There's a whole thread dedicated to cruise ship poker but the general consensus is that Carnival is best with 10% to $6 and the other lines are heavily over raking.

Damn they would make my 20$ free slot play so close to the 5,000$ cash.. Preying on my degen weaknesses

On the NCL cruise there was no cap on the rake. They only have 1 2/5 NL running every night starting at about 10 PM and runs till about 3 AM. The game starts at 10 PM it's b/c this is when people just got out of the show and the casino is located just outside the theater. They only have 1 poker table and if you win a $ 300 pot then the rake is $ 30, $ 500 pot, rake is $ 50. Regardless of how much you win, the rake is always 10% of the pot.

You'll be surprise there a lot of people wanting to play and some of them don't know what they are doing and always making small bets just like a family game. The buy-in is 100 min with 500 max.

They also have super-turbo tourney during the day starts at 11 AM with $ 100 buy-in with re-buy. You have about 50 to 60 people sign up for this one and top 3 get paid.

Just got not one but two invitations for the Bulova watch and $ 12,000 free slot play/ promotional chips drawing for Sunday March 16. It said is for 50 winners and the drawing takes place outside the high limit room. You must bring the invitation to enter the drawing.

Anybody got this?

Heard a story Thursday about MDL ... Hope this isn't true for the players playing there now.

BBJ has never been hit ... Mini hit a few times. ... BBJ only $140K even though it opened more than 6 months ago? Because they have $1 MILLION in reserve to promote the crap out of a new casino opening in SIX MONTHS???

Fact or fiction?

I think the BBJ has hit twice at least if I recall.

Those rumors about a huge BBJ when the competition comes have been around since opening though.

The problem with that theory is it goes against what Mike has said, as he's stated before he's not a fan of huge BBJ's and prefers to spread the money around.

But time will tell I guess.

You don't get out much, do you.

The reserve easily has more than a million in it, just do some simple math. I have faith though that we'll get a lot of fun promotions that will benefit everyone rather than just one huge jackpot when the horseshoe opens up. December was a good example.

He'll spread the money around when its convenient and good for the casino, not the players. I won't be surprised when, as soon as a new casino is up and running and after its initial hype period is over, MDL starts giving the players back their money in promotions and take the players monies in advertising the same promotions.

Until then we'll see drips and drabs that benefits no one but those that grind daily and those that spend all their free time away from their families and trying to qualify for some free thing that they over-pay for with their bbj drops that reduces each and every pot they win along the way. All the while the reserve funds build to support the casino;s plans to advertise against the coming competition. And we get no insight to how much of our money they take and spend on ads and promotions.

Never been here before but may make it tomorrow. Any estimates on about how long id expect to wait for a seat if I got there at like the worst possible time, maybe 8pm?

This would be for 4-8 O8, 8-16 O8, or 2-2 plo.

Bring a sleeping bag if you plan to show up around 8 PM. last time I showed up at 2 PM for the 2/2 and waited for 2 hrs on a Saturday. This is why I prefer showing up before 12 noon.

Thanks. That's the answer I was expecting, though not what I was hoping for. I'll probably skip it. Hopefully next time I'm out that way will be when the room isn't at it's most crowded and I'll try it then.

What was the final consensus on the best use of the $500 free slot play? Video poker? Video roulette (which I have no idea where those machines are)? Wife/girlfriend for peace at home?

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You won't get a consensus. My girlfriend used it on various machines in the high limit slots room. Lasted us about an Hour and we won $615 from the $500 free play. Obviously probably not as much +ev than video poker or roulette but to me it's fun and gave me a chance to win more

Go to the Jacks or Better machines that let you bet $1 x 5 and grind it out, takes about 20 minutes or so.

The person calling names needs to do it like 10x faster. Its excruciating staring at an empty seat in your game for 30 minutes because she cant read through 5 names who wont show.

I played through my $130 (streak bonus, plus Gold promo) in about 90 seconds, walking away with $125. Shouldn't take more than 10 minutes to cycle $500 in bets through on a $1 machine playing 5 credits. And I'd hardly call that grinding.

I've always wondered how many slot/pit players know of the problems calling names and leaving seats open on the poker list. I'd imagine there's some of them at least that come up and sign up for one or more games/times on a list just to troll the poker players, even if they're not aware they are being trolled.

Geez cf410, you always land on the pessimistic view of everything? Not everything is a conspiracy.

Is the place jumping with the nice weather?

Packed at noon when I got here.

Same bonuses for me with similar results on JoB. Thanks to those who suggested this approach. Note, on the multi-denom machines the 50 cent appears to have the same pay table as the $1 if you want more spins.

nice.
waiting for the platinum version


yup, but only got 1 invite.

This is not being pessimistic or seeing a conspiracy. Its being curious.

There have been many times where I've gone to the mall with friends. I'll sign up for lists in the room first and then go grab a bite, do the shopping, and/or hang out a bit with them if there's a long list. I'll go back to the room when I think its been long enough and hope that my name is blinking or at least near the top of the list.

Knowing that MDL will hold the spot for extended amounts of time makes this strategy work more often than not. And if I miss my name being called its not a problem for me as I'm still likely on another list near the top or I just go off and leave.

But wondering if people sign up with no intention at all of returning is a valid thing to be curious about I think.

Is there any skill/thinking involved in playing jacks or better, or will the machine suggest optimal discards?

Definitely there is a "basic strategy" to video poker, and no, the machine won't tell you the optimal play.