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Thread: LV trip report for the part timers

  1. #1


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    LV trip report for the part timers

    I am posting this for the few that are interested. T3, please stop reading, others, please dont make it about me. I dont think this trip report is of any interest to the full time pros so hopefully they dont comment on it.


    So it was about 86 degrees at home and the weather in Las Vegas was in triple figures when I boarded the 3+ hours flight to Las Vegas. Landed there about 7:00 p.m. and was much surprised when it did not feel hot. Learned that the dry 100 degrees plus heat in Las Vegas is much more bearable than upper 80's heat in the Midwest.


    In any case, took the shuttle to the rent a car place, picked up my AVIS mid size Chevy, connected my phone to the car play feature, turned on the Pandora and there was Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood's version of Hendriks "Vodoo Chile" on with some of the greatest guitar of the modern era. Go to the 5:30 mark and especially the 12:30 mark to see one of the great rock guitar solos. (check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMf0auAzrL0). Knew it was going to be fun then!


    Drove down to my 3 nights comped room on the strip, threw my bag on the bed and went down to eat. It was 9:00 p.m. Ate my Mongolian beef and rice, decided to walk around the casino and see what was going on on a weekday night. Elected to play a bit before going to bed, ended up playing about 50 minutes, colored up with $100 in winnings.

    Next day started early. I wondered where I should start the morning because few people are at the tables on a weekday and heat can get tough (I am more sensitive to heat). Opted to go downtown, parked in the garage of the place they call among the "sweatiest" there. Played the DD, $10 minimum game heads up (the $5 6 deck table open was full), won $240 in 40 minutes and left to walk up Freemont street.
    It was around 9: 00 a.m. Street groups were setting up their stuff ( a painter, a women making flowers with corn leaves, a drummer on pots and pans). I am a morning person and sort of enjoyed the small number of people walking around under that Freemont street covering. Walked into the nicest of the casinos on that Freemont strip. Played $25 min DD game (too bad they dont allow doubling on splits, wasnt sure what to do in that case with a pair of deuces against a 3 with a Plus 3 TC and a $100 bet out, split them anyway and lucked out. Got a 10 for a 12 on the first hand and stood, got a 7 and a 10 on the second for a 19, dealer ended up with an 18, so lost one, won one). In any case, won $365 while playing with 1-2 others. Only place I played anonymously so upped my spread from 1-5 to 1-8 there.


    I left downtown around Noon, decided to drive a bit and headed up to the casino way up on Charleston. I went in, had a lunch at Panda Express, walked around but open tables were few and crowded. Only 1 $25 minimum DD game was open, had a guy playing two hands of BJ, fiddling with his chips, and another player at table as well. I did not like it so did not play that table. there was a 6 deck table crowded. A Singledeck table with a 6/5 rule that was open and empty but I was not interested. I was feeling a "sugar low" and sleepy so I walked over to the comfortable sofa chairs in the keno area and decided to nap. Next thing I know, a security guard is standing over me. I open my eyes and ask if its okay if I sit here and not play? He says that if I were to sleep, then he had no choice but to trespass me but I could certainly sit there and not play. I got up, found the $25 min game open and played. Played 75 minutes, won $335

    I went back to my hotel and napped. It had been a great start, 4 sessions and all winning ones ($100, $240, $365 and $355) of just under 4 hours total.

    At 6 that evening, I was again out to play. I got in my car, was considering where to go when Creedence Clearwater came on my Pandora with "Green River" so that gave me the idea. One of the nicer places where I played 90 minutes, went up and down , thought I was headed for my first losing session but won $165 after 90 minutes of play. It was evening and the tables got crowded (I refuse to play DD with more than 3 spots being played)


    Got in my car, searched for the nearest casino, picked on a Fiesta and drove there. An hour later, playing $10 min. BJ, I won $175. Had not lost a session yet! Alas. I went to another one on the drive back towards the strip. Disaster struck and I lost $1000 in about 90 minutes of play on a $25 min. DD game. Seemed like every max bet lost. Its so painful that most of the whole days winnings and the sense that I was invincible, it was my day and such went down the drain. I was still up but not by much. I returned to my home casino (needed to give them some play to keep the comps coming!) and luckily won $200 before ending my first day.


    First day's play- (plus late night on arrival)

    $595 -8 sessions, 7 casinos-Playing time 8.5 hours

    Started early the next morning taking the same route, Downtown! Played at the Spaniard's place at the $10 DD game, won $200 while closely watched. Initiated conversation with the pIt (a guy and a lady), told a story to get the suspicions off. Then things fell apart. Walked over to a casino I had never been in, nothing grand about it. Played the DD there but luck went south and all the money I had won till that point was lost as I dropped $1000 at that $10 minimum game. Down because I was down, walked over to the best and one of the oldest casinos there, and my bad mood was dispelled quickly as I won $775 in 60 minutes. In a short morning, I lost all I had won and then won much of it back quickly.


    Went back to my room after a quick lunch, took a nap.Left later in the aftrenoon for my final sessions for the day. Played at 4 locals casinos, all DD games, won all of them, won $530 (20 minutes, $650 (35 minutes, $200 (75 minutes) and $575 (40 minutes) with a lot of driving and scouting and such. At the end of the day, I had done as follows:

    $1830-7 sessions, 7 casinos, Playing time of 6.5 hours

    Last day's play


    Went to a casino of the same chain I was staying in, had never played there before and was impressed with how nice it was with dealers dressed nicely too. Had my longest session at 2 hours of $25 DD and won $550. It was almost lunch time and I had a nice meal on the strip, decided to look into other strip properties, especially ones I had not been to. Much to my disappointment, the Wynn and Encore did not have any $25 games and the $50 and $100 minimum tables had well dressed but bored dealers but they would not consider reducing the minimum. Also went to the former Monte Carlo but they too did not have a $25 or less DD game.


    Went to my casino hotel, checked out of the hotel and since I had exceeded my hopes and won more than $2k for the trip, considered quitting BJ for the trip but with 7-8 hours still to go before I needed to return my AVIS car, I decided to drive around. Since I am in a relatively flat state, Las Vegas and the mountains looked beautiful, the homes on the outskirts were so different and so beautiful. In any case after a bit of driving around, I pulled into an off the south strip casino that was Silver. I was hoping to pass time but I went up quickly by $200 on a $10 DD game and quit.
    By this time, I was over my goal and should have quit. I decided to make one last stop at a casino of Boulder Highway. Pen was good, the game was a $25DD head's up but nothing seemed to be going right. I had my biggest loss of $1400 there and, after 3 hours, forced myself to quit rather than risk messing with the joy of a winning trip or getting backed off..

    My last day's play results as follows:

    Minus $650, 3 sessions, 3 casinos, Playing time 5.5 hours.


    Trip results were $1775 won, 21 hours played, total of 13 casionos played in. My trip expenses were about $600 (flight, rental car, some food etc.)

    I played rated except at 3 downtown casinos. Played very conservatively with a 1-5 spread most of the time. I understand why the advice is to play unrated but my experience has been that as a rated player and long term players card holder, the heat dissipates rather quickly. For me, it still works. In retrospect, it was careless of me to play a 3 hour session on my last stop, play rated and try to get to even. I could easily have been backed off and lost that chain where I get the most comps.

    In my view, Las Vegas still has very playable penetration and good DD games. They are as good as any I have found in my part of the Midwest. Its also much easier to find other things to do in Las Vegas than at any other trip locations.

  2. #2


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    I have similar experience in your last stop. The shop has best penetration in the area. But when I was not fully alert, not top notch on the count, all the double down and split would go south.

  3. #3
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    Were you allowed to enter in the middle of the decks or did you play it from scratch hoping for count to get up quickly ?
    Wayne Gretzky once said that you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. Life’s too short for regrets.

  4. #4


    0 out of 3 members found this post helpful. Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    Consider the following to enhance your LV earning experience.

    1. Power golf tees for your rental car - to hold your balls up while you’re driving.
    2. Relaxed nuts enhance play while utilizing the FBM ASC.

    I enjoyed your subterfuge of name changes. You missed a far better game $25 min DD game than the one with the Golden Girls - The gated place down the street. Cleavage is also better.

    Should also mentioned that passing 12 on dealer 3 at true 3, after splitting deuces is not the worlds greatest pass. Had you hit on hand 1 getting 19, you would have had 12 on hand 2 - another hit would have determined your end result, that card, being dealers 3rd card after flipping his hole card. You really need to learn basic.
    Last edited by Freightman; 09-04-2018 at 04:36 PM.

  5. #5


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    Quote Originally Posted by Letangs View Post
    Were you allowed to enter in the middle of the decks or did you play it from scratch hoping for count to get up quickly ?
    In most $25 DD games, there is no mid shoe entry.

  6. #6


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    Quote Originally Posted by Freightman View Post
    Consider the following to enhance your LV earning experience.

    1. Power golf tees for your rental car - to hold your balls up while you’re driving.
    2. Relaxed nuts enhance play while utilizing the FBM ASC.

    I enjoyed your subterfuge of name changes. You missed a far better game $25 min DD game than the one with the Golden Girls - The gated place down the street. Cleavage is also better.

    Should also mentioned that passing 12 on dealer 3 at true 3, after splitting deuces is not the worlds greatest pass. Had you hit on hand 1 getting 19, you would have had 12 on hand 2 - another hit would have determined your end result, that card, being dealers 3rd card after flipping his hole card. You really need to learn basic.
    I stopped a long time ago side counting 9’s for my reason of infrequency of occurrence. I used it to bypass the dreaded 12v2 at super high counts, where index is to pass at true 3. M6 best success came at a full table (unusual for me) with 2 hands of 12 v dealer 2. Forget the count, though it was a monster. Had 2x250 out on the felt. Hit hand 1 snagging a 9, passed hand 2, dealer getting face face. Not @ single thank you from the table, but I didn’t care.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by ZeeBabar View Post
    In most $25 DD games, there is no mid shoe entry.
    That's what I expected. Makes sense tho.
    Wayne Gretzky once said that you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. Life’s too short for regrets.

  8. #8


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    Thanks for the report! I also followed the same mentality on my trips and experienced the same 'on the way to the airport' loss at the Orleans. Glad you covered your expenses and made a few bucks.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by ZeeBabar View Post
    Went to my casino hotel, checked out of the hotel and since I had exceeded my hopes and won more than $2k for the trip, considered quitting BJ for the trip but with 7-8 hours still to go before I needed to return my AVIS car, I decided to drive around. Since I am in a relatively flat state, Las Vegas and the mountains looked beautiful, the homes on the outskirts were so different and so beautiful. In any case after a bit of driving around, I pulled into an off the south strip casino that was Silver. I was hoping to pass time but I went up quickly by $200 on a $10 DD game and quit.
    By this time, I was over my goal and should have quit. I decided to make one last stop at a casino of Boulder Highway. Pen was good, the game was a $25DD head's up but nothing seemed to be going right. I had my biggest loss of $1400 there and, after 3 hours, forced myself to quit rather than risk messing with the joy of a winning trip or getting backed off..
    With that much time to kill, I would find
    your favorite player's card
    casino with a good craps table and bounce between craps and blackjack. The money trickles out, you get comped on the time at the table even when you are not betting and you may win a little.

  10. #10


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    when i do vegas and play 25 dd, my sessions are super short usually (my max bet usually comes out pretty quickly). I've had 15-20 minute sessions where i leave after one shoes after placing my max bet. so i was a little surprised you're able to do 2-hour sessions with no heat. do you have an act/camouflage or am i just being too paranoid?

  11. #11


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    Quote Originally Posted by Freightman View Post
    Consider the following to enhance your LV earning experience.

    1. Power golf tees for your rental car - to hold your balls up while you’re driving.
    2. Relaxed nuts enhance play while utilizing the FBM ASC.

    I enjoyed your subterfuge of name changes. You missed a far better game $25 min DD game than the one with the Golden Girls - The gated place down the street. Cleavage is also better.

    Should also mentioned that passing 12 on dealer 3 at true 3, after splitting deuces is not the worlds greatest pass. Had you hit on hand 1 getting 19, you would have had 12 on hand 2 - another hit would have determined your end result, that card, being dealers 3rd card after flipping his hole card. You really need to learn basic.
    Any recommanded article for FBM ASC?

    ???? PACM00 ?? Tapatalk??

  12. #12


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    I was in Vegas 4 month ago. On my last day I went to mgm grand at 6am, the 6D, .285 HE game had $25 minimum, 1.3/6 pen. Lost $550 in 20 mins then left to catch the flight. I was so happy to see this rule still exist in $25 minimum. This is my favorite rule, but only found MGM still offer it.

    ???? PACM00 ?? Tapatalk??

  13. #13


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    Quote Originally Posted by San Jose Bella View Post
    Any recommanded article for FBM ASC?

    ???? PACM00 ?? Tapatalk??
    Search the archives using FBM ASC as the search parameter. I’m sure you will be agog with anticipation.

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