High Limit Players get the better video poker games

[Alan Mendelson]

Let's face it: if you can afford to play the higher limit slot and video poker games you are going to get the better paybacks, the better paytables, and the better odds of winning.

This is true for table games, too. At a $5 blackjack table you might find that a blackjack pays 6/5 while at a $100 table a blackjack pays 3/2.

It's a well known fact that higher limit slot machines have a lower "hold" for the house. Penny slots might seem cheap to play, but the "casino hold" on penny slots is much, much higher than on $1 slots. So this means if you are betting 100 coins on a penny slot you'd get a better return just playing a $1 slot.

And it is true for video poker, too. Harrah's Rincon has the traditional full-pay 8/5 pay table on many of its Bonus Poker machines from 25-cents per coin to $10 per coin, and that's good. But if you want a better deal, the high limit section has Bonus Poker with the payoffs adjusted on the quads that boosts the 8/5 pay table from the full pay 99.2% to a very attractive 99.66-percent. But to play that pay table you'll have to play Rincon's $25/coin and $100/coin machines.

See my report on this unusual pay table for Bonus Poker on the "Video Poker News and Commentary" page at this link: http://alanbestbuys.com/id132.html

As I wrote in the article, Rincon calls this game "Bonus Poker." But does it have a different name elsewhere? Here's a shot of the paytable on the $100 machine.

[Rob.Singer]

That's a fairly normal pay table for higher limit BP at some of the Indian casinos I've seen, only a lot of the machines are 35 for the FH. It's also the BP game on the $1 - $25 machines at the bar inside the Mint Lounge that I've had very good success at.

It's always been the case that with higher limit games you'll find better pay tables. They get far less play of course, and very few if any of the so-called AP's who supposedly lurk the streets can afford to play them with the consistency that they bang away with on the lower limit games.

[Alan Mendelson]

Thanks Rob. I had never seen that paytable before. Rincon has, if I recall, six or seven of the video poker machines with the $25/$100 denomination. (I forgot to count when I was there last night.) Only the two on the end of the row, closest to the high limit room cage had the paytable in the photo. The other machines all had the traditional 8/5 Bonus paytable.

Pechanga's two $100 machines also have the traditional paytable.

The last time I was at Morongo, which goes back two years ago, the highest denomination they had for Bonus was $5 with the traditional paytable. I would expect that things have changed.

I don't remember seeing high limit VP for my brief walk through at Pala, and that's all I know about Bonus Poker at the big Indian casinos here in So Cal.

[redietz]

This is new to me, as many LV high limit pits have inferior payouts. Thanks for sharing the info -- next time, I'll take a close look at each high limit area in LV and report back.

[Alan Mendelson]

Today at Caesars and Flamingo in LV I stopped into their high limit rooms to see their pay tables on VP. Even on $25 VP games they had 7/5 Bonus and 8/5 JOB which is what they also offer on 25 cent games.