Imperial Casino left me underwhelmed, is it worth a second visit?

Paul's spot on with that little audit trick, mind you. I've been doing the same lap for years, count the tagged-out machines before I even sit down. Funny thing is, half-dead pokie banks used to mean the good ones were getting hammered, that's how it worked back when I was grinding Mercury Street machines all night. Now it just means nobody upstairs cares. Thing is, a floor can be tired and still be worth a visit if the tables are running and the cage pays out without a drama. But dead machines sitting there all weekend with staff strolling past? That's the venue telling you where you stand. Jandal15, don't judge the whole land-based scene off one sad room though, some floors down here still look after their regulars. Give it a few more tries before you write the lot off 😄

The tagged-out machine count is exactly how I read a floor too, but the staff speed is the tell for me. A dead pokie sitting there all night means nobody's walked the bank, and if nobody walks the bank you can bet the payback settings and the general maintenance are just as neglected. I keep a spreadsheet of variance and hit rate per machine type and even I wouldn't bother logging a venue that can't keep half its floor spinning. depends on the volatility of course, but a broken machine has no volatility at all. To answer Jandal15, yes it was quiet-ish when I went through, which makes it worse. A packed floor with machines down is one thing, a half-empty room with tagged-out banks and staff scrolling their phones is a venue telling you where it sits on its priority list. One more visit, sure, but I'd do the lap first and if the count hasn't improved I'd cash out whatever's left at the cage and call it. 📊

Okay total noob question but when yous say "tagged-out" machines, is that literally a little sign on the pokie saying out of order? 😅 I only found out that's a thing from this thread. Makes me want to do a count next time I'm on a floor, though half of ours at Imperial last weekend were dead anyway so the maths was easy.

Honestly the dead machines with no tag sounds worse than tagged ones 😬 maybe I'm being dumb but wouldn't you just ask staff to sort it or swap chairs?

Asking staff to fix a dead pokie, that's a good one 😄 you'd have more luck sweet-talking the cage girl into a comp. Nah, you just move on and find one that's paying, but when half the floor's like that you're walking in circles. Reminds me of the old spots where the bank got walked every hour, ah well, we grind on.

Totally with you JandalKiwi, walking in circles is the worst part. Only been on a floor once myself but even I'd notice half the pokies dead 😅 mate that'd do me.

Half dead floor still pays the same as a full one, machines don't care 😄 reckon some of you lot just pick bad sessions. Go back at a busier hour.

Lee might be right about machines not caring but a half-dead floor kills the vibe for me too 😅 I'm still new to land-based spots but if staff can't be bothered tagging or fixing pokies I'd probably give it one more go at a busy time, then write it off. Do places like this ever bounce back or is a tired floor just a tired floor?

Some machines are just quiet before they roar. Heard whispers about a specific slot cluster heating up there, you know the rest. 😏🤫

@Lee_Tramping fair point that the machines don't know how many punters are on the floor, but the floor itself matters plenty. I did a session there on a dead weeknight, NZ$150 bankroll, and I just couldn't get into any rhythm with nobody around. Cashout discipline held though, walked with about half of it still in hand instead of chasing. One more go at a busy hour sounds right. If the staff can't even be bothered tagging broken pokies when there's a crowd watching, that tells you everything and I'd write it off after that. 😸🎰