Sunday, March 30, 2008

BlackJack and Video Poker

After having a few drinks with friends at Luxor, a group of us went to MGM to play some Blackjack. We played for about a half hour at MGM where I was betting $100-$300. In that half hour we had some goods decks with good counts and I was able to walk away up $1005.

Next we headed to New York/ New York for a little more Blackjack. We had a fun table with some great dealers and good cocktail service. I started off losing here but finally climbed out of the hole playing mainly $100 or $200 bets. I called it quits around 2am with a $340 profit for this stop.

By this point I was pretty drunbk and grabbed a taxi back to Caesar's. While walking to my room I unfortunately had to pass the High Limit Slot area. In a drunken stupor I began playing a $5 triple play video poker machine and since I wasn't fast enough I moved to the $25 machine next to it. A $25 video poker machine is way out of my league. My bankroll can definitely not support the big bankroll swings. I played the 9/6 jacks or better game and the 8/5 Bonus poker game and lost very quickly. The best hand I hit was one Full House. I stumbled out of this area after about 45 minutes down $6200. I really wanted to kick myself this morning when I realized that it had been Sunday morning when I lost it. Once again, I seem to lose big every Sunday and I hadn't planned on playing at all on Sunday's for a while.

Daily Result: -$4,855
Year to Date: +$37,365

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Back on the Las Vegas Strip


The night started at Treasure Island where I had $230 in free play to collect. I lost that on the $1 10-play video poker and proceeded to put in another $900. After about 45 minutes I gave up and collected a $750 ticket.


The next stop was the MGM for some double deck Blackjack with good rules. This is one of the few places where you can still find a decent double deck game. The first couple of hours the deck was terribly negative. I believe I only had three times where I had a +3 or greater true count. I was mainly flat betting $100 (table minimum) while waiting for some good counts. I would press up to $200 when the count went positive and $300 when it got to +3 or better.


Finally, after 3 hours I had a +9 true count and put out a $500 bet. I was concerned when the first card was a 5 against the dealer 9, but the second card also being a 5 improved my moral. I doubled down and won with my 20 against the dealer 19.


After 3 hours I quit with a small $250 profit. I went back to Caesar's Palace and played a little 8/5 Bonus Poker. I was in $400 when it dealt me 4 Aces for a $2000 handpay. I quit a few minutes later with a $1600 profit.


Daily Result: +$1,700

Year to Date: +$42,220


Friday, March 28, 2008

On the strip

Last night I checked into Caesar's Palace for a three day weekend of drunkenness and debauchery.

I colleceted a $230 appearence fee, Harrah's loves me, and gave it right back to them on the $5 9/6 Jacks or better game. I ended up playing for about 25 minutes and did about $8000 coin in.

Later in the evening I mets some friends for drinks and gambling at the MGM. We ended up going to Palazzo where I dropped up $600 playing the 9/6 on the $1 5-play and $2 10-play. I also played a little double deck blackjack and managed a $1200 profit.

Back to the MGM where I through away $200 on the $2.174 million dollar Lion Share progressive. I crosses the street and managed to lose $175 at Hooter's blackjack tables.

Overall, I fun drunken night that I am paying for this morning.

Daily Result: +$225
Year to Date: +$40,520

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Another sad Sunday

I don't know what it is, but I just keep getting my butt kicked on Sundays. I am the least superstitious person that anyone knows, but I am starting to question my skepticism.

I stopped for breakfast at Putters and lost $40 on the $1 Double Double progressive but won $50 at video Blackjack.

I stopped by York's today about lunch time and there were two of the machines I like available. Being lazy, I chose the one closest to the door. I proceeded to cash in my free play for $100 and actually play on it for 20 minutes or so before losing it. I proceeded to feed in $100 bill after $100 bill without hitting anything. I stopped at a $5000 loss with $32,000 of handle without hitting a Wild Royal or any other handpay.

I have now lost $10,500 since the last time I hit a Wild Royal. This is the worst run of luck I have had since the first week of January.

No more big gambling for me until I head down to the Las Vegas Strip on Thursday. I have a room at Caesar's for the weekend and plan to meet some new internet friends from the http://www.vegasrex.com/ forums.

Daily Result: -$4,990
Year to Date: +$40,295

Friday, March 21, 2008

Locals Bars

Three stops today for drinks and socializing resulted in Blackjack wins of $110, $120, $105.


Daily Result: +$335
Year to Date: +$45,285

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Meatball Sandwich

Stopped off at one of the Putter's after work to have some libatations and managed to win $420 by hitting 5 Aces on a Deuces game and winning a few hands of Video Blackjack.

This particular Putter's recently partnered with a pizza/Italian restaurant and offers fantastic food.

My meager gabling entitled my to a meatball sandwhich and some fries for dinner. This place has excellent meatballs. I will be back.

Daily Result: +$420
Year to Date: +$44,950

Monday, March 17, 2008

A quick loss

I stopped at a Village Pub after dinner tonight to cash in my $100 certificate and to get another one. I proceeded to lose $5500 on only $21000 coin in in less than an hour and never hit a hand bigger than a straight flush while playing Deuces Bonus.

No bounce back certificate for me today.

Daily Result: -$5,500
Year to Date: +$44,530

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Back in the tournament

My name was selected as a wild card entry back into the semi-final round of the Craps tournament at Harrah's Laughlin. There were four tables remaining with 13 players at each table and only the top three chip leaders from each table would move on to the finals.

Side note: Casino tournaments require much more strategy than just playing a casino game against the house. My semi-final table was comprised mostly of beginners, which is quite common in these free invitational tournaments. Most of the players played their normal craps bets while I just made small wagers on the Don't Pass. A horrible run of luck by the shooters was great for me. I was the leader at the countdown with three rolls remaining. After the last three rolls I ended up in first chip position and received an entry to the finals.

The finals consisted of tweleve players of which about half of them had a basic idea of tournament strategy. My bets won and lost small amounts and I was in mid-chip position with three rolls remaining. The first two rolls were uneventfull with me losing a little and most others winning a small amount. I was in 8th place going into the last roll and had betting position such that I got to be the second to last player to make my bets. Being one of the last to make bets allowed me to survey what others had bet and play counter to them so if they lost I would have a chance to move up. Things went well and I was able to place the "7" bet on the last roll and noone else was on it. I bet about a third of my stack on the "7" and the rest on a field bet. The "7" pays 5 to 1 and will make me the tournament winner if a "7" rolls (7 is also the most common roll).

The last roll was a hard "10" which won my field bet but it wasn't enough. I ended up in seventh place winnings $250. First place paid $5000. Overall I had no complaints because it was a free entry and I walked away with a small win.

I returned back to Las vegas and stopped at a Village Pub to collect my $100 certificate and my $100 free play. I was in about $2500 when I finally hit five fives for $2000. I played another $1000 before hitting five Aces for $4000. I put $500 back in and quit with a $2000 profit and another $100 certificate.

Daily Result: +$2,250
Year to Date: +$50,030










Saturday, March 15, 2008

Still in Laughlin

I am still in laughlin after getting booted out of the Craps tournament in the first round. there were 12 people at my table with the top 5 moving on to the next round. Going into the last roll there were still 11 of us in action. The chip counts ranged from 1500 to 2500 with me at 2100. I was fortuate enough to bet last and placed my chips counter to what most of the others bet. the roll went against me and I ended up with 1100 chips and out of the tournament.

I spent about 3 hours playing video poker. I mostly played the 16/10 NSUD Deuces game (99.7%). I put about $50,000 through the machines and ended up $975 ahead after hitting four Deuces for $2000.

I played some 2/5 No Limit Texas Holdem to kill some time and I ended up losing $125.

Tomorrow there is a second chance drawing for Craps tournament Semi Finals. I will stick around until that drawing and head back to Vegas if my name isn't called.

I ended up with about $600 of earned comps and I expect to get $250 cash back for the promotion.

Daily Result: +$1100 ($850 + $250 cashback)
Year to Date: +$47,780

Friday, March 14, 2008

Harrah's Laughlin

I headed out of Vegas today towards Laughlin Nevada for a tournament invite.

Before jumping on the Highway I stopped at one of the Village Pubs to cash in my $100 bounce back certificate and a $100 in free play. Of course I decided I might as well play for a little bit to earn another certificate. I had about an hour before I would have to leave to avoid traffic.

I played fore about a half an hour before I hit a $1250 wild royal. The problem was I was already in $2000. Since I still had a half hour I played a little more and was able to cash out $750 more to get me even.

When I got to Harrah's in Laughlin, about 90 miles form my house, it was 4:30 and my first promtion began at 5:00. I played the 50 play Jacks or Better (99.5%) at the ten cent denomination which equates to $25 a play. I put in $5000 in $100 bills one at a time and would collect a ticket everytime I got over $300. When the money in my pocket was gone ($5000) I went to the cage and cashed in $5600 worth of tickets. I believe I put about $44,000 handle through the machine. Because I was playing during triple points I earned about 4400 tier points and 27,000 bonus reward credits. So in three hours I made a $600 profit (instead of losing the expected $220). I also earned about $300 in comps.

I went to the double deck blackjack game (a really bad game, none of the BJ games here are very playable). and proceeded to lose $400 with average bets of $50.

Daily Result: +$200
Year to Date: +$46,680

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Disregard the last post

I was able to clarify the promotion with a management employee at Village Pub and they told me that the promotion has not changed. Apparently it was just a data entry error on the bartender that resulted in my screwed up bounce back certificate. They told me to come back in and they will remedy the situation.

I went over to Yorky's and was given the $70 I was shorted on the last certificate. I cashed in $100 in free play and began. The I began feeding $100 bills into the machine so quickly their log printer jammed up. After putting in $3900 in $100 bills I hit Five Aces for $4000 (and a correct $100 bounce back certificate). I played for about 10 more minutes and was $300 ahead for the session. By the way, that is the first time I hit Five Aces this year. I was many standard deviations behind the curve on this one.

Tomorrow I am off to Laughlin for a free weekend at Harrah's and participation in a $10,000 Craps tournament. My host know I never play Craps but he knows I like to play anything where I can win $10,000 with no cost to me. It also turns out that Harrah's marketing is having a small promotion with 3x points Friday and 2x points Saturday for invited guests. They are also giving $1 cash for every 1000 points earned on the promotion (max $250).

This should give me an easy oppotunity to renew my Diamond status.

Daily Result: +$300
Year to Date: +$46,480






The Gravy Train May Be Over

I stopped at Village Pub only to find out my bounce back certificate is only for $30 and is not good the next day (must wait two days to redeem). The staff didn't seem to know, but if it continues this way it definitely won't justify me spending so much time there.

I cashed in my $30 and left.

Stopped at Putter's after having five teeth pulled today. I had a few beers, lost a $100 on the $10,039 Double Double progressive but won $210 on the video Blackjack. Decided it was time to go home because I needed to take some Lortabs for the pain and I didn't want to drive after taking them.

Daily Result: +$110
Year to Date: +$46,180

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Why do I always lose on Sundays

Sunday:

Village Pub: -$4000
Putters: -$500

Daily Result: -$4,500
Year to Date: +$46,070

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Hit and Run

Early in the day I stopped by the casino in which I had heard a particular dealer was giving good penetration on a double deck 21 game. I couldn't find the dealer or any good games so I just had some lunch and left.

I stopped by Yorky's to cash in my $100 voucher, and managed to hit a $2000 Five of a Kind and a $1250 Wild Royal after only putting in $300. I left after a half hour with a $3100 profit.

I stopped at a Putter's to visit a friend and won a $150. Left there and went to a different Putter's and managed to lose $400 in 10 minutes. After that I called it a night.

Daily Result: +$2,850
Year to Date: +$50,570















Saturday, March 8, 2008

A win is a win

Once again I stopped off at another Village Pub. Until I start writing these, I never realized how boring my routine is. It just seems silly to go other places to play as long as Village Pub is running these great promotions. Besides, they are a lot more conveinient than going to the casinos.

I cashed in by bounce back certificate for a $100 and collected $100 in free play. That money dissapeared very quickly. I was in $2400 in about 30 minutes when I hit a wild royal for $1250. I played most of that back when it decided to give me a $2000 Five of a kind. Two more Wild Royals and I was out of there with an $1100 profit.

A friend of mine passed along some information on a Blackjack dealer that has been giving over 70% penetration on a double deck game. I might try and verify it this weekend and play some Blackjack.

Daily Result: +$1,100
Year to Date: +$47,520




Thursday, March 6, 2008

A cup of coffee and a small win

Yesterday I stopped at Putter's to visit some friends and managed to lose $390. Thank god that I got a free Chicken Alfredo pizza out of it.

This morning I stopped at Village Pub for coffee at 3:00am (I couldn't sleep) and went to redeem my bounce back certificate. They refused it!!! The certificates are only good for three days after receiving them and apparently I hadn't been there since Sunday. So I missed out on a free $100 because I was three hours late.

I proceeded to cash in a $100 of free play and played for about an hour. I hit two bonus Five of a Kinds on Bonus Deuces for $2000 each (which included another bounceback certificate for $100). I also hit four natural Queens which is the card of the day, it paid an extra $400 in free play which is now on my account. Sadly, you can only cash in $100 a day in free play and I have over $2000 on my account.

Daily Result: +$2,000
Year to Date: +$46,420

Monday, March 3, 2008

I should have went to church

Instead I went to Village Pub to cash in my daily $100 bounce back certificate and cash in $100 worth of free play (daily limit). In four hands that was gone and I started digging in the pocket. I was only going to play until I received my next bounce back but I was in about $3200 when I finally got it. Instead of quitting like I had planned, I kept playing hoping to dig myself out of the $2000 cash deficit I incurred. I ended up playing for about two hours while hitting a few Five of Kinds. I quit when I hit my new daily loss limit of $5000. Hey, I got a $100 bounce back out of it.

Daily Result: -$5,000
Year to date: $44,420

Saturday, March 1, 2008

I took a week off

Well, after taking a week off of my gambling I decided I was ready to give it another go and hope my losing streak would come to an end.

I went to Yorky's to play the Bonus Deuces. I was in about $2500 when I finally started hitting a few hands. After playing for about two hours I walked away up $2,800 and received another $100 bounce back certificate.

After Yorky's I decided to go and see a friend of mine that was bartending at Putter's. While having a beer I put a $100 bill into the triple play Super Times game and started playing. In the first fifteen minutes I Must have hit the "Super Times Multiplier" about ten times. Unfortunately I wasn't completing any winning hands. After getting down to my last $20 I go a 2X multiplier and pulled three cards for a Royal on the top line. The Royal paid $2,000 and I forgot to take a picture of it. This is the second time I hit a royal on this same machine and also forgot to take a picture of my 3X Royal in December. When all was said and done I ended up ahead $1,600 for this stop.

Daily Result: +$4,400
Year to date: $49,420