Another Useless Effort

[notes1]

jcs, very sorry to hear about your misfortune. have to agree, you are on a bad roll. if venting helps, please continue.  i belonged to a country club for 27 years and quit earlier this year, because i lost my love of the game. i always said, working at a country club was a real tough job, because every member thinks they are the boss and qualified to know everything about how to run the place. i have no idea how anyone could last a ong time in that job. good luck with all you are facing. 

[Lucky Larry]

jcs,
Our thoughts are with you but don't give up hope. IMO, there is a reason for everything that happens in life. When I almost died on the operating table at 48 with a heart blockage it gave me a reason to try and guess my purpose in life. Almost two decades later, I'm still on that journey of life. Sometimes the journey seems to be for me alone but I have also learned that my role is often to serve in a role for someone else in my life as well.

BTW: I envy anyone who has the patience to play golf. I thought it was a game invented to torture me.

[FAA]

Back to machine stories. Here's a similar one by alpax this spring:I normally put in $200 in a full pay $1 Jacks or Better machine. I know
the optimal strategy very well and played slowly and carefully, I kept
losing every hand betting max each time until I hit 2 pairs and see my
balance at 40 credits. Turns out that I've lost 34 straight hands played
perfectly when the chance for a winning hand of pair of Jacks or Better
is at 45%!Phil confirmed similar nightmares from bygone days. Just not feasible as a strategy. Keep funds low. Bet slow, and low. Pot shot sparingly when it's time to go!

[FloridaPhil]

[quote=FAA]Keep funds low. Bet slow, and low. Pot shot sparingly when it's time to go![/quote]Good rhyme.  No doubt about it, things are definitely different in today's video poker world.  

[alpax]

Thanks FAA for posting a past story of mine, it goes to show you need a significant bankroll to play the game and handle the swings, I've had many 10+ hand losing streaks. A player who experienced 39 royal flushes should very well know this.

It would help to

1. Listen and take in the good advice given by the community here
2. Read past posts and ask questions to improve your skills/abilities rather than ranting about the state of video poker. Venetian does not need video poker to sustain itself, Sands Corporation is in very good shape due to their successful gamble in the Macau market.
3. Play the game at better locations than New Mexico and Venetian. No point in practicing the games here when the place you will actually play at will have worse payouts and require a different strategy.

Then again, there are stubborn people in the world and not much could be done with them.

[jcs152112]

The 3 comments make perfect sense, the fourth was not necessary. I understand swings, I also understand when it is best to back off. I don't have a casino every few miles, nor the desire to travel. I understand paytables, I look for every advantage I can and refuse to play a 6/5 machine when there is an 8/5 nearby. The stubborn people are those that get upset when I fart in their face after they blow smoke in mine!!

[alpax]

The 3 comments make perfect sense, the fourth was not necessary. I understand swings, I also understand when it is best to back off. I don't have a casino every few miles, nor the desire to travel. I understand paytables, I look for every advantage I can and refuse to play a 6/5 machine when there is an 8/5 nearby. The stubborn people are those that get upset when I fart in their face after they blow smoke in mine!!

To avoid any misunderstanding, I did not intend to directly call you a stubborn person, I was just generalizing people can take the advice and better themselves or they can continue their own ways.

I do not like travelling far to play either so I do the majority of my play at the local casino which is still 60+ miles away. This is knowing thatVegas has better options.

Although 8/5 DDB or TDB is much better than 6/5, it is still a rough game. If you are able to play TDB for $1 or can handle DDB for $2, it is best that you pay full price for the rooms if you must stay at the Venetian/Palazzo and go across the street to Mirage (MGM) where both games are 9/6.

[FAA]

Alpax, suppose you made your first forty min bets, denting only a sixth of your bankroll before you got a whiff of a winner. You would have had similar outrage over the delayed win, and perhaps even switched, with most of the roll intact. Sounds boring, but as one who has done it, that much bleeding still made my remaining blood boil. The biggest loss I can sustain with this is $70. Such machines make for unsustainable play. I came to the belated realization that I was a quarter player with dollar aspirations, which were always foiled. I've only had one swift quad on these machines. Adapt and survive.

[DougJ]

The 3 comments make perfect sense, the fourth was not necessary. I understand swings, I also understand when it is best to back off. I don't have a casino every few miles, nor the desire to travel. I understand paytables, I look for every advantage I can and refuse to play a 6/5 machine when there is an 8/5 nearby. The stubborn people are those that get upset when I fart in their face after they blow smoke in mine!!

Loved the last comment! As an asthma sufferer, I understand completely your sentiments!
I also understand the ill feeling towards the Venetian. Back in 2000, 2001 or so, not so long after they opened, we used to be regulars there. Decent host at that time.
Fast forward to 2013 or so, times did change. Rooms were still comped, but that was it. Unappreciated, we walked, and never looked back. Losing $5K there means nothing to Sheldon. . . but that doesn't excuse a rude host.
We have an "old school Vegas" host right now, at another casino, that never ever tells us "NO".   He may find creative ways to let us know "next time" or "next trip", but at least we don't feel ignored.

Sorry to hear of your health issues, and do hope that your gambling luck improves.

[spxChrome]

After posting a few months ago about the death of a Vegas casino and my futile efforts at playing the game I used to love, the inevitable happened. Some friends wanted to meet at the Black Gold in Hobbs, NM. After swearing off VP for money, we decided to meet them. The VP selection is very sad, but the penny slots are abundant. I stupidly put my Benjamin in a $ video poker machine, played 13 straight hands without a payout. With 35 credits left, I hit a pair of Kings. Now I am up to 40!! Played 6 more hands without a payout and then got a pair of Jacks. Now I have 15 left. 3 more hands without a payout and my Benjamin was gone. I told them I would meet them in the bar where at least my money spent would give me some satisfaction. 5 months since the debacle in Vegas and the same ole crap. Better leave well enough alone.


That's about how the cookie crumbles these days in VP. Penny slots are taking over because people can't understand that they are not winners when they win .40 on a $2.00 bet. They just see they won .40 they don't look at it like I lost $1.60.   We had a casino here have ANOTHER "grand opening" and this time the entire bottom floor was nothing but penny machines. The only VP left was 7/5 at the bar.


As for comps same treatment here. I asked for a comp to the buffet. Since I arrived late and wanted to eat first I had not played any. She told me she could not comp me a buffet until I show some play. Although I was just in there 1 week earlier and blew $2500 and didn't ask for a single comp. I brought this up and she said yes I see that but today is a new day and I can only comp you on what is played today. Whatever... I just paid for the buffet which would take 3 hands of poker to blow anyway. Its like they are just trying to ruin their business on purpose. So I ate the buffet and left they made $15 on the buffet and lost me as a player.