It's Vegas Baby!!

[alpax]

People's opinions are based primarily on their own experiences. The only VP we have ever been exposed to are negative games, many of which have been seriously negative.  Since the introduction of casino gambling across the nation, most players outside of Nevada have no idea what real video poker is like.   All they see are continuous loses and they'll try anything to fix the problem.  The "free" Beau Rivage trips to Biloxi screwed up our thinking.   We were flattered by the free flights and rooms, but eventually realized they were shaking is down on every trip.  I'm still grappling with how I am going to balance my desire to play video poker locally with the crappy odds I am faced with.   Right now, the best I can do is drive four hours one way for Airport Deuces.  Perhaps I will cut my play down to once a month and stay for a couple of days at a time instead of playing lousy tables once a week.   If I ever do play bad games again, it will be for two hours max and I'll run for the door on any win.I'm sure there are plenty of readers on this forum who are in the same boat as I was.  If you must play lousy video poker, the best advice I can give you is to limit your play and don't expect to win long term.



What you have stated is a 100% valid opinion. I (as well as some others) have understood your prerogative throughout your bouts with video poker.

Not just in VP, but in many things in life, people who are successful mention they have a trait where they are never satisfied with what they have and always seek out beyond their realm for better opportunities.

1. They will look online on how to play video poker properly and eventually find this site or the Wizard of Odds.

2. They will look and find out what video poker is like elsewhere their areas.

3. They will actually train themselves with Video Poker for Winners or ask questions in forums here.

Once again, you cannot control what many others do just like how teachers cannot fully get every students to accept high moral values at junior and high schools. You have to take your own initiative if you want better things for yourself, if you ran a successful business like you've did, I do not have to mention this.

Like Vman stated (I copied it to my notebook), if you lead many horses to water and force them to drink them, there will be no water left for them to drink. Same thing with VP, if too many players are good, the house will do something about it. There has to be bad players to make these games available so the casino can profit.

To low rollers like yourself and the Mrs., I would say Vegas is a great place to be. I went on record to tell you what living in the Summerlin area will be like, you will have close access to Red Rock. I did not sell you a dream, it was all reality. I did not take even one step inside the Red Rock casino. Yes, the toughest part of relocating is moving away from close friends and family, but successful people tend to make those hard decisions.

You are not concerned about high rollers, but there are actually better VP for them elsewhere than Vegas for them. It all depends on how hard you look outside your realm. Based on the way things are, your local casinos have better high stakes VP than more than 90% of Vegas casinos.



I'm completely the opposite. The M is my first stop in when I go to vegas. I like to leave earlyish from the L.A. area, and so I get to Vegas around 10 or so. I play around on the VP and get my $850 in, and then get my free buffet, and then enjoy the rest of my Vegas trip.

A couple of you mentioned the beers at M... I don't drink at all, but maybe I should start!   

I do not play DDB or do not drink beer as much, but there was one moment that was worthy of a celebration.

I lost $1200 at the Luxor on a 2 day trip playing Jacks or Better. I only had $200 bankroll left to play with at the M Resort pit stop.

I can only play for quarters (even that was a stretch) to try for the buffet and I was fortunately able to get low quads and quad aces by just holding a pair. I got enough points to get the buffet, but I decided to play for the gift. I was dealt 4 aces with a 7, and I held the aces to get a 4. First time I ever got that particular premium quad. I decided I had enough to play 8/5 Bonus Poker comfortably for dollars and got two more quads and a straight flush. It is not there anymore, but I played the World Poker Tour's vairant of Ulitmate Texas Hold'em and went on a good run. Though I rarely ever use the M Resort umbrella since it hardly rains here, it always brings back those good memories from that day.

I felt I really had to celebrate with a beer that time since I won my money back I lost from the Luxor and the food at the Studio B Buffet tasted better when you win. Obviously now I know DDB is not too good of a game to play in the long run, and that no one should celebrate big (the beer costed $8 so it was ok) after a good Today's Score.

I understand how you schedule your time at Vegas and how it ends up you are there on a weekday afternoon. Going home on a Sunday morning/afternoon is the worst thing. People checking out of their hotels to head home so they can get ready to get back to work on Monday. It extends the travel time from 4 1/2 hours to over 7 hours.

[FloridaPhil]

[quote=alpax]To low rollers like yourself and the Mrs., I would say Vegas is a great place to be.[/quote]The high roller vs. low roller thing is interesting.  We don't play VP to get a big thrill from gambling.  Winning a $1,000 royal or a $250 quad deuce is enough to keep us entertained.   To us VP is a way to get away from home and have some quiet time together doing what we both enjoy.  The thrill of a jackpot is OK, but we both would rather come home even.   We'll spend money for first class airfare and to drive nice cars, but playing VP for $10 or more a point doesn't turn us on.   Then there's the W2G problem.  We own one business and part of another plus investment income. Our tax returns are complicated enough and we don't want to add gambling income to the mix.  I get a couple of small W2Gs each year and keep good records, but if we had $100K or more in gambling wins and loses on our return, I think the IRS might look harder.  We've been audited before and never owed any additional tax, but it cost us a fortune in CPA fees.  It's not in our DNA to risk big money gambling.  If others want to, it's there money and they can do what they want with it. We can see how an advantage player with a big bankroll can benefit greatly from VP comps.  In order to make it work financially, I suspect you need to devote a lot more time and effort into VP than we are able.  If that was our goal, we would sell the house and move to Vegas.  Vegas seems nice, but I need to see grass and trees once in a while. 

[olds442jetaway]

Back on the Avis subject for a moment. I don't know what it is with this generation of entry level employees. In my day, we treated any job as if we were responsible for the entire operation and would never hesitate to put out a fire when we could. Just last night on the way home from dad's, I stopped at Wendy's which is just down the street a bit for a small snack. When I asked the cashier for a senior discount, she said oh we don't have these here. I had never seen this employee before but she was well equipped with nose ring, modern day afro, tattoos, some kind of weird decorated teeth etc. That in itself didn't bother me too much except I was ordering food, but I just let that part go. However, the senior discount part was a principle thing. I go there for coffee and at least 3 days a week so I knew I was right. Had been getting the senior discount for as long as I remember. At first she refused to ask the manager who I know well. I finally snagged him when he wizzed by. Of course I was correct, but I saw no taking her aside at all, no apology of any kind, both just went back to business as usual. Not even a thank you when she handed me my order.
    The other recent case reminds me of the Avis story. At the same Wendys several months ago, I was with my dad. He insisted to pay by his credit card. Dad is 92. The clerk just stood there like he was waiting for dad to pay. I saw dad hand over the credit card before that. Then the employee denied ever getting it. The employee was adamant. We refused to get out of line until they got the manager and either looked around and or reviewed the security tape. Someone had to go get the manager. Within 30 seconds, an employee found my dad's card partially slipped under the register. On purpose? Who knows. Again no apology and barely a thank you for our business. Back to vp now, but the Avis incident rang so true to our recent experiences.

[FloridaPhil]

The Avis thing actually got worse.  After I booked the new rental car we walked out to the lot and found the car in the slot number they gave me. The car in the slot didn't have any keys in it.  I found the attendant and had to wait for a manager.  They treated us like we were stupid for not finding the keys.  It was 100 degrees outside.   The manager finally arrived and couldn't find the keys either.   He left to get us another car and showed up 15 minutes later.   The car they gave us was a real piece of crap with 32K miles on it and a scratched front bumper.  Now we had to deal with the damage so they wouldn't charge us when we returned.  We finally got out of there but we both agreed never to use Avis again. 

[alpax]

The high roller vs. low roller thing is interesting.  We don't play VP to get a big thrill from gambling.  Winning a $1,000 royal or a $250 quad deuce is enough to keep us entertained.   To us VP is a way to get away from home and have some quiet time together doing what we both enjoy.  The thrill of a jackpot is OK, but we both would rather come home even.   We'll spend money for first class airfare and to drive nice cars, but playing VP for $10 or more a point doesn't turn us on.   Then there's the W2G problem.  We own one business and part of another plus investment income. Our tax returns are complicated enough and we don't want to add gambling income to the mix.  I get a couple of small W2Gs each year and keep good records, but if we had $100K or more in gambling wins and loses on our return, I think the IRS might look harder.  We've been audited before and never owed any additional tax, but it cost us a fortune in CPA fees.  It's not in our DNA to risk big money gambling.  If others want to, it's there money and they can do what they want with it. We can see how an advantage player with a big bankroll can benefit greatly from VP comps.  In order to make it work financially, I suspect you need to devote a lot more time and effort into VP than we are able.  If that was our goal, we would sell the house and move to Vegas.  Vegas seems nice, but I need to see grass and trees once in a while. 


Moreso about low or high rolling, I am at least hoping you've understood the main motive of my response, which was more about what the superior people will do more things than the average person. I knew all along you would be more than satisfied to be a low roller so I recommended Vegas. I opened a can of worms mentioning what a high roller would do.

Yes, the W2G puts quite a dilemma to the high rollers. I do appreciate that Mr. Dancer had some guests on the GWAE radio show with tax experts who can help gamblers alike. Thus some of the wiser ones I suspect will file their return under a "Part Time Professional Gambler" if they know they will be ahead in the year.

Mr. Dancer has stressed several times here that those who play must get into a habit of keeping accurate play records in the event of an IRS audit or if the casino club tracking is missing points the players should have earned. The casino's win/loss record is much less credible to the IRS than a person's recording along with bank receipts.

For people that roll high without a casino club card and not track their records, they are in for some hurt.

[QUOTE]
If you're not a professional gambler, generating extra W2Gs has very real tax implications. There's a relatively small percentage of players who play for at least $5 a hand and who can deal with lots of W2Gs.
[/QUOTE]

Back on the Avis subject for a moment. I don't know what it is with this generation of entry level employees. In my day, we treated any job as if we were responsible for the entire operation and would never hesitate to put out a fire when we could. Just last night on the way home from dad's, I stopped at Wendy's which is just down the street a bit for a small snack. When I asked the cashier for a senior discount, she said oh we don't have these here. I had never seen this employee before but she was well equipped with nose ring, modern day afro, tattoos, some kind of weird decorated teeth etc. That in itself didn't bother me too much except I was ordering food, but I just let that part go. However, the senior discount part was a principle thing. I go there for coffee and at least 3 days a week so I knew I was right. Had been getting the senior discount for as long as I remember. At first she refused to ask the manager who I know well. I finally snagged him when he wizzed by. Of course I was correct, but I saw no taking her aside at all, no apology of any kind, both just went back to business as usual. Not even a thank you when she handed me my order.
    The other recent case reminds me of the Avis story. At the same Wendys several months ago, I was with my dad. He insisted to pay by his credit card. Dad is 92. The clerk just stood there like he was waiting for dad to pay. I saw dad hand over the credit card before that. Then the employee denied ever getting it. The employee was adamant. We refused to get out of line until they got the manager and either looked around and or reviewed the security tape. Someone had to go get the manager. Within 30 seconds, an employee found my dad's card partially slipped under the register. On purpose? Who knows. Again no apology and barely a thank you for our business. Back to vp now, but the Avis incident rang so true to our recent experiences.

Thanks for sharing the story olds and I am sorry to hear that happen to you, I think you've mentioned having a problem at Wendy's in the past trip reports to MS. There is not much accountability these days with businesses more focused on cutting corners/costs than anything, to potentially survive another speculated recession. Both of these employees at Avis/Wendy's are likely high school dropouts, I know the state of Conn. has much higher academic standards than Nevada to have this happen. Places like Wendy's is very much a revolving door at least in my area. I have been going back to Starbucks these days for Iced Cold Brew Coffee, the middle aged employees there have been employed there for years because they are treated with legitimate benefits. I think the employee at the Avis is just trained like a monkey.

If I were to get to Red Rock to Southpoint. I would bring a small luggage and use the Airport shuttles for both casinos to try to get around at no cost.

[FloridaPhil]

I'm cool with people who gamble big.  Like I said in a previous post, whatever it takes to get your heart pumping.  I think it's great that high rollers earn superior comps.  They should be rewarded for risking their money, it's just not part of our business plan.  I do worry when people who players admire promote playing huge stakes as a path to winning.  Very few people can make that work and a lot of people lose trying.I started keeping good records back in 2008 after I had a $14,000 day.  It made me very nervous when I gave my W2Gs to my accountant that year, but I wasn't audited.  I still get 2-3 W2Gs each year even playing quarters most of the time.  If I venture into bigger play and get lucky, I consider it a windfall and put it in the bank.  For those of you who have never been through an IRS business audit, it's not something you want to happen.  The last time I had two IRS agents combing over my records for 2 weeks with my accountant sitting right there the whole time.  At the end of it they said I owed them nothing and to have a nice day.  You can add up my CPA fees on your own.By the way,  all the employees at Red Rock were very friendly and went of out their way to be helpful.

[alpax]

I'm cool with people who gamble big.  Like I said in a previous post, whatever it takes to get your heart pumping.  I think it's great that high rollers earn superior comps.  They should be rewarded for risking their money, it's just not part of our business plan.  I do worry when people who players admire promote playing huge stakes as a path to winning.  Very few people can make that work and a lot of people lose trying.I started keeping good records back in 2008 after I had a $14,000 day.  It made me very nervous when I gave my W2Gs to my accountant that year, but I wasn't audited.  I still get 2-3 W2Gs each year even playing quarters most of the time.  If I venture into bigger play and get lucky, I consider it a windfall and put it in the bank.By the way,  all the employees at Red Rock were very friendly and went of out their way to be helpful.



I will only consider betting higher than quarters if I feel a situation is far worthwhile with payschedule being the most important. I would not play $2 or $5 Double Bonus / Double Double Bonus for extensive periods of time as those increase the W2G amounts quickly. $2 Jacks or Better or Bonus Poker is pretty much OK since you only stand to get W2G on the Royal Flush. I do not have much of a disposable income to utilize as a bankroll, I've always put real life expenses first.

Most high rollers I see do get the comps, but their intent is try to win more for Today's Score. A good amount of gamblers write off their W2G wins with their losses and do not get audited. Some withhold their taxes to earn some trust to the IRS.

I heard Stations upholds a high standard out of their employees, which can explain you had good customer service. I also heard a good amount of employees at the SouthPoint has been with Mr. Gaughan for years and are loyal (rare these days).

I was wondering if the hotel rooms there met your expectations for someone who has high expectations being at Beau Rivage in the past.

[FloridaPhil]

[quote=alpax]I was wondering if the hotel rooms there met your expectations for
someone who has high expectations being at Beau Rivage in the pas[/quote]When we checked into the Red Rock the clerk asked us if we wanted to upgrade to a suite.  Not knowing what to expect, we declined.  I asked for a high floor non smoking room far from the elevator and that's what we got.  It was very quiet and I thought the room was on par with the Hollywood Hard Rock, high quality but not overly so.  I had no complaints and I expect the suites are fantastic but not necessary unless you enjoy bigger rooms or get them comped. The rooms are either mountain view or have a view of the Strip.  The Red Rock is in the middle of a shopping mall and right next to the expressway, so I don't think the view matters.The Beau Rivage is a different animal altogether.  Frankly, it's one of the nicest casino hotels we have ever been to.  Being right on the Gulf, my wife likes the water view rooms.  It's not that the rooms are any better than Red Rock, it's just the atmosphere and the surroundings.  The best way to experience the Beau Rivage is to pay for a room (they're cheap during the week) and gamble somewhere else.  The employees treat you like family and we knew many of them personally.  Unfortunately, the odds are ridiculously bad.  So bad in fact that Bob Dancer would need hospitalization after playing there.   How do 96% Deuces, 7/5 Jacks or 7/5 DDB in the high limit room sound to you?  We would like to go back to Biloxi some day if we can find a Mississippi casino with decent quarter VP odds.  It's a nine hour drive from our home in Mount Dora, but we would do it if they would give us something we could live with.  One thing I forgot to mention is how good the ventilation is at Red Rock.  We did see a few cigar smokers, but the constant tobacco smoke odor was pretty much gone.   

[Chicagoan]

Concerning the Avis problem:

I travel about 120-140 days per year and during many years of travel I have rented many cars. Avis and Budget are two of the very worst national chains, in my opinion. We now use Enterprise and Hertz almost exclusively.

I have had some experiences with Avis and Budget that you would not believe, including the Budget bus dropping me off at the remote Budget location at a large metropolitan airport in bad weather and then driving off before I discovered that the doors to the building were locked and there were signs posted directing customers to use the airport location only, because of computer malfunctions. Duh, why was the bus still picking people up and transporting them to the remote location?

As far as Avis, I had reserved a car at LAX and arrived in the middle of the night to find that they had no cars ready but promised to get me one very soon. They kept telling me it was on the way. I finally got it almost 2 1/2 hours later and arrived at my hotel at 3:30 am LA time, which was 5:30 am for me.

Enterprise and Hertz are not perfect, not at all, but the quality and training of the employees is amazingly better than Avis and Budget. (Although Budget is by far the worst.) At most airports, not all, Enterprise has always gone the extra mile for me. (Note: There are some non-airport Enterprise locations that are franchisees, not corporate, and I cannot vouch for these.)

The very best rental car experience I ever had in my entire life was at the Charlotte airport years ago. All of the Enterprise employees on duty except the manager were MBA candidates who were interning for real world business experience. These guys were fantastic and I could only wish that all rental car employees were that good all the time!

Also, I would advise everyone to avoid United Airlines at the Las Vegas airport --- service is terrible and the on-time arrival and departure, in my own personal experience, has almost always been very, very, very bad. If you have to connect somewhere, flying United out of McCarran is risky indeed!

[olds442jetaway]

I only use Hertz and Enterprise as a backup. Hertz numb 1 club works pretty smoothly. Have had awful experiences over the years with Budget, Avis, and National. I understand glitches and honest mistakes, but screw me or lie once and you will never get my business again.