Crazy Luck Continues

[FloridaPhil]

So you are saying an AP's main goal is not to make a profit from VP, but to gather all the free vouches he can?   What if you lose $10,000 chasing a royal that never comes and you earn $400 in free lunches and store credit, are you a winner?   If this is so, why isn't the title of Dancer's Book "Million dollar lunches"?  (just kidding).I get all the free rooms and food I can use playing quarter 98% games.   Does that make me an AP?  Just asking.I'm not fixated on anything free.   I am happy to pay my own way and I can afford the best.  I know a bargain when I see one.  I'm not sure playing VP for my dinner is such a bargain.Tomorrow I
will be at the Tampa Hard Rock all day.  I will be relaxing and
enjoying myself.  I'll play 98% games and I won't be depressed because I
believe I can't win.  I'll cash out often and I'll come home with
money.  With a little luck, I'll hit a royal or something decent with my
free play.  In other words, I'll play VP as it was intended to be.   

[billryan]

Just trying to attempt a normal conversation with you is costing me some IQ points.
It's like trying to show quantum physics to a fourth grader.
Just for once, try to forget all the false knowledge you have and read what I said.

[FloridaPhil]

To be continued... 

[FAA]

I will not capitulate to another high loss year chasing my bucket list hand pay RF. I even skipped AC this weekend. I did the Advantage Play thing at home, maximizing our most valuable commodity, time. I didn't get the shakes. No itchy draw finger. The casinos will still be there. In fact, another is soon opening on the site of the opulent Taj Mahal. VP can keep.

[FloridaPhil]

 I'm on my way to Tampa this morning.  When I asked for a Recreational Forum some years ago I was hoping to prevent conflicts with Advantage Play campaigners.   The only advantage I can find where I play VP is to decide when to walk out.   The owners of this website recognized this and had the wisdom to grant my request.   Unfortunately, this has not stopped the conflict.  I was banned from the Strategy Forum and they moved to our forum and continue to harass our posts.If Bill Ryan would allow us to discuss Recreational VP play in peace, these battles would not escalate into sensitive issues.  The Strategy Forum is a place where members can ask bona fide experts questions relating to AP strategy.  It works well.  The Recreational Forum members should be free to discuss playing VP without an advantage (NAP).  This does not work because a few members won't allow us to.I am formally asking the owners of this website to help us resolve this issue.   I do not wish to bring up personal issues or single anyone out.   I do not want to spend my day picking apart Advantage Play strategy.  I have already said it works for those who can gain an advantage.   I do not want to discuss my experience with people who have been hurt by excessive gambling and I certainly don't want to continue these silly endless arguments. Please allow us to have a Recreational Forum without constant criticism.  All I want is a place where players who play VP for entertainment can discuss VP the way we play it.   Perhaps the answer is to set up a third forum where Bill and I can waste each other's time without affecting other forum members?99% of VP players in the world play VP with no hope of gaining an advantage.   This does not stop them from playing VP and it shouldn't prevent them from discussing it here. 

[FAA]

Agreed. Thanks for the inadvertent PSA.

[FloridaPhil]

Today was Bonus free play day at the Tampa Hard Rock.  The casino's website displays all your Bonus free play on a calendar at the beginning of each month.    I plan my weekly trips around this calendar.   The casino also gives what they call Bounce Back free play.  This free play is based on your play at your last visit.   All combined, I had $85 in free play this morning.  My first goal is to turn my free play into money.   You can't cash out free play directly, you must play it.    I always play in $20 increments.  Whenever I have $50 or more in accumulated wins, I stash the white ticket with my going home money.  This morning I started out with an $80 ticket before I played any of my own money.I  walked downstairs to the nonsmoking casino and started with 7/5 Bonus Poker, the best quarter game in this casino.   I played for three hours and stashed 4 white tickets.  At lunch, I counted my white tickets and I was down $50 all morning.  I never hit a premium quad.  I was dealt 4 to a royal once, but didn't connect.   A lady next to me was also dealt 4 to a royal and she hit a hand pay for $2,000.  Nice lady and she was thrilled!After lunch it was pretty much down hill.  By 2:45 it was getting late and I wanted to beat the rush hour traffic.  I put in a $20 and switched to quarter deuces wild.  The counter ran up to $50.  Instead of cashing out, I decided to sacrifice the $50 and switched to dollar play hoping for a $1,000 quad deuce.   The game took off and I hit 2 wild royals for $125 each and a 5-of-a-kind for $75.  At 3 PM I cashed out and went home up $100. Another day at the casino without a loss.   The VP games I play are negative.  The only comps are free play and points that can only be used for in house credit.  Even the casino book store charges double points for merchandise.  I use mine for food.   My goal is to always try to come home with some money left.  It's easy when you are ahead.  It's very hard when you are behind.   If you play this way all the time, you will never go home broke.   If you hit a royal or two like I did earlier this year, you won't be giving it back any time soon.

[Waiting4RF]

You are having a winning year. Your freeplay kept you positive today. Keep your good luck going.

[FAA]

Congratulations. Great to have the patience for three hours of quarters. The way my JOB Progressive goes, I'd be -$100 and frustrated by then. My feast or famine strategy has been disastrous.

[FloridaPhil]

I have been playing these games for at least one full day a week for over 10 years.  Playing negative VP games with limited comps requires much different strategies than a player would use to play VP with an edge.  Surviving these games long term requires that you put limiting your losses ahead of everything else.  There is no math based strategy that will turn a negative VP game positive.   There are strategies that will allow you to lose less or keep your winnings longer.I have had the horrible experience of hitting a royal flush on a three day VP trip and going home a loser.  This was entirely my fault.   I have made every mistake possible plus some you may have never thought of.  We need to discuss that went wrong so players can play Recreational VP at a reasonable cost.  It's no fun to walk around with an empty wallet all the time just because you want to play VP on a regular basis. Things are changing.  Yesterday's 99% VP games are now 97%.  Who knows what they will be tomorrow?  Comps have been reduced.  Free Play has been cut in half or eliminated.  Last year I found myself on the short end of a royal because one of my favorite casinos in Colorado changed the payout from 4,000 coins to 2,500.   The most threatening thing I have noticed lately is the reduction in
the number of VP machines.  Casinos are pulling our games and replacing
them with slots. No one is an expert on beating 96% VP games.   Let's talk about these games openly and help each other.   The Recreational Forum is not about winning long term, it's about enjoying the game without paying too much.