leon,

This is the ONLY guy I am aware of that compares to you, and he is a distant second. He mashes buttons on poker breaks a lot, and seems to hit fairly frequently.

I’m out there April 24-28 at aria and if you’re in town I’d love to buy you a drink. I realize you probably get those anyway, but I’ve now enjoyed your candor and storytelling for years. Thank you. And no, I don’t play VP, though I’m tempted to dabble at times


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That's nice of you to offer! I won't be there on those dates, but maybe next time!

Anyone who meets up with Leon....be sure to bring your flask

April 2021 TR

Got back from this about a week ago but been really busy and haven't had a chance to do the write up until now. I knew this was on the radar for a while, the Wynn had a 5k + 1.5k rebuy slot tournament that I'm due to bink. I try to convince my wife to go, but no dice so I ask my mom. For a retiree who can afford it, I have to twist her arm quite a bit but finally she realizes that a) it's not like she's got anything better to do and b) it HAS been about 8 months since she was last in Vegas. So at least I've got company. Plus, with her entry, we're going to split everything 50/50. We've got a double shot at making a real score here (1st is 250k, 2nd 100k, and 1st in the rebuy will likely be near 100k).

Agenda-
- get in Thurs, leave Sun
- slot tourney Sat, heavy gambling throughout
- eat some good meals, chill


Bankroll- 40k

Day 1

The airport is fairly empty leaving, and we get in slightly early. Good start.



Shoe-ish pic.







Meet up with the limo driver, and head on over to the Wynn!

I've got my mom and I both set up in a separate Parlor suite. Because of her association with my dad (who is somehow still Chairman's club despite zero action in 2020), she pretty much has unlimited food comp. So, the plan is we'll put on meals on her room, freeing my comp to be used solely for bringing bourbon back home to my friends!













Y'all have seen these before, of course. That said, it appears there are two color schemes to the Parlor suite bathrooms (black vs white marble) and I think I like black better.



I treat myself to a Pappy 20 yr. 10/10, but I'll be honest and say I can't discern a difference between the various years. I'd need to do a side by side test and even then I'd bet there's little to no difference. Definitely paying for the "name"- it's not like Pappy is 4-5x better than another good bourbon.

As "my" machine from 2020 has truly gone cold, and bc I "know" I'm due for dealt 4AWAK (only hand I've never been dealt at the Wynn), the plan is to mostly play Ultimate X. I have visions of being dealt 4AWAK with some nice multipliers out there and hitting my first 6 figure score. In fact, UX is probably the only way I'm going to be able to do that at the Wynn short of playing some insanely high denom. So I sit down at UX and commit 4k to 10 handed play. I figure that's a reasonable sized bullet, and I can always scale back to 5 lines if it doesn't work out without too much damage. I also know from experience anything less than 4k is not giving it much of a shot at all.



Helpful, but not that much.



Oh this could be nice!

Result-


As can happen in UX, that 4k goes and it's down to 5 lines. Pick up trip aces again literally the 2nd or 3rd hand in, of course after switching down.



Result-


BOOOM!!!! Dream start!

Back to 10 hands...



Absurdity, regular pair into quads twice, no multiplier. Of course.



Need these to stay alive...

Result-


Blah.

I played off a significant portion of that first score but still felt pretty good overall- I think I got up from that session up 7, 8k? Down 4k, up 12k, play off 4? That sounds about right. I head on over to craps.



Gonna go a little bigger this trip, see what happens. In for 10k, planning on placing 6 and 8 450$ a spot to start.



Table's choppy, but manage to get out with a small win.

Back to UX. We're eating at Mizumi in a bit.

10 handed is cold, and then trip aces again.



Result-


BANG!



Result-


Man. Need these too!

At this point in the trip, I still had not hit a single 2000 hand. Already gotten 4 AWAK twice which of course I'd prefer, but I'm actually not even up that much. I've had many trips where the 2000s are falling like rain but no 4000s and of course that's no good, in fact it's basically not survivable. But this stretch showed that you basically just need to run hot on EVERYTHING. Even hitting 4000s but no 2000s does a lot of damage. So I took a profit from that session as well, but it sure felt smaller than mental math would suggest given I've already hit a 16k and an 8k! I think I was up 11k? total at this point. Time for a dinner break. Gotta survive this trip.



4 oz of Pappy 23 yr for friends back home.



Complimentary snacks and whatnot. Actually good to see these, my host "forgot" the last couple of trips.

This is a good stopping point, I'll pick it up where my mom and I go to Mizumi.

To be continued...

Just today I was wondering when your next TR would be. The universe is good.

Do you really take a flask and funnel to the bar? Post a video!

leon, next time you get dealt a boat and draw for the quads please do so in front of a stranger, would love to see their heads explode

Leon, have you posted how you like to play craps before?

Is throwing away a FH (and a 12x multiplier on every hand) worth going for the quads on UX? I know the rules for chasing flushes (11x) are a lot different from the regular game, but I've always played Bonus, not TDB.

Had that situation over the weekend.

Triple Double, Ultimate X - 10 Hands had a couple of 2X multipliers on the board, the other 8 had no multipliers. Drew AAA77.

Decided to keep the 10 boats and had 10 x 12X on the next hand.

Not sure what Wizard of Odds says, but I am pretty sure I made the correct play.

Not that it matters, but was playing 25 cent..

I had the same question but assumed Leon would make the correct decision.

I bring multiple flasks with me but leave them in the room. I bring the liquor up to the room and fill the flasks there.

Yes, basically 6 and 8 99% of the time. 300-450$ a spot typically. I'll bet the line and take odds most sessions when I'm up to shoot, unless I'm "that guy" and just costing the table money in which case I'll pass.

Every great once in a while, I'll place all the inside numbers. Always increase my bets with each hit, the goal is to hit table max before we eventually 7 out.

I honestly don't know. I suppose it would depend on the exact draw and multipliers out there. Extreme example, if you're dealt a premium boat and already have 12x multipliers out there, I'd think you'd go for premium quads that hand as opposed to guaranteed 12x next hand PLUS 12x 10 boats this hand. But I can't figure that math whatsoever.

I do know that in general the UX and base version plays are supposed to be the same. So without wanting to learn all the little nuance changes, I committed long ago to playing UX like I'd play the base game (one exception, I believe a three flush with a high card beats 2 offsuit high cards in 9/6 TDB UX, but that's not a hard change for me to make bc that's true in base 9/7 TDB). I'm sure I'm giving up a little edge but it would take A LOT of effort to learn all the changes.

Also, specifically with premium draws- you'd have to show me that drawing to premium quads is SIGNIFICANTLY WORSE than keeping a pat hand before I'd even consider holding aces, 2s, 3s, or 4s full. Even then, I'd probably still draw to a high 4/5 figure hand

10 Line UX 9/6 TDB - here is the math for that hand with the multipliers Leon had.
EV - is EV of current hand plus EV of future hands based on multipliers you will get based on what you hold.
Naive EV - is pure EV based on current multipliers, not taking into account EV of future multipliers.
This is why EV is higher for holding the Boat, but Naive EV is higher for drawing, it isn't taking into account the EV of the future multipliers.

As leon mentioned, there is a way too much to memorize, part of the reason that the EV is higher than the Naive EV for his hand is that for his hand he had low multipliers(14) total, 7 hands at 1X, 2 at 2X and 1 at 3X. As leon mentioned his extreme example of getting dealt a boat and then his hand the numbers change. Here are some more examples.

With a total of 70 multipliers the better play is to draw .


Here are the numbers for Leon's extreme situation he mentioned, Dealt full house and then dealt what he was dealt.

which website is that? looks like a good way to train myself

Is this saying the EV is higher for holding the trip 3’s and one of the two over only the trip 3’s? That makes no sense to me.

So glad we have a new trip report from the OG.

All that Pappy you should probably do a tasting of the 15, 20 and 23. Most people would say the 15 is the best these days but I’d love to try them all.

When you place the 6 and 8 are you pressing or bringing it up a unit every time it hits? I do this but I start at like 1/50th of your unit bet. Nit for life baby.

kicker bonus of getting quads with a deuce is very significant

always love these TRs

It's an app - they have 2, one for regular VP and one for UX. - https://playperfectllc.com/index.html I will warn you, there is no free version of the UX app, if I remember correctly it was like $15.

In triple double bonus, premium quads with a kicker pays 5x what premium quads without a kicker pays. This is what makes it higher EV to keep the kicker with premium trips.

Oh gosh, thanks I guess I don’t play enough VP .

it's only that way on certain games, it's why knowing the paytable and plays for your specific game is so important. On Jacks or Better, throwing away the 22 would be horrid, and throwing away a single 2 even worse. On TDB, it's the optimal play to throw the single 2 (except in Ultimate X, where you have low current multipliers).

Yes, I bring it up and always try to take a significant portion back too. So for example 300 will go 360, 420, 510, 600, 720 etc. 450 goes to 510, 600, 720, 900.

Rest of Day 1

Mom and I head to Mizumi.

















We get the usual smattering of food; tempura shrimp was definitely above avg this time (piping hot and crispy). I also got a bowl of tempura udon but the pic came out blurry. Sushi-wise, they had kama-toro which is basically toro cut from near the neck of the tuna- 9/10, same amazing-ness of toro with a little more flavor.



They also had wagyu filet as a special item. As explained, this is unusual bc although typical wagyu beef is already so tender and fatty, the filet cut is paradoxically not. It's still tender, but doesn't tend to pick up as much of the fat as the other cuts. So, they reserve wagyu filet for when it's really good, and then they recommend it be grilled like a regular steak (bc it doesn't have the high fat content it won't do well with a hot stone or something like that).

I don't know how much of that was salesmanship and whatnot, but I figure I might as well try it. As the guy was talking about it I thought "I suppose that's true, I can't remember ever seeing a wagyu or kobe filet offered before" but maybe that's just bc I never order filet. Anyways, the meat was 9/10- definitely had a wagyu taste, but much more meaty and firm than another cut of wagyu. It was a good change.

After dinner, I head back to UX. I really want to be in bed by 11pm latest- since I can never sleep and always wake up at 5am regardless, it's the only way I have to potentially get a decent night's sleep. Plus, I've got plenty of time and need to make sure I don't implode too early.



Result-


I'm dumping money pretty fast, I think I was stuck several thousand for that session until I hit my second 5 digit hit of the trip!



Such a welcome surprise!

Back to 10 play...



Result-


Gah.

1 min later...



Result-


GAH!

5 min later...



Result-


GAHGAHGAH

That sequence really knocked the wind out of my sails. Next pic is 1/2hr later after I've gone back to 5 play.



Result-


SO close to a meaningful hand.



Result-


This is pretty much the point I went off the rails. Dumped more into UX than I wanted to before I decided to stop. However, I wasn't truly done- let's try "my" machine. Nope, still ice cold, 2k more flushed in a matter of minutes. Maybe the multiline machine in hi limit will be good, since it NEVER, EVER, EVER has been for me. Apparently I need lots of lines to hit 2000s since I STILL haven't hit one this trip.

It's icy. I dump 1, 2, 3, 4k. I'm not even playing 25 lines, but anywhere from 15-20. I hit a few dealt fulls, etc and make some progress, then give the money back. At some point 11pm comes and goes. I'm now stuck for the trip after being up over 10k at some point and hitting two 5 digit hands today. Definitely tilting. I decide to move up to 25 lines and am instantly rewarded-



REALLY, REALLY need a good draw here!

Result-


So, so tilting. Yeah, I "hit" 3 times. None of which really matter.

So tilted. Time to use up free credit.





Start.



End, about 85% payback.



Result-


Just CANNOT hit a 2000!

Oh, and-


Total miss. I was so tilted at this point it's a wonder I got up at all and didn't donk off the rest of my money. I actually credit this hand with preserving my trip bankroll-



Hold one ace, get back regular "dealt quads". F U. Just F U!

Shortly thereafter, I pack it in a whole 1k to the black. It's almost 1am. I am such a stupid tilt monkey. F'ING HATE HATE HATE but somehow love this game.

Day 1 result- +1k

Day 2 coming soon...