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Trip Report - Solo Vegas, the Quad - Dec 19th to 26th

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by akfromohio, Dec 16, 2012.

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  1. tucsonkim

    tucsonkim Tourist

    Joined:
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    A little sick to my stomach!

    Reading your trip report made me feel so bad! Hopefully you learned your lesson. All I kept thinking was what a great time I would have had if I had $6000 to blow on one trip!
     
  2. Grandad

    Grandad Tourist

    Joined:
    Dec 29, 2009
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    Leicestershire UK
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    The saying goes " You Live and Learn " except it costs more in Vegas.
     
  3. boo

    boo Guest

    Thanks for posting. Made me think of doing a live TR also. About going on tilt and the losses, I've been there.. you'll bounce back!
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 31, 2013
  4. Goodday eh

    Goodday eh Guest

    this probably doesn't help ease the pain, but i really enjoyed the trip report. Loved the brutal honesty, because I made those same mistakes over and over again on my first trips to Vegas and was always chasing the few trips where I did hit big (by pure luck, since i wasn't playing smart, but got the cards that time). I didn't gamble for about 5 years because no matter how much I won while i played, i couldn't walk away from the table a winner. I kept upping my bets until i walked away with nothing.

    If you don't mind some advice, i'll tell you what i do to keep myself in the game. First, I had to understand a fundamental truth about gambling that it took me years to understand, and what made it easy to stop for those 5 years. I realized that even on some of my biggest moments, turning $500 to $6,000 that my life was not going to change because of that money. Some nicer clothes and maybe a nice vacation, but i couldn't exactly quit my job. Outside of games with terrible odds, you can't make life altering money gambling without putting life altering money at risk. I wasn't willing to put my lifestyle at risk, so now i just do it for fun. And you have to understand that to have any chance of winning money over the long haul.

    There are two ways to win at blackjack or other table games. One is to sit down play a set amount of big hands and walk away if you win or lose. The other is grind it out and hope the averages defy math and lean your way that day. Because i enjoy the entertainment value of sitting at the table and playing, I prefer to grind it out and see how it goes. So, besides setting a budget for each day, I set a budget for each hand. I either use a buy-in divided by 10 or by 20 rule, meaning I won't bet on any hand more than that during the round.

    So if my buy-in is $500, I will not bet more than $50 a hand or $25 a hand while i'm at the table. I decide on the 10 or 20 rule based on what day of the trip it is, casino location, overall vibe, and how i've been doing on the trip etc. The biggest mistake you can make is after you've won a hand or two in a row is to just keep doubling your bet. eventually, you will crap out and most of us will just throw more money at it because we came to Vegas to gamble. I prefer to grind and hang around. And the nice thing about the rule is that as your pot grows, so can your bet, but only incrementally. If your pot builds up to $1000, then you can raise your per bet hand to $100 or $50 a hand. The people who lose quickly make $300 bets with only $500 in chips left. At that point you're purely gambling instead of playing.

    hope that helps a bit. if you feel like you can't control your bets, then you may be better off not gambling at all.
     
  5. VinnieVegas

    VinnieVegas Guest

    The moral of the story is.... What can you do right?
     
  6. davidc

    davidc Tourist

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    I didn't see him asking for your advice. Losses are irritating enough; an uninvited lecture is kicking sand in the guy's face. You aren't breaking news telling him that gambling too much is bad.
     
  7. Bane

    Bane Tourist

    Joined:
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    akfromohio thank you for taking the time to document all of this even though you suffered such bad luck.

    I've enjoyed every trip report I've read but human psychology being the way it is, people tend to write only about their winning trips. I don't blame them.

    Winning trips are always exciting to read about but reading about losing trips is very engrossing. We've all been there. All of us. If you haven't experienced what akfromohio has experienced then just wait. Eventually you will.

    akfromohio reflected on what he did wrong and appropriately recognized his mistake was not sticking to his limits. He made the right decisions when it came to his gambling. He was not risking money on wild bets.

    For example when he had that $200 blackjack hand that he needed to split twice he ran to the ATM to get more money for it. Splitting, as we know, was the right play. But if he stood firm on his limits and didn't go to the ATM he would have won that hand, even though he would have made the wrong play.

    We know that just playing the odds won't save you from a streak of bad luck. It helps protect you and over the long run the differences will add up. But anyone new to gambling who thinks they won't experience what he experienced (chasing losses, going on tilt, regretting all your decisions, etc.) because they are playing the best odds is simply fooling themselves.

    Every experienced gambler should be able to connect to this report and to what the poster was going through. The amounts may be much higher or lower. But we could feel what he was feeling because we've been there.

    Thank you again akfromohio for a very engaging read. I believe lady luck owes you some good fortune during your next trip.
     
  8. Bricks

    Bricks Tourist

    Joined:
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    Nice report,

    This is why imo its worth spending the extra for a nice room. When you have somewhere nice to stay, you not only feel good. But can also enjoy relaxing there. When a gambling day is going bad and budget is going quick. Stop. Head to the room, and take a shower and relax. Once your feeling fresh, head for some food, a drink and then have another go :)
     
  9. resutoran

    resutoran Tourist

    Joined:
    Dec 16, 2010
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    Los Angeles, CA
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    You are a lemon! We are lemons!
     
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