How I Gamble

I started gambling when tribal casinos popped up; convenient.

My secretary gave me a book that I thought was the bee's knees, a how-to play craps tome called "Advanced Craps," authored by John Patrick.

For at least a decade craps was my go to game, it fascinated me.

I joined Patrick's board and others of that time: All Craps, Heavy's dice setting forum, alt.rec.something (gambling?Vegas?), and then Gambler's Glen.

Over time I switched to slots, typically multi-denom Double Diamond and the like.

I still play only "old school" three reel IGT games: "Go home with the one that brought ya:" I'm a Luddite and resist change.

Over time I've developed a method of play that has prevented me from going "on tilt."

First, I never use an ATM for any reason, especially to fund gambling; also I never cash a check or get a credit / debit card advance at the cage: I bring cash.

*I once arranged for a $10K line of credit at MGM but switched back after that to only cash*

Typically I gamble at two tribal casinos: Spirit Mtn. and Chinook Winds: mostly at CW as I love the town of Lincoln City, Oregon and they give me free rooms and meals.

I bring at least a grand with me, sometimes up to five or more thousand, but the most I've ever lost on a trip is about fifteen hundred: hello, discipline.

Typically at CW I break my gambling down into sessions, and for each session I walk in with either two or three hundred dollars; sometimes it goes quickly, then I go to the room and chill, or visit my buddy to shoot pool and listen to blues music, but I always return to the casino for another session.

When I win over a threshold amount, typically about one hundred or so, I close out the session and chill, returning later.

My method of slot play is to start small on multi-denom games, either one or two bucks; I always "take shots" after starting, using winnings or if things are cold I use some of the remaining bankroll.

Seems I almost always wind up betting twenty-five dollars or more at least several times, hoping for "luck" and hey, luck happens; I've gotten quite a few hand pays.

As a recreational gambler I play mainly for the endorphin rush, the feeling of being on the knife edge every time I push the button, not knowing what will happen...I surf the the casino's perilous waters, experiencing simultaneous jolts of fear, hope and greed.

I enjoyed the post. It was real. For me, it is a reasonable approach to gambling. All "recreational" gamblers should heed and embrace the overall message.

I am a craps player. I am "self-taught." I do not buy into the "establishment's" methods/systems in that fearing the "house edge" or "EV" does not create a playing path for me. The reason for this is that the game revolves around the simplicity of 4th grade arithmetic. So, my methods are based on probabilities, i.e, wagering practices that shift the odds of winning, on any given roll of the dice, to me. I also hedge which will often subdue larger losses.

My buy-ins are modest between $500-$1,000. My sessions rarely last more than an hour, and my winning goal is from $200-$500. If my probabilities are not "working," and I go down $300 or so, I quit the session.

Over my personal long term, I am up.

tuttigym

Tuttigym, what hedge moves do you employ?

Hopefully not the infamous "Doey-don't?"

I've gambled for decades, always recreationally, lived in Vegas in the mid-90's. Recently that meant 1 or 2 weekends in Vegas a year and 1 or 2 trips per year to the local casinos. When I lived in Vegas, I discovered Bob Dancer and his books on video poker, basically a cardboard yellow cover on them, but it started me down the path to looking for better odds on the games I play. Later I found the Wizard of Odds website, and Dan Paymer and his book Video Poker Optimum Play, which helped me with some of the math concepts. I play mostly video poker and Blackjack, sometimes 3-card poker if it's late and I don't want to think too hard, and I'll only play if I feel like the odds are fair.

Last February my wife and I were in Vegas for a few days, I was breaking even on all the games, it was the last day, and we were at South Point for a few hours before we had to catch our plane. I hit a Royal Flush on a Deuces Wild machine for $1,000, cashed out and headed for the airport. After I got home, I started putting together an experiment in my head with video poker, that would give us a new hobby to pursue and maybe we would get some good comps along the way. I proposed to my wife that we play Bonus Poker at one of the local casinos, I choose it because of the lower volatility and it's one of the highest paybacks in our area. They also have Jacks or Better with lower volatility and higher payback, but that game is too boring to play. I suggested to her that we start playing regularly and see how much we could get in comps without losing money to quickly, and over time, see if it would be worthwhile. The first week in March last year we started playing.

I wanted to make sure we took advantage of any promotions they were offering and found that every Sunday they had a promotion where after you earn a certain amount of tier points, you played a game and won a guaranteed minimum amount of free play, with a chance to earn more than the minimum. Along with the weekly free play offers, I figured that the theoretical return is 102.17%. My first advantage play after all these years, I tear rolled down my cheek. We play pretty much every Sunday, arriving between 8:00 am and 8:30 am, playing, vulturing some slots and having lunch, then heading home around noon.

My wife was along for the ride, she likes to play all of the sucker bets when we play 3-card poker, she also likes the slots, she thought this was a bit boring, but she got to gamble so she was happy. Results after a year? My wife has hit 2 $1,000 Royals and 3 $2,000 Royals for a total of $8,000, the last one she hit was 2 weeks ago. In September the casino had a free car promotion, the drawing was the Sunday on Memorial Day weekend, I suggested we go to the casino for the evening drawing instead of going in the morning. Her name was called for the drawing, she won a qualifier round and then won the car on the final round, took some in cash, $38,000 and some in free play $5,000. The casino put $2,500 of the free play on my card, I could download $100 at a time, so I sat down at a $1.00 machine downloaded $100 played 20 hands, cashed out, downloaded $100 more until I ran the full $2,500 through the machine. Ended up with $2,645.

How did I do? I've played 101,405 hands and haven't hit a Royal yet, I believe there's a 92% probability of at least hitting one Royal in that number of hands, I'm up $760(remember I got $2,645 from her winning the car, so I'm up from the $1,000 I started with), I've received $5,935 in free play ($2,500 from the car) and $2,450 in comps.

I sure hope I hit some Royals this year!

Quote: MaxFlavor

I've gambled for decades, always recreationally. Later I found the Wizard of Odds website,

Welcome to the forum.

Thank you, I've been reading it for a while, this is the first time I thought I had a relevant post to share.

Quote: MaxFlavor

I've gambled for decades, always recreationally, lived in Vegas in the mid-90's.

Welcome! I am another former Las Vegan I lived there from 1990 to 2021.

Where did you live in Vegas and where did you hang out?

Spring Valley, so we usually went to Gold Coast, Rio and Orleans, all three had good games back then and the Rio buffet was fantastic. I used to league bowl at Gold Coast, would get done around 9pm and then play $2 Blackjack. All of a sudden it would be 1 o'clock in the morning, I would be up $8 or down $12 and I needed to get home to bed for work the next day! Haha, good thing I was young then.

Quote: MaxFlavor

How did I do? I've played 101,405 hands and haven't hit a Royal yet, I believe there's a 92% probability of at least hitting one Royal in that number of hands...
I sure hope I hit some Royals this year!
link to original post

the Wizard likes to remind us that you are no closer to hitting a Royal than you were on the first draw

welcome to the site!

I go for the challenge and socialization. I pick up $20-30 in EV on Ultimate X then play -EV Pai Gow.

Here’s what ‘excites’ me. I know the house virtually always has the edge on me. But last time had this specific type hand. 8855K94. No brainer to split the pairs.
But I can see 3 other hands. So 28 out of the 53 cards. I see all 4 kings and 3 of the 5 aces. So NO CHANCE for dealer to have strong King up top, and lesser than usual chance to have an ace up top. I thus upgrade the strength of my K9. So keep the two pairs together. When dealer turns over the last two aces with a queen -10 up top…. THAT WIN is why I come back. I understand my play was probably worth maybe a dime in EV, and just happened to make the difference…. but I LOVE that feeling.

I also enjoy deconstructing the on line sports betting offers to figure out the best way to use them.

I enjoy overnight gambling trips to Chinook Winds casino on the Oregon coast.

The coast is a complete change of scene from my usual haunts in the suburbs of stumptown: almost "a different world," and the juxtapositon is compelling.

This is probably how most folks visiting sin city to gamble and have fun feel.

It's a definite, welcomed change of pace, a removal from their normal surroundings.

Add the "fantasy" element of casino gambling and voila', fun times.

It helps that the drive to the coast through the coast range,is quite pleasant.

So I gamble not only to gamble, but also as an excuse to leave the house overnight for some quality "me" time, although frankly there's a lot of "me time" now that I've retired.

Quote: MrV

Tuttigym, what hedge moves do you employ?

Hopefully not the infamous "Doey-don't?"
link to original post

Thanks for replying and the question.

A while back I started a thread: How to beat the $25 table" or something of that nature. The table minimums have creeped up over the years, and in certain areas the table minimums are now $15-$25.

For me, the PL bet is a sucker's bet. To my knowledge, it is the only wager in the casino where during play the goal posts are moved in favor of the house. I can really PsOf the box man by playing the Doey/Don't with $1 on the 12. (prop bets are still only $1). Now the fun starts: I hop the 7 for $3 up to five consecutive rolls. A 7 out nets me $16. Believe it or not, it happens quite often. After 5 rolls, then $6 hops for five rolls. 10 rolls of nothing nets a $45 loss, and I can wait for the next shooter and start again. Talk about a fuming box man....and stretching your gambling $$$.

That is but one of my probability ploys.

Do I win all the time? Of course not, but man I do have lots of fun.

tuttigym