Quest for a Royal Laughlin

Trying to come up with a strategy to finally hit my first $0.25 Royal when I go to Laughlin, Friday through Sunday, next weekend. Checking vpfree2 there are very few good paying 3/5 play machines. My schedule gets crazy busy after next weekend, so this may be my last extended chance at hitting one for a while.

Here is my outline so far:

Harrah's: (1) DD44, 3/5 play, 98.91% return; and
(2) Super Pay JOB 3/5 play, 98.72%.

Edgewater: (1) DB, 3/5 play, 99.11%; and
(2) DDB 3/5 play, 98.98%

None of the other casinos have good games for 3/5 play so not sure what to do when we go through them. I am not real hopeful based on the games offered. Any other strategy tips from other players that frequent Laughlin would be greatly appreciated.

I can't speak about Laughlin, but mathematically, 9/5 Super Times Pay Jacks or Better gives you the best chance of hitting a royal:

Game	Royal Frequency	Variance
9/5 STP JOB	1 in 40,169	31.29
9/6 DDB	1 in 40,799	41.98
15/9/4/4	1 in 43,410	25.62
9/7/5	1 in 48,035	28.55

Hey BP, why don't you play those 8/5 BP quarter multi-line machines at the Tuscany? I guarantee you'll hit a royal if you play long enough. Plus, you'll eat for free! (Good place to take clients :) )

Quote: teddys

Hey BP, why don't you play those 8/5 BP quarter multi-line machines at the Tuscany? I guarantee you'll hit a royal if you play long enough. Plus, you'll eat for free! (Good place to take clients :) )

Teddy, I have almost every day since you and I had lunch. No luck. Couple 4OAKs, but nothing big, not even 4As. I feel like the Cubs trying to break the curse, well maybe not that bad.

If you really want to hit a royal, the only way to improve your chances on any given hand is only to hold the royal cards. It doesn't matter which game.

Recap of the Laughlin trip:

4/12/13: Friday: After withdrawing money for the trip, I stopped by Santa Fe to place a sports wager. I decided to try $60 in a $0.25 Super Times Pay DDB Triple Play machine and hit 4Aces for $200. Nice start to the trip. Once arriving at Harrah's Laughlin we checked into our room. I had made several requests over a month in advance (a tower closer to the casino floor as my wife is six months pregnant, and upgraded room, river-view, and since we were going with friends that our rooms be on the same floor or as close as possible), my credit card had been previously charged (my room was comped and I paid for our friends' room since we take their vehicle down there and they won't take any gas money). The front desk told me they could not meet any of my requests. We were in the third tower, farthest from the casino, at the end of the hall, farthest from the elevator, we weren't on the same floor, and our view was a fantastic view of the parking garage. Needless to say I was not pleased, after speaking with the night supervisor who was not helpful at all, I finally said, "So you are telling me, the only way for me to get a better room, even if I am willing to pay more, is to go to another casino." Her response, "Yes, have a nice night and hung up on me." I was more than dumbfounded and pissed. However, not wanting to the ruin the entire weekend, we headed down to the casino. I again went for $0.25 Super Times Pay JoB. I didn't hit anything worth mentioning, but left down only $50 after an hour of play. Next we headed over to the Golden Nugget. GN was offering a 100 coin bonus for quad 10s. I went and signed up for the player's card for this sole purpose. After being informed that if I hit four 10s I would have to call over slot tech and they would make the appropriate payout. I found a regular triple play DDB ($0.25) machine. Not four hands in I hit four 10s, but wouldn't you know I immediately hit the "deal" button and proceeded to the next hand only to immediately realize I forgot to request the 100 coin bonus. Ouch. I ended up down a $100 at GN after another hour of play. From there we headed over to Tropicana Express to finish up the night. I found a Super Times Pay (.25) machine DDB, and hit four 3s with a kicker for $200. I finished the night up a small amount.

4/13/13: I started the day back at Harrahs, SXP JoB, and ended up $30, with a couple nice bonuses. Next we went to Colorado Belle where I played blackjack and lost $100. Next we walked over to Edgemont, where I found a .25 Triple Play DDB machine in the high limit room. Just a few hands in I was dealt 3Aces and caught the 4th Ace on the middle hand for another $200. I then found a BJ table and went on a nice run to end up another $150. We then headed over to Aquarius where I promptly gave back $100 in 10 minutes on SXP DDB. We then on a river boat cruise, which was very nice. Then it was off to Sawgrass at GN for dinner, where I lost $200 on video poker in less than 30 minutes. After dinner, we went down to Avi where we watched movie and then played for a little while. I hit 4 5s on a regular triple play DDB machine and left up $30. Back to Harrahs, where I lost $100 on SXP JoB, but then hit a few nice bonuses to win it back on another machine closer to the entrance (same game). Ready to head up to bed, I waited on my wife to meet me and I decided to put $20 in a slot machine to pass the time. Hit the two different bonuses 2x each and cashed out up $260. A lady came by after I cashed out and stated she cashed out of the same machine up $1000 the previous night. Overall not too bad of a day.

4/14/13: Wife decided to get a massage in the morning and I was going to make one last effort to hit that Royal. First I tried out the High Card Flush table game, and lost $100 within 20 minutes. Back to JoB SXP 5 Play, where I was dealt three Queens with 5x bonus and hit the fourth Queen on the first line, total payout 925 coins. I hit a few other nice pays and cashed out up over $300. Back to High Card Flush, again no luck down $50. I then went to another JoB SXP 5 play machines, no four of kinds worth mentioning, but did have a few nice bonuses and was again up over $250 at which time I decided to move to 10 play, but had absolutely no luck, still left up just over $100. We then went to the buffet, and after that I went back JoB SXP 5 Pay, and lost $300. Finally before heading back home, we stopped at Riverside, where I lost another $300 on SXP Bonus Poker Triple Play. I finished the trip down, but I gave the Royal my best shot. Life is getting pretty busy, wife pregnant and some up coming trials, so chances to get away will be few and far between. By the end of the trip, I was actually kind of sick of video poker and was disappointed that I didn't hit that elusive quarter royal.

Quote: SONBP2

Recap of the Laughlin trip:
By the end of the trip, I was actually kind of sick of video poker and was disappointed that I didn't hit that elusive quarter royal.

Yeah, sounds like you played a lot. I can occasionally feel that way too. Too bad you had a brain fart with that GN promo. And also in your trip you seemed to play DDB STP a lot. Did Harrah's screw the DDB paytable like they usually would (8/5 or worse), or was it actually 9/5? Thanks for the report. :)

I played JoB at Harrahs almost exclusively, but when we went to different properties I switched over to DDB.

There's a way the slot techs can go back to see your last 10 hands. If you called them right over they can verify it.