Crazy Luck Continues

[FloridaPhil]

My crazy luck continued again yesterday.   Went to the Tampa Hard Rock for the second day this week.  My free play offers are increasing.  With $50-$80 a day, it's hard to stay away. (I assume that's the idea and it's working).   First things first.  I played my free play on dollar 98.9% deuces wild.  Cash out a ticket for $100 and stashed it in the back of my wallet.  So far so good.  Went downstairs and played quarter Bonus Poker for about an hour.  I hit a couple of small quads and was able to stash two $50 tickets.  Tried quarter deuces wild with nothing to show for it.  I walked to the back and played quarter Bonus Poker again.  Hit quad 2s for $50. (Why didn't this happen when I was playing DW?).   I hit a couple more small quads and cashed them out.  After eating a free lunch in the Hard Rock Cafe we walked back to our regular machines in the front.   I was only down $50 at that point.  I decided to play 8/5 DDB to see if any quads were shaking.  The first hand I hit quad 2s with an ace for $200.  Nice...I put in a $100 this time.   The game took we me all the way down to $20 when I hit another small quad and recovered.  This happened a couple more times.  My wife heard the bell going off and asked how I was doing?  I'm hanging in there, I told her.   Fifteen minutes later I hit quad aces for $200.  I don't normally play DDB, but who's arguing?    Ten minutes more and I hit quad aces with a kicker for $500!    After that the machine went cold and I decided to wrap it up.    I cashed all my white tickets and found I was up $700 for the day.  This has been happening since last Christmas.  Stashing $50 tickets is a decent money management strategy, but it in no way accounts for my good fortune.  I'm building up my bankroll for our upcoming trip to AC.  Can't wait to see if their VP is rigged as some have suggested.  (joke)  I've been doing a lot of thinking about why my results have improved.  Some of it has been pure luck, but not all.  I made some mistakes in the past that caused me to lose more than I should.   My first mistake was convincing myself I couldn't win playing negative games.  To counter this, I came up with denomination juggling strategies that made things much worse.   If you are going to be a quarter player, be one.   Don't play quarters like I did and move up to dollars mid play.   All this does is eat up your profits.  There is nothing wrong with playing a $20 or two at dollars if you are well ahead for the day.  Don't do it regularly or as a strategy unless you have the bankroll for it and are prepared to take the losses as well as the wins.  Playing above your bankroll is one of the worst things you can do as a recreational player.The second mistake I made was not taking enough money with me into the casino.  I play quarters most of the time.  I do this for a number of reasons.  My biggest reason is when I play quarters whatever happens is not going to affect me mentally or financially one way or another.   When you don't care what happens to your money, you become a better player.   You don't fret over losses and you don't make poor decisions like playing single coin.  However, the threat of running out of money when you are playing is a real downer.  By doubling my daily bankroll from 1,000 coins to 2,000 coins, I eliminated this problem.Now I can enjoy my day of VP.  I move around and change games when I want and never have to worry about busting.  With my $50 cash out limit in place, I always have going home money.  Seventy percent of the time I break even.  This is very comforting to a recreational player.   Whatever happens,  I'm up $3,000 so far this year.   Even if I lose it all, it's been fun.

[FAA]

Congratulations. I had a quad free day on dollars, so I really regret walking past the quarter bank. I cashed out quite a bit, but it only delayed my busts. This devastating disaster produced about three weeks of losses at once. Hopefully, I can stay away in April and pursue other activities. The free and cheap kind. As I reflect, the low attendance today would require them to retain an above normal piece of the action, regardless of the CET casino. Borgata wisely ran a huge promotion.I get $50 a day as well. They cruelly chose today for Platinum appreciation gift Day! We got rechargeable earbuds for electronics, a $21 value. If we keep losing at the same rate, another gift awaits next March.

[FloridaPhil]

The Hard Rock was slow on Friday as well.  Only degenerates like us in attendance.  The wife broke even again, so they'll have to get the mortgage money from someone else this month.  

[FAA]

Poor trip idea, but the usual clear sailing for you. I must commit to quarter for three months and watch the losses shrink by over 60%. I never care about denomination when I win.

[olds442jetaway]

nice ride phil. I'm back to quarters and still getting killed. Have to just wait it out. At least its not dollars. Happened right after that 10k win. See you in a month if your plans still get you up to Ct.

     Edited to add reinforcement to my belief that short run luck can be a lifetime as the math comes around over infinity. Wife is ahead for the year playing nickel Ultimate x DDB with a horrible 7/5 paytable. Just hit today on triple play over 6,000 nickels. Myself playing only 99 percent games mostly for the year am way down. Go figure. Playing roughly the same coin per session this year as last and I have only 2 w-2gs. Last year I had over 40 for the same period and even that had me as a loser. Anyway back to quarters last few sessions. Keep it up Phil. And for the wife, break even is a huge win in my book.
     One more edit...Lately, when being destroyed on deuces, I have given 9 / 6 job a try for an hour or 2. So far every time and I mean every time I have hit quad deuces on job during that time period. Today on job I hit dealt quad aces with a kicker.

[FloridaPhil]

[quote=olds442jetaway] Edited to add reinforcement to my belief that short run luck can be a lifetime as the math comes around over infinity.[/quote]As you know, some members of this forum are pretty passionate about this subject.  I would go as far as to say some are "fanatical".  The longer I play VP the more I tend to agree with you.Playing the best games possible is logical.  Who wants to give away free hands just for being picky about the games you play?  From my experience, odds have nothing to do with jackpots.  However, the better the game the more chances you get for your money.    How many times have I played near 100% games and lost only to move to a game with a lousy pay schedule and won?  A lot.  Professionals only play positive games.  I get it.  If I was risking that kind of money I would want every possible advantage.   If you only play positive games, how would you ever know if you could win playing a negative game?  That's like saying "I only play VP on Tuesday" then conclude you can't win unless you only play on Tuesdays.Video poker is a game where one hand out of 40,000 determines who wins long term.  No amount of number crunching will make that hand appear any more or less frequently while you are playing the game.  Hit more premium hands, you win.  If it doesn't happen or you die before it does, you lose.When I play VP,  I don't want to be burdened down with math, odds, calculating comps, perfect play and 4 cent hand plays.  I pay attention to those things, but I don't let them control my life.   All I want is to be entertained for as long as possible as cheap as possible.  By playing quarter VP I am insulated from those issues.  If I win, all the better.  If I lose, so be it.   If that would make me a lousy professional video poker player, who cares?  When I grow tired of VP, I'm out of there.To get the most for my VP entertainment dollars, I play within my psychological and financial limits.  I relax, enjoy the experience, I'm comfortable and above all I don't get caught up in unrealistic dreams.   Everyone plays Video Poker for a different reason.  This works for me.

[olds442jetaway]

The Mark Twain quote reminds me of politicians. Both sides by the way. Happy Easter to all

[Vman96]

  Seventy percent of the time I break even. 


Congrats on the good run, but you do realize this is "winning/pushing rate" is about double typical players and is extremely lucky, right? But you also like to spin things as a result due to your actions, which is dangerous, imo. What happens when you get unlucky, will you shun this method and try something else?

[FloridaPhil]

[quote=vman96]Congrats on the good run, but you do realize this is "winning/pushing
rate" is about double typical players and is extremely lucky, right? [/quote]Yes I do.  I do not claim to be anything but lucky. 
















Should everyone who plays negative VP games give up playing video poker because it is impossible for them to win long term?  What if I hit a $20,000 royal pot shot playing a 97% VP game and get hit by a truck before I can make it back to the casino?   Humans are short term beings. Some will play a few thousand hands in a lifetime.  Some will play millions of hands.   Some will win and some will lose.  It all depends upon when you quit.This fact doesn't affect my VP strategy.  I play the best games I can.  I play as perfect as I can.  I don't believe playing this way guarantees I will win.  I do believe it will give me the best chance.  If I lose I don't blame anyone or anything.  If I win I don't think it's due to my superior skill or intellect.   I play quarters so no matter what happens it's not going to make a difference. 

[FAA]

A sobering 1Q 2018. Time to abandon my unrealistic dollar hand pay dream. I will relapse only after a quarter RF. So hell will probably freeze over on me.