Casino owner warns of oversaturation on East Coast

Express-Times ^ | May 18, 2012 | Express-Times Staff

[Graybeard58]

I miss the sound of the old coin slot machines. The casinos just didn't sound the same.

Must be similar to what I experienced yesterday. The park across the street from me has a baseball diamond, it's quite a ways from my house but I walked over there to watch the little leaguers play.

The first sound I heard as I approached the diamond was the sound of a baseball meeting aluminum. Like fingernails on a chalk board to me.

[SamAdams76]

They still have some of the old coin slot machines over on Fremont Street. We used to be nostalgic about them too but we've gotten used to the coinless machines that cash out with tickets. Much cleaner and we don't have to be washing our hands all the time.

I have a pretty good system to make our money last longer. We put $100 into a slot machine and play it through once. That is, if we are at a $2 machine, we spin the reels exactly 50 times and then cash out. Most slots in Vegas pay 94-98% back so typically after 50 spins on a $2 bet, we usually have at least $80 left and sometimes we are over the original $100. If less than $100, we take what's left and go play another machine (adding whatever we need to make it $100 again). If more than $100, my wife stays at the machine while I take the ticket to a cash machine and I put the "winnings" in a separate pocket and we play the original $100 back again on the same machine. Sometimes you get a "hot" machine and one time we came out ahead on a slot machine something like 10 times in a row. We spent hours on that one machine and splurged on a nice dinner afterwards with the winnings.

Some people look down on casino gambling and I can understand why. Like alcohol or anything else, it can become addictive and ruin your life. However, if you go in there with a plan to have fun and budget your money accordingly with what you can afford to lose, it can be a very pleasurable experience - just another form of entertainment. I used to spend more money taking the kids to Disneyland. Now that they are grown up, it's time for the parents to have some fun!

[Graybeard58]

Good thing I read all the comments first, I was about to say the same thing. How dare someone set up a lemonade stand right next to my lemonade stand!

[ops33]

It does prove that P.T. Barnum was right.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

You’ve been reading Milton Friedman again. (Actually, Adam Smith said more or less the same thing.)

[SamAdams76]

I like those commercials! But in my case, I don’t have enough hair left to sell to a wig shop so I better manage my money wisely!

[scrabblehack]

What do you mean by “better returns?”

Tiger Walk 30:1 = 0.0323
Teeth of the Dog 15:1 = 0.0625
Pretension 30:1 = 0.0323
Zetterholm 20:1 = 0.0476
Went the Day Well 6:1 = 0.1428
Creative Cause 6:1 = 0.1428
Bodemeister 8:5 = 0.3846
Daddy Nose Best 12:1 = 0.0769
I’ll Have Another 5:2 = 0.2857
Optimizer 30:1 = 0.0323
Cozzetti 30:1 = 0.0323
TOTAL = 1.2721

So it looks like the house is getting a 27% cut. With slots it’s something like 2%. On the other hand, a person can lay many bets on slots in the time it takes to run a horse race.

Now yes, it takes some skill to pick a horse or win at blackjack or poker, while slots are dumb luck. (Although they have slot tournaments).

[Amberdawn]

I have rarely failed to come home in the black after a day betting at the track while it’s normal for me to lose at a casino. Granted, I’ve been around horses and tracks all my life and slot machines are all I’m “qualified” to play, but with an average of 12 horses per field, it’s pretty hard to lose if you know what your doing. P.S., I don’t play only to “win” but exacta’s and trifecta’s.

[Amberdawn]

I have rarely failed to come home in the black after a day betting at the track while it’s normal for me to lose at a casino. Granted, I’ve been around horses and tracks all my life and slot machines are all I’m “qualified” to play, but with an average of 12 horses per field, it’s pretty hard to lose if you know what your doing. P.S., I don’t play only to “win” but exacta’s and trifecta’s.

[scrabblehack]

I assume that the house’s cut on the exactas/perfectas/trifectas/super perfectas is roughly the same as on win?

[Amberdawn]

Probably. My point is that one’s chances are higher with fewer variables and the payoff greater on an exacta/trifecta bet. Whereas slot gambling is truly hit or miss, given the number of machines and their odds of payoff.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Can't have too much competition. Too many hoi polloi joining the country clubs is not a good thing. /sarc

Maryland "Freak State" PING!

[Gabz]

I gotta laugh at the guy in Pennsylvania complaining about “dilution” because of competition from Maryland——he wasn’t saying any such thing when he was hoping to take customers from the Delaware tracks.

What goes around - comes around!