Bellagio Part 2

Our last day we played a little in Bellagio and then went across the street and spent some time in Paris before going to have brunch at Margaritaville in the Flamingo. Food was typical bar food but fine. We then went to Harrahs where I bought in for $200 at a $10 table. It was a fun table with a lot of players making a few points but no real long rolls. My claim to fame this time was that twice on the 4 and once on the 10 I bought them for $25 mid roll. All three times they hit the next roll and these were the only time I bought them as I prefer to cover the numbers through come bets. I cashed out for just over $500.
Then we went and rode the High Roller. We were on our way there for the ride when we passed a girl on the sidewalk pushing tickets for it. I usually ignore most of these type of sales pitches because they are often a front for time share sales or some other scam. Ended up she was legitimate and we got seniors tickets for $17.50 each, tax in, which appears to have been an excellent deal. Everyone should probably do an observation wheel once in their lives but they are what you would expect. My wife had a little vertigo at the beginning but was fine by the end and the view was great. We then headed to the Mirage. Uneventful there but cashed out about $100 up at a $10 table but probably lost more than that at slots playing beside my wife.

We then stopped for dinner at the restaurant right on the strip at Caesars (can’t remember its name) for a sandwich and shake. Sat on the deck on the strip side and watched the gong show on the strip sidewalk. After eating we went back to Bellagio for our final night. Since I had pretty much been holding my own I decided to try the smallest minimum table open at the time at $15 again. I had much better results this time and played for about an hour. Cashed out $1250 from a $300 buy-in and was a happy camper. Rounded up my wife and we put some money through the Blazing Sevens machine and then went to the room to pack and get ready for an early morning departure.

We checked out about 6:00 and since I had lots of $US on me and we were headed back to Canada I paid cash for our account rather than put it on the card. Even hit a 500 coin spin on a 25 cent Wheel of Fortune progressive well waiting for out plane.

I had a dead battery when we got to Vancouver and by the time I got it dealt with I didn’t feel like making the 6 Hr drive home so we spent the night at the Grand Villa casino in Burnaby where I was finally able to play $5 craps again and went to bed up another $200. My material supplier is only a couple of blocks from the casino so I gave my wife the choice of playing a little while I picked some supplies or wait in the car and we could stop at the Hard Rock on the way out of town since it is right beside the freeway. She chose the Hard Rock so we stopped there for a few hours and ate and played some. Unbelievably I was still hot and a $200 buy-in on their $5 table turned into $600. We then made the trip home.

Final result about +$2500 on craps for the trip and a few hundred dollars down on slots. My wife probably was down about $1000.

I enjoyed reading the trip report. I can sympathize with you about craps. It used to be my favorite game at the casino. But, as a flea, I find it frustrating that it is so difficult to find $5 tables on the strip anymore. It was only 2 or 3 years ago where it seemed in places such as Ballys, Paris, Monte Carlo, etc. that you could find $5 tables as long as it wasn't a weekend night or something like that. It seems almost impossible now. I was just curious. What are the bets that you make in craps? Pass line with odds? Do you play the don't? I always like to get strategy tips especially from those that won money.

Start with a pass line bet and 3X (2x on the 5 & 9) odds and place the 6 and 8. Start pressing up after a few wins and bring in more numbers by come bets. As mentioned in the report I will occasionally buy the 4 and/or 10. No stop limits. During this trip when things were rolling I had worked my bets up to $25 with full odds.