Casinos aren’t stupid...and neither are the game manufacturers. They know a good thing when they see one, and they know how to keep ‘em coming back. For instance, Las Vegas is a town that is home to very few other industries outside of the casinos, so they take every bit advantage of that aspect as they can.

How? With a lack of any truly decent industry – such as Los Angeles or Phoenix has with multiple large aerospace and defense companies employing throngs of highly paid professional employees – Las Vegas has only the casino industry. And who works for them? Yes, after the top 2% - which are the execs - the rest are low paid service workers. And what does most of the lower income crowd do? They play video keno & video poker, that’s what! C’mon...like you didn’t know that.

And to take this a step further in the “I knew that but I just couldn’t say it” department….what things are important to this type of gambler when they’re inside the casinos? Well, one thing is the bars and the cocktail waitresses. Guzzling plenty of alcohol sure makes all those financial worries disappear, doesn’t it? Then there’s the ability to smoke their lives away. That also accounts for and verifies the general overall low IQ owned by the vast majority of video keno and video poker players.

Just make sure there’s a whole lot of ATM’s in the joint, because there’s nothing more needed by problem gamblers than a machine that actually DOES spit out some cash...that is, until TRANSACTION DENIED irritatingly appears on the screen. And thank God for those fat-laden buffets and 24-hour greasy-spoon diners found at every local casino! I mean, what easier way is there for the low income crowd to keep on supplying those video poker butts and guts?

So what’s all this add up to? To casino operators, it simply means easily-suckered gamblers who’ll chase after any new video poker game the casino chooses to bring in. At the same time, some of the big-headed famous names have also tried to empty these players’ wallets by coming out with updated strategy cards that say “duh! Playing one hand is mathematically the same as playing a thousand, so buy my product you imbecile!”, revised computer software, and pay-for advice that will help any and all players “win” on the new gaming manufacturer creations. Yup. Just like they’ve done with every game that’s come before...Have you ever noticed all the winners out at the video poker machines in the local casinos? Ever noticed why your favorite local heroes need multiple jobs or live-in 401k cash cow partners in order to make ends meet??

Hundred play video poker is a joke. In fact, that’s why most of the machines come in 1c/2c/5c versions. The manufacturers and casino managers know what class of people will get turned on by these things, and they’ll gladly give them hundreds of ways and rates-of-transfer to give up their money.

But this ludicrous game is available in higher limits too. If you follow the industry writers, you may remember where one over-ambitious famous name player was non-stop blabbing about her live-in lover hitting a dealt royal flush on the 25c version for a hundred thousand dollar win at the Palms! Wow! Yet, as all of her faithful and wishful followers were trying to fathom winning that much after being ahead probably more than that for the year when the hit was experienced, the bombshell that no one but me expected was delivered.

While we were being informed of how important this hit was BECAUSE THE COUPLE WAS BEHIND ABOUT $105,000 AT THE TIME OF THE HIT, faces turned red, timid followers and worshippers became confused and were wondering if a confession to their priests were in order, and many frugal gambler disciples simply and very quickly erased the words from their memory banks. But I took the opportunity to make sure every video poker player everywhere understood the hypocrisy, and heretofore would use their heads before falling into any more traps.

Because there’s more about this event written up on a blog on the Las Vegas Advisor – where she is a consistent purveyor of very bad advice on how to play video poker – we’ve further been told that even with using whatever slot club benefits she chooses to at whatever value she applies to them all, they were a combined $2800 behind for the year 2007. Yes, I know, many of you want to know just how much that number’s inflated to fit the purpose. But that’s all we have, and frankly, that’s all we need for me to make my point.

When a player hits a large jackpot like that it’s almost never on their first try. My guess is much of the year’s loss can be attributed to machines such as that one, as well as other NON-FRUGAL episodes with other machines. And what about AFTER the hit? Well, if there a $105,000 secret that gets withheld unless and until there’s an almost equal winning hit, you can take a guess on the path of the future.

Five Play Multi Strike (FPMSVP) video poker is another totally sucker game. I dub the thing “the best casino game ever to come out for playing on your home computer” as you can go to www.5pms.com to play it until your heart’s content. I didn’t expect this game to ever catch on because of the very high volatility factor involved, and from the looks of the empty seats and not all that many machines on casino floors, I’d say I guessed right. In fact, even in penny version it seems like a bust.

But there are those who play it, but not for long. It only takes one big wipeout loss on FPMSVP to knock some sense into the video poker player’s head. Hey, on the 25c version it costs the player $25 a deal. Sure there can be some enormous jackpots hit, but as usual, overwhelmingly you will not see them. And beware if you go to that site as well as to a casino to play the game. You’ll find nearly TRIPLE the amount of FREE RIDES to the next level as you will on a casino machine.

Undoubtedly, there have been many new video poker games that have come out in recent years – all meant to tempt the weak-kneed player and drain their wallets with super duper sounding promos and wild new graphics and sounds that only an addict can love. I teach to stay away from gimmick games and to always stick to the basics. It only stands to reason that if pay tables are being lowered to make more profits for the casinos, then new fandangled games are meant to do the same. Do you get it?