mLife has been ruined for me/Virtual Blackjack changed

Two posters have reached out to me asking about my use of virtual blackjack as part of my mLife play, so I decided to just post here for anyone else's benefit.

I used to play a great blackjack machine at the Luxor for the core of my gambling.

It had a .35 house edge while earning express comps and points.

Getting platinum status was a pretty good bet:

$200,000 through that machine has a theo of -$700.

That would produce at least $200 in express comps and $200 in point play. Even more, would depend on your status. With the 30% platinum status bonus, it was a great play for me.

I'd get way better comps playing $15-25 hands on that machine than if I took that action to the real tables (and they'd almost always be 6:5 to boot!).

Now, these virtual blackjack machines (the ones with the hot dealers on the large video screen) pay 6:5 and earn no points. No longer worth it at all. They guaranteed a big drop in my play. Seem to always lose the few wins you could find in town.

 

Back room accountants found another place to squeeze out a few more bucks. And they wonder why people are gambling less.

 

I don't know why you're shocked they closed an obvious loophole.

They were losing money on you.

A business can't stay in business losing money.

While I equally despise all the ticky tack, cheapskate, BS changes they're making with PGP, this is one that actually makes sense.

 

Yeah, assuming play on that machine created any free rooms, it cost the casino overall for sure. It's unfortunate they audited it and realized they could likely make at least 3 times more by changing the rules, even with the intelligent players quitting the game.

There used to be certain casinos where you could get 7 Star status at CET for as low as $200 theo if you knew what to play (various 99.96% VP games that earned full points). They got rid of the last machine I knew you could do this on earlier this year. That game was really under the radar too.

 

I wonder if maybe MGM will change the points earned on the machines to match like what CET does. I think its $40 a point.

 

Specially now some VP machines at CET only are $25/1 tier credit right? So if you want DIAD or 7*, you almost have to play a lesser % payout game if you are going for status.

 

I get taking the card out of it, like they did to bubble craps at Cosmo, though the BJ last time I was there still earned points at a reduced rate ($20/Pt 6:5 until you get to $15 a hand) Since MLife stopped doing EC at tables (I think).

But to do that and then lower the game to 6:5 was not as necessary as Shifter suggested, because it would not be a loss for the casino.

I would play the BJ video game without the ability to earn comps to play a fair $5 game... but they went too hard the other way.

 

Yeah any 6:5 is rough. But if a 6:5 game gets half the wagers a 3:2 H17 does, they make the same amount of money. And I assume there are enough "free" drink hunters there to make the 6:5 move making more sense to the number crunchers.

 

1. Not shocked. Bummed. (As most would be when their fun ride ends).

2. Shifting to 6:5, raising the point requirement, or giving no points while keeping decent rules would make sense from a business perspective. These rules say, "you will get nothing from playing these machines, so don't do it".

 

I get it. And hell look at 6:5 at lower limits/party pits etc not lacking for customers there as it is. It will not be too soon til 6:5 expands to higher and higher limits like Wynn did with 2x's odds at craps at his casino. Doesn't mean we have to be happy about it and it limits something I would play.

 

I don't know. They still had an edge on the game. They were never giving full points for that BJ game.... action is action and they were still making money on him - just a little less. Another one that floors me is that there is a bubble craps machine at Aria with a limit of $10-$5K that doesn't let you earn points or tier points. In fact the card reader doesn't even work. I don't care if you can place offsetting bets, every wager you place on a craps table has the edge that it is supposed to have. Offsetting bets only change your variance, not the house edge. Can you imagine someone putting $5K into action on a roll of the dice and not getting any points or even tier credits? Whoever did this simply doesn't understand the mathematics of gambling, or the mentality of gamblers for that matter.