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Thread: New Year's Vegas trip

  1. #71
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    The one chip I never got my hands on was the steel gray 100,000 chip at Bellagio. During that trip after I had accumulated over two hundred grand in melons, I tried to get one, both at the Baccarat table and at the cage. I was refused. They said, We'll give you one if you want to bet it, not just to hold.

    I recall one dealer telling me that the 100,000 chips are the prettiest thing you will ever see in your life. Well, I don't know about THAT, but casino gaming wise, I might agree!

    My limits at casinos have always been standard ones, which at that time the limit at Baccarat was $15,000. (these days $20,000.) so I don't know if what they were saying was that they were willing to raise my limit for that trip since I had won so much, or if they were just giving me an excuse for not coloring me up. Plus, even though I ended up with close to three hundred grand in winnings at Bellagio alone, that is not enough to get your limits raised much, even if I had deposited it all at the cage instead of walking around with ever increasing stacks of melons. I think with a $250K line you might be able to bet $25K or $30K per hand max, and I know that back then friends of mine with million dollar lines were able to bet $50K per hand, which still, is only about 3X the normal limits of any player.

    There is also a difference between limits for credit line players, and cash deposit (front money) players. While a million line may get you a $50K per hand limit, I knew of a guy back then who wired in $5M (and lost it all) at Baccarat, who was allowed to bet no more than $50K a hand. In other words, a credit line will get you a higher pro rata bet limit compared to front money, probably because they figure that a credit line will or at least should get the casino repeated chances at that sum of money, while front money might end up being a one time thing.

    There was a period when the Rio, before Harrah's bought them, would allow anyone off the street to bet $100K on Baccarat. Once Harrah's took over, the limits went way down.


    I actually used to bet more when I had less, although that doesn't make a lot of sense. Back then, I'd bet fifteen grand a hand regularly, at least a few times a session, and nowadays, not so much. Part of the reason might be that long hiatus from gaming that gave me more time to reflect on the value of money. Part of the reason might just be that the richer you get, the more conservative you get. Sometimes anyway.

    In any case I'm pretty f'ing happy that this trip is turning out to generate some decent winnings. Anything under five figures for a multi-day trip, I mean - that's nowhere! Onwards to the next resort, LATER TODAY!

  2. #72
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    Someone stated:
    <<I recall MDawg making that distinction several times, and also providing screen shots demonstrating good and bad shoes.

    MDawg has explained that good shoes are those that contain recognizable patterns, and especially...long streaks.

    My understanding is that his strategy is primarily to press into streaks, so that if a substantial streak occurs he'll be pressing up his bet for the duration of the streak.

    He hasn't claimed to be able to predict whether or not a shoe WILL be good or bad, only to reflect on whether or not a shoe HAS been good or bad...primarily based on the streaks.

    Am I correct in my assessment?>

    And...yes, this is more or less correct.

  3. #73
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    Where people who never play Baccarat get lost, is in thinking that there is no way to know whether a shoe is good or bad.

    Well, one infallible way to know is that...you'll be losing money while playing a random, no pattern shoe. In which case...drop your bet...or leave!

    But beyond the obvious, if you are playing a shoe where your attempts to play into patterns is bearing fruit, then this is a good shoe...one where the patterns repeat or streaks are present.

    Just...if you haven't played the game, and I mean, for years, and from the inside not just watching, you are in no position to comprehend, let alone, judge it.

  4. #74
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    Waiting for host to clean up the bill, comp off all the food and maybe some of my wife's spa charges, although given that I won and actually didn't play a huge amount of hours for a six night stay (more than a few hit and run sessions), I am not hopeful about the spa this time. At the prior resort all the spa was comp'ed off based on huge play from a few months prior.

    The two times that I took a break from play yesterday and the day before, my friend who plays huge here but is a local got a comp ticket for the restaurant for us, and the first day since my wife didn't want to join she made sure the ticket was large enough to cover take-out that I carried upstairs to the suite. It seems like a throwback to the old days, where the pit boss "throws you a comp ticket," but then, there has to be some system still in place to comp players who are not in house? She also gets a daily massage and for that she texts her host to comp it. I mentioned to her that she must have nearly "unlimited" comps given the level she plays at and in that she isn't even staying in house. I was seeing her play average hands in the five to seven thousand dollar range, with many fifteen to twenty thousand dollar bets.

  5. #75
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    To quote someone else, in response to the naysayers:

    <<How would you know. You heard this somewhere
    and are repeating it because you think it sounds
    good. Have you ever played bac long enough that
    you can verify what you're saying? That would be
    years, BTW, not a couple weekends 10 years ago.>>

  6. #76
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    All around the world staying in hotels I ask for the toast to be "already buttered." Does it always arrive that way? Not always, and not today.
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    so I had to butter it myself, and the results are never entirely satisfactory as by the time it gets up here it's never quite hot enough to melt the butter.
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    What about all this ketchup (pronounced catsup)?
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    If you stay in enough hotel rooms is there ever any need to buy ketchup? Sometimes they bring us four little bottles of ketchup with the room service order. We like the organic variety so we do have our own at home, but if not, all you'd have to do is haul off a bag of this stuff after each stay and you'd be set. Same with all this jam. At least they don't provide marmalade at this resort, who likes that stuff? Not I.

  7. #77
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    I got carried away with posting a bit too much related to my personal finances. That's not the point - the point of this thread is about how's it going at the casinos, in the context of commentary on life in general and the stays themselves.

    If some of you want to twist yourselves over trying to figure out what MDawg's got going on at home, that's just human nature but I will try to no longer feed into that.
    Directed to the few lingering naysayers ONLY:


    It's ON to the next resort, shortly.


  8. #78
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    This time the packing didn't seem to be such a chore. Maybe it's easier to pack from a smaller suite, since don't have to examine every nook and cranny?
    Still, quite a lot.
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    As your attorney I advise you to stock up on Tumi and Briggs & Riley luggage. Some of the Tumi we own, which we have almost two dozen pieces total, is of the lifetime guarantee variety, and all of the B&R is lifetime guarantee. Anything more expensive, like Louis Vuitton, which we have a fair amount of that too, you end up not even wanting to use for fear it will get stolen. We do bring a few Louis Vuitton pieces along each trip for personal items, but Tumi and B&R hit the right price point of neat, but not ostentatious.

    Sometimes I see some of the Asian high rollers who flew in from out of the country checking in, and they have even more stuff than we do, with almost all of the stuff that belongs to the wife in Louis Vuitton (evident to me due to the feminine color scheme of the luggage and the tags), and the stuff that belongs to the husband in crappy suitcases you wonder why anyone would even use. Lets you know right away who's spending the money on what, in that family. I suppose it's the same everywhere; I have a Tumi leather computer case, she has a Chanel backpack (more than one actually).

    When we drive though, we usually end up just throwing a lot of stuff into bags, versus packing it neatly into suitcases, and even moreso when traveling between resorts. Why pack fully?

    Plus, two hanging garment bags:
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    Now we're ensconced in the Encore suite, and she's dancing around it. I asked her why this suite makes her feel so good. I guess it's the atmosphere, all the floor to ceiling glass windows, and the view straight down the Strip, because actually this is just a regular Tower Suite 750 square feet. Due to CES all the large suites are taken until about the twelfth, at which point we may move, but I doubt it, too much hassle. This is cool, and we are on a full RFB stay basis, and will probably leave by the 15th.
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    Not sure if I will play tonight. Usually don't on check in days, and almost never on check out days.

    I want to look up my friend who LIVES here at Encore, he texted me a couple days ago. He is still here.

    Although we are RFB thinking of taking a quick walk. To Tacos El Gordo! to bring something back to the suite. That's the way MDawg wishes to roll, tonight, and I just confirmed it with the wife. She said, Oh yeah, yeah! when I suggested El Gordo. "You read my mind." I just hope the line isn't too long this time.

  9. #79
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    On the way back from Tacos El Gordo, I talked to a guy who swiped his key at the special sensor towards the bottom of the panel, in the Encore Tower Suites elevator. He was on his way up to the Sky Casino.

    "What do you play up there? Baccarat?" I asked him.

    "Yes!"

    "Me too. I play down there." I pointed in the general direction of the Encore high limit pit. "I like Baccarat too. I like it more than BJ."

    "It's interesting...."

    I could tell he was on the verge of discussing the finer points of the game with me, and I would have loved nothing less, but we reached my floor before we could get into it.

    "Good luck!" on the way out of the elevator.

    "You too!"


    I believe you need a half million line minimum to play the Sky Casino.

  10. #80
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    My record back then wasn't nearly as plus plus as it is these days. Back then I'd always end up ahead but with some big losses at different casinos that were eclipsed by even larger wins at others. Looking back there were some casinos at which I almost always won, and others at which I much less frequently won. If I'd only thought about it, I could've avoided the losses by avoiding certain casinos, with the common denominator being that I won consistently at casinos that had lots of Bacc. tables, seemed to lose more consistently at casinos with only 1 or 2 tables. (For example this trip, I avoided Bacc. at T.I. because they have but one Bacc. table open.) When there are lots of Bacc. tables it is easy to just get up and switch tables if the table you are at has a bad shoe going on. Not so easy to get up and walk out the door entirely, when the casino has but one Bacc. table!

    These days it is more of an even keel with consistent wins, at all casinos at which I play. It's really not that hard to win four figures when you are playing with a mid five figure credit line.


    Back to the trip report, I'll mention the obvious...that Wynn/Encore is more luxurious than Palms which is in turn more luxurious than T.I. I think that's partly to do with the atmosphere and decor, partly to do with the layout of the rooms. All these mirrors! and floor to ceiling glass windows. Nice. If you ever want to get lucky arrange to meet that new girl you just met on the internet at Encore, you'll do fine. Or if you want a happy wife (happy life), bring her to Wynn/Encore.

    Is there any other casino in the U.S. that has glass walls that permit an outside view?

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