I drafted this email several weeks ago and never sent it, but now with the
true extent of the implications of Station's changes revealing itself in all
its hot, steaming, coiled brown glory, I think it's time to revisit the
issue.
***
You know, I'm reluctant to get in on the Dancer-bashing that goes on here on
a weekly basis, but I'm 100% in agreement with this reaction. Bob, with all
due respect, you're way off base here. I don't see how this is any kind of
a net gain for low-denomination players.
And let me ask a question: if casinos make it so that low-denomination
players have almost nothing to show for their action - how many do you
think will graduate to your level of
negative-games-plus-slot-club-benefits-plus-promotions degree of analysis?
If casinos continue to chase off advantage players, treat us like
second-class citizens and otherwise tell us "we don't want your business,"
how long do you think people will continue to put in the effort to learn the
games profitably?
How long do you think they'll continue to attend your seminars, read your
books and buy your software?
Do you really think there's a market in that once all the quarter plays dry
up?
I'm not going to say that this is the end of positive VP in Vegas - but in
the two years since I moved here, I haven't seen a single development that
benefits a quarter FPDW player. And Station - with the biggest
concentration of FPDW games in the state - halving the comp rate and
shredding mailers is the worst omen yet. The endgame isn't the end of
positive video poker. The endgame is keeping the positive video poker
(mostly for PR reasons) and excluding them from all comps (like the Hard
Rock did) *and* excluding them from all promotions (like the Palms does).
It makes perfect sense from the perspective of the house (if you don't count
intangibles like goodwill, word of mouth and ancillary/companion
non-advantage play), but pretending that this is a net positive for players
is, to be diplomatic, disingenuous. It's a net positive for a very, very
small subset of the population and a great big kick in the roulettes for the
majority of us.
You may cheer the changes at Station, Bob, but most of us don't have the
stack to risk large amounts of money on negative-expectation games in the
hopes of squeezing a profit out of the margins and the value-added. For the
rest of us, this is a great big turd sandwich. On pumpernickel.
I hate pumpernickel.
On Feb 13, 2008 8:31 AM, <RoBar1521@aol.com> wrote:
> Am I the only person blown away by these comments?
>
> I guess it's just 'too bad' for those of us who play $ and under VP. The
> trend these days clearly favors Mr. Dancer and other "higher denomination
> advantage players". Please save your breath and stop trying to convince us
> that
> the state of VP isn't as bad as we know it is. It is bad and getting
> worse.
>
> Whose side are you on, Mr. Dancer? Not mine. Not the average advantage
> player. Your praise and suggestions for further casino changes will only
> benefit the few who, like you, have extraordinarily large bankrolls. In my
>
> opinion, your future success comes at the expense of the rest of us. And
> the
> amazing thing is...you don't mind telling us so!
>
> I am just stunned at your comments.
>
> RoBar
>
>
--
Jay Fenster
Open Road Publishing
* * *
Author, Open Road's Best of Las Vegas
Visit Open Road's Best of Las Vegas Blog
http://www.thebestoflasvegas.us
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