Hi all, I enjoy BJ....I have always flat bet the table min of $5 and used basic strag. This has resulted in almost zero net loss but zero comps. As I am able to essentially break even while playing (this determined by many sessions) , I am considering moving up to a 25$ min table. My understanding is most Downtown casinos will offer up pretty good comps at 25/hand....4 hours play per day. One host informed me....room and meals comped. When I do the math though...... 25 per hand X 120 hands per hour X 4hours play= $12,000.00 So if I play perfect Basic Strat.....the house edge is only .6%. That makes my theoretical loss (.006x12k) only 72.00$.... why would I get a room and meals comp'd at that level? What am I missing? Please help....
Not going to be much. Low play. Low house edge. Low house theo. No money to give away. There are after all in business, with a primary goal of taking in more money than what goes out.
So if I play perfect Basic Strat.....the house edge is only .6%. That makes my theoretical loss (.006x12k) only 72.00$.... why would I get a room and meals comp'd at that level? What am I missing? Please help.... prodaddy, Today at 4:49 PM Report Hello prodaddy-- Your logic seems correct. But what you are missing is that casinos generally assume that players achieve less than perfect basic strategy at BJ. The calculation they use is more likely based on 2 percent to 3 percent. They therefore comp against an assumed house advantage of $240 to $360 on your 12K of action (not $72). If they comp at 30 percent of their calculated theoretical hold, they could cover $72 to $108 per day. That won't go far at Bellagio, but would really help at a low end property. Just keep two things in mind: 1)-- If you suddenly raise your game from $5 to $25, you will go from your comfort zone to what might be very uncomfortable for you. Anxiety leads to mistakes. 2)-- While you may play to a .6 percent house edge, your real enemy is variance. At $5/hand, a string of 8 or 10 losses will sting. At $25/hand, it might crush your plan and your bankroll. Best of luck. SteveAC01
If you can get RFB (even downtown) playing a good $25 BJ game (SD, DA2, DAS, RSA, 3:2) then jump on that motherfucker
I also find that room comps are pretty soft meaning that if the place isn't at capacity it's better to have someone filling the room, spending money at restaurants, gambling a little even if the theo is kind of low compared to the room price. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
i stayed and played at strips almost everytimesHowever one time I visited the El Cortez and played the $25 tables and I was treated nicely. The pitboss was hilarious, handed me water and said "VIP Treatment" and dealers were friendly there. I got mailer afterwards for free rooms and some freeplay or match play the year after. I gamble at every casinos at DT the time I went and I found that if I had to pick then it would be playing BJ at Golden gate and El Cortez. Loved the atmosphere and the dealers there On the strip, I like to gamble on a $25/50 min table on the higher end casinos or $50 min table at a lower end properties in the HL room ( more exclusive feeling ). I do get comps but I believed they were from my Slot plays rather than my table play. I usually comp myself from the waitress for non stop drink lol There are few advantages if you gamble $25 min on the strips, you can find BJ pays 3-2 which is a big plus and i think thats how it should be and less newbie players. I dont wannat sit at any 6-5 tables, the feeling when you get a BJ sucks big time
Thx Steve.....I understand that there can be some streaks I always do the "20 times bet" for buy in....so on the 25 table will buy in for 500 min. When I have done this on the 5.00 tables....I have never gone bust...... Hopefully this will not be the 1st time for that...lolol.
25 a hand will give you great amounts of comps almost anywhere downtown and even a few lower places on the strip. You also said you "break even" at 5 bucks a hand. I think you have been lucky this far. I mean if that was truly how it was going to go then you might s well bet a thousand a hand and really start raking in the comps!
I know it sounds kinda strange to claim 'break even' but I really think that over the long haul....I might be up or down 50.00 total. I wont lie to myself, I know I will lose money....but for me, its all about 'losing the least amount over the longest period of time.' lol. I am going to try next week and see how it goes...I will report back- win or lose!
Good luck!! who knows, you could hit a few good shoes and be up a few hundred bucks AND get some decent comps... i would think for sure your resort fees and a few meals charged to your room would be taken off.
Good luck prodaddy. I kind of did the same thing with my craps play. I wouldn't say I break even, but I played a style that was pretty conservative, so I never lost tons. I bumped my base bet to $25, and it wasn't too bad. A little more nervousness at first. Then I stopped betting as conservatively, haha. Just stick to your initial plan, and you should be ok!
One thing I'd like to point out here is that your estimate of 120 hands per hour seems a little aggressive. That's literally two rounds of play per minute. If they're giving you RFB on the basis of "being a $25 player", I feel like they're saying this on the way of thinking that the type of player to play $25 a go will on average have enough losses to justify giving RFB. For a red-chip player, it takes a while for $5 per go losses to add up to anything substantial. Playing $25 a go on the other hand will add up much more quickly. Now, if I'm reading your logic correctly - since you've not gone bust by buying 20 x your bet at $5, playing a single chip at a time, you're thinking that $25 x 20 at $500 will allow you to play in an identical fashion, just with a different colour of single-chip play, right? Here's where I'll join the others in saying that your nervousness may get the better of you. What if you've split 8's four ways and got a 3 on your first 8 and you have to double down in accordance with basic strategy? That will now have five chips out. Easy to stomach playing red, at $25 out total. Perhaps not as easy to stomach playing green, at $125 out total. The bottom line, in my opinion, is that as long as you're playing perfect basic strategy, you'll lose very little money if you are properly funded. The big question, of course, is whether your expected loss is worthwhile to you to get free room and food. You're playing a much higher stakes game just to get comps at the retail value range of between $100 and $200 per day. Also, out of curiosity, is this property the Plaza?
From reading a number of posts on the board, depending on where you are playing you may as well not even give your player's card at the $5 BJ table.
As a general rule of thumb, I'd agree with you. However, Boyd properties have routinely given me food comps while playing $5 blackjack. Speaking for all other properties, what I've noticed is that $5 tables have much worse rules than $10, $15, and $25 tables. Having said that, a 6:5, nDAS, H17, D91011 $5 table will have a higher theoretical win than a 3:2, DAS, S17, DOA $10 table - which I believe would carry value as far as comps are concerned - however minimal it may be.
You have to account for variance, bad runs, and bankroll restrictions. Yes in a perfect world you would only lose $72, that's if you had infinite time, and an infinite BR. But in the real world none of us have either, however the casino does. So they are banking on you going on a bad run and running out of money because of your Risk of Ruin which is certainly possible, though at only $25, I think it's probably very low.
