Talk me out of it!

Ever just "feel lucky"?

My inner voice is really trying to get me to just take a couple of grand (as opposed to my usual $400 limit) and do what I normally do - only with higher denominations.

Yesterday, yeah, pretty sad to go to the boats on Christmas Eve, but the only family I have are my sister and mother - and they wanted to shop, so I took advantage of the time and used some free play. (and that's another thread)

While at the Scarlet Pearl, I'd cashed in a comp ticket from Harrah's for $95 of free play. I parlayed that on a JoB $1 machine to $200.

So, I went to play some $2 per credit VP. The pay table in SP is not that good. It's better at Hard Rock. But - this place gave me a tier match, so I feel obligated to at least have a little fun here, give them a chance to impress.

It was hot. This Christmas has been unseasonably warm, as I'm sure most of you have noticed. I guess the casino wasn't expecting it - or maybe the long walk from the parking lot got me overheated.

I hit quad 10's in fairly short order, bringing my initial $200 to $310. The smart voice said don't let it get lower than $300. The greedy voice won out, and I changed the credit value to $5. I rarely play $5 per credit. I know I lack the bank roll should the luck go south. But, I felt like it was their money, I was already up.

My $310 quickly went down to $110..and then I hit a full house, getting me back up to $310. I played a few more hands, and cashed out at 260, happy to have gotten just a pinch more, well, more relieved. And, it was hot, as I mentioned. A guy shouldn't be uncomfortable when playing.

I was up $450 on the day, given my visits to Harrahs (can only trade one comp per visit at Scarlet Pearl, so I used my $25 at Harrah's) Treasure Bay and IP Casino. I thought about hitting the Palace for the $30 in free play I had - but it'll be there this weekend if I want to go back.

So this is what I want to do: Take a couple grand and play $50 per hand. I know it's not nearly enough for an AP session. It'd be a hit or miss. I can afford to lose it - but taxes are coming up, and will probably wait until the tax bill is paid before I try this - if I try it.

Intellectually, it sounds pretty damn stupid. I'd likely play for longer, have more session points, more comps and free play as a result playing with my normal limits - but it would certainly get my heart beating faster playing at what I consider a crazy high level of risk. I'd definitely only do this at Hard Rock where the play table is 6/9.

If you can afford it, do it. We all choose to spend our entertainment money in different ways.

Upon further thought - I have to ask myself ...as often as I get quads...

125 * $10 = $1250. I'd love it - but paying 6% to the state of Mississippi, about 10% to Alabama and 25% to Uncle Sam....I no longer think this would be "fun".
I mean, on the one hand, it's probably a good problem to have, but given the risk, I like a quad with $5 a little better. Less risk and I get to keep the rewards (unless I hit a Royal, but that payoff is big enough to absorb the taxes without too much complaining from me.

Quote: ukaserex

I'd love it - but paying 6% to the state of Mississippi, about 10% to Alabama and 25% to Uncle Sam....I no longer think this would be "fun".

You can write winnings off against losses.

Odds are your losses for the year will approximate a hand pay, at least if you play slots regularly.

Dude, don't do it, especially if any potential winnings would be subject to taxes (I'm fortunate in that respect\0

I''m generally a lucky winner too and am well up for the year on -ev blackjack. This month, I went madly on tilt just as you propose to do. I lobbed £500 onto my balance and rode a rollercoaster which actually went up as low as £130 and as high as £5000. I've just assessed my play and if I'd been flat betting I would have been down about 22 Units but I was far from flat betting.
I ended up throwing £2k back in my last few hours of play. Have now checked out my remaining £3k.

I was stupid, I pushed my luck, and I was lucky enough, this time. No illusions, I was a very stupid, very lucky fool.

But, the biggy is, I got a taste for big wagers. If I do that again, I'm likely to lose BIG-TIME

New Years resolution. (Mostly) Quit while I'm ahead.

Mr v I'm not an expert but the 3 percent in Mississippi is some sort of weird non refundable tax

Oh, never heard of it.

I was thinking only about fedreal income tax.

While I know this to be true, I regret that I was not keeping accurate records - at least, from the tales I've read here, not enough to feel comfortable claiming said losses on my taxes. The IRS is purported to be overburdened - understaffed and all, but I'd rather just file what I know I can definitively prove.

I know there must be losses, more than a couple of weekends there were. But I also know I've gotten $16k in hand pays in the last 6 months. My math shows me to be far ahead - so much so that instead of my 15% tax bracket, it will take claiming everything possible to stay in that bracket. I'm just glad I haven't had to take a w-2g for all my earnings. I can't speculate what they total up to, but for some reason, the losses are clear and the wins are blurry.

My resolution is to track all my play beginning Jan. 1. 2016.

Name of Casino, SN of machine, amount put in, amount taken out, date, time started, time finished. If they need more than that, I'll be sunk. Not sure what other info I could provide.

Quote: Wizardofnothing

Mr v I'm not an expert but the 3 percent in Mississippi is some sort of weird non refundable tax

Yeah, I don't think you can write off MS state taxes. Some other states are like this as well.

Quote: ukaserex

While I know this to be true, I regret that I was not keeping accurate records - at least, from the tales I've read here, not enough to feel comfortable claiming said losses on my taxes. The IRS is purported to be overburdened - understaffed and all, but I'd rather just file what I know I can definitively prove.

I know there must be losses, more than a couple of weekends there were. But I also know I've gotten $16k in hand pays in the last 6 months. My math shows me to be far ahead - so much so that instead of my 15% tax bracket, it will take claiming everything possible to stay in that bracket. I'm just glad I haven't had to take a w-2g for all my earnings. I can't speculate what they total up to, but for some reason, the losses are clear and the wins are blurry.

My resolution is to track all my play beginning Jan. 1. 2016.

Name of Casino, SN of machine, amount put in, amount taken out, date, time started, time finished. If they need more than that, I'll be sunk. Not sure what other info I could provide.

My understanding is those are the correct log entries for a tax record.

Now, about that $50/hand. My flashing lights and sirens are going off reading what you wrote. I think the bigger juice would come from taking your small BR and building it up to where $50/hand is less that .5% of your BR. Anybody can trash a couple grand in a casino. Let's hear you do it; I challenge you.

If my math is right - that means I'd have to have a bankroll of $10,000.01

It'll never happen. When I hit a jackpot, I put whatever is over $400 in my IRA, and use the same bankroll for the next trip. This happens in varying degrees of success. This past weekend, I lost the whole thing shamefully quickly. Erroneous thinking or not - couldn't get a quad or higher. Well, not the whole thing - at least, not to gambling. I had $100 bucks of my winning skim in my right pocket. The bill must have fallen out sometime between the cashier cage and the parking lot when I pulled my keys out. It might still be there Thursday evening, somewhere in the parking garage, but I highly doubt it.

Mathematically, I don't think it's probable to build a $10k bankroll starting with $400, even if I kept it all in cash. Over time, the house edge would win out, wouldn't it?

I did hit an $11k progressive on a $2 machine this past June; so maybe I should have done it then. Call me crazy, but I like to keep the big money.



VP $2 VP Progressive


Oh, um, disregard the rest of that site. It's for an MMORPG that is now dead.