--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.
<what7do7you7want@
>
>
>
> Unless something changed while I was away, there were two very
> good ways to use station points like cash...
>
> 1. Travel bucks. Big drawback... 1000 pts per dollar
> 2. Bingo. Buy bingo cards. I suspect your return would be
> somewhere between 80 and 85 percent, but if you have a few
> million pts gathering dust, it could be a lot of money if you
> are willing to endure bingo to do it.
>
>
A bingo session takes only an hour. And with the electronic units of
today all you have to do is sit there and look stupid until the unit
beeps then yell "Bingooooooooo!
So you can use the time to read the newspaper, balance your
checkbook, read a book, do some math on that big fat juicy VP play
you just found, even bring your laptop in and do your e-mail or even
practice for that big fat juicy VP play you just found.
I found a profitable situation at the Plaza when they first opened
their bingo hall. And I figured it was going on in other bingo halls
in town. I even imagined that VP pros were using their Station
points to buy bingo packs.
Then a couple of years ago the subject of Stations bingo packs came
up on VP free. Someone was projecting on what the cap would be for
bingo packs in a session. Bob Dancer replied to this post with the
correct information. That cinched it for me. I figured Bob had this
information for one reason: He was converting his points to cash via
bingo.
The situation at the Plaza was the Bonanza Coverall, the last game of
each session. At preset you had to hit a coverall in 48 numbers or
less to win the progressive which started at $20,000. According to
the Plaza advertising all the money collected for this game was going
into the progressive. The number moved up every session. After one
week, if it hadn't hit the number was moved up to 49, a week later
50, etc.
I jumped in when the number hit 52 and played every session until the
Bonanza was hit. I bought 4 of the cheapest packs and got 3 free
packs, so I was playing the main session with 42 cards for a cost of
$16. Free packs are a bingo hall trick to put more cheap packs in
play against the more expensive packs. Hence, avoid the expensive
packs. Then I bought 20 3-on Bonanza packs for $15. This gave me 60
indiviaual bingo cards for the game. I put the whole thing in an
electronic unit, rental fee $1. So each session cost me $32.
The chances of a coverall in 48 numbers is over 700,000. But at 52
numbers it's only 60,458. And by this time the progressive was
always well above $30,000. At 53 numbers it's only 33,081 and the
progressive would be approaching $40,000. The Bonanza never went
past, repeat, never went past 53 numbers. At 8 sessions per day I
never seen it go past two days.
This isn't exact math but at 52 numbers my chances of hitting the
Bonanza were around one in a thousand playing 60 cards; about 550 at
53 numbers. Per the average, the cost at 52 numbers was at $15,000,
about $8,000 at 53 numbers. The progressive would be over $30,000.
There was another variable: The consolation prize. The two slowest
sessions had a $250 consolation. Two had a $500 consolation. The
rest had $1000 consolatons. I got my share, so this cut well into
the cost.
I counted players every session and collected statistics on my
performance. Surprisingly, my average for making Bingos in regular
session games and the coveralls were right at the same. Right at 1
in 40 overall. It varied acccording to the number of players.
I avoided the Hot Ball progressive unless the price was right. The
Hot Ball worked like this: Validate each pack for the hot ball for
$1; my cost $7. They draw a ball before the session started and if
you bingoed on that number you got the Hot Ball progressive. When
hot balls get high it sucks more players into the room so I jumped my
odds of bingoing up to 50. When you make a bingo the last number can
be any one of 75. 8 games per session qualified for the Hot Ball.
So the breakeven point for me was $3300. I didn't buy unless it was
$4,000+.
There are two main statistics you want to watch in a bingo hall.
1. How many calls are made once the bingo is possible?
On a regular bingo if two Bs, two Ns, two Gs and two Os have been
called the bingo is not possible yet. In this situation if the bingo
is constantly going on the first I ball call, forget the joint. You
are competing against two many players. The more calls you get in
this spot the better.
2. How often do you get cased and how many calls do you get?
Cased means you are just one number to go. If it goes on the number
that puts you one away, it doesn't count. Count only cases in which
you get a call to win. Hitting the bingo when you are one to go has
a high variance, but the variance for getting cased is much lower.
How often you get cased is a huge consideration. The more calls you
average the better. If you hit the bingo one in ten cases you are
doing pretty good. If you are not getting cassd forget the joint.
You are competing against too many players
Did I ever hit the Bonanza Progressive? No. But between Bonanza
consolations, regular coveralls, and regular session bingos I showed
a $4500 win. I was cased up for the big money many times. My number
just never came in. Damn the luck.
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