odiousgambit's Blog

Embedded Horseshoe Gambling

For TL;DR, go down to each image and see the synopsis instead
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A Sign My Luck Would Be Good
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Funny how things can shape up. My turkey hunting was getting messed up by this and that, and I figured I had pretty much played my cards with the amount of gambling my wife would tolerate without exacting a higher price than I'd care to pay. She doesn't tell me what to do, and I don't ask her permission to do things [exactly], but screwing it up would have consequences. Most likely: going somewhere I'd rather not be on some vacation. A very wise friend once told me that all women should be considered Libras; everything gets put in balancing scales, all deeds and misdeeds and actions and reactions, it all gets weighed.



synopsis: the wife unexpectedly stamps 'approved' on a gambling jaunt; hunting phase gives a sign luck is with me.

The postponed hunting trip finally gets set just previous to another trip the two of us had long planned, however. This means there are a couple of days to kill some time for me; I point this out to my spouse with really no thought that maybe I could do some gambling. Lo and behold, my wife actually suggests doing just that! I think it helps that she has little concept of the distances, on the other hand she is a hell of a gal and I am a lucky guy, no question. So now I have a very nice exciting week planned!

The hunting starts out a little weird in that my two hunting partners both excuse themselves, continuing the strangeness of this season. I wind up hunting by myself, but the embedded horseshoe I seem to have for Spring Turkey season kicks in and I get a gobbler by golly (see blog at Diversity Tomorrow).

No matter how you want to cut it, success in hunting never comes without an element of good luck. I can't help but wonder, is this going to mean good luck gambling? I was going to find out!
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A Penny a Point, Ain't Nobody Keeping Score
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synopsis: unexpectedly, Wheeling opens my eyes to aspects of gambling I had dismissed; luck indeed is with me.

In the meantime I contact Pierce [Mission146] to tell him I unexpectedly have gambling on my plate. I'm thinking I can do Rocky Gap MD and would be happy to go just a bit further and maybe meet him at The Meadows [PA]. This is actually quite nuts since Rocky Gap itself is a considerable trip, but in order to deceive at least myself I blow off all these concerns.

Turns out Pierce has some gambling planned with Teddy [Teddys] at Wheeling Island. Well, now I figure that's only a little bit further too. Deceiving oneself never had a better day! So I tell Pierce we will meet up there - of course it's always fun to check out a new place. Pierce kindly offers to pick up some liquor and I'm bringing some. Things are shaping up! I arrive quite bedraggled after a 5 hour or so trip, so some down time in a hotel room is much appreciated with a few drinks with my two new friends as well. I'm too frazzled for anything that takes much concentration [and we continue to drink] but this never seems to interfere with Craps too much and we hit the tables. Having these two at the table seems to be my lucky charm but I think my luck was just going to be good anyway - as the turkey hunt was forecasting. After what was over two hours easy we tore them up pretty bad and I was ahead $500+ after tips.

For an interlude we decided on the Buffet. Pierce was unsure he should oversell that choice, but declared the buffet folks were relatively 'on their game'. It was good, a carving station having prime rib, steak, shrimp, other seafood that I forget, all done quite well. Skipped the fried chicken, it was that odd selection of economy cuts you often see from what I could tell. However, IIRC more than one kind of chicken wings were out. It bugs me when the vegetables are hog slop, and they didn't make that mistake, at least one fresh very crisp selection. Paid little attention to salad bar and desserts, but ate a bit of cheesecake Pierce recommended, and it was good. Just not a dessert guy actually. I obtain my considerable girth with just meat and bread I guess.

We returned to Craps and gave some of it back with a session of about an hour, but I was conservative and didn't get hurt bad. Teddy soon had to leave, so this left Pierce and me to round up some beers in what was a nice walk on the Island. A guy's wife would not like this walk, but it was safe enough really. Except the guys in the liquor store were nervous about something; you have to wonder if we were close to some 'shit happening' there.

Our 'night to howl' closed down some time between midnight and one, but my system was tuned for getting up ridiculously early due to the turkey hunting. I can push myself to stay up late with adrenaline and caffeine, but there is still the chance I'll wake up early. Sure enough, I was back downstairs around 5:00 AM. Nothing to do but try to snap my points from the night before and succeeded in playing through and cashing the small sum out, a moral victory [g]. The casino at Wheeling brags about their points, motto being something like "our points are worth more." I was in fact able to confirm they are at a penny a point, however, $5 coin-in to earn a point, and as usual an even less favorable rate with table games. Taking notes on my trip, other places I hit in Maryland had points worth less, Rocky Gap was 10 points to the penny for example, but coin-in to earn sometimes is more generous. I've come away deciding that this can be complicated, as it is juggled several ways,
*coin-in rate to earn points
*adjusted even-worse-rate if not slots
*what the points are actually worth in freeplay
*other value may be significant or lame
For the most part, I am interested in what they are worth in freeplay. Obviously, I should be somewhat embarrassed to have to admit that I have paid so little attention to points before. But you have to realize my previous play was limited to table games at places where they didn't seem to earn much in points, points that were worth little anyway. I'm chagrined now to say this trip woke me up a little bit.

However you want to place Wheeling as far as value given in points, I will say my play earned freeplay right away, modest as it was. The thing is, my Craps play EV is modest too. Tipping cost far exceeds my EV at Craps. In any case, Pierce showed me some surprising other-value stuff about these points ... but you just have to know the deal; when I got my Player's Card I asked what I should know and got minimal information. These things can change, but at Wheeling it would seem you do not sneeze at these points.
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Professor Pierce Lays it Out
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Synopsis: Pierce has accumulated quite the knowledge base when it comes to the machines; it slowly occurs to me I have dismissed them too easily. His complicated mathematical evaluation, however, loses me quickly to his frustration and my amusement.
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Before we made our beer run, Pierce took it upon himself to try to wise me up about all these machines he visits. This is a brave new world for me, as I had no notion anything was ever worth investigating in the slots. Additionally, I had made myself allergic to Video Poker after pondering those W-2Gs with a big win. I predict that I will continue to be quite opposed to getting one of those, the idea of it sends me to the moon. Ironically, I had used the online training at WoO to get fairly proficient before deciding I wanted nothing to do with Video Poker. But Pierce straightened me out on that, too. A 25c machine paying 4000 units for a royal isn't going to generate the W-2. Another 'duh!' moment for Yours Truly, geez.

Pierce shows me on his grand tour of the machines that there is such a thing as a "must hit by" progressive. Nope, didn't know that, and obviously, an abandoned progressive can be +EV. Even the much-bashed Keno machines are worth checking out. His verbal attempt to crunch the numbers on one amused me, as I'd never be able to follow it without working it out on paper. However, the concept is clear: the chances of hitting the combination when the bonus is large has a certain EV that can take the overall EV into positive territory.

Nobody can work the turf like Pierce, something tells me. As for me, I can't see myself doing this much [it's always a trip too]. On the other hand, knowledge is good as they say at Faber. You never know.

Pierce never once said "sometimes people leave money too", which I respect.
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Taking my Horseshoe to Maryland
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synopsis: I head into MD where my luck continues at Craps and I learn some things about Jacks or Better. Again the buffet at Rocky Gap proves elusive.

TO BE CONTINUED

Rocky Gap Casino

Recent circumstances had me deciding between two first-time gambling trips. Having heard the situation at Charles Town WV had improved - 3x4x5x Craps with better minimums - I did consider a return to there even though my first drop-by take-a-look wound up with me ticked off towards a Suit with an attitude - no gambling that trip some few years ago! So it was still going to be first-time gambling if I went. But I pondered about Rocky Gap Casino near Cumberland MD, only a bit longer, and decided I'd rather try there.

Nobody seems to ever say they like Charles Town.

On the other hand, Rocky Gap [RG hereafter] has gotten some nice reviews, fitting the bill for the sort of experience I like better. Plus the area is scenic, which counts with me. There is an old thread,

http://wizardofvegas.com/forum/off-topic/other-casinos/14056-new-rocky-gap-casino-md/

So I trundled up there, surviving the 81/70 interchange, which I am going to try to avoid somehow any next time. The signs warned they would force us into one lane for construction, but it was such a parking lot at one point I have to think they stopped traffic for a while to do something. It looks like the mess is going to be going on for a while too. I had planned to kill time at RG, then go to my room in Cumberland, but I was delayed just enough to correctly guess I could check in early. I had some trepidation about this room at Econolodge, as I snagged it for $39 + tax with Hotels.com, a price that in fact definitely sealed it that RG was getting the nod. I was predicting some kind of shortcoming with the room and hoping it wasn't too bad. Lo and Behold: Nice bed, clean, not tiny if not big, just crummy TV and breakfast, and other minor economies is all. I asked for 'quiet' and got it too - thus the most likely disappointment did not materialize. I was by myself, but even the wife would have been OK with the place.

After a nice nap, on with the 15 minute drive back to the Casino - this distance also obviously working out fine. I was in the mood for the typical casino buffet deal, walked in and looked the place over, read every single sign. No sign for the buffet. I was so convinced I had looked thoroughly enough that I didn't try to ask but went for a sandwich at what seemed like the only alternative.

As warned, the casino was small, mirrors all around hiding the fact. One small Craps table that wasn't seeing much action. Blackjack of course, along with other table games I did not try to list.

After failing to make good use of a $5 freeplay for signing up [couldnt find a video poker machine that was recognizable], I headed to the Craps table. $5 min and 3x4x5x, forgot to check other details. Most of the time I rolled alone and again my rolling sucked. Being a small table was cool, but the pyramids hugged the table down low - hitting the wall without hitting pyramids was not happening with my skills. No one complained about short rolls, but of course there are only so many of those you chance in any circumstances. One other shooter who showed up for a while did well enough to keep me from total disaster. The fun we had as a group at The Meadows was fondly remembered as a contrast.

I finally pressed in my style - increased Come betting - at what I was guessing was right timing for a winning streak that did not materialize, and colored up. I wanted to check out the BJ.

I can confirm the BJ at Rocky Gap has good rules. Seem to be same rules as PA, probably due to competition.


3:2
6D
S17
DAS
DA2
RSA
LS
resplit limit: not sure
re-hitting split aces - pretty sure you cannot

$5 minimum was available and I sat down. Young dealer was very good and felt free to occasionally express his opinion. A ploppy was bugging him, he was the kind who seemed to actually know BS and she was hardly doing that. He made a face when she urged another player to take "even money". I had been practicing with "Hit or Miss" and have finally seemed to gotten almost any situation down. But this time it was pair of 9s vs 4 that tripped me up, the ploppy was giving her opinion which I was trying to tune out, making me really hesitate. I took long enough to get a bit embarrassed about the slow decision, which was probably good, I don't think now it will ever trip me up again. I finally got it right and split. My instinct has been to stand on 18, splittable notwithstanding, now it's in my mind that 18 is really not good enough and to quit thinking you stand because 18's "good".

I came in on a shoe and stayed for two more. On the last shoe it was just me and the dealer. We got to talk more and he confirmed that they do allow Surrender. I said I hadn't remembered a choice yet where Surrender was worth considering - I had been getting good cards in that regard, but few Naturals and Double-worthies. We no more than talked about Surrender than 16 vs Ace and Ten came up a few times. The signal for the cameras was to draw a line behind the cards. Later I wondered if I had missed one or two 15 vs 10s I could have surrendered, seemed like I had. In any case, I pretty much broke even at BJ.

Returning to the Craps table, they still werent busy and I just couldnt get excited - passed it up. In the meantime, another player had mentioned that the Buffet had opened up. I asked "where" and they just said "downstairs". Well, now I wasn't really hungry, but I sure has hell wanted to find out where it was. I wandered around and couldn't figure it out at all; all the help had decided to take a break at the same time, just none to be found. I left the place still not knowing where that Buffet is!

Bottom line: I'd go back.

PS: another thing; at the BJ table I was at anyway, there was no CSM, in fact no shuffling at all. The used cards took a ride in some kind of table elevator and and new set of cards already shuffled appeared from somewhere.


[abbreviations per http://www.bj21.com/glossary/main.html ]

WoV East Part II [Craps]

The much anticipated Craps event was soon underway. Lo and Behold, it was a $5 min table with 10x odds. That fits the bill with me 100%, as the line bet with full odds at $55 is a completely comfortably sized bet for me. As soon as they go to $10 min, a little nervousness sets in with that $110 to lay out and stay full odds. My superstition then kicks in, that the dice "see" that you are nervous and make a try for your bankroll. If you can show them you are fearless, they respect that [as this superstition goes]. But step one, comfort with the bet, was in the books. So I laid out a $800 buy in, not undefeatable, but considering the chances of ruin, hefty enough, and the dice respect that too. This in particular is important, as I've said many times [but I'll make it PG in the spirit of the new rules] the dice get aroused "seeing" a small puny bankroll and build a great desire to deliver a brutal sexual experience, without any kisses, upon such bankroll. As it was, I was feeling good, and the dice lost confidence who was going to play the submissive role. You guys who don't believe me, do it your way and find out what happens [g].

Pierce laid out an amazingly detailed sequence of events in his thread, see previous post. As he notes, my own rolling went fairly well, I was successful in avoiding 7-out for a lot of rolls, but didn't hit the numbers for my hands too well, which cost me The Challenge. I was exactly where I wanted to be positioned for my dice-setting fun; to the immediate right of stick. This allows the right-handed shooter to lean out over the table and release very close to the landing zone, limiting the kinetic energy shooter has to give the dice and allowing better accuracy for the hope that the dice will hit below the pyramids. Still, the table seemed bouncy. Furthermore, the dice were kind of sticky. My new release tries to assure that the dice do not land next to each other; such makes them explode apart and certainly then get off-axis. But the stickiness made the dice fling apart too much during release, I thought. So, with the stickiness and the bounciness, I failed to roll too well; had this not been the case, when Pierce saw himself reaching for the green chip in his dreams it would have gone *poof* just as his fingers tried to close on it [vbg].

This last has to do with The Challenge. I was greatly pleased to find that everyone thought it added a lot of fun. Perhaps you have figured out my secret, which is that should someone win the challenge, I as a player have probably done pretty well. Actually I think the thing to do is to make the initial challenge border-line in this regard. Next time I have the honor of offering a challenge I am favoring the following [at the moment]: Passes on the Come-Out don't count, and it will take 3 such point-was-set-passes to win the $25; ties will have to resolve in a later play-off of some kind. 4 such passes beat all lower results to win $25, but ties each earn $25. At that point, 4 such passes, anyone who can beat the last performance wins [lower results now lose] and gets $50 with ties each earning $50 also. This way I may be paying money without a guarantee that I also am doing well; but as the prize gets better, the chances will be that I am doing very, very well.


BTW one thing I thought should have gone better is players announcing out loud their progress, asking for general confirmation at each step.

I stood next to the guy IMO who did the best, Teddys, and I noticed he insisted his odds be 'on' during Come-Out. I have mixed feelings about that, but leave them off mostly because I don't like trying to keep the dealers attention glued to it. I got a reminder that one positive thing about it, though, is that a dealer might wrongly scoop up your odds anyway, in which case you might as well have benefited from having them on should the number be rolled [that particular error may have stung me for $50; I thought so, but Teddy said he didn't think so and he is *very* observant]. Everyone thought that keeping them on helps lower the HE; it occurred to me, then, that I thought I was playing against a 0.00184 HE but in fact was not. I've never seen a calculation that shows how the edge is affected by allowing the odds to be 'off'. Might matter more at 3x4x5x ?

I got the cocktail waitress distraction again; the distraction of the lovely draw this time seems to have had me scooping up a pay-off without paying attention, thus making me make a fuss about my odds not being returned per the above, thinking I still had a bet out. More times than not, those gals get me away from my game. The price to pay I guess.

Another thing working in Pierce's favor was the chip distraction. It really bugs me when the $5 chips aren't completely red, and it turns me into an idiot. At least 3 times I used a $25 chip when I meant to use a $5 one. Teddy helped me correct that once and wondered if I was color blind. What actually was going on, I think, was that since Pierce set all this up he had his evil minions working to distract me this way and that. Next time I'll be better prepared and laughing big as I keep the Challenge money in my own coffers. Whu-ha-ha-ha!!

BTW not only was Pierce getting the pit evil eye right from the beginning, but he was the only one who got busted for not hitting the back wall. No doubt this was all a big act to throw me off, not actually calling no-rolls on Pierce when he was hitting his points and missing the back wall too, like they should have. I'm starting to see what Paigowdan has been talking about with these AP guys! [g]

All in all, a memorable fun event! Can't wait till next time!

WoV East Part I

Everything cooperated to make the vaunted WoV East event a great time except the weather. See http://wizardofvegas.com/forum/off-topic/general/17283-wovcon-east-report/ for an excellent synopsis [if you need to]

Believe it or not, this was the first time in decades I have been to a casino to meet and play with other gamblers. I do not include my wife in this statistic, since although she will play BJ a bit, is not really a gambler. In fact she is rather circumspect about gambling, and only participates in the same way someone who doesn't really drink might have a glass of wine at odd times.

So, I'm pleased that so far this go-round of "making friends on the internet" thing has been a success. My previous experiences with that have not been good. One concern worked out well: I have imagined going with someone to a casino and realizing at some point that the guy is off the deep end with gambling. It would be particularly bad to realize you have introduced somebody to that world only to realize some time later he was an obsessed compulsive gambler who lost his job, etc. But I felt good about this group, maybe that is because the Wizard's site tends to screen out problem gamblers, at least make them easy to spot.

Pierce was something, it was great to see him in action. I had no idea he was such a dedicated advantage-play hound dog. He related when we met up that he had started the day elsewhere grinding out his chances on a Keno slot that had gone +EV due to a progressive. I have to tell you I was quite astonished by this. Our boy admitted he was skipping the part of the day where, you know, you sleep. Nonetheless, one realizes this is not a problem gambler here, Pierce can hardly get interested in anything -EV. He proved again at the Craps table that he is just not heading down that road; he just risked enough to clear a few dollars at a very hot table, one that he himself was setting on fire. Amazing! And such a willing organizer!

Part II later.

Secret to Craps Success Discovered

My trip to Biloxi got the Kibosh put on it, as we were trying to get to New Orleans from the Florida panhandle the same day and were jumpy about the weather - prior days there had been freezing rain and unreliable forecasts. But I managed to make a few statements about my plans getting screwed, just for the record, you know.

Once in New Orleans it came to my attention that Harrah's has a casino there. Sure enough we had wandered near it at some point and the wife, not wanting me to be able to build up too much leverage on the matter I think [g], suggested I get my fix. A little snake-bit about her own gambling recently, she instead was going to hit a museum exhibit I had little interest in and then come get me, making my session a bit of a teaser, but I was taking what I could get.

I managed to get a spot at the only $10 Craps table; all tables offer 10x odds. That can take me out of my comfort zone most days; I decided I would be comfortable with full 5x if I didn't add much Come betting. I didn't like my position at this full table and sure enough my own rolling sucked. It had come around back to the only shooter that seemed to be able to make some of his points when my wife gave my arm a tug. OK, time to go, but I explained to her I had unresolved bets including one place bet. At this point, with me needing to get bets resolved, the shooter goes on a tear. He even hit my Come bet numbers, something that makes a difference! Several were 4 or 10, which paid $100 to my $50 odds bets. I had all my bets except the place bet [a number that didnt roll again unless it was 'off'] resolved at a couple of points, but since all were not resolved I just kept betting line bets with odds until he would 7-out. Actually, I had forgotten I could pick up the place bet, not surprising when there is the excitement of the shooter who can't roll a 7-out.

Eventually the hand is over, of course, but after tips I was up $718, very good for a non-presser like me. Fellows, I have discovered the Secret to Craps Success! Have a spouse waiting impatiently for you to leave the Craps table!

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PS: I can't give you a good review, since my visit was brief. They have a big poker area roped off, tons of slots of course, and a respectable assortment of various other table games. For BJ I saw a few one deck games that paid 6:5. I'm sure they had other BJ varieties, but just didn't investigate, and made only mental notes about other games that fail me now.