how do you play...

[notes1]

went to cherokee for one of my 13 hour vp sessions. no premium hands, made my 1000 tier credits and won 70 bucks. these days i consider that a victory. the long drive home got me to thinking about how the lower paytables have affected my cost of playing. first off, i know each person pays differently. some sit at a machine and play for hours, no matter the results. i, on the other hand, play 40 credits at a machine, if i lose, i move on. i guess i am looking for the quick hit and run, whether it be a 4oak or some other combination win.  before the reduced paytables, if i got a couple of FH or flushes, i would take my win and move on to another machine. i would consider the 40 or so credits i won as money to fund the next machine. the problem with the new paytables is the amount you win, even with a couple of FH is still so low, it does not seem to justify taking a small win. while i have no record of how many of these small wins i took in earlier years, i do know i it was a significant number. these small victories added up and now they are largely gone. i think this has made a real difference in the cost of playing.    

[Tedlark]

  notes I will remain at one machine for the duration. There have been times when I did jump machines but those times are rare. Usually when I jumped I did it for a reason and those were times when my last girlfriend would ask me to play a machine next to her. I obliged more often than I declined.

[FloridaPhil]

There was a time when I was convinced that moving from machine to machine had value.  These days, I think it has more to do with making you feel good then actually winning anything.  What you are doing that has value is cashing out small wins.   My advice would be to pocket those wins and put fresh money in the next machine.  Eventually you will run out of fresh money and you can evaluate how you are doing for the day and make a decision to keep playing or walk out.   The big mistake most recreational players make is not knowing when to stop playing.  They keep sticking money in the machine until it's all gone waiting for the big score which rarely happens.  Money management is the most important factor in your long term results.   Believe me, I didn't pay attention to this for many years and paid the price. 

[olds442jetaway]

And you aren't the only one Phil.

[notes1]

ted's strategy has apparently worked for him. phil and olds, taking those small wins has always been my strategy. the point i was trying to make was that with the reduced payouts for FH and flushes, it makes it much more difficult to play my way. i continue to do it as a form of money management, but the strategy has definitely been affected by the new paytables.

[ko king]

I may have to force myself into using Ted's strategy because my jumping from machine to machine isn't working out anymore. My father in law used to sit for hours playing the same machine, never would switch. The two of us always went to the casino together and he lost most of the time, I used to tell him if the machines not hitting anything move, maybe he was the smart guy and I was the dummy.

[FAA]

My father in law used to sit for hours playing the same machine, never
would switch. The two of us always went together and he
lost most of the time, I used to tell him if the machine's not hitting
anything move.Interesting. I'm convinced that's usually the case. Jumping worked for me yesterday at Tropicana. I was in your father in law's losing rut stupor mode for a $37 loss. Bathroom break and returned to the adjacent machine, $25 quad in three spins. My machine was so cold a chisel to knock off the ice was required before playing. Why the masochism? Somehow keeping the faith works for Ted!

[FAA]

Notes, I see tons of 99% and above pay tables at Cherokee NC. Pretty fair set up; I would be okay with them. Forty credits is $10 on a quarter machine. I usually lose that up front in AC. Gone with the wind. You should be prepared to lose $20 on it before assuming it's an ice cold clunker imo. Of course that's a nasty loss. But hey, at least you're not on a dollar game. 

[FloridaPhil]

One curious observation I have made is when playing deuces and I have a long dry spell, it usually ends with a decent winning streak.  I don't move around much anymore because of this tendency.  If the game is 99%, it has to come back sometime.  It also seems like when we hit a wild royal the machine goes dead for a significant period of time.  I can't explain any of this and I'm not sure it means anything, I'm just saying...   I never play DDB any more.  My therapy bills were too high.  

[FAA]

One curious observation I have made is when I have a
long dry spell, it usually ends with a decent winning streak.  I don't
move around much anymore because of this tendency.  If the game is 99%,
it has to come back sometime. That's what I usually think! $37 later at the Trop yesterday I threw in the towel and sought the adjacent machine. Quad. Did I go back to Ice King? LOL! I hit the boardwalk like it was the New World! I usually split after a quad anyway so I would be a guaranteed loser once my loss exceeds $25, or $31 on quarter machines. 9/6 JOB, yeah, awesome. YMMV. At least I know which Ice King to avoid in the future.