Anyone in Seattle?

This may be the wrong place for a thread like this, but I'm not sure where else I'd post. I recently moved out to Seattle from Boston. Amazing city. Tons and tons of casinos and card rooms.

I'm looking for other advantage players in the area. It'd be awesome to share experiences and hit up a few casinos to find some new ones. I did a brief tour last weekend based on Stanford Wong's blackjack newsletter and it's crazy how many different shops there are around here.

For some background: I'm 24 and work fulltime in software. I spent much of last summer learning how to count with one of the former MIT team members, and after 150 hours or so of training, went out with my roommate and went to work. I'm looking to keep it going out here.

PM me if you're interested in chatting. Thanks!

Two words -- coupon books.

Just something to consider: the cardroom business is fading in Washington. There are half as many rooms as there were a decade ago. Of the rooms that are left, BJ is a lower percentage of the floor than it used to be, with all the proprietary games and resurgent popularity of baccarat and hold'em. I just don't know what your earning potential is going to be, but if you're just looking at a hobby, sure go for it. As they say, don't quit your day job.

My first hand of cash poker was at the Tulalip casino in Marysville. It was memorable: 5-10 stud, rolled up jacks, the case fell on 5th street, my opponent had a full house. And then I had several hundred of his dollars. :)

Quote: MathExtremist

Just something to consider: the cardroom business is fading in Washington. There are half as many rooms as there were a decade ago.

The cardroom in my hometown closed since Xmas. I can't believe it, they were always packed it seemed.

I'm in the greater Seattle area (Mountlake Terrace, just a few blocks from the Insane Caribou Crazy Moose), but am not an advantage player.

Quote: Wizard

Two words -- coupon books.

From the Wizard's Website:

Use Player's Club Sign Ups (Easy Money)

The first topic I want to briefly cover is bonuses and coupons for signing up for a Player's Club at various casinos. This topic first popped into my mind because I had a friend who has recently vacationed in Vegas and stayed at The Palms. In any event, he had purchased the Las Vegas Advisor and American Casino Guide coupon books, about which I wrote an article pertaining to the EV of new member sign ups and coupon promotions:

https://wizardofvegas.com/article/free-play/

Anyway, I asked my friend, who we'll call Adam, because that's his first name, how he did with all the coupons and he listed the casinos he visited, but didn't remember the results.

I had noticed he did not mention Orleans or Gold Coast and asked, "What about Orleans and Gold Coast? I know they have coupons in both of those books."

Adam replied, "I didn't go there because I don't think I would stay or play at either place, anyway."

Flabbergasted, I exclaimed, "So, then why not take some free money! Especially given that you're not going back!?"

He told me that he didn't think the coupons would be worth anything, so I jumped on-line and checked out the LVA & ACG listings for the two casinos. We had moved on to a different subject, but I was writing down the offers and (perhaps rudely) cut him off with, "Let's see...LVA has a $10 slot Match Play at Orleans and a $10 Table Match Play at Gold Coast, so there's about fourteen dollars and change there. ACG looks nice, we have a $10 Match Play for Gold Coast as well as another $10 Match Play for The Orleans and a $10 slot Match Play for The Orleans, so there's another $20, give or take."

"What's your point?"

"My point is that it would have taken you an hour, tops, to get from the Palms to both of those casinos and use the coupons that you've already purchased, so your value for that hour is about $35 which pays for the ACG book entirely and starts paying for the LVA membership."

I don't know how people constantly manage to miss little stuff like this, especially when, I would presume, you buy the books for the sole purpose of using the coupons! All of this, "It's not worth it," nonsense is crazy, but spending that same hour playing at a negative expectation is?

That relates to the coupons, but it's also worth scouring the websites of any casinos to which you may be going to see if they have any offers for new sign-ups, but sometimes:

Quote: Donuts

From the Wizard's Website:

Use Player's Club Sign Ups (Easy Money)

The first topic I want to briefly cover is bonuses and coupons for signing up for a Player's Club at various casinos. This topic first popped into my mind because I had a friend who has recently vacationed in Vegas and stayed at The Palms. In any event, he had purchased the Las Vegas Advisor and American Casino Guide coupon books, about which I wrote an article pertaining to the EV of new member sign ups and coupon promotions:

https://wizardofvegas.com/article/free-play/

Anyway, I asked my friend, who we'll call Adam, because that's his first name, how he did with all the coupons and he listed the casinos he visited, but didn't remember the results.

I had noticed he did not mention Orleans or Gold Coast and asked, "What about Orleans and Gold Coast? I know they have coupons in both of those books."

Adam replied, "I didn't go there because I don't think I would stay or play at either place, anyway."

Flabbergasted, I exclaimed, "So, then why not take some free money! Especially given that you're not going back!?"

He told me that he didn't think the coupons would be worth anything, so I jumped on-line and checked out the LVA & ACG listings for the two casinos. We had moved on to a different subject, but I was writing down the offers and (perhaps rudely) cut him off with, "Let's see...LVA has a $10 slot Match Play at Orleans and a $10 Table Match Play at Gold Coast, so there's about fourteen dollars and change there. ACG looks nice, we have a $10 Match Play for Gold Coast as well as another $10 Match Play for The Orleans and a $10 slot Match Play for The Orleans, so there's another $20, give or take."

"What's your point?"

"My point is that it would have taken you an hour, tops, to get from the Palms to both of those casinos and use the coupons that you've already purchased, so your value for that hour is about $35 which pays for the ACG book entirely and starts paying for the LVA membership."

I don't know how people constantly manage to miss little stuff like this, especially when, I would presume, you buy the books for the sole purpose of using the coupons! All of this, "It's not worth it," nonsense is crazy, but spending that same hour playing at a negative expectation is?

That relates to the coupons, but it's also worth scouring the websites of any casinos to which you may be going to see if they have any offers for new sign-ups, but sometimes:

If you're never planning on returning to Vegas then by all means get your free $10, however it's really not a good idea if you're planning on returning.

I used to live near Seattle. I've only been to muckleshoot, emerald queen, and some cardrooms by mcchord. Emerald queen has a double deck 3:2 das with surrender. No idea on the penetration. Only saw 8 deckers at muckleshoot.

Also don't play their video poker its class ii

Quote: Donuts

I don't know how people constantly manage to miss little stuff like this, especially when, I would presume, you buy the books for the sole purpose of using the coupons! All of this, "It's not worth it," nonsense is crazy, but spending that same hour playing at a negative expectation is?

The mistake is buying the coupon book in the first place if that's your philosophy. Also, gambling is supposed to be about entertainment and it actually is entertaining for a lot of people. Using coupons isn't entertaining (or at least not in the same way), so it's not a valid comparison. Nobody goes to Las Vegas because they want to use coupons.

Also, if you took a poll of the readership of this forum and asked the question "Suppose you're at the Palms and someone offers you $35 to walk to the Gold Coast, then the Orleans, then back to the Palms. Do you do it?" I'd predict a lot of people will say no. Especially if it's summer. The answer may be different for locals, but if you're a tourist who just spent hundreds of dollars on air and hotel, the last thing you want to do for one of the roughly 48 hours you might be in Las Vegas is to walk around the west side of I-15.