multiplier of at least 4X.

[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.

[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.

[cottage cheese]

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.

You should write a book. Your story is interesting, your knowledge vast, and your writing style simple and easy to read - it all makes for an entertaining and educational read.