March AC Trip Report (PGT, Craps and VP)

I recently spent about 36 hours in AC. It was a memorable quick trip for trying a few new games and a few casinos I hadn't been to before.

CHECK-IN AND ROOM

I arrived at Bally's at 1pm. The front desk allowed me to check in 2 hours before the "official" check-in time. I overheard a few other people being told that they had to pay $10 for an early check-in, but my desk clerk didn't mention any additional fee. I did check the bill at the end to make sure they didn't tack it on (they didn't). My room was comped, but I was still responsible for $27 resort fee. The room was in the Dennis Tower. It was perfectly fine. Not spectacular by any means, but it was clean and modern and the bed was comfortable. There was an in-room safe and coffee maker. The biggest negative was that it was a little small.

PGT

I had never played PGT before, but I watched the Wizard's videos a few times and practiced on some apps and felt very comfortable. Bally's had one table in the "Asian games" section (basically Bacc, PGP and PGT). Table was $20 min. I was the only white player anytime I played (this is true for all casinos I played at). I played several sessions at Bally's. Most of the dealers were ok to good. One would reprimand me if I set my hand differently from the house way, e.g., 6/1 vs 4/3. I was following the Wizard's simple strategy, so I ignored the comments. In one session, the player next to me invoked his right to bank a few times. It hadn't occurred to me before, but I realized I should shield my tiles as I was setting my hand. The pace of the dealer reading her hand and adjudicating the results was very fast. For some reason, I assumed the dealers would call out their hand but all were silent. In general, that was fine, but whenever there was a tie, it takes me a few seconds to figure out who has the high tile (e.g., to remember if the 11 tile is higher/lower than high 7 tile). I tried to be certain of every result, but it was hard to keep up. I know the tile rankings, but in many cases I need to think about it for a second. I'm pretty sure the dealer pushed one hand that I should have won--both me and the dealer had 7/6--I'm positive I had a better high with Teen vs. Day and I'm pretty sure my 6 was higher but not certain. I should have stopped the action but wasn't sure.

I also played at Caesar's. That was a more pleasant experience. It was a $25 minimum (and they used quarters for a full 5% commission). But I had the table to myself a few times and got to bank. The dealers were better, the room is more attractive and there were far fewer people. One of the dealers looked at me when he started and asked: "Do you deal this game?" I said no. He asked, "So how did you learn how to play?" That amused me. I just said "the internet." Other than the extra $5 min, it was easily the better place to play.

On my second day, I walked down to the Hard Rock and Ocean's. I hadn't been to either before. Hard Rock gave me $10 in free play as a new card member. I've been to the Taj many times. It was a little surreal to recognize the bones of what was Taj but in a new skin. I ended up playing PGT at the Hard Rock. $20 min. Good dealers. I had the table to myself for about half the time and could bank. The one thing that irked me was that when the table was otherwise empty, the pit upped the min to $40. This was at about noon midweek and I had been playing head's up for about 15 mins. I asked if I could be grandfathered in and he said he'd give me a few more hands at $20 (6 total) and then it was up to $40. I played the hands I could and then left. It was otherwise a nice room and good dealers, but upping the minimum at that time of day when there's 1 table going and I'm currently the only person on it bothered me. Ocean's had a $25 PGT table but I didn't play it. It is essentially the same as Revel--really beautiful. I don't understand why it's not more popular--I suppose it must be bad comps. Ocean's did give me $15 in free play as a new member.

Overall, +$150 or so on PGT.

CRAPS

Played a few short sessions at Bally's. Only $5 table in town, 10x odds. Only memorable moment was at one point a woman squeezes in next to me and drops $20. She was betting $5 on the field only. Because of where she was standing relative to the field bet area, her hair was constantly hitting me as she leaned over to place her bet. She went through 2 $20s. She was also yelling at her boyfriend the entire time. Every roll she was yelling at him for affecting her luck. He was mostly silent except for once telling her the field probably wasn't a good bet. He was standing directly behind me (maybe a foot) and it generally made me uncomfortable. I thought it might be some ruse to pinch chips or something, but they didn't try. Still, I don't like to play if I feel crowded and uncomfortable. I decided I would leave as soon as the point (10) was resolved. The shooter proceeds to roll the ATS. He must have rolled 15-20 times before finally 7'ing out. It was about the worst case scenario.

Overall, almost exactly even.

VIDEO POKER

I hadn't played any video poker in maybe 15 years since a trivial amount of DW. vpfree2 was great. Pointed me to the quarter 9/6 JoB progressive at Caesar's. I brought a print out of Wizard's simple strategy and relied on that. I'm surprised I haven't played more video poker. Across about 3 hours of play, I had 3 4OAKs, no SFs. One 1-card draw to the RF, but didn't hit it. Since I don't play slots I wasn't sure how drink service works--there were no cocktail waitresses asking if you wanted drinks. Do you press the drinks button on the machine?

Played some 96 JoB at Bally's. No progressive and it's in a very smokey smoking area, so I can't recommend it.

Overall, down $250.

OTHER GAMBLING

I played a few hours of NL poker. I got there as a new table opened. About 3 minutes in, this happens: guy raises to $12, woman re-raises to $50, guy goes all in for about $200. Woman thinks it over for a solid 90 seconds before calling with AA (he had KK). A few people "inquired". She said that what she had in front in her was all the chips she was playing for the night and wasn't sure if she wanted to take a chance of busting so quickly. Still, seemed insane. For a few reasons, I believe she wasn't slow rolling, but still.

Maybe 30 mins of $5 BJ to.

Overall, up $50 in poker and up $20 in BJ.

FOOD

Got a sandwich at Sack O' Subs at Bally's. It was substantial for $10. The bread itself was garbage quality, but the quantity of meat was good and the people at the counter were pleasant.

I had the breakfast buffet at the Italian place in Bally's. I should have known it would be bad because it's only offered 3x a week. It's not a full fledged buffet. There's an omelette station (very good), but not much else. Some limp bacon and greasy home fries. Other than the omelette, the only positives were pretty good coffee and fresh fruit. There were zero "lunch" type foods. Any real buffet has some foods that aren't strictly breakfast foods, but this one didn't. I wouldn't go back.

Lunch buffet at Caesar's. It's not Vegas quality, but I was very happy. Pretty standard food, but lots of it and different options. Waiter was very slow with drinks (other tables commented on it as well). Had shrimp and craw fish and mussels for seafood. The layout is a little odd (desserts are smack in between 2 savory stations), but I'd definitely go back.

Love hearing trip reports about Tiles. My favorite game.

That's weird they wouldn't grandfather you in after raising the limit for no reason. I wonder if that's an AC thing? The couple of times that's happened to me in Vegas (both times at Tiles) they were happy to let me play as long as I wanted at the grandfathered minimum.

Quote: TigerWu

Love hearing trip reports about Tiles. My favorite game.

That's weird they wouldn't grandfather you in after raising the limit for no reason. I wonder if that's an AC thing? The couple of times that's happened to me in Vegas (both times at Tiles) they were happy to let me play as long as I wanted at the grandfathered minimum.

I wonder if they raised the minimum to encourage the white guy to leave? To the OP: Were there players who sat down after you left?

Quote: TinMan

CRAPS ... Only memorable moment was at one point a woman squeezes in next to me and drops $20. She was betting $5 on the field only. Because of where she was standing relative to the field bet area, her hair was constantly hitting me as she leaned over to place her bet. She went through 2 $20s. She was also yelling at her boyfriend the entire time. Every roll she was yelling at him for affecting her luck. He was mostly silent except for once telling her the field probably wasn't a good bet. He was standing directly behind me (maybe a foot) and it generally made me uncomfortable. I thought it might be some ruse to pinch chips or something, but they didn't try. Still, I don't like to play if I feel crowded and uncomfortable.

About the only time I really felt uncomfortable in a similar situation was when a woman crowded in like that. Her breast pressed into me, really made me wonder, and quickly I too wondered if it was a pickpocket or chip grab situation. Just degen gambling I guess tho.

Quote:

I decided I would leave as soon as the point (10) was resolved. The shooter proceeds to roll the ATS. He must have rolled 15-20 times before finally 7'ing out. It was about the worst case scenario.

were you playing the darkside?

Quote:

I played a few hours of NL poker. I got there as a new table opened. About 3 minutes in, this happens: guy raises to $12, woman re-raises to $50, guy goes all in for about $200. Woman thinks it over for a solid 90 seconds before calling with AA (he had KK). A few people "inquired". She said that what she had in front in her was all the chips she was playing for the night and wasn't sure if she wanted to take a chance of busting so quickly. Still, seemed insane. For a few reasons, I believe she wasn't slow rolling, but still.

A *lot* of people feel there is a jinx holding Aces in a hold-em game, which I assume this was. Even at UTH I hear this.

Quote: TinMan

I'm pretty sure the dealer pushed one hand that I should have won--both me and the dealer had 7/6--I'm positive I had a better high with Teen vs. Day and I'm pretty sure my 6 was higher but not certain. I should have stopped the action but wasn't sure.

You definitely should have asked for a pause to verify the hand results. Dealer errors in PG tiles are common. You're the customer and are entitled to a game played at a reasonable pace for you to understand the results.

Quote: TinMan

I was the only white player anytime I played

I have also noticed (and posted about this before) that some dealers seem to resent white players at their table, and will push a few wins, or lock up a few pushes, in order to "test" the white player. After a few quick corrections, this behavior stops.

Quote: TinMan

I know the tile rankings, but in many cases I need to think about it for a second.

If you give PG tiles a few more hours of play, you won't have to think about the tile rankings anymore. It will be as obvious as a queen being higher than a jack in poker.

Also, be sure to take your opportunity to bank at every chance. If you're playing heads-up, there is absolutely no reason not to bank every other hand in AC. If other players are at the table, you should bank if you feel comfortable booking their bets. Unfortunately, many players are superstitious and will not bet against a player-banker, but you should still take your turn to lower the house edge.

Quote: Ayecarumba

I wonder if they raised the minimum to encourage the white guy to leave? To the OP: Were there players who sat down after you left?

That's an interesting thought. One guy did sit down on the last hand of my "extra" hands before they upped the minimum (the pit gave me 6 hands "extra" before enforcing the $40 min). While playing, there was a different guy who came over twice and bet big each time--both times he put out 2 bets of $200 or $300 each. Both times the dealer had a great hand--one of them was something like a high 8 pair/Wong. Just a monster hand. I suppose it's possible he thought I was bad luck and said something to someone. There was nowhere else that I saw that had a table minimum over $25.

Quote: odiousgambit

were you playing the darkside?

I wasn't playing the darkside, but the only bet I had was a pass line bet with max odds. So the only relevant numbers for me were 10 and 7. I'm sure the numbers he was rolling were great for other people, but just delaying the time before I could walk away. I did think about picking up the odds and telling the dealers the pass line bet was theirs, but decided it would irk me if the 10 rolled as I was walking away and I missed out. I never pick up my odds and didn't want to start.

Quote: sodawater

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If you give PG tiles a few more hours of play, you won't have to think about the tile rankings anymore. It will be as obvious as a queen being higher than a jack in poker.

Also, be sure to take your opportunity to bank at every chance. .

That's reassuring to hear about the tile rankings. It reminds me of studying Spanish in high school. At first, I only knew the days of the week in order. If you asked me the word for "Thursday," I'd have to mentally go through Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before getting to Thursday. I'm at that stage now with the tile ranks.

I did invoke the right to bank whenever I was heads up. In PGP, you can only bank once every 6 or 7 hands, even at an empty table. In the Wizard's videos, he mentioned that you can bank every other hand at PGT. I thought that might be only a Vegas rule, but they allowed it in AC too. That was a pleasant surprise. I like the ritual of selecting a tile delivery and shaking the dice cup (?). And it did work to my favor in one hand where we both had the same high 6 tile but I won as banker.

Also, a 2% house edge is more than the edge I give up on any other bet I make in a casino. Lowering that to a 1% average by banking every other hand makes it more palatable.

Quote: TinMan

Also, a 2% house edge is more than the edge I give up on any other bet I make in a casino. Lowering that to a 1% average by banking every other hand makes it more palatable.

And the house edge gets a lot lower if you can:

1. Book as much action from other players as you can (and those players tend to play the house way, which is a terrible strategy)
2. Become adept and alert at correcting dealer errors against you (because there will be numerous dealer errors in your favor, far more than at other table games)

I also like to play tiles and enjoyed reading up on that. I was in Las Vegas last week and played at Paris. I was the only person at the table for 2 hours. I tend to have that happen a lot for me. I haven't encountered anyone resenting me. In fact, they probably were so bored that they enjoyed having me play. But, as others said, make sure to ask the dealer to call out the numbers for you to verify results. It is your money. I've found with practice you will get to reading the tiles pretty quick.

Nice report!