In 2001, the Plaza, the only casino to issue convention strikes (which were in clear capsules and limited to 1500 of each of the two strikes), went in play immediately after the banquet ended on Wednesday night and required a printed invitation given out at the banquet. Attendants were stationed at the two machines to ensure compliance with the invitations and the win limit of five total strikes. The convention strikes were the only strikes in the machines.
In 2002, Las Vegas Club and Plaza tried to be nice and began play on Saturday morning. By Sunday morning, approximately half of the 1000 at each casino were gone, grabbed by several greedy speculators attempting to shut out the out of towners and control the entire issue. This caused the casinos to pull out the blue caps and impose limits when they put them back in on Wednesday.
Last year, Palms put their blue caps (two designs, one Club, one Chapter, 750 each) in play on Tuesday, a day earlier than the Wednesday they had previously announced because one of our prominent strikers advised them to start earlier and to double the amount per hopper to twenty instead of ten. This was unfair to many who had relied on the previous announcement and didn't get the word. The twenty per hopper caused several striker speculators to play virtually all night and caused the casino to run out of blues before the convention ended. This was also very unfair to many strikers who were prevented from playing for those blue caps. El Cortez (one Chapter blue cap, 750 issue) began play immediately after the Tuesday night trade session ended, implementing the lottery from the trade session. Plaza (one CC>CC blue cap, 1000 issued) and Las Vegas Club (one Chapter blue cap, 1000 issied) began early the next morning. The Plaza started just after 7 AM and Las Vegas Club began between 9 and 10 AM. Plaza, Las Vegas Club and El Cortez used the clipboard signup system and limited the win to five blue caps plus 20 for the new 200s plus one set of their new strikes. Palms also used the clipboards, but a striker was allowed to sign up at only a single machine and was threatened with disqualification from playing if he/she signed up on more than one list. The Palms allowed for ten blue caps, twenty clears for the 200 plus a set of their new strikes. Each of the casinos allowed a player to play until all of each quota was reached. As a result at the Palms, most people were winning many more than ten blues when they were playing for the 24 clear capsules, since there were 20 blues and 30 clears per hopper. I hope the Palms behaves more responsibly this year, so that all get a fair chance. I realize greed is a significant problem, but I hope we all exercise some restraint so everyone gets a fair chance this year.
Also, just to let you know, in 2003, there were seven new $200s and 47 new $10 strikes issued within 30 days of the convention. So make sure you bring lots of cash this year. The casinos know we make the reels spin when there are new strikes. In addition to Slots A Fun four $10s and a $200 and Barbary Coast five $10s and a $200 and Palms four $10s and a $200 Funny Cide issued in March and April, we also have five new Silverton, three Sams Town, the ten $10s and two $200s from Plaza, six new $10s and a $200 from the Las Vegas Club, the single Sirens of TI issued in April and May plus the previously approved three $10s and a $200 from El Cortez and Four Queens $200 Chicago Brewing Company and the five blue caps. If the new machines hit the floor, expect more plus some $40s to fill that last slot. The new model year for cars is September but I think the new model year for strikes is May/June.