Visitreno

melbedewy · Joined: 22 May 2010 Posts: 12

Does any place in Reno have guaranteed payout slot banks like the Circus Circus 97.4% dollar section in LV or Bally's 98% $5 slots?
I'll be staying at Atlantis and Peppermill for a full week starting Monday.
Any tips on these places and how to maximize comps would be welcome. I play mostly VP with some low-limit BJ and a taste of slots.

stan_allen · Joined: 19 Dec 2005 Posts: 1129

Good question - I seem to recall some "Guaranteed Payback!" signs, but they were in the Fitz, which is now closed.

Lacking anything more specific from other board members, I guess I'd check the casino sites, and maybe even call the casino floor to ask - sure, you're more likely to get the cleaning woman on the line than anyone who will say anything remotely specific about the casino's operations other than that they're "Really cool!", and that you should come spend your money there - but it might be worth a shot.

remano · Joined: 20 Dec 2005 Posts: 717

My understanding is that only some of the machines under those "guaranteed payout" signs have to meet that condition, and with slots there is absolutely no way to find out which are which. A gaming regulator once told me that the payout percentages are calculated over a theoretical "life of the machine' that is equivalent to 15 million pulls. That's about one pull every 6 seconds, non stop for almost 3 years. At the end of that run the total payout should match the designed percentages. With such large numbers a low paying machine can run hot and a high percentage machine can run cold for weeks at a time and still not be far off from the designed goal. Nobody can put enough play into any machine to really know what they're up against. It's all luck - you put in your money, press the button, and the machine decides how much of your money it will keep.

At least with video poker you can read the pay tables and know exactly what you're getting into.

BC Dave · Site Admin Joined: 18 Dec 2005 Posts: 1594

To quote Remano:

alison · Joined: 09 Jan 2006 Posts: 1150

CaSwede · Joined: 28 Feb 2006 Posts: 866

A full week of playing in a casino is a long time. I burn out after just a couple of days. No wonder you want to stretch your budget. In the long run those slots are going to win. Fortunately you are staying at two of the places that have the best video poker that you will find anywhere. I would find some good paytables and try to stick with the vp to make your money go further.

Good luck on the comps. I have found the comps to be poor at the Peppermill, but maybe I do something wrong.

LilyJDragonfly · Joined: 03 Mar 2009 Posts: 425

I have to say I was not happy with my Peppermill comps - we had played there once during a Reno visit (where we stayed at Harrah's) and PM sent us a free room offer.

Seemed like a great thing and we booked a two-night stay.... EXCEPT we found out when we went to check out that all our play comps for the two or three day stay had been applied to our "comped" room..... and I had a terrible time with drink service there.

Atlantis just sent me a free room offer and some free play, so you might have better luck there.

I remain a loyalist to the Harrah's gang... but still go play at the other joints once in a while, too...