Life is Funny

We all know plenty about Las Vegas and the vast number of casinos there are there. We also have a good idea about the hundreds of thousands of people who cycle through that city in any given month.

As a result, there are huge prizes to be won on slot machines. You can win cars, diamond rings, huge piles of cash in a glass box, and more.

In addition, the casinos will give you free complimentary alcoholic beverages while you play, they offer nice buffets for $2, and they’re payouts are quite reasonable. Spin 10 times on a lot machine, and you’re bound to win something, even if it is only 1/2 your bet back.

So, let’s rewind to the casino in your neighborhood or an hour drive away from your home.

They advertise huge progressive jackpots like $250. Oh please..

The’re buffet runs from $9.95 to $19.95 … again, no biggy there.

Roll a slot, and amazingly 10 spins later, you have yet to win even one single credit back. (Sometimes you do, but sometimes you really don’t.. and that gets frustrating).

Last “domestic” local slot machine I played, it was $2.50 a spin on max bet. I hit a shiny silver star on all 5 reels. The credits started counting, I started getting excited, and then it stopped at $20

At $2.50 a roll, and with all 5 symbols on all reels… it seemed kind of cheap to me.

I looked up and the progressive (which stopped counting and stopped at $200) was another reason I thought I should leave.  Think about that… a progressive jackpot means that it keeps incrementing until someone wins it. WHY WAS THAT MACHINE’S progressive pot STUCK at $200 and it wouldn’t increment any further?

Are they suggesting that the $200 should have gone off a number of times, but rarely does? Are they worried that the machine will count too high because of the low payoff odds that are programmed into that slot machine?

What would happen if they let it count, even by adding a penny everytime the slot machine is spun? Would the progressive be up to $900,000 by now? How often do these guys pay?

Casinos in your home town may be regulated. But a high amount of the regulation, is based on the Province or State wanting their “cut”. That’s probably 80% why they are regulated. The other 20% of the regulations is to promote fair game play.

But what exactly is fair game play?

Another casino I went to, had a 1 cent machine. The LED scrolling at the top said “Play for only pennies”. Guess what the max bet was on that machine?  20 lines x 500 credits. That’s right, a whopping $10.00 a spin!

I started playing that machine for awhile, and figured, let’s try the max bet thing, surely it will give me something. I may not even win my bet back, but I should win something..

I did 6 spins at $10/spin = $60.00

NOT ONE SINGLE CREDIT was awarded to me. That’s 180 combinations of lines… and not one of them matched a single symbol to pay me a cent.

So I think its time to make a new rule.

Save your $200 casino night outs, and shove it into a bank account. With only 5 abstained trips to your local casino, you can buy a weekend package, which includes airfare, hotel, and even a few meals for under $1,000

Spend your gambling money in Las Vegas, and go for that car, diamond ring, or glass box of cash. You’ll have a much better time, and even if you do walk away with nothing, you would have enjoyed the trip away from home. Atleast then, you’re competing for more than just a “stuck” $200 progressive.. and going for the $200,000 and counting prize in Las Vegas.

At a local casino, if you lose $200, you think “oh well”, I came for the fun anyway.

But if you win and walk away with $400, you figured hey! I doubled my money.

WELL GUESS WHAT…

You risked $200 to make $200. That’s not that good of a payoff. Especially since 3 out of the 4 times you visit a casino, you’re going to lose in the end.

So you gamble $800, and lose $600, and one time you walk away with an extra $200

The casino’s getting paid by you all the time. So if you’re really out for a fun night gambling … do it where it’s right, a lot more fun, and much better payouts… That would be Las Vegas…