cutting the losses

[pokerforme]

Anger? No I just found things to entertain myself with that I get something back from. Very FEW pro players make a living or positive return from VP...I can say with the limited amount I played (3-5 trips a year) I was positive EVERY single year I played. There is ZERO doubt the casinos or machine makers have changed something so I see no reason to throw money down that hole.

[DaBurglar]

I've managed to peruse (after receiving the reports or accessing them online) my play for 2014 in AC (with a little in Vegas).......My coin in in AC was about 40% of what it was in the years 2010, 2011 and 2012 (average of the three) and it was about 60% of 2013 (that's a reflection of the fact that I started to cut back my play sometime in the middle of 2013, plus I abandoned the AC club pretty much in November of 2013 (when it announced it was going out of business 2 months before it closed...no point in dropping moolah into a place that would disappear!)My current AC Video Poker play is what I feel I need to maintain jusssst enough status and freebies to keep the room and food offers coming so I can go there whenever I want to either play poker or just relax (especially in the summer which is still worth while in my opinion due to the beach and the people who flock during the summer......AC on a sunny Summer day is really nice.)But I will not simply "move" my former level of play into a different game (like slots or even a table game like BJ or craps......I just do not enjoy it enough.)   Poker is a different story since you are playing against people and it really truly requires a genuine level of SKILL, and you have the MOST control over things, especially the outcome, and LUCK is minimized as a long term factor.   You may not hit the HUGE jackpots playing 1-2 or 2-4 n/l holdem, but you can certainly earn enough profit to make it fun and a worthwhile hobby or past time.    I am not prepared to try and become a "PRO", but rather I am content to be a competent amateur.    This year (2015), not including any Vegas trips I take, I will genuinely be examining just how much I spend on what VP I do play still, what comps or perks I still get, and how much it would cost me if I paid out of pocket utilizing the "POKER PLAYER" rates for rooms and food that most AC casinos have.      There is of course a level of play for poker players whereby you can earn freebies for all your rooms and food, but as of now I have yet to reach this level, whatever it is......I do qualify for CHEAP (but not free) rooms with my current poker play.....for instance, I can stay at the TROPICANA in AC for $39 a night Sunday - thursday, with 10 bucks a day food credit at my current level.   Or I can stay at Ballys for 49 bucks a night Sun-Thurs..........however, starting June 1 thru August 31, this will no longer be the case, as the summer rate hikes skew everything.   To qualify based on poker play alone I would have to at least DOUBLE my level of play, which I MIGHT still do, I will have to wait and see how things develop......Of course, if I could just win one of the HUGE Borgata Invitational tournaments, that would solve all my problems and issues!!!!

[notes1]

db, as i said to otabill, cutting back your play to relect your unhappiness with AC casinos is a sign of discipline. good for you. who cares if you pay some nominal amount for a room as opposed to getting a free room and losing hundreds or thousands. this is exactly what many have already figured out.  the casinos set the rules of the game, we just need to adjust our play to take advantage of their rules or do not play at all.

[DaBurglar]

db, as i said to otabill, cutting back your play to relect your unhappiness with AC casinos is a sign of discipline. good for you. who cares if you pay some nominal amount for a room as opposed to getting a free room and losing hundreds or thousands. this is exactly what many have already figured out.  the casinos set the rules of the game, we just need to adjust our play to take advantage of their rules or do not play at all.yes well you actually brushed on something else that everyone often forgets.....when you said "Nominal amount"  you actually are now getting into the fact that casinos more often then not will OVERHCHARGE or inflate their room rates or the prices/menus of their restaurants in order to then turn around and give people who do not know any better the ILLUSION that they are getting more from so-called "comps & parks" than they really are!Case in point:  in AC, every friday, and especially SATURDAY, room rates go up by anywhere from 5X to 10X the normal amounts....now some of you may say, so what?   but think about this.....in AC, a standard room booked online at, say the Tropicana, on a Monday runs 69 bucks during MArch, but jumps to $299-$399 or more on a Saturday (a little less on Friday but still also HIGH!)     Likewise, just about every steakhouse or gourmet restaurant in AC has main entree's priced at $50-60 average, with sides and beverages bringing the typical tab for each person well over 120 bucks or more for a meal!You see where I am going with that....

[Tedlark]

  DaBurglar Atlantic City is not the only locale where the phenomena of rising room rates takes place.    So you admit to playing video poker in Atlantic City for the comps? Lousy returns for you as they may be? Mind + boggle = mindboggling.

[OTABILL]

db, as i said to otabill, cutting back your play to relect your unhappiness with AC casinos is a sign of discipline. good for you. who cares if you pay some nominal amount for a room as opposed to getting a free room and losing hundreds or thousands. this is exactly what many have already figured out.  the casinos set the rules of the game, we just need to adjust our play to take advantage of their rules or do not play at all.

Not just discipline but common sense. Regardless of what one does with their discretionary funds, one needs to not spend over the amount budgeted for entertainment.

[notes1]

all i know is i tried to give you a compliment for cutting back your play and it seems you want to argue about it.  if, the casinos set the rules that rooms are overpriced on weekends, so they can rip off the kids and tourists, we know better, go on a sunday nite. if the steakhouses are a ripoff, go to the buffet. the rooms are only to sleep in and you can eat a good meal at a fair price when you get back home. i go to gamble, not to eat or admire my room. you are a veteran gambler, you should know how to play their game.  

[FAA]

One quad in 4.5 hours and no premiums in 13 hours isn't very good for even the slowest of players.Amen. One in 3.5 hours yesterday. Very leisurely pace. Seduced by progressive fever. JOB RF $1115, over a hundred its usual level. I played for ninety minutes on two machines, going in and out of max coin. No quads. A couple two machines over did tag team, an incredibly annoying routine. He worked twenty hands, hopped up and gave her twenty hands. No quads for Dolt Duo either. After burning a $20 voucher combined on two machines, mine and the one they abandoned after much futility. We had basically swapped misery machines, with continued poor results. I went to a dollar machine at min bet for a change of pace and some peace. 9/5 JOB does rack up tier credits if the machine lets you play. In ninety minutes, I lost $23. Forty CET Rewd Credits, so over 400 quad free hands. I know that's average, but incredibly frustrating. Rather than feed bandit $20 more, I hit another machine. Quad within twelve hands, cashed out up $24 on it. Back at progressives, now $1122. Duo  still banging away. Every third word out of wife's mouth was still "royal." I Full Housed and left it up $12. If there hasn't been a quad in an hour, cash out before it starts cranking out duds and leaving you bust! I found a "Knowing When To Quit" brochure and kept it next to the buttons as a reminder towards the end. Fifty Reward Credits visit, fwiw.

[wildman49]

One quad in 4.5 hours and no premiums in 13 hours isn't very good for even the slowest of players.Amen. One in 3.5 hours yesterday. Very leisurely pace. Seduced by progressive fever. JOB RF $1115, over a hundred its usual level. I played for ninety minutes on two machines, going in and out of max coin. No quads. A couple two machines over did tag team, an incredibly annoying routine. He worked twenty hands, hopped up and gave her twenty hands. No quads for Dolt Duo either. After burning a $20 voucher combined on two machines, mine and the one they abandoned after much futility. We had basically swapped misery machines, with continued poor results. I went to a dollar machine at min bet for a change of pace and some peace. 9/5 JOB does rack up tier credits if the machine lets you play. In ninety minutes, I lost $23. Forty CET Rewd Credits, so over 400 quad free hands. I know that's average, but incredibly frustrating. Rather than feed bandit $20 more, I hit another machine. Quad within twelve hands, cashed out up $24 on it. Back at progressives, now $1122. Duo  still banging away. Every third word out of wife's mouth was still "royal." I Full Housed and left it up $12. If there hasn't been a quad in an hour, cash out before it starts cranking out duds and leaving you bust! I found a "Knowing When To Quit" brochure and kept it next to the buttons as a reminder towards the end. Fifty Reward Credits visit, fwiw.



LOL nice Knowing when to quit, we all need that!

[djc32]

Seduced by progressive fever. JOB RF $1115, over a hundred its usual level. I played for ninety minutes on two machines, going in and out of max coin.




I hope you weren't going in and out of max coin on the progressive?