Video Poker in the REAL Monte Carlo
By Lenny Frome
We had just completed a 40-mile drive from Cannes, where our ship had docked, through the fairy tale towns of the French Riviera--and now stood at the gates of the Principality of Monaco, with our destination the fabulous Casino at Monte Carlo.
When our tour bus finally descended from the dizzying heights of the French Alps, which plunge directly down to the Mediterranean along the Cote d'Azur, one could sense the air of excitement. Of course, the changing of the guard at the palace in the town of Monaco
was a priority, for every American feels a strange attachment to the place where Grace Kelly reigned until her tragic death in 1982 on a hairpin turn which winds down the road we had just traveled.
The Casino opens after lunch, so there was time for that colorful noon-time event plus a stroll around for souvenirs and lunch. Then a short bus ride around the boat harbor took us right into the Place du Casino. To appreciate our mood, the reader must understand that for almost every inch of our ride, we were treated to a display of kitchy shops, expansive mansions and exclusive hotels. One gets a new perspective on where the wealth of the world is concentrated when the tour-guide calls out the names of the residents. Movie stars, rock stars and oil barons, the latter
usually denoted by barbed wire and foot soldiers on patrol, are all drawn to this narrow pebble-beach resort strip along the sea. Passing through these environs, one imagines that the Casino will be nothing less than a millionaires' haven from society.
Built in 1878 to draw some revenue into the region, which had just been discovered by a few upper-class Italians and English lords, the Casino is also the home of the opera. An impressive structure from the outside, adorned by its famous gardens, it is beautifully decorated on the inside. Each of its several gaming rooms is dedicated to some particular games and is replete with bronze lamps, sculptutes and paintings.
Hardly where one would expect to see Video Poker booming! -- but that's the case -- most of the floor space is swinging over from the old table games of Chemin de Fer, Roulette, Trente-Quarante, American Roulete, Craps
and Blackjack -- to the slots which are predominantly Video Poker.
The slots, unabashedly described in the glossy casino brochure as "one-armed bandits", actually open at 10 A.M. whereas the table games start at 3 P.M. or 4 P.M. Apparently their Video Poker fans are impatient.
Still slightly in shock at what we saw, we checked out the pay-tables and found that they were very liberal. The machines are denominated in 5, 10 and 20 francs (one franc is about 20 cents US) so one can do some serious gambling on them, especially since they require 20 token inputs to award bonus Royals. Put in 20 tokens and the Royal pays 18,000 coins or 900 for 1 which is a tad better than we are used to seeing.
The machines are mostly the 8/5 progressives and 9/6 Jacks or Better variety. All together, my guess is about 150 Video Pokers are in place including many of the slant-tops and one bank of Rapid 5-Ways.
Patrons receive an explanatory booklet
to help them understand linked-jackpot games, called Accumulators.
There were a couple of flies in the otherwise impressive ointment. When I tried to find out about their games, nobody was able to speak English although I was directed around to several French-speaking floor persons and managers who supposedly could. I finally gave up when nobody even seemed to understand that I wanted to see "the boss".
While I browsed, my wife made a few hundred francs on a straight flush but the Casino
would not re-convert the tokens back to dollars. Another shipboard guest hit a reel-slot jackpot for 4,000 francs and couldn't convert the tokens, so the $800 winnings melted down to $700 in the currency exchange market. Considering that visitors are charged 50 francs (ten bucks each) for
entry, a little more accomodation would seem to be in order.
Beside the "old" Casino, there are two other casinos in Monte Carlo, one being directly across the plaza. That one is free and wide open to all. It is Lined with several hundred high-paying Video Pokers wall-to-wall.
My sense is that these machines signalled that the old days of Monte Carlo are fast
coming to an end. The haven of the rich high rollers is now becoming the Strip for the working folk and it is all happening because of the popularity of Video Poker.
Makes me think America should hurry up and
officially designate Video Poker its National Game of Chance before Monte Carlo (or South Africa) beats us to it.