Las Vegas Is Still the Gambling Capital

Here's another reason why Las Vegas is still the "gambling capital" in spite of the proliferation of casino betting to many other parts of the country: On Saturday, December 6, 2003, Terrible's Casino & Hotel celebrated its third anniversary by offering gamblers a pair of sweet six-hour deals that those of us in the Chicago-area can only dream about. From 6:00 p.m. to midnight video poker players received three-times the payoff on royal flushes at all machines twenty-five cents and under. That meant instead of the usual 4,000-coin or $1,000 royal flush payoff for max coins on a quarter machine, Terrible's paid 12,000 coins or $3,000. Anthony Curtis' Las Vegas Advisor Online observed that with this bonus on Jacks or Better machines, it tilted the theoretical return dramatically in the players' favor to 104.3 percent. By making it such a positive game, quarter players could expect to realize about $30 per hour in profit in addition to the slot club benefits by using a player's card.

During the same six-hour bonanza, blackjack players at Terrible's were getting double payoffs on suited naturals. That meant instead of receiving 3 to 2 ($7.50) for a suited blackjack for a five-dollar bet, anniversary night players got 3 to 1 ($15.00) for a five dollar bet. The Las Vegas Advisor reported this bonus gave the game a 1.25 percent edge to basic strategy players. If you also employed a card counting system, the edge was magnified even more.

Las Vegas, of course, is a "buyer's market" for gamblers. There is intense marketing competition among the property owners to boost shares. The Chicago-area is still a "seller's market". We have as much of a chance at seeing a similar promotion around here as we do getting a money back guarantee when we play!