Several places have that or something similar (I was doing that at PHo last weekend, I think it's called ECash there); I assume it has more to do with how new the machines are.

As far as the Wynn, I don't know of an Ecash type system, but I could be wrong.

It'd be nice to be big enough of a player where you actually have to worry about the inconvenience of unlocking a machine every 30 sec or so. I never have them key money back in (too easy to donk off), but I suppose if I were hitting "jackpots" which were such a small percentage of my stake I'd want it to just be put as credits too. Taking cash would be like us taking cash for every full house or dealt straight LOL.

Just realized I never replied to this, sorry that was rude. No idea about the pool situation- the one in the tower my parents are in has always been in business.

no worries mate, thx for the response. Hope the run good continues!

Day 2

We planned on room service for breakfast at 8am. Of course, I knew I was going to wake up super-early in standard Vegas fashion. This held true to form as I woke up at 5:15am. I checked my email and killed a bit of time, trying to hold off going downstairs until 6am (the coffee bar doesn't open until then). Finally at 5:50 I said "F it" and went down. Thankfully the coffee bar was already open so I was able to get my caffeine fix. Then, I stuck some money in the machine and went to work...

I decide to go with some deuces wild bonus and just milk the time. It should be less of a roller coaster than TDB. Pretty early in the session, I get dealt-



With this result-


And, first royal of the trip is in the books! There's something about the "no deuces" statement that for me makes a royal at deuces wild slightly more satisfying than normal.

I manage to play all the way until 7:30 or so without giving too much back. Had several good draws at TDB but nothing else came in. I head up for breakfast- we get a smattering of stuff which I forgot to take a picture of. I had eggs over easy, bacon and basically an entire croissant which I jacked from my mom- basically as good as you can get in Paris and twice as big.

After breakfast, my dad and I head downstairs to start the "pre-lunch" session. Unfortunately, things turn cold- expected, and I'm starting way better than normal, but still annoying to go through. I think I played through about 3k before I finally picked up this draw-



Result:


That 6 just isn't getting it done.

I played some partner UX with my dad, but that was also a bust. Head back to TDB, stuff another 2-3k in and finally get



Overall though, it is super cold. It's tough to win when you make a 2k hand every 5k or so. I think I lost about 5-6k before lunch, but tried not to let it get to me.

Lunch was at Red 8.


Fried noodles with beef and vegetables. I'm not a huge fan (much prefer rice). 6/10.



Baby bok choy, standard for me. Just trying to get some vegetables in.



Shu mai, always quality. Solid 7/10.



Kung Pao chicken. Needs to be spicier- probably a 7/10, spicier would push it to an 8/10.

Recharged, it's time for more VP. I decide to play 5 play and slow it down a bit. I pick up a TON of draws-



Plus a bunch more, and of course none come in. Now I'm second guessing myself and wishing I was playing 10-play. Switch back to 10-play and the draws go away. Of course. Better switch to deuces wild bonus and slow this down. I'm rewarded immediately with the second-best draw in the game-



Result:


OK, I'm stuck bad on the day now. I decide to play some TDB UX, but the machines my dad and I have been on have been shut down by some hi-roller. Basically the Wynn will place machines "out of service" for people so they can be assured of having "their machine" ready when they want to play. Meanwhile everyone else gets screwed. I know my dad qualifies for this (he's received a list of his benefits which state as much), but we never think to do it. Anyways, I can't get on the machines at the hi limit room. I know of one UX TDB full pay machine out on the floor- it has no sound and I typically wouldn't play it, but I have no other option.

I sit down, legitimately worried I'm going to donk off 15k today. We still have a post-dinner session, too. This hand comes out of nowhere very early-


Man, give me a kicker and it's 8k!

I stuff that back in the machine in 10min. Decide to switch to deuces wild- never played deuces wild UX before, I can attest you're always making hands and it's pretty fun. Only downside is short of 4 deuces or a royal there's not really a knockout hand you can make.



AGH move over to right one spot, will ya?

At some point I switch back to TDB and get the mother of all draws- a dealt full for 12x multipliers everywhere, and then the next hand...



Jesus christ one F'ing time will you??? A three is worth 24k. I've made quads 2 out of 5 times on trip draws many times before. THIS IS THE TIME!

Result:


Ugh. That was demoralizing. We head to dinner at Mizumi and I think I'm down almost 10k on the day. I try to maintain good spirits, but it's getting hard. That afternoon session was COLD.

Dinner- I'm not very hungry, but feel obligated to spend comp and try and punish Mr. Wynn any way I can.



Shrimp tempura which came with my udon noodles. Usually 7/10, 6/10 this time (wasn't particularly crispy).



Eel, toro and spicy tuna. Probably 150$ of sushi on this plate- the toro is that expensive. Eel was an 8/10, it's been a while since I've had eel and I'm glad I got it. Toro the usual 8/10. Spicy tuna roll 7/10.



Udon noodles. 8/10.



First of two desserts. Yeah, like I said, take THAT Mr. Wynn. This was some "donut" thing- the white layers on the right are meringue, filled with a custard. Yuzu ice cream to the left. Overall, a 7/10, but it looked pretty. I'm not a huge fan of meringue (always feels a little like eating styrofoam).



Some kind of biscuit, pineapple, ice cream and again meringue concoction. 7/10.

I even try to force some run-good...



I basically never drink alcohol anymore, but I'm sick of stuffing my winnings back!

After dinner, we head back to hi limit. The machines which have been locked up are finally free. My dad and I play TDB UX and fire 2 bullets with no result- I'm now stuck about 14k FFFFFFFFFF. I suggest switching to deuces wild just to change it up.



So random. 1 deuce becomes 4, on a multiplier. How about an ace come in one of any of the times we've drawn at three aces, with 4x or greater across the board???

Luckily, that hit seems to wake the machine up a bit. We switch back to TDB and I know we hit 4 4's w/kicker on a 3x for 6k, and 4 aces w/kicker on a 2x for 8k. I forgot to take pics unfortunately (was too busy keeping track of hands for some data tracking, will be explained in another post). In any case, the night session provides enough of a recovery that I end up ONLY being 8k down. Ugh. Not what I was looking for, but unfortunately all too possible playing TDB...

Day 2 result- -8k or so.

Day 3 coming soon...

How sick is it that you were one card away on the draw on that Ultimate X 12x 5 hand from $120,000.00

I know, right? Thinking about stuff like that is incredibly tilting. Every time we get dealt premium trips w/kicker or 4 to a royal (happens a lot), we are "only" 1/47 or one card away from going "all the way". And yet, it's so rare.

So close. Ugh.

That's what keeps people shoveling in c notes. Vegas ain't dumb.

Great reports as always leon!

Yes, x10000.

I've said it before ITT, but again I want to express my thanks for you posting these and to let you know that although I enjoy other TRs, these likely are my favorites. There's such a great sense of anticipation, both in waiting for the new entries and clicking the spoiler boxes. Plus, the way your write really gives us, as readers, a sense of vicarious enjoyment and "sweat." And you seem like a good guy, so your wins are all the more enjoyable to celebrate.

Fingers crossed that you had more run good on this trip.

P.S. - this all comes from someone who's never put even a nickel in a VP machine, and my guess is I'm probably not alone in enjoying these so much despite not having played or even being that familiar with VP.

Agree; I have only won or loss a total of 20 bucks in video poker, just playing a jacks or better machine. However; I thoroughly enjoy these reports as well.

Great TR Leon.

My pleasure everyone. It helps me relive the great moments! Plus I recognize I'm super-lucky to have the roll to play and the parents that make these comps possible, so I try to share the love in whatever small way I can.

Day 3

I go to bed Day 2 about 1/2 an hr later than day 1... and wake up a full 1/2 hr later LOL. So I'm up at 5:45am and head downstairs for my usual morning routine- coffee and triple double bonus before breakfast. We ordered room service for 7:30 this time rather than 8, so I don't have as much time to kill before breakfast/less time to lose money.

All that is irrelevant- the first AM session is COLD. I think I dropped 3k or so with no result.

Breakfast is good- no pics again but I got an omelette which I've gotten many times before. It was better than usual this time, sometimes they don't melt the cheese all the way but things were fine this time. Afterwards my dad and I head downstairs to play.

The pre-lunch session is interesting- it starts off fairly frustrating with this draw (which missed). Note I'm playing a ton of deuces wild bonus here.



About 10 min later, I pick up basically the same draw-



Result:



OK, I'll take that for sure. Deuce comes in twice, and a 5 aces/400$ payout as well!

I switch to TDB, and start getting drilled. ****. OK, back to deuces wild.



Quads from a pair... but if it were TDB it'd be double (4 2's w/kicker)



This one is worth more than the comparable hand at TDB (400).



And this one is worth less...

Switch back to TDB- pick up the mother of all draws on the first hand!



Result:


With the goodness that was deuces wild, I manage to erase my loss from the AM, but haven't made any ground on the Day 2 debacle. We take a lunch break at Wazuzu at the Encore- main reason is that my dad wants to play this 100-play machine that has TDB there. There's no comparable machine at the Wynn, and the paytable is crap (9/5), but they have credit ranges from 5c-25c so the most he can bet 125$/hand. That's huge obv, and his likely win will be small (bc even if he hits 4000 that's "only" 1000$). However, the day before I got in he got dealt 4 aces w/kicker at dimes for 40k!!!! So of course he's hooked now. I can't believe how many 4 aces w/kicker my dad has been dealt. Seriously. Only way it'd be better if it happened to me

Anyways, I forgot to take pics at Wazuzu, but we got kalbi ribs, panang curry, some vegetables and salt and pepper shrimp. Everything was a 6 or 7/10 save for the shrimp- too much breading, and not crispy. It was maybe a 4 or 5 at best.

My dad heads to the 100 play machine- I can't stomach the thought of even watching 9/5 TDB when there's 9/7 in several varieties back over at the Wynn, so I head back on my own. I give TDB yet another try even though it's been garbage today, and the best hand I make is-



OK. Seriously? Give me all 4 aces on the redraw? Note I held a single jack as that was the best I had, so I had no shot at 4 aces w/kicker. Just put the 4 aces up on the deal like day 1! It's even statistically easier with 5 slots!

I donk back some serious money before I give up, and go back to deuces wild...



AND... THE SAVE! Second royal of the trip, both from deuces wild.

Now I'm slightly up for the post-lunch session. I decide to play some UX in hi-limit on my own which is a total bust. I think I pumped in 2k in literally 5 min. I head back out really frustrated with myself- gotta save those sessions to team up with my dad so I can effectively bet 50% and reduce my exposure.



View from the hi limit room.

I decide to play 5-play TDB to slow things down a bit, and frustratingly recall shoving in a 100$ bill while thinking, jesus christ when am I actually going to make a hand at TDB? This comes in about 3 pushes later...



OK finally, it took long enough.

Unfortunately, that was the last I'd see for the afternoon. I put all of it back in and after all those hits, end up down 1k for the day. I actually went upstairs to take a nap and keep tilt away- I even managed to sleep for about 45 min haha.

For dinner, I managed to convince my parents to go to SW steakhouse. I haven't been in years (neither have they), and as I said I'm starting to get tired of going to the same places every single trip. This ended up being a really good decision...



I decide to not get any appetizers and save room for the steak, sides and dessert.



View of the waterfall. For reference, the waterfall is where a show happens every 30 min and is also visible from Lakeside (opposite SW).



Brussel sprouts with bacon. Really nicely done, 8/10.



Black truffle creamed corn. Pic doesn't do it justice- 9/10.



Au gratin potatoes. 8/10.



The steak- Kobe "rib cap". 10/10.

I'm glad I asked what a "rib cap" was- they had ribeye, NY strip, filet and rib cap available. Everything was 225$/4 ounces. It turns out a rib cap is that edge of a ribeye or prime rib where the meat is slightly browner when cooked. As a website I checked out said, "you know that part of the ribeye that LOOKS like it's going to be chewy and gross but ends up being the best part of the steak? Yeah, that's the rib cap". So what they do is take off that whole muscle which ends up being flat, and make a steak out of that.

Yeah, I know what I want now.

It's really hard to do the steak justice- obv it had all the richness and tenderness of Kobe. Actually it was a little firmer than typical cuts of Kobe I've gotten, but MY GOD it was like a concentrated steak explosion in my mouth. Every bite just unleashed pure steak from both a scent and taste perspective- it was the most... POWERFUL steak I've ever had. For the novelty of the experience alone, it was a 10/10.

I gotta run now, but this is a good stopping point. Coming up- the rest of Day 3, and the 100$ dessert! To be continued...

+1

I've put a few hundo in the VP machines over the years but I could never sweat a 14K downswing, maybe if I started with a 24K win, but probably not, the second I win anything substantial, its mentally mine and not part of my bankroll. I'm a nit at heart..win small, lose small

nice update; glad you're not giving much of day 1 (or hour 1 lol) wins back

steak sound amazing, the best you ever had?

Yes, from the standpoint of uniqueness of taste, combined with standard Kobe goodness. The classic cuts of Kobe I've had are more tender and buttery, but not nearly as flavor as this was.

Rest of Day 3

For dessert... the strawberries and funnel cake sounded the best. However, they also had the "Gold Bar" for a whopping 100$. It is some kind of chocolate bar with caramel, flavored with Louis XIII cognac. I'm certainly no cognac expert but I'm assuming it's expensive as the option to add half a pour costs an additional 150$, full pour 275, two pours 525$

The dessert comes with a "special tableside presentation". I figure, since this is comped and how often do you have a chance to try a 100$ dessert, why not order both?

The tableside presentation was three people coming out, carrying the ice cream, praline truffles and a large, ornate box. They set the box on the table and...



OK, this was kind of a cool presentation. The box had its own built-in light.



Full dessert. Honestly it was only a 7/10- the cognac was ok (says a non-fan) and everything was too sweet.



Funnel cake, strawberries and dipping sauces (chocolate, caramel, creme anglaise). 8.5/10.

After dinner, my dad and I head to play UX. Things heat up immediately.




GEEZ Can I please be the king of dealt PREMIUM quads, as opposed to NON-PREMIUM???




There were also a couple more hits in there that I forgot to take a pic of. Only regret is that the 4 aces w/kicker didn't show up on a multiplier. When all is said and done, it's midnight, I'm super-tired and now up 3k for the day!

Day 3 result- +3k

Day 4, and some data analysis coming soon...

Some data from this trip

I still have the last day to post, but figured this would be a good spot to post some interesting data. Obviously all of the conclusions/extrapolations are based on "rough" math and things aren't totally exact.

First, I've often wondered how many hands I might play per day, trip, etc. It turns out there was a reasonable way for me to track this other than counting each individual hand. Given I basically was always playing full pay in some form or another, the points I got were consistent across games (basically 3 pts/per push). Each push was 10 hands. Any time I played 5 handed, I would get correspondingly less pts, so everything evened out. I decided to pick a day where I would note my beginning and ending pts, and that would in turn give me a rough estimate of the number of pushes I did that day.

On the day I tracked (Sunday), I earned 8500 pts for a total of 2,833 pushes. This is the same as 2,833 unique deals. Extrapolating this to a 3.5 day trip, I got in ~ 9917 deals. Some more math-
- dealt quads is about 4000:1. I should have gotten about 2 quads dealt to me, and in fact I got 4, so I ran above expectation there.
- A royal cycle in about 1:40,000. Here, we have to assume I played 9917 x 10 = 99,170 hands. I should have made about 2 royals on the trip, and in fact I did.
- a 3.5 day trip, with 9917 pushes x 50$/push, would mean I put in 495,850$ of action- half a million dollars cycled in!

This data should hold for future trips as well, since in general I'll make trips about this long, and put in about the same amount of action per day. In other words, on all future trips I can expect to be dealt quads probably twice, and make a royal twice. It should take me 650,000/9917 = 65.5 TRIPS to get dealt a royal

Other interesting numbers-
- I tracked the number of times I got dealt aces (275), picked up premium draws (4 to a royal, or trip 2,3,4,A = 64 times), and made a premium hand (42, includes the 5 aces w/kicker I made in the one "dealt 4 aces" hand).
- further extrapolations- any pair is about 400:1 to turn into quads. Given I got dealt aces 275 times, that works out to 275 x 10 = 2750 shots. I should have turned a pair of aces into quads about 7 times. I don't know how many times this happened but my sense is that's about right, maybe a few less. There were a few quad aces I made which I didn't bother to take a pic of bc they didn't come with a kicker.
- I also tracked how many times I made any quads in one day. This was just random data, I'm not sure what else can be extrapolated from it but it was interesting info. On the day I picked (Sunday) I made quads 42 times LOL.

Any comments or observations welcome.

That's pretty sick. In the CET system you could make seven star in 3 trips.

That's actually somewhat close to my co-worker vp fiend that introduced me to vp. He makes seven star every year from vp alone, plays TDB mostly, and actually plays a fair amount with $5 credits. And he plays by feel alone. Doesn't use wizard of odds tables and isn't interested.

Pretty cool stats; I knew you were pumping in a lot of coin, but didnt realize it was nearly a half mil getting cycled in....yeesh!

Glad to hear you booked a winning trip; great TR like always; fun to read it as a sweat!

Day 4, Final day

I went to bed after midnight the night before. I have progressively been going to bed later and later with each day, and sleeping in slightly more each time so the net gain = zero. On many a trip in the past, the last day has often been the only day I really want to sleep in (bc I'm booking a big loser). It seems like on all of those trips, for whatever reason (early flight, etc) despite actually being tired enough I don't get to sleep in.

On other trips, like this one, I could theoretically sleep in a bit, but don't want to miss out on a final AM of playing. So basically no matter what happens, I never get enough rest. This AM, we planned on the buffet to change it up. We weren't going to eat until 7:30, but my eyes pop open at 6am. Damn, the responsible thing to do is sleep until the last possible minute and spare myself a likely loser. I close my eyes and force myself to stay in bed until 6:30, then I can't stand it any longer. I head downstairs.





That's not going to get it done.



Quads on the redraw... longshots like this should be worth more than 250.

Pre-breakfast is cold- I lose 3k.

I've never been super-impressed with the buffet at the Wynn- maybe it's that I'm more of a quality vs quantity person, or maybe bc we've always tended to go closer to lunch. This time, it's basically pure breakfast and it's pretty darn good. I didn't take any pics bc it felt kind of weird being "that guy" taking pics of a buffet LOL. Suffice to say I was happy we changed it up and I'm looking forward to the next time I'm back at the Wynn- definitely going to hit the breakfast buffet more often. With a line pass/comp, there's no wait which of course is the bomb.

I believe I got- scrambled eggs, bacon, hash brown squares, an omelette, mini-waffles, blintzes, and corn beef hash. The hash brown squares were an 8/10 (perfectly crispy) and the blintzes were a 9/10- really nice lemon/ricotta filling, and I paired them with strawberry dipping sauce. Everything else was a 6-7/10.

Post-breakfast, we need to check out. My flight is not until 6pm, so in no particular order we can play/have lunch/at some point make our way back to my parents' condo.

I head up to the rooms with my mom to check out- she's old school and still under the impression one needs to physically go to the front desk to check out. I correct her of this notion, even telling her "look, we can see your whole bill from the TV. There won't be anything on there except tip since you're RFB". I go on their TV and... there's a 2k bill. WTF. I go through the itemized, and basically from some point on the 3rd day they started charging for EVERYTHING, not just the tip. The 1k+ meal at SW is there, including a bunch of other stuff. OK, that's clearly wrong. So it turns out my mom has to head down to the front desk to get this straightened out anyways- they end up calling our host who of course takes care of it.

It's stuff like this (things like this have happened before, eg, things not getting comped, or "you'll have RFB" actually means "you have RFB up to 500$/day") that make me fundamentally distrust casinos and have a sore spot against the Wynn. It happens just often enough that the suspicious part of me thinks they "mess up on purpose", hope you don't notice, and then they can always make good after the fact if you DO notice. Every time, at minimum it necessitates a call to the host who says "oh, ok, yeah I can fix that". My question is, RFB is supposed to be RFB- it sure seems like you'd need to PURPOSEFULLY change something to have it be RFB for part of the trip, then turned off for the rest. Weird. Anyways...

After we get that straightened out, I decide I'm going to straight partner with my dad until lunch- reduce exposure, spend more time with him on my last day, etc. Things end up pretty darn good-




Who am I? That's right, the king of dealt non-premium quads.

There was also a 4 3's w/kicker in there that I didn't take a pic of.

Oh, and this happened on one of my dad's pushes-



So let's do some rough math here. A pair turning into quads is about 360:1 against. Three times? 1/360 ^ 3, which by my math = 46.6 MILLION to 1. In other words, my dad made a 46.6 million to one shot come in, good for a whopping 1750$. Those are lottery-type odds. SO SICK. It took a bit of explaining to my dad but he finally got just how unlikely of an occurrence that was. Of course the floor who overhead our conversation didn't get it at all.

At some point, my dad wants to play random degen slots, and I don't want to partner with that. I'm running well enough and obv locking up a huge win that I decide I can do a little UX entirely on my own.



OOOHHH Bring the kicker in!

Almost got a huge one all by myself- kicker and that's 24k, purely mine. We take a lunch break at Red8, mostly for convenience.



Roast duck, crispy pork belly. 6 and 7/10 respectively.



Fried rice, pretty standard, 6/10.



Lobster with ginger/scallion, 8/10. Thing was huge, but not particularly tough as I've found large lobsters can be.

Not pictured- baby bok choy and shu mai as you all have seen me post now probably what, 20 times?

Post lunch- I want to play. My mom wants my dad to go back and rest, and I offer to take a cab back to the condo myself. My dad clearly does not want to leave and I can sense a fight about to break out. I throw out "well, let's play for just a short time, then we can all head back together and I'll help dad getting to the car". This makes enough sense that my mom is good with it; the downside is, I probably won't get as much play in. Oh well.

Partner with my dad yet again, and we fire 2 2k bullets with no result. DAMN maybe my mom was right, I should have just gone back to their place and chilled before my flight. I decide to give "my" machine one last try...



SWEET. Probably my last hit this trip- good send off!

I put 1k back in before I decide to call it- with the -2k before and 1k back in just now, I'm still up 1k from the aces post-lunch. If I stuff it all back in I know I'm going to be annoyed... let's end on a good note.

I grab my dad, call my mom and force my dad to stop playing. We make it back to the condo with a few hours to spare, which lets me snap this pic-



30K or so here. I paid off 10k I owe my parents, 5k strap inserted for reference.

Day 4 result +3k, Final result- +25K

Obviously just a huge, huge trip and the run good could not have come at a better time. I'm diverting 15k or so to pay off expenses, and gonna try and stick with my "don't go to local casino often" plan, so hopefully next Vegas trip I'll have a 10k roll or so. As the swings this trip can attest to, I think even a 10k roll is too short- sure, it's probably the upper boundary of what I'm going to lose in any given trip, but the fact that ALL OF THAT can go in 1 day is really scary and keeps me from having fun if I get short early. We'll see. Hopefully the next trip isn't too far away. Thanks for reading!

Congrats on booking the huge win, but this plan is only acceptable if by next trip you mean within a month....

You know damn well they did it on purpose, Vegas is so wired into extracting max dollars from every single person that crosses their paths that virtually nothing is off limits, so imo, its got to be a deliberate angle with plausible deniability.

Not as obvious as the one way moving sidewalks that will bring you into the casinos and then you have to schlep it on foot when you try and leave but its the same mindset.

Love living vicariously through your great trip reports, especially when you book a big win, hope for many more like this one!

Leon Ive been following you for about 3 years and I think this is the 2nd time the Wynn has done this to you or your parents. The weird thing is that usually this is done when people use comps and don't play or barely play and you & Pops put in HEAVY volume from moment one.

They usually notify you that you're not playing enough and suggest that your points will have to be redeemed off your card in place of RFB. So the fact that they just stopped RFBing 2 whole days short suggest: A. Someone keyed your comps for your stay in wrong and put 2 days covered instead of 4. B. As you suggested it's a "error" they purposefully make hoping to get the cash but knowing they can pled computer error and just fix it for you.