In this video, we score $1000 worth of free slot play and try some interesting new game machines. Not necessarily in that order.
What do you think of stadium gaming if you’ve played? Stadium games have already disappeared at some casinos. The one constant in Vegas is change. You can sometimes find exactly which games have come & gone at various casinos by visiting the good folks at VegasAdvantage.com. (Hi John! Keep up the great work!)
We tried the Go Go Claw and electronic Big Six and Craps (with a VERY odd layout).
Go Go Claw is like an arcade game you may have played as a kid, where you try to grab a prize in a plastic orb and then deposit in a slot to hopefully keep. The casino machine orbs contain no actual prizes. Based on the size of your wager – $5-100, the machine will tell you what prize the orb represents for each round that you play, ranging from $20 – 5000. I played at Tuscany this time. Those orbs are slippery suckers! Tough to beat. But again, these machines are disappearing almost as rapidly as they started popping up around town.
We were soon back at a traditional Nickel 4 Card Keno machine, where we hit a 5 spot for $120, then cashed out.
From there it was off to Silverton, where they had a promotion under way. Rack up 100 points on slots, then slide your card at a kiosk for a chance to win up to $1000 in FSP. I have taken part in promotions like this for years. The most I ever won was $25. I scored a $100 gas card once. But $1000? Not until now. I did a double take when I saw the words pop up on the screen: I figured these promotions were fixed. Glad I was wrong!
What to play $1000 on? I tried machines that I rarely play, and did ok, but better with traditional 4 Card Keno. Played $400 and won back $390.
From there it was a short jaunt to The M Resort to check out their stadium gaming set-up. Some casinos have added these in addition to existing pit games, some have replaced traditional tables. Some “stadiums” offer a combo of electronic & live dealers – mostly during prime time.
Playing their electronic craps game reminded me how vigilant we players must be if we want to maximize wins & minimize losses. The layout was not typical. The hard ways were all one role hop bets.
And where was the horn bet option? I didn’t see it. Only C&E. This is fine if you know what you’re getting into and agree to play that way, but if you’re not paying attention, you might lose a bunch of money before you realize what’s going on. The game moves quicky, too, so some tempting betting opportunities might he closed to you before you have a chance to place the wager. I plan to investigate this further.
I enjoy the new electronic “Big Six” wheel. It’s more entertaining than the old-style analog wheels that employed extremely bored dealers waiting for someone to play.
These wheels only allow players to bet on the following numbers: 1, 3, 5, 11, 23, two “45’s”, and one 1000-1 option. We’re allowed to wager up to $2,105. Interesting number. Bet the max on 1000-1 for a potential return of $2,105,000! Imagine the alarms you’d set off if you hit that!
After spending a little time in the stadium, it was time to find a bank of Keno machines (of course). The biggest wins this time were on a straight Keno game, not 4 Card, though we picked up a little bit there, too. We entered the casino with $100. Left with $170. Not bad.
Yeah, I’m a low roller who is thrilled with small jackpots of a few hundred bucks or less. As I’ve said many times in many places, the idea is to have fun, not get rich. That could happen. If it does, I hope to be there! But I never get anxious thinking about it. I enjoy the challenge of coming up with new patterns to try to see if I can beat the random number generator, while simultaneously not going broke. Game on!