Just had my biggest gambling win...

Went to the Seneca Niagara Casino today in Niagara Falls on the American Side. I generally play craps there, which has a minimum of $10 and goes 3/4/5 on the odds.

Got to the table when this guy who was shooting on the opposite end was in the middle of a decent roll. I got in midpoint, so I get $160 in chips and put on a $10 come bet with $10 odds. I usually do a $10 pass line bet with $10 odds and then a $10 come bet with $10 odds. The guy hit his point and then hit one more point and eventually 7'ed out.

Dice come to my end, I shoot and come out about $20 ahead. The dice eventually get back around to the guy who was shooting when I got there. He goes off, hitting about 3 points, but hitting a lot of my come bets. Now, when I get ahead a decent amount I start doing come bets every roll. No greater feeling then having a come bet already up on a number, that number hits and they go off and on. An even better feeling is when this happens 5-6 times in a row.

The shooter eventually 7'ed out and I am up to about $475. Now I'm thinking, I usually stay too long so I cash out and take a little break and find the person who I came with and see how they are doing at the slots.

After about 20 minutes of looking, I finally found him and I decide to go back to the tables. Craps was looking a bit slow (I don't usually like to play if there are just a few players there...bankroll can go very fast with too many 7's!), so I went to play Pai Gow Poker. After about 20 minutes I was about even and I saw that the craps table livened up a bit.

I went back and with my $475, I check changed about $150 of it. Dice were again on the opposite side of the table, but not too much happened. Got to me, I rolled and I was down about $30 after it.

Dice get passed to the guy right next to me and he goes off on a monster roll. Not too many points, but alot of numbers. I had many of my come bets near the beginning of my roll to where I was again doing a come bet every roll. I even bought the 10, which I very rarely do.

You know how I said "No greater feeling then having a come bet already up on a number, that number hits and they go off and on. An even better feeling is when this happens 5-6 times in a row." Well I found a better feeling. Increasing your come bet odds and they hit multiple times in a row.

The guy eventually 7'ed out. I stayed and threw the dice one more time, but to no avail.

I cashed out and ended up with $1080 on my initial investment of $160, my best and biggest outing ever. I love that I colored up and they gave me 2 $500 chips. Awesome!

Nice work, darnits. Try the Canadian side sometime!!! My best outing was my monster Mandalay Bay roll about three years back where I turned $100 into $1,200 doing the same come bet progression. My strategy is to play two or three numbers and press the odds when I have all six up and are winning. I hit about 12 points. I'll never roll that well again.

Congrats.

That win will turn out to be the worst possible thing that could have happened. You'll lose twenty times that much over the next several sessions, trying to duplicate it.

The ideal outcome would have been a cascade of seven-outs that would leave you muttering why you ever played this goddamn game and how you were an idiot for throwing your money away. Expensive in the short run; a huge money-saver in the long run.

Said Cassandra.

Quote: boymimbo

Nice work, darnits. Try the Canadian side sometime!!!

I have been to the Canadian side a few times. I don't really like that they take a percentage when you change from American to Canadian and then back again.

Quote: darnits

...I don't really like that they take a percentage when you change from American to Canadian and then back again.

I can't remember how they handled it the few times when I played in Niagara, Ont. Usually when visiting, I only convert the amount I actually expect to spend in cash, but that doesn't work in the casino unless you expect to lose your entire bankroll. The difference in exchange rates in each direction can eat up an annoying amount.

But up in Rama, I recall a very fair practice. They had an established exchange rate but no separate service fee, I think. They gave me a receipt when I changed US to CAD. Then I was allowed to change back up to the same amount CAD to US at the same exchange rate within 24 hours. Thus, if I broke even in the casino, the money exchange didn't cost me anything either. If a US player wins, they get a less favorable rate on exchanging the excess back to US$, as is customary. Someone familiar with Casino Rama may correct this if my memory is faulty.

I'll be encountering the casino exchange rates next week in the maritime provinces. I expect I will exchange at the first casino I visit but not convert back there -- just hold onto the Canadian currency to cover cash expenses. Once I have exchanged, I figure I might as well spend cash, perhaps even when I would ordinarily use a credit card, since my AMEX card charges me a foreign currency fee on each purchase.

That is a good policy by Rama. They only take the "vig" when you win, not when you lose or break even. (Like buying the 4!) Makes you feel a little better. The government-run Ontario casinos actually give a very good exchange rate -- way better than the banks and better than most exchange houses. The juice they put into the rates is annoying, though, and if you change large amounts of money often, as I did, it can make a significant dent in your bankroll. (For example, you buy the CDN at par, but then you have to sell it back for 104 cents to the USD. This was back when the CDN was hovering around par with the USD.)

Interesting...

I know at Seneca, if you have a player's card, you can buy your $Cdn back at the same rate you bought it as well. I am surprised Niagara / Fallsview does not have that policy. They should.

Quote: mkl654321

That win will turn out to be the worst possible thing that could have happened. You'll lose twenty times that much over the next several sessions, trying to duplicate it.

The ideal outcome would have been a cascade of seven-outs that would leave you muttering why you ever played this goddamn game and how you were an idiot for throwing your money away. Expensive in the short run; a huge money-saver in the long run.

Said Cassandra.

I say, you are correct. Knowing what is human nature is not the same as having the power to stop it.