$500 to bet. What would you do?

My wife and I will be there in a couple of weeks and the way we have portioned our money . . . we have $500 to do something "crazy" with. We each will have our own budgeted monies for the 5 day trip, but this is extra "found" money.

The options range from 1 bet on red/black on the roulette wheel, or some spins on a $25 machine.

With that, I had some questions . . . should I make those big bets at our casino for possible comp purposes . . . or should I take a trip to downtown and try "looser" slots?

What would you do if you had an extra chunk of cash for this purpose? We are staying at the Cosmopolitan. Should I take that and run it through the MGM Lion's Share progressive? (Just as an example)

I am curious to read your thoughts! : )

 

What I would intend to do would be play five $100 hands of video poker. I have no self control, though, so I'd continue until I lost it all or got the handpay.

What you should do is let the wife go first using $250, in whatsoever fashion she'd like. If she wins something sufficient to make for a good story and a pleasant night, consign you $250 to some high variance crapshoot (literally or not). If she doesn't win, take your $250 and either take her out for a nice dinner or send her to the spa. You'll have five days to make your fortune gambling otherwise.

 

Go to a craps table and play $400 outside and $25 on each hard way.

 

Go to a crap table with $250 ...any crap table. Buy in for 9 green and 5 red.
Play $5 on the line and $25 on the hard-8, working. If it ever goes down, put it right back up.
When/if it hits, press it to $100. If that ever hits, take it down, color-out and go have fun.
With any luck at all, you'll get 2 or 3 opportunities on that pressed-bet.
Hey, ya never know!
(Let the wife do whatever she wants with the other $250...but have her wait until the craps attempt is over. She may decide to do the same thing!)
If she doesn't want craps, I would suggest playing three hands (or more) of 3-card poker, blind : $30-$30-$20pp. Do this until you're felted or you hit a straight or better. Then quit.

 

For the maximum potential in comps and potential for a big win I recommend the $25 slot. (A single bet of $500 at a table game won't matter.)
Keep in mind if you do the $25 slot you usually will have to do Max bet which could end up being $50 or $75 per spin.

 

What's the point of the pass line bet? If you're trying to hit a hardway just play the hard way

 

Maybe they might want to roll the dice. You need a line bet down to do that.

 

Do the $100 loss promo (http://www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com/game/identity_promotions.aspx) if you haven't already by taking some spins on high-denomination machines. And then after you lose $100, take the $100 free play and do the same thing.

If you are looking for a 50-50 type bet, and you want the best odds, Baccarat is your game. I don't recommend roulette because of the poor odds, but if you do it, look for a European wheel with no 00 for the best chance of winning.

If you are looking for a 50-50 type bet and want some drama and suspense, go to a crowded craps table (or an empty one if you want to roll) and put down $100 on the pass line and back it up with full odds if a point is established (if the point is 6 or 8, full odds are $500, so you'd only be able to put down 400 of that). If you win or lose on the come out roll, play again until a point is established and you've got the entire $500 (or what's left of it) on the table.

If you want to swing for the fences, $5-25 slots will do the trick. The Lion's Share at MGM is also a good option if you have an hour or two to kill while you're playing down the $500. Video Poker is a better option if you know optimal strategy, but it doesn't offer the visual entertainment value of a slot machine.

Personally, I'd rent a cabana and live it up by the pool.

 

my vice is the $25 top dollar machines. I'm still hoping for that $25k bonus round, but the best I've done is $1500 last trip. but unless I win enough money where it means something, I keep playing until I've lost it all, so it doesn't really work out. maybe some day I'll hit the big one.

 

Three things:
1. If the shooters are hitting points, but just not the hard-8, then every 5 made points (or 7/11 come-outs) gets you another quarter to play the hard-8.

2. I have played at some crap tables (admittedly, in the 90s) that only allowed hard-way bets if you have a line bet. I suppose it's the same reasoning that prohibits players from ~only~ betting the 'progressive bonus' in 3-card.

3. Certainly, if you want to roll, you need one.

...but, you're right - if he prefers to have 10 certain $25 shots at the hard-8, he can do that. (but if it were me, I'd still want that $5 on the line).

I've actually done this twice out of 5 attempts over the years, successfully, but starting with only $100. The trick, of course, is to leave right after that $100 hard-8 hits...and keep going until it does or you're felted.

 

Four hands of $25 video poker. That's $125 a hand.

 

Go to an MGM casino and seek out a craps table with a feature bet (all small, all, and all big). The all small and all big pay 35-1, methinks. The all bet pays 175-1... or somewhere there abouts.

Look for a table that looks to have a young, female dice shooter or a really old war veteran (they always have a hat on in AC and very easy to identify).

Toss $50 on each... rinse and repeat 3 times.

 

I did it on my last trip i took 500$ extra

Went to ceasars palace and played 10 spins on the 50$ sex and the city slot machine

I wanted the bonus but didnt get any still came back with about 250-300

 

I can't do just 1 large bet. If you can, great, I just couldn't do this.

I'd probably split it off into 3 things. All of which I normally do, but not at these levels normally.

1 - Pick some random sports event, bet $100 on it.

2 - Pick a $5-$10 slot machine and put $200-$250 through it.

3 - Take the rest to roulette and do a bunch of $5-$10 on single numbers. Try and do 2 spins.

 

I would play a $10 or $25 slot.

 

I figure you gotta be honest with your self and figure out what you expect.

If you goal is to double your money 500 to 1000, then any table game with decent odds.

If you want to swing for the fences, KENO or a 5 dollar slot machine!

OR 250 powerball tickets

fk

 

Lions Share, 500 bucks through it at one shot could, COULD, be a life changer, or just 500 bucks wasted. The craps would IMO be the best way to use this bonus money, myself I would probably do 15 $20 single bets on the Roulette wheel along with 4-5 Corner bets.

 

Are you actually trying to win? If so, pick a target and when you hit it STOP. What slays me is nearly everyone has suggested you piss it away on some game or bet with a very high house advantage! Why not try to double it on BJ/pass line/baccarat and give yourself a very decent chance of walking away with $1000 instead of zero?

 

If you are trying to win something big, play $25 slots. With 20 spins, you could hit something if you are lucky. If you want to win, put one hand on baccarat. If you win, press. If you win the press, you are up. All you need is 2 wins and you will be up ~$1500 depending if you choose banker.

 

I once was doing well during a trip and bet $500 on the Memphis Mad Dogs (back in October 1995) of the CFL because I like the name as I passed the sports book. I won and I am still up lifetime betting Canadian Football (placed a $100 bet years later which lost).

While that specific advice won't help you today (as the Memphis Mad Dogs are no longer in existence, in fact the team only played one season before folding), what I do advise is to wait until you get a feeling sometime during the trip and go with it - be it a regular bet you normally make except for higher stakes or something brand new, assuming you have some familiarity with how to bet the game (i.e. blackjack, but only if you know basic strategy).

I'd pick a coin flip win/lose game (baccarat, roulette, pai gow or perhaps a sports bet) letting karma and fate decide.

Best of luck and please come back to tell us your ultimate decision and result.

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