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MDawg
09-17-2020, 08:00 AM
Preparing for another extended leave...in Vegas!

This will be the first post-coronavirus lockdown trip to Vegas. Yes, masks will be worn, and the action will be heavy!

MDawg
09-17-2020, 12:15 PM
Wynn Las Vegas reveals 548 positive COVID-19 cases among employees (https://www.rgj.com/story/news/2020/09/17/wynn-las-vegas-reveals-548-positive-covid-19-cases-among-employees/3481527001/)
However, Wynn Resorts contends contact tracing results showed 98% of employees who tested positive got the virus outside of work, and that they are testing the h. out of current employees to make sure they don't work once infected.

MDawg
09-18-2020, 10:06 AM
Excitement is building as the trip nears. It is not exactly next week by any means, but relatively soon.

My wife is bringing all these interesting items she has gotten into lately. She has this massive red LED / infrared device she got for home - salon quality obviously that is not going with us. It's one of those deals that costs something like ten grand in the U.S. but I managed to get it for two delivered via some wholesale contacts.

And now she got two portable ones - these portable ones contain gemstones besides heating up to 70 degrees Celsius - one has jade and tourmaline, the other some other gemstones, both have red LED, to bring to Vegas with us. Relatively portable anyway.

Whatever makes her happy. Young girls are into this type of stuff these days, but it's not exclusively the realm of the young. This is along the lines of William S. Burroughs and "organes" - a pseudoscientific concept variously described as an esoteric energy or hypothetical universal life force, but then again who knows maybe red and blue LED light therapy actually does do something.

MDawg
09-20-2020, 10:07 AM
Checking the Vegas casino coronavirus outbreak list
https://www.truepassage.com/forums/showthread.php/12040-Coronavirus-positives-at-casinos-among-casino-staff?p=41191#post41191
of the casinos we plan to stay at this Fall one is very low on the list, and the other two are at least not at the top.

MDawg
09-25-2020, 08:36 AM
Excitement is building as the date for the Vegs trip approaches. Part of that enthusiasm has to do with that - it's not like we're going to Vegas to stay in some bargain joint off the strip (i.e. we're not talking about the Moonlight Motel, which is out on Paradise Boulevard and actually a very fine place of lodging and only sixteen blocks from the Strip, with its own pool and . . ., or even about going to Caesar's Palace to beat them for about $38 at the blackjack tables, and then head for the Circus-Circus to whoop it up . . . .) but rather will be staying in average 2000 square feet power suites and man handling great stacks of black, purple and yellow chips on the way to Victory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdzoIHJBGt0

MDawg
10-07-2020, 06:11 AM
Arrived yesterday. There is definitely a different vibe in Vegas, and it's not just to do with the masks and anti-coronavirus measures.

There was some southbound traffic on the way in, although didn't really hit much if any traffic on the northbound route in.
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Why there was so much traffic on a Tuesday in Southern California around 1pm, I couldn't tell you. Lot of trucks, lot of trucks everywhere, both directions.

An hour outside of Vegas the southbound lanes narrowed down to one, and there was bumper to bumper stretching as far as I could see,
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but luckily for those leaving Vegas, the jam didn't last too many miles.

Arriving into Vegas, not much looked different from the outside,
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but driving around the areas close to the Strip (hit a bank to change a couple of C notes for $5.s and $10.s for tips before pulling in), there seem to be a lot of out of town African Americans afoot. Now, not all of Vegas is white by any means, but these people were clearly from out of town. A caravan of these sped past us on the way in, and looked like L.A. residents.

Within the casino, I saw very few well dressed people like us - not a very upscale crowd milling about. I saw this one gentleman with a blazer with his wife, and we nodded at each other. There weren't too many like us.

I'll be posting Adventures time delayed for security reasons. This won't be as much fun, but I'll keep records and release them all to once each time we move to a different resort. The plan is to be here all month, and with all the suites on a full comp all that matters is winning!

abilenard
10-07-2020, 07:10 AM
Sounds like something out of Mad Max where undesirables infiltrate the cities.

MDawg
10-10-2020, 07:37 AM
Troublemakers aside, the general caliber of the Vegas crowd has gone downhill quite a lot. And this low end crowd consists not necessarily of minorities but of a lot of white trash too. The lower price hotel rooms and deals may have lured these people in.

For example we went to one of the highest end restaurants in our hotel the other night and when we arrived, dressed extremely well, slipping the maitre d' a ten (party of two) for the great, very large table he gave us far away from the others (I'm sure it helped also that the top host at the property made the reservation), we were treated like gold. Not that this restaurant was by any means filled with low lifes, but not much in the way of dressed up people were there either.

On the Strip some entrances are closed off
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to try to regulate people through fewer available checkpoints, and some of the hotels are starting to employ metal detectors at entrances, and more drug and explosive sniffing dogs (maybe the dogs may sniff out firearms that have been previously fired?). There might be bag searches too for arriving guests.

These searches are "random" though and might depend on your appearance. I walked in and out of several of the top resorts on a short walking tour of the Strip and I wasn't even temperature checked, while some of the crowd that walked in right at the same time as I were detained.

Still, I haven't noticed low lifes in the VIP rooms or high roller pits. Occasionally someone will walk in with a few hundred, sit at the table and then realize quickly that the minimum bet is $200., and walk away.

MDawg
10-14-2020, 06:25 PM
Things are good, will have a day to day update posted from my log upon leaving this resort. Keep getting extended - on a full comp!

MDawg
10-16-2020, 09:21 PM
We will be leaving this resort tomorrow, and I will post a day by day from the journal I kept, as far as the gambling.

As far as Vegas in general, I had long talks with different people...pit bosses, my host, the shoe shine man. Everyone concurred - this is the worst Vegas has been as far back as any of us may remember. I was here in Vegas on the first flight after 9/11, in 2001. Vegas was empty then. No one wanted to travel right after 9/11. And yet - the few who WERE here, were part of the typical Vegas crowd, including both tourists, and high rollers (I mean - hey - billionaire high roller Kerry Packer was here too, stuck in Vegas after all air travel was cancelled).

Post 9/11, empty as Vegas was, the demographics hadn't really changed a great deal, other than that some of the overseas Asian high rollers weren't flying in.

Today, post coronavirus pandemic, EVERYthing has changed, as far as the composition of the crowd. People aren't really flying in much, especially from overseas, due to fears of catching coronavirus on flights. It's mostly Southern California and other closely visitors here now, and locals from less desirable (such as North Vegas) areas where the smaller casinos remain shut down, so the locals end up on the Strip.

Hotel rooms, including at nice places like the Venetian and Wynn/Encore, are down to Motel 6 rates (around $120. a night weekdays, with only one night a week - Fridays - bumping up to $299.), such that droves of people who would not normally think of going to Vegas, a much lower end crowd, are here. These people are not gambling much, they're not dining out much, and many of them are packed into one room, bringing their own alcohol, getting wasted, and causing "problems" of all sorts most especially out on the Strip at night, but even inside many of the resorts too.

Las Vegas Strip Increasingly violent
(https://www.truepassage.com/forums/showthread.php/12101-Las-Vegas-Strip-increasingly-violent-since-coronavirus-pandemic?p=41292#post41292)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrXtCIvmnWo

Over all, most of this crowd in Vegas at present is not here to gamble, not here to fine dine, mostly here to drink heavily and party.

And while the free rooms for essential workers SOUNDS good in principle
Venetian on Las Vegas Strip offers free night stay to first responders, essential workers | Coronavirus | fox5vegas.com (https://www.fox5vegas.com/coronavirus/venetian-on-las-vegas-strip-offers-free-night-stay-to-first-responders-essential-workers/article_96a4da98-9aa7-11ea-a8a1-b3563751cfa5.html)
many of these "essential" workers are low lifes with low end jobs that are somehow deemed "essential" who get drunken and cause trouble. Go to Cosmopolitan for example, and see if you don't observe at least one fight and even up to a few, in one night, is what other friends of mine who are here at the Strip right now too tell me is going on there.

It's just not a nice, well dressed, well mannered Vegas right now. Not to say that there is anything wrong with getting rowdy, but there is a time and place for everything. The sirens are going off on the Strip constantly, and there they go again right now as I type this, and I don't see it getting better until sometime next Spring, when room rates are scheduled to rise again, which may finally deter the lower end crowd from coming here in such droves.

Bottom line: if you stick to your high roller suite, and the high roller VIP areas, and stay off the Strip at night, you'll almost surely be okay and have a good experience - but, stray off the gold paved path at your own risk, as you may encounter trouble.

MDawg
10-17-2020, 06:13 PM
Executive Wellness Suite, 1850 square feet.
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MDawg
10-17-2020, 06:16 PM
Exercise Room and Wet Sauna
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MDawg
10-17-2020, 06:20 PM
Vitamin and Tea bars in full swing
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MDawg
10-17-2020, 06:25 PM
The suite we are staying in is called the Venetian Executive Wellness Suite. Back when I used to go to Vegas a lot, and until not so long ago, these were called Renaissance Suites. 1850 square feet, and they come in two versions � the one, such as the one we are staying in now, has an exercise room with a treadmill and wet sauna (hence the term �Wellness�). The other version has a surround sound media room with a stereo. The stereos used to take CDs � perhaps now that has changed and they have a plug in for iPhone as CDs aren�t as prevalent. Back then I used to travel with a stack of CDs and blast the stereo so loud I�d get calls from VIP about noise complaints.

We�re now fully moved in, complete with Vitamin bar
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Hot tea bar
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and cosmetics and skin care, men�s and women�s stations.
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The view is of the back side of Vegas looking towards the Westgate (formerly Hilton, formerly International, of Elvis fame) and the mountains. It�s quieter anyway than the Strip side view.
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There is some construction across the way behind the Wynn employee parking lot.
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Assume it is the MSG Sphere. Hope that by the time it is completed this coronavirus mess is receding and live entertainment and concerts may resume.
MSG Sphere at The Venetian Construction Makes Progress - Arena Digest (https://arenadigest.com/2019/12/19/msg-sphere-at-the-venetian-construction-makes-progress/)

VIP is barely open nowadays
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only weekends and only mornings. Will check it out this Friday what�s changed in there.

There are masks in the suite foyer
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but we brought our own.

I get the general feeling that the hotel is understaffed. It took an hour after check in for them to bring up our luggage, and even though I called a few hours ahead to ask that all the sheets and towels be changed for hypoallergenic ones, this wasn�t done before we arrived, and it took two hours for housekeeping to get up here to handle it. When I stay in Vegas suites for too long � longer than say two weeks � whatever they use to wash the sheets starts bothering my skin. Not to the level of a rash, but just bothersome light itching. The hypoallergenic sheets help.

The plan is to hit the gym, eat and then start play. There are stories of shootings and violence in Vegas, but I doubt these will intrude into the Venetian high limit pit. Reminds of me some years ago when there were increased carjackings in southern California and someone I know mentioned that these were happening all over the city I live in.

When I asked him, �Really? Even in _______ ?� he responded sarcastically, �Yes, right at the corner of ________ and _______� referring to the precise area I lived in, and area where no home was under a few million back then, and pretty much no home under ten, these days. The point being that Things may Fall Apart all over, but not so much in the guarded areas of the rich, so I don�t anticipate any problems inside the casino high roller areas.

MDawg
10-17-2020, 06:33 PM
The closet clothes bars are pretty flimsy. I guess they didn't figure on anyone bringing this many clothes? The rods are sagging!
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MDawg
10-17-2020, 06:34 PM
Day One play

I played about five hours. At the midi-Baccarat table there are plexiglass divisions between each of the stations, which limits the number of players to five, although at no point did more than three or four of us play. It was actually somewhat crowded, as they had three midi-tables going which isn�t bad for a Wednesday, I think. The dealers told me that it�s been slightly busy lately.

There is full beverage service. I had a few hot teas. One was brought with cellophane wrapped over the top of the teacup, and others were brought with a sort of loose plastic cap fitted over the top. Obviously we are allowed to take our masks off, or pull them down, when drinking.

Coronavirus wise, if there is someone at your table who has it and is contagious, I think you�d catch it from them. I don�t see how at that close proximity the plexiglass would do much of anything, although the masks would definitely help.

As far as masks, I suppose the plus side is that we guys don�t even have to bother shaving as regularly � you can�t see your face anyway. Also, at least the Venetian, smoking is prohibited at tables games
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(may not be the case at all casinos � I stopped by Wynn to visit a friend who was playing Baccarat, and the pit boss there told me that where they have the plexiglass barriers in place, smoking IS allowed.) Those are about the only upsides I can see. Otherwise, it�s a pain wearing a mask all the time.

Part of the reason I like casinos too, is the crowd. Of course I�m speaking mainly of the girls. Now, some girls look good in a mask � adds a bit of allure to them. I�d place my wife in this category, and occasionally there might be a girl at the gym I know who looks hot in a mask too. But, that might have much to do with having a hot body as anything else. Here at the casino, all the mask does is cover the girl up, and I haven�t seen any that look good in masks yet. Oh well, small price to pay to stop the spread of coronavirus.

I wasn�t playing all that hard, although some bigger bets brought my average to around 900 (confirmed at the end of the session). I was ahead 3500 at one point, but after that at one point I was also down, about the same, down -3500. I ended ahead about twelve hundred and probably tipped out a hundred and fifty along the way here and there via side bets for the dealer (bets for the dealer alongside mine). I placed one fifty for the dealer on a run where I bet about 1200 at the top (end of the run), and lost that hand last hand.

Ended up about 1200 ahead for the day.
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MDawg
10-17-2020, 06:38 PM
Day Two

Not going to the gym today � I go every other day, especially if the facilities are complete, and Venetian has probably the best gym I have ever seen in a hotel � complete with free weights, TRX, all that.

Did a couple quick stock trades, booked a few K.

I found out that all Venetian suites have done away with their show steams. The spout is still there in our shower
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but the steam mechanism has been removed. I couldn�t find any trace even of the wall control plate. However, our room has a wet sauna that works extremely, so that�s pretty much the equivalent and works.

MDawg
10-17-2020, 06:38 PM
VIP, both at Venetian and Encore, is open only a few days a week, mornings only, and is pretty much � pointless. There is nothing in there, no food, no beverage service, nothing but a large empty room. When VIP is closed, which is most of the time, there is a small invited guest area (two or three windows only) which I have not seen busy at all, which seems a testament to how few high rollers or even, players of any caliber at all, are here right now.

MDawg
10-17-2020, 06:41 PM
Day Two Play

Had an easy shoe � barely betting, pressing only 100 per hand, a played a chop where not only it chopped perfectly but I also noticed towards the end that ALL THREE indicators (that some people follow � the �hamburgers,� �doughnuts� and �french fries�) were progressing perfectly as well). Given that yesterday I was up 3500 and ended up leaving only 1200 or so ahead, today I took the four grand from this shoe and just left. Now ahead over $5K for the trip.
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The host won�t like that I played only one shoe today, but there will be other days when I will play longer times, and anyway the most important thing is to WIN.

MDawg
10-17-2020, 06:42 PM
Day Three Play

I played quite a long time � 5 � hours. This casino credits for actual time played, which for me � because I blaze through the Baccarat shoes � works out to my disadvantage. I�d be better off if they gave me an hour for each shoe.

I wasn�t up or down much today, and finally called it quits $400. ahead. There was a pretty cute (not spectacular by any means, but � she looked good in a mask!) Middle Eastern girl playing at my table, showing off her boobs, who told me she had been up for two days (as in, no sleep). At Venetian they have this Tiger bet that she hit twice for $50. (pays $2500.) but she gradually lost all that she won and told me she was quite down for the trip over all. I wanted to suggest that she just quit, sleep for a day or two, and then come back � lack of sleep does not contribute to good gambling decisions, but I left it alone. I was actually down a grand or so when I left her table and went over to a different one, in seek of a better shoe, which I found, at least � good even to get me even and ahead a bit before I stopped. As I glanced over at the screen for her shoe, and her stack chip, I realized that she once again gradually lost everything.

You just can�t keep playing ad infinitum. Get a good shoe, get ahead, and leave. This has worked for me for years on end. The average gambler has no discipline.
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$400. win today only.

MDawg
10-17-2020, 06:42 PM
Day Four Play

Today didn�t go so well. I pulled an $8K marker and eventually lost it. Then a $10K and lost that too. Then a $20K and amazingly, lost that too. I pulled a final $12K, and rallied all the way to having about $35K in my hands, lost about $4K of that and then stopped for the day. A 12 hour nonstop session that ended at about 11pm. Even though I had plenty of big bets, $5000., $6500., the computer had me down for only a $740. average, because I did make plenty of smaller bets, but the pit boss at my request adjusted me up to $1000.

I contacted the host and extended our stay a few days. The plan is to hunker down, go to the gym tomorrow, rest, and go back the next fresh after a one day break from gambling regrouped to recoup the $20K I lost yesterday, which actually I have over five grand in cash I already won, so I am down about $15K for this leg of the trip at the moment which is pretty manageable.

There was a certain hand where the dealer kept saying �all in Bank now.� I almost didn�t bet the hand at all, but when he mentioned it again, I piled a bunch of chips on, with three greens ($75.) on the side for him. Player got a seven, I drew a 2 and a 3 for a total of five. Odds were definitely not in my favor, but I drew a 3 and won. I slammed that 3 down hard as could be. Looking back, and of course hindsight in gambling is always crystal clear, I should have jammed it all down right then and there. I had $35K in front of me at that moment! which is the current limit at this casino. Much easier said than done though.

MDawg
10-17-2020, 06:43 PM
Day Five

Took a break did not play today at all. Went to the gym, ate, stayed in the suite with the wife. Very relaxing. Need to reset mindset and not be �chasing.�

MDawg
10-17-2020, 06:46 PM
The suites are well sanitized, right down to the wrapping on the water glasses.
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and the sealed utensils that come with room service, if you choose traditional silverware versus plastic.
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Room service is available contactless, where the server just hands off the cart to you at the door.
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MDawg
10-17-2020, 06:53 PM
Ate at Delmonico, which is one of my favorite restaurants in Vegas, as far as traditional steakhouses.
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The host, who is the head guy here, made the reservation, and the maitre d' gave us a large secluded table away from most everyone else. I slipped him a ten, which is what I usually do for a party of two. Twenty for a party of four.

The event seemed safe enough. We haven't dined indoors in a restaurant since March 2020!

MDawg
10-17-2020, 06:56 PM
When I take a spill, such as I did yesterday, I take a full day off from play. This removes the edge and desire to "go right back in" and recoup all the losses at once. The break adds perspective to the event, as it makes me think about all I have won in Vegas over the past two or three years, and in general over my lifetime. It makes me think about how little the amount I am down - about fifteen grand - really is, and that it is more a matter of ego, and trying to always be a winner, that is at stake, than the money itself.

Perspective and calm are always good.

MDawg
10-17-2020, 06:57 PM
Day Six Play

Four hours � won about five grand. Really could have won a lot more but there were others at my table who kept betting against what I had in mind, and losing. At such times I�d either not follow through with what I had planned, or bet less.

I took a bathroom break before an obvious side by side player run, and missed out there too.

But, at the end of it all, as I played alone, I managed to walk ahead the five grand, and the pit boss bumped my average bet to 1200, versus what his computer was showing (1000). �I�ll do that for you. You�re a nice guy, and you take care of my dealers.�

Always � when I win, the dealers win too.

MDawg
10-17-2020, 06:57 PM
Day Seven Play

Quick session � won about five thousand quickly, and just left.

MDawg
10-17-2020, 06:58 PM
Day Eight Play

About three hours of play, pit boss said my average was about $900. I was down as much as four grand today, but rallied and came back to stop a little over a thousand ahead. Over all, I am still getting out of that hole I got myself into on Day Four but I am close to even now.

I really do play best alone, but if others are at my table I more or less try to do my own thing and not follow anyone. I can�t tell you how many times over this past week that I�ve been pushing into a bank or player run � boom! boom! boom! � hitting it hard, and others just do nothing, and later tell me they were too chicken to jump in because they were sure that the run was going to end.

Having a good time, playing just one session a day, and enjoying the suite and whatever Vegas offers the rest of the day. Hitting the gym religiously every other morning.

MDawg
10-17-2020, 06:59 PM
Improvised stove to re-heat some French fries.
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MDawg
10-17-2020, 07:00 PM
Every morning, in the elevator, social distancing is in full effect!
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MDawg
10-17-2020, 07:01 PM
This suite is great. About all it could use though, is some new carpet. The carpet looks the same as it did fifteen plus years ago when I last played here!
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This suite has three bathrooms. Don't think I've been in a Vegas suite with three bathrooms before. Two, all the time. But three....

MDawg
10-17-2020, 07:03 PM
Day Nine Play

Three shoes, played the commissionless (pays � on bank win 6) table, won two thousand, stopped. Was three hours of play, and the average bet was lower today, about 400 is what the put boss said, although I did have one thousand dollar hand and one twenty-five hundred dollar hand (won both of those, but I wasn�t particularly ahead when I won the $2500.).

It was a fun session, very smooth. Their boiler was broken so no hot tea. I had to go up to the room to drink some tea from our own electric kettle and to bring down a natural energy drink to pour over ice in a glass they brought me.


Venetian VIP lounge (high roller's)
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No food - drink only.

MDawg
10-17-2020, 07:24 PM
Day Ten Play

This leg of the trip is over. Leaving � AHEAD. Not a lot ahead, just a couple grand (plus whatever I tipped out), but today finally I completed chipping away at the hole I got into on Day Four play. It was pretty exciting today and after some back and forth and a few losing hands I placed two chocolates � total ten grand on bank and drew a nine.

I tied!

Crazy. Tie with nine, with ten grand at stake?

I free handed the next hand and saw bank draw another nine. Which player tied again!

I stood up and paced for a bit, and then put the two chocolate chips back down. That wasn�t easy, maintaining the ten thousand dollar bet after seeing bank tie twice, but I�m not one to let a tie hand necessarily dissuade me from anything.

I drew a nine again, and this time, player a mere one. BAM! I slammed the cards down and collected ten grand � NO commission either, as I was playing the commissionless table today. That�s five hunny in commiss saved, on that hand.

You can�t really put a price on that feeling � winning a ten thousand dollar hand like that after hesitating on it over three hands. Anyone who gambles should understand.

Next hand I placed five hunny for me (no I didn�t/couldn�t leave up the ten grand, although I should have), and $125 for the dealer. Bam! another winner for me, and the dealer collected $250. I am certain I�ve tipped out at least fifteen hundred during this trip, maybe two grand, maybe even more. I don�t mind, we leave ahead, once again.

Several days ago my host let me know my theoretical loss was fifteen grand. By now it must be closer to thirty, and yet � leaving ahead!

Chips have been cashed in,
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and with 3500 removed :blue: from the winner's envelope (gotta do what you gotta do),

all markers have been paid
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Of course it doesn't mean anything, but I pulled this in the little slot machine I have back at the suite, before going down to play.
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Does it mean anything? Not really but - if you think it does, it just might!

On to the next resort!

MDawg
10-17-2020, 07:27 PM
By the way, I had a chat with my host about my play at this resort - other than this trip, I haven't played here since the early 2000s, and even back then I played for only two or three years total here - nevertheless:
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he's got me down for over a hundred K lifetime here. And this casino is by no means my biggest lifetime win, I've won five to ten times more, lifetime, at other casinos.

Booyah!

MDawg
10-18-2020, 08:31 PM
The final bill for that nearly two week stay in that large suite was barely five hundred dollars - even all spa services were comped. Just tips that I hadn't made in cash, and spa retail were left on the bill.

It's nice to both win and get 100% comped.

"It's good to be the king."

MDawg
10-23-2020, 03:09 PM
Day One

This resort is in Henderson, about 11 miles from the Strip. Parts of Henderson are dumpy, but there are upscale parts too, with nice homes. The Green Valley Ranch (of Discovery Channel �American Casino� fame) is located next to a nice outdoor shopping mall with a Whole Foods in it.

GVR has about five hundred rooms. It has many different styles of suites. We�re in some kind of Mediterranean style one, about 1500 square feet, with a balcony. No steam shower � it�s unclear which suites here have that. Our host actually thought we�d get one with a steam, but no.

The room has a bright updated look to it.

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We have a balcony which overlooks the pool and has a Strip view. That�s great, but we are also not too far from the freeway and hear that every time the French doors are open.
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Will take it easy tonight � I don�t usually play on check in or check out days.

I have to activate my new line here, it�s already approved, and then start play tomorrow. Again, we opened the line here because Palms (owned by the same outfit, Station Casinos) is closed until at least Spring 2021. GVR was the star of Station Casino�s lineup (unless you consider the Golden Nugget downtown, which is no slouch, also owned � indirectly � by the same owners of Station by way of their owning Landry�s) until they bought the Palms.

MDawg
10-23-2020, 03:17 PM
Tea and Vitamin bars ready to roll. Of course.

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MDawg
10-23-2020, 03:20 PM
Day Two � First Day of Play

I pulled an 8K marker and my bets ranged from 100 � 3000. I was behind much of the time, so as soon as I got ahead, around the three hour mark, I quit. +$700. or so.

There is only one midi-Bacc table open at GVR. A second midi they had closed a couple weeks ago. It is a commissionless table where you draw if Bank wins with a three card seven. I hit that three card seven two or three times. One time I recall vividly because it was on a $1500. bet. No fun to win, 7 over player�s 1, and not get paid!
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GVR has all those same exotic bets available at the Palms. I don�t play those much if at all. I do play the tie sometimes, rarely, but when I play it I hit it more often than not. I hit it for $100. today - $800. payout, and many times for $25. - $50.

I tested my luck in my in-room slot machine before going down.
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MDawg
10-23-2020, 03:25 PM
Day Three � Second Day of Play

Didn�t play long. Today I was ahead most of the time. My average bet was lower, probably more like 300 or 400. I walked with about $2K.

A girl played alongside me, and was betting against me until she had lost about 2K, losing 100 at a time. �I wish I had just been following you all along.�

She then switched to a Martingale strategy, betting only player and doubling each loss to recoup. Lucky for her, it was a nearly two to one player�s shoe and the bank never went more than three in a row. One time on the fourth bet she lost her nerve and didn�t put down the full double. As soon as she was back to even and up slightly (seventy bucks), I convinced her to leave. Golden rule � stop after you come back from a loss.

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Tested my luck on the way up
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and I did hit triple Bars, so maybe it WAS a harbinger of winning!

There are some key differences between this resort and where we were before. Here, housekeeping will not enter the room while you are in it. Fortunately, we have a huge patio so they made an exception for us and allowed us to chill outside while they do the room. In the casino, at the Baccarat and BJ, there is no plexiglass. Masks mandatory of course.

In the gyms, masks are not required either while exercising, while at the prior resort masks were mandatory at all times except while on aerobics machines.
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The bellmen at this resort will not transport anything that resembles food or drink up to your room � you must hand carry those items.

Laundry bags � those cool plastic bags with the hotel�s logo on them � seem to have disappeared from at least this resort. (There were a few in the room at the prior resort so seems some still have them.) Only generic trash bags and those clear plastic small bags used for ice available at this resort these days.

MDawg
10-23-2020, 03:31 PM
Day Four � Third Day of Play
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Today had some major downs and ups. I was down 2 � 3 K and then lost the whole 8K marker I had pulled. Then I pulled another 10K and gradually got to within 400 of even (for the day�s session). This was right around shift change. A new dealer came in, and unbelievably, within something like five or ten minutes, I had dumped the entire nearly 18K, pulled another $20K marker and dumped half of that too. In the process I lost an $8500. hand!

I actually got as low as -34,000 or so for the session, and then rallied, slowly but surely over a series of shoes including a perfect chop B-P-B-P etc. etc. I followed perfectly for a progressive 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000, 3500 (then I chickened out and reverted to 500 per hand for the rest of the series), and closed the final shoe with an 11 bank run that I definitely pressed into, but not quite hard enough, to wind up just 3800 in the hole (for the day�s session), at 11pm.

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All who played with me today also won, as long as they followed my lead, that is.

Other than a two hour break for lunch and sex I had played nonstop 11am to 11pm!

Went to bed energized, feeling good.

MDawg
10-23-2020, 03:34 PM
Day Five � Fourth Day of Play

Just goes to show that what that slot machine shows before heading downstairs
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means nothing. In that it presented no slots win, and yet I won just fine downstairs in actual play.

I lost about five K relatively quickly, and then even more quickly, won 10K on a perfect two two two two sequence. Just to show you how this works, the pattern of �won�t go past two� was already presented, but I won a 1000 on bank, pressed to 2000 on bank won again, and then put the whole 3000 on bank and lost. I quickly realized then that I had violated the shoe, and just put a single yellow chip 1000 a hand two, two, two, two, and killed it until the pattern changed�and then left.

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Taking advantage of a streak or pattern is important but even more important is LEAVING after the win.

After I won even the dealer commented, �You know, I always thought Baccarat was random but watching you these past days I can see how it�s possible to follow a pattern.�

My goal today was simply to take care of the 3800 loss from yesterday, but when I won 5000 that was more than I wanted, so�I left!

Paid all markers off.
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Spent some time talking to the pit boss and dealer about how the Strip has gone downhill, and also about how so many Baccarat players (and gamblers in general) just keep playing until they lose. That�s what they see, and why people can�t win in Vegas � no money management. MDawg doesn�t have a problem with walking away a winner!

View from below looking up at our balcony suite, on way back from the gym.
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The female lifeguards at this resort, the blondes in the red bathing suits, have incredible behinds. Shapely and firm. Not quite in the world class of my wife�s behind, but close! Sorry, no pics!

MDawg
10-23-2020, 03:35 PM
Day Six

This is the stadium play they have going at this casino, which includes Baccarat.
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MDawg
10-23-2020, 03:53 PM
Day Six � Fifth Day of Play

Played just one shoe, another easy one. Because all markers were paid off yesterday, I was now starting over with smaller bets mostly black chips, but even with these smaller bets won about 3K easily. Easy shoe where the second player or bank hit almost always and it never went past two again for almost all of the shoe. I mean, really predictable.
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Going to leave tomorrow, and ONWARDS to the next resort.

Winner�s envelope just under 10K in it now.
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Everything was comped again too - even spa services. Our bill for this five night stay in the big suite was barely a hundred dollars, and it was that high only because they don�t comp spa retail.

Here is the bill from just the first portion of the stay, the first few days. For some reason they billed it in two segments, plus the extension I did to complete the over week long stay.
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At first they charged it to my MasterCard, by mistake, because my host was not on property.

Later, this was credited off my bill! after I communicated with the host.
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Other than this first segment of the trip where I had to ask, the rest of the trip was like the old days where everything gets comped without even asking. Then again - play enough hours at a thousand dollar or close average, and everything should get comped.

MDawg
10-23-2020, 04:06 PM
Day One - Just arrived at the new resort.

Usually do not play on arrival / departure days.

Updates to follow!

MDawg
10-28-2020, 12:00 AM
All details to follow when we leave this resort, but tonight's play was extreme! in a good way, in the end anyway. That would be Day Four play at Resort #3.

MDawg
11-02-2020, 05:22 PM
Will post the update when we leave this third resort, but we are still here in Vegas, and it is going very well! Just gotta hold on to all that pretty polly (cash) and not blow it!

MDawg
11-06-2020, 03:47 AM
What is up with the regular parade of muscle cars revving their engines up and down the Strip?

MDawg
11-10-2020, 09:16 PM
Still here in Vegas, still ahead - and plan to keep it that way! My host is amazed.

MDawg
11-14-2020, 02:20 PM
Still here, still ahead. I have a certain win goal in mind, and don't want to leave until I achieve it.

Been at the same resort now going on three weeks, still on a full comp, including spa. The host says my play is "solid" but that it's getting to where he might have to start figuring the suite in when he cleans up all the food and spa....

Ole!

MDawg
11-21-2020, 03:39 PM
Everything is proceeding swimmingly. Everything and I do mean everything has been comp�ed and I�m way ahead.

MDawg
11-25-2020, 08:14 PM
Arrival Day

We got a Parlor suite on the Wynn side which is about 1300 square feet, Strip view. Nice, gold tone room. We had a suite like this towards the end of 2019.
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The anti-coronavirus measures at Wynn are more in line with those at Venetian. Staff may enter your room if you permit them to do so. There is no paper room service menu, so you must find everything on the TV and then order via the TV or by phoning.

Masks are of course mandatory in the casino, but unfortunately smoking is still allowed at the table games such as Baccarat where the plexiglass barriers are in place.

I strolled outside Friday, at around 6:30pm, and when I walked back in I was screened with metal detector wands. I mentioned that I am a hotel guest, but the staff said that everyone must be screened.
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At the main Wynn entrance there was a LVMPD officer posted too. (The next day I left the resort in the afternoon, and walked back in, and there was no metal detection screen at that particular entrance, a side Wynn Plaza (luxury stores) entrance, although they were metal detecting people entering from the main Wynn parking garage, so there is some inconsistency there � not every Wynn/Encore entrance is being metal detector screened on the weekends.)

The crowd � at Wynn/Encore is definitely more upscale than what we observed at Venetian two weeks ago. Whether this is due to the current screening and high security presence, due to higher room rates at Wynn versus Venetian, no free rooms for �essential� workers, or something else, it remains a fact that Wynn/Encore doesn�t seem so very different from the way it was in March 2020, last time we were here. If you want to experience more or less the same higher end, better dressed crowd that Wynn is known for, come back to Wynn - that crowd is for the most part still here.

Food and beverage are available at Wynn/Encore in VIP, but no open food, and you must request everything from the attendants, all of whom know me well.

I don�t generally play on arrival/departure days, and made no exception today.

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MDawg
11-25-2020, 09:02 PM
Day One play

I played three full shoes, plus part of a fourth.

The first shoe, I ended up winning about five hundred, even though I was probably up about two grand at one point. Second shoe I ended at least six grand ahead. This was that second shoe.
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Towards the end of it, the pit boss remarked that, �______ you should have won fifty thousand on that shoe.� He also remarked to his dealer that his bigger players would have easily won a million. It was quite a shoe, I mean really exceptional.


The third shoe I held my own then towards the end I started zagging when I should have zigged, and dumped nine grand or so � actually ended down three grand! Ouch. That shoe was far less predictable, far more random.

On the fourth shoe I got a bank run early on, pressed into it, ended it a few hundred ahead, paid off the marker and left. The pit boss was impressed at my discipline but the dealer couldn�t understand why I didn�t keep playing.
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�You were up so much, now so little.�

Yes, but a win is a win. All I care about is winning, not necessarily the dollar amount. And there�s always tomorrow.

The host must have liked my play anyway, as he texted me and asked if I wanted to join some special all day food and beverage comp�ed football event the next day. Sure, why not, I would drop by.

It was funny when one of the cocktail waitresses dropped off a hot tea for me both the dealer and I paused to watch her walk away. �Nice, eh?� he smiled. I had to admit. Yes.

Life is good.

We had a room service breakfast this morning for two - $163. Granted we had fruit, and an extra glass of juice besides the two that come with each breakfast, but still comp�ed or not that�s excessive.
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MDawg
11-25-2020, 09:05 PM
Day Two play

I pulled an 8K marker and eventually lost it. I did a call bet for 1000, and lost that too, and printed the second marker to ten. I actually got as low as -12,000, but rallied pretty easily on a good shoe, and ended up exactly twenty dollars behind. I started the next shoe out and it ran bank nine times straight. Because I was already ahead was playing it for a ridiculous hundred a hand, pressing eventually to four hundred on the tenth hand, which I lost.

In this instance if I had started that last shoe BEHIND, I would have won a lot more, as I would have been really playing hard into that bank run. In any case, I walked about five hunny ahead. A win is a win.
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I chatted with a buddy in VIP, then went over to the event they had going to watch Sunday night football and the World Series, all you may eat and drink free � gourmet made to order burgers.

A good day in all. Haven�t won much at Wynn yet, but haven�t lost either!

One of the servers who works in VIP was talking about a group they had to ban from the hotel. These guys were some relative high rollers who were eating at the Sinatra restaurant and refused to wear their masks while they were not eating.

�But this is our policy.�

�Do you know who we are? We don�t have to wear masks.�

Yes, well, this is also our policy. All of them were 86�ed from Wynn. And that�s the name of that tune.

You see, too many people are insecure with their success. They have something to prove. They can�t look at others eye to eye, they always have to feel either superior or inferior. F. people like that. I�ve had money all my life � I mean my family has been successful going back a _______ years - and I don�t need to treat anyone less than. I know who I am.

One thing I noticed over the weekend � when I entered via the Wynn Plaza entrance (the one that is open � two are closed), even carrying bags, I was not metal detector checked, just waved in. And then as I passed the side entrance by the former Ferrari store the people coming in from the parking garage WERE being metal detected. That inconsistency is not good. All it takes is one unregulated entrance for someone to bring in a firearm.

MDawg
11-25-2020, 09:08 PM
Day Three play

Three shoes � walked ahead about two grand. Was pretty smooth sailing.
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Had a really good time actually, won a lot of hands, and more than a few ties too.

This blonde waitress was laying it on thick with the �honey� and �sweetie� and she had what it takes to make a player feel good and lucky. I�m actually looking forward to seeing her again tomorrow if she�s working that shift � not in a sexual way, just as in a good luck charm. Winners all the way!

MDawg
11-25-2020, 09:09 PM
Day Four play

Got hectic, more than hectic actually, at times but I was smiling and positive throughout most of it. I pulled an 8K, lost. Pulled a 10K, lost. Pulled a 20K, got down to just four or five grand, then rallied gradually to minus 7K. Pretty consistent, but tremendous mental effort.

Then I took a break to eat an arugula salad and a ribeye steak, and went back to play. I lost a couple grand slowly, then something like ten grand quickly. Then almost another ten grand. Ouch. I had only eleven in front of me left.
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Then I won 1K on bank, tripled to 3K, won, tripled to 9K won. That was insane. I�ve done 100, 300, 900 presses before, and 500, 1500, 4500s, but never 1000, 3000, 9000. The shoe indicated player so I moved to that and won three in row again � for peanuts (compared to what I had just won).

Then, somehow I sensed a chop and I hit it PERFECTLY, I mean perfectly B-P-B-P-B-P starting at a measly two hundred but pressing it by 50% each hand until I got up to almost four grand I think it was. Everyone was following me. Along the way I placed 100 � four greens � on the side for the dealer and she picked up that $200. (plus I swear, at least another five hundred over the course of the day from other side bets). I then counted that I was now almost even, so I played smaller, and actually cut back to 100, and lost the last hand.

I had to pull two C notes out of my pocket to pay off the commission, but I was clear - $38,000. in front of me and all markers paid off � again.
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MDawg
11-25-2020, 09:10 PM
Day Five play

Played just a couple shoes won about fifteen hunny, stopped. Was relatively smooth sailing no major ups or downs.
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Extended the stay a couple more nights, so will play again tomorrow too.

MDawg
11-25-2020, 09:12 PM
Day Six play

Played at Encore side. I played with this Spanish speaking guy with a special limit (up to $40K per hand) which means that he either has a half million credit line or that amount of cash on deposit. He was at his own table, not reserved table, but one where he had raised the limit to keep people away, and was losing badly.

He came over and played with me a bit, and still lost. Finally he left saying, �I am sorry, I can�t win when I play with you.�

After a while he came back to my table, and had only about $20K left from the hundred K or so that I had seen him with prior. But now, he followed me completely � I mean he generally opened the cards, but he simply bet exactly where I bet � except much higher � and we both started racking in the chips. I was betting, mmm, maybe average five hunny a hand, he was betting easily average ten K a hand, but every time he plopped down 40K, he lost, which was on the hands I either didn�t play or didn�t believe much in and put just a couple hundred down for.

But eventually, he started to win big and was something like $200K ahead. He actually tossed a yellow thousand to the dealer as a tip. When we stopped, I was ahead over six grand, effortlessly. I hope he held on to it. He left his chips there under a glass as he left with his wife who had come to watch, while I left entirely to drop by the Wynn side and show the dealers I knew over there how I�d done on the other side, and to meet up with my resident Wynn buddy who practically lived in this hotel continuously the past two years.
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Life is good! The winner�s envelope is pushing twenty K now.

MDawg
11-25-2020, 09:19 PM
Day Seven play

Played Encore side again. Apparently the guy I helped win 200K dumped it all, and then some, last night after I left his side. And so it goes � I won 6K yesterday (plus another 5200 today, with ease), and I have it all, while he won six figures last night and has nada today. Slow and steady might just win the race!
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I am not cashing the white chip because if I do, that will represent over $10K cash out within twenty four hours. Will hold. (Hodl?)

This big player is part of a group of Mexicans staying here. Most of them are stupidly crowded around the DOUBLE ZERO roulette table, betting black chips. As I was leaving high limit Baccarat, they must have hit a number (I assume for $250.) as one of them screamed at the other, �Eight thousand! puta.� Still, if these guys had a clue they�d play the single zero roulette inside high limit, which is at least a little better odds. They'd find the single zero just twenty steps from where they are playing the double zero. Even the pit boss chuckled when I asked him why anyone would play that roulette out there, when they are willing to put stacks of black chips into action.

The friend of the guy who won (and lost) 200K was there today, playing with a monster stack of about thirty yellow chips (no more or less than I had in front of me several days ago when I made my comeback to slightly ahead from over thirty grand in the hole). He was losing. At least he had some semblance of varying his bet and didn�t bet white (5000) chips every single hand � sometimes he would bet one thousand, sometimes eight � but at least today, no matter what he tried, he kept losing.

I was the only winner to come out of High Limit during the few hours I was there. Hola!

MDawg
11-25-2020, 09:20 PM
Day Eight play

That big player was back today...I won another 6500 and he won about 150K. Wonder if he will keep it this time, he's up and down constantly.

He has asked me what type of law I practice etc. and he keeps talking about how he "needs to quit gambling" etc., bc I told him about I quit playing for over a decade etc., but I dunno...will see.

One thing he said somewhat blew me away. After a big win on the Bank when all indications had shown player, I said to him, �That was smart that you switched to Bank.�

�If I were smart I wouldn�t be playing this game!� was his response. Wow.

The winner�s envelope is getting fat. Don�t want to jinx it by stating exactly how much is in there, but it is over twenty K. Chips I am holding uncashed are getting up there too.
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MDawg
11-25-2020, 09:21 PM
Day Nine play

Pretty smooth, won $5500. and stopped.

MDawg
11-25-2020, 09:21 PM
Day Ten Play

I had to do one big bet, $7000. on the bank, won it 6 / 5. It was fun AFTER the dealer pulled the card that took the player only up to 5 and I won.

Ended up just under 4K ahead after three shoes. Even though I bet a lot of big bets, for whatever reason the pit boss said my average was only 500. He bumped it up to 575 at my request.

The winning chips,
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plus the winner�s envelope, are really adding up.

MDawg
11-25-2020, 09:26 PM
Day Eleven play

Things started really going south today. I started playing at 11am, and at some point, lost not just an 8000 marker, but also the nineteen grand in chips (winnings) I had with me, and pulled another $42,000. in markers and got down to � literally, one case bet of about $2400. I won that! and then kept going up.

What kept me down was partly this stupid Indian kid who had no clue about Baccarat and kept placing stupid bets against me � and losing � but when he would, I would either not bet the right side, or bet small. Finally the kid left, after I had berated him into following me or giving up the game. I mean the guy was clueless.

After he left, and all the others too, and I was left alone on the table, I kept going up and up until I had gone from $2400. to a monstrous stack of yellow chips that equaled about $63,000., meaning that I went from minus � man, don�t even want to say, to plus thirteen K by the end. Host must be ultra happy too as they had me at a $1500. average bet. Quite a run. I tipped out MASS along the way by way of side bets for the dealers, including black chips on the side of my larger bets, and the female dealers were all calling me �Honey Pie� and �Sweetie� and the other dealers in the room kept echoing their compliments. It was funny.

At about midnight I quit, just because I started getting weary. I had eaten a huge breakfast, but otherwise nothing but green tea all day.
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With all markers paid, I celebrated with the wife, who hadn�t gone to sleep yet, with a tower of seafood, green salad and NY Steak Nachos from room service.
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One thing interesting � during the period I was still playing with others, a special limits player came and pulled a $100,000. marker � all white $5000. chips (I call �em, �white boys�). He would OCCASIONALLY drop one or two chips on a single bet, here and there, either at my table or at another. He was pretty much playing a Martingale system, but luckily never had to progress past his second bet. I assume his line was a million, as I heard the pit boss tell the dealer that he was allowed to bet up to $70,000. He seemed like he was playing for some syndicate, and that it wasn�t his own money � I just got that impression. Some of the Asian players are like that, "representatives" for others.

What was really interesting about his play, was that when he got cards that mandated a draw to the other side, he would simply tell the dealer to draw without showing his cards. One time the dealer balked at this, and told him that he had to see his cards, but the guy got mad and said, �Draw!� The pit boss actually stepped in and told the dealer it was okay. In that instance, he was holding a four on the bank, and player had zero, so yes � there was a mandatory draw on the player, and then depending on what that card was, the game was either over or bank would draw again. The player was calling for a �Monkey!� to end the hand, and sure enough the face card came, and bank won.

The dealer said to the pit boss, �Okay, if you tell me it�s okay, I�ll do whatever this guy wants.� - that is to say, draw without seeing the player's actual cards.

Apparently, this guy had some kind of relationship with the casino where they trusted him on whether there was a draw or not, based on his cards, without seeing them. Obviously he wasn�t going to get PAID unless all the cards were laid out for the camera, but it did look like he had some serious pull at the Wynn. He ended up ahead about twenty-five grand, but gave back most of that before paying back the marker and leaving ahead one white chip.

Another player, an older Asian lady, pulled a $100,000. marker too, but barely played at table minimum ($300. at that time) and left after she had won a couple grand.

So, it takes all kinds � the biggest credit or cash deposit players aren�t always looking to make a killing. Some just want to hit and run a win and move on.


After this long session and triumphant return from a loss, took an entire day off, no play. Just gym, and chilling in the suite with the wife.

MDawg
11-25-2020, 09:31 PM
Day Twelve play

Came in about fifteen hands into this shoe and followed it precisely � I lost MAYBE four hands out of the sixty or so I played. Playing only black, I won over ten grand. (I literally took two black chips to over ten thousand.)

Hit a lot of ties too. Exceptional shoe! Left after that, why play more? Done for the day.
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Take look at those indicators...remained true for almost all of the shoe.

MDawg
11-25-2020, 09:32 PM
Day Thirteen play

Another LOO-EASY day. One shoe, won about five K.

With chips, the winner�s envelope + chips now total well over $40K.
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MDawg
11-25-2020, 09:34 PM
Day Fourteen play

Today was hectic, crazy. I pulled a twenty marker and lost it. I then lost 26K in chips I had in front of me (winnings). Then I pulled thirty K, and at one point I was almost back to even, won a $5K and a $10K hand but then I chickened out on the next logical progression to $20K and free handed what would have been a twenty thousand dollar winner with player natural eight. All downhill from there � lost it all.

I walked away from the table in a daze. Luckily I had enough cash in my wallet to cover the three hundred bucks in commission on the table.

I walked across the street and pulled a thirty K marker. I assumed I was going to play crazily � but I didn�t. I got nowhere the first shoe, lost maybe a grand, but on the second and third shoes I powered up, pressing into bank runs that mirrored prior parallel runs. I mean � it was perfect. I was probably ahead about $33K at one point, lost a few K, and then left with an even $30K � cash. I took three stacks of high society I didn�t care about the CTR that would be issued at that point because I knew I was just going to use it to pay off Wynn.
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Walking on the way back my host texted me � concerned about my terrible session. I guess they get alerted in real time when one of their players is playing heavily. Do you need more credit?

No! I just won it across the street, I�m on my way back to pay it all off.

I went back to Wynn, pulled twenty K out of the winner�s envelope, and went back to the same table where I had dumped. I threw all the cash on the table and told the dealer, that�s your punishment for taking all my money � you have to count it out. At one point the pit boss said, Listen what we�re going to do is go to the cage to count that all out, but then he acquiesced.

�Okay ______ , we�re going to do it.�

As the dealer counted, I told them about how I had won most all of it across the street.

�You look relaxed now.� the dealer said to me.

Of course. Yes I was. I wasn�t up forty grand anymore, but I wasn�t down at all either.

Went to bed at about 8pm, exhausted. It had been another nearly all day play session.

MDawg
11-25-2020, 09:45 PM
Day Fifteen play

I was a little afraid to go down and play today. I mean, I was basically starting over after having been over forty thousand ahead. I went to the gym first, then we ate, then I rested some more.

I went down and pulled a thirty K marker, and actually lost it. Pulled a twenty K, got back to even, paid back the thirty K. Then I lost the twenty, and pulled the thirty K again. I had a bank run when I got up to a twelve thousand dollar bet on the progression, but chickened out on plopping fifteen grand on the next hand (put down only three). Won that hand for 3K, and the next for 4K, and the next for 1K (reduced bet), and then after several more hands, counted up to note that I was ten grand ahead, paid back all markers, and left.

So now � over all, ahead about twelve grand again. Not, it�s not over forty which is what I had just two days ago, but we�re still here and we�re still winning. What a roller coaster this weekend has been. If only I�d kept my nerve and done the fifteen K, and then twenty K hands on the bank run (or maybe it was a player run, it�s somewhat a blur now looking back), as I declared I was going to do � I�d be up over forty now again. Oh well, progress not perfection.

MDawg
11-25-2020, 09:46 PM
Day Sixteen play

Pretty smooth � won just under ten grand.

MDawg
11-25-2020, 09:46 PM
Day Seventeen play

Had to do one large catch up bet, that fortunately worked out � ended about two grand ahead.

MDawg
11-25-2020, 09:46 PM
Day Eighteen play

Have befriended the very large player who now gets a private ("Reserved") table and allows me to play at that same table with him, including when he is away, which is most of the time. This is good, because I don�t like playing with others, and when he and I play we seem to do well.

Won about three K today. Winner�s envelope is now about $15K, plus another ten grand in chips.

My host has comp�ed everything including spa (to the tune of over two grand in spa so far), and of course, all food too. He is even going to comp a meal we had (take out) from one of the restaurants here that is not owned by Wynn. He flat out told me he couldn�t believe how well I am doing given how long we have been here. �Keep it up at the tables!� he texted me later.

Life is good!

MDawg
11-25-2020, 09:46 PM
Day Nineteen play

I had a lot of large bets, unfortunately each time more or less when I was behind. I was ahead a little over three grand at one point, but after another spill, I stopped a clean K ahead.

I am allowed to play on my buddy�s Reserved table at any time now. He told everyone that I am the only one. We generally play well together � but today we both had a hard time. He quit around $60K down, and will resume later.

I walked ahead, just the 1000, but a win is a win.

I stick to one session a day only.

MDawg
11-25-2020, 09:46 PM
Day Twenty play

Heavy action. Four shoes � 1500 average bet I was told. I was down as much as 26,000 at one point. Exactly at the end of the fourth shoe I was 1500 ahead, or so I thought, so I threw in all the chips to pay the markers, all $50K I had pulled (first $20K, then $30K). It turned out that I was short 1000 in what I threw in, so actually, I wound up a measly 500 ahead, but that�s still much better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

I took it, and walked. Ahead again!

MDawg
11-25-2020, 09:47 PM
Day Twenty-One play

Pulled $8000. only. One shoe, won $5200., and walked. Easy play.

This one guy walked up and watched for a bit then plopped down $20,000. on one hand, bank. He asked me to open. I opened a seven, player had natural nine. We lost � he $20K, but I had put only $300. on that hand. He should have noticed that I lowered my bet on that hand.

After he left I kept winning steadily.

At the end of the shoe, looking back, sadly (for him), that ONE hand he lost for twenty was the one extreme deviation in the shoe. The rest of the shoe was relatively easy.

The big player seems to have disappeared. He didn�t answer my text yesterday and his reserved table has been closed down. I fear the worst. He definitely lost, this much I heard, but how much � I couldn�t say.

MDawg
11-25-2020, 09:49 PM
Day Twenty-Two play

Things got a little dicey � I got down to just a small stack of yellows, and I was down forty K or so. I caught a CHOP, B-P-B-P starting with 1000 and pressed a thousand at a time all the way to 6000, but chickened out on the next one, which I won, for only 3000, and then lowered to � would you believe it � 500, then 200. But still, I wound up an even 2200 ahead, and called it a day.
589

Four shoes � 1500 average. Good for comps anyway.

MDawg
11-25-2020, 09:58 PM
Day Twenty-three play

Pulled an 8K marker, actually got about 3500 ahead at the peak. Then made the mistake of continuing to play, next thing you know I had lost it all. The losing started when this idiot came to the table making measly 100 bets declaring that he knew what was going to happen. Of course � he didn�t, and he threw me off by betting against us, which we had been playing in unison.

Luckily, he ran out of money and once he left I kept winning. Three girls settled on my table and we kept winning and winning in unison. The pit boss even commented, �Look at ____, he has all the girls around him!� (All the other tables had men only - all the females had flocked to my side.)

I went from -12K to +3K with EASE. By the time the other pit boss, the one who had issued my second $20K market I had pulled came around and asked if I had paid back both markers already, I was so full of myself that I couldn�t help but say, �Of course.�

The joke of the day was � who cut this shoe? ME! because it was an incredible shoe, where there was ALWAYS a second bank or player in each row, I mean without fail, and the runs were happening like crazy. I really should have cleared 10X more than I did, but I was having such a good time that I forget to bet big.

A good time was had by all, and everyone at my table (once that hundred dollar loser left), won.

MDawg
11-25-2020, 09:58 PM
Day Twenty-four play

We had to spend part of the day moving from one suite to another. Apparently there is a limit to how long one may stay in a Nevada hotel room � and we were coming up on it! We moved to an identical 1300 square foot suite one floor below.

Today I played just two shoes � partials at two different tables. The first had a $500. minimum and this somehow threw me off. I dumped eight grand just like that, then won it back, almost as quickly. I moved to a $300. minimum table where the pit boss didn�t care what we bet as long as it was over $100., and quit at 3200 ahead.

Nice!

MDawg
11-25-2020, 09:58 PM
Day Twenty-five play

Won 5200. I actually dumped 8K first, then pulled another twenty, and got back to even relatively quickly, but had difficulty getting ahead. Finally towards the end of a shoe I played a chop and quit at the end of the shoe as I was sufficiently ahead.

When I placed my larger bets � up to 4 or 5K, the pit boss remarked, �Look at ____. Every time he places one of his big bets 99% that he is going to win � and he does win!�

I went over my play with the host � 71 hours this trip this resort at an average bet of $1200. �If I were to play, how would you suggest I do it, to win?�

I actually suggested that he not play. �If I lived here, I would not gamble, I never gamble at home either. When would you stop?�

�Anyway,� the host remarked. �You�re pretty much my only consistently winning player. The rest of them don�t seem to care � as long as they get comp�ed, they just keep coming back.� He told me that most of his players are high end slots players, and that they almost never win. "And then I have some players who play both table games and slots, and when they do win at table games, they just go dump it all in slot machines."

MDawg
11-25-2020, 10:00 PM
Day Twenty-six play

Every day seems the same lately. I win! Didn�t need to go past the 8K marker today and I took home 4400.

MDawg
11-25-2020, 10:00 PM
Day Twenty-seven play

Pulled an 8K marker. A little trouble at first, a couple of larger catch up bets that I won � then hit a 13 bank run, which I thankfully got on after the first few. Ended the shoe a clean 4K ahead � quit.

Today was really easy, I had a shoe with a 13 bank run. I got on it a bit late - on hand four - but I stayed on it after that to the end. What's interesting is that give me a 13 bank run when I am down a fair amount and trying to catch up and I might win, easily, twenty, thirty grand (these days, the way I play), and even a hundred grand, or more (the way I used to play, harder, in the old days). Give me a thirteen bank run when I am just a little down for the session such as today, or not down at all, and I'll make only say five or six grand on the run. In other words - my biggest wins come from behind, because that is when I might be more inclined to press harder as I start winning, to catch up.

On this run I actually reversed my press after about four or five (winning) hands because I didn't think it would keep going, and by then I was back to even. But I stayed on the bank to the end. Just - sometimes - your luck and your determination to win coincide with a run, and those are the times that the tray empties. Was not the case today, but nevertheless, an easy 4K net win on one shoe.
The pit boss pointed out that he was impressed that I got on the bank run and stayed on it even after missing the first few hands. "Most people would have just free-handed it after that and then been afraid that it was going to end, and stayed out entirely." Not me, give me any run (or chop, or any discernible pattern really) of four or more and I always make money on it.

Wow I just got a call from the cage. Seems that yesterday when I cashed my checks 4425, I was shorted 400. I had just stuffed what I assumed was 4400 into the winner�s envelope without counting it.

I went downstairs and the supervisor had me sign a couple of forms, handed over the 400 and apologized. I asked how they knew, �Was the cashier�s drawer off?� Yes. That was exactly it. But how they went from realizing the drawer was over by four hundred, to determining that I was the one shorted, I couldn�t say. When I got back up to the suite I re-counted the winner�s envelope and � sure enough � it was short four hunny!

MDawg
11-25-2020, 10:01 PM
Day Twenty-eight play

Two shoes / left +4500. With eeeease.

I mean come on. Is there a better natural high (other than sex I mean, which trust me, is on the agenda right now with the wife), than winning in Vegas while being comp'ed in a huge suite? It's all free this week kid, I'll let you know when your time's up. I would hope - never!

P.S. Sadly, this one poor guy came up and had the temerity to bet against me most every hand. He lost his shirt, I mean everything, and he induced me to bet less. If the loser hadn't shown up I might've won double or more. A divided table doesn't usually win, but in this case, I ignored him completely. I mean the shoe was 4 player / 4 bank / 4 player / 4 bank at its best, during the hands that he lost - what more of a roadmap did the guy want??

MDawg
11-25-2020, 10:01 PM
Day Twenty-nine play 11/22/2020

Today, I won $18,000. One of my better sessions this trip. I played one shoe, cut by the pit boss before I got there, and netted 3500. Would you believe I was getting ready to call it a day? That 3500 took me to about fifty five grand ahead, and for about a week now my goal has been fifty ahead, so I considered quitting.

Then I cut my OWN shoe and not so far into the shoe I started practically screaming - bank goes one, ALWAYS back to player. I mean it was unbelievable, NO deviation, to the VERY end. The dealer kept saying put ten thousand. The pit boss was cheering, All In player! I ended up putting just 1800 on each such hand PLUS another hundred on the side for dealers, and we won Every. Single. Hand. I mean it was one of the crazier things I had ever seen. Better than a run. I've had shoes where it won't go past two, I've had runs, I've had chops, but this "bank goes one, always back to player" was something else. I really had a good time. Looking back I could have emptied the tray, but, that's not my goal (although today, I wish it had been). Still, eighteen grand in one quick session is nothing to scoff at.

We are going to leave town tomorrow, so this is it. The sum total of cash plus chips for the winner comes to $73,600. and I am SURE I have tipped out over ten grand during the course of the past seven weeks, so probably the casinos have me down winning even more.

MDawg
11-25-2020, 10:02 PM
Final chips plus winner's envelope. Just under $74,000.
593

Chips converted to winner's check:
591

MDawg
11-25-2020, 10:17 PM
As far as the hotel bill - over a month in a thousand dollar a night suite, forgettaboutit. The bill was about nothing.

We had to move after twenty some nights due to the Nevada regulation against "residents" living in hotel rooms, and the bill for that portion:
609
610
611
This had one resort fee that had not yet been comp'ed, and once this was removed,
612
ended up at thirty-four dollars! The folio did not show any of the room service, which was full comp'ed off, tips and all. That is unusual - I haven't seen room service tips disappear alongside the food.

Also comp'ed off were some two thousand dollars in spa services.

The reason the tips that were not comp'ed off are so low, is that almost all of these represent take-out - for take-out I'd tip anywhere from two to five dollars. The way I looked at it, a full meal, spread out of an hour or two, deserved the usual full service tip, but to place food that the chef had already placed into containers in plastic bags and hand it to me, I figured a small token tip was enough.

As far as tipping cocktail waitresses and VIP staff, I kept a supply of $5. bills for that. I'd cash one of my winning $100. checks every other day or so, and tip all of those fives out.

As well, I put significant (up to $250.) tips for the dealers on the side of my own bets. I'd say, without a doubt, that during the course of my stay I tipped out easily at least ten grand to the dealers. They all love me!

The second half of the stay in the suite, was also almost fully comp'ed, including another fifteen hundred or so in spa.
613
There were about forty-five dollars in food that the host hadn't comp'ed yet, which he handled before we checked out. He did not comp the spa retail, which left the final bill between the two stays in the two identical suites, at around six hundred dollars. A mere pittance, and representation of a solid forty grand or even more of comps.

MDawg
11-26-2020, 07:46 AM
So that was our - almost seven weeks in Vegas.

By the way, I didn't get any of that spa stuff. I'm a thoroughbred, in that all I do in Vegas is play, go to the gym religiously for at least an hour each time at least every other day, and eat well and have constant sex. My gaming sessions are one a day only, and might be just a couple of hours, although some were as long as twelve hours.
I might stop by the pool just to see the sun for ten minutes every now and then.
603
My wife enjoyed all the spa.

Fully comp'ed all the way, and take home just under $74,000. across three resorts. Given how much I tipped out to dealers in winning bets alongside mine, and in cash to cocktail waitresses, VIP staff, bellmen and other assorted employees, and also some cash that we spent, in all, a great, successful trip.

I asked the host at the third resort (only) about my stats, and he confirmed, on THEIR computer they had me winning just under 53K, theoretical loss just under 80K, play about 77 hours average bet just under 1200.

Put another way - here are all of the markers I pulled and paid at the third resort. I lost track adding them all up, but close to a million.

Stacked up:
600

Spread out:
602

It wasn't easy I am telling you, just because I won almost each day doesn't mean that I was ahead at all moments of each day. All's well that ends well though. The take home is what matters!


Okay, it's time to burn that 1000 they gave us!
604

MDawg
11-30-2020, 07:28 AM
Back to reality now. Caught up with most of my work but I have some deadlines with other work, December and February.

Back to the gym religiously. It's a more rigorous workout than at the Vegas hotels gyms - other than the Venetian's gym, there is no hotel gym in Vegas that comes close to comparing to a real gym.

MDawg
12-02-2020, 09:21 PM
We really lucked out again. Our last trip, in March, was just before the Vegas shutdown and just before things started to get ugly with the coronavirus pandemic.

And this time, we got out of there after a nice, long almost seven weeks, just as Nevada clamped down with regulations so strict that foodies would now require a reservation just to pick up fast food, and just before Southern California enacted stay at home orders, including in Los Angeles.

The Luck of the MDawg is incredible! Born blessed.

We're next looking forward to something more tropical, once flying and travel in general become safer again.