Totally agree. I get a little more geeked up when he mentions that Craps is in the picture.


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That's awesome, I wasn't knocking him, the concept or your family, I just watched a rerun of the episode of Friends where Ross & Rachel get a male nanny so "Manny" was fresh on my mind

Yeah, I didn't think you were. I still have some old-school friends that think a manny is weird. One guy even said, "aren't you worried...", implying my kids were somehow at higher risk for sexual predation bc he's gay. To which I said, "bc gay guys are more likely to be pedophiles?", and then he snap-realized he was just talking out of his ass.

Funny. The first thing I thought about having a male nanny was that it was a good move in that the wife wouldn't have to worry about her husband cheating on her with the nanny..

so many misunderstandings with the written word, I wanted to make sure.

Glad your friend snap realized the lunacy of that position. People are doubling down here in Texas over bathrooms and its absurd how much time and energy is devoted to this topic when there are infinite number of more important issues. /derail

good luck, I hope things turn around asap!

Glue some fur to the smallest one and call him your Emotional Support Animal.

leon,

in honor of you, I tried some TDB a couple days ago during my Vegas trip, and I don't know how you do it. I put in $40 into a single-line 25c machine, and i mean, I didn't expect it to last hours and hours, but I mean poof, it was gone in an instant. The 2-credit payout for trips really just kills any expectation of playing for a while (unless you hit a premium quad w kicker obv).

It's not for me; I don't know how you can stand the variance train, especially with the stakes you play!

I hear you, but the upside of TDB is SO huge. Once you hit some premium quads w/kicker you'll never go back, at least I can't. If I made quad aces with kicker on JOB and got a whopping 125 credits I'd be so pissed. I'm there to try and make a score, not "survive" for as long as possible.

You should play some deuces wild - hitting aces with a kicker (not a deuce) for 20-25 credits would really make your day.

I posted it somewhere earlier in this thread if you go back and look for it. 4 aces w/kicker. Single line. DEALT. On deuces wild. In the middle of a huge run bad streak. FML

As much as I've played in my lifetime, I've hit quad aces exactly once. I can't remember what the kicker was. I've hit it as many times in live hold 'em.

That just means you haven't played enough VP.

I know I've been DEALT quad aces at least 5 times (w and w/out kicker). Dealt royal once. Dealt quad 2, 3, 4 w/kicker at least 3 times too. Can't even remember all the quads and royals I've made as an ending hand.

Obv stuck big life time bc of above.

Played over the weekend at Pala. Ultimate X, no active multipliers. 5 lines, quarters and was dealt a straight flush..my wife didn't understand why I was pissed that I had just won over $300. I told her to ask Leon..he understands..

Day 2

I wake up at 6am and head downstairs to grab coffee and play. We're planning on meeting up at the buffet at 8am.

I pull up to my usual machine and there's some donk playing on the next one over. I call him a donk for... well, you'll see. I stuff 1k in and lose most of it pretty quickly. Meanwhile, the donk insists on starting a conversation- the usual pleasantries, where are you from, etc etc. I'm polite but really don't feel like talking, esp while losing. Meanwhile I'm watching him play and he's making really bad holds, like 3 to a royal when he's also been dealt a pair of aces on TDB, stuff like that.

At some point the guy decides he's done so he calls over the slot attendants to lock the machine up. I've never seen someone lock "my" machines down before. He tells them to lock it for TWELVE HOURS. Twelve hours that it's going to be out of circulation, and then if it opens it's bc he's going to be playing on it. I go from being a little to pretty frickin' upset. It's going to be a busy weekend and he just reduced my options by basically 50%.

While the slot attendants go to get the paperwork for him, he proceeds to hit 4 2's w/kicker on triple play from a pair. Meanwhile I'm getting killed and have lost almost 1.5k. So they come back to lock the machine for the donk and instead first have to pay him. He says he's going to sleep for "a bit", but then he's going to come back. I can feel the tilt rising so I ask the attendants to lock mine up for me. I expect to be playing after breakfast, and I'm not sure if they'll do it for me, but it can't hurt to try...

The slot attendants check with management for me, and they semi-reluctantly agree. I think it's most bc of my dad and my association with him- as a "Chairman's Club" member he has the ability to lock machines down, but theoretically I don't. In any case, they agree to lock it for me for 4 hrs which is more than enough time.

I head up to the room with coffee for my wife, stuck 6.5k for the trip. We head to the buffet and I try to keep a positive attitude.



The entrance to the buffet.

The buffet is solid as usual. No pics of the food, but it was a 7/10 overall. The kids eat way too much sugar which is unusual for us in general but we tend to be lax on vacation. After, the plan is the kids are going to go swim with my wife and nanny, while my dad and I are going to go play, of course.

I head on to hi limit with my dad and we partner up for 1k each again on the ultimate X machine. The run-bad continues and we don't hit anything. I still have not made quads once, nor even been dealt 3 aces. I've been dealt trip 3s twice but obv nothing has come in. I go back to my locked machine and try again. Obnoxiously, I make my first quads of trip soon after in the following fashion-



Hold a jack, plus an offsuit high card. Catch three more jacks. Can this happen with an ace? Of course not.

That hit lasts all of 5 min. I survive until about 11:30am when I decide to head to the room to nap. I'm down 9k, have 1k left and we have lunch at the Country Club at 1pm. We're supposed to see Love at the Mirage at 7pm, and still have the rest of Fri, Sat and most of Sun. I'm thoroughly tilted, tired, and at this point assume I'm going to be felted.

I head to the room. At least the elevator lobby is beautiful.



I try to sleep, but I can't get over how terrible the machines have been and can't fall asleep. Soon enough, the kids come back from the pool and it's time to get ready for lunch. We head over to the Country Club.



The lunch food options are thoroughly unremarkable. Basically salads, and some sandwiches. I've been here before, I thought for lunch as well as dinner and I can't remember their menu being so limited. I think half the table gets the steak salad and I can't be bothered to take pics of the food- overall it was a 5/10, but the food literally took an hour to get to us so the experience gets a 2/10 overall. I think they forgot our order. My kids were incredibly patient- much more so than me. I think I was openly swearing towards the end. The service this trip has been pretty poor.



View of the golf course from the country club.

I definitely have no intention of coming back here for lunch. Post lunch plans- kids are going to nap, then potentially the pool afterwards before we have to head to the Mirage. My wife wants to get a bit of work done, then she's going to play. I plan on firing my last 1k bullet with my dad. It's now or never!

We lose the last bullet in 30 min. I can't believe I'm felted to the tune of 10k less than 24 hrs into the trip.

My mom hears of all of this and gives me 5k. I don't know what to say, but of course I accept, feeling grateful, humbled, and embarrassed all at the same time. I set 1k aside for craps with my wife and keep going. At some point, I switch to double super times pay, double double bonus (they don't have TDB). I played a bit of DSP at my local casino and had a decent result, and I'm sick of giving money to TDB. Plus it's full pay DDB and my hope is I'll last a bit longer this way.

I think I lost another 1k when I FINALLY make a score.



A great result obv, but given how things have been going I NEED that kicker. A 16k hit would have gotten me positive; instead, I'm ONLY stuck 5k or so now.

It's amazing how a hit can rejuvenate you. I was basically falling asleep before this, and now I feel wide-awake again. I think I put back 2k into the machine before I come to my senses and take a break. I'm down 7k total, have 8k on me but owe 5k to my mom which I'd really like to pay back. Luckily my wife is done working and wants to play. We head to Walking Dead.

I peel off 500$ and give it to her. Both machines are occupied, so we play Sons of Anarchy instead. She stuffs 200$ in and we don't get ****. Finally, a spot opens up and we move over. Next to us, the other person is min betting (75c a spin) and thus has no shot at the grand jackpot (1.2 million), but if that's what you can afford... and of course, we probably have basically zero shot at the grand either anyways.

My wife feeds in another 200$. The person next to us is getting bonus after bonus, winning anywhere from 50-80$ at a time which is decent for the min bet, while we can't get anything. Then, my wife gets one of the features to trigger, where some symbols are pre filled in.

For those unfamiliar with the game or the show, "Rick" is the main character and is worth the most money in the game. We get dealt dual symbols- Rick and his foil Shane (so each can go either way). Reel one. Reel two. Reel three. Reel four. Good start. Here comes the rest of the symbols...

All I know is I saw some Ricks land on the first reel. Then the second. Then the third and fourth. OK, we need Ricks on the 5th and 6th symbols to really make this big. Reel five BINGO! Reel six...

Result-



DAMN. First time ever hitting a hand pay on penny slots. For the unit, it's just such a monster hit and so fun to look at. It doesn't get me unstuck, but it was great to experience and I'm glad my wife was involved. Can confirm, Walking Dead handpay music is really irritating.

Because we're in a section of the floor that doesn't usually get handpays, it takes forever for them to unlock/pay us. When they finally make it over the slot attendants are joking with me, saying "so you come all the way over here to get paid, huh?" to which I reply I have just been completely raped by VP so far this trip- of COURSE I'm going to hit on penny slots!

My wife and I split the jackpot and she pays me back my 500$. We play a bit more and don't get anything, and I decide to give VP one more shot before the show.



We take the limo to the Mirage. In retrospect we could have walked, but the host set it up for us. The ride literally took 30 sec and I felt kind of like a jackass.



Coming in the North Valet entrance.

To this day, I still love walking into this casino. The Mirage was still the "center of the poker universe" when I was really learning how to play, and I have so many memories of playing 20/40, 40/80, huge stacks of chips, some monster winners (and of course some losers too...). It still makes me sad to see the current state of poker affairs here.



Always loved this touch too.

We've got about an hr before the show, and I know we won't get out until about 9pm. We'd better grab some food beforehand. We head to the burger place near California Pizza Kitchen. The burgers were decent, I'd say 6/10. I know this place is known for its shakes, but my wife and I definitely don't want the kids to have any more sugar. No pics, sorry. For the show, our host has set us up with what should be some quality seats based on the price-



As I mentioned, this will be the first show ever for my kids and I'm excited to see their reaction. Our nanny has also never seen this one and he's looking forward to it. I've been three times, my wife twice and it's one of our favorites.





Yep, best seats I've ever had.

The show was a ton of fun. They've changed it up a bit since the last time I saw it and it's better than before. It was also great to see my kids' reactions- my youngest was bobbing his head and pretending to play the drums for most of the songs, while both were amazed by the acrobatics etc. Definitely glad we went.

It's after 9pm by the time we get back to the Wynn. My wife decides to stay in the room, and I don't plan on playing too much, given how exhausted and stuck I am.

I try again at my usual machine. Meanwhile, the other machine is still locked up by that donk. I've taken my foot off the gas in terms of taking pics of good draws, most bc I haven't had many but also because I'm demoralized at this point. I decide I'm going to get back at taking pics for this TR, and pretty soon am dealt-



And proceed to blank every spot.

Still have not made one premium hand on this machine. Still no handpay here. Still not even three aces dealt.

I keep going, and FINALLY get dealt three aces. My phone is now out of batteries, so I can't take a pic. Result-



Of course. I lose 2k and decide enough is enough. I'm stuck 10k again. I'm up in the room by 10:30pm. My kids aren't even asleep yet. I crash into bed and have dreams/nightmares of big draws and misses- the sleep is not restful, obv.

Day 2 result- -5k. Overall- -10k.

To be continued...

Ouch Leon - was hoping you'd have a better day 2. The handpay music for Walking Dead is the same for all Aristocrat slots, but I agree it seems particularly out of place for that game.

Now, I think I've played too much.

Adding it up, it's been about 40 hours total.

Yeah, but you're the King of Quads. I wonder if they show up more often in TDB. I play mostly Bonus.

Assuming a fair machine, it shouldn't be any more frequent. You play mostly single line, correct? If so, your 40 hrs of play is probably about 8 hrs give or take of mine (since I play 5-10 lines at once).

Never heard of someone being able to lock up a machine. Guy must be a whale and a half.

I have that one beat. A few WSOP's ago, a fellow 2p2'er hit a big jackpot on Let It Ride for $20k+. Then an hour later hit a $4k score at craps. He's feeling pretty baller at that point, so when he met me over at the Orleans, he wants to limo over to the strip club that is literally across the street. I think with tip he paid about 70 bucks, lol.

WRT taking pics of a draw, not that I'm superstitious or anything, but I think it's a guaranteed kiss of death. I will not ever do it.

I do indeed my friend. Pissed-happy is a very weird emotion...

You haven't heard the last about that donk. I wouldn't be so quick to use the label if he didn't deserve it. In any case, he's at least as big of a player as my dad bc he's also Chairman's club. I looked at the list of benefits they offer and amongst them are-
- can lock up machines
- can request certain games (subject to approval, of course)

As far as the pics, I mostly started doing them for the TR aspect. I went through this run where it seemed like 5 "pre" pics in a row I proceeded to hit, so that defintely didn't hurt. At the end of the day, I know it doesn't make a difference so I'll keep doing it- except when I keep getting crushed and just totally lose motivation. I believe I had a trip a few months ago like that- I just stopped taking/deleted all my pics and then made a LOL recovery on the last day. That TR was pretty devoid of pics but at least I made a recovery.

Pretty sick Leon! I have been there and I find my biggest losing trips are when I get married to one machine thinking things are going to turn around. It's ridiculous but when things are going bad my results are always so much better on video poker when I start jumping around to different machines lol.

As for the douche guy who is a donk and not picking correct holds, sure he may be annoying but players like him are the only reason the strip casinos even keep video poker on property..... Ridiculous fallacy #2, when you are sitting at a machine miserable because everyone but you is hitting it's time to take a break!

I hear ya man. I will move machines, if for no other reason than I can't stand ALL my money going into one ****ing machine. Thus far, UX with my dad was bad, and the donk had the other full pay TDB machine locked up... I'm mostly annoyed at him simply bc he basically tied up that machine the whole weekend. I'm not done with him, but mini-spoiler alert: I saw him a few more times, talked to him again, and got to see that machine out of play the entire time I was there this trip

Leon, I'm curious if the high limit slots at the Wynn have Extra Draw Frenzy or Hot Roll (I think that is what it is called..with the dice roll multiplier) with a decent paytable?

Man, it would be funny if video tapes of those days were available that we could go back and watch, I guarantee we walked past each other and probably played at the same table.

Thats were I used to go back when I had my failed run at being a pro (late 90's before the boom). I LOVED the mirage and the tiki decorated poker room. I remember playing for like 24 hours straight and someone yelled to go outside and see the Sands being torn down. Of course none of us could be bothered and kept right on playing. I remember losing all track of time and whether it was light or dark outside, it was a surreal feeling.

That CPK Thai pizza was my go-to chow while there, damn that's a good pizza.

****! Time has flown by, I thought they tore down the Sands about 10 years ago but I looked it up and it was on November 26, 1996. Holy **** time is flying by too damn fast. I watched a show on PokerGo about Johnny Chan and they talked about when he won his 10th bracelet. I was there watching from the rail when he won and figured that was about 5 years ago. Oh hell no, that was friggin 2005....time has just flown by and I can't believe it.

Yup, that's what happens when you get old.