Super 4 Progressive Blackjack

My impression is that the "highest payout only" rule is NOT currently in force on this game, perhaps because there is in fact no SPECIFIC claim made in the official documentation of the rules. This is not on full authority, but is based on conversations I have had with a couple of floor people, who, when I broached the subject, rolled their eyes, smiled, and said there had been much discussion about it.

Whether this is general knowledge out there where people are betting on this, or if it's only true if you bitch about it, if and when you win with a multiple prize on the line, I don't know.

It's such a simple thing to put the limitation somewhere in the fine print, even if it's buried in some filing with the some Department of Silly Rules, it's got to be somebody's screwup which you would think they would have thought of.

Although, was it Mohegan or Foxwoods who had some kind of "Triple Down" promotion that, in the one day that it was offered, nearly put them out of business?

Quote: racquet

My impression is that the "highest payout only" rule is NOT currently in force on this game, perhaps because there is in fact no SPECIFIC claim made in the official documentation of the rules. This is not on full authority, but is based on conversations I have had with a couple of floor people, who, when I broached the subject, rolled their eyes, smiled, and said there had been much discussion about it.

Whether this is general knowledge out there where people are betting on this, or if it's only true if you bitch about it, if and when you win with a multiple prize on the line, I don't know.

It's such a simple thing to put the limitation somewhere in the fine print, even if it's buried in some filing with the some Department of Silly Rules, it's got to be somebody's screwup which you would think they would have thought of.

Although, was it Mohegan or Foxwoods who had some kind of "Triple Down" promotion that, in the one day that it was offered, nearly put them out of business?

The Triple Down Promotion was in July, 2010 at Mohegan Sun. I played it for 10 hours and won only a modest amount playing according to the chart provided by the Wizard. I had hoped, nay expected, to win more. The casino claims they lost their shirt and that may be so. We never got a second crack at the game so maybe there's some truth to it. Many played for the entire 18 hours. I personally know of one team that was down 50k before noon. Many CTRs that day.

Quote: racquet

I agree, and if the mid-level people who responded had had any backbone they would have (politely maybe) rebuffed the original player and moved on. Their mistake was in doing anything other than paying $100.

I disagree 100%. They ended up handling it properly. Just because other games pay only highest winning combination doesn't mean that is how this game plays out. If it is not in the rules submitted to gaming then all combinations should be paid until the rules are changed.

My mistake was in assuming that the rules DID in fact state what was needed to avoid this problem, and that what was lacking was the intestinal fortitude to deal with the abuse from the winner. Once the dog sees the fear in your eyes you are dead, and that's what I saw on Friday. I would have bet that one way or another that by Monday the storm would have abated and something - the rules as published somewhere - a change in the rules - closing down the game - would have put an end to it.

My thinking now is that they didn't hire a lawyer who gambles to peruse the written description of the game. Could they have been so stupid?

With FreeBet, they installed it in one pit, at what - six tables? with six new felts and a stack of a couple of hundred table cards. Whatever killed that game - dealer unhappiness, house losses, inconsistent rule application, player apathy - when they scrapped it they replaced a few felts and threw out some freebet tokens, move on.

This is different. Every table (?) in the joint has had this game embedded in the felt and on the new electronic table signs. Even if they could reprogram the video signs for a different game (and in fact THAT improvement would make a lot of sense, to be able to put in a new game by a programming change that gets pushed out into the video screen), it's the felt that's a problem.

Assuming that there IS in fact a legal issue with this (which we don't know for sure), can they just republish / resubmit the rules, get approval for the inserting the missing "higher winning hand only" in the verbiage, and carry on? Or is this game as instituted on day one, and the accompanying deficient rules, cast in stone?

Consider this. A royal flush in diamonds (100% jackpot), is also a Royal Flush (10%) as well as a Straight ($500) as well as a Flush ($400), a Same Color ($100) and an Any Hand ($25).

So a Royal Flush in Diamonds would pay 110% of the Progressive, as well as an additional $1025. OK, so I am going to tip the dealer the $1025. But I sure as hell want that 10% additional piece of the Progressive.

Oh, you say. The rules MUST distinguish between a Diamond-Flush and a Non-Diamond Flush so as to keep you from winning 110% of the jackpot?

Uh huh. Maybe it does. I don't bet this stupid thing, but I hope whomever wins it asks to see the rules.

The Royal Flush in diamonds has been hit twice that I know of without the $5 bet in play. That changed this past weekend, yesterday I believe, when a woman from New York hit it for about $480,000. I'm told that she took $10k in cash and the rest in a check. She remained quiet but the table went wild as she distributed money to the other players and the dealer. She was later heard complaining about the taxes that she was going to have to pay to New York state. I give her a pass as that could be a life changing amount for her and the reality probably hadn't sunk in. I am glad she took the bulk of it in a check because, I'm told, she suddenly had a lot of new friends.

I was under the impression that the meter would be reset to $50k after the payout but this morning it was already at $155,000. There's some confusion because it couldn't have increased that quickly from $50k. I've been told by a reliable source that 81 cents of each $5 bet goes to the progressive.

If anyone would rather not play tables with this bet, I know of 15 that do not have it. They are low minimum but don't open until sometime in the afternoon. The $500 minimum pit in the Casino of the Sky doesn't have them either but if you're playing there you're not worried about side bets.

Do you know where the win occurred? I had heard that there was a diamond Royal Flush in the $5 pit, but that there was no bet on at the time. That the person who had it was betting it regularly, passed on that hand, and then was so upset that he/she couldn't play any more and left. But just a rumor, I did not see it happen myself.

Quote: 1BB

I was under the impression that the meter would be reset to $50k after the payout but this morning it was already at $155,000. There's some confusion because it couldn't have increased that quickly from $50k. I've been told by a reliable source that 81 cents of each $5 bet goes to the progressive.

Chances are a little bit of every $5 goes toward the reseed. If it's 5 cents per $5, the reseed fund would have accumulated $132,716.05 when the progressive reached $480,000.

Quote: 1BB

... If anyone would rather not play tables with this bet, I know of 15 that do not have it. They are low minimum but don't open until sometime in the afternoon. ...

Would that be the Bow & Arrow tables? They have never had side bets before, and I saw as of Sunday they still did not. As for low minimum, long ago and far away they advertised "always $10." The table minimums now fluctuate with the other Earth casino tables. I think they are closed for the weekdays and open only for the weekends and holidays.

On Sunday morning I watched a woman seated with me at a $10 table play the progressive for every hand of a shoe. Bubkus back. I patrolled the tables a few times over several days and saw some play for the progressive, but not a lot. Two spots on eight 5-player tables on my first count. There was always some play, but not a lot. Seeding the next round at +100K sounds like a good plan. There are a lot of progressive slots above that level, and that sets an expectation.

Quote: racquet

Do you know where the win occurred? I had heard that there was a diamond Royal Flush in the $5 pit, but that there was no bet on at the time. That the person who had it was betting it regularly, passed on that hand, and then was so upset that he/she couldn't play any more and left. But just a rumor, I did not see it happen myself.

I didn't think to ask where the win occurred. It was during a time when all the tables were open so it could have been anywhere. I'm curious as well so I'll see if I can pin it down when I return later this week. For those not familiar, there are over 100 blackjack tables at the Connecticut Mohegan Sun.

Quote: BleedingChipsSlowly

Would that be the Bow & Arrow tables? They have never had side bets before, and I saw as of Sunday they still did not. As for low minimum, long ago and far away they advertised "always $10." The table minimums now fluctuate with the other Earth casino tables. I think they are closed for the weekdays and open only for the weekends and holidays.

On Sunday morning I watched a woman seated with me at a $10 table play the progressive for every hand of a shoe. Bubkus back. I patrolled the tables a few times over several days and saw some play for the progressive, but not a lot. Two spots on eight 5-player tables on my first count. There was always some play, but not a lot. Seeding the next round at +100K sounds like a good plan. There are a lot of progressive slots above that level, and that sets an expectation.

Yes, the eight Bow & Arrow tables have special felts depicting various sports that they seem to want to preserve. When walking into the Sky from the retail area, there are seven tables behind the craps table that you first see that do not have the bet. I have no idea why but if this game takes off you can bet that will change.