BEST ODDS/BEST WAY TO PLAY

[kjohn]

Question?  If I'm willing to bet $10 per each hand,  am I better off
playing a single line $2 machine or a quarter Ten play machine.  Assuming I'm
playing the same game with the same pay table...I realize the 10 play costs
$12.50 but they don't have eight play...
Question no. 2?  Lets say I put $100 in a quarter triple play, (my favorite
game) and I hit something nice.  Now I'm ahead a couple hundred...Is it better
to cash out and get the ticket and then if I so choose put another $100 in the
machine and try again, or should I just keep playing..I see people that are
constantly cashing out and gathering tickets.  I usually just keep playing until
I'm too tired, my money runs out or I hit a jackpot....Any plus or minus to
either approach?

[Casino Knight]

Credits on a machine, like chips on a table, don't seem like real money to me.  That's why I started cashing out the TITO's when I've hit a quad or better. If I don't, its not real money and easier to "throw" away.  When you're looking at cashable TITO's and greenbacks  you know it's money.  Then when I'm ready to leave I load them all back into the machine and print a single ticket.  My butt starts to burn when someone takes forever loading a dozen tickets into the redemption machine from all their wins on the penny slots and walks away doing the happy dance for 512 pennies. It's the single line games in $1 and up denoms that ring my chimes.  A quarter royal is still a thousand bucks on a 10 play if you only catch one, but a two dollar royal on a single line game is EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (see photo on a different post)  :)All the best,CK

[brmcc74]

First thing that I think of is paying taxes. I try to stay under $1200. However if a prog. gets over $1600 on a .25 mach, then I feel its worth it to go for it. As far as cashing tito's goes, depends on what or how much that youre trying to win. I think that you should play as high a denom that you can comfortably afford. Sometimes this means less play but if you did hit, it would be sweet.

[cddenver]

Credits on a machine, like chips on a table, don't seem like real money to me.  That's why I started cashing out the TITO's when I've hit a quad or better.
 
I keep the machine set to show dollars instead of credits, which keeps me away from a "it's just a video game" feeling.

[marie meijer]

That's a good point, cd. However, others walking by can more easily see all your big wins and wait to mug you in the parking lot. catch 22 again.

[damule]

I do the same as CD whenever the machine allows. I relate to dollars in the machine as real money more so than I do credits. Also I try to set very rigid win/loss parameters for my sessions. In the past I haven't been too good at this, but this year I have done well following this rule and it's rewarded me well. For instance, if I'm playing a 3/5-play quarter machine and start with $300, I may set my win goal to be when I have $800 in the machine and my loss goal to be when I lose the original $300. When this session is over, I force myself to do something else or move on to another casino or another game.
 
As far as single line vs multiple lines, I've always felt single line VP is mundane, especially when on a bad run. For me, the multiple line machines always have that bigger thrill of anticipation when the original deal is promising. However, CK does hit it on the head though. Look at the difference between betting $5/deal on 100 play pennies vs $5/deal on single line dollars. A drawn royal flush is only worth $40 on 100 play where it's worth $4000 on single play with the same initial $5 wager. The more hands played per deal, the more dependant your results are on the deal. This is even more evident on spin poker games where the whole draw is based on 1 deck of 52 cards. You can have a royal flush displayed on the screen, but the cards are stacked in such a way they're not on a payline.
 
Everyone has their sweet spot as far as what they can afford to wager per hand. I enjoy 3/5/10 play the most, especially when playing games like Ultimate X and Supertimes Pay. But there are times where the pay table may also dictate what game to play. Here, in the Phoenix area as CK also knows, we have 1 casino here that has 10/6 DDB for 99.96% return (40 rather than 50 for the SF) on single play dollars only. If you play quarters it becomes 9/6, or if you play $2 or higher there are only 9/6 games. Also any of the 3/5 play machines are 9/5 for DDB. So when it comes to playing at this casino, I allow the paytable to dictate which games I'll play usually.

[Casino Knight]

Excellent response Mule.  CK

[kjohn]

Love getting everyone's thoughts on the subject...I always play showing $$$ and not credits...Since we stay at the hotel my mugging will have to be in the elevator....I'm pretty careful.....I may try the  TITO if it doesn't change the action of the machine,  which no one has suggested...Just better money control and I can cash all those little slips of paper in at the money machine and see if someone like CK is there with a gun...Actually any winning over $500 I take to the cashier cage...Less eyes there....I can see the pt of single line for  the Royal pay off...That makes sense...but like Mule I love TP...I'm addicted to TP...I even dream about it...So I'll do a bit of both...Stick to TP and forgo 5.10 play and single for $1 or $2 if I'm brave...I'm going into withdrawal..It's been over two months and we don't head to Vegas until Aug....I'm buying scratch off ticket and getting excited when I get a free ticket...I'd kill for a VP machine right now...May get to KC next week but that is a BIG maybe....New grandbaby and toddler are keeping me from going stark raving MAD.....I got excited when I won a spider solitaire game....Oh well my $7000 is safely tucked away in the safe so it's been a good year so far and I have plenty to play with when I get the chance...nothing like the master of win, CK but still a nice nest egg profit....

[cddenver]

I do the same as CD whenever the machine allows. I relate to dollars in the machine as real money more so than I do credits. Also I try to set very rigid win/loss parameters for my sessions. In the past I haven't been too good at this, but this year I have done well following this rule and it's rewarded me well.
 
When I get home from a session the first thing I do is enter the amount won/lost in a spreadsheet.  I have a dollars won/lost graph for the year linked to that, with a data point for each session.  So if I get ahead at some point in a session I think about my graph going up.  That's enough to get me on my way home.  If I get ahead early in the session then I may stay for some lower denom play.
 
I'd recommend something like a graph for dollars won/lost to anyone, even if it's just done with pen and graph paper.  That makes it easy to see how Big Kahuna losing sessions now and again can offset a bunch of small or moderate winning sessions.

[kjohn]

My system seems a bit easier....In Jan I take out "x" amount of money from my separate  account...( Hubby doesn't gamble so this is my "Play money".)  It either increases or eventually is gone...If gone I'll take out more for my next trip and so on and so forth..So lets say I start the year with $1500 for a two and a half day trip....That money always stays separate from any other money...I don't even use it buy a meal.   If I end up with $3500 all is good....By the end of the year I know exactly what I spent....I'm only willing to loose "X" amount in a year, which I consider my entertainment money,  so If I'm getting behind by mid year I cut back on the denomination..If I'm ahead I allow myself to play higher denominations...Right now I' way up as compared to last year when I lost my entire entertainment budget...It works for me...That money never goes into the bank...It stays in my travel purse or if a lot of money in our little safe....If I had  a good year I deposit my  money back into  my own account and start over....That way I never use family or house money.  I never count of buying anything special with my winnings...It's totally a gambling account....and I always know exactly where I stand...Works for me and so far this year it's been more profitable than my BP stock....Whatever keeps one from over spending is good...