Another Royal Save, kind of...

[roveer]

I read the "Royal Save" post and thought about the one I just had.

I've been staying away, it's been good. Week after week and I can say "gee I didn't lose any money this week".

I've been back three times, the first two a usual loser for me. Went home grumbling.

The most recent visit was this week. Figured I'd go and collect my mon-wed and thur-sun freeplay, combine that with whatever I accumulated fp from the previous trip and throw in another 360 bucks. Just a pittance from the bankrolls I used to go with, but it's prudent at this time.

So off I went. Actually had managed to move into positive territory at one point but ended up sinking. Having decided NOT to rebuy at the ATM as I usually do I stuck to my guns and refused to infuse any more cash. I think at one point I was down to about 7 dollars and was playing nickels, single line STP (total bet 6 nickels, 30 cents). I then hit quad aces wo/k for 800 credits). Moved up to 5 hands and continued playing. Grew it up to 200 bucks, but kept saying I wanted my 360 dollars back. Kept playing and when down somewhere around 25 bucks and just about to walk with gas money I drew 4 to a royal (5 handed). Low and behold, one of them finished for a royal. So miserable I didn't even bother to take a picture. Would you believe the very next hand I drew 4 2's... Finished up a bunch for 800 coins the rest for 400 coins. That put me over the 400 dollar amount. Cashed and got the heck out of dodge. Was small potatoes for me, but I was happy that I got my money back.

My previous visit found my favorite STP machines unplayable. Couldn't get any kind of acceptable hit. I moved around between all 5 machines with the same result. I even went to my beloved Dream Card machine but it wouldn't spit either. Just the week before it had been tagged with one of those little "after 11pm this machine will be out of service" notes. Guess it got the new motherboard with the greed chip inserted.

When I got to Harrah's this past visit I noticed that things are changing. They have removed 2 machines from my once loved (Michael Charlie), that's the name of the section of machines I used to play. Now there's only 3 left. The 3 remaining machines were "out of service" (just as well, I wasn't planning on playing them due to my previous visit) as were a huge amount of machines around the casino. Moving machines around, putting in new machines etc...

I think the higher denomination VP Poker gamblers have left Harrah's. My 2nd to last trip was on a Friday night and none of the usual Friday night people were there. Actually nobody was playing STP even early in the evening which is not at all the norm. If you are one to believe that frequency of play (machine getting a lot of play) somehow determines better outcomes could possibly explain my dismal results. I'm one to think that there's something to that, not necessarily that the machine says "I'm not making much money, so I'm going to withhold big payouts", more along the lines of statistically less hands being dealt and less likely to reach some of those better pays. Not sure that makes complete sense as I've read a number of compelling pieces that say that really should have any bearing on my play, but I'd say "statistically" I always did better when I played after a busy weekend or holiday.

So anyway, I've crept back into my hole, still sore about my previous losing visit, but at least this time I fought back and won. All the way from 7 dollars and 30 cent bets. For me, a moral victory.

Roveer

[Vman96]

Nice comeback!

[notes1]

i think the best part of this story is not that you made a comeback, as you know that was more luck than anything else. the best part is that you commited to adjusting your bankroll limit and you had the discipline to stick with it. you should feel good about yourself.i am among those on this site who also decided to make adjustments, and i guess i am giving myself a pat on the back, but i am proud to have stuck to it. my weakness is i loved playing multiple days at a casino. i have often said the best part of staying overnight was you could wake up and be back playing, by just going down to the casino. unfortunately for me, while i could sometimes get lucky for one day at a casino, it was nearly impossible to lose an acceptible amount, over a 2-3 day time period. so, i cut back on these trips and combined with a little better luck, so far this year, i have lost about $2500 total for the year. way below last year and below what i budgeted.    my answer was simply spend less time in the casino, for others it may be something else. i know phil, olds and others also made adjustments that suited them and i believe it has worked well for each of us. good for you, roveer!

[DaBurglar]

Roveer, the experience you described, the visit where NONE of th emachines were spitting out anything, is EXACTLY the experience and results I have received at all three CET properties in AC, as well as at places like the Taj and even one full day at the Golden Nugget........no matter how many times I tell it here people just get sick of hearing it or just vent on me personally as having some sort of AC-phobia, but I swear on my four wheels that, on certain days or for certain periods covering several days, it seems like the machines at the AC casinos (especially the CET properties) just DO NOT PAY a friggin thing.....no hits, not even bland quads (like four 6s  or 9s).......Such a thing happening once in a while (like one trip out of 6 or 7) whereby you hit nothing and just go bust rapidly is (i guess) to be expected, but I am telling you the frequency of it happening in AC is both troubling and infuriating.Yes yes I know, "So stop playing there...." ....  well sure, I have indeed cut way back on my VP play in AC (as has Roveer), but that in and of itself does not explain or solve or address the underlying questions or concerns......mainly, SOMETHING is definitely going on with AC casinos and their machines......and again I refer back to the simple fact that in AC, VP machines are just another form of "SLOTS", and that slot payback in AC is allowed to be as low as the mid 80s (84%?  or was it 87%?   83%???   I forget exactly....)    And it seems that Video poker machines, somehow in AC, are actually yielding such horrific return % on a regular basis.......The CET properties and their server based operations are now obviously able to have some sort of "global" change or adjustment effect all games at once .... so no doubt it is easy and possible (given CET's financial state) for them to have frequent periods like what Roveer saw, where a lot of machines/games are ice cold.....where any large hands or hits are extremely few and far between.     Having recently been able to experience Vegas games and then AC games in quick succession while both are fresh in the mind and perception, I personally notice a distinct difference in hand result distribution and trends.......granted it was only 4 or 5 days worht of comparison, but given my previous years experiences and memories in BOTH locales, it just further cements my opinion.    it has to be about the gaming regs of NJ  vs.  Nevada, and/or the enforcement and practice of the two.

[FAA]

I had the same "gimme  my money back" mentality yesterday. I had stubbornly refused to even insert my player card at the outset, so intent on a quick hit and run. The old hands here know otherwise of course. I spent the subsequent hour grinding away on quarter JOB at the tail end of my visit and went from $22 down on the machine to $6 down. Had a good overall VP day, winning $70. But pursuing this third quad was a fool's errand. I had decent success at both Bally's and Caesars AC, and may even have come out ahead at this machine if I wasn't so rushed for time, or if I reverted to five coin betting. Three two coin quads in two hours on the day. It was a relief to finally honor my denomination limits and not leap to dollar machines for  the usual quick bust.

[wildman49]

i cut back on these trips and combined with a little better luck, so far this year, i have lost about $2500 total for the year. way below last year and below what i budgeted.    my answer was simply spend less time in the casino, for others it may be something else. i know phil, olds and others also made adjustments that suited them and i believe it has worked well for each of us. NOTE, Do you know how much coin in for this year you have played? Just wondering if you would share that.

[notes1]

49, i would be happy to share all my results, nothing to hide. my only problem is i have to make guessestimates. i believe i play 400-500 hands per hour, actually play faster, but move from one machine to another. i have had 11-12 casino trips, ranging from 1 day only to 2 1/2 days. total hours in front of the machines, aprox 250 hours, of which over 95%, single line quarter VP, the balance, slots at a quarter. all 5 coin. total loss, approx $2500, including 2 big loss trips totalling $3900 (FL and AC) and 2 big win trips, totalling $3400 (both cherokee). when i say 'big', that is by my standards only. the balance of the trips were losses ranging from $900 to wins of $450.   so, if i am doing this correctly, 250 x $1.25 x 450= $140,625. is that correct? i really do not know, as i do not keep stats.

[DaBurglar]

49, i would be happy to share all my results, nothing to hide. my only problem is i have to make guessestimates. i believe i play 400-500 hands per hour, actually play faster, but move from one machine to another. i have had 11-12 casino trips, ranging from 1 day only to 2 1/2 days. total hours in front of the machines, aprox 250 hours, of which over 95%, single line quarter VP, the balance, slots at a quarter. all 5 coin. total loss, approx $2500, including 2 big loss trips totalling $3900 (FL and AC) and 2 big win trips, totalling $3400 (both cherokee). when i say 'big', that is by my standards only. the balance of the trips were losses ranging from $900 to wins of $450.   so, if i am doing this correctly, 250 x $1.25 x 450= $140,625. is that correct? i really do not know, as i do not keep stats.notes, if you have the info from your actual casinos that you played at, you can extrapolate and calculate the info pretty accurately (or come fairly close.)First, find out the total points you earned with your players card(s) at each casino, then determine (or ask if you cant find out on your own) HOW much coin in it takes to earn a single point (I often do this by simply watching my point total go up a single point keeping track of how many hands I played at max coin to make it go up by one point.Example:  at CET properties in AC (like harrahs or Ballys) playing single line 25 cent Video poker, it takes 8 hands to earn a single point (either a Tier credit "TC" or Reward Credit  "RC")  which means it takes $10 coin in to earn a point at a CET property in AC playing video poker.     You see how it works from there......

[notes1]

db, i will accept what you are stating is accurate. i was simplying responding to a request from another poster and did not know why they were asking. my numbers are accurate, other than guessing at the number of hands played per hour.  while i am a numbers person, i do not want to spend my entertainment time, keeping track of every detail of my play. i am only interested in whether i am getting a value for the money spent. and, i recognize, that value is different to each person. now that it has been brought up, i would not mind knowing what 49 was looking for.

[FAA]

at CET properties in AC (like harrahs or Ballys) single line 25
cent Video poker, it takes 8 hands to earn a single point (either a Tier
credit "TC" or Reward Credit  "RC"), $10 coin in
to earn a point at a CET property in AC playing video poker.Full pay CET machines are $50 coin in per point. Jumping around kills TC earning potential here. But a pretty good strategy otherwise.