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Reno Drive By, July 21, Atlantis

Discussion in 'Non-Vegas Trip Reports' started by fadetheseven, Jul 23, 2014.

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  1. fadetheseven

    fadetheseven High-Roller

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    My Trip Report

    I was up in S. Lake Tahoe over the preceding weekend and didn't get much action. The celebrity golf tourney was in town and all the joints were mobbed. Dice tables were all $15 and up. BJ was $25+. I managed to find 1 empty $25 BJ table at Harvey's and played have a shoe in lightning speed and booked a tidy 2 bill profit in about 10 minutes. The only other session was at the Lakeside, which usually has a $5 dice game but it wasn't open! Settled for a couple hours of $5 BJ and booked a $30 winner.

    Having only 2 sessions, I decided I'd drive the long way home and hit Reno for a few hours before schleping back to the Bay Area. I inhaled an In-N-Out Cheeseburger and arrived at the Atlantis around 1:30pm. I decided to go big today as the last few trips haven't been complete wipeouts. My usual BR is about $3k per 3 day trip. I've booked 3 trips this year and managed to lose less than a single trip's $3k bankroll over all 3 trips. By my degen math, I'm ahead!

    I started on dice placing $44 inside and quarter buys on the 4 and 10. $5PL with quarter odds. Immediate full press on the inside numbers, then full press on every other hit. The first session was probably a couple hours as it was a slow grind, losing about 70% of the buy in. The only thing keeping me in the game is a steady flow of 4s and 10s. I love buying these but I usually can't afford it with my normal buy in. The Atlantis has a roll-tracking board and they reset it at noon. I think I had the longest roll of 20 during that entire session. I'm a setter but clearly have no control over the dice. I usually set crossed 6s. This session I tried setting a hardways set. No discernible difference in outcomes, LOL. I'm hooked on parley hardways. I start at buck 2 way on 6 and 8. First hit parley, second hit I go to $50 and the boys go to $25. This first session I never got past the first parley. 4 fingered Paul remembered my last trip in June where we actually hit at the $50 level, netting a $400 score. He felt obliged to tell me that a guy just a few days ago did the same progression and stopped at $100 and hit that several times! The dealers probably lost $50 in toke money. Nothing very exciting to speak of at this session.

    I color and find an empty DD $25 BJ game and get to play fast and furious, chatting up the dealers. This lady sits at 3rd base after moving from the neighboring table, complaining about how the players didn't know how to play. She was betting black and they were betting $10. We commiserated on how annoying that can be. She proceeds to stand on 15 and 16 with a dealer face card. I can only take it for a couple hands and decide to pull the plug. I don't think I ever got a bet higher than 2 units but I still managed to eek out a $100 win. During the entire session, I'm watching the dice table and it's getting full.

    I buy back in with $400 and immediately step in to a heater in progress. Being a bit gunshy since I'm now short on ammo, I only go $44 inside with the usual PL action, skipping the 4/10 buy. I'm still hooked on the hardways at this point. She is banging on 6 easy over and over. I got that sucker up to $240, starting at $12. One more hit on that and it would have sent me back into the black. Of course, the roll ended at 38 rolls and she never hit that 6 for me. On the way, she nailed a couple 4 and 10 points. I had pressed up my PL to $10 with $50 odds. I eventually had buys on the 4 and 10 as well. Even though I didn't quite cross the line, I was within spitting distance of my original $1k buy in. At this point, I'd been playing for a total of 3 hours or so. I debated whether I should get on the road being satisfied with a near-breakeven 3 hour session. NAAAAAHHH!

    I kept at the the same $44 inside/$5PL/$25odds action and ground back down to about $200 over the next hour. I eventually gave up on the hardways after missing another handful of parleys. Then it was my turn to have a heater. I started betting the sharpshooter for the dealers. It pays at 3 (3:1) points all the way up to 10 (299:1). I got the 8 up to $120 and seven'd before hitting. I managed to roll for 30+ rolls and made 6 numbers (30:1 for the dealers). The crazy thing about this roll was that I kept making points and not many box numbers. I never got to press my bets as high as the first heater. I also play the field for $5 once per shooter. I parley this until I get somewhere near $75 and take it down after hitting that. I did exactly that. I decided to toke 1 of the stacks for all the missed parley hardways and they were very appreciative. During 1 come out sequence, I think I threw 3 crap numbers in a row. Straight out on the other side of the table a guy was betting the horn hard and hit a $40 horn on the last one. He also had the dealers up for $10 on the last 2 crap numbers. All around good hand since everyone made money. Despite all that action, I only netted about $300. I stuck around for a couple more hands and decided to color for one last BJ session.

    I found an empty $25 shoe game and immediately started on a cold streak. Being the last hurrah and only down $500, I gave no fucks and started at $50. I burn through the first $500 quickly and buy for another $500. I pressed harder and started at $75 and burned through that buy and bought for another $500. I wasn't quite playing on tilt but under any other circumstance I would usually walk after burning the first buy. I just kept thinking that I had plenty of ammo left. With the last buy, I dropped back down to $50 and immediately turn the tide. I managed to press up to $100 after a short streak of winners and then had the craziest hand of my BJ life. Split 3's vs dealer 4. Another 3 for another split. Dealer slides me an 8 for a DD. At this point I've got $400 on the table. She asks if I want the card down. I say up and of course it some shitty low card. I can't even remember the sequence of my next 2 hands or even what she dealt herself. All I remember was raking 3 stacks of greens. As I'm typing this up I can't account for how I lost one of the hands. Up until this year, I've been mostly a $10 player and only recently started playing quarters. I couldn't even think straight for next few hands, and it's probably why I can't even remember the sequence of the cards from that particular hand. At this point I'm back to even on my last $1k in buy and down $1k for the trip.

    I decide to play down to $500 as it's after 6pm. Well, you know where this goes. I flat bet at $50 my way to oblivion. I lose the $1k in record pace and am felted in about 20 minutes. As I'm playing my last bet, there is an urge to blow the final third of my bankroll. I do some mental math about how late I would get home and decide to do the responsible thing and call it a day.

    I get on the road and stop for a quick bite at Sonic and pull into my driveway in 4 hours. Stupid road work around Vallejo.

    If I count my $200 win in South LT, I only blew $1800. I've never played at this level before and damn, it was exciting. I don't think I'll keep at this level but it was fun to try swinging for the fences, something I don't usually let myself do. I think flat betting quarter BJ fits my BR best since I don't play more than an hour per day. The occasional press keeps things interesting enough. I also think I might change my approach to pressing on the dice table. I think I'm too aggressive for my BR by pressing early and often. I'm wondering if starting at a higher level like 3 units on each inside number but not pressing until well into a hand would smooth out some of the swinginess. Using a flat-bet approach in BJ has definitely smoothed out some of the volatility, allowing me to play at $25 instead of $10.

    tl;dr swung for fences, some exciting moments, but mostly losing.

    Thanks for reading this wall of text. I might be heading back to Reno in early August with a buddy who just moved back to the Bay Area. Lots to ponder until then!
     
  2. rvallez6

    rvallez6 MIA

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    Man, that sounds really fun playing at that level. Sounds like an intense gambling session, not bad for stopping on the way home lol.
     
  3. fadetheseven

    fadetheseven High-Roller

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    I'm a junky. I still enjoy $5 BJ. That session at Lakeside in South LT was fun. I will play $5 at the Atlantis with my GF but I don't give my players card. It doesn't get as exciting as this Reno session but I enjoy the action nonetheless.
     
  4. rvallez6

    rvallez6 MIA

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    Sounds fun. I got my brother hooked on blackjack last weekend. He was more of a machine player, but he definitely got hooked and he did better than me overall. How often do you make the trip? I will probably get out there more often, as my bankroll allows anyway. The drive up seems so quick when there is no traffic. The drive back is another story.
     
  5. fadetheseven

    fadetheseven High-Roller

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    I have a long and sordid history with Reno. We used to go every month. Last year we only went twice after many consecutive losing trips. This year will be somewhere in between, maybe only a couple more trips. My GF also likes to gamble but she really likes the spa. We usually head out Friday and return Sunday. Traffic can be bad both ways. I definitely prefer the non-weekend trips because of the traffic.
     
  6. rvallez6

    rvallez6 MIA

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    Yea i'd much prefer driving up Saturday morning, even if it cuts off a night.
     
  7. fadetheseven

    fadetheseven High-Roller

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    ooh, I don't know if I'd be willing to lose a night of action. A couple years ago we had to wait 3 hrs for Donner summit to open due to snow. We left around 7pm and arrived in Reno at 5am. Ever since then, we usually take the northern route (70) through quincy if there is any chance of snow.
     
  8. TIMSPEED

    TIMSPEED Money’s on the way, with CashNetUSA

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    Is that any better for less snow?
    From Oct 08 - Jan 13, I was going to reno at least 3x a month...I drove in that snow pleeenty of times (even totalled a car once)
     
  9. fadetheseven

    fadetheseven High-Roller

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    I preferred the scenic route over having to put chains on and driving 25 mph for 50 miles. It takes about the same amount of time.
     
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