Borgata AC

[olds442jetaway]

Forgot to mention Hiker, I finished down just about 2.6 percent topping my previous all time worst. I too was down close to 9 percent at one point. Doesn’t sound bad on the surface until you look at the coin in. My absence of hitting the big hands with big bets in accounted for the larger deficit.

[Hiker1]

Yeah Olds, I follow you in your Bizarro World posts and I could feel your pain this year. As you said, it's all relative to the coin-in, and I certainly wasn't crowing about being down 2.3%, but it sure beats 8%. And I'm fairly pragmatic and just accept at times that "it is what it is" with diminishing pay tables, which are hard to beat long-term. The average EV for the pay tables for games I play is 97.5%, even a little lower now in Vegas where we also play once or twice per year. I can still find a few 9/6 JoB machines, but have grown bored with those. I also sense that you, like me, value the comps and getting out. I don't chase comps, and they are not calculated in my numbers, but I take advantage of them. I look at it all as a gambling/travel/entertainment budget for my wife and I, and place an inherent value for the 30+ hotel nights last year, meals, drinks, etc. Good luck to you and everyone!

[FAA]

My absence of hitting the big hands with big bets.
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That has always been the issue for me. I've lost half my BR and I'm just reeling. I'm trying to keep playing and taking the occasional big swing. Then the big hand comes on a min bet.

[onemoretry]

My absence of hitting the big hands with big bets.
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That has always been the issue for me. I've lost half my BR and I'm just reeling. I'm trying to keep playing and taking the occasional big swing. Then the big hand comes on a min bet.

And, as has been mentioned many, many times, there is a cure for that "problem".

[dinghy]

And I'm fairly pragmatic and just accept at times that "it is what it is" with diminishing pay tables, which are hard to beat long-term.

I'm active at a few different gambling games with potential for a mathematical edge. I only play video poker if it's the best edge at the moment. Sometimes I don't have anything with an edge, and in that case I don't gamble.

I'm always interested to see other perspectives. Your game selection would be torture for me.

You indicated your games are "hard to beat" long-term. Does that mean you have a method for beating 97.5% games? I only ask because as you know, some of the regulars here apply creative tactics. Stuff like varying bet sizes, finding a lucky machine, quitting when ahead, etc.

[Hiker1]

Hey Dinghy, sorry for the delay, been busy. Congrats to you for having the knowledge, and wherewithal, to play games that only give you an edge, and I hope it's been, and continues to be, successful for you. I'd be curious where you and others play, which games you play, and actual win/loss percentages. Might be a good post to start.

I have no creative tactics, I believe the machines, at least in MGM casinos I only play at (in AC/Borgata and Vegas), are fair, I only play the single line games I mentioned, and only max coin. I don't believe in hot/cold machines, etc., and I only change my bet size as pre-planned as I have certain portion of my bankroll set aside for .50 max coin and a portion for $1 max coin. I play no more than I have to maintain one rewards program level I'm comfortable with. Sometimes I sit on the same machine for an entire session, sometimes I bounce around to change scenery, or to move away from a machine with sticky buttons, a heavy smoker (since AC won't ban smoking), or someone pounding the buttons.

"Hard to beat" was just a term of expression I used. Frankly, to paraphrase my earlier comment, I believe the long-term math "is what it is." I'm just open about my personal experience. My weighted average EV is 97.55% (I only do 30% of my play in TDB). I was 97.7 for 2024, and my wife, who plays the same coin-in and games, and I are 97.62 and 97.64, respectively, for the last 5 years - the math is what it is.

I don't play online and I stopped going to a casino for just a session about 5 years ago. I only go now for multi-day trips when I have corresponding casino nights, meal comps, free play, etc., to offset the expected loss, and enjoy the short term wins when they come. My ROI is that my wife and I enjoy getting away, so as I said I consider it all part of a gambling/traveI/entertainment budget, and we travel for other non-gambling endeavors too. I could calculate my EV differently if I included even a conservative value for the comps we appreciate - I don't count the various giveaways I have no use for .

If I was just focused on the money, I would stop gambling, and will perhaps once VP disappears or pay tables get much worse. I'll just stick with online "playing" my stocks and Treasuries, and other travel. I've already reduced my play, and I walked away years back from blackjack, which was my favorite, as 6/5 became more prevalent.

Best of luck to you and everyone.

[Hiker1]

JIMDUECE`SWILD, good luck to you at Borgata this weekend,

[olds442jetaway]

If VP tables continue to get worse, the Market will be my VP replacement. ( Emphasis on the technical side ). I dabble a bit now anyway on non VP days. Have to admit my track record will beat my VP attempts almost every day of the week. For us though, the casino ( thank God Mohegan has kept to its non smoking policy ) is great stress relief for us. Unfortunately, the acrid stale weed smell is working its way into every nook and corner.

[dinghy]

I have no creative tactics, I believe the machines, at least in MGM casinos I only play at (in AC/Borgata and Vegas), are fair, I only play the single line games I mentioned, and only max coin. I don't believe in hot/cold machines, etc., and I only change my bet size as pre-planned as I have certain portion of my bankroll set aside for .50 max coin and a portion for $1 max coin.

I agree . You're much savvier than the typical 9/5 TDB player .

My ROI is that my wife and I enjoy getting away, so as I said I consider it all part of a gambling/traveI/entertainment budget

Totally reasonable. Given the expense and hassle of traveling cross country, the precise EV of your selected games is a relatively insignificant consideration.

I'd be curious where you and others play, which games you play, and actual win/loss percentages.

Me, primarily sports. I think that's the most beatable at the moment, although state residency determines your available operators. Win potential depends on your skill, but big edges are available on promos, bonuses and boosts. In my state of Nevada which is somewhat peculiar, I think I'm about 2% on my overall sports win rate. That's including offshore sportsbooks available from Nevada.

Nevada doesn't have any legal online casinos, but that's probably a viable category in select states.

At the b&m casinos, I focus a lot on slot club value. So if the casino runs 3x, 5x, and 10 multiplier promos, I'm only playing on the 10x days. I may play the fastest earning games, even if the base EV is lower. For example at Four Queens Vegas, you can choose between 10/7 DB earning slowly ($16/pt) or 9/6 JoB earning quickly ($8/pt). At other casinos, differences exist which may not be officially documented.

Generally the good plays in Nevada are in bad locations and/or hellhole casinos. If you hate smoke as I also do, you've come to the wrong state .

[olds442jetaway]

The worst combination (alcohol and weed )of all since they legalized weed in Ct. We now have a dramatic increase of wrong way drivers in this State. Many fatalities.