Regarding Rollin' Smoke, I've had it three times.

The first two were at the restaurant, and the BBQ, most notably the beef ribs, were 10/10. The best beef ribs I ever had, ainec.

4 1/2 stars on Yelp for 2,600 reviews can't be all wrong.. https://www.yelp.com/biz/rollin-smok...eque-las-vegas

However, last time I decided to get them delivered to my hotel, and the quality was MUCH worse than what I had in the restaurant..similar to your findings.

Conclusion..next time take the 5 minute Uber drive from the Strip and eat at the restaurant.

The bell hop said the same- he's stopped by on the way from work about 20 times, always great. Maybe it's an ordering thing.

You'd better hope they don't switch to the Spinferno machines. I'm in the middle of one of those tournaments, and even I'm having trouble tapping all of the symbols; near the end there's one popping up every half second or so.

That'd be bad for my dad for sure, but don't you think "guys like us" ultimately probably have an overlay in situations like that? I'd prefer a situation where skill/speed/reaction time matter- humbly, I submit my reaction time and hand eye coordination is far above the average clientele at the Wynn.

On a related note, I haven't seen a VP tourney since the one my dad and I played in 2016, and I don't think I'll see another one at the Wynn. The format was such that speed and correct play MATTERED. My dad was at a decided disadvantage, as I suspect most of the invitees were. He knew it, and didn't like that fact. He suggested a bunch of people probably complained and they wouldn't do another one like that, and thus far he seems to be right. Pity- I definitely felt I had an overlay in that scenario.

I def have an advantage; I don't think I've scored less than 800K in a round, while many of the olds struggle to get over 600K or so. I doubt it'll matter if they complain (not that they won't try) because those machines are able to be converted into regular slots, so they don't have to waste real estate on dedicated tournament machines.

The one VP tournament I played in had auto-hold enabled, so it was essentially a slot tournament anyway.

Hey Leon,

Were you and your dad in the Wynn high limit VP room at all on Saturday the 23rd? Wifey and I were walking thru and I saw two people at the back chairs by the TVs that I thought might be you. The reason I thought so is the older guy was having a tough time with mobilizing.

We also stopped to watch the slot tournament that you were describing and I saw that people had to hit the special screen buttons to get bonuses.

We played a bit on your machines as usual, and I definitely felt like the Leon energy was in the Wynn that day.

Can anyone recommend the best book to buy to learn how to play the optimal strategy for each type of video poker?

I bought one years ago that had cheat cards for each type of poker but I cant find it and don't even know if it would still be accurate

Or is there a website as good or better than any book?

thx in advance

www.videopoker.com
www.wizardsofodds.com

Here's a direct link to Wizard of Odd's Strategy Calculator.

It allows you to customize strategies for each game/pay table and provides detailed stats on probabilities, frequencies, and variance. I've noticed some minor peculiarities, but I rely 100% on it anyway.

ty fellas (&/or ladies, etc)

Never played video poker. What’s the “best” low stakes commonly available game? Or they all about the same.

Other than wizardofodds, you'll definitely want to bookmark VPFREE. This is a database of available video poker games and returns in various casino across the country. Just punch in what game you're looking for, at what denomination, and in what area, and it'll spit out anything if there are any. Of course, you can also search by casino by just clicking on the 'Casinos' link at the top.

Keep in mind that for out-of-nowhere casinos the information might not be super current, but I've found that the super mainstream casinos (e.g. the ones on the strip), the information tends to be pretty damn up to date.

Is Leon trolling us?

UPDATE, PLEASE!

Yes from what you describe that's definitely me and my dad. We were there during that time, and based on what I read in your TR (nice pics, BTW), how many father/son/Asian/physically handicapped combos could there have been at the Wynn then?

Dammit. I knew it was you guys but didn’t know of any upcoming TRs. Could have said hi. Bah. Another time


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Day 3

I slept in slightly later, I think I woke up around 6am or so. Headed down for my pre-breakfast AM session. We're doing room service in my parent's room at 8am, and all the tickets for the free giveaway portion of the tournament need to be in the drum by 9am. The drawing is at 11, and then my kids and the nanny are leaving in the afternoon. I'll be staying one more day.

I think I hit a 2k when I was stuck about 1500, which allowed me to be +500 for that session. Breakfast was decent, croissants were the bomb as usual. After breakfast I run down with my mom to get our tickets printed out, then over to the Encore to deposit them in the drawing drum.

I had promised my kids I would take them to the pool, but they'd rather go to the arcade again. There's simply no way I'm going to be able to hit the arcade and be back in time for the drawing (you need to be present to win). Luckily, my mom and nanny step up and offer to take the kids, and I agree to take them to the pool in the afternoon before their flight. This gives my dad and I time to play a bit before the drawing.

The "500 up" from the AM evaporates in, oh, 30 sec? As does another 2k. I cannot believe how icy this trip has been. With each 100 I feed into the machines, I'm pinning more and more ridiculous hope on the tournament/drawing bink...

It's close to 11. My dad and I head to the Encore. When we get to the presentation area, we see a bunch of people still feeding drawing tickets into the drum, despite the fact we were specifically told the cutoff period was 9am. That is super annoying and strike 2 for the Wynn. Consistency- it's not hard. So instead we wait an extra 10 min and the whole thing starts late bc, of course, can't piss off the high rollers for who the rules are different. I suppose that's a snap-shot of what real life is like.

Anyways, they go with the drawing portion first. Neither my dad nor I even made 30k pts, so we know no matter what we're only getting the base prize if we get anything at all. That more than anything speaks to how cold this trip has been- for my dad and I to partner up for most of our play Fri, Sat and Sun morning, yet somehow not even get him to 30k pts, means we were unable to coin in a significant amount (bc we never hit anything and were unable to coast for a bit, just continuously feeding money into the machines).

They draw tickets for 5 prizes, starting top down. Miss... miss... miss... miss... and miss. Of course. OK, on to the slot tourney results.

Here is where the Wynn missed the mark AGAIN. The MC started off each announcement by saying, "this person got 30k pts, so their prize will be multiplied by 2x..." and THEN announced the name. Of course, as soon as he did that people like me and my dad who knew we were at the base level had all suspense removed- we KNEW it couldn't be us, so who cares? Totally deflating and killed the suspense. How hard would it have been to reverse the order- "in second place, Mr. X! And, Mr. X qualified for etcetc".

I believe all but one of the top 5 prizes were awarded to people who had ascended to the 2nd or 3rd tier, so my dad and I basically had no suspense, and hopes instantaneously dashed in pretty much every case. Despite my dad's 2nd and 5th, he doesn't qualify for any prize worth announcing. We head back to the Wynn defeated, and now I KNOW barring a miracle I'm going home from this trip stuck.

We hit Wazuzu for lunch- I get the standard fare including mixed BBQ plate which was a 6/10. After lunch I am EXHAUSTED and just want to sleep. Luckily, my kids are down with just hanging in my room and watching a movie. So, the three of us head up while my nanny and mom team up for some joint penny slots.

Once we get to the room- the TV won't let us rent movies. They have to send an engineer to the room to fix the problem, which delays my nap. Strike 4 for the Wynn. Again, none of these are a big deal but it's just below the usual standard I've come to expect. Finally the TV gets fixed, we find a movie and I crash for an hour.

Eventually, the time comes for my kids' flight. I see them off, and hit the machines again for what may be the last session of the trip. I'm stuck 12k and only have another 3k on me.

Luckily, I FINALLY start catching some cards- I think I hit 4AWAK, and a couple of quad deuces at deuces wild. I finish up the afternoon session +4k, stuck ONLY 8k for the trip now haha. We're planning on eating at Mizumi at 7pm- plenty of time for some dice!



From a recent session at my local.

Result-


When they come in, the game seems so easy...

Dice was interesting. I bought in for 2k and placed 6/8 for 150 each. Initially it was just me and another guy, the min bet was 10$, so when the dice got to me I decided to just shoot despite only 2x odds bc whatever- I'm placing min of 300$ a roll, I can give up another 30$ on the line/odds. I had no good rolls, and the other guy rolled generally poorly as well. As he begins another roll, the table starts to fill up- next to me comes a family with a son who obv just turned 21. Mom is nice, dad is obnoxious and super loud. Uh oh, this has all the elements of tilt approaching...

Except- the guy's roll is good! I believe he hit 6 and 8 enough that I ended up getting both built up to 480 (150, 180, 240, 300, 390, 480). Never did manage to get either to 600, unfortunately. He also hit a TON of points when basically were always 5, 9 or 10- didn't get anything from those, of course. The dad next to me bet heavily on the line (I believe about 100 on the line and 2x behind to start, and a few times I saw he increased his bet) so of course he was whooping it up. When all was said and done, I book a small 300$ winner. I'll take it!

Mizumi for dinner- better than usual. I made sure to get some hand rolls as that has become more of a go to for me, and they were all 8/10. Also got the hot stone/snow beef tataki for which they changed the stone midway through for a hot one so the meat would continue to cook quickly- they've never done that before and THAT was a good service touch. Afterwards, my parents are really tired and head upstairs, while I aim for another PM session. I'm also tired and don't feel I'll be up long.

Nothing really special about that evening session other than it was less icy that most of the trip. I think I hit another 2000 hand and gave most of it back. I know I finished the evening basically even, which was as good a stopping point as any. Barring a horror show tomorrow, at least I'll be able to PLAY for my remaining time...



From the local. No after pic, so we know the result. The multiplier/royal combo never seems to line up.

Day 3 result- +2k
Overall- -8k

Day 4 coming soon...

Here is where the Wynn missed the mark AGAIN. The MC started off each announcement by saying, "this person got 30k pts, so their prize will be multiplied by 2x..." and THEN announced the name. Of course, as soon as he did that people like me and my dad who knew we were at the base level had all suspense removed- we KNEW it couldn't be us, so who cares? Totally deflating and killed the suspense. How hard would it have been to reverse the order- "in second place, Mr. X! And, Mr. X qualified for etcetc".

I believe all but one of the top 5 prizes were awarded to people who had ascended to the 2nd or 3rd tier, so my dad and I basically had no suspense, and hopes instantaneously dashed in pretty much every case.


I know this was just a frustration, lol nitpick because of how things had been going
but I still gotta joke on you

So would it have been more suspenseful if the guy waited 10 seconds after drawing name to announce winner?

How about if a base level qualifier was actually chosen, I guess the suspense would have been higher and the Wynn wouldnt have missed the mark.

Would you have enjoyed it more if say a base level qualified were selected and they made more qualifying statements for example
"The next winner got here on a 1x multiplier(yes)....... he is a long time player(yes).....he loves playing video poker with his son(yes)........ he is not Leon's dad?(aww,cmon)


Enjoy the reports as always!!!!

I think I understand what you're saying and I recognize it's a small thing, but here is how I look at it-
- the MC drew names, announced the winner's level, then waited before announcing the name
- in doing it that way, all people who weren't that level had suspense/hope immediately removed
- had they chosen to announce the name first, everyone would have had the same level of suspense

I guess it's a question of "give everyone a bit of suspense" vs "give ONLY the people who made a certain level the suspense". Does that make sense?

Leon,

Option a: give everyone the same level of suspense

Option b: give everyone the same level of suspense as option a, plus give a subset of people additional suspense

Option b doesn’t take away suspense from anyone, but adds more suspense for the people in that group. You just didn’t gain any extra suspense since someone form your multiplier group wasn’t selected.

So it’s an extra suspense freeroll for everyone.

Suspense freeroll,,good one!

The main point here is I didn't bink anything which clearly is 100% the Wynn's fault

Final Day, Day 4

Suppose I ought to finish this TR...

As usual for my last day, slept in the longest (6:30am). Pretty tired, could have slept longer, thought about it, realized it was my last day... and that's all she wrote.

I think I was stuck about 2k when I hit another 2000 hand, making me about even. Gave back 500 and switched to deuces wild bonus- managed to hit 4 2's there which put me up 500 for the AM.

Room service breakfast with my parents, then a last ditch effort to salvage this trip. My dad and I partner up for the vast majority of this play. We realize he didn't get awarded anything for his 2nd and 5th in the tournament- that seems wrong. They paid down to 40 spots or so (admittedly, only 100 free credit for the last spots) but anything is better than nothing. I check with his host, and it turns out he didn't even qualify for a prize at ALL. So apparently, even a 2nd and 5th isn't good enough. It goes to show just how lucky you have to be to make a score in one of these things.

We partner up on 10 play and we basically traded punches with the Wynn for a few hrs. Lose, hit a jackpot, put more money in, hit, etc. We finished up our joint session down about 1000 collectively, so I'm even for the day. We have an hr or so left, time to try and make something happen on my own.

Cue frustration just like last trip. Plenty of good draws, none come in. I lose 2k pretty quickly and hit my stop loss of 10k (even though I had already hit it before, it wasn't a stop loss at that point in the trip). Turns out, it's not a stop loss here either. I decide to keep going for another 1k.

Continue getting good draws. Continue missing. At -11k I do perhaps the one intelligent thing I did this whole trip and call it for good. My dad and I cab it back to my parents' condo, where I get to eat some of her pot stickers and grab a much-needed nap before heading back home.

Day 4 result- -3k
Overall- -11k

Thoughts-
- definitely didn't stick to any game plan this time. Didn't do as much with my kids as I should have, basically didn't do any stretching or exercise. Forced a lot of action and paid the price as expected
- partnering with my dad was ice cold this time. Not that it has any bearing but it certainly made the little annoying things stick out (eg, his speed of play, constant mistakes). I am proud of myself for not getting annoyed at him- sure wish the machines had treated us better.
- need to eat elsewhere than the Wynn next time. My trip with my mom back in March was definitely awesome from a food perspective.
- greyhounds don't do anything (I tried a few more here and there, no goot)

The good news is I'll be back soon for another free roll slot tournament- gonna do this one solo so it'll be super important for me to spread out the gambling, get out of the Wynn periodically, etc. Hopefully I'll come up with a better result!

Leon,

Or course you know this, but it’s just a bad decision forcing the action when you lose, and a good decision not giving up when you win.

Good to see you already focused on next time. Obviously you’re due!

Yep, of course I have no control over the result, but I do have control over all those little things which if I don't do and I end up losing (eg, take time out to stretch, nap, etc) I end up really getting upset about myself for.

This next time I'm literally going to bring a daily checklist of stuff to do to "earn" the gambling. I haven't done that in years but apparently I need it.