New Project Ideas

The video poker survey has been done, and is available on vpFree2.com. It isn't always completely up-to-date, but it does a pretty good job. However, "advantage" video poker is slowly dying (or, more accurately, is being choked to death). So there's nothing much to be done there any more.

The same sentiment applies to blackjack, which is no longer a beatable game in Vegas.

What I have not seen anywhere is a running, updated database of casino promotions. Scot Krause writes a weekly column for American Casino Guide, but it isn't anything close to comprehensive. I think that one of the reasons such a guide doesn't exist is that if someone discovers a juicy promotion, he wants to keep it to himself rather than "out" it, in the hope that the promotion will thereby have a longer life.

Though I assume you only wish to deal with things Vegas, there is NO promo database for casinos elsewhere in the country--things like slot club benefits, sign-up bonuses, ongoing and intermittently occuring promotions, etc. If I were going to, say, Gulfport, Tunica, or AC (may I be killed by lightning if I ever contemplate going there again, but I'm speaking hypothetically), it might be nice to see who is offering the best deals, rather than going from casino to casino (which can't be done on foot, in most such places).

Another possible project is an up-to-date survey of the best room deals and offers in Vegas. All that I know exists on the Web is the LVA once-a-month update, and that's for subscribers only anyway.

Really BJ isnt beatable? What about games with super low house advatages and 3:2 single deck like at EC? I dont think any casino game could provide a living but at least some small over all win or brake even game.

I would be willing to volunteer surveying Indian casinos in Northern CA for the site if you want.

Quote: NicksGamingStuff

Really BJ isnt beatable? What about games with super low house advatages and 3:2 single deck like at EC? I dont think any casino game could provide a living but at least some small over all win or brake even game.

I would be willing to volunteer surveying Indian casinos in Northern CA for the site if you want.

No, they aren't beatable. Even the EC game is still -0.2% off the top, and you can't even get away with a 1-3 bet spread there any more. Plus, they deal two hands and shuffle most of the time. I suppose that a 1-2 spread and watching the count like a hawk MIGHT enable you to drag yourself into slightly positive territory. But at the stakes you would be able to play with without drawing any heat, you would be making about $3/hr if you were lucky.

There are also some shoe games in town that have decent rules, but you hardly ever see decent penetration. And since the vast majority of those shoe games are six-deck, you're fighting an -0.71% uphill battle. This starts to be significant enough that your minimum bets (which you would be making well over half the time) carry a significant cost as well.

In order to make any kind of decent money you have to spread 6-1 or better, which will eventually get you heat. It just isn't worth the trouble any more.

Quote: mkl654321

Another possible project is an up-to-date survey of the best room deals and offers in Vegas. All that I know exists on the Web is the LVA once-a-month update, and that's for subscribers only anyway.

I think it depends on what you're looking for there. Are you interested in deals that include comps, or just general public deals? A pretty comprehensive list of non-players-card-required deals is found at http://www.smartervegas.com

I agree that it'd be pretty sweet, though

Quote: Wizard

So, with that, I throw it open to the audience. Any suggestions?

How about an article on how to pick a game & betting amount for a given bankroll? I think a lot of new gamblers that don't have a lot of experience and a limited bankroll (most people I'd think) wonder how to pick a game. For this article, you could do things like:

- Game recommendation tool. Inputs: Bankroll, Acceptable Risk of Ruin chance, desired play length; then spit out games & max bet levels that match this goal.
- Risk of Ruin calculator.
- Bell curves of various game results

Maybe something to do with chip collections like photos/history of various casino chips or a forum to trade with others.

Quote: bluefire

I think it depends on what you're looking for there. Are you interested in deals that include comps, or just general public deals? A pretty comprehensive list of non-players-card-required deals is found at http://www.smartervegas.com

I agree that it'd be pretty sweet, though

I'm not sure how the information would be collated, but it would also be great to get surveys of what room offers casinos had extended after a play-and-stay--like "I played quarter slots for about ten hours on a weekend in June and they sent me an offer for two free room nights plus $20 in food comps"...that sort of thing.

Quote: Wizard

About the props, I consider one of my strongest areas NFL props. However, that is one of those things that is too good to write about. I'm also sworn to secrecy on some of my strategies.

"Sworn to secrecy" ?

LOL! That sounds like the kind of line that a snake-oil salesman would use.

Quote: mkl654321

What I have not seen anywhere is a running, updated database of casino promotions. Scot Krause writes a weekly column for American Casino Guide, but it isn't anything close to comprehensive. I think that one of the reasons such a guide doesn't exist is that if someone discovers a juicy promotion, he wants to keep it to himself rather than "out" it, in the hope that the promotion will thereby have a longer life.

More likely that its hard to compile because promotions are very short lived to begin with. Half the promotions would expire before the database is updated.

Besides, as was shown in the recent thread about the Mohegan Sun's Triple-Down promtion, even the pit crew was confused. So getting accurate info would be a challenge.

What I think would be really useful to a gambler (recreational type) would be a grid showing the major vegas properties color coded by how loose/tight the gambling is. Table games, slots, and VP would be highlighted for the lowroller (=<25$ bet table, <=1$ bet slot/VP) and higher roller (>25$ bet table, >1$ bet slot/VP). The table could also show how the property is changing over time (each survey). For instance, each of my last 3 trips to Caesar's Palace, I've noticed the 25c VP paytables decrease from 9-5 to 8-5 to now mostly 7-5. I figure that slot payout must be decreasing too as they 'tighten' up the place (and yes, it's driving me to non-harrah's properties).

You would probably have to do an updated version of your slot survey as the last one is very out of date, but i'm guessing that a multiline penny slot would make gathering the results faster and cheaper. The key is comparing properties, a penny slot payout is a good proxy for other denominations and it's likely that a property that pays 1% more on penny pays more on higher donominations. For instance, it would be very interesting to know that I could get a better payout by just crossing the street from CP to Bally's (using same player card) assuming that all harrah's properties are not identical (or maybe find out that all harrah's properties are equally sucky).

To summerize, a grid focused primarily on stip properties that ranks them strickly by gambling criteria. good odds, good table minimums, good comps etc. and shows how the properties are changing over time. Since what is/was good in 2000 may be horrible in 2010. Having relatively 'fresh' data on your website should drive traffic and keep the casino's a bit more honest.

Thanks for all the suggestions thus far. Thanks also for the offer to help with Northern CA casinos, Nick. I prefer to stick to math analysis as much as possible. Thus, I'm not big on discussing comps and betting systems. That is more the domain of the Las Vegas Advisor. Plus, that information changes so frequently.

I kind of like Brindle's idea. I've thought of doing something like that for years. What I envision is a "best of Vegas" kind of list, where I would rank the casinos game by game for the loosest odds. For some I might further break it down by small/medium/large bettor. I think it would be a valuable resource for recreational gamblers. On the down side, it would be very tedious gathering information, and not very challenging mentally.

What I would prefer is to break some new ground mathematically. Any other ideas?