teddys's Blog
Day the last -- Las Vegas, Nev. to Laughlin, Nev.
Standing on a corner in Kingman, Arizona . . .
Wait, that's not right. More like sitting in a McDonald's in Kingman, Arizona, with seven McNuggets on my mind. I'm on my way to Phoenix, but not without some final gambling along the way.
I started out at my favorite place to play craps, Joker's Wild on Boulder Highway. Unfortunately, I didn't win, because I bet heavily on a guy who claimed he was a "dice setter." What a crock! I knew dice setting didn't work. Further down the road was Club Fortune casino in Henderson, a nice, newer locals' joint. It was here that I got to play on my dream craps table -- everybody betting the don't pass! The minimum was $1, and they allowed you to lay 6x against any point, so I made a line bet and DC every roll. It was fun to cheer for the seven, and I made a bit of money on a cold table. The guy next to me was an very skilled player who you could tell knew all the bets and payouts. It turned out he was a dealer at the Wynn gambling on his off day after visiting Lake Mead. He says the best job at the Wynn is dice dealer by the pool, not the least because it is a European pool, and "you get to look at titties all day." Not a bad job.
On the way out of town towards Laughlin, I stopped into the Searchlight Nugget. They have a small 21 pit with $2-$50 limits. This is a great game. The cards were the cheap kind you get at Walgreens, and the dealer dealt two decks out of shoe. I like these down-and-dirty blackjack games. To my left sat a bearded, disheveled construction worker in a Terrible's Casinos hat and a sweat-stained t-shirt. He was working on a rest area on US-95 down the road. He bought in for $100, and got on the luckiest streak I have ever seen in my life. In one shoe he got seven blackjacks (what?!). He hit hard eighteen and got a three. He was pulling twenty-ones out of his ass left and right, splitting, doubling down, and winning. He simply could not lose. He worked his way up to the maximum bet of $50, and cleaned out the tray of green chips. The dealer reached into a drawer and pulled out another stack of $25's. Grizzly Adams walked with $1500. Now THAT is gambling. I love seeing these kind of things.
I pulled into Laughlin and checked into Harrah's for a $50 room night. (Apparently they won't comp my anymore). Laughlin is pretty unappealing, no matter what Rob Singer says. You have to wonder about a place that caters to people who are too cheap for Las Vegas. There is nothing really interesting or cool about any of the properties. If I had to choose a place to play, I would choose the Pioneer Club, since they have single-deck blackjack, and I like the theme. Other than that, nothing really stands out.
Terrible('s) Royal and more wins
I will NOT lose. Was playing at Terrible's two nights ago on the $.25 9/6 Jacks or Better machine, trying to earn enough points for my room. Got dealt 10-J-Q-A of clubs, thought "no way am I getting this," and up popped the Kc. I did my little happy dance. This one was especially sweet since I had been putting in a LOT of hours at the VP machines here at Terrible's and Tuscany. So that was a nice little refill.
Next day, I went to Gold Coast and played Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em for one hour, winning $150. I decided to go downtown for the evening, and played in every casino down there:
El Cortez -- won a bit -- maybe $25 -- on the $.10 Multistrike VP.
Fitz's -- popped a 4oak (4's) on the $.25 Bonus Poker machine, and earned $50 and a free steak dinner. Yummy. Also won $2.50 on the 101% loose deuces machine upstairs while waiting for my meal.
Four Queens -- won $2.50 on 10/7 Double Bonus.
Fremont -- played Pick 'Em poker. Was in for $10, then $30, then $50, and just decided to put in $100. Made a slight recovery, then got three 6s on the initial deal. Underneath was the last 6. $150 score.
Golden Gate -- didn't play but watched a great dance show by one of the party pit girls on the stage outside. Seriously, wow. Save your money at the strip clubs and go here instead.
Vegas Club -- didn't play since they shorted the downtown deuces machine.
Plaza -- closed
Main Street -- this is where it started getting bad. I bought in for $100 on the craps table, and there was really good energy. A couple points were made, and then it just went south quickly. Left with $55.
California -- bought in for $100 at Craps, walked with $45.
Fremont -- same thing, except this time I lost it all. Ouch.
Circus Circus -- threw the rest of the bankroll on the table, determined to get my losses back (bad idea), and this time it actually worked. Nice crowd and crew at the table, and got on some hot rolls. Made back all the downtown losses. Later, I played blackjack in the "party pit," where they would pay blackjacks double at certain times when red lights would come on and music played. I am pretty sure this is plus E.V. I did a monster spread from $5 to $10 when the bonus started, and hit exactly one bonus blackjack. Left up $30. Yeah!
So I am at about the same point, or a little above, then I was when I started this whole misguided undertaking. The more I think about, the more amazing that sounds, especially considering the sickening amount of gaming I've done in the last three weeks.
Comments
I'm glad for you. When do you head home?
Yay! The bleeding has stopped:-) Are you going to be able to concentrate when you start your job? It'd be a shame if you had to resort to gambling at the Native casinos in AZ...
Big Win on the Boulder Strip
Was driving around today in Las Vegas, being dissolute and gambling. Started out at Sunset Station, playing Deuces Wild in the no-smoking section. Woman across from me hit a catch-7 on $1 Keno. Whaat?!? Nobody ever wins on Keno. $7,000 payout. She seemed quite surprised. Guess she won't have to gamble her social security check next month. Left up $45.
I stopped into Skyline on the Boulder Highway just south of Sunset. This is a coin dropper-only joint that as far as I know is the only casino in the world without a slot club. I was checking out their video poker offerings, and saw they had full pay deuces wild, and for ten coins, no less. Of course I had to bet the max on a 100.76% payback machine. I put in my $45 winnings and was down almost to nothing, then hit a couple straights and 5oaks, and then got the three deuces on the deal and drew the fourth. Handpay! $500 major score. They had to bring two slot attendants over for my whale-rific score, and they broke down the last hundred into fives and tens. OH HELL NO. No way am I tipping for a handpay that would have been a ticket in any other casino. Then I went to Joker's Wild to play craps.
Comments
Dissolute? I refuse to believe it. Just licking your wounds from unjust treatment by the Gods of Blackjack I think. Getting over that can take more than 24 hours. Today I am having to face losing a play-by-email strategy game [actually we use software files these days]. This game requires great commitment and started months ago, August 2010 to be exact. No money involved but I will hard to get along with today.
Good job getting a win.
Be careful at the Jokers Wild... I hear they sometimes raise the table limit to 3.00 if a whale shows up.
No way -- the regulars would absolutely riot.
Jokers Wild has a craps table with a minimum bet of One Dollar on Monday thru Thursday and Two Dollars on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
World's Worst Blackjack Player.
I can't win at blackjack.Seriously. It is the only game where I consistently lose time after time. Why is that? I follow basic strategy to the letter, and even try to keep a weak count in single- and double-deck games. Today the dealers at the Wynn and Venetian beat me up for a $350 loss (betting $10-$15). This is in addition to my $325 loss at the Horseshoe, and before that my 47-unit loss in Southern Indiana (-$1175 betting $25), and the same amount in a string of losing sessions before that.
No other game do I lose so consistently on. Where is the upswing? Maybe I should just stay away from it; all people do is get mad at you when you double on soft 19.
Comments
Why don't you try playing Simplified Basic Strategy for awhile. See what happens then and of course stop counting!
I couldn't fail to notice I didn't get "beginner's luck" at my first go round with it [at a casino] about a month ago, and lost my first two sessions and have never had a win. Now you're scaring me with this story ...
For double on soft 19, I believe that is done only in games where dealer hits soft 17?
To answer your question, I would either just give it up completely, or at least hold out for the most favorable rules around, not these. If it was me.
You need a system.
Learn German and talk to me in a week :P
It sounds like you know what you're doing, but it isn't working right now. That doesn't make you bad, it makes you unlucky (very unlucky, apparently...).
The world's worst blackjack player is some old guy sitting at Jokers Wild, who stands on all hard hands - unless he feels "lucky" about hitting 17 against a 10. Hey! There's an idea. Maybe you're actually playing too well! I bet if you started playing like one of the idiots around you who is winning in spite of themself, you'd win too!
It is your fault teddy, but it is not your strategy or play. The most important thing is you must pick out a dealer you can beat. You are probably picking the pretty dealers. BIG MISTAKE. They will eat you for lunch. For me, any woman BJ dealer is disaster. In fact, I had to give up BJ almost completely since I found the only dealer I can occasionally beat are the ones that are mathematically challenged. Also, don't forget to ALWAYS approach your seat from the right. lefty loosy = lefty losey
Seriously now, I find BJ to be a brutal game that I am completely unlucky at. The only times I seemed to win was when I would play the I am not going to bust game, standing on most 15s and 16s. I know this should cause me to lose more in the long run, but it was the only way I could win. When I played correctly, it rarely ever resulted in a win. And that is why I am now a craps player, since playing poor BJ strategy made the odds even more against me.
Day 13 -- Las Vegas Nev.
The blog is winding down, as we get closer to my work start date. Still hanging out in Vegas, holed up at Terrible's. I will post a full review later.
Some thoughts:
-Doing well at video poker, splitting play between Terrible's and Tuscany. Ironically, doing great at Terrible's, and Terrible at Tuscany. No royals, but a good enough amount of quads to keep my head above water.
-Walked the strip last night, eating dinner in the diamond lounge at Paris (breaded chicken wings and firecracker wontons, plus chips, veg and dip), and then hit all the casinos from there on south. Played Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em at PH, lost $100+, gotta stop playing high edge games, bankroll is getting flimsy.
-Played the "Press Your Luck" game outside of PH, got a whammy.
-MGM has the best blackjack on the strip: 6 deck S17 LS RSA for $10. Worst players I have ever seen, and the dealer was out of it, too. Fun, though.
-Played a new Chinese-made blackjack console called "Dealer's Angels" by Aruze at MGM. Pretty nice. I like it better than the Shufflemaster machines (dealer is animated, but very lifelike).
-I don't like the new Trop. They didn't go all the way with the new theme, and stuff just clashes. Casino too small.
-Mandalay was pretty full.
-Luxor sucks, bring back Egypt. Grind joint of the south strip now.
-Why do I bother going into Excalibur?
-Aria is sweet. It was full out on a Sunday, and the action was huge. Bacc salon was way off the main gaming floor. Very airy and modern. Special other high limit salon with blackjack and bar, forget what it was called. $25 minimums on everything on main floor, and packed. Russian kid was playing $200(!) a hand on Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em ($400-$1000 in action every hand, no trips), and I watched the dealer make a HUGE error -- she mispayed him when she didn't see her two pair! $1,200 swing for the player. If only I could get that kind of dealer...
-Bellagio still has two $5 games at the wheelchair tables. Great dealer(s). Saw 3x WPT All-in Hold 'Em but it was closed down. Taught the whole table about surrender :)
Comments
Yeah, Luxor decided quite a while ago to just be a hotel and bars rather than a casino and having an Egyptian theme. Anyplace with rooms that cheap just can't be offering much.
Its nice to see comments about great dealers. They stand on their feet all day and perform repetitive tasks, must be difficult for them at times.
I'm real surprised at Terribles but if you are doing okay there, go for it.
Comments
good story with the lucky construction worker
>my favorite place to play craps, Joker's Wild
what is it about it?
Cool! Only 93 more to go!
Thanks for these trip reports, I've enjoyed them all. I've only been to Laughlin once and I kind of liked it. I like walking from casino to casino and doing it along the river is a lot more enjoyable than fighting the crowds on the strip. That said, I'd rather be in Vegas, especially since it is just as easy, and usually easier, to get to Vegas than it is to Laughlin for me.
Sorry the free room well dried up at CET. You can repair your ADT by giving them some bigger play in your next couple of trips. Thanks for great reports.
Sorry the free room well dried up at CET. You can repair your ADT by giving them some bigger play in your next couple of trips. Thanks for great reports.