Hello from US Player who misses online gambling

[paul123]

Hello, I used to post and read this forum religiously. I loved playing online and always looked forward to reading Casinomeister and the webcast. After all the obstacles associated with the US government moves in 2006, I finally just gave up about 5 years ago. Boy o boy, I sure miss gambling in my underwear.

Since then I have confined my gambling to b&m casinos and reacquainted myself with Vegas and Indian casinos. I have become an avid video poker addict, especially PROGRESSIVE video poker.

I always liked Real Time Gaming's software. I know they still take US players. I am wondering why they have no progressive video poker, whereas some other good software does, like Playtech, Boss Media, even Microgaming.

If Real Time Gaming ever added some good progressive video poker to their software lineup, I think I would jump through the hoops of getting back into online gambling. Are there any RTG reps on the forum who have any ideas about this topic? Or anyone else?

By the way, how's Vortrans?

 

[jod5413]

Hey Paul, welcome back!!! I don't have any answers for you, like the rest of us US players, I am just praying that we can soon play "legally". Then maybe we can have our choices of game platforms again and re-join the rest of the world.

 

[paul123]

Hey Paul, welcome back!!! I don't have any answers for you, like the rest of us US players, I am just praying that we can soon play "legally". Then maybe we can have our choices of game platforms again and re-join the rest of the world.

Yeah, it sucks, but it looks like there is hope on the horizon. I need to start checking Casinomeister again to keep up on things. This is the best site I know of to catch all the industry news items. I kept up for awhile after 2006, but it just got too frustrating. I've looked at Casinomeister a few times since.

I see a lot of things have changed since I was heavy into this stuff. A lot of casinos have disappeared, a lot have changed names. I'm looking forward to a day when we might have real Vegas casino put up an online platform. Ha! The El Cortez Online. lol That would be so cool.

 

[footdr]

Yeah, it sucks, but it looks like there is hope on the horizon. I need to start checking Casinomeister again to keep up on things. This is the best site I know of to catch all the industry news items. I kept up for awhile after 2006, but it just got too frustrating. I've looked at Casinomeister a few times since.

I see a lot of things have changed since I was heavy into this stuff. A lot of casinos have disappeared, a lot have changed names. I'm looking forward to a day when we might have real Vegas casino put up an online platform. Ha! The El Cortez Online. lol That would be so cool.

Count yourself lucky. Things are not good on the payout side for U.S. Players and lately getting worse. You probably saved yourself alot of grief and money. I think there will be U.S. casinos online in the future but not in the near future. There is much to work out legislatively and Congress can't seem to get their act together on anything.

 

[Nifty29]

Welcome back Paul.

I was always told by VP peeps that progressives are a losing proposition. What is it that attracts you? The big jackpots? Have you ever hit one?

 

[Mousey]

Welcome back. I'm afraid you'll find it's still quite dreary in the USA gambling dungeon.

Vortran seems to be fine and dandy and has all but recovered from running thru the forum in his underwear after one of the guys spiked his Castrol during the holidays. j/k

Welcome back Paul.

I was always told by VP peeps that progressives are a losing proposition. What is it that attracts you? The big jackpots? Have you ever hit one?

Don't know what attracts Paul, but sometimes VP progressives get so high they go +EV. Probably the reason many casinos don't have them. Of course, they'd have to go waaaay +EV for an advantage player, considering all the fees involved in getting money to and from the casinos with no perks to offset those 'you're behind before you play' expenses.

(I used to love playing at Global Player. They had multihand nickel progressives, dimes, etc. And they even had a place to 'park' funds so you could leave money in your account, out of sight, and just pull what you wanted into play. *sigh* /walk down memory lane)

 

[paul123]

Welcome back Paul.

I was always told by VP peeps that progressives are a losing proposition. What is it that attracts you? The big jackpots? Have you ever hit one?

Progressives can be a win-win situation, for both the players and management. For the player, the larger jackpots are attractive and if they are large enough the player can be playing with an actual edge. Plus, as the jackpot grows, the correct strategy changes, so that is interesting also, to some. For management, nothing attracts play on their machines like a large jackpot. If a machine gets no play, there is no profit for the casino no matter how large their hold is set at. 100% of zero is still zero.

In b&m casinos I now look almost exclusively for good progressive situations. I don't mean huge life-changing progressives but rather jackpots in the $2000-$3000 range normally where the game is a positive play depending on pay table.

Before I had to stop playing online as an American I was playing the Mega Jacks progressive on Playtech quite a bit. I cannot believe that the casino does not do well on this game. They re-set it at a very low point, and it builds up rather quickly. When the jackpot gets higher, the play becomes feverish. Obviously there are some astute video poker players around the globe who play this. Any pay table can get positive if the jackpot is high enough, but the trick is to have it set on a base game that is not too favorable in either direction, either toward the house or the player.

Progressive video poker is A LOT of fun. And for the player looking for an edge, he doesn't have to be concerned about bonus-hunting like in the old days. Everyone wins when a progressive gets large enough. The player, and the casino. It is to a casino's advantage to have a balanced lineup of progressives on their floor.

 

[paul123]

Welcome back. I'm afraid you'll find it's still quite dreary in the USA gambling dungeon.

Vortran seems to be fine and dandy and has all but recovered from running thru the forum in his underwear after one of the guys spiked his Castrol during the holidays. j/k

Don't know what attracts Paul, but sometimes VP progressives get so high they go +EV. Probably the reason many casinos don't have them. Of course, they'd have to go waaaay +EV for an advantage player, considering all the fees involved in getting money to and from the casinos with no perks to offset those 'you're behind before you play' expenses.

(I used to love playing at Global Player. They had multihand nickel progressives, dimes, etc. And they even had a place to 'park' funds so you could leave money in your account, out of sight, and just pull what you wanted into play. *sigh* /walk down memory lane)

Hi Mousey, I'm sorry, I did not see your post before I submitted my response before. Thank you for the update on Vortran. lol I'm thinking back when I used to read this forum several years ago, Vortan used to have a girlfriend. She was some wooden thing if I remember, I forget her name. That was funny.

Anyway, you are correct about the progressives. When I am in Nevada, and some Indian casinos in California, I easily find machines that are worth over 1% positive EV to me. That's high enough, but sometimes I find them in excess of 3%, and that's huge. Of course, it requires studying the strategies for the pay tables, to enjoy the full potential. I do study. Practice software helps, and that is part of the fun about progressives. It's not just pulling a handle on a slot machine, one has to actually use one's brain a little bit.

I see now that Boss Media has some decent video poker. When I stopped playing, they were just coming out with their new games. I always liked Boss Media, but they seemed to be missing the boat on marketing. They don't allow US players so I can't try them now, but I know they have some progressives. Here is an example of where they have set their pay tables too low. The games barely get played. If they moved them up a notch I am sure that smart players would be attracted to them.

Here's the deal with video poker. There are two basic philosophies of casino management. They can either butcher their cows and make hamburger meat out of them, only once, or they can milk their cows while playing soft music in the background, for ever and ever. lol

 

[paul123]

I see now that Boss Media has some decent video poker. When I stopped playing, they were just coming out with their new games. I always liked Boss Media, but they seemed to be missing the boat on marketing. They don't allow US players so I can't try them now, but I know they have some progressives. Here is an example of where they have set their pay tables too low. The games barely get played. If they moved them up a notch I am sure that smart players would be attracted to them.

Speaking of Boss Media, and although I cannot access it directly, I understand the jackpot for the 25-cent level is approaching 3800 right now. That is Euros, I assume. The game as I understand it is 7-5 Jacks-or-better with a 20-coin pay on quads, which is a brutal game by itself but comes out a little under 2% + EV with perfect play. The variance would be very high, but still, if I saw this in Vegas I would be all over it.

If Boss Media were to make that an 8-5 pay table, or even an 8-6, I believe they would make much more money off the game even though they would be lowering their percentage hold. As it stands now, I don't think anyone is playing it. Contrast that to Playtech's Mega Jacks, which obviously has an enormous following of loyal players.