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Two Dozen Nights in Vegas: Down Town VP and beer.

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by wasilla, Oct 20, 2019.

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  1. mwig

    mwig VIP Whale

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    I am completely in agreement with @wasilla . My goal with any casino trip is to take advantage of promos and offers to get a free trip (free to me includes covering all expenses including air). If I happen to make money, that is even better. I think the disconnect comes between people like us and people that like to gamble. I have nothing against the gamblers and love to celebrate with them when they hit fun hands on crazy games.

    My version of fun basically entails beating the casino at their own game. I spend hours practicing, prepping coupons, promos etc. I know this seems like work to a lot of people but to me it's just another part of the game. I'm planning a trip at the end of Jan-early Feb and the prep work has already begun. I also acknowledge that if there were more of us the casino would no longer offer what I consider playable games.
     
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  2. wasilla

    wasilla High-Roller

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    Thanks for offering your opinion mwig. I think that I may talk past people at times. We both know that a single WE trip will often times be expensive. We play with a longer term perspective. Since 2011, I've been able to make 3 or 4 multi week trips a year and have sort of forgotten how much that variance can dominate a casual few days of play. I'm generally in Vegas long enough for both the good and bad stuff to happen. I will say that paying attention to pay tables and progressives have earned me thousands of extra dollars over the last 8 years covering both winning and losing trips. Expected EV becomes more meaningful the bigger the edge and the longer the play.
     
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  3. wasilla

    wasilla High-Roller

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    Your interest in DT beer convinced me to write a mini DT beer guide. It's Grabbing a Great Beer Downtown in the Downtown Hotel section.
     
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  4. Philonous815

    Philonous815 Well-Known Member

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    During your DTG stay, do you remember the accrural rate of tier credits (as compared to points) on the VP machines?
     
  5. oldbrewzer

    oldbrewzer High-Roller

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    Ditto. Preparing in advance and staying focused. Never going to get rich, but completely free vacations is still doable.
     
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  6. wasilla

    wasilla High-Roller

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    Hands Played/ Hands Hit/ Money Bet Summary

    Sorry for the delay.

    The D and GG. Played in these 12 days straight. Played 48,000 hands for $60,000. Hit 0 RF, 1 SF and 125 quads. I played the .25c 8/5 BP progressive and the extra progressive wins totaled about $530. I still lost here and a few more SF's would have been nice. My points on this play were worth $60

    4Q's: Played there 6 days. The target was $96,000 coin in, but FP and extra play brought it up to 40,000 hands for $100,000. I played mostly .50c 10/6 DDB and JOB, but also played for dollars and 9/6 DDB and 9/7 DB for quarters. I'm figuring that the dollar and quarter play averaged out. I hit 2 $2,000 RF's and 94 quads here. I didn't break out the SF's, but the frequency felt normal. I also hit Aces with a kicker twice for $1,000 and once for $532. I also hit Aces once on dollars. I hit several other quads, some with kickers on .25 progressive and made almost $130 extra on the progressives. My points were worth about $300.

    MSS: Played there 3 days all with quarters. I don't know how may deals I had, but I played 38,400 hands for $48,000. 2 days were 9/6 JOB and my largest play day was 9/6 JOB and triple play 8/5 BP. I drew a $1,000 RF and was dealt a SF on triple play and a quad or two. I didn't break out other SF's and hit 58 quads. My scratch cards over these 3 days was worth around $120. My points were worth about $125 because I played on two 11x point days.

    Binion's: Played there 2 partial days playing a .25c 9/7 DB $1,800 RF progressive. I played around 2,560 hands for $3,200. I hit 3 quads including Aces My points were worth $10

    Jerry's: Played 2 partial senior days. I played 1,760 hands for $2,200. I played .25c NSUD. I drew a $1,000 RF. I also got 3 natural quads. One was worth $5, one was 5 OAK, and one was $250 worth of deuces. On my 2nd day at Jerry's, I was also playing at the D. The RF and quad I hit a Jerry's would have been worth a few hundred more at the D. I also hit a natural SF worth $12.50 there and up to $300 at the D. The Deuces I drew at the D would have been worth $200 more at Jerry's. Obviously, stuff like this happens all the time, for better or for worse.

    DTG: I played there 2 days. This has been the hold up to my summary. I had trouble tracking my play here. I played single line .25c 50/10/6 DDB with a progressive RF and SF and .05c and .10c ten play 40/10/6 DDB. I think that the single line earned a point per $10 because it was +100% EV and the multiline earned 1 pt per $2, but I really don't know. A host told me that I played $16,000. I spent about 5 hours playing .25c single line, 2 hours playing .05c 10 play, and 5 hours playing .10c ten play. On .25 single play I hit 6 quads including a $528 Aces with a kicker. I didn't closely track my .05c quads but I did hit aces w/o and 3's with a kicker. For 10c I hit a SF, and about 14 quads including two aces with kicker and 3's with kicker. I was dealt some good hands on single line, but a couple FH's and a few flushes were my best dealt hands on 10 play.
    I'll estimate that I played 3,000 hands for $4000 on single play with 6 quads, and one Aces w kicker for an extra $28. This leaves around $12,000 on 10 play for 2,800 deals or 28,000 hands. These numbers seem pretty low to me, but its the best sense that I can make of the $16,000 coin in figure the host gave me.

    I also did coupon run play at El Co, Fremont, Cal, Sam's Town, Orleans, Plaza, Hooters, and EI. Play was small and nothing life changing happened.

    So approximately $229,400 coin in. 133,720 hands played from .25c to $1 and about $12,000 for 28,000 .05c to .10c ten play hands.

    For .25c to $1
    Royals: 2 for $2,000 and 2 for $1,000
    Aces with a kicker: 2 for $1,000 and a $528 and $532.
    SF: 11, including 3 on a dealt 3 play.
    Quads: 289

    I came back $4002 richer with another $500+ in banked points. I'll do another post to talk about trip costs, comps, and the amount of FP that I burned through. I also utilized several MP's for a mounting loss.
     
    Last edited: Dec 1, 2019
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  7. kkinwi

    kkinwi VIP Whale

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    Well done! Thank you for taking the time to do these details!
     
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  8. smerrian

    smerrian View from Bally's

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    Thanks for posting. Truly a very in-depth report concerning trying to close the house's gaming edge. You had a great trip...4 RFs, wow!

    Just for information for your next trip...
    If you get tired of Downtown, or are having a bad gambling day, and want to get away for a walk or change of scenery, Go to the Bonneville Transit Station 3 blocks south of the Golden Nugget and get your free senior's pass. It's good for 5 years and entitles you to bus discounts. If you board the Deuce you can get an all day pass for $2.50 (for some strange reason they cost $4 in the machines or on the SDX). The pass is then good on all busses and transit for 24 hours. Passes are available to those age 60+.
     
  9. NittyOne

    NittyOne VIP Whale

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    Wow I applaud your record keeping, thanks for sharing. Your costs I assume had to be minimal, flights, tips, some bus costs. Not a bad way to make a few bucks. I wouldn’t quit my day job but heck winning money doing something I enjoy isn’t bad.
     
  10. mwig

    mwig VIP Whale

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    Amazing level of detail. I always have pics of the best moments but don't keep track of straight flushes and only pause for 2 seconds or so to admire a normal quad. I know my starting point and take a count at the end of a trip. My normal thought process is that it feels like I should have more money based on the number of royals but coming home with extra is good regardless.

    Congrats on a great trip!! I know those long days start to feel like a grind on the long trips. I usually take a few days to play poker when we are out for 2 weeks in the summer.
     
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  11. Aplayer2

    Aplayer2 wager enthusiast

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    Again great report!!!
    Overall did you feel your comps at DTG were commiserate with your play? I was under the impression they were not comping VP players well after they raised the paytables. Do you base your number of hands and coin in on the points you receive or do you track them manually?

    I will be Downtown next week and will use your trip as a play guide.

    Thanks for the vicarious thrills while I waited. Stay warm as a lifetime Floridian I don't think I could winter in Alaska. (Maybe The IPA's help)
     
  12. wasilla

    wasilla High-Roller

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    Trip Costs, Comps, and Free Play

    I'm writing this from New Orleans. This isn't a gambling trip, but I know that several members hit casinos here. I just want to say that there is surprisingly good beer here.

    Instead of using miles, I've been paying for flights all year in a quest for status. Anchorage flights aren't cheap and this one was around $380 RT.

    I made several Brew Pub visits and ate a hot dog at one. The beer, hot dog, and tips was close to $100. I also paid a couple of dollars over my points for a meal at EI.

    The rest of the meals were free. Mostly this was from monthly and room stay food credits, but I also took advantage of several food promotions at Jerry's, Binion's and DT Boyd Casinos. I also had to spend around $150 of Binion's and 4Q's comp dollars, but they are so generous with those that I left with more than I started with.

    Transportation was walking and buses. My 15 day pass was around $13 and I paid $1 from and to the airport.

    I spent over $300 in tips in the casinos, including a few hand pays. I consider tips an entertainment cost and don't deduct them from my gambling bankroll.

    Comps

    MSS: 3 free nights, $20 food, $10 FP and got a $25 food credit from the mystery game in October which dropped to a casino rate in November. I only stayed there 2 nights because the 3rd was unavailable. Last Summer, I did not adequately protect my comps here and I regret it. I had played here half my trip days, but a lot of them were short play. I also got food comps for a host or slot supervisor almost every day. I don't know if my offers dropped because of a lower average daily play or being so over comped. This trip I played 3 days for greater amounts and didn't ask for any comps. I'm hoping the offers return.

    Fremont: Found a comped night on my calendar.

    DTG: Got 2 comped nights through a host.

    QQQQ: 3 nights, $300 FP, $50 food. in Oct and 3 nights, $300 FP and $500 back end FP on Veteran's day WE. Stayed 6 nights. I've been averaging $48,000 coin in a WE

    The D: 4 nights, $50 FP, $30 MP, and $30 food each month. Stayed 7 nights. This is an improvement after I played a single $10,000 day during a stay

    GG: 4 nights and $25 food each month and $25 FP twice a month. Used a coupon for $100 FP. Stayed 5 nights. This is an improvement after playing $10,000 over 2 days.

    Match Play: My results continue to be horrible.

    Free Play. I count on FP and it's a big part of where and when I play.

    QQQQ's: $600 up front, $10 coupon, and $500 backend for $1,110
    Binion's: $80 up front and $40 backend for $120
    GG $100 up front and $100 coupon for $200
    The D: $100 up front
    Jerry's $20 up front
    Ellis Island: $40 coupons
    Hooters: $20 coupons
    Sam's Town: $10 coupon
    Hooters: $20 coupons
    Orleans: $10 coupon
    El Co: $10 from prior play
    Plaza $20 coupons

    I believe this totals $1,670. This FP and extra progressive money accounts for most of this trips $4,000 win. I think that I was under straight flushed this trip, but did better with aces with a kicker. The number of royals seemed to expectation, but they were worth more than I'd anticipate. The quads seem lower than average to me.

    I haven't been to my PO Box since the trip. I'll post if anything happens to the offers.
     
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  13. ColoradoJohn

    ColoradoJohn Low-Roller

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    What beer did they have??
     
  14. shanecrow99

    shanecrow99 Low-Roller

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    I think wasilla mentioned that GG had Bell's Two Hearted Ale IPA and Duvel on tap.
    Both of which I have never seen available at a casino before (at least not on draft).
     
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  15. ColoradoJohn

    ColoradoJohn Low-Roller

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    I was at the D in mid November and the Long Bar had a Hazy Bells IPA
    Bartender didn't know name but I think it was Official.
     
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  16. shanecrow99

    shanecrow99 Low-Roller

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    That's good to know! I'll be checking that out on my next visit (late December). I seem to remember the Long Bar having some decent beer on tap the last few times I have been there.
     
  17. wasilla

    wasilla High-Roller

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    It was those beers I was drinking. I was pleasantly amazed. There is a DT beer thread under Downtown Hotels, Grabbing a Great Beer Downtown. It could be a good resource on available DT beer if people add updates. There is also a DT comped beer thread under Comps that hasn't had a lot of recent updates.
     
  18. Horseplayer1

    Horseplayer1 High-Roller

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    Loved your trip report and your attention to detail. Made me think we were there with you, that's the sign of a good writer. Sounds like you Vegas'd it perfectly-mosty tipsy, trying to get enjoyment wherever you were. Thanks for taking us along with you!
     
  19. wasilla

    wasilla High-Roller

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    Thank you Horseplayer1.

    Post Trip Casino Offers

    I got to my PO box again:

    Nothing new has come from Boyd, D, or GG since my trip.

    Binion's and QQQQ's new offers are the same as the old offers EXCEPT that a Jeweled Rat is involved. Last year it was a Jeweled Pig which another member credited with magical winning powers. I forgot to get my pig, but am all in on acquiring my first ever Jeweled Rat. They have invited me for New Years and the SB again. I think that my average coin in my last 4 stays has been as high as it has ever been, but that $400 FP is more elusive than in the past.

    Jerry's Nugget is apparently unaware of all the nice things that I say about them. After playing through $2,000 last Summer as a new signup, I immediately got a weekly $25 FP, $10 food credit that turned into $15 FP and $5 food credit for the next 5 months. I played a $1,100 day in October and November on their Senior Day, but the offers seem to have dried up. I did lose my first trip and won on the next 2.

    El Cortez does NOT miss me yet.

    I played DTG for around $16,000 coin in over 2 days while losing over a grand. They sent me a first monthly offer through March of $70 MP any 2 days, 3 deluxe room nights, $25 resort credit, and 2 comedy show tickets. After several reports of VP being gutted there, it looks like VP actually got gutted there last week. vpFREE2 is reported all the +EV games gone with the highest survivor being 8/5 BP.
     
    Last edited: Dec 20, 2019
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  20. mwig

    mwig VIP Whale

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    That's too bad. I was going to try to give them some play next month. I'm headed out for a solo trip super bowl weekend. I will have a lot of play to do between the 4Q's and D but it would have been a nice change of scenery. 8/5 bonus at the D with the ACG coupon is a very different animal than 8/5 bonus at DTG. I have no idea what generates a good comp at DTG and haven't been willing to roll the dice with a solid day of play to find out.
     
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