Holland America Oosterdam Casino Slot Floor

[Slotspert]

Just back from the Holland America Oosterdam holiday cruise. This is one of the few Holland America ships that has a 100% non-smoking casino floor and I have to tell you it was wonderful! We did witness some tampering with the progressive paybacks on several slots while the cruise was going on. They were reset without anyone actually winning the progressives. Cruise ship casinos can reset progressive between cruises but are not supposed to during the cruise and certainly not while the casino is open and players are playing those machines. Very odd... Still had a great time with great food.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGwyp2dS7dw

[foamy]

Really reset them well that seems wrong


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[Nhcris]

Interesting that they reset the progressives. Any chance it's because they are connected to the rest of the fleet & they were hit on another ship, so have to do it manually? If not, that is beyond shady.

Glad to know they are 100% non-smoking, since the HAL ships I sailed were not. Now they can join Celebrity on my do not cruise list!

[Mauretania]

What Nhcris said - someone may have hit the progressive on another HAL ship. Then, again, the casinos may do as they please at sea.

[Slotspert]

Interesting that they reset the progressives. Any chance it's because they are connected to the rest of the fleet & they were hit on another ship, so have to do it manually? If not, that is beyond shady.

Glad to know they are 100% non-smoking, since the HAL ships I sailed were not. Now they can join Celebrity on my do not cruise list!

If several of us did not witness it for ourselves, I would never believe a casino manager would have the guts to engage in something a land-based casino regulator would immediately investigate. The slot floor had four Aristocrat Gold Stack slot with the typical Grand, Major, Minor, and Mini player built-up progressives. Very simple, those jackpots were built up into thousands/hundred of dollars above the base values in the morning and by the afternoon all four of the machines had all four of the player progressives reset to the Base amount WITHOUT ANY OF THE PROGRESSIVES BEING HIT! This occurred during a cruise week while the casino was open. Someone confronted the slot tech resetting all the machines while this was going on and the slot tech just said there was “something wrong” and he was just following what he was told to do. A complaint was actually filed to the Hotel Manager on the cruise ship (highest ranking authority for this department) and there was never a reply.

[Slotspert]

What Nhcris said - someone may have hit the progressive on another HAL ship. Then, again, the casinos may do as they please at sea.

They were all stand-alone progressive and not linked (see above reply).

[noleman]

If several of us did not witness it for ourselves, I would never believe a casino manager would have the guts to engage in something a land-based casino regulator would immediately investigate. The slot floor had four Aristocrat Gold Stack slot with the typical Grand, Major, Minor, and Mini player built-up progressives. Very simple, those jackpots were built up into thousands/hundred of dollars above the base values in the morning and by the afternoon all four of the machines had all four of the player progressives reset to the Base amount WITHOUT ANY OF THE PROGRESSIVES BEING HIT! This occurred during a cruise week while the casino was open. Someone confronted the slot tech resetting all the machines while this was going on and the slot tech just said there was “something wrong” and he was just following what he was told to do. A complaint was actually filed to the Hotel Manager on the cruise ship (highest ranking authority for this department) and there was never a reply.

This is seriously outrageous. There is little or no regulation of on-board casino operations as far as I can tell. Most major cruise lines are members of the Cruise Line Industry Association, which has a gambling "policy" (https://www.cruising.org/about-the-industry/regulatory/industry-policies/other/gambling), but it is only vaguely stated and of dubious enforcability. However, it does state that the Cruise Vessel's equipment will meet the regulatory standards of the Nevada Gaming Control Board "for payback and internal software." I am sure if I dug through those regs, I can find something about how a progressive machine cannot just be "reset" as it will manually alter the payback for the machine.

Seems like if you're not getting satisfaction on this from the Hotel Manager, it's worth it to write to the cruise line's main office and complain (be sure to send a copy to the cruise line's general counsel) and, failing that, send a letter to an industry publication about what you observed and the Cruise Line's failure to address the issue.

[dvandentop]

Fucked up that they are resetting progressives through out the day. Would deffiinitely make me stray away from the whole casino on that line who knows what else they are up to.

[Slotspert]

Fucked up that they are resetting progressives through out the day. Would deffiinitely make me stray away from the whole casino on that line who knows what else they are up to.

From what we saw, they only reset the four Aristocrat Gold Stack games once towards the end of the cruise, while the casino was open, and while players were playing in the casino. But remember, these are the same types of casinos that have the real "coin pusher" quarter games and the scam "Key in the Hole" skill-look-a-like game which many/most land-based gaming jurisdictions do not allow!

[Slotspert]

This is seriously outrageous. There is little or no regulation of on-board casino operations as far as I can tell. Most major cruise lines are members of the Cruise Line Industry Association, which has a gambling "policy" (https://www.cruising.org/about-the-industry/regulatory/industry-policies/other/gambling), but it is only vaguely stated and of dubious enforcability. However, it does state that the Cruise Vessel's equipment will meet the regulatory standards of the Nevada Gaming Control Board "for payback and internal software." I am sure if I dug through those regs, I can find something about how a progressive machine cannot just be "reset" as it will manually alter the payback for the machine.

Seems like if you're not getting satisfaction on this from the Hotel Manager, it's worth it to write to the cruise line's main office and complain (be sure to send a copy to the cruise line's general counsel) and, failing that, send a letter to an industry publication about what you observed and the Cruise Line's failure to address the issue.

I agree completely with your comment and suggestion. We actually STOPPED playing in that casino right after we observed the re-set and did file a complaint card and an after-cruise comment replies. So far, both unanswered. Since I was on vacation I didn't want to start the "I know what you did" conflict nor do I feel like being some crusader fighting a battle I have nothing to gain from. Like I just mentioned, these are the same type of casinos that have the real "coin pusher" quarter games and the misunderstood "Key in the Hole" skill-look-a-like game which many/most land-based gaming jurisdictions do not allow! SO its a bit of the Wild West in gaming control when on the high seas.