Ask The Wizard #392

That's a great inquiry. Several establishments eliminated their buffets during the pandemic shutdown. Here’s a compilation of those that remain operational, but keep in mind that many have restricted days and hours for service.

• Bellagio
• Caesars Palace
• Circus Circus
• Cosmopolitan
• Excalibur
• Main Street Station
• MGM Grand
• Palms
• Rampart
• South Point
• Westgate
• Wynn

This topic comes up frequently and is actively discussed on my forum at Wizard of Vegas .

The return from the fixed pays in 8/5 Bonus Poker is 0.971776. Let’s assume that the player employs a strategy for hitting a royal flush that pays out 800. The odds of achieving a royal flush are therefore 0.0000248551. Let j represent the payout required for a guaranteed 100% return on their investment in the game. So we have:

1 = 0.971776 + j × 0.0000248551
j = (1-0.971776)/0.0000248551 = 1135.56.

Thus, Player A would require a jackpot of at least 1136 full bets of 5 credits each (rounded up) to engage in play. The meter rise is irrelevant for Player A.

Player B approaches the game with a long-term perspective. He will eventually recoup whatever the meter rises by 0.5%. His calculations are similar but account for the value of that rise. The breakeven point j can thus be expressed as:

1 = 0.971776 + 0.005 + j × 0.0000248551
j = (1-0.971776-0.005)/0.0000248551 = 934.39.

When rounded up, Player B would need a jackpot amounting to 935 full bets of 5 credits each.

This topic comes up frequently and is actively discussed on my forum at Wizard of Vegas .

Here is a link to my solution (PDF).

Here is my solution (PDF).

This question originates from Presh Talwalkar, known for his YouTube channel. Mind Your Decisions .