Leave or Greed

[FAA]

When do you leave a profitable machine? I played it safe today and left after +$100. Of course, remorse. I returned to possibly milk it more and extract a quad. But the guy who plopped down next to me and spurred me to split in the first place was on it, and doing rather well. I now realize that I should have simply grinned and beared it. There's also the out staying your welcome nightmare. Don't poke the bear, then complain you got mauled. How would you have proceeded?

[FloridaPhil]

I can't tell you how many times I've left a cold machine only to have the next player walk up and hit it big.  I've also done the same thing to other players.  There is no such thing as a hot machine.  There are hot players and each one of them can cool off in a NY minute.   Don't beat yourself up about something you can't control.

[Tedlark]

FAA that is a dilemma that has been discussed here before: stay or go. Some people, including you, have said to leave a machine after it hits. I personally do not subscribe to that line of thinking and a perfect example why would be my recent outing to Harrah's Joliet. If I left that machine after my first handpay I would have missed out on the 3 that came afterward plus some other nice hits that didn't require a handpay.

A player has to make that decision for themselves as to when "is the right time to leave a machine."

Several years ago I was playing in another Illinois casino and I hit 3 royals on the same machine within 3 hours. A man hit a royal on the machine right next to me but alas, he was only playing single coin. He asked me why I won 1k when he only won $62.50 and I explained to him that he was playing single coin and I was playing max coin. He left a few minutes later and I felt the need to get up and move to the machine he was just playing. Low and behold I hit my 4th royal of the day on that machine and he happened to be standing behind me. He came up and made a comment that "that royal should have been his" and I told him if was going to spew sour grapes he should not watch people play the machine he left.

Again, that decision is solely up to the individual player.

[FAA]

Phil, Voice of Reason. We cannot reasonably predict the next minute of RNGs, never mind the next hour. Just take the sure bird in hand. I had enough high adrenaline max bets. They just never yielded three figures. It can't always be Christmas.

[FAA]

Ted, you're right. I'm adamant about leaving after a quad, hopefully a solid three figure payout variety. After my recent busts, I was leery of another goose chase when I'm already holding a decent bird. In your story, I would have been standing spewing my sour grapes. I'll have to seek a happier medium next time I find myself rolling. No risk it, no biscuit. And you certainly risk it.

[Gronbog]

When do you leave a profitable machine? I played it safe today and left after +$100. Of course, remorse. I returned to possibly milk it more and extract a quad. But the guy who plopped down next to me and spurred me to split in the first place was on it, and doing rather well. I now realize that I should have simply grinned and beared it.The RNG spins continuously whether the machine is being played or not and also while it waits for you to make your bets and decisions. You would have to hit the deal button at the exact same microsecond as he did for the entire time to get the same result.

[FloridaPhil]

There are thousands of stories like that.  I was once playing next to a guy who hit quad fours playing DDB.  He got up and left.  I moved over to his seat, played 50 cents and hit 4 aces with a  kicker for $1,000.  He asked me about it and I told him what happened.  He wasn't happy.A month ago my wife was playing next to me and she had been losing for an hour.  She stood up and told me she wanted to go home.  I told her to stay long enough for me to lose the $20 I still had in the machine.  She sat back down and hit a royal for $1,000.  Would she have been pissed if someone hit the royal on her machine right after she left?  You bet.....If hitting a short coin royal bothers you, DON"T DO IT!    Even if it costs you $5,000 to win $1,000, you'll hate yourself.

[wildman49]

It really comes down to how your feeling when your up. Some times it just feels good to go home up, yes you might lose it back the next trip, for me its all feel and how long I been playing. My wife and I do marathon trips, so the later the trip I might stop in the plus and follow the wife around as she plays happy to go home up. Have watched her play for hours sitting on my wallet.

[FAA]

Phil, If the RF comes, it comes. $750 on a three buck bet is still a considerable windfall. I was just seeking a garden variety quad to really pad the day. It was still early. I regret killing time when I may have made a killing. 29 TC day, so just $580 coin in. +$159 day did double my BR regardless.

[FloridaPhil]

[quote=FAA]$750 on a three buck bet is still a considerable windfall. [/quote]If you are playing VP for the long term, the max coin royal flush bonus is over 1% of your return.    To earn it you must play max coins.  Playing VP for the long term requires a long term investment.  Playing VP for the short term does not.  If you are walking around taking short term single quarter pot shots $20 at a time, a $62.50 royal will buy you lunch.  Hitting one on a dollar machine pays $250.   Hitting one on a $5 dollar machine pays $1,250 and a W2G.There is no math that can accurately foretell what will happen when you drop one $20 bill into a video poker machine and play 4 hands.   In 4 hands, a $62.50 single coin quarter royal is just as likely as a $20,000 $5 max coin royal.  The only difference is how many chances are you going to get from your $20?   If you are going to consistently play this way, all wins are a good thing and you accept what happens either way.I'm not saying one way of playing VP is better or worse than the other.   I'll leave that up to the mathematicians.  Few players can accept a $62.50 royal and be happy about it.  I'm sure I have hit more of these that anyone else on this forum and they don't make me happy either.   If I do, I accept responsibility.   I chose to play cheap and I got paid cheap in return.