I don’t know how Wynn works, but MGM doesn’t let you tip out of comps + for some weird reason stuff you buy in the store won’t be comped either. It’s a major headache to keep track of, I always tip everything cash as I like to keep my balance at zero. But that’s just me, doubt Leon cares too much.

Yeah, same for me. MGM doesn't let you tip with comps/resort credit.
I thought resort credit(from offers) could be used in their convenience/lobby stores and such, but maybe not.
You can for sure use rewards points though in the MGM stores.

As usual, your TRs deliver. It's always better to read when you're sun running, but I'm glad you were able to contain the losses to some degree.

This must've arisen at some point during the thread, but why do you not do pass line and come bets for craps? It offers some protection for PSO, plus if you keep betting it just keeps paying. If you're up enough you can take down your come bet odds and then place the numbers. Yes, you wouldn't reap the full benefits of a huge roll; but if you add up all the PSOs, and how this would cut against that, it might be +EV.

if only he were wearing a tan coat

Master of the house, doling out the charm.

This. Can't comp tip or stuff from the sundry store. The tip thing I understand, some person might decide to eat a 50$ meal but use up 500 in comp tipping. Plus I'm sure there's some tax/wage implications if the casino is ultimately paying out a tip. The store I don't understand- so I can spend comp on a 5 star meal, but not a bag of chips?

Here's my thinking, after decades of craps and having previously played the line/come with 10x odds many times-
- 3 4 5x odds offer essentially no advantage, and possibly a disadvantage depending on the number (bc the line will only ever pay even money). Example- point of 10, I can have 25 on the line and 75 odds, total payout is 175 if it hits. Contrast that with a buy bet on 10, 100 action yields 200 - 5 dollar vig = 195 payout. Obv this doesn't take into account that the line bet is +EV when you make it on the come out.
- It's much harder to press line and come bets. If I take a line bet at a table min of 25 and take full odds behind, what's my next move if I want to press? Go to 50 and essentially double? Take some weird amount like 35 on the line?
- there's no additional protection against a 7 out. It just comes at different stages. So example 1- I'm doing line/come bets. I bet the line, establish a point, take odds and make a come bet. Now it's PSO- I lose the minimum, and less than if I did place bets. But contrast this with a roll where you hit 1-2 numbers and no repeat (which also happens ridiculously frequently)- betting line/come I've now established 3 numbers and have not picked up a dime. Placing bets I've already gotten two hits. Now if a 7 comes I lose less placing.

Ultimately the line/come is too dependent on repeats. I just don't like it- it's great when it works out, but so is any strategy. To me there is almost no worse feeling in dice than playing line/come and the roll goes 6, 8, 9, 5, 10... no repeats and your ass is just hanging out in the breeze and then... wait for it... yep, 7 out. You can make fewer come bets but how is that any different than placing less numbers or betting smaller? Then there's the whole "get your odds back when a 7 rolls on the come out"- sure, it may feel like you're saving money, but you still lost your line bets. Now you've got to reestablish numbers. Place bets would have been off and nothing has changed. Now, a PSO it feels like you saved money vs placing, but any number rolls and you're right back in the same spot as before, making more bets while you'd be picking up chips if you were placing.

I've been meaning to reply / comment on this for a few months. One of the endearing qualities of this thread over the years is the fact that it is NOT a video series and just text and pictures. It leaves some things open to the imagination which each reader will fill in themselves. It's basically a gamblers versions of "the book was better" scenario because these slot / gaming influencers leave nothing to the imagination. (And in certain cases that's fine, but you can only watch so many of those videos in your feed before it becomes annoying and obnoxious.)

This also makes me sound like I'm in 70s but I'm sure this resonates with a bunch of you here.

Over a month and no posts in this thread? Leon you need a Vegas trip so we can read the report!

That was the most disappointing update to this thread ever, lol.

Yeah, I saw the thread was bumped, and was excited. Then I clicked on it, saw the size of the drag down bar on the right of the browser and quickly realized there were no pics....false alarm. Bummer indeed.

I saw the posts asking about a TR... while in Vegas.

Since there's no TR coming, you all know exactly what happened. A brief recap- I entered the 6500$ (w/rebuy) slot tournament. I also convinced my mom to sign up, and my wife to come. So obv I was really looking forward to this trip, and we had two shots in the tournament.

Bankroll-wise, I've been on life support. After my score at Barona in Jan it's just been a straight bleed. I put a decent amount into gold, but otherwise bled it back at the local. I REALLY needed this trip to come through- hell, just run decent as opposed to ice cold. Obv we got the exact opposite. Despite trying my best to stay disciplined, by end of Fri I was down 30k. They basically felted me by Sat night. I hit precisely ONE jackpot Fri, Sat and Sun (one each day). Any reader of my TRs knows this is utterly unsustainable, hell I need to hit them once every 30 min or so to stay afloat. Obv no 5 digit hits, no dealt premium quads (it did deal me quad 8s when I was stuck 35k, that was worth 3,750 and gone in 20 min). I should have been dealt trip aces 14 times and was under-aced by 2x. Stuck 50k.

There was one laughable stretch where I was dealt trip 2,3,4 at least three times, trip aces twice and 4 to a royal in an hr and blanked THEM ALL. In retrospect that stretch crushed me- I just kept playing, figuring, KNOWING I'm overdue to hit something, but of course the machine doesn't care. Clearly, mom and I min-cashed the tourney as well.

So- current state of liquid bankroll is zero. I've got about 200k locked up in the market which I plan on accessing, but of course the markets are down right now. I'm planning on mostly playing at the local as soon as I free up some cash. At the end of the day, 9/7 TDB at the local is a 2x better game than 9/6 TDB at the Wynn. I need to restrict my Vegas trips for really meaningful times (eg, family trip, somehow D gets to go again). I've been going to Vegas about 10x a year for about a decade- that was bound to catch up to me sooner or later. When I left today, I really hated the whole experience. On a trip like this one, with nothing "new" to report, if I don't catch a winner I'm just going to get upset. Vegas has basically lost its luster and I have no bankroll in any case.

So, down but not out. I'll update this thread with any reasonable hits at the local, and of course Vegas TRs, but those will be less frequent. I had really committed to this one, I took a bunch of pics but ultimately there was nothing new (OR GOOD) to show in them.

So, so sorry. That just sucks. Let's go LOCAL!

god I thought I was upset with the no-content bump and then get that. sorry Leon!!

Sorry about the downturn, leon. Thank you for the continued honesty in your reporting. Turns out, it's not all unicorns and rainbows.

Looking forward to hearing more whenever you're up to it.

oof. sorry mate

Yep, not the update we were all hoping for.

Run it back up at the local.

Variance is a two-way street...looking forward to the six figure hit!

Sorry for the ice-cold results. Rooting foor you to thaw out and then go on a heater.

I’m sorry Leon, I know exactly how it feels although my wins AND losses are probably a tenth of yours. I’m having a trip coming up in just one week and honestly I already dread and expect the inevitable outcome. Hope you can at least keep it alive at the local and ship a 6 figure hand pay!

This makes sad reason. Hoping for the upswing real soon

Yeah, I saw you've had a lot of life runbad of your own recently, which I'm sorry to hear.

I've taken many trips where I "needed" it to be good- usually from a bankroll perspective, sometimes from a life perspective (eg, need the break, stressed, tough times at home etc). ALMOST INEVITABLY, the universe finds a way to screw us. It's like it's rubbing salt in the wound.

I don't want to tell you not to go, since I'm sure you need to chill and get away from home for a bit. But I will tell you this- double, triple, your efforts to manage your bankroll. You know the universe does not give a crap about you, BUT if you hurt yourself on top of it it'll sting that much more. Hopefully you catch all the rungood in the world, but if not, live to fight another day...

Yup, I know what you mean exactly. Which is why I’ll land and just not care about gambling or even poker. I have a TON of comps the first 5 days, will just have an amazing time by the pool and at restaurants. I will play eventually obviously, but pretty sure I want to just bury myself deep in poker and stay away from pits completely.

Hopefully we are both due a huge comeback this year!

wise words leon, and even smarter attitude about your trip muck.
all the rungood to you both

This is like when I go on a poker trip and tell myself "just enjoy that you're playing and don't get tilted and just play each hand for itself", inevitably just the absolute most insane mind-melting beats and circumstances haha.

I'll tell you, if I wasn't already a superstitious person, gambling can make a superstitious person out of anyone. I'm a math nerd that started off playing poker bc edges, math, skill blah blah blah. But all you need is to see the dice find a way to seven out in the most soul-crushing ways in such stereotypical fashion, to have the VP machines defy probability over and over...

... even my home game with my family is an example. I keep telling myself to stay even keeled, it's just for fun, I'm literally playing with my family etc... but then the ridiculous beats come flooding in and the only conclusion I can draw is- the cards are alive. The dice are alive. And they're conspiring with the universe to test me.