Winning... how do y’all do it!?

On a side note reading this thread I'm amazed why most here get caught up in the whole theo , coin in , points earned stuff .

Even Vegas day tripper checks his points earned every trip and takes time to go to a property to claim a $25 free play

You don't have to play much at all with Caesars to get rooms comped , from what l see the free play given back by casinos is pittance .

I made an effort last trip because of the 5x multiplier to make diamond because of the no resort credit , but other than that l don't ever check coin in or points earned and hardly pay often for rooms .

 

wow, did that trigger a forgotten memory. I lived in Louisville KY 90-93. I grew to love Churchill Downs. My job took me twice a year to the fancy sky terraces for corporate events. Usually a loser, one year by the fifth race, I'd bet on horses in three races that stumbled, and out went the cart to put the horse down. It was genuinely horrible, but the dark humor to compensate was all of my coworkers teasing me, etc. Then, someone announced "Look! In the next race, there's a horse named '<my last name> Kills Another" and it stuck.

Now I'm reminded - I've had unusual bad luck for decades; it didn't start only in Vegas.

 

You left out a step. First, one must repeatedly post the well known Mantra "Don't chase Tier. Don't chase comps." THEEEEEN get caught up, check points and tier credits throughout the day. And walk ½-mile for some free snacks. Never ever ever leave town not having spent every penny of your offer.

 

Since I started keeping detailed records in 1990 my Las Vegas win/loss record is 59/31 over 90 trips. I am up gambling (just barely) but am down when including non-reimbursed expenses (mostly consisting of airfares). My gambling strategy:
I only play games with the lowest House PC: Craps Pass Line and Come Bets with full 3x4x5x Odds (0.37% HA), BJ where I can spread 4:1 and make occasional Basic Strategy deviations based upon the count (B/E game before I am backed off), and occasional Baccarat betting only on Banker (1.05% HA).

My typical trip is two nights -- usually Fri - Sun. I have been known to leave LV within a couple of hours after arriving on a Fri if I am up after my first session.

 

I can't believe how many people on this forum have been able to beat the casino over the long term.
I am reading the wrong books I think because any given year I can be up or down but over the last 18 years I am down around 10% on average per year of what I have risked.

I guess I am one of the suckers that keeps the casino a float from all the sharks out there just making bank from the casinos.

 

This has been a good thread and allows me to be reflective of my own gambling habit (addiction?).

Thanks TIMSPEED for your honesty in getting this kicked off.

I can say that I rarely come back from a Vegas trip with any of my gambling budget left. I use the envelope system and try to stick to my daily budget but my Vegas trips are pretty much non-stop gambling and I know the odds are stacked against me.

I’m happy if I get enough wins to keep me playing throughout the day. I sometimes feel remorse when I give all my winnings back but I go to Vegas to gamble and I have a set amount I’m prepared to lose so I get over it quickly.

I also gamble locally. I have more guilt / remorse when I gamble more than I planned at my local because my local trips are more of an escape from my real world problems than a vacation to Vegas.

I don’t gamble more than I can afford and gambling does not affect any other parts of my life but I do think I gamble more than I should and believe I need to be careful to avoid becoming a problem gambler.

Overall, I still like to gamble and enjoy the entertainment of gambling. I’ve been fortunate to basically break even the last few years but had several losing years in a row in the past.

I don’t have an answer on how you can have a winning trip playing slots or really any gambling for extended periods of time without getting very lucky and hitting a large jackpot.

 

Visited Ladbrokes many times on my work trips to London over the years, ….we have nothing like that here on street corners. I might get myself in trouble if we did…

 

My thoughts exactly, which is why I’m dubious of people whom claim to be up for any significant period of time.

It’s one thing to win on an individual trip or two, but after 20-30 trips, unless someone plays for 30 mins then flies home - which sounds like a shitty vacation frankly - is lacking in credibility (and imo, is white noise that I just ignore lol).

 

I click on all those adds that say how to win big on slots that pop up on my computer. Openly admitted loser here but for me it's the cost of entertainment and I stick within my gambling budget and never go to my local.

 

I have no idea what I am up or down for lifetime. Keeping records like that sounds like work. And I am 100% sure I would make more money working than gambling. But working sucks! And as they say money won is twice as sweet as money earned so I have that going for me!

 

This year alone. The BR was just a one time free play offer.

 

Flash back to a little while ago when I was briefly at about lifetime break-even (still riding on some older wins from before low-rolling I hasten to add) and very happily told this to work colleagues… whose response was “Bro why are you happy that sucks bro aren’t you’re like a gambling nerd bro you should be up thousands by now”

 

WOW @jstark 550k coin in and 554k out? that is some rungood. Money for nothing and your comps for free?

Ah yes, chasing losses.
Because you really don't want to leave the casino a loser, you don't "feel" done, and justify it because you can afford it right?
The feeling of knowing you are out of control, that you shouldn't pull out more money and should stop, but you do anyways.
Chasing because you want to get back the feeling of being at your all time high, when you knew you should leave and go to bed with a smile, but didn't.
Sometimes I get lucky and get it back, other times, the losses get much worse, and I prioritize sleeping well at night much more now.

I'm used to carrying alot of money because I'm a blackjack player. and you never know when you will get into a situation where you have a big split and double down in one hand and don't want to run out of money.
But even then, a loss after a big split and double is easier for me to stomach. unfortunately when I play slots its easy to feed bill after bill in, and it can get out of control really quickly.

Its much easier to know when you are "running hot" in table games, and find a good stopping point.
I push for everyone to leave when you are "feeling good." and ride that feeling for the rest of the night, because I've been on the other side of that way so many times.
Usually the shuffle is my signal to leave, and ending the shoe with something like a big bet and blackjack for ATH for the session? I absolutely pack it up.

 

Just pure dumb "luck" here!

 

Indeed. I stay out of them myself as I don't trust myself in case I discover their machine actually have good VP paytables or something. We are swamped with betting shops (which brand themselves as sports betting locations but I suspect they actually make their money from the slot machines they have).

In typical Government meddling the restrictions on the number of gaming machines ('Fixed Odds Betting Terminals' in official parlance) has meant that there are hundreds of small stores rather than a few big 'casino' establishments. Especially now that in most places small retail units are basically worthless as everyone shops online, so it is cheap to setup a store.

 

Agree that the “winning” you are seeing on this forum really skews what true odds are. I too have also gone years without a winning trip though my TR’s show mostly the wins (or at least the photos do. I def write about the losses too). The thing is (for me at least) there is usually a point on the trip where I am even or a little up but it all goes back in the machine because I like to play. I suspect those that have more winning trips that losing are just adept at walking away/it’s not worth it to them to play and lose (don’t get me wrong, I don’t like to play and lose either but I would rather play and lose than not play and not lose; this is because I firmly fall into the “gambling is fun/entertaining camp”).

With that said, I am hyper-conscious of how addictive gambling is and how easy it is to go down the wrong path. Gamblers have the highest rate of suicide among the “big 3” addictions - gambling, alcoholism, drug abuse - though there is a lot of comorbidity involved. The industry also has teams of psychiatrists (and others) trying to figure out how to get people addicted/more addicted. Some people won’t ever get addicted (just not programmed that way) others fall down the rabbit hole immediately. I can only reiterate what other people here have said - if you feel you have a problem/issue - with anything, not just gambling - seek professional help. We like to think we can overcome anything with “will power” and/or “the right attitude” but trust me, that is not the way to go. Study after study proves this. I mean, there is the occasional person who can beat addiction on their own but there are also people who are retired because they won a big lottery. Does that mean you should quit your job because the lottery will provide for your retirement? Hell no.

One last thing - I don’t know if this is helpful but on the couple of occasions in my life where I have felt I am losing control, I tend to start reading more about gambling and it helps “reset” my mindset. I also have a “system” in place to not go down there (it consists, like many have said, of various budgeting mechanisms as well as a timing trips to the casino).

Here are the types of some of the articles I read. Definitely not comprehensive or maybe even the best of their kind but super relatable to me (and a lot easier to read than something from a peer-reviewed journal).

Best wishes in however you decide to pursue the gambling or gambling addiction and thank you for starting this very important discussion.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/1049336
https://www.theverge.com/2015/5/6/8544303/casino-slot-machine-gambling-addiction-psychology-mobile-games

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2464464/

https://studybreaks.com/thoughts/slots-games-psychology/

 

Two words: Video Poker

 

Hey!

 

This is the answer to winning, pure dumb luck.

I got lucky last year getting back to back royals 15mins apart pinning me as a lifetime winner. But it has been downhill since. 2 more trips like my last trip will pin me as a lifetime loser

 

Professionals are not exempt. Even high-level ones, and even in games that are ostensibly beatable. See; e.g. TJ Cloutier, Gus Hansen, Erick Lindgren, and many others.

Arguably, not caring about money may be a necessary condition to become a poker champion.