Casino The Adventures of MDawg

I have never seen one of those app promos that is really worth anything. A player needs to play hours every day, for like 200 days to earn a free night. Something along those lines. I think what it is really about is conditioning a player to play and gamble. And if you are gambling on an app, you are already conditioned.

Drawings and prize money can be a hidden source of value and money for an AP. When I moved to Vegas I started playing some VP to supplement my blackjack play. I don't like video poker and don't enjoy playing it. But a long-term Vegas AP that I network with convinced me at the time, that not taking advantage of VP play to get the very liberal (at the time) mailers and offers was essentially leaving money on the table. So I began playing some VP. In the end it took up way too much time for the supplemental amount earned. I pushed this machine play for mailers activity off on my partner when he followed me to Las Vegas a year after I moved.

But here is the thing: Not only did I average 15-20K for the 8 or so years that this was really lucrative (until casinos lead by Boyd began cutting back on mailer offers) and that was only my share of our divided win from machine play, but there was extra "hidden money won from some drawings and contests entered as a result of that machine play.

I won maybe 4 or 5 drawings that I was entered as a result of this play and the two bigger prizes were a truck won at South Point and a years worth of rent or mortgage payments won at Boyd, which maxed out at $1000 month, so that was a 12,000 "hidden amount".

I also won a weekly football contest at Palms which was $10,000. The reason this count is because my entry into that contest for the year was paid for by machine play. Otherwise I would not have wasted my time.

So none of these things are guaranteed, but if you do enough of them you will eventually win something and whatever that is free "hidden" bonus money and value. It IS an AP play.

 

Before I took my decade or so hiatus from casino play, there were quite a lot of drawings in the Tahoe (Stateline, NV) casinos. Also some in Vegas.

These past few years at the casinos I play at anyway, which include all of the majors on the Strip, I have been in one drawing only in which I actually did win a pretty good prize, and it was cash not promo chips. Just like the tournaments in the past, there is no cost to enter but a certain level of play is required, and additional play during the days leading up to the tournament might get you extra tickets into the drum.

Tournaments - there are a lot more of those these days. I have won decent sized prices in a couple of these over the past couple years. The tournaments are always free entry but again based on qualifying play. Some tournaments I have been in have a prize pool (typically $500K although some have been smaller, and around $100K) divided among five or six final table participants, and some have been "winner takes all" affairs with just one prize, ranging from $100K to $1,000,000. The casinos all want to see solid play from participants in the larger tournaments during the tournament weekend, in order to be invited back to the next one.

I think these days "drawings" are mostly an Indian casino affair - regional casinos, or maybe more for the lower end casinos in Vegas where I don't even play. Perhaps now that Palms Vegas is owned by an Indian tribe it will start having drawings?

 

As a general update, I've continued going to Vegas for highly successful trips, playing double deck Blackjack and Baccarat, since the end of 2018. This was after a decade or so hiatus from all casino play.

Things did get much more hectic, as I moved up towards private reserved table play, with max bets in the mid to high five digit range. As far as Baccarat, I continue with the same advantage play as always, that comes up occasionally where I will know the first card coming out of the deck. I actually also know more than that, at times, I know the general constitution of the deck in that area of the deal. I won't say how or why, and luckily, so far neither do any of the casinos have any idea how or why I win so consistently.

Of course, it doesn't always work out. I've known an 8 will hit the Player first, and gotten that expected Natural 8, but lost to a Natural 9 anyway on the Bank. Not fun!

Just returned from a few month long trip in Vegas, and did quite well although what I did NOT like were the inevitable heavy duty ups and downs that sometimes come with the territory. Now firmly ensconced away from Vegas, am in no hurry to return. That's the way it is sometimes - when in Vegas, don't want to leave! When away from Vegas, don't want to go!

Cheers!

 

Nothing like some chip porn - shots from winning chips derived from multiple playings sessions over the past few months.





25K larger brown chips underneath, at Resorts World Vegas:






































Some promo chips too:

 

Nice
Impeccable timing as per usual, I wonder if the marionette will let its new anal rips heal before posting non gambling kneejerking envy induced psycho babbling remarks. I doubt it.
Hopefully THE Mdawg post more this thread
Cheers and happy new years.

 

Well I have some catching up to do to bring this thread up to speed but YES, we must anticipate yet more hypocritical "it can't bayyyyyy" quite UNKewl posts, in due course.

As you have more than clearly established, the marionette lives not to produce useful content but to waste time trying to dispel (read of course: troll) anything others have posted and done.

 

Here's a 13 Bank run I hit on a recent session. No advantage required to follow something like that.

It's astonishing how a non-Bacc player might look at this board after the fact and claim that it would have been hard to follow such a run. BUT I suppose there are some players who would have bet against it. But given that the Player was weak during this entire shoe, it wasn't hard for me to get on and stay on the Bank run, with or without any special knowledge. And I kept pressing all the way down the line until the inevitable hand I lost.

As soon as the Player hit after the 13 Banks, I colored up and left. It's not going to get better than that. (Sometimes - yes - there will be a parallel run, either Player or Banker, but on this particular shoe and run I had made so much that I left like it would be defying the odds to stick around longer.)

 

Dude, I could easily rearrange the exact same cards in that "13 bank" run to create a 13 player run and left all other in the same order. That board doesn't mean camel shit!

 

Your point? If a Player run had happened I would have been on that one just the same.

I have almost never missed a run of more than 3, and never missed a run of 4 or more. Sounds like you're second guessing; I am not.

You add my advantage of sometimes knowing what card comes out of the gate, and as well sometimes additionally the composition of the cards in that region, and you have a decent advantage for the occasional hand as well.

 

Nice
It’s been awhile since the clown Marionette got a chance to pick up keyboard from all the other puppets of late. Lol.

 

Abundance is always good, such as at free casino sponsored events.

 

Happy New Year!

 

Shrimp on barbie, national treasure here in skipptophia, nice.

 

Skipptophia definitely a nice place, as we do have our share of problems in the U.S. (But no shortage of imported shrimp.)

 

How do casinos justify offering free food to players?

 

Casinos hand out comps (complementaries) of rooms, food, beverage, free tickets to special events, based on casino play. Win, lose or draw, you will get freebies as long as you give the casinos action.

 

What are some strategies or tips for maximizing the value of comps received from casinos? How do you decide which activities or amenities to use them for, and how can you ensure that you are getting the best possible value for your play?

 

When I first started playing again about 4 years ago, after a decade or so hiatus, I intended to play mostly just for comps. I used an edge to keep the chips flowing in my direction, but didn't really concern myself too much with the numbers as long as I stayed ahead.

As far as comps, you may read more about how exactly they work, in this thread
https://www.gamblingforums.com/threads/perpetual-comp-machine.24451/

After a couple of years of play, I was playing a lot harder than just for comps, and last year, I played very hard, to the point where my comps were off the chart. I also managed to win, quite a lot actually, but there were a lot of ups and downs and stress associated with that heavy duty action.

So the first thing you must decide as far as comps, is if you're playing just for comps, or playing to also win money. Of course, ideally we want both, but unless you really know what you are doing, and have a way to overcome the inherent house advantage, you may end up paying more for those comps than they are worth.

 

Last trip I won a tournament, which makes 4 I have won in past couple years. These are all free entry tournaments which give an average of 30000 in promo chips as the prize, sometimes much more.

 

Nice.
What is the rough format of the tournament?
Whole shoe play or just a set number of hands dealt?
We have baccarat tournaments here but it’s mainly 8 or 10 hands dealt ( varies per tournament) tie hands count as dealt hand . Most chips win then progress to next round eventually last table of six etc.
Personally I’ve not succeeded beyond first few rounds or so , as my game play is not conducive to first hand play of shoe. When I’m seated into an already started shoe I do much better, but alas no final table for me yet.
Congratulations to you and continued success. Cheers