April 22-23-el Cortez
April 24-25-26 Golden Gate
April 27-28 Eastside Cannery
April 29-30- Laughlin's Tropicana Express
May 1-2- 3-4 - Laughlin's Edgewater
Bill Neuman will share the Laughlin portion of the trip with me. I expect to have a car this time. This is unusual for me but I'll be using it right up through the trip to Denver-Albuquerque- and back to Vegas for a couple days to celebrate Elizabeth's birthday.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Friday, February 06, 2009
Ann shares her reading and her cousin
--- On Fri, 2/6/09, Ann wrote:
From: Ann
Subject: Myths of Gambling
To: "Hill.dewey" <deweyfhill@yahoo.com>
Date: Friday, February 6, 2009, 9:08 AM
From Bottom Line Secrets. Think that you have things figured out? Think again! --- Ann
Thanks, Ann. I do read this guy quite often as I receive his newsletters. I just quoted him in a note on a discussion board today as I liked the way he presented the case that there are rude players at the blackjack table. I used his words to set straight a guy who was saying poker was too rude for him.
Still Sclobete is very simplistic and in this piece is deceptively so.
I may not have it all figured out yet, but I have it figured out better than he does in this article.
Maybe because he is most often writing to a poorly read audience of gamblers, he slants things at times and often (including here) stops short of telling the whole story. What he calls "reality: here is sometimes merely half truth, SO I have added the rest of the story to some of his realities.
High Roller Frank Scoblete on the Seven Big Gambling Myths
n casinos, the odds are always against the gambler, but the odds grow even more dim when gamblers hold erroneous beliefs about the games they play. Seven of the most common -- and costliest -- gambling myths...
Frank Scoblete
n casinos, the odds are always against the gambler, but the odds grow even more dim when gamblers hold erroneous beliefs about the games they play. Seven of the most common -- and costliest -- gambling myths... Myth 1: Higher-limit slot machines offer better odds, so they're a smarter play. In major casinos, the quarter slots typically return about 91% of the money bet... the dollar slots, 94% to 95%... and the $5 slots, upwards of 95%. But in this case, the better odds are not your best bet. The 91% average return on the quarter slots means that over time, you'll lose an average of 2.25 cents per play, assuming that you risk just one coin at a time. The 94% to 95% return on the dollar slots translates into an average loss of five to six cents every time you insert a coin, so you'll lose your money more than twice as fast. And with $5 slots, you'll lose an average of at least 25 cents per play -- more than 10 times as fast as with the quarter machines.
Reality: It's true that, statistically, you stand to win most at the highest-limit machines, but unless you have lots of money that you can afford to lose, the only time it's wise to move up to the dollar slots is if you have been playing the quarter slots three quarters at a time. At an average loss of between six and seven cents per pull, you would be better off switching to the dollar machines -- assuming that you restrict yourself to a single dollar coin per play.
Warning: The worst slot odds are on "progressive" or "linked" machines that offer escalating jackpots, up to six figures or higher. These machines typically return only 85% of the money bet.
Myth 1 - re: "Warning: The worst slot odds are on "progressive" or "linked" machines that offer escalating jackpots, up to six figures or higher. These machines typically return only 85% of the money bet."
The rest of the story: In video poker a player can mathematically figure when a progressive is a good bet or not. My favorite Double Bonus Progressive at the 4 Queens is always a great bet and always better than any Double Bonus anywhere else because the pay table is the best it gets in Double Bonus, paying over 100% for perfect play, and the progressive is added on the top of that. Adding a few of these prime playing places to his myth breaking might give
Scoblete readers a more balanced view of his "secrets," He might counter that he is just writing about slots here, but he might also have said this "secret" does not apply to video poker at all. It is true that it can be hard to find good video poker at above the dollar level. However, anyone can know what high paying machines are by studying and learning pay tables. At least at real VP like Foxwoods and Vegas. NY fake VP is another story.
Myth 2: This slot machine is due. Some slot players continue to pour money into slot machines that haven't been winning on the theory that the machines are "due" to hit. Conversely, players who have won money on a machine sometimes continue to play, thinking that the machine is "hot." Still others believe that when all the symbols for a big jackpot appear in view, but not in line, the machine is close to a major payout.
Reality: What a slot machine has done on past spins has absolutely no bearing on what it does on future spins. Each spin is independent and random.
Myth 3: Single-deck blackjack gives gamblers a fighting chance against the casino. At a typical casino blackjack table, six or eight decks of cards are shuffled together. But now many casinos also offer single-deck blackjack, where only one deck is in play at any given time. With just 52 cards to account for, it seems easier for gamblers to calculate their best strategies.
Reality: The casino has structured the single-deck game so that it's harder than ever to beat the house. At a normal blackjack table, the casino pays three to two when you get blackjack -- $15 on a $10 bet. At single-deck tables, the payout is only six to five, or $12 on a $10 bet. That lower payout means that over time, even if you are able to win a few more hands because you have kept track of the cards that have been played, you can expect to lose your money nearly three times as fast as you would at a multi-deck table.
re: Myth 3 - single deck blackjack in spite of Sclobete's blanket statement, still pays 3/2 in many venues, including in Vegas at the El Cortez, and Scoblete needs to spend more time saying that and pointing out where it happens, than trying to argue that the advantage of single deck blackjack is a myth. Unless this one rule is changed, single deck is the best game and he knows it. He is just pointing out that the movement from 3/2 blackjack to 6/5. Well, duhhhh! that is old, old news. No intelligent BJ player plays at tables that offer 6/5.
Myth 4: Play the trend at the blackjack table. Gamblers like to search for trends, even where none exist. They'll bet more at the craps table when the dice are running "hot" or bet a number that has hit a few times on the roulette wheel, though a modern wheel in a major casino is extremely unlikely to be biased.
In general, betting the trend in the casino is no worse than any other bet, but blackjack is an "antitrend" game. Example: When a lot of small cards have been dealt, there are fewer small cards left to be played, making it smarter to assume that the trend will reverse.
Reality: At the blackjack table, betting the trend is a costly mistake.
Myth 5: If I can win in poker games with my friends, I can win in the casino or online. In casinos and at online gambling sites, you're not just playing against the other players at the table -- you're also playing against the "rake," the house's cut of anywhere from 2% to 20% of winning pots. And unlike in home games, you're not playing against people you know, so you can't expect to read your opponents. Online, you might even be up against pro gamblers using computer programs and teamwork to up their odds.
Reality: The best way to survive is to play tighter than you would at a friendly home game, folding most hands and risking your money only when your opportunities are greatest.
re: Myth 5 home poker games
The rest of the story: We all know that playing at Greg's is different than playing in the casino. There is no rake, players' styles are not already memorized, and usually we only have five players rather than ten.
That being said, it is wrong of Scoblete to issue a broad statement and try to diminish the value of home games in preparation for casino games as if he is myth breaking.
I won my last visit to Tampa Hard Rock by twice playing like Greg has taught me to play. I think of him every time I play in the casino and he has greatly increased my winnnings.
When I come out a winner any day at the casino, I usually say to myself that I did it from things I learned from playing against Greg. None of it could he have explained to me over lunch even if he would be willing to share his strategy.
My $2000 run at Foxwoods over 14 trips was all based on using a greg strategy along with my own.
Also, every week Greg and I both practice changing up our patterns of strategy to offset what we have learned about each other the week before. Even Bruce has started to do that. This is the highest level of poker play, figuring out what your opponent thinks of your patterns and altering them at the right time to fool him. It is best practiced at games where the player's repeat week after week. In the casino you never play against the same group twice. Peter is learning it quickly now too and it has made it possible for him to play in a casino.
Finally, "betting into perceived weakness" is the single greatest poker lesson Greg (or anyone) has ever taught me.
Maybe Scoblete should join Greg and fellow author Blowers at our games some week. He might learn a bit.
Down here in Florida, every spring, baseball players come for spring training for the same reason.
Myth 6: Fast play is good play. At table games, experienced gamblers typically make quick decisions and become frustrated with novice players who move slowly and drag down the pace of play.
Reality: It's in a gambler's best interests to move slowly. Not only does slower play give you more time to think, it reduces the number of hands that you'll play on a given night. Because the odds are in the house's favor on every hand, fewer hands played means greater odds that you'll walk away a winner -- or at least that you'll lose less. The only downside to taking a little time is the dirty looks you'll receive from the dealer and your fellow gamblers. If you're at a casino with friends, play at the same table, so you won't feel outnumbered and bullied into fast play.
the rest of the story re: Myth 6 - fast play - In poker fast play can be an excellent strategy. I lost money my last game because the fast play of my opponent shortened my own time to think. He suckered me into that pace on purpose and so he got raises when he should have got calls. Greg uses it in head to head games at the end of the afternoon. I have to fight to slow down my own response to his fast play. So it depends on what you are using the fast play for.
All professional VP players work to develop fast play. It is the only way they can make any money. Since they have the mathematical advantage, they work to keep their strategy perfect while making there hourly expected winnings greater by playing more hands per hour.
I don't.
I am content to break even at VP, and use my comps for free rooms and drink my share of rum. I don't make a living at it and I don't enjoy speed much in any game now which is why I prefer Scrabble to Boggle.
But fast play in video poker is the rule for serious gamblers.
In the literature of video poker there is a lot of debate about how fast to play. Some even develop simpler, but not as advantageous strategies ( still over 100%) so as to increase speed and average hourly earnings.
Myth 7: Comps are a way to "win" at the casino. After you sign up for a rewards card at a casino, you might earn complimentary meals, show tickets -- even hotel rooms. Many gamblers view these comps as a way to recoup their losses at the gambling tables. Casinos view them as a way to keep gamblers happy as they lose money.
Reality: When you receive great comps, it means that based on how you're betting, the casino expects you to lose a large amount of money.
the rest of the story re: Myth 7 comps -The rest of the story: It does not take a mathematical genius to know that you can't play highly negative expectation games over a long period and expect to be paid back over the amount the casino wins; however, all gambling writers agree that comps are what make the difference in winning once you have become an advantaged player.
Either live poker or full pay video poker with no errors will push comps into the positive place for educated gamblers.
Here in Florida I sure miss my comps. Elizabeth and I were playing poker in Ocala and got charged for coffee. Can you believe that!! At Foxwoods on my bus trips I usually drink at least 4 Myers Rum. That adds substantially to the overall value of the day. In fact, I often argue with folks on the gambling boards that when they rent a car in Vegas, they need to add to the cost the value of the liquor they did not drink because they then have to stay sober. So they may get the car on the cheap, but they may also give up $50 in free alcohol. Expensive car rental.
Comps from poker play don't come with an automatic, mathematically grind out casino advantage as in slot play.
Comps from over 100% payback video poker make up the real winnings. That is the point of Jean Scott's books on Frugal Gambling. She argues that because the games at best offer a near break-even opportunity, that contrary to what Sclobete offers as a myth, comps and coupons are the only way to win at the casino. She figured that gambling paid off because, with good study and discipline, a VP player could just about break even on the gambling while getting shows, food, and a free vacation for her and her friends.
Of course, she found a better way to make money at gambling. Like Sclobete she found that writing books paid better than any other risk.
I wish I had kept track of my comps over the course of my gambling, but even my rough estimates tell me that over my lifetime, my comps have overcome by two to three times my total gambling losses.
Smart gamblers like Jean Scott, Bob Dancer, etc. depend on this.
By the way, where Bill Neuman and I will play poker in Laughlin in May gives us free rooms for poker play. It is the only place in the world I know that does that. That is one really good comp.
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Now to give the guy a break, Scoblete knows next to nothing about live poker. His game is craps. He has an entire system worked out for craps which he says will overcome the mathematics of the game. It has managed to sell many books and get him his position as a gambling author. If he had to live on what he knows about poker, he'd be broke. So he should stick to what he knows when he writes and not talk about other games as if he had secrets.
Of course, that means he writes the same thing over and over again. I suppose he worries it will get to be old information.
Nothing he said here has been a "secret" and it certainly is not "bottom line"
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Ann's Cousin Frank Stirs up the Conversaton
-- On Fri, 2/6/09, Ann Parillo
From: Ann Parillo
Subject: from my cousin
To: "Hill.dewey"
Cc: "Gregg"
Date: Friday, February 6, 2009, 7:05 PM
http://www.bj21.com/
-- On Fri, 2/6/09, Ann Parillo
From: Ann Parillo
Subject: from my cousin
To: "Hill.dewey"
Cc: "Gregg"
Date: Friday, February 6, 2009, 7:05 PM
Dewey,
I received this from my cousin, Frank Parillo, who is one of the best BJ players around. He lives in Orange, California and goes to Vegas often. Here's what he has to say...... Ann
| Ann, I have played casino blackjack for 39 years .I have read many different theories. From my combination of the theory and empirical knowledge , I must say the author was correct on single deck black jack,and your friend is wrong . Every time I have played single deck then 6/5 scenario exists . Furthermore some other options are removed .Additionally , the dealer buries a card and the hole cards are not revealed until after the dealing is done ,and the deck is reshuffled after every hand makes it very difficult for card counting See : tre: Myth 3 - single deck blackjack in spite of Sclobete's blanket statement, still pays 3/2 in many Vegas venues, including the El Cortez, and Sclobete needs to spend more time saying that and pointing out where it happens, than trying to argue that the advantage of single deck blackjack is a myth. Unless this one rule is changed, single deck is the best game and he knows it. He is just pointing out that the movement from 3/2 blackjack to 6/5. Well, duhhhh! that is old, old news. No intelligent Bj player plays at tables that offer 6/5..\ I have concluded there are three components to BJ , namely , skill, money management , and luck . Without the luck, the other two don't count. I am certain about these things, Don't play too long because the law of averages favors the house . Extended play favors the house . Don't play when you are tired, have to go to the men's' room or drinking alcohol . Always set a stop win goal as well as a stop loss goal . Almost everyone has a comfort zone as to how much they can lose, however, it takes great discipline to stop when you are ahead . My finest hour (literally ) was at Caesars Palace when I started with $60 and walked away with $5800. I had won my last hand, quit ,and the checked out of the hotel even though I had 2 more days on my hotel reservation. I realized that if I continued to play , I would have lost it back ton the casino. Quit when you are ahead ( a bird in hand ) . Currently, I go to a local casino where I walk away with small victories . That is. when I am ahead $200. I go home. It is much easier to do that when you can go home easily as opposed to being a guest at a Vegas casino. |
Frank
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Dewey's adds another rest of the story
Dewey's adds another rest of the story
Dear Ann and Frank ( greg will have already stopped reading by now),
Hey,just what I need to entertain me with this head cold. A good gambling discussion.
re: many theories
Nothing I said in my response or that I add here has anything to do with gambling theory. Those are longer arguments.
What I developed was the mathematics that Sclobete presented and the full math that exists as well as the way he warped his realities by ignoring part of what is real.
Hey,just what I need to entertain me with this head cold. A good gambling discussion.
re: many theories
Nothing I said in my response or that I add here has anything to do with gambling theory. Those are longer arguments.
What I developed was the mathematics that Sclobete presented and the full math that exists as well as the way he warped his realities by ignoring part of what is real.
re: Luck
I also don't write much about luck. Luck is very short term and merely controls the spaces in the bell curve, but not the ultimate advantage. In life, luck has great power over our final outcome, but in gambling luck is confined to very narrow, predetermined boundaries rules and made irrelevant by the rule of large numbers and the drift to the mean that all long term gamblers are going to experience.
I also don't write much about luck. Luck is very short term and merely controls the spaces in the bell curve, but not the ultimate advantage. In life, luck has great power over our final outcome, but in gambling luck is confined to very narrow, predetermined boundaries rules and made irrelevant by the rule of large numbers and the drift to the mean that all long term gamblers are going to experience.
Megabucks can be argued as an exception only because none of us can play long enough to realize the curve. But all the games that Sclobete writes about can be played enough over a lifetime for a player's experience to approach very close to true odds.
"The smarter I play, the luckier I get,"
- Luck, bad if not good, will always be with us. But it has a way of favoring the intelligent and showing its back to the stupid.
Jean Scott
re: The existence of 3/2 single deck
It has been a while since I have bothered finding the better BJ games since I don't play anymore.
Stanford Wong's green chip pay site gives the best up to date BJ information but I don't play enough to make the investment in the site cost effective.
Stanford Wong's green chip pay site gives the best up to date BJ information but I don't play enough to make the investment in the site cost effective.
http://www.bj21.com/
That being said, it is reality that The El Cortez still has 3/2 single deck blackjack with low minimums. Sometimes the minimums are $3, usually $5. A fellow who went in December counted 6 tables. I have never been there when they have been busy. The Western also has it I think.
Naturally, it won't be on the strip in places like Caesar's. There is very little good gambling on the strip of any sort. They have to pay for all those fake roman statues and fountains and such.
Full pay video poker is rare there. Hardly worth chasing to find, as the games disappear if they do surface.
Caesar's even stopped serving decent alcohol in the live poker room. So there goes my Myers Rum argument, where comps add to the value of the play. I can't drink the slop they call rum. It adds no value to my play. I can get it one right after the other at the El Cortez and a good amount too.
Poker buddy Slink plays BJ at the El Cortez every time he goes to Vegas. here is a note from their site:
http://www.elcortezhotelcasino.com/ec_press/2dec08.php
And here are some other Nevada casinos that deal good games all 3/2:
reported by Mike Shackleford on his Wizard of odds site.
Naturally, it won't be on the strip in places like Caesar's. There is very little good gambling on the strip of any sort. They have to pay for all those fake roman statues and fountains and such.
Full pay video poker is rare there. Hardly worth chasing to find, as the games disappear if they do surface.
Caesar's even stopped serving decent alcohol in the live poker room. So there goes my Myers Rum argument, where comps add to the value of the play. I can't drink the slop they call rum. It adds no value to my play. I can get it one right after the other at the El Cortez and a good amount too.
Poker buddy Slink plays BJ at the El Cortez every time he goes to Vegas. here is a note from their site:
http://www.elcortezhotelcasino.com/ec_press/2dec08.php
And here are some other Nevada casinos that deal good games all 3/2:
reported by Mike Shackleford on his Wizard of odds site.
Best in Nevada: Both the Fitzgeralds in Reno and the Alamo in Sparks have a single-deck game, that allows surrender, double any first two cards, and six-card charlies. The basic strategy house edge is 0.10%.
Best in California: The Barona has a hit-soft-17, single-deck game, that allows double after a split, double any first two cards, and late surrender. I'm told the shuffling policy is to deal two rounds with 3 to 5 players, and down to 18 cards with 1 or 2 players. Due to the cut card effect, that makes the house edge 0.12% with 1 or 2 players, and 0.01% with 3-5 players. When I played there on a Friday night, the table was usually full.
I think if you search for them energetically, those games are around other places as well.
Some of the other rule variations can be balanced mathematically. But playing 6/5 is just the worst rule change I have ever seen, which is why the casinos made that change just a a few years ago. Here is the math affecting the power of various rule changes.
Doing a bit of comparative math shows you that you could give up a lot of player advantageous rules and still not overcome the 6/5 disadvantage.
Scoblete might have included in his article a chart like this if he wanted to talk about reality
Mike Shackleford over at Wizard of Odds (click this link) goes into great mathematical detail on many, many games. He is a much better source of gambling information than Sclobete, and considered to be the best source by most well read gamblers. Again this is not theory he discusses, but straight mathematics. If he suggests a strategy, it is based on the math and not on subjective preference.
| Rule Variations | |
| Rule | Effect |
| Blackjacks pay 2 to 1 | +2.27% |
| Five card Charlie 1 | +1.46% |
| Suited blackjacks pay 2 to 1 | +0.57% |
| Player 21-points is automatic winner | +0.54% |
| Early surrender against ace | +0.39% |
| Early surrender against ten | +0.24% |
| 5-card (or more) 21 automatically pays 2 to 1 | +0.24% |
| Player may double on any number of cards | +0.23% |
| Ace and 10 after splitting aces is a blackjack | +0.19% |
| Player may draw to split aces | +0.19% |
| Six card Charlie1 | +0.16% |
| Double Down Rescue | +0.10% |
| Player may resplit aces | +0.08% |
| Late surrender against ten | +0.07% |
| 777 pays 3 to 1 automatically | +0.05% |
| 777 pays 2 to 1 automatically | +0.03% |
| Seven card Charlie1 | +0.01% |
| Late surrender against ace | +0.00% |
| Dealer must stop with six cards | +0.00% |
| Late surrender after splitting | +0.00% |
| Split to only 2 hands | -0.01% |
| No-peek: ace showing2 | -0.01% |
| BB+13 | -0.01% |
| OBBO4 | -0.03% |
| Player and dealer cards dealt from separate shoes5 | -0.06% |
| Player may double on 9-11 only | -0.09% |
| No-peek: ten showing6 | -0.10% |
| Player may not resplit | -0.10% |
| European no hole card7 | -0.11% |
| Player may not double after splitting | -0.14% |
| Player may double on 10,11 only | -0.18% |
| Player may not split aces | -0.18% |
| Dealer hits on soft 17 | -0.22% |
| Blackkjack pays 7-5 | -0.45% |
| Blackjack pays 6-5 | -1.39% |
| Player loses 17 ties | -1.87% |
| Blackjacks pay 1 to 1 | -2.27% |
| Player loses 17,18 ties | -3.58% |
| Player loses 17-19 ties | -5.30% |
| Player loses 17-20 ties | -8.38% |
| Player loses 17-21 ties | -8.86% |
| Dealer bust on 22 is a push | -9.53% |
I have never seen a game so bad as to employ any rules that change the game more than the move to 6/5. It can't be overcome by tiny adjustments.
As well, as single deck games, there are good double deck games that pay 3/2. The last time I was there, Binions was dealing one.
Sclobete completely ignored the mathematics of adding more decks. He makes no difference between 2 decks and 8 decks. . The reality is that the fewer decks (given all the other rules the same) the better the game and generally adding decks adds a good bit of disadvantage to the player. He knows that this is the case. He just overgeneralizes, pretending he is myth busting. Telling any intelligent gambler who has anything figured out that 6/5 is a bad game is like telling people not to eat shit. Sure some people will still do that, but I wouldn't write a column debunking food myths and put in it, "Oh, hey, by the way, don't eat shit."
Sclobete also says nothing about counting and the problem of measuring when casinos shuffle up. Your cousin mentions this. Certainly the rate of shuffle up is a problem for the counter. This could have been mentioned by Sclobete.
And I am not suggesting that finding good games is as easy as it was when your cousin first started playing. This 6/5 is a relatively new BJ disease to a guy who has played for 39 years. Maybe it is a decade old.
Plenty of blackjack players have abandoned the game because of this move toward less dealer friendly games, and also the heat applied to counters. To count and make money a player has to spread his bankroll in a way that makes him very visible. Good counters work on disguises as well as strategy, so they are not barred from the casino. Casino technology and sharing of good counter's faces between casinos have made it hard to be a professional Bj player and make a living. They can no longer get barred from one place and be invisible in the next.
That is one reason so many smart gamblers are drifting to live poker which is not a house advantage game and where you can know all the math you want and no casino cares.
I agree with the common sense of brother Frank's wisdom of money management, but it has nothing to do with odds or mathematics, only with comfort level. I thought it was interesting that a guy who says he has played blackjack for 39 years advises us not to play too long. When exactly does he intend to quit?
But I know what he means. He means that in any given session he can leave feeling better if he does not let the casino grind him down too much or grind back his winnings. That may be okay from a purely subjective, short term, comfort level perspective, but if we are going to gamble all our lives, we should keep track of wins and losses and manage our money over the long term.
We would not think of going to the bank with such a money management system. We would never forget from time to time how much we deposited in one visit or withdrew in another. We keep a record and balance the checkbook.
Money management is like deciding just how much in a given week we intend to spend on groceries. We have to stay within a bankroll, but that says nothing about the quality of the meat we are buying.
I often see money management systems like cousin Frank's debunked as gambling myths.
Once you get the bankroll issue out of the way, in player advantage games like good VP or live poker, you should play whether you are winning or losing as long as you are playing well and keep the right advantage.
Winning or losing, you should quit when you detect that you have lost the advantage because the players have changed or you are too tired to play well. I often quit a poker session because I suffered a bad beat and don't trust my emotions or because new players have joined the table who are better than I am, or just because I don't feel like giving them all the time and energy it takes to determine whether they are better.
As for house advantage games, the best money management is just not to play them except for a bit of fun between serious gambling.
No money management overcomes a house advantage; it just hides it for a while until we forget our last experience.
That means for me I only play blackjack when I have a matchplay to give me the advantage. Once I knew that I was not a very good counter and did not want the hassle of spreading my bets and worrying about heat, I abandoned the game to more advantageous games.
If we are going to let yourself be ground down by house advantage, then perhaps we can arrange for the comps to offset that mathematical advantage of the house.
This was my point when I mentioned Jean Scott.
As advantage VP dries up, she recommends that players at least look for promotions that add enough value to the gambling that the freebie overcomes the house advantage.This math is a lot harder to compute.
Knowing how long to play for a freebie is a tough skill to learn.
I do that often. That is why I concentrate my VP play in one casino and don't visit it again once I have left my free rooms. I also avoid playing a little money many times during a trip, and play all of it in one day (different casinos define different 24 hour days). That way my daily average looks high when they compute my next free room mailing, free play, free food, etc.
Jean Scott also argues in favor using matchplays and coupons. If you gamble with matchplays, and just move from place to place, you can have a huge player advantage. I did this in Foxwoods on the craps table using a $25 matchplay everytime I went there over one winter. It was wonderful to have a huge advantage on each of those bets, and it netted me hundreds of dollars over the course of my couponing. They have since eliminated the coupon from the ACG book.
Also, you can choose games with the best rules, and in blackjack that means fewer decks and all the things in the chart.
There was a site that I used to have that charted the house advantage on all Vegas BJ games and posted the results, changing data as the games changed, but I guess it is down.
With a little work you can get a good computation on this calculator, plugging in all the rule changes and the number of decks.
http://www.qfit.com/blackjack-odds-calculator.htm
Okay, I got to get some sleep. Tomorrow is poker day at the Tampa Downs.
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Well, I suppose Cousin Frank along with Greg has stopped reading now too, but here is information I encountered in my last two days of reading that
adds more breaking news to the rest of the blackjack story.
You might pass it on to your cousin if he hasn't already worn out his reading glasses with all I shared last time.
Listening to Steve Bourie of American Casino Guide give a pod cast overview of Tunica (where I am headed next,) I learned that all of Tunica offers the single deck 3/2 blackjack game the two Frank's tell us does not exist. Cousin Frank perhaps has not played there, but Scoblete should know those exist and tip us off. But then it might make his piece on myth building something more than a tabloid half truth generality.
Cousin Frank might like mixing up his 39 years in Vegas with a bit of Mississippi. It is supposed to be a great venue for us older folks, good old fashioned gambling, good service, and good prices. Comps are so incredible that no one on the boards knows any of the prices of the rooms. Once you pay the first time, they tell me, you just keep getting free rooms for future trips. There are even some free junkets including airfare for gamblers out of my league bu perhaps not out of cousin't Franks.
Here is the menu of American Casino Guide podcasts; skim for Tunica:
http://americancasinoguide.com/podcasts.shtml
While there take a listen to the Linda Boyd interview on video poker. She is a board friend of mine who has written a great book on video poker with a fine, player friendly strategy. She gave me free rooms in Laughlin the last time I went ( comps certainly pay off ) and moderates this board:
http://www.midwestgamingandtravel.com/phpBB2/index.php
She can also educate on player advantage games that free us up from playing against the house advantage grind and leave us victim only to our own errors of play.
NEW GOLD SPIKE MAY HAVE SINGLE DECK
Currently Low minimum black jack players are watching the newly renovated Gold Spike in downtown Vegas which has gone from the pits to become upscale boutique. They will deal a low minimum 3/2 blackjack, but no word yet on the number of decks.
Check out the new Gold Spike upgrade here:
http://www.lvbusinesspress.com/articles/2009/02/09/opinion/columnists/spillman/iq_26683938.txt
As well, as single deck games, there are good double deck games that pay 3/2. The last time I was there, Binions was dealing one.
Sclobete completely ignored the mathematics of adding more decks. He makes no difference between 2 decks and 8 decks. . The reality is that the fewer decks (given all the other rules the same) the better the game and generally adding decks adds a good bit of disadvantage to the player. He knows that this is the case. He just overgeneralizes, pretending he is myth busting. Telling any intelligent gambler who has anything figured out that 6/5 is a bad game is like telling people not to eat shit. Sure some people will still do that, but I wouldn't write a column debunking food myths and put in it, "Oh, hey, by the way, don't eat shit."
Sclobete also says nothing about counting and the problem of measuring when casinos shuffle up. Your cousin mentions this. Certainly the rate of shuffle up is a problem for the counter. This could have been mentioned by Sclobete.
And I am not suggesting that finding good games is as easy as it was when your cousin first started playing. This 6/5 is a relatively new BJ disease to a guy who has played for 39 years. Maybe it is a decade old.
Plenty of blackjack players have abandoned the game because of this move toward less dealer friendly games, and also the heat applied to counters. To count and make money a player has to spread his bankroll in a way that makes him very visible. Good counters work on disguises as well as strategy, so they are not barred from the casino. Casino technology and sharing of good counter's faces between casinos have made it hard to be a professional Bj player and make a living. They can no longer get barred from one place and be invisible in the next.
That is one reason so many smart gamblers are drifting to live poker which is not a house advantage game and where you can know all the math you want and no casino cares.
I agree with the common sense of brother Frank's wisdom of money management, but it has nothing to do with odds or mathematics, only with comfort level. I thought it was interesting that a guy who says he has played blackjack for 39 years advises us not to play too long. When exactly does he intend to quit?
But I know what he means. He means that in any given session he can leave feeling better if he does not let the casino grind him down too much or grind back his winnings. That may be okay from a purely subjective, short term, comfort level perspective, but if we are going to gamble all our lives, we should keep track of wins and losses and manage our money over the long term.
We would not think of going to the bank with such a money management system. We would never forget from time to time how much we deposited in one visit or withdrew in another. We keep a record and balance the checkbook.
Money management is like deciding just how much in a given week we intend to spend on groceries. We have to stay within a bankroll, but that says nothing about the quality of the meat we are buying.
I often see money management systems like cousin Frank's debunked as gambling myths.
Once you get the bankroll issue out of the way, in player advantage games like good VP or live poker, you should play whether you are winning or losing as long as you are playing well and keep the right advantage.
Winning or losing, you should quit when you detect that you have lost the advantage because the players have changed or you are too tired to play well. I often quit a poker session because I suffered a bad beat and don't trust my emotions or because new players have joined the table who are better than I am, or just because I don't feel like giving them all the time and energy it takes to determine whether they are better.
As for house advantage games, the best money management is just not to play them except for a bit of fun between serious gambling.
No money management overcomes a house advantage; it just hides it for a while until we forget our last experience.
That means for me I only play blackjack when I have a matchplay to give me the advantage. Once I knew that I was not a very good counter and did not want the hassle of spreading my bets and worrying about heat, I abandoned the game to more advantageous games.
If we are going to let yourself be ground down by house advantage, then perhaps we can arrange for the comps to offset that mathematical advantage of the house.
This was my point when I mentioned Jean Scott.
As advantage VP dries up, she recommends that players at least look for promotions that add enough value to the gambling that the freebie overcomes the house advantage.This math is a lot harder to compute.
Knowing how long to play for a freebie is a tough skill to learn.
I do that often. That is why I concentrate my VP play in one casino and don't visit it again once I have left my free rooms. I also avoid playing a little money many times during a trip, and play all of it in one day (different casinos define different 24 hour days). That way my daily average looks high when they compute my next free room mailing, free play, free food, etc.
Jean Scott also argues in favor using matchplays and coupons. If you gamble with matchplays, and just move from place to place, you can have a huge player advantage. I did this in Foxwoods on the craps table using a $25 matchplay everytime I went there over one winter. It was wonderful to have a huge advantage on each of those bets, and it netted me hundreds of dollars over the course of my couponing. They have since eliminated the coupon from the ACG book.
Also, you can choose games with the best rules, and in blackjack that means fewer decks and all the things in the chart.
There was a site that I used to have that charted the house advantage on all Vegas BJ games and posted the results, changing data as the games changed, but I guess it is down.
With a little work you can get a good computation on this calculator, plugging in all the rule changes and the number of decks.
http://www.qfit.com/blackjack-odds-calculator.htm
Okay, I got to get some sleep. Tomorrow is poker day at the Tampa Downs.
*******************************************************************************
Well, I suppose Cousin Frank along with Greg has stopped reading now too, but here is information I encountered in my last two days of reading that
adds more breaking news to the rest of the blackjack story.
You might pass it on to your cousin if he hasn't already worn out his reading glasses with all I shared last time.
Listening to Steve Bourie of American Casino Guide give a pod cast overview of Tunica (where I am headed next,) I learned that all of Tunica offers the single deck 3/2 blackjack game the two Frank's tell us does not exist. Cousin Frank perhaps has not played there, but Scoblete should know those exist and tip us off. But then it might make his piece on myth building something more than a tabloid half truth generality.
Cousin Frank might like mixing up his 39 years in Vegas with a bit of Mississippi. It is supposed to be a great venue for us older folks, good old fashioned gambling, good service, and good prices. Comps are so incredible that no one on the boards knows any of the prices of the rooms. Once you pay the first time, they tell me, you just keep getting free rooms for future trips. There are even some free junkets including airfare for gamblers out of my league bu perhaps not out of cousin't Franks.
Here is the menu of American Casino Guide podcasts; skim for Tunica:
http://americancasinoguide.com/podcasts.shtml
While there take a listen to the Linda Boyd interview on video poker. She is a board friend of mine who has written a great book on video poker with a fine, player friendly strategy. She gave me free rooms in Laughlin the last time I went ( comps certainly pay off ) and moderates this board:
http://www.midwestgamingandtravel.com/phpBB2/index.php
She can also educate on player advantage games that free us up from playing against the house advantage grind and leave us victim only to our own errors of play.
NEW GOLD SPIKE MAY HAVE SINGLE DECK
Currently Low minimum black jack players are watching the newly renovated Gold Spike in downtown Vegas which has gone from the pits to become upscale boutique. They will deal a low minimum 3/2 blackjack, but no word yet on the number of decks.
Check out the new Gold Spike upgrade here:
http://www.lvbusinesspress.com/articles/2009/02/09/opinion/columnists/spillman/iq_26683938.txt
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Plans for April/May trip
Air to Vegas is $111. Home I use a free rapid rewards certificate.
BINIONS
Using Hotels.com I just booked Binions April 22-28 for an average of $23 a night (including taxes)
I generally never book this early at a discount online place, but the cancellation policy contained no penalty up until April 20th at 12PM. So I can see no disadvantage in getting this booked. ( I don't gamble at Binions except live poker so the use of a discounter does not interfere with any comps) If I get some free offers closer to the time, I'll use them Sun-Tuesday and cancel the last few nights.
LAUGHLIN RIVER PALMS
Booked from the 28th until May 5th directly with the hotel. Again the average rate is $22 a night, but I don't expect to pay anything for these rooms because I expect to earn free night certificates using live poker play.
Bill may be meeting me for part of the Laughlin time. I hope so.
BINIONS
Using Hotels.com I just booked Binions April 22-28 for an average of $23 a night (including taxes)
I generally never book this early at a discount online place, but the cancellation policy contained no penalty up until April 20th at 12PM. So I can see no disadvantage in getting this booked. ( I don't gamble at Binions except live poker so the use of a discounter does not interfere with any comps) If I get some free offers closer to the time, I'll use them Sun-Tuesday and cancel the last few nights.
LAUGHLIN RIVER PALMS
Booked from the 28th until May 5th directly with the hotel. Again the average rate is $22 a night, but I don't expect to pay anything for these rooms because I expect to earn free night certificates using live poker play.
Bill may be meeting me for part of the Laughlin time. I hope so.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
guy with Lucky Christmas hat in Vegas
I thought this was the best hat I've even seen for Christmas. Too funny to walk around all week with this hat.
http://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=17&threadid=287745
http://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=17&threadid=287745
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Monday, November 03, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Buses
Each time I go to Vegas I try to explore a different CAT route just to see and to try to avoid the crowds on the Deuce. For so many people the Deuce is the only Vegas bus experience, and they are so turned off by the overcrowding, they don't bother with any other.
If I do take the Deuce it is at the end of my gambling, say 2 AM and I try to be down at the Riviera when I board to head downtown as by then, there will usually be seats.
But most times I take the local routes. These are less crowded because there are fewer tourists, and the fare is less, but have correct change:
Carry quarters. The buses do not give change. You need quarters for the 24 hour pass (only $2.50 when it is purchased on routes other than the Deuce) and to add to that pass for each Deuce ride(50 cents additional). It will be cheaper to buy the $2.50 pass going out on a non deuce route even if you use the Deuce later. You would have to ride the Deuce more than 3 times to get the price up to the Deuce 24 hour pass price of $5.
With any address in Vegas you can chart a route and print it out detail for detail by using this Trip Planner at the CAT site. Sometimes you can just put in a casino name and it will change it to the right terminology and then search your routes.
http://ttpweb.rtcsnv.com/
From downtown using the DTC you can find most of the routes. There also, for a quarter you can buy the latest book of bus routes and schedules. However, I find it a better bet to plan a few itineraries from the transit planner page above, and print them out before you go and only use the CAT book as a backup.
FROM THE AIRPORT
Go to ground level zero by taking the elevator near where that bridge goes to the place folks might pick you up in a private car.
Turn to the right and go all the way down.
There is a bus stop and the 108 or 109 will get you downtown from there in about 45 minutes.
Some of the 109 buses are going in a less efficient direction so ask the driver.
The least crowded day on the 109 is Sunday.
You can be dropped off downtown a couple blocks from El Cortez on the 109 or the 108 or ride to the DTC.
California is right across the street from the DTC. Main Street Station is close too.
The 108 will drop you right downtown near the Fitzgerald's Casino. This is probably a bit more in the center of things than getting dropped from the 109.
OUT OF DOWNTOWN
The two most common CAT routes from downtown to the strip used to avoid the Deuce are the 108 and the 116 (which was once the 105)
The 108 will take you to Terribles if you don't mind a walk down Flamingo to the strip. You can stop at Tuscany, or at Ellis to use up matchplays or grab some lunch (cheap steak and garlic beans)
Staying on the 108 beyond Flamingo will take you to the Hard Rock. I often go there, use up matchplays, check out all the guitars, and then walk the short distance back to Terribles for a cheap breakfast.
You can also take the 202 Flamingo bus to the strip or stay on to the Palms or the Gold Coast or Rio.
Sometimes I go on the 202 Flamingo bus from Terribles to the Gold Coast and then hop the free Coast shuttle ( sometimes you need a room key--usually not) to the Orleans and from there take the 201 Tropicana bus back to the strip at NYNY. Remember, once you buy the day pass you can ride as much as you want. It is fun to visit each place for a bit and then move on. While much of the good gambling is gone from the Orleans, I think the gift shop still sells great playing cards for 50 cents and dice for a quarter and of course a visit to McMullan's for a pint of Smithwick's and some of those homemade potato chips is always a treat. This route probably does not save anytime over the Deuce. I use it to see the other places along the way.
http://www.mcmullansirishpub.com/
If you are on the 201 going itowards the stip from the Orleans and stay on for a while longer, you can get to the Pinball Hall of Fame.
http://www.pinballmuseum.org/
But remember now, don't use up all your quarters. Keep a couple bus quarters in your pocket.
********************
The 116 in its winding route will also drop you at Fashion Mall which is on the strip across from the Wynn. I used it to go play poker at the Wynn and it is very convenient. Remember that this links to the Palms by free shuttle. Planning itineraries that link to free shuttles is a great way to get easy transportation around Vegas. See here for information on free shuttle
http://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/refer...ree%20Shuttles
Note by the way that the Gold Coast turns out to be a really fine spot for positioning you for central shuttle and bus travel. The Coast shuttle, the Palms shuttles, the Rio Shuttles and the 202 CAT give you some really great access to so many areas. YOu can even go out to the Boulder strip.
The 116 coming from Downtown will also drop you right at Ellis Island for one of those steak specials and a much easier walk to the strip than from Terribles.
Because of the one way streets, if you decide to ride the 108 or the 116 back to downtown from an area around the strip, you have to pick them up in places different from where they dropped you off. It can get confusing, so check the routes in the book. Also just asking the driver on your way out, can orient you better for finding the same route on your way back.
Most people do not like being dropped off at DTC after dark. It is better to get off near the downtown area which you can do on either of those routes but you need to watch and not go by the drop off spots.
I find that I usually come back to Downtown using the Deuce but then I usually return after midnight and I don't find the Deuce very crowded then. So I take it. However, I generally plan to be as close as possible to downtown on the strip before catching the bus. If it is very crowded, walking to the Riviera will generally allow you to get a ride. Most folks are done by that stop and seats are freed up.
Another easy thing would be just to duck into the California casino after dark and navigate to Freemont from there. Or get on the 108 at the DTC and just ride one block to the area between the Plaza and Main Street Station.
In December of 2007 I used the 108 to see Cowboy Christmas. It took me right there. I walked across the street and saw all the vendors and exhibits. I pretended to be a cowboy for an afternoon. Then hopped back on the 108 and continued to Ellis for a dinner.
It will also take you to the Sahara Casino so you have access to that large souvenir shop and the Stratosphere. Or if you like the monorail, you can get off the 108 and board it with less walking than you will have once you get off the monorail somewhere in the back of some casino and want to get up to the front.
GOING TO TEXAS STATION OR FIESTA RANCHO
I just read this week that one poster would not even think of these casinos from downtown because they were too far to go.
I think 106 is a fine and easy route that goes out to Texas Station or Fiesta Rancho. On the way back it also has stops right downtown, so you don't have to wait for the DTC end of the road drop off.
I have used it with some light baggage just to take advantage of a free night at Fiesta Rancho leaving my main luggage in a free room somewhere else downtown.
Also, remember that the 24 hour pass is good for the full 24 hours.
This will happen to me:
Day one - head to the strip at 5 PM and return.
Day two - Head to the strip at 4PM on the same pass.
play poker until early in the morning.Day three(2 AM) - Buy a second pass to return to downtown.
Use it again that day, and if I return to downtown earlier than 2AM on Day Four, I have managed to buy 2 passes and done three days of travel.
I did a similar thing traveling to the strip to play poker when I stayed at Terribles last August.
Walked down to the Tuscany so see if any poker was happening. Nothing. Too bad.
Walked down to Ellis Island to play matchplays and have a microbrew. Pete let me use a matchplay so I played a little 9/6JOB.
Walked to O'Shea's and spent the night there.
Caught the 202 coming back. It actually may wait at the stop on Flamingo for a couple minutes. I bought my 24 hour pass at 2 AM
I used the pass the next day to get to the strip and come home before 2 AM.
Also, at Terribles is the only place you can take a shuttle to Laughlin other than those one day almost free trips. River City Shuttle is the name of the company. I wrote of details in this post:
http://vegasbirthdaybash.blogspot.co...how.html#links
The 111 is the Pecos bus. One of the buses goes out as far as Green Valley Ranch, if you can believe it. It estimates it takes an hour to get there from Bill's with one transfer. I have ridden the bus to get to the Pinball Hall of Fame when I was already on Flamingo. Pecos cuts into Tropicana right at the plaza that has that fun place. There are also some great barbers there. In the same plaza is a barber who has collected a Western museum around where he cuts hair. He used to cut hair for movie stars, but the haircuts are cheap. $15 for a cut and beard trim he quoted me. You can beat the price for just a haircut kitty corner across both Trop and Pecos. $8 there.
I can't tell you how many interesting discussions I have had with people on the bus. But you do have to be tolerant of all sorts of folks. Poor folks ride these buses, so if you think cabbing is a step down from your limo, you may feel uncomfortable.
For low rollers, the CAT opens ups Vegas. Even with the coming rise in fares, the bus remains a really great deal.
Beginning on January 11, 2009, the new fare structure is as follows:
Fare Type Regular 1Reduced: Seniors/Students
Residential One-Way Fare: $1.75 $0.75
Strip One-Way Fare: $3.00 $1.50
One-Trip Ridecard (same as Red. One-Way Fare): $1.75 $0.75
Residential 1-Day Pass: $4.001 $2.001
Strip 1-Day Pass: $7.00 $7.00
Strip 3-Day Pass: $20.00 $10.00
30-Day Pass: $55.00 $25.00
1 To use this pass on the DEUCE, you must pay an additional 1 dollar EACH TIME you board.
Then, beginning on January 10, 2010, the new fare structure will be as follows:
Fare Type Regular 1Reduced: Seniors/Students
Residential One-Way Fare: $2.00 $1.00
Strip One-Way Fare: $3.00 $1.50
One-Trip Ridecard (same as Red. One-Way Fare): $2.00 $1.00
Residential 1-Day Pass: $5.001 $2.001
Strip 1-Day Pass: $7.00 $7.00
Strip 3-Day Pass: $20.00 $10.00
30-Day Pass: $65.00 $30.00
1 To use this pass on the DEUCE, you must pay an additional $1.50 EACH TIME you board.
**********************************************************
If I do take the Deuce it is at the end of my gambling, say 2 AM and I try to be down at the Riviera when I board to head downtown as by then, there will usually be seats.
But most times I take the local routes. These are less crowded because there are fewer tourists, and the fare is less, but have correct change:
Carry quarters. The buses do not give change. You need quarters for the 24 hour pass (only $2.50 when it is purchased on routes other than the Deuce) and to add to that pass for each Deuce ride(50 cents additional). It will be cheaper to buy the $2.50 pass going out on a non deuce route even if you use the Deuce later. You would have to ride the Deuce more than 3 times to get the price up to the Deuce 24 hour pass price of $5.
With any address in Vegas you can chart a route and print it out detail for detail by using this Trip Planner at the CAT site. Sometimes you can just put in a casino name and it will change it to the right terminology and then search your routes.
http://ttpweb.rtcsnv.com/
From downtown using the DTC you can find most of the routes. There also, for a quarter you can buy the latest book of bus routes and schedules. However, I find it a better bet to plan a few itineraries from the transit planner page above, and print them out before you go and only use the CAT book as a backup.
FROM THE AIRPORT
Go to ground level zero by taking the elevator near where that bridge goes to the place folks might pick you up in a private car.
Turn to the right and go all the way down.
There is a bus stop and the 108 or 109 will get you downtown from there in about 45 minutes.
Some of the 109 buses are going in a less efficient direction so ask the driver.
The least crowded day on the 109 is Sunday.
You can be dropped off downtown a couple blocks from El Cortez on the 109 or the 108 or ride to the DTC.
California is right across the street from the DTC. Main Street Station is close too.
The 108 will drop you right downtown near the Fitzgerald's Casino. This is probably a bit more in the center of things than getting dropped from the 109.
OUT OF DOWNTOWN
The two most common CAT routes from downtown to the strip used to avoid the Deuce are the 108 and the 116 (which was once the 105)
The 108 will take you to Terribles if you don't mind a walk down Flamingo to the strip. You can stop at Tuscany, or at Ellis to use up matchplays or grab some lunch (cheap steak and garlic beans)
Staying on the 108 beyond Flamingo will take you to the Hard Rock. I often go there, use up matchplays, check out all the guitars, and then walk the short distance back to Terribles for a cheap breakfast.
You can also take the 202 Flamingo bus to the strip or stay on to the Palms or the Gold Coast or Rio.
Sometimes I go on the 202 Flamingo bus from Terribles to the Gold Coast and then hop the free Coast shuttle ( sometimes you need a room key--usually not) to the Orleans and from there take the 201 Tropicana bus back to the strip at NYNY. Remember, once you buy the day pass you can ride as much as you want. It is fun to visit each place for a bit and then move on. While much of the good gambling is gone from the Orleans, I think the gift shop still sells great playing cards for 50 cents and dice for a quarter and of course a visit to McMullan's for a pint of Smithwick's and some of those homemade potato chips is always a treat. This route probably does not save anytime over the Deuce. I use it to see the other places along the way.
http://www.mcmullansirishpub.com/
If you are on the 201 going itowards the stip from the Orleans and stay on for a while longer, you can get to the Pinball Hall of Fame.
http://www.pinballmuseum.org/
But remember now, don't use up all your quarters. Keep a couple bus quarters in your pocket.
********************
The 116 in its winding route will also drop you at Fashion Mall which is on the strip across from the Wynn. I used it to go play poker at the Wynn and it is very convenient. Remember that this links to the Palms by free shuttle. Planning itineraries that link to free shuttles is a great way to get easy transportation around Vegas. See here for information on free shuttle
http://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/refer...ree%20Shuttles
Note by the way that the Gold Coast turns out to be a really fine spot for positioning you for central shuttle and bus travel. The Coast shuttle, the Palms shuttles, the Rio Shuttles and the 202 CAT give you some really great access to so many areas. YOu can even go out to the Boulder strip.
The 116 coming from Downtown will also drop you right at Ellis Island for one of those steak specials and a much easier walk to the strip than from Terribles.
Because of the one way streets, if you decide to ride the 108 or the 116 back to downtown from an area around the strip, you have to pick them up in places different from where they dropped you off. It can get confusing, so check the routes in the book. Also just asking the driver on your way out, can orient you better for finding the same route on your way back.
Most people do not like being dropped off at DTC after dark. It is better to get off near the downtown area which you can do on either of those routes but you need to watch and not go by the drop off spots.
I find that I usually come back to Downtown using the Deuce but then I usually return after midnight and I don't find the Deuce very crowded then. So I take it. However, I generally plan to be as close as possible to downtown on the strip before catching the bus. If it is very crowded, walking to the Riviera will generally allow you to get a ride. Most folks are done by that stop and seats are freed up.
Another easy thing would be just to duck into the California casino after dark and navigate to Freemont from there. Or get on the 108 at the DTC and just ride one block to the area between the Plaza and Main Street Station.
In December of 2007 I used the 108 to see Cowboy Christmas. It took me right there. I walked across the street and saw all the vendors and exhibits. I pretended to be a cowboy for an afternoon. Then hopped back on the 108 and continued to Ellis for a dinner.
It will also take you to the Sahara Casino so you have access to that large souvenir shop and the Stratosphere. Or if you like the monorail, you can get off the 108 and board it with less walking than you will have once you get off the monorail somewhere in the back of some casino and want to get up to the front.
GOING TO TEXAS STATION OR FIESTA RANCHO
I just read this week that one poster would not even think of these casinos from downtown because they were too far to go.
I think 106 is a fine and easy route that goes out to Texas Station or Fiesta Rancho. On the way back it also has stops right downtown, so you don't have to wait for the DTC end of the road drop off.
I have used it with some light baggage just to take advantage of a free night at Fiesta Rancho leaving my main luggage in a free room somewhere else downtown.
Also, remember that the 24 hour pass is good for the full 24 hours.
This will happen to me:
Day one - head to the strip at 5 PM and return.
Day two - Head to the strip at 4PM on the same pass.
play poker until early in the morning.Day three(2 AM) - Buy a second pass to return to downtown.
Use it again that day, and if I return to downtown earlier than 2AM on Day Four, I have managed to buy 2 passes and done three days of travel.
I did a similar thing traveling to the strip to play poker when I stayed at Terribles last August.
Walked down to the Tuscany so see if any poker was happening. Nothing. Too bad.
Walked down to Ellis Island to play matchplays and have a microbrew. Pete let me use a matchplay so I played a little 9/6JOB.
Walked to O'Shea's and spent the night there.
Caught the 202 coming back. It actually may wait at the stop on Flamingo for a couple minutes. I bought my 24 hour pass at 2 AM
I used the pass the next day to get to the strip and come home before 2 AM.
Also, at Terribles is the only place you can take a shuttle to Laughlin other than those one day almost free trips. River City Shuttle is the name of the company. I wrote of details in this post:
http://vegasbirthdaybash.blogspot.co...how.html#links
The 111 is the Pecos bus. One of the buses goes out as far as Green Valley Ranch, if you can believe it. It estimates it takes an hour to get there from Bill's with one transfer. I have ridden the bus to get to the Pinball Hall of Fame when I was already on Flamingo. Pecos cuts into Tropicana right at the plaza that has that fun place. There are also some great barbers there. In the same plaza is a barber who has collected a Western museum around where he cuts hair. He used to cut hair for movie stars, but the haircuts are cheap. $15 for a cut and beard trim he quoted me. You can beat the price for just a haircut kitty corner across both Trop and Pecos. $8 there.
I can't tell you how many interesting discussions I have had with people on the bus. But you do have to be tolerant of all sorts of folks. Poor folks ride these buses, so if you think cabbing is a step down from your limo, you may feel uncomfortable.
For low rollers, the CAT opens ups Vegas. Even with the coming rise in fares, the bus remains a really great deal.
Beginning on January 11, 2009, the new fare structure is as follows:
Fare Type Regular 1Reduced: Seniors/Students
Residential One-Way Fare: $1.75 $0.75
Strip One-Way Fare: $3.00 $1.50
One-Trip Ridecard (same as Red. One-Way Fare): $1.75 $0.75
Residential 1-Day Pass: $4.001 $2.001
Strip 1-Day Pass: $7.00 $7.00
Strip 3-Day Pass: $20.00 $10.00
30-Day Pass: $55.00 $25.00
1 To use this pass on the DEUCE, you must pay an additional 1 dollar EACH TIME you board.
Then, beginning on January 10, 2010, the new fare structure will be as follows:
Fare Type Regular 1Reduced: Seniors/Students
Residential One-Way Fare: $2.00 $1.00
Strip One-Way Fare: $3.00 $1.50
One-Trip Ridecard (same as Red. One-Way Fare): $2.00 $1.00
Residential 1-Day Pass: $5.001 $2.001
Strip 1-Day Pass: $7.00 $7.00
Strip 3-Day Pass: $20.00 $10.00
30-Day Pass: $65.00 $30.00
1 To use this pass on the DEUCE, you must pay an additional $1.50 EACH TIME you board.
**********************************************************
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
VEGAS 2008 READ THIS FIRST
The following snippet posts form a trip report for my trip to Vegas in August of 2008. There are no pictures as I did not want to risk my camera in the excessive heat. I lost a camera that way a couple years ago.
Still, there was a lot of detail, so I arranged it in categories rather than by time and date. Every move is not recorded. Each category is a discussion of that part of the Vegas trip with information and occasionally a story thrown in and with some links for further information if I had them.
The audience for these snippets are those interested in Vegas and gambling details. The general reader probably will be bored. For those of you who come by way of some Vegas discussion board, you may see a snippet or two posted separately on those boards at some time or another more as a discussion starter than a trip report. Sorry if repetition annoys you, but I like to get as much information out to as many fellow Vegas goers as possible.
Enjoy.
Still, there was a lot of detail, so I arranged it in categories rather than by time and date. Every move is not recorded. Each category is a discussion of that part of the Vegas trip with information and occasionally a story thrown in and with some links for further information if I had them.
The audience for these snippets are those interested in Vegas and gambling details. The general reader probably will be bored. For those of you who come by way of some Vegas discussion board, you may see a snippet or two posted separately on those boards at some time or another more as a discussion starter than a trip report. Sorry if repetition annoys you, but I like to get as much information out to as many fellow Vegas goers as possible.
Enjoy.
snippet 2008 - trip overview
"So how did you do?" everyone always asks.
This is a difficult question to answer, but this time is the first time I have actually taken account of most of my expenses for the trip; I did not take count of tips. I expect I tipped somewhat over $100 this trip, but that is an estimate rather than an exact amount. I also did not count what I bought in stores. That does not seem to be part of a vacation as I spend money shopping at home too. This time I guess I bought about $69 in watches at the Laughlin Riverside Watchman store (4 nice watches) and a few decks of cards for the local poker games. Not much shopping. Too hot.
I spent 12 days in Vegas, sleeping 11 nights. I decided to figure my average daily expense by using the 11 night figure since one day on each end was cut in half for traveling.
AIRFARE - This was a free one, earned by the Southwest Rapid Rewards charge card by charging everything possible and paying each month so no interest needed to be paid. There was a $59 a year fee, and a $5 travel fee but I got three free flights this year, so I'll give this trip a $25 expense for air travel or $2.00 a day.
FOOD - Adding all my expenses for food and drinks (excluding tips) I averaged $3.32 a night. Usually I just eat one buffet a day and snack, but I had so much free food this trip that actually I overate on that amount of money. The "only eat if it is nearly free" is usually a way I can do buffets without overdoing my diet, but it did not limit me this trip. Still, I did not gain weight. Go figure.
HOTEL - My hotel fees averaged just $12 a night. Only two free nights were based on previous play. Those were at the California based on Main Street Station play.
TRANSPORTATION - My trip from the airport to downtown after Laughlin could have been a $1.25 expense, but I got the day pass at $2.50. Add in the $109 for the shuttle to Laughlin and back and a $4 river taxi fee and one more bus day pass at $2.50 and you get $10.72 cents a night for transportation.
GAMBLING LOSSES - In the eleven days I lost $709. This may to some experienced gamblers look like I was lucky in spots or did not gamble very long. I was not lucky. My greatest variance was one VP session in which I dropped $300 and another live 3/6 session in which I lost another $300. Both happened in the same day. The rest of my gambling just about broke even. In fact, if you take off the little bit of slot play I did here and there, I would be even except for those sessions. I gambled probably 80% of my time. Live poker sessions included four all nighters, one ending at 7:30 AM which I had started 14 hours earlier with just one break for a comedy show.
ENTERTAINMENT - I just did not do much besides gamble, swim, sleep and eat this trip. I spent an hour watching a great jazz band. That was free. I saw a $20 comedy act. So my entertainment expense was under $2 a day.
So total trip expense without gambling was $28.31 per day.
Total with gambling losses figured in was $94.76 a day.
I often have a conversation with non gambling friends who shake their heads at the thought of losing $700 by gambling. I hope this kind of mathematics will convince them that my extravagances are minor compared to their vacations where many will spend $100 on a single meal. Advantage player gambling reduces losses during losing sessions and increases winnings during winning sessions. What is a $700 loss one trip may easily change to a $700 win another because the mathematical mean of my own style of gamblling falls pretty close to break even before comps. And while some of these savings this time are comps or points earned other trips, I also kept up my daily average at Main Street station and seeded the VP at Aquarious and River Palms so that I hope to get some newbie generated free room offers. I walked away from the River Palms poker room with four certificates for free nights good even on weekends. So whatever points I used up this trip from previous gambling may be offset by gambling this trip to establish similar comps next visit.
This is a difficult question to answer, but this time is the first time I have actually taken account of most of my expenses for the trip; I did not take count of tips. I expect I tipped somewhat over $100 this trip, but that is an estimate rather than an exact amount. I also did not count what I bought in stores. That does not seem to be part of a vacation as I spend money shopping at home too. This time I guess I bought about $69 in watches at the Laughlin Riverside Watchman store (4 nice watches) and a few decks of cards for the local poker games. Not much shopping. Too hot.
I spent 12 days in Vegas, sleeping 11 nights. I decided to figure my average daily expense by using the 11 night figure since one day on each end was cut in half for traveling.
AIRFARE - This was a free one, earned by the Southwest Rapid Rewards charge card by charging everything possible and paying each month so no interest needed to be paid. There was a $59 a year fee, and a $5 travel fee but I got three free flights this year, so I'll give this trip a $25 expense for air travel or $2.00 a day.
FOOD - Adding all my expenses for food and drinks (excluding tips) I averaged $3.32 a night. Usually I just eat one buffet a day and snack, but I had so much free food this trip that actually I overate on that amount of money. The "only eat if it is nearly free" is usually a way I can do buffets without overdoing my diet, but it did not limit me this trip. Still, I did not gain weight. Go figure.
HOTEL - My hotel fees averaged just $12 a night. Only two free nights were based on previous play. Those were at the California based on Main Street Station play.
TRANSPORTATION - My trip from the airport to downtown after Laughlin could have been a $1.25 expense, but I got the day pass at $2.50. Add in the $109 for the shuttle to Laughlin and back and a $4 river taxi fee and one more bus day pass at $2.50 and you get $10.72 cents a night for transportation.
GAMBLING LOSSES - In the eleven days I lost $709. This may to some experienced gamblers look like I was lucky in spots or did not gamble very long. I was not lucky. My greatest variance was one VP session in which I dropped $300 and another live 3/6 session in which I lost another $300. Both happened in the same day. The rest of my gambling just about broke even. In fact, if you take off the little bit of slot play I did here and there, I would be even except for those sessions. I gambled probably 80% of my time. Live poker sessions included four all nighters, one ending at 7:30 AM which I had started 14 hours earlier with just one break for a comedy show.
ENTERTAINMENT - I just did not do much besides gamble, swim, sleep and eat this trip. I spent an hour watching a great jazz band. That was free. I saw a $20 comedy act. So my entertainment expense was under $2 a day.
So total trip expense without gambling was $28.31 per day.
Total with gambling losses figured in was $94.76 a day.
I often have a conversation with non gambling friends who shake their heads at the thought of losing $700 by gambling. I hope this kind of mathematics will convince them that my extravagances are minor compared to their vacations where many will spend $100 on a single meal. Advantage player gambling reduces losses during losing sessions and increases winnings during winning sessions. What is a $700 loss one trip may easily change to a $700 win another because the mathematical mean of my own style of gamblling falls pretty close to break even before comps. And while some of these savings this time are comps or points earned other trips, I also kept up my daily average at Main Street station and seeded the VP at Aquarious and River Palms so that I hope to get some newbie generated free room offers. I walked away from the River Palms poker room with four certificates for free nights good even on weekends. So whatever points I used up this trip from previous gambling may be offset by gambling this trip to establish similar comps next visit.
snippet 2008- Hotel Overview
Normally my 11-15 day trips are a shuffle from one two night stay to another with perhaps a refreshing 3 night stay somewhere along the way.
I set out this time to have a relaxing 4 night stay in Laughlin and at the same time reduce the weekend hotel prices. I had intended to stay 4 nights at the Edgewater to be close to the 2-6 Colorado Belle poker action. I also saw that as a way to limit the amount of luggage shlupping in triple digit heat. The River City shuttle to Laughlin picked me up and delivered me casino to casino. I had not had much difficulty with the heat, but still I wanted to be cautious and it proved a good choice. I carry the largest suitcase allowed on airplanes as well as a C-PAP breathing machine and a small carryall bag. By the end of the trip the heat was oppressing me, dehydrating me, tiring me, and threatening to make me sick after my last hotel change, from free rooms at the California based on Main Street Station play, to paid rooms with one coupon at El Cortez which left me wiped out and sleeping for a long while. At 61 years of age, heat exhaustion, accompanied with mild diarrhea is nothing to be ignored.
As well as not having too much shlupping of luggage, I wanted good access to pools when possible as swimming is my major form or exercise in summer.
Most important is chosing Vegas hotels is location. And I really believe that the most flexible locations are not in the expensive strip hotels , but off the strip with bus access to prime strip areas and other interesting gambling. This does not suit the folks who need a room that pampers them. However, I am pampered simply by not having to set up a tent, pampered by accessible hot water, a comfortable bed, protection from rain and sun and wind. And I get all of that at below the price of camping out.
Terribles offers great access at a low rate. Just from their site I booked two nights at $29 each with $25 freeplay. with one bus ride I could go to Palms, Gold Coast,Rio, center strip, Sam's. From Palms/Gold Coast/Rio free casino shuttles can get me to many points on the strip. A free shuttle to the Orleans gets me to the Tropicana CAT bus and access to NYNY/MGM. So in my mind Terribles is excellent flexibility.
This trip my average hotel expense was $12 and only two nights were free based on past play. The rest were deals found on the net, coupons, and finally the icing on the cake was getting four free nights in Laughlin from coupons sent to a board friend for the purpose sharing them with some new gambler. These last coupons saved me $130 but also meant I needed to move once with luggage in Laughlin's +10 degree higher than Vegas heat) I would need to go from Aquarius to River Palms, a good walk along a rather maze like riverwalk. I discovered that the river taxi would take me and my luggage anywhere for $4. No high land metered taxi rates and no worry about traffic jams or going thru the tunnel. $5 with tip. A ten minute wait in the shade watching the river roll by. What a luxury! So piecing together free rooms in Laughlin is very simple and cheap with the added benefit of a fine boat ride rather than a walk past the seedy characters of downtown with tons of luggage.
All the rooms I stayed in were low end regular rooms. None were dirty. Some had some disadvantages. Here is an overview:
First two nights at Terribles: I asked for a room near the pool and that was granted. It meant I was a good walk from the casino, but I love being able to come back dripping wet and not pass too many other people. I loved the pool set in a really pleasant garden like courtyard with plenty of afternoon shade. It was never crowded and yet had plenty of people to watch for entertainment. The flat screen TV was a total disappointment. The reception was fuzzy. I much preferred the regular old fashioned TV's in my later rooms. Of course, no TV is worth anything in Vegas. They have no channels without commercials.
I used this hotel both to eat for free on points saved from prior years, to play matchplays, and as easy access by bus to the strip at Flamingo, or Gold Coast, or the Palms. I walked from there to the strip my first night, coming back at 3AM. That pass then paid my trips over the next day. Also, this is the only hotel from which we can use the River Palms Laughlin Shuttle.
Terribles picked me up at the airport and transported me free to the hotel. How nice to be so close to the airport after 5 hours of flying. An hour off the plane and I was in the pool stretching out those cramped muscles and watching a beautiful Dutch bikini.
Then it was off to Laughlin. As the Laughlin Entertainer says, : "All the thrill of Vegas at one third the price in a laid back riverfront community."
My next two nights were at Aquarius in Laughlin I was surprised not to find this a little more upscale than the cheap River Palms. It is center Laughlin strip and that is a great advantage. The pool was stark, just stuck on top. It was full of kids in late afternoon. It was fully in the sun until sunset. I had a fine time because I like watching kids in pools.
My tower, however, was adult only- over 21. That was nice. I don't like kids late at night or when I am napping and they run the halls.
The room was clean, but not behind the bed table. I pulled it out to plug in my sleeping machine and it was pretty dirty behind. The fan in the bathroom made a whining noise, so if Ihad been with another person, it would have disturbed their sleep. I played some DB 10/7 there and did well. So I have VP seeded this spot for future mailings.
Aquarius gave me easy access to the Colorado Belle poker games and also to the Watchman store at Riverside. It also was walkable at noon to the IN-N-OUT burger which was on my list of things to do, but will not be next time. LINK
As always I liked walking the river at night and seeing the carp, koi, and ducks as well as the lights on the water.
River Taxi to the River Palms was fine except getting down to the taxi from Aquarius meant going down some stairs. In the future, were I to leave, or especially were I to arrive there, I would use the next casino access at the Riverside. There was a ramp choice at the River Palms.
My next two nights at the River Palms again put me in a tower very close to the pool. The pool was better than Aquarius but not up to the standards of Terribles. Again there were plenty of children to watch. Children in Laughlin in the summer are very common. My room was cleaner behind things than Aquarius. The bathroom faucet was hard to operate, but I got the hang of it. Outside the window was a loud air conditioner which would bother some people, but it was really white noise and blended well with my C-PAP air rushing sound so it was never a problem for me. I left my phone charger there when I checked out, and they found it after I called and are mailing it to me.
Although I had originally wished for 4 straight nights, I liked being in one part of the Laughlin strip one time and then in a separate part. It was too hot to do much walking. I found the same 2-6 game at the River Palms and also found the best coupon news in all my gambling, 6 hours of play or any 4 of a kind (even with only one card) gets the player a certificate good for a free room that can be used up to 6 months. I left with 4 free nights for my next trip based on live Poker play.
If the promotion keeps going, I will use this as my main casino on future trips. They had full pay Double Bonus 10/7, so again I seeded future offers with some play. They also have a fine promotions system. You go to a kiosk and swipe and it tells you what you are entitled to and prints your certificates. At the promotions booth, the woman told me that for 7 more points I could swipe in a cash give away. So I played and swiped for a wind of $10; however, that was the lowest of five choices. Better luck might have given me $200, so it was a great promotion.
I also liked access to the pool and to comedy. From downtown I have to take a bus to see comedy. At the River Palms I saw three fine comics for $20 during a 3 hour break from a 14 hour poker session.
The shuttle brought me back to the airport. I went to ground zero and caught the 109 to the DTC. It was Sunday and the bus was not crowded. That is the best day said the driver. I rolled my bags across the street to the California for two nights. Although the daylight bleeding slats in the window were the same as those at Main Street Station, this was a quieter casino, and again I was just short one floor elevator ride to the tiny, cold California pool for my morning swim. Even in this August heat that pool water was cold in the morning. So I had the pool to myself and could swim in circles until I was too tired to go another lap.
I shlupped my bags up to Pavilion rooms at the El Cortez. These are the most basic of the bunch, but I like that balcony, especially at night. I also go to play poker and sleep. I am tired by the end of a trip. When I wake up at 3 AM I can go play poker and then go back to bed. They send me no free offers anymore for rooms, so I am using up my points for food and abandoning them as a playing casino except for live poker. They downgraded all full pay machines except a few and they dropped comps 300% on those. Still I like to get an efficient and free shuttle to the airport and they have the best. I could leave the hotel at 2PM for a 3:30 flight and know I would have plenty of time. This time we were there at 2:05PM, leaving early because all passengers were ready.
My plan in the future is to use them for my last three nights, ending on a Tuesday because a standard discounter deal is to give Tuesday for free if three nights are booked.
I could have stayed more cheaply at the Vegas Club. They had a deal at Expedia where any three nights booked on a Master Card got a $50 gas certificate and weekday rates were just $18. But I did not want to walk to play poker at the El Cortez.
So my next trip to Vegas will again be
Terrible's and some strip area poker games.
Laughlin for free nights while I play poker and for a good long stay at River Palms.
The El Cortez for the end of the trip.
I'll fit in free downtown at Main Street Station or Four Queens if I have offers, but the Four Queens has reduced comps a bit for me. It is still a good offer $25/$50 2 for 1 with $50 freeplay, but only two night stretches.
I set out this time to have a relaxing 4 night stay in Laughlin and at the same time reduce the weekend hotel prices. I had intended to stay 4 nights at the Edgewater to be close to the 2-6 Colorado Belle poker action. I also saw that as a way to limit the amount of luggage shlupping in triple digit heat. The River City shuttle to Laughlin picked me up and delivered me casino to casino. I had not had much difficulty with the heat, but still I wanted to be cautious and it proved a good choice. I carry the largest suitcase allowed on airplanes as well as a C-PAP breathing machine and a small carryall bag. By the end of the trip the heat was oppressing me, dehydrating me, tiring me, and threatening to make me sick after my last hotel change, from free rooms at the California based on Main Street Station play, to paid rooms with one coupon at El Cortez which left me wiped out and sleeping for a long while. At 61 years of age, heat exhaustion, accompanied with mild diarrhea is nothing to be ignored.
As well as not having too much shlupping of luggage, I wanted good access to pools when possible as swimming is my major form or exercise in summer.
Most important is chosing Vegas hotels is location. And I really believe that the most flexible locations are not in the expensive strip hotels , but off the strip with bus access to prime strip areas and other interesting gambling. This does not suit the folks who need a room that pampers them. However, I am pampered simply by not having to set up a tent, pampered by accessible hot water, a comfortable bed, protection from rain and sun and wind. And I get all of that at below the price of camping out.
Terribles offers great access at a low rate. Just from their site I booked two nights at $29 each with $25 freeplay. with one bus ride I could go to Palms, Gold Coast,Rio, center strip, Sam's. From Palms/Gold Coast/Rio free casino shuttles can get me to many points on the strip. A free shuttle to the Orleans gets me to the Tropicana CAT bus and access to NYNY/MGM. So in my mind Terribles is excellent flexibility.
This trip my average hotel expense was $12 and only two nights were free based on past play. The rest were deals found on the net, coupons, and finally the icing on the cake was getting four free nights in Laughlin from coupons sent to a board friend for the purpose sharing them with some new gambler. These last coupons saved me $130 but also meant I needed to move once with luggage in Laughlin's +10 degree higher than Vegas heat) I would need to go from Aquarius to River Palms, a good walk along a rather maze like riverwalk. I discovered that the river taxi would take me and my luggage anywhere for $4. No high land metered taxi rates and no worry about traffic jams or going thru the tunnel. $5 with tip. A ten minute wait in the shade watching the river roll by. What a luxury! So piecing together free rooms in Laughlin is very simple and cheap with the added benefit of a fine boat ride rather than a walk past the seedy characters of downtown with tons of luggage.
All the rooms I stayed in were low end regular rooms. None were dirty. Some had some disadvantages. Here is an overview:
First two nights at Terribles: I asked for a room near the pool and that was granted. It meant I was a good walk from the casino, but I love being able to come back dripping wet and not pass too many other people. I loved the pool set in a really pleasant garden like courtyard with plenty of afternoon shade. It was never crowded and yet had plenty of people to watch for entertainment. The flat screen TV was a total disappointment. The reception was fuzzy. I much preferred the regular old fashioned TV's in my later rooms. Of course, no TV is worth anything in Vegas. They have no channels without commercials.
I used this hotel both to eat for free on points saved from prior years, to play matchplays, and as easy access by bus to the strip at Flamingo, or Gold Coast, or the Palms. I walked from there to the strip my first night, coming back at 3AM. That pass then paid my trips over the next day. Also, this is the only hotel from which we can use the River Palms Laughlin Shuttle.
Terribles picked me up at the airport and transported me free to the hotel. How nice to be so close to the airport after 5 hours of flying. An hour off the plane and I was in the pool stretching out those cramped muscles and watching a beautiful Dutch bikini.
Then it was off to Laughlin. As the Laughlin Entertainer says, : "All the thrill of Vegas at one third the price in a laid back riverfront community."
My next two nights were at Aquarius in Laughlin I was surprised not to find this a little more upscale than the cheap River Palms. It is center Laughlin strip and that is a great advantage. The pool was stark, just stuck on top. It was full of kids in late afternoon. It was fully in the sun until sunset. I had a fine time because I like watching kids in pools.
My tower, however, was adult only- over 21. That was nice. I don't like kids late at night or when I am napping and they run the halls.
The room was clean, but not behind the bed table. I pulled it out to plug in my sleeping machine and it was pretty dirty behind. The fan in the bathroom made a whining noise, so if Ihad been with another person, it would have disturbed their sleep. I played some DB 10/7 there and did well. So I have VP seeded this spot for future mailings.
Aquarius gave me easy access to the Colorado Belle poker games and also to the Watchman store at Riverside. It also was walkable at noon to the IN-N-OUT burger which was on my list of things to do, but will not be next time. LINK
As always I liked walking the river at night and seeing the carp, koi, and ducks as well as the lights on the water.
River Taxi to the River Palms was fine except getting down to the taxi from Aquarius meant going down some stairs. In the future, were I to leave, or especially were I to arrive there, I would use the next casino access at the Riverside. There was a ramp choice at the River Palms.
My next two nights at the River Palms again put me in a tower very close to the pool. The pool was better than Aquarius but not up to the standards of Terribles. Again there were plenty of children to watch. Children in Laughlin in the summer are very common. My room was cleaner behind things than Aquarius. The bathroom faucet was hard to operate, but I got the hang of it. Outside the window was a loud air conditioner which would bother some people, but it was really white noise and blended well with my C-PAP air rushing sound so it was never a problem for me. I left my phone charger there when I checked out, and they found it after I called and are mailing it to me.
Although I had originally wished for 4 straight nights, I liked being in one part of the Laughlin strip one time and then in a separate part. It was too hot to do much walking. I found the same 2-6 game at the River Palms and also found the best coupon news in all my gambling, 6 hours of play or any 4 of a kind (even with only one card) gets the player a certificate good for a free room that can be used up to 6 months. I left with 4 free nights for my next trip based on live Poker play.
If the promotion keeps going, I will use this as my main casino on future trips. They had full pay Double Bonus 10/7, so again I seeded future offers with some play. They also have a fine promotions system. You go to a kiosk and swipe and it tells you what you are entitled to and prints your certificates. At the promotions booth, the woman told me that for 7 more points I could swipe in a cash give away. So I played and swiped for a wind of $10; however, that was the lowest of five choices. Better luck might have given me $200, so it was a great promotion.
I also liked access to the pool and to comedy. From downtown I have to take a bus to see comedy. At the River Palms I saw three fine comics for $20 during a 3 hour break from a 14 hour poker session.
The shuttle brought me back to the airport. I went to ground zero and caught the 109 to the DTC. It was Sunday and the bus was not crowded. That is the best day said the driver. I rolled my bags across the street to the California for two nights. Although the daylight bleeding slats in the window were the same as those at Main Street Station, this was a quieter casino, and again I was just short one floor elevator ride to the tiny, cold California pool for my morning swim. Even in this August heat that pool water was cold in the morning. So I had the pool to myself and could swim in circles until I was too tired to go another lap.
I shlupped my bags up to Pavilion rooms at the El Cortez. These are the most basic of the bunch, but I like that balcony, especially at night. I also go to play poker and sleep. I am tired by the end of a trip. When I wake up at 3 AM I can go play poker and then go back to bed. They send me no free offers anymore for rooms, so I am using up my points for food and abandoning them as a playing casino except for live poker. They downgraded all full pay machines except a few and they dropped comps 300% on those. Still I like to get an efficient and free shuttle to the airport and they have the best. I could leave the hotel at 2PM for a 3:30 flight and know I would have plenty of time. This time we were there at 2:05PM, leaving early because all passengers were ready.
My plan in the future is to use them for my last three nights, ending on a Tuesday because a standard discounter deal is to give Tuesday for free if three nights are booked.
I could have stayed more cheaply at the Vegas Club. They had a deal at Expedia where any three nights booked on a Master Card got a $50 gas certificate and weekday rates were just $18. But I did not want to walk to play poker at the El Cortez.
So my next trip to Vegas will again be
Terrible's and some strip area poker games.
Laughlin for free nights while I play poker and for a good long stay at River Palms.
The El Cortez for the end of the trip.
I'll fit in free downtown at Main Street Station or Four Queens if I have offers, but the Four Queens has reduced comps a bit for me. It is still a good offer $25/$50 2 for 1 with $50 freeplay, but only two night stretches.
snippet 2008 - gambling details
In the past I have played video poker in order to establish free room offers. However, the volatility of the 10/7 DB game I have learned makes it difficult for me to be confident that my bankroll will support a string of free rooms through a losing streak.
also, my first love in gambling has become live poker..It is more complex. I do not have to play against the casino house edge. And as my game improves I expect that it will generate more wins. Also, just as I have established my play in places like the Orleans and the El Cortez, they have downgraded their games and their comps. I fear that the Four Queens is also going that route. At the Orleans I enjoyed a long string of free rooms during the last month they had full pay DB, but at the El Cortez I had lost a good bit of money when the good free room mailings stopped. So I lost my invested play.
This trip I discovered that Laughlin still has full pay VP and a really fine 2-6 spread limit poker game that at the River Palms will earn me free rooms, one room for every quad hand and for every 6 hours of play. That is unique in the country as far as I can tell.
At the same time I did want to seed a couple places in Laughlin for future trip offers. I was going to try it at the Colorado Belle, but just before I left they downgraded their comps on full pay machines. Some posters thought that I might still generate room offers, but I did not trust that. So I just played at Aquarius and at the River Palms, although I realize that the River Palms is probably not a good investment after this trip because I will be there many days on live poker comps and will not have the VP bankroll to keep up my daily average.
I did fine in my play in both places, breaking about even on the VP. At the Aquarius a fine straight flush bailed me out of the worst downward streak. I had two there. At River Palms I went back in to play more in order to get 7 points for their Frenzy promotion, lost almost a hundred and then again was booted back to even with a quad. I swiped the Frenzy and just got $10, missing other chances of up to $200 just by a wrong icon pick.
My VP play in Vegas was not as good. I dropped $300 one day at Main Street Station when nothing much came. Before that I was about even with quads coming fine but flushes leaving me altogether and other lower pays draining the quad winnings, even Aces.
I did not play VP at the El Cortez other than one time when I dropped $20 in an 8/5 Bonus in order to get a free bass ale and after a bit of slow play hit quad 3's and cashed out with a good profit.
I did practice before going to Vegas on Dancer's video tutor. I also brought Tomski's Strategy sheets and Dancer's Double Bonus book with me. These are good resources but complicated to read. If you are just starting out in VP or have been overwhelmed by books and sheets, try the book and strategy cards (in the book ) by Linda Boyd called "The Video Poker Edge" This simplifies strategy, leaving out the obscure penalty plays. It also lists "taboo" plays. Sometimes knowing what not to do is as important in gaining some edge as knowing what to do. There is a rare discussion too on Class II and ClassIII games which are here in New York and in Tampa where I winter. These are insidious liars, lottery slots pretending to be VP machines. Luckily they do not exist in Vegas.
Linda's expertise can also be enjoyed at:
http://www.midwestgamingandtravel.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=2
My live poker play was fine. I lost $300 one day in a 3-6 game at the Golden Nugget and otherwise broke about even. In that game was an interesting player, a Black woman with a "bad hair day" cap and the most abrasive attitude ever. I wondered if it was just part of an act to rile the other players. She went into the most bitchy rants when anyone said anything she thought wrong.
One fellow wondered to his neighbor why she had not raised with a good straight and she went off on him, lecturing as if she were the poker Queen. Another who lost with his trip sevens to her nut flush said she had been lucky on the river (that the board had not paired) and she went on and on about how could he say she had been "lucky" when she had the nut hand and bet the nut hand and she was still lecturing two hands later when by her definition she had been "lucky.' Well, I'll tell you, it seemed that there were more nuts than just good cards at this table.
One of the old white haired fellows who she went off on tuned out to be recognised later as a well known coach at one of the colleges (perhaps Arizona) by a tall Black man who may have played basketball where he coached, but not directly with him. This fellow just rolled his eyes at "bad Hair Day" princess and her antics. If she wasn't just pretending, then perhaps she was just borderline bi-polar because she did seem to bond well with another player who came to sit next to her. it was then I saw that the permanently downturned mouth of hers could actually laugh.
I avoided direct confrontation until she started to lobby the dealer to add a kill to the game. She asked for a vote. I spoke up and said, "I don't want a kill, so the vote is now over."
"Yes," she said, "it only takes one dissenter."
Others were in agreement with me. After they left and the subject came up again, she whined, "Yes, there is only one person who does not want the kill." I wanted to say something like, "Awwww, did the Princess not get her way about something." but I kept still.
She was a good player. There were other good players too. I lost big there. I think it was a bit too aggressive a table. Also, I just never got cards that flopped.
My play otherwise was fine. No big wins. I loved the 2-6 spread in Laughlin. At Colorado Belle this had a kill, but it was not a crazy group so the kill did not influence my play except to tighten it to play only super premium hands after I had won one pot so as not to lose six dollars of my second pot to a third.
The River Palms did not have a kill. They also had one other interesting form of poker. Anyone at at 2-4 or 2-6 limit game who wanted to play no limit could request an "over" button. Then in any round where all the limit players were eliminated, leaving only the 'over" buttons, the game morphed into no limit. In one 2-4 I held my limit status, but whenever I folded all other players were playing no limit so I had some good games to watch. I also had the advantage of seeing my opponents and watching them play a while. I could request an "over" button at any time, so had I detected play I thought I might beat, I would have joined in. Finally, the 2-4 game was much less loose because players did not want to just throw money at any cards if they thought in the last round it might be a no limit game. I liked all of that.
In a 2- 6 game a very new young Spanish speaking kid decided to play no limit. At the table was an aggressive player. I worried the kid would get killed. The last hand of the morning came when the flop was 10-10-7. Mr aggressive went all in because he A-X of clubs and there were two on the flop. The kid called with just a seven. The turn was a club making the one fellow's hand, but the river was a third 10 giving the kid a full house. He must have collected 2-3 hundred dollars on that pot.
This definitely was not a no limit game I wanted to be in.
I hit four 3's for $200. It was one of the many bonus pays. The River Palms rakes $3 and then takes $2 for bonus pays. So does the Colorado Belle. Compare this to the $5 rake plus $1 for bonus hands that any Harrah's property extracts. My 3's were worth so much because there was a picture card on the flop. This also got me a certificate for a free room within 6 months as did another hand of four three's even though on that one I did not get a bonus as I held just one three.
Actually, it was just a fluke that I got that room certificate. I had raised on the river saying "twelve" which the dealer at first took for "call." I brought out enough money so my bet was safe, but it raised doubt in my opponents when they folded. So I showed my fourth 3 just to set minds at ease that I had not been playing a scam. With 4 3's I would of course raise on the river. The dealer than told me that I would get a free room.
These rooms are a great benefit as they can be used on the weekends too and patched in with other offers as well. They will work to make the River Palms my main casino.
At El Cortez I had fun as always. There is is more the players than the cards. I made a bit of money, but not very much. Details on my opponents can be seen at the next snippet.
I usually play about seven pulls a day on the Megabucks with the money I don't spend on State lottery tickets all year. I still want the fantasy of megamillions, but not at over 50% virorish. I did not do very much on the Megabucks. One trip i hit for $900 and that was also how much I was up for the entire trip. Not this time. I went on tilt one afternoon while I was waiting for a friend for supper and played a bunch of different slots. I never play slots. I regret I played them then. i was not feeling right and was bored.
also, my first love in gambling has become live poker..It is more complex. I do not have to play against the casino house edge. And as my game improves I expect that it will generate more wins. Also, just as I have established my play in places like the Orleans and the El Cortez, they have downgraded their games and their comps. I fear that the Four Queens is also going that route. At the Orleans I enjoyed a long string of free rooms during the last month they had full pay DB, but at the El Cortez I had lost a good bit of money when the good free room mailings stopped. So I lost my invested play.
This trip I discovered that Laughlin still has full pay VP and a really fine 2-6 spread limit poker game that at the River Palms will earn me free rooms, one room for every quad hand and for every 6 hours of play. That is unique in the country as far as I can tell.
At the same time I did want to seed a couple places in Laughlin for future trip offers. I was going to try it at the Colorado Belle, but just before I left they downgraded their comps on full pay machines. Some posters thought that I might still generate room offers, but I did not trust that. So I just played at Aquarius and at the River Palms, although I realize that the River Palms is probably not a good investment after this trip because I will be there many days on live poker comps and will not have the VP bankroll to keep up my daily average.
I did fine in my play in both places, breaking about even on the VP. At the Aquarius a fine straight flush bailed me out of the worst downward streak. I had two there. At River Palms I went back in to play more in order to get 7 points for their Frenzy promotion, lost almost a hundred and then again was booted back to even with a quad. I swiped the Frenzy and just got $10, missing other chances of up to $200 just by a wrong icon pick.
My VP play in Vegas was not as good. I dropped $300 one day at Main Street Station when nothing much came. Before that I was about even with quads coming fine but flushes leaving me altogether and other lower pays draining the quad winnings, even Aces.
I did not play VP at the El Cortez other than one time when I dropped $20 in an 8/5 Bonus in order to get a free bass ale and after a bit of slow play hit quad 3's and cashed out with a good profit.
I did practice before going to Vegas on Dancer's video tutor. I also brought Tomski's Strategy sheets and Dancer's Double Bonus book with me. These are good resources but complicated to read. If you are just starting out in VP or have been overwhelmed by books and sheets, try the book and strategy cards (in the book ) by Linda Boyd called "The Video Poker Edge" This simplifies strategy, leaving out the obscure penalty plays. It also lists "taboo" plays. Sometimes knowing what not to do is as important in gaining some edge as knowing what to do. There is a rare discussion too on Class II and ClassIII games which are here in New York and in Tampa where I winter. These are insidious liars, lottery slots pretending to be VP machines. Luckily they do not exist in Vegas.
Linda's expertise can also be enjoyed at:
http://www.midwestgamingandtravel.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=2
My live poker play was fine. I lost $300 one day in a 3-6 game at the Golden Nugget and otherwise broke about even. In that game was an interesting player, a Black woman with a "bad hair day" cap and the most abrasive attitude ever. I wondered if it was just part of an act to rile the other players. She went into the most bitchy rants when anyone said anything she thought wrong.
One fellow wondered to his neighbor why she had not raised with a good straight and she went off on him, lecturing as if she were the poker Queen. Another who lost with his trip sevens to her nut flush said she had been lucky on the river (that the board had not paired) and she went on and on about how could he say she had been "lucky" when she had the nut hand and bet the nut hand and she was still lecturing two hands later when by her definition she had been "lucky.' Well, I'll tell you, it seemed that there were more nuts than just good cards at this table.
One of the old white haired fellows who she went off on tuned out to be recognised later as a well known coach at one of the colleges (perhaps Arizona) by a tall Black man who may have played basketball where he coached, but not directly with him. This fellow just rolled his eyes at "bad Hair Day" princess and her antics. If she wasn't just pretending, then perhaps she was just borderline bi-polar because she did seem to bond well with another player who came to sit next to her. it was then I saw that the permanently downturned mouth of hers could actually laugh.
I avoided direct confrontation until she started to lobby the dealer to add a kill to the game. She asked for a vote. I spoke up and said, "I don't want a kill, so the vote is now over."
"Yes," she said, "it only takes one dissenter."
Others were in agreement with me. After they left and the subject came up again, she whined, "Yes, there is only one person who does not want the kill." I wanted to say something like, "Awwww, did the Princess not get her way about something." but I kept still.
She was a good player. There were other good players too. I lost big there. I think it was a bit too aggressive a table. Also, I just never got cards that flopped.
My play otherwise was fine. No big wins. I loved the 2-6 spread in Laughlin. At Colorado Belle this had a kill, but it was not a crazy group so the kill did not influence my play except to tighten it to play only super premium hands after I had won one pot so as not to lose six dollars of my second pot to a third.
The River Palms did not have a kill. They also had one other interesting form of poker. Anyone at at 2-4 or 2-6 limit game who wanted to play no limit could request an "over" button. Then in any round where all the limit players were eliminated, leaving only the 'over" buttons, the game morphed into no limit. In one 2-4 I held my limit status, but whenever I folded all other players were playing no limit so I had some good games to watch. I also had the advantage of seeing my opponents and watching them play a while. I could request an "over" button at any time, so had I detected play I thought I might beat, I would have joined in. Finally, the 2-4 game was much less loose because players did not want to just throw money at any cards if they thought in the last round it might be a no limit game. I liked all of that.
In a 2- 6 game a very new young Spanish speaking kid decided to play no limit. At the table was an aggressive player. I worried the kid would get killed. The last hand of the morning came when the flop was 10-10-7. Mr aggressive went all in because he A-X of clubs and there were two on the flop. The kid called with just a seven. The turn was a club making the one fellow's hand, but the river was a third 10 giving the kid a full house. He must have collected 2-3 hundred dollars on that pot.
This definitely was not a no limit game I wanted to be in.
I hit four 3's for $200. It was one of the many bonus pays. The River Palms rakes $3 and then takes $2 for bonus pays. So does the Colorado Belle. Compare this to the $5 rake plus $1 for bonus hands that any Harrah's property extracts. My 3's were worth so much because there was a picture card on the flop. This also got me a certificate for a free room within 6 months as did another hand of four three's even though on that one I did not get a bonus as I held just one three.
Actually, it was just a fluke that I got that room certificate. I had raised on the river saying "twelve" which the dealer at first took for "call." I brought out enough money so my bet was safe, but it raised doubt in my opponents when they folded. So I showed my fourth 3 just to set minds at ease that I had not been playing a scam. With 4 3's I would of course raise on the river. The dealer than told me that I would get a free room.
These rooms are a great benefit as they can be used on the weekends too and patched in with other offers as well. They will work to make the River Palms my main casino.
At El Cortez I had fun as always. There is is more the players than the cards. I made a bit of money, but not very much. Details on my opponents can be seen at the next snippet.
I usually play about seven pulls a day on the Megabucks with the money I don't spend on State lottery tickets all year. I still want the fantasy of megamillions, but not at over 50% virorish. I did not do very much on the Megabucks. One trip i hit for $900 and that was also how much I was up for the entire trip. Not this time. I went on tilt one afternoon while I was waiting for a friend for supper and played a bunch of different slots. I never play slots. I regret I played them then. i was not feeling right and was bored.
Characters of the El Cortez
In every one of my Vegas adventures over the past few years, the El Cortez poker room has played a memorable part.
Entering the world of live El Cortez poker falls just short of that Twilight Zone "journey into a wondrous land, whose boundaries are only that of the imagination." After a few Myer's Rums, I can easily imagine that you have been transported to another dimension of time and space.
Much of the "romantic charm" of the poker room is due to the sometimes bizarre assortment of characters, most with idiosyncratic personalities that yield table images of grumpy, funny, or caustic....true images, totally unintended.
Last visit I wrote a long narrative of one adventure which many enjoyed. To read that use this link:
http://vegasbirthdaybash.blogspot.com/2008/05/tr-snippets-el-cortez-narratives.html#links
Other than Marine Guy, the characters in that narrative were there again for me to enjoy.
I have played so long and often at the El Cortez, that although I am a tourist, some of them know me, and I get to know more and more of the characters who frequent that unique place each time I visit.
I have written in past trip reports of Action Jackson, the energetic gambler, of Jackie Gaughn, the multimillionaire former casino owner and I saw both of these fellows this trip. Action did not like playing at my table. I was not lucky enough to have Jackie seated at my table, but the players were there in the magic that is El Cortez live poker.
More common were players like Larry. He got so angry that the floor would not change the television station to the Belmont horse races, that he later conspired to intentionally dump a drink on the floor's paperwork. The angry floor person threw him out. I had earlier asked Larry where he played and he had answered that he played all over, wherever they had not thrown him out.
"How do you get thrown out?" I asked.
"Usually, I get into a fight." he answered. And so it was before the end of the day.
Also, playing was an overweight, scruffy old fellow in a motorized car. He seemed to always fall on my left. Then I would try for a seat change. He noticed it and thought it was something personal about him, but it was simply that he might raise, and when he did, I would have to fold or catch. I would have liked him on my right, but he never played there. I did often have good players on my right and I was glad of it. One Vietnamese player, who plays everyday, was there for a while until he got a table change. He once told us he averages about $30 a day playing tight every day. He was another player who I did not want to call, although once I caught him in a bluff.
Having tight predictable players to my right is my preference. In one scenario I had Mr. Loose who raised with anything on my left, and a loose caller on his left. I used them to bet for me when I had solid cards after the flop. The table would call him and then I would trap them in a reraise.
It bothered him.
Eventually, it destroyed him, along with other good play at the table.
This time I also watched Jimmy ( a regular originally from New Jersey) who had that classic Italian look somewhere between Dean Martin and a Soprano's character; he had once been appealing, only now with a good bit of aging and some added weight, he had lost his good looking edge. He did some jokes and talked about being a stand up comedian. He was a master player, playing only a few hands but with perfect confidence. He beat me when his ace-king two pair was higher than my A-8 two pair and I had raised on the river. I could see that Action Jackson admired his play.
I saw again a small, thin Vietnamese player who rarely talks and plays many small cards, so that when it flops little ones and he is betting, the table groans and thinks "small straight."
One regular who reminds me a bit of a rabbit, kept complaining about how badly everyone at the table played this game. Generally I find such complainers are annoyed because they cannot put unpredictable people on hands. However, one had this fellow called on the river was so low that no one who knew the game should have played it. Nothing was said. I wondered if everyone wanted him to keep building this myth that he was the better player, and then lose.
There was also a middle aged woman with good play. She had long brown hair and was quiet and contained. I had not seen her before, but I will remember her. If she was in a pot, she had the nut.
Norman was there every day. He is an old, unhappy fellow, perhaps a German, with unkempt grey hair, a cane, a perpetual grump on his face, who walks or sits staring directly ahead with little aknowledgement of any other players. His companion is a young, smiling college aged boy with long blond hair who looks so femine that I first thought he was an attractive girl. I watched Norm have a fit when he thought he had to post the one dollar blind two hands in a row. He called the floor and complained. he would not give up the argument.
Finally, they just gave him the dollar to move the game a long. "I am not a child," he remarked.
But, clearly, he was in second childhood, or senility. At an earlier time I watched as they repetitively tried to break him out of a long, trance like stare to get him to act. He was very tight, often gone from the table, and yet it seemed when he did decide to play a hand, he chose hands that were not prime. I never played long enough at a table with his companion to know how the kid played.
There were some functional people with interesting stories. There was a fisherman who had just finished catching fine trout way up in the mountains of Utah and discussed recipes with the most adept dealer, Karen, who also likes to cook trout, wrapped in aluminum with barbecue sauce.
There was person preparing to walk to Florida just for the experience. He had done long biking trails and this was next. He said he never trained for such adventures and the first week was hell, but after that it was wonderful to be out walking alone.
Old wrinkled Lila came with her walker and sat next to me one night. She must be near 90 years old and when she had difficulty following the game or was distracted by a lot of talking, she complained bitterly, as she did about all the dealers. She was the classic old grump.
She sat to my left and I had to look right over her cards to see the flop. I tried to tell her to better protect her hand, but she basically told me she only flashed unimportant cards and to mind my own play. Later I felt her old wrinkled hand moving along the bare skin of my leg.
"I don't know exactly where you are going with that hand, ma'am," I said to her.
"I just wanted to warm it up." she explained.
"Well, let me just take your hands in mine, and I'll warm them that way," I offered, and she let me, but told me not to rub them as the arthritis made them sore.
In spite of her craziness, I liked Lila. The dealers did not. She was high maintenance, easily confused, and angry if she felt in the least slighted. She slowed the game. When one of her string bets was limited by one dealer, she announced that she would not tip that dealer. She did not like him. He smiled and told her that he did not really need her money. Later she confused another dealer with him, deciding she did not like that dealer either and withholding more tips.
To my right were young people.
One fellow was playing for the first time, and behind him his girlfriend who was delightedly bubbly with being in Vegas.
I envied her.
Every small part of the casino was new and great fun. She went to get some chips, just so she could clack them together while her man played. They talked in a fast paced banter, mostly about modern video games, a conversation which made me feel the distance of my age, feel as old to them as Lila felt to me. He worked for Hotels.com and we talked a bit about booking with discounters. I shared with him my own marketing ideas and he said they made sense and that he'd bring them up in a meeting, but he was more on the technical end. he did reassure me that there were no cancelation fees with Hotel.com. I had heard this, but never booked with them to experience the truth of it.
The other young fellow, Chris, sat directly to my left and was one of those folks who likes "ritual speech" and perseverates the same talk over and over like a television commercial. One of his favorites was a commercial for the El Cortez which he repeated at least a hundred times. It had to do with winning caps and jackets.
The other ritualistic repetition would always start in this pattern,
"Chris wants more bad beats with his bad beats and even more bad beats with all bad beats, and if he does not get more bad beats with his bad beats, he is going to have to give someone a German."
People laughed at this because the repetition itself was funny, but no one at the table knew that it was referring to this wrestler who developed a hold called the "German suplex' and then went on to murder his whole family and himself.
http://www.idiotbrain.com/wwe-wrestler-chris-benoit-kills-family-himself/2007-06-26
Somehow the story had caught this kid's attention and become part of joke banter with his friends, and so he rehearsed it when he as waiting for cards or when he lost a hand on the river.
I don't mean to suggest this kid was crazy. He was friendly and sane in every way. He was in the army, but he did not talk about it. He was having a great time playing poker on such little money. His buddy John at the other end of the table hit a straight flush that became the second ranked high hand of that day and won him $150. Perhaps the "ritual talk" helped Chris stay calm in tough Army situations. At any rate, he was fun to banter with, and it was amusing when old Lila would admonish us to be quiet and stop having "diarrhea of the mouth."
In between Lila's small rants, her complaints about my talking and joking, I tried to take good care of her, getting her a tray when she needed it, or helping her with her confusion. In spite of her snarly ways, I liked her, and there were times when she laughed and I could see in her the girl of many decades earlier who was strong willed and assertive but good humored, who was not always cold and uncomfortable and in need of a walker just to change seats.
A tourist who played around this time spoke to me at breakfast about all of this. She had enjoyed the poker, but Lila had made her uncomfortable. She taught special ed for a living, but this was strange and new to her. She was perplexed in dealing with Lila. That made me chuckle.
I had a fine and friendly exchange with Q, a black fellow who is in a mood of constant celebration. He is the absolute opposite of Norman. I remembered him from last April. He is cheerful and laughing whether he wins or loses, one of the few at the table who shares my pleasure in the irony or randomness and can delight in the game which ever way it goes.
And there was an old drunk with one of those large, swelled noses that drunks get, who talked constantly and played very badly. He was there twice when I played, but one time he got lucky so he was there a bit longer. It was not so much that he was excessively drunk that night, but that you assumed he was a little drunk most nights. He loved and flirted with one of the women dealers, saying he was still young enough to fall in love. He often decided not to bet a strong hand, and when he did, he talked about how he liked his opponent and was going to play, "like a gentleman."
The true gentleman however is always Jackie, dressed to the nines, and I was disappointed not to play with him. He is failing. I only heard, "One for the money!" once in my three days there. The shuttle driver told me he had known Jackie well years ago when he was still competent. He said that Jackie was always free with show tickets or tips and that he was on of the few bosses ready to give someone who screwed up a second chance. Those were the old days of Vegas, before corporations ran things. I asked too if Jackie had ever traveled and was told he had when his wife was alive. I was glad to here that because I wondered if the business kept him stuck in casinos all the time with no time to enjoy his millions.
Players come in electric chairs or with oxygen in their noses. They come happy or mad. Some get mad at me if I trap them on the river. I definitely know the play of many of them and that helps me pick a seat and decide on borderline hands.
Each trip I collect a few more characters. I play often enough that the floor knows me, but most of the players who I have played with do not remember me because I come for a few days and then I am gone, like all tourists. I more easily remember them because they are usually there when I arrive.
Because of this delightful John Steinbeck-like collection of characters, I always make the El Cortez my final stop in any Vegas trip. This time I was there three days for $60 using a POV coupon. Their free shuttle to the airport adds value to my stay, but I would probably stay anyway, so that when I can't sleep at 3 AM, I can throw on some clothes, not shave, and fit in easily with the motley collection of poker players at the El Cortez.
Entering the world of live El Cortez poker falls just short of that Twilight Zone "journey into a wondrous land, whose boundaries are only that of the imagination." After a few Myer's Rums, I can easily imagine that you have been transported to another dimension of time and space.
Much of the "romantic charm" of the poker room is due to the sometimes bizarre assortment of characters, most with idiosyncratic personalities that yield table images of grumpy, funny, or caustic....true images, totally unintended.
Last visit I wrote a long narrative of one adventure which many enjoyed. To read that use this link:
http://vegasbirthdaybash.blogspot.com/2008/05/tr-snippets-el-cortez-narratives.html#links
Other than Marine Guy, the characters in that narrative were there again for me to enjoy.
I have played so long and often at the El Cortez, that although I am a tourist, some of them know me, and I get to know more and more of the characters who frequent that unique place each time I visit.
I have written in past trip reports of Action Jackson, the energetic gambler, of Jackie Gaughn, the multimillionaire former casino owner and I saw both of these fellows this trip. Action did not like playing at my table. I was not lucky enough to have Jackie seated at my table, but the players were there in the magic that is El Cortez live poker.
More common were players like Larry. He got so angry that the floor would not change the television station to the Belmont horse races, that he later conspired to intentionally dump a drink on the floor's paperwork. The angry floor person threw him out. I had earlier asked Larry where he played and he had answered that he played all over, wherever they had not thrown him out.
"How do you get thrown out?" I asked.
"Usually, I get into a fight." he answered. And so it was before the end of the day.
Also, playing was an overweight, scruffy old fellow in a motorized car. He seemed to always fall on my left. Then I would try for a seat change. He noticed it and thought it was something personal about him, but it was simply that he might raise, and when he did, I would have to fold or catch. I would have liked him on my right, but he never played there. I did often have good players on my right and I was glad of it. One Vietnamese player, who plays everyday, was there for a while until he got a table change. He once told us he averages about $30 a day playing tight every day. He was another player who I did not want to call, although once I caught him in a bluff.
Having tight predictable players to my right is my preference. In one scenario I had Mr. Loose who raised with anything on my left, and a loose caller on his left. I used them to bet for me when I had solid cards after the flop. The table would call him and then I would trap them in a reraise.
It bothered him.
Eventually, it destroyed him, along with other good play at the table.
This time I also watched Jimmy ( a regular originally from New Jersey) who had that classic Italian look somewhere between Dean Martin and a Soprano's character; he had once been appealing, only now with a good bit of aging and some added weight, he had lost his good looking edge. He did some jokes and talked about being a stand up comedian. He was a master player, playing only a few hands but with perfect confidence. He beat me when his ace-king two pair was higher than my A-8 two pair and I had raised on the river. I could see that Action Jackson admired his play.
I saw again a small, thin Vietnamese player who rarely talks and plays many small cards, so that when it flops little ones and he is betting, the table groans and thinks "small straight."
One regular who reminds me a bit of a rabbit, kept complaining about how badly everyone at the table played this game. Generally I find such complainers are annoyed because they cannot put unpredictable people on hands. However, one had this fellow called on the river was so low that no one who knew the game should have played it. Nothing was said. I wondered if everyone wanted him to keep building this myth that he was the better player, and then lose.
There was also a middle aged woman with good play. She had long brown hair and was quiet and contained. I had not seen her before, but I will remember her. If she was in a pot, she had the nut.
Norman was there every day. He is an old, unhappy fellow, perhaps a German, with unkempt grey hair, a cane, a perpetual grump on his face, who walks or sits staring directly ahead with little aknowledgement of any other players. His companion is a young, smiling college aged boy with long blond hair who looks so femine that I first thought he was an attractive girl. I watched Norm have a fit when he thought he had to post the one dollar blind two hands in a row. He called the floor and complained. he would not give up the argument.
Finally, they just gave him the dollar to move the game a long. "I am not a child," he remarked.
But, clearly, he was in second childhood, or senility. At an earlier time I watched as they repetitively tried to break him out of a long, trance like stare to get him to act. He was very tight, often gone from the table, and yet it seemed when he did decide to play a hand, he chose hands that were not prime. I never played long enough at a table with his companion to know how the kid played.
There were some functional people with interesting stories. There was a fisherman who had just finished catching fine trout way up in the mountains of Utah and discussed recipes with the most adept dealer, Karen, who also likes to cook trout, wrapped in aluminum with barbecue sauce.
There was person preparing to walk to Florida just for the experience. He had done long biking trails and this was next. He said he never trained for such adventures and the first week was hell, but after that it was wonderful to be out walking alone.
Old wrinkled Lila came with her walker and sat next to me one night. She must be near 90 years old and when she had difficulty following the game or was distracted by a lot of talking, she complained bitterly, as she did about all the dealers. She was the classic old grump.
She sat to my left and I had to look right over her cards to see the flop. I tried to tell her to better protect her hand, but she basically told me she only flashed unimportant cards and to mind my own play. Later I felt her old wrinkled hand moving along the bare skin of my leg.
"I don't know exactly where you are going with that hand, ma'am," I said to her.
"I just wanted to warm it up." she explained.
"Well, let me just take your hands in mine, and I'll warm them that way," I offered, and she let me, but told me not to rub them as the arthritis made them sore.
In spite of her craziness, I liked Lila. The dealers did not. She was high maintenance, easily confused, and angry if she felt in the least slighted. She slowed the game. When one of her string bets was limited by one dealer, she announced that she would not tip that dealer. She did not like him. He smiled and told her that he did not really need her money. Later she confused another dealer with him, deciding she did not like that dealer either and withholding more tips.
To my right were young people.
One fellow was playing for the first time, and behind him his girlfriend who was delightedly bubbly with being in Vegas.
I envied her.
Every small part of the casino was new and great fun. She went to get some chips, just so she could clack them together while her man played. They talked in a fast paced banter, mostly about modern video games, a conversation which made me feel the distance of my age, feel as old to them as Lila felt to me. He worked for Hotels.com and we talked a bit about booking with discounters. I shared with him my own marketing ideas and he said they made sense and that he'd bring them up in a meeting, but he was more on the technical end. he did reassure me that there were no cancelation fees with Hotel.com. I had heard this, but never booked with them to experience the truth of it.
The other young fellow, Chris, sat directly to my left and was one of those folks who likes "ritual speech" and perseverates the same talk over and over like a television commercial. One of his favorites was a commercial for the El Cortez which he repeated at least a hundred times. It had to do with winning caps and jackets.
The other ritualistic repetition would always start in this pattern,
"Chris wants more bad beats with his bad beats and even more bad beats with all bad beats, and if he does not get more bad beats with his bad beats, he is going to have to give someone a German."
People laughed at this because the repetition itself was funny, but no one at the table knew that it was referring to this wrestler who developed a hold called the "German suplex' and then went on to murder his whole family and himself.
http://www.idiotbrain.com/wwe-wrestler-chris-benoit-kills-family-himself/2007-06-26
Somehow the story had caught this kid's attention and become part of joke banter with his friends, and so he rehearsed it when he as waiting for cards or when he lost a hand on the river.
I don't mean to suggest this kid was crazy. He was friendly and sane in every way. He was in the army, but he did not talk about it. He was having a great time playing poker on such little money. His buddy John at the other end of the table hit a straight flush that became the second ranked high hand of that day and won him $150. Perhaps the "ritual talk" helped Chris stay calm in tough Army situations. At any rate, he was fun to banter with, and it was amusing when old Lila would admonish us to be quiet and stop having "diarrhea of the mouth."
In between Lila's small rants, her complaints about my talking and joking, I tried to take good care of her, getting her a tray when she needed it, or helping her with her confusion. In spite of her snarly ways, I liked her, and there were times when she laughed and I could see in her the girl of many decades earlier who was strong willed and assertive but good humored, who was not always cold and uncomfortable and in need of a walker just to change seats.
A tourist who played around this time spoke to me at breakfast about all of this. She had enjoyed the poker, but Lila had made her uncomfortable. She taught special ed for a living, but this was strange and new to her. She was perplexed in dealing with Lila. That made me chuckle.
I had a fine and friendly exchange with Q, a black fellow who is in a mood of constant celebration. He is the absolute opposite of Norman. I remembered him from last April. He is cheerful and laughing whether he wins or loses, one of the few at the table who shares my pleasure in the irony or randomness and can delight in the game which ever way it goes.
And there was an old drunk with one of those large, swelled noses that drunks get, who talked constantly and played very badly. He was there twice when I played, but one time he got lucky so he was there a bit longer. It was not so much that he was excessively drunk that night, but that you assumed he was a little drunk most nights. He loved and flirted with one of the women dealers, saying he was still young enough to fall in love. He often decided not to bet a strong hand, and when he did, he talked about how he liked his opponent and was going to play, "like a gentleman."
The true gentleman however is always Jackie, dressed to the nines, and I was disappointed not to play with him. He is failing. I only heard, "One for the money!" once in my three days there. The shuttle driver told me he had known Jackie well years ago when he was still competent. He said that Jackie was always free with show tickets or tips and that he was on of the few bosses ready to give someone who screwed up a second chance. Those were the old days of Vegas, before corporations ran things. I asked too if Jackie had ever traveled and was told he had when his wife was alive. I was glad to here that because I wondered if the business kept him stuck in casinos all the time with no time to enjoy his millions.
Players come in electric chairs or with oxygen in their noses. They come happy or mad. Some get mad at me if I trap them on the river. I definitely know the play of many of them and that helps me pick a seat and decide on borderline hands.
Each trip I collect a few more characters. I play often enough that the floor knows me, but most of the players who I have played with do not remember me because I come for a few days and then I am gone, like all tourists. I more easily remember them because they are usually there when I arrive.
Because of this delightful John Steinbeck-like collection of characters, I always make the El Cortez my final stop in any Vegas trip. This time I was there three days for $60 using a POV coupon. Their free shuttle to the airport adds value to my stay, but I would probably stay anyway, so that when I can't sleep at 3 AM, I can throw on some clothes, not shave, and fit in easily with the motley collection of poker players at the El Cortez.
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