cutting the losses

[notes1]

just got back from 13 hour gambling session at cherokee. no premium hits, in the first 4 1/2 hours had one 4 of a kind, bled money. after the horrendous start, play was more as expected. lost a little more than half of my win from my last trip. overall, the loss was about in line with what i have been experiencing the last few years. nothing unexpected.  this was my 4th casino trip for 2015 and i will not be going to a casino until april. over the last few years, i would have gone 6 times per quarter. my goal for 2015 was to keep my casino losses within an acceptible amount. i do not want to bang away all day at JOB, play less than max coins or drive over 4 hours- hit my max loss limit after 4-6 hours and just drive all the way home. this my my answer to cutting the losses. the other fine ideas mentioned just do not work for me, at this time. less time playing equals less money loss. my losses have dropped. as informed players, i believe we almost have an obligation to show our displeasure with casino owners, with what has happened to the game we all enjoy so much. we can gripe about it, write letters of complaint, none of this will make a difference. you gotta hit them where they will notice....their wallet.      it was not that many years ago, domestic car makers had trouble selling their cars. not that long ago, it looked like best buy would fall victim to amazon. consumers mad them change or go out of business. i believe all gamblers can force some change. lose less money, whatever method works for you. force the closure of some casinos, reward those who take care of you and respect your loyalty.

[DaBurglar]

just got back from 13 hour gambling session at cherokee. no premium hits, in the first 4 1/2 hours had one 4 of a kind, bled money. after the horrendous start, play was more as expected. lost a little more than half of my win from my last trip. overall, the loss was about in line with what i have been experiencing the last few years. nothing unexpected.  this was my 4th casino trip for 2015 and i will not be going to a casino until april. over the last few years, i would have gone 6 times per quarter. my goal for 2015 was to keep my casino losses within an acceptible amount. i do not want to bang away all day at JOB, play less than max coins or drive over 4 hours- hit my max loss limit after 4-6 hours and just drive all the way home. this my my answer to cutting the losses. the other fine ideas mentioned just do not work for me, at this time. less time playing equals less money loss. my losses have dropped. as informed players, i believe we almost have an obligation to show our displeasure with casino owners, with what has happened to the game we all enjoy so much. we can gripe about it, write letters of complaint, none of this will make a difference. you gotta hit them where they will notice....their wallet.      it was not that many years ago, domestic car makers had trouble selling their cars. not that long ago, it looked like best buy would fall victim to amazon. consumers mad them change or go out of business. i believe all gamblers can force some change. lose less money, whatever method works for you. force the closure of some casinos, reward those who take care of you and respect your loyalty.excellent post notes.......it will be interesting to see how others respond to this, in the sense that when I make such posts with the points and tone you made, I catch all sorts of absurd, unreasonable flak.......but now that YOU have come out with this post......well, let's just see....Let me ask you this:   What is it EXACTLY that has you dis-satisfied here?   What is your "displeasure" (as you called it) centered on exactly?     I am sincerely honestly asking.....Is it the fact that you now find yourself almost always losing (like the rest of us?)    I mean, we have all lost before in years past, but do you feel now that the games (even the so-called "SAFE", least dangerous games like JOB) are just simply too lopsided in the casino's favor?We all know about the paytables, but lousy paytables have been a obstacle and issue going back 12-15 years.......did you find yourself just getting hand after hand of "NOTHING"??    This does not even have anything to do with paytables....Were you getting long stretches of ZIP ZERO ZILCH?  No return at all?

[Vman96]

Sorry you didn't do well notes. One quad in 4.5 hours and no premiums in 13 hours isn't going to be very good for even the slowest of players. I hope you were playing slower than normal today!! And hope you do better in April!

[Tedlark]

  notes -  I too wish you better luck next month.  DaBurglar - notes talks about hitting casinos in their wallets. You mention that you have advocated this before and you've been slammed. I took it as a veiled swipe at me. Anyway. How can you now say the same thing when you routinely complain about how bad video poker is in Atlantic City and yet you keep going back? Wow, you've really been conditioned.  If you again, take the time to read notes post you'll see he says he would rather NOT bang away at JOB all day long and end up with nothing to show for it. He compares this to playing less than max coin.  

[notes1]

db, glad to respond to your questions.  i should have stated my post was not a 'tantrum' about my most recent experience. actually, i mentioned the results were about what i have been experiencing. never want to speak for the forum, but i am guessing the average casino player has lost money for most of the years they have played. since my very first post on this site, my concern has been soley that the cost of playing has risen dramatically over the past few years. while i lost money in years past, the losses were in line with the value received. i/m/o, there is much less value now. as to the reasons, i can only guess. the math folks have proven to me that 7/5 and 6/5 makes a huge difference over 9/6. i do not think this can be overstated. also believe that the impact of state taxes is more than we realize. i believe taxes in nevada are 5-7% and ohio is over 30%. this money has to come from someplace. i also believe the huge growth of casinos has made many properties unprofitable, due to lack of players. to make up for that loss, the casinos have cut free play, comps and gifts. the only reason i do not believe in wide spread machine tampering , is nobody could keep a secret for that long.  i do not think the paytables have been bad for '12-15 years'. i am a tight player. years ago, if i was playing a machine, got a couple of FH and maybe a flush, i might cash out from that machine. with paytables the way they are, it is hardly worth it now.  as to the response of others, that is beyond my control. i state my opinion, do not pretend to speak for everybody, try not state inaccurate facts and avoid using BOLD print, like i am yelling at everyone.

[Tedlark]

notes Nevada has no state income tax. Their sales tax rate can be anywhere from 6.85% to 8.1%, depending on the municipality.

[notes1]

ted and vman, thanks for your response to my loss. i really did not mean to come accross as complaining or seeking sympathy. my last casino trip post was about a big win for me, so i felt to be honest, i needed to post about my losses. one tidbit i left out, that reafirms what the both of you have been stating about the machines not being rigged, is that i did get four- 4 of a kind dealt and a dealt straight flush. the damage was the first 4-5 hours and no premium hands. such is life when one gambles. ted, you are talking about income taxes, i was referring to casino taxes on net proceeds. very small in vegas, many other states take a much larger cut. this money comes directly from the players to fund other government vote buying.  

[Tedlark]

I'm sorry I confused the taxes notes. Illinois has a graduated tax rate on casino adjusted gross revenue beginning at 15% up to the first 25,000,000.00 AGR up to a maximum of 50% when AGR eclipses 200,000,000.00. In addition to the gross gaming receipts tax, Illinois also hits casinos with an admissions tax and depending on which casino it is, this tax is anywhere from $2.00 per admission up to $5.00 per admission.

When the first legal casinos began operating they used to charge an entrance fee of about $15.00. The casinos were making so much money that they quickly waived the admission fee and they absorbed the tax themselves. It was funny that when people paid the admission fee they were actually paying for the privilege to lose money, go figure...

Since 1992, when casinos first started operating in Illinois, the state has taken in about 14 billion in gaming tax revenue. Not too shabby for a state that only has 10 gaming licenses.

Edited to add: Remember too that there is no casino in the City of Chicago, the closest casino to Chicago is located in Hammond, IN. If a casino were to be put in downtown Chicago AGR tax numbers could easily increase by 500 million a year.

[FloridaPhil]

I feel your pain.  It's a completely different challenge to play for 13 hours than for 2 or 3. We see this on our road trips where we may play solid for a week straight.  If things go bad, they get really ugly.  You say you don't like Jacks, but you mentioned quads.  If you are playing DDB or one of the high volatility games, you can expect to get bloodied if things don't go your way.   I once played max coin DDB for two days solid and only saw one quad.... We switched to deuces wild because the variance is lower and it's very exciting.  I also used to play dollars and it took me a long time to learn to like quarters.  Playing short coin is not for everyone, but dropping down to a lower denomination is another way to trim your losses.  I'm not sure playing less is any better.  If the video poker gods aren't with you, you may miss the premium hands...   Video Poker is a real challenge.  I guess that's why we like it so much.

[MPD001]

"The quickest way for a casino to go out of business is to make every player a winner" - Captain Obvious