Been Awhile...

It's been awhile since a new thread was started in this sub-forum, so I thought I'd help out with that.

For non-gambling reasons that I do not care to discuss at this time, my bankroll was seriously depleted to about $150. Tiltpoul can verify that there are reasons that precede this post and that they are not gambling related. I care not to get into details.

It was due to this depletion that I decided to go for broke with the pittance of a bankroll that I left myself. I entered the Wheeling Island Racetrack and Casino at approximately 3:30a.m. this morning, after having played VP and broke even (well, a little ahead, but even after the tip) at a local cafe because the machines automatically shut off at 3:30.

I was committed to either do or die. I went ahead and started with Sex & The City to try to find my, "Rhythm," even though no such thing actually exists. Sex & The City is a fairly decent machine, in my opinion, due to the fact that you will hit many bonus games in a short frame of time...even if over half of them are just next to worthless. This is because the pays for the base game are...well...abyssmal would be an improvement.

In any event, I was about even after fifteen minutes, maybe five or so dollars ahead. I decided to quit and go to the $0.05 9-Line Max 5 Credits/Line QuickHits Progressive. I don't know why I did this, I don't play Progressives. I believe it may have been Blazing 7's. I was at this machine for only five minutes, betting max, when I hit for some free games which, long story short, put me $60 ahead. I went over to Wheel of Fortune (it is the actual licensed game, btw, it's just quieter than one would expect) anyway, I plowed through $20 on it, betting max, in maybe thirty seconds.

Enough of that.

I went over to Blue Moon and blazed through $20 in twenty minutes only abetting $0.60 (30 Lines * 2/Line) a pull. I managed to hit one bonus game on there, but it was inconsequential. It probably kept me in that seat five minutes longer and that was the extent of it.

I'm up $20 at this point, so I meandered over near the Non-Smoking area and played $0.05 Double Diamond Run betting 5 Lines at 5/Line. I had a few hits and a bonus game early on that put me about $20 ahead on that machine alone, so I decided to Max Bet. 9 Lines * 5/Line. I went on a Double Diamond Run, doubled up on the bonus games (another Double Diamond Run) and essentially ended up $80 ahead on that machine via the bonus game and hits that, taken alone, would have been inconsequential.

I'm $100 ahead at this point, but the plan was to double or bust, I'm getting tired, so I decided to go to tables to regroup and configure my slots plan.

In any event, I'm passing the $5.00 Double Diamond on my way over to the tables...not really passing...more like saw out of the corner of my eye, so I decided to try to get $50 quick. Instead, I lost $50.00 quick and was now $50 ahead.

I carried out the original plan to go to the tables so I went over to Craps and bought in for $40 in $5 chips as that was the minimum. I'm playing my Dont's, and I am just throwing Snake Eyes and Threes on the Come-Out like it is going out of style. I had a Snake Eyes followed by three consecutive threes. I roll a four next and lay the odds, seven-out, but I'm the only player, so I keep going. I roll a nine, lay the odds, seven-out. I roll an eight and do not lay the odds, make my point. I followed that with a four and laid the odds and lost. I bought $1 chips at some point. I followed this up with two more favorable Come-Outs, a three and another Snake Eyes, and then spend the next $20 playing for the dealers. The dealers end up with $18, my Dont's for them lost because I kept making points, but I was also putting $1 chips on the Hard-Aways, and they hit for two of those.

I go over to Roulette and put $5 on Red and then paint the corners around Black-29. I called, "Two corners," and got it, amazingly! That won $20 because I lost on three corners (the third was nowhere near that, you have to bet $5 up top, total). I then won on red, but lost on my four corners and one other corner bet I had to make because it has to be $5 up top and on bottom. I started only painting the corners around Black-29 playing $4 for myself and $4 for the dealer. I lost twice, but then the dealer and I both hit for $16. I guess I came out ahead $14. The corner pays 8:1. I put $5 on Red and said, "Dealer," and it hit for Red. He ended up with $26, which is cool.

I guess I left the Craps Table $17 ahead after tokes and left Roulette either $2 or $7 ahead after tokes, don't remember.

I went to $2 Minimum $4 Maximum Blackjack they had going with a $0.25 ante, so that was cool. I put out $16 in Whites and 16 Quarters and told the dealer, "The longer I last, the more you make, I'm paying you a quarter per hand." I ended up going about thirty hands and was $5 ahead, so the dealer had made $7.50, he was new, so I put down the $5 and announced a bet for the dealer. I busted hitting 12 against a dealer ten, oh well.

I suppose I was only ahead either $19 or $26 dollars after an hour or so at the tables, but I had the fantastic opportunity to win the lonely dealers (I was the only one playing anything but $10 BJ) a total of $51.50, except I didn't technically win the BJ guy anything, I just paid him.


I went to Blue Moon and promptly lost $50 betting 30 Lines at 10/Line.

Things kind of got fuzzy at this point. I remember getting really tired and disoriented, so I just kind of meandered around trying $5.00 here, $10.00 there, got a cup of coffee. I really don't remember much until about 6:15 when the coffee started to kick in. The coffee kicked in and I found myself back at Sex and the City, but with only $70. I think I went to $10 BJ at some point in the interim, but I have no idea how I fared. I guess I fared poorly somewhere, because I only had $70 left!!!

I left Sex & The City and went over to $5.00/pull Five Times Pay. I lost another $50 pretty rapidly, and decided to just maximize my time because I was awake now, and this would be my last time in the casino for awhile. I did the Double Diamond Run $0.05 5 Lines * 5/Line, and it was maybe a half hour and I was down to $7.00.

I went to Coyote-Something, which I had never played before. I have no idea what the Hell happened except I left that machine with $65. I had trouble discerning how I won when I won, but I wasn't complaining. It would have made perfect sense had I been fully awake, but I was sleepy again...I had coffee with me though.

I went to stupid Davinci Diamonds playing some inconsequential amount, but it must have been consequential because I was down to $40 by 7:00, about fifteen minutes after I had sat down.

I went to a QuickHits Progressive $0.01 20-Lines * 10-Line, the one with all of the Wilds. It's a newer machine, very cutting-edge design, special Free Games graphics, the works.

I was hitting Free Games at an unbelievable pace! My $40 (or so) became $230 after about ten minutes.

I went over to Blue Moon and lost $20. I followed that up with something like Blue Moon, except instead of a Pays multiplier you get a spins multiplier, and that put me up to $300.

It was 7:30 and I went over to a Flat-Top QuickHits with all of the Wilds. I was very disappointed because, on my fifth pull, I ended up getting to draw free games, but I only ended up with 12 games at 2x (7 Games + Wild 5 Bonus). EDIT: IT WAS THE SAME 20 LINES * 10/LINE, except it was a flat-top.

The third Free Game yielded EIGHT QUICKHITS which, x2, equalled $4,000 on a $2.00 initial bet. (Technically, the bet was $0.00 according to the tax form, except I don't see how anyone considers anything, "Free," if you have to pay to have a chance of getting it, but, oh well)

I remember the Bonus Credits just ZOOMING up to 400,000+ and me sitting there having no idea what the Hell happened, for at least thirty seconds...just calmly looking at the Slots, and then it occurred to me that tuchus had just been kicked, and I exclaimed, "YYYYYYEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!!!!!!!"

The final total, after I had hit for more Free Games during the pendency on the first set, was $4,083.80.

I obviously required service, and while I was waiting on that, I managed to turn the $312 I had before that pull into $398. I played up and down for about ten minutes after the pay and ended up with an additional $382-something.

$4,465!!!!!!

I tipped each of the handpay people $50.00. I then went over to Craps (two/three were the same staff) and went the Wrong Way for $20 for the dealer. I rolled a 7 immediately, so I tossed down another twenty and just said, "For the dealer." The new BJ guy was still over there at his little $2.00 table that noone will play (and rightfully so) because of the ante, so I went over and laid down $20 saying, "For the dealer." The roulette croupier was now a female, but I felt bad considering that she sees me giving dealers tokes for no apparent reason, so why not her, so I gave her $20. I went over to the cage (even though I ticketed out my $382-something at the machine) and gace each of the two ladies back there $10.

I went to take a leak and gave the janitor a $20 and complimented him on, "A Hell of a job," because he was in the bathroom.

I left with $4,245, and a smile. I have the tax form and I will make a copy and fax it if anyone does not believe me. I have sent my first name and last initial, via PM, to a few people on here prior to today, so they can verify the match. It will be a copy, though, because I have to scratch out my SSN and Driver's License Number.

Best...Day...Ever, even if I was too tired to recall a good portion of it. I still haven't been asleep, wife had to work today, so I have the kids!!! I'm leaving for work in 45 minutes!

That tip for the janitor was classy. I had a $4K hit last month at VP here in town and I shoulda found a janitor too. Kudos on your wins...

Just put some back for the taxes! One of the most unfair things in the Federal Tax System is that you are taxed on your Gambling winnings and only allowed to take the deduction for gambling losses to offset it as an itemized deduction which puts you at a large disadvantage there also.

MidWestGB,

Thanks for the compliment, we got to give the guys keeping the seats clean some love when we can. There are any number of people that have disgusting restroom decorum, so they have a nasty job.

Quote: ncfatcat

Just put some back for the taxes! One of the most unfair things in the Federal Tax System is that you are taxed on your Gambling winnings and only allowed to take the deduction for gambling losses to offset it as an itemized deduction which puts you at a large disadvantage there also.

I have two kids and my wife and I will combine for under 50K, barring any other jackpots. I shouldn't have to worry about it. I will probably still get a pretty good refund on the Federal and owe the State of Ohio money, per the usual. I don't know why I always get a good Federal refund, but my taxes are always professionally done and by three different agencies in three years, so they must be right.

When you try to get student loans, those jackpots will be counted as part of your gross income !

Way to go Mission! Given what you're going through right now, I'm VERY happy for you.

If you haven't read my blog post, I will unfortunately be moving to Iowa, so if you're still interested in getting together at Scioto Downs this weekend, hit me up. Maybe you could turn some of that Free play into a lot of money.

Great hit and very generous of you.

Thank you for the compliment and congratulations, Teddys.

Quote: Tiltpoul

Way to go Mission! Given what you're going through right now, I'm VERY happy for you.

If you haven't read my blog post, I will unfortunately be moving to Iowa, so if you're still interested in getting together at Scioto Downs this weekend, hit me up. Maybe you could turn some of that Free play into a lot of money.

Thanks, Tiltpoul!

I should definitely congratulate you on your promotion, and no, I had not read your new blog entry prior to your post.

The big trip to Scioto Downs involving scores of people has been temporarily postponed for reasons of which I am not aware. Given that my Mom wanted to keep the kids overnight on Saturday and for most of the day Sunday, it's quite possible that I would make it out there sometime Sunday. I think that it is just going to be a matter of (hopefully) compelling my wife to go, she changes her mind about whether or not she wants to go every three milliseconds or so.

The main problem with this weekend is that there is so much housework at our own house to do, well, yardwork...and you know about the other issue...that's there's absolutely no way I am getting to go Sunday unless she decides to go with me. Her first reaction to the 4K was hanging up on me for being at the casino, quite literally, all night, and then she realized the 4K is somewhat of a mitigating factor and she called me back.

In any case, I'm going to try and hopefully make it out there on Sunday. I think this is technically Wednesday right now, not sure, still haven't slept, but I will give you a definite answer Thursday at the latest.

Quote: Mission146

I have two kids and my wife and I will combine for under 50K, barring any other jackpots. I shouldn't have to worry about it. I will probably still get a pretty good refund on the Federal and owe the State of Ohio money, per the usual. I don't know why I always get a good Federal refund, but my taxes are always professionally done and by three different agencies in three years, so they must be right.

Mission, you need some serious education on taxes!!! The ONLY reason you get a tax refund is because your employer sent too much tax to the government to begin with! You are basically giving the government an interest free loan! The 'professional' you use, if they haven't advised you to change the withholding, was not looking out for your best interests. It is AMAZING how many Americans think getting a big tax refund is good!!!!!
As far as the $4000 'income' that you will get added to your real income, that WILL cost you money. I don't know what your marginal tax rate is, but to use an example, say 17% federal and 3% state, then the added 4k WILL cost you $800.
I am not a jackpot player, so have never gotten a tax form, but others here have mentioned that to offset any winnings you need a journal, or if you use a players card, then a printout from the casino. If you are making 50k a year I cannot imagine that it is not worth it to you to do so.


And-- CONGRATS on the jackpot!

Quote: SOOPOO

Mission, you need some serious education on taxes!!! The ONLY reason you get a tax refund is because your employer sent too much tax to the government to begin with! You are basically giving the government an interest free loan! The 'professional' you use, if they haven't advised you to change the withholding, was not looking out for your best interests. It is AMAZING how many Americans think getting a big tax refund is good!!!!!
As far as the $4000 'income' that you will get added to your real income, that WILL cost you money. I don't know what your marginal tax rate is, but to use an example, say 17% federal and 3% state, then the added 4k WILL cost you $800.
I am not a jackpot player, so have never gotten a tax form, but others here have mentioned that to offset any winnings you need a journal, or if you use a players card, then a printout from the casino. If you are making 50k a year I cannot imagine that it is not worth it to you to do so.


And-- CONGRATS on the jackpot!

SOOPOO,

Thank you for the congratulations and the advice.

I believe the main reason we get such a big refund is because my wife and I have two kids and we qualify for the EITC, which is a huge reduction. I would actually underpay on my taxes were it not for these (and other) deductions. I'm also Religious about keeping receipts for things such as fuel/groceries and adding up necessary expenses and having all of that pre-calcculated for the tax professionals. My employer also does not offer health insurance, so those costs are an offset. I also make sure to acquire all of my interest paid statements, so that's an offset, as are...I believe...all student loan payments in their entirety.

Without these deductions, I believe that I underpay on taxes, which is why I always owe the Great State of Ohio money every year.

I also appreciate the last paragraph and assure you that I do keep a journal anytime I bring in $50, or more. The problem is that I keep my journal honest and have never lost money over the course of the year, so I end up claiming taxes on the profits in the journal, as well. This is only the second handpay of my life (the first being last year), but I've always done the form for gambling winnings.

I'm not so lucky on the slots that I fail to lose any money every year, in 2008, particularly, I would have been demoralized for about two grand on the year, but anytime I'm really hurting, I usually play some Limit Texas Hold 'Em (which I don't especially enjoy) to boost my bankroll. I think at the end of 2008 I only had $200-something to claim in journal winnings.

Tilt,

Good news!

My wife, unfortunately, has no interest in going to Scioto Downs. I believe she has a slight moral objection to gambling, for whatever reason, but respectfully understands that my penchant for gambling predated both our marriage and us ever meeting in the first place. The result is that I can usually only successfully compel her to come gambling with me on my brithday because, well, it's my birthday and we're going to do my favorite extracurricular activity, which is gambling!

I thought it would be different because of the literal, "Free money," and I explained to her that she, personally, did not have to gamble other than the freeplay, nor did she have to regamble the winnings after the freeplay was gone, but still no interest.

However, my wife is off tomorrow so she says that I may go out to Scioto Downs on Sunday provided I do the weed-eating before I go to work tomorrow. I have agreed with her stipulation.

The deal is that my Mom is still keeping the kids Saturday night because my wife has the family 4th of July party to go to. There's no getting a Saturday off for me, unfortunately, so I shall not be in attendance.

In any event, I am to pick the kids up in the early-middle evening hours (call it between 5p-7p) from my Mom's on Sunday, and Columbus is a two-hour drive for me, so I would like to meet there at 11:00a.m. or Noon if you would be amenable to doing so.

i bet half the members of this forum are sick because of what you wasted in tips...............ugh it was killing me just listening to the story

Yeah, he was really going for it in the tipping department...

Strictly AP & BigFoot66,

There are some nights that the minimums on everything are $10, one of the reasons I tip the way I do, (and that was actually a BIG tipping night for me, prior to the jackpot) is because the dealers will often put in a good word that they'd really like to have me play (when noone else is at the table) and I state that I will only sit down if the minimums are reduced to $5.00. I don't really play the tables all that much, yet not surprisingly, all of the dealers seem to know who I am.

The second reason is just karma, in general. Firm believer.

You have to think about where the RNG was when I hit the Free Games that led to the Jackpot and where it was when it actually hit the Jackpot. If anything happens differently during the course of my casino visit, it's quite probable that doesn't happen, Karma.

I went backed and tipped everyone after the Jackpot because that night was the best customer service I've ever had there. I mainly wanted to tip the Green-as-Hell BJ dealer because I felt bad for him. I doubt if anyone else played that table, but they'll usually only have it open to get a new dealer some live experience, otherwise, that table seems to usually be closed.

He made a minor mistake that I forget, then a major one and a minor one at the same time on the toke hand. I decided to be clownish about his bet, so I had 24 Whites and Five Quarters left. I placed the ante quarter and then stacked four quarters on top of four whites for his bet.

Mistakes:

1.) He let me overbet, the Table Maximum is $4. That's the major mistake.

2.) He can't let me bet with quarters, which I knew, just wanted to see if he'd catch it. He caught it, but he had already dealt the starting hands and peeked for BJ on his end. He alerted the pit boss which I told him not to worry about, then I removed the quarters and placed a dollar on top in place of the quarters. He explained all of this to the pit boss (who also didn't catch the overbet!) and just said, "Play on."

He was so green, and I got such a kick out of him letting me bet the quarters (I don't know why I thought that was so funny) that I couldn't leave without giving him a little something. I couldn't give him something and not the same Craps people, as well, so had to tip them, but then I felt bad for Roulette because she's seeing everyone get toked for what she probably thinks is no reason, so I toked her.

I always tip the janitors if I see them in the bathroom, I appreciate a clean latrene, the amount, of course, varies with how I am doing that night.

I hit my first jackpot for $1,250 in September of last year. I didn't realize you were supposed to tip the hand-payers, so I had not tipped them. I tipped them $50 each to make up for the bad Karma I probably took in from the time I didn't tip the handpayers. Lady Variance smiles warmly upon those who treat the casino employees well, at least, she did yesterday morning.

"lady variance smiles warmly upon those who treat the casino employees well"
You can treat them well without tipping them. If they get mad at you for not tipping or stop being nice to you,well then, they were just being phony anyways.

I usually play the slots for money and play the tables for the experience, (should be the other way around, right,) and a big part of the experience is having the dealer be excited to see me come to his/her table even though I always bet the minimums. I don't really care if it is a put-on or not, I'm a hotel manager, when I treat a frivolous or even so-so guest complaint with the utmost sincerity and respect I'm putting it on.

Quote: Hunterhill

You can treat them well without tipping them. If they get mad at you for not tipping or stop being nice to you,well then, they were just being phony anyways.

You can treat the store owner well without paying him for the merchandise you take. If he gets mad at you for not paying, or stops being nice to you, well then, he was just being phony anyways.

I agree with Nareed, and much in the same way that you could stop shopping at an individual's grocery, the toking will come to an end if the dealer behaves in a lethargic or apathetic way.

Quote: Nareed

You can treat the store owner well without paying him for the merchandise you take. If he gets mad at you for not paying, or stops being nice to you, well then, he was just being phony anyways.

Not tipping is not illegal,taking merchandise without paying is.

Nareed is entitled to enlighten with a bit of sarcasm.

You are without much apparent insight into how most casino employees are compensated, especially table games staff.

Even if one plays BJ for a living, one should tip his dealers. IMO.

The whole crazy tipping thing made me want to hurl as well. You actually tipped more than your original bankroll walking in there. I see nothing wrong with tipping when I'm winning, but handing out Benjamens just for a hand pay seems nuts to me. I also found it kind of disturbing/eerie how you could remember minute details of slot play but were having some kind of brown outs about how you won/lost money at the tables, almost like you went into a trance. I just don't subscribe to gambling with diminished capacity I guess. I would wager the time will come when you wish you had that couple of hundred in your pocket instead of tipping like a high roller.

Quote: 4andaKicker

The whole crazy tipping thing made me want to hurl as well. You actually tipped more than your original bankroll walking in there. I see nothing wrong with tipping when I'm winning, but handing out Benjamens just for a hand pay seems nuts to me. I also found it kind of disturbing/eerie how you could remember minute details of slot play but were having some kind of brown outs about how you won/lost money at the tables, almost like you went into a trance. I just don't subscribe to gambling with diminished capacity I guess. I would wager the time will come when you wish you had that couple of hundred in your pocket instead of tipping like a high roller.

I am very well aware of the total amount of my tokage. You pay it forward. I paid it forward before that and got it back to the tune of four-large. I will most assuredly see the amount I tipped those people and more because both your good and bad deeds as a person come back to you three-fold. It may not even be monetary, but there will definitely be people that do great kindnesses to me in the future that I do not expect.

I remember minute details of my slot play because I am a slots player, first and foremost. I'm either pretty good or pretty lucky for the most part, I would say pretty good to the extent that I don't give anything back after I double-up, I just play back down to the double-up point or play up to the next multiple of $25 or $50 depending on which one I feel like doing. The tables didn't really concern me because they were a time killer so that I could get my second wind to refocus on my slots play, were I to lose the Table money, I would not have bought back in for the tables.

I usually would not gamble fatigued, but I made an exception due to the double-or-nothing situation to which I was already committed. Generally speaking, if I yawn, I leave.

I'm not concerned about that couple hundred at all. My bankroll is restored to the point at which it was prior to the incident from last week AND I no longer have a balance on ANY of my credit cards. I can almost hear my credit score shooting up fifty points next month, that will be helpful when it comes time to trade the PT Cruiser in for a new car.

I also remembered minute details about how I toked at the tables, in my defense. That's what is important to me at the tables, having good enough fortune to help my fellow man out with a few bucks here and there. Maybe he gets steak instead of burgers this week, although I do not advocate meat-consumption at all, but that's neither here nor there.