Scioto Downs Correction

I wanted to publicly correct a statement that I had made on my Blog about the Game King Keno at Scioto Downs:

Quote: Myself

I decided to go over to the Game King Keno (why don't they have VP if they have Game King anyway?) but did not end up playing for a few reasons:

1.) They are either programmed NOT to let you pick numbers or choose other than ten numbers or the screens were not functioning properly. In a sample size of five, NONE of them would let you change the numbers. The, "Quick Pick," function was operational, but you could not go through and erase/add numbers individually. I understand that it makes no mathematical difference, but a person still likes to pick his numbers. Maybe they were all somehow broken, although I played $1.00 just to see if they were all broken, and the machine played correctly.

In any event, I went to Scioto Downs Saturday after work, in the early a.m. Sunday (Nothing to write WoV about, +$150) and I decided to mess around on their Keno machines at $0.25/card as my ticket was down to exactly $153.75.

I have determined that you can change the numbers & number of Picks, however, there is a really strange criteria for doing so; you must first make one bet.

Basically, the game will have already picked numbers and a # of picks and you can hit, "Quick Picks," to change those to something random as well as being able to change the bet amount, but until you play one card, you may not change the number of picks or manually change which numbers you pick.

It's really strange, but I tried that on a second game (and then a different game on a different machine) and they all worked the same way.

I'd have just put this on my blog, but the Scioto Trip Report post is buried.

New Game Kings have been like this for about 5 years. Do they have Super 8 Race on those machines? Doubt it, but would like to know. The change bet thing is quite annoying and diabolical for them to do this. Tweak, tweak, tweak until people don't even want to go to the casino anymore.

Quote: onenickelmiracle

New Game Kings have been like this for about 5 years. Do they have Super 8 Race on those machines? Doubt it, but would like to know. The change bet thing is quite annoying and diabolical for them to do this. Tweak, tweak, tweak until people don't even want to go to the casino anymore.

No Super 8 Race.

The ones at Scioto Downs have the following games, and I know I'm forgetting a couple:

Caveman Keno
Cleopatra Keno
Power Keno (Like Super Keno, but the Multiplier is on the last number matched on a win, rather than the first.)
Four-Card Keno
Keno
Extra Draw Keno

The change bet thing has been (sort of) switched at Scioto Downs. You have to make a bet in order to switch numbers, but you no longer have to play a card with whatever numbers are on there first. There are a number of differences in gameplay I have noticed:

1.) (See Above-Must Make Bet to Switch Numbers)

2.) If you wish to change your bet, other than to a Max Bet, (by just hitting, "Max Bet") you will re-start at one unit bet and must hit the button until you reach the desired number of units bet. IOW, if you are betting four units and wish to bet five, it goes, 1-2-3-4-5, as opposed to the older machines where you have arrows with which you may bet either one unit up or down.

3.) Even if you have played a bet, you must essentially, "Re-Bet," in order to switch numbers. So, if you are betting four credits, you must hit the bet button and go through 1-2-3-4, and then you can switch numbers. Alternatively, you can hit the button once, (for one unit bet) then switch the numbers and adjust your bet afterwards.

4.) If you hit the bet button x times, then you must bet at least that amount. For example, if you hit it once, then you must play that game. You cannot go back to the Main Menu, Cash Out, or do anything else. You have to play at least that one credit. It's the same for any other amount of credits.

Conclusion-Result

Slow-Ass game play. You would think this would be a negative from the casino's perspective, but I guess not. It's slow because there are a bunch of unnecessary steps involved for a player who wants to switch his numbers, the number of picks, or the amount bet. (With exception to Max Bet, which is still a one push affair)

New VK Machines at Wheeling Island

I almost forgot to mention that there are new VK machines at Wheeling Island because they are almost too stupid to be worth mentioning. The only game I have played on there is King Midas Keno, which is the same thing as Cleopatra Keno, except she was a Queen. I'll look at what other games are on there if you want, but I played a few games of King Midas and was disgusted (even though I came out ahead a little) with the machines almost immediately.

Positives

The only positive is that this machine has three denominations with which you can bet, which are, $0.05/$0.10/$0.25.

Negatives

There are three denominations, but they are all equally stupid. You may bet anywhere from 4-8 credits, regardless of which denomination you choose. So, you can bet $0.20-$0.40, $0.40-$0.80, $1.00-$2.00. I don't know why, but I find that really stupid. Furthermore, while the speed is adjustable on those machines, in a sample size of King Midas Keno only, it either goes too fast for there to be any build-up factor, or at the second-fastest speed, it is ridiculously slow. It's highly stupid. I don't know why these new machines are in any way necessary.

I hope they don't plan on getting rid of the Game King's, but I doubt it. They haven't taken any of them out since these new shitty machines came in, I've never really seen anyone play said new shitty machines, and they only have one double-row with either tweleve or sixteen total machines.

Yes, it is basically the idea people will be discouraged to change bets and numbers and be encouraged to just "hit da button". If they enjoy it, they don't have to play it. But they are playing it, so they will like it. Like I said earlier here today, tweak, tweak, tweak until nobody wants to come to the casino. This kind of thing is just disrespectful to the customer and is what happens when there are government monopolies and piss poor regulation.

In my personal opinion, it's not working for them. I have been to Scioto Downs on just about any day of the week, and I have even been there during the afternoon twice, and the one thing you will notice in the Keno area is a crapload of empty machines. I don't know if perhaps they just over-estimated on how many people would play Keno, but I'd say they have about 70-80 total Keno machines (stab in the dark, never really counted) and if one-in-five slot machines are occupied on a given day, then you may see two-three total people playing Keno.

Again, they may have just overestimated on how many machines they would need. However, at Wheeling Island, I would say that the number of occupants per available slot machine overall, and per available Keno game, overall, is about the same...and sometimes Keno even has the best of it in that regard!