Ongoing VP TR, PART 2!
06-12-2023
, 01:53 PM
Day 3
I wake up super early again, I think 4:30am. I toss and turn for an hr, then say Meh F it, I'm up 77k, let's coast and bring this thing home, and who knows, if I can continue to run hot I might book my first ever 6-digit Vegas trip!
Grab coffee, head to hi limit, and start playing 40 lines. 200$ a pop, but in theory this should be smoothing out variance. Just need some decent deals...
Obv I see nothing and have given back 5k super fast. I step down to 30, then 20 lines as the losses keep mounting, hit zero hands and am now stuck 10k
and it's only been an hr! I have to change venues- move to UX.
It's just crazy how when you can't make premiums, the regular quads start showing up in the most annoying of ways. Min handpay here, obv not nearly enough. This was the only jackpot I hit at UX.
I get pummeled some more, move to an old school machine and get hurt there too... I was down basically 20k for the AM at this point, and the first seeds of doubt start to creep into my mind. If I lose at this rate for the rest of the trip, I could book a LOSS. WTFWTFWTF. How can I give back 20k so fast?! Of course, I know the answer to that- you can't win big if you're unwilling to lose big too, plus lol tilt. So annoying that after all these years and trying my best I'm still not immune to tilting off more money than I should. I get up to play some craps, slow it down.
I'm in for 3k, and the session starts 4 point/7 outs in a row. I'm so angry and just dumbfounded how luck can turn so fast. I stick out the session, and fortunately things turn around a decent amount- I book a loser but it ends up being small.
I head to hi limit again and back off the lines even more.
I walk away from that session up a whole 1k, so stuck ~19k for the day so far. Breakfast is at Terrace Pointe Cafe and couldn't get here fast enough.
I get an omelette which tasted much better than it looked.
During breakfast, I decide I'm taking an early nap today. I have to slow this bleeding down, and mom doesn't play in her tournament until 11am. That gives me over an hr and I'm legit tired at this point. So I head upstairs, patting myself on the back for making a good decision. After the nap, I shower and walk mostly-refreshed to the Encore where the tournament is taking place...
The tournament
OK, so this is a free one. They're expecting 300 runners or so. Top prize of 50k?, and drops off sharply after that. I haven't played in one of these things in years- too big of a field to fade/too little of a chance of making some real money. Of course, we all know how much money I've lost with the buy in tournaments over the years with little to show for it as well... Maybe my mom can get her one time this try!
The machines themselves are cool. They're Cleopatra slots, rigged to provide winners over and over obv. The feature are beach balls which randomly appear on the screen, and if you tap them you get extra points. Mom is letting N play the first round, then me, and her last. So mom and I watch N, and several things become immediately obv, at least to me-
1. The reels go fast, and pushing speed matters
2. The balls randomly pop up, and anyone with any sort of reaction time/paying attention can't miss them
3. Because of 1 and 2, players should basically be button mashing with one hand, while devoting attention/the other hand to hitting the balls
Simple right? Apparently not- I can't see the entire screen when N is playing bc we're behind the viewing rope, but at some point I notice a gold beach ball just floating at the bottom of N's screen- and he has no clue it's there. I start screaming at him, he can't process what I'm saying, and a slot attendant runs over to tell him. After he pops it, THEN AND ONLY THEN do more balls come out- so god knows how many balls he ultimately missed bc of that one. It's very frustrating to watch- knowing this is a low skill event, but somehow N isn't making it over that skill bar.
As expected, N posts a below-avg score, and I've got some work to do. As expected, I post an above-avg score, and was leading for a hot second before the randomness overtook things... now it's Mom's round. She doesn't want to play, says she doesn't want to miss a ball. But I KNOW she wants to play- she wants to play but somehow not be put in a position where she can screw things up. So I reassure her, tell her obv there's no skill to the button pushing, just watch for the balls, etc. So she agrees to play.
30 seconds later, she's again saying she doesn't want to play- she offers the round to me. I tell her of course I can play, but doesn't she at least want to play one round of her tournament?! So she changes her mind again- I can tell she's torn.
She goes to play. Keep in mind this is a 75 yr old woman who still drives, lives independently etc- it's not like she can't handle basic physical tasks. AND YET-
Every time balls start popping up she's flailing. Her ball-popping hand becomes an inflexible stick just randomly beating on the screen in the general vicinity of the balls. Even worse, her BUTTON PUSHING HAND shuts off. She goes from pushing the button at reasonable speeds to basically doing nothing- and she's not getting any points while this is happening. I notice right away, and start screaming at her to push faster.
Next time balls pop up? Same thing- I scream at her again. She literally says "I AM pushing!" and starts to beat on the button with all her might, and slowly. Think whole arm comes all the way up above her head, SMASH, all the way up, SMASH. I scream again- "faster!!!! Not harder!!!!" She says "I am pushing faster!" as she continues to mash harder.
INSERT QUADRUPLE FACEPALM.
The rest of her round goes like that. Honestly it was painful to watch. The reality is my mom's physical capabilities were overwhelmed, and her neurologic output became this spastic flail of boomer-uncoordination-took-me-three-months-to-learn-how-to-use-a-mouse. UGH
She's last obv. Zero chance of any money. Here is where I F up- as she's getting up, she says to me, semi-accusingly, "you see?! That's why I didn't want to play!". So now I get defensive- I remind her that she DID want to play, and that I didn't want to take her round away from here. She insists she didn't want to play, so now I start getting annoyed- "how hard is to just mash with one hand while you pop balls with the other?! And when I said push faster you start pushing HARDER and SLOWER!" At least I catch myself after that comment- no point in making her feel bad and it's not going to change anything anyways. I regret even saying that, but we know how it is- parents are frickin' frustrating sometimes.
Well, after that debacle I decide I'm going to throw dice again. I take the near 3k in chips I have on me, top up to 4k and catch a decent session.
Out for basically 6k.
Head over to a regular 9 line, 1$ spin poker machine.
Twice! OK, things are turning around?
Back to the Wynn, back to hi limit.
Come on now- twice, but no kicker!
I'm pretty sure the machine went ice cold after that, bc I don't recall winning much that session. Head to an old school machine to slow it down.
So I'm a little unclear on the events from here until dinner, but this is the gist- there are no pics from 2pm-dinner. Let's start there. I think I was -15k or so on the day at some point. THEN, I just get drilled non-stop, and head up for my second nap of the day stuck 27k for the day! So... yeah. I suck.
Min's Test Kitchen
Pretty excited to try this- haven't eaten at a new place at the Wynn in a long time. This is the executive chef from Mizumi, doing something cool while Mizumi is being renovated.
Thoughts- it was good... but not overly so. Most of the dishes seemed like they were trying to do too much. The sushi for example, let's just keep it simple. A lot of beautiful presentation that ultimately just over-complicated the fish. And a lot of the "street food dishes" needed more of just that- keep it simple, keep it ridiculously flavorful and amazing like street food is supposed to be. Over-complicated street food isn't any better.
The lamb and the dessert were off the hook, on the plus side. I'll be back, simply to give other things a try and bc hey, it's still not a place I've been to 50 times already. Just a 6-7/10 overall.
After dinner, it's my last night here- today has been beyond rough. I don't KNOW WHAT TO DO!!!! Do I play- lose more, and I'm even more pissed? Stop, lock in a huge trip, but regret not playing Sat night in Vegas, ON A TRIP where I'm still killing it?! Argh so annoying. I only see downside at this point, no matter what I do. I decide to play, but really slowly and judiciously.
Three big ones on UX, basically no multipliers. Ugh.
Every cent I won that session I put back in. At least I didn't add to the loss. Bleh. What a day.
Day 3 result- -27k
Overall- +50k
Day 4
Actually manage to sleep in a bit- days of sleep deprivation and getting crushed the night before will do that to me.
OK, let's be objective here- if I knew I'd win 40k pre-trip, I'd be so happy. It's my last day, it's not like I'm not going to play. So I decide no more than 10k loss today. Plus, it CAN'T be as bad as yesterday, right?
Wrong- hi limit brutalizes me for 6k in 30 min flat. I kill time at an old school machine before room service breakfast. Over breakfast, I feel badly bc Mom and N are both stuck bad for the trip- and I'm complaining that I'm "only" up 44k. However, I HAVE lost 33k in 24hrs! Post breakfast, it's back to old school- no more UX, no more hi limit for the rest of the trip. If I've made one mistake this trip, it's playing too big and not coasting enough.
I'm hanging in there, and actually making a recovery.
Keep going- dealt quads #7!!!!! Make it good machine!
pretty sick that this is only about as much as a regular 'ol quad 234 w/kicker...
OK, I've coasted long enough here, I can coast at hi limit, slightly more lines...
Then, that turns too. Back to old school. Just giving money back slowly but surely... I make it to the finish line. We're gonna grab food at Red 8 one last time then head to the airport. I get up from the machines for the final time this trip, a bittersweet taste in my mouth. Final tally- +41k for the trip.
Day 4 result- -9k
Overall- +41k
Dealt quads- 7
Afterthoughts- obv an amazing trip. And, what a sht way to end. That 36k loss in about 24hrs is probably the worst 24hrs of my life. There were many times during this trip where I had thoughts along the lines of "well, maybe this trip I'll be dealt 4AWAK twice to make up for all the years before" "how amazing would it be to hit something huge now that I'm playing huge" "Maybe I can win 6 figures this trip! I'm 3/4 of the way there". And now post-facto, to give 50% of my high point away. It really goes to show- this is all random BS. There's nothing scripted, nothing is due, and of course I know all that, but how easy is it to start thinking thoughts like those above... it's what keeps you coming back, I suppose.
I did end up winning 2.5k free credit from the black card drawing event- not much, but 11th place! Jeez. It's ridiculous how top heavy all of these things are! HAVE TO BINK ONE at some point.
So yeah. A good trip overall. I'll be back soon- until then, thanks for reading!
I wake up super early again, I think 4:30am. I toss and turn for an hr, then say Meh F it, I'm up 77k, let's coast and bring this thing home, and who knows, if I can continue to run hot I might book my first ever 6-digit Vegas trip!
Grab coffee, head to hi limit, and start playing 40 lines. 200$ a pop, but in theory this should be smoothing out variance. Just need some decent deals...
Obv I see nothing and have given back 5k super fast. I step down to 30, then 20 lines as the losses keep mounting, hit zero hands and am now stuck 10k
and it's only been an hr! I have to change venues- move to UX. It's just crazy how when you can't make premiums, the regular quads start showing up in the most annoying of ways. Min handpay here, obv not nearly enough. This was the only jackpot I hit at UX.
I get pummeled some more, move to an old school machine and get hurt there too... I was down basically 20k for the AM at this point, and the first seeds of doubt start to creep into my mind. If I lose at this rate for the rest of the trip, I could book a LOSS. WTFWTFWTF. How can I give back 20k so fast?! Of course, I know the answer to that- you can't win big if you're unwilling to lose big too, plus lol tilt. So annoying that after all these years and trying my best I'm still not immune to tilting off more money than I should. I get up to play some craps, slow it down.
I'm in for 3k, and the session starts 4 point/7 outs in a row. I'm so angry and just dumbfounded how luck can turn so fast. I stick out the session, and fortunately things turn around a decent amount- I book a loser but it ends up being small.
I head to hi limit again and back off the lines even more.
I walk away from that session up a whole 1k, so stuck ~19k for the day so far. Breakfast is at Terrace Pointe Cafe and couldn't get here fast enough.
I get an omelette which tasted much better than it looked.
During breakfast, I decide I'm taking an early nap today. I have to slow this bleeding down, and mom doesn't play in her tournament until 11am. That gives me over an hr and I'm legit tired at this point. So I head upstairs, patting myself on the back for making a good decision. After the nap, I shower and walk mostly-refreshed to the Encore where the tournament is taking place...
The tournament
OK, so this is a free one. They're expecting 300 runners or so. Top prize of 50k?, and drops off sharply after that. I haven't played in one of these things in years- too big of a field to fade/too little of a chance of making some real money. Of course, we all know how much money I've lost with the buy in tournaments over the years with little to show for it as well... Maybe my mom can get her one time this try!
The machines themselves are cool. They're Cleopatra slots, rigged to provide winners over and over obv. The feature are beach balls which randomly appear on the screen, and if you tap them you get extra points. Mom is letting N play the first round, then me, and her last. So mom and I watch N, and several things become immediately obv, at least to me-
1. The reels go fast, and pushing speed matters
2. The balls randomly pop up, and anyone with any sort of reaction time/paying attention can't miss them
3. Because of 1 and 2, players should basically be button mashing with one hand, while devoting attention/the other hand to hitting the balls
Simple right? Apparently not- I can't see the entire screen when N is playing bc we're behind the viewing rope, but at some point I notice a gold beach ball just floating at the bottom of N's screen- and he has no clue it's there. I start screaming at him, he can't process what I'm saying, and a slot attendant runs over to tell him. After he pops it, THEN AND ONLY THEN do more balls come out- so god knows how many balls he ultimately missed bc of that one. It's very frustrating to watch- knowing this is a low skill event, but somehow N isn't making it over that skill bar.
As expected, N posts a below-avg score, and I've got some work to do. As expected, I post an above-avg score, and was leading for a hot second before the randomness overtook things... now it's Mom's round. She doesn't want to play, says she doesn't want to miss a ball. But I KNOW she wants to play- she wants to play but somehow not be put in a position where she can screw things up. So I reassure her, tell her obv there's no skill to the button pushing, just watch for the balls, etc. So she agrees to play.
30 seconds later, she's again saying she doesn't want to play- she offers the round to me. I tell her of course I can play, but doesn't she at least want to play one round of her tournament?! So she changes her mind again- I can tell she's torn.
She goes to play. Keep in mind this is a 75 yr old woman who still drives, lives independently etc- it's not like she can't handle basic physical tasks. AND YET-
Every time balls start popping up she's flailing. Her ball-popping hand becomes an inflexible stick just randomly beating on the screen in the general vicinity of the balls. Even worse, her BUTTON PUSHING HAND shuts off. She goes from pushing the button at reasonable speeds to basically doing nothing- and she's not getting any points while this is happening. I notice right away, and start screaming at her to push faster.
Next time balls pop up? Same thing- I scream at her again. She literally says "I AM pushing!" and starts to beat on the button with all her might, and slowly. Think whole arm comes all the way up above her head, SMASH, all the way up, SMASH. I scream again- "faster!!!! Not harder!!!!" She says "I am pushing faster!" as she continues to mash harder.
INSERT QUADRUPLE FACEPALM.
The rest of her round goes like that. Honestly it was painful to watch. The reality is my mom's physical capabilities were overwhelmed, and her neurologic output became this spastic flail of boomer-uncoordination-took-me-three-months-to-learn-how-to-use-a-mouse. UGH
She's last obv. Zero chance of any money. Here is where I F up- as she's getting up, she says to me, semi-accusingly, "you see?! That's why I didn't want to play!". So now I get defensive- I remind her that she DID want to play, and that I didn't want to take her round away from here. She insists she didn't want to play, so now I start getting annoyed- "how hard is to just mash with one hand while you pop balls with the other?! And when I said push faster you start pushing HARDER and SLOWER!" At least I catch myself after that comment- no point in making her feel bad and it's not going to change anything anyways. I regret even saying that, but we know how it is- parents are frickin' frustrating sometimes.
Well, after that debacle I decide I'm going to throw dice again. I take the near 3k in chips I have on me, top up to 4k and catch a decent session.
Out for basically 6k.
Head over to a regular 9 line, 1$ spin poker machine.
Twice! OK, things are turning around?
Back to the Wynn, back to hi limit.
Come on now- twice, but no kicker!
I'm pretty sure the machine went ice cold after that, bc I don't recall winning much that session. Head to an old school machine to slow it down.
So I'm a little unclear on the events from here until dinner, but this is the gist- there are no pics from 2pm-dinner. Let's start there. I think I was -15k or so on the day at some point. THEN, I just get drilled non-stop, and head up for my second nap of the day stuck 27k for the day! So... yeah. I suck.
Min's Test Kitchen
Pretty excited to try this- haven't eaten at a new place at the Wynn in a long time. This is the executive chef from Mizumi, doing something cool while Mizumi is being renovated.
Thoughts- it was good... but not overly so. Most of the dishes seemed like they were trying to do too much. The sushi for example, let's just keep it simple. A lot of beautiful presentation that ultimately just over-complicated the fish. And a lot of the "street food dishes" needed more of just that- keep it simple, keep it ridiculously flavorful and amazing like street food is supposed to be. Over-complicated street food isn't any better.
The lamb and the dessert were off the hook, on the plus side. I'll be back, simply to give other things a try and bc hey, it's still not a place I've been to 50 times already. Just a 6-7/10 overall.
After dinner, it's my last night here- today has been beyond rough. I don't KNOW WHAT TO DO!!!! Do I play- lose more, and I'm even more pissed? Stop, lock in a huge trip, but regret not playing Sat night in Vegas, ON A TRIP where I'm still killing it?! Argh so annoying. I only see downside at this point, no matter what I do. I decide to play, but really slowly and judiciously.
Three big ones on UX, basically no multipliers. Ugh.
Every cent I won that session I put back in. At least I didn't add to the loss. Bleh. What a day.
Day 3 result- -27k
Overall- +50k
Day 4
Actually manage to sleep in a bit- days of sleep deprivation and getting crushed the night before will do that to me.
OK, let's be objective here- if I knew I'd win 40k pre-trip, I'd be so happy. It's my last day, it's not like I'm not going to play. So I decide no more than 10k loss today. Plus, it CAN'T be as bad as yesterday, right?
Wrong- hi limit brutalizes me for 6k in 30 min flat. I kill time at an old school machine before room service breakfast. Over breakfast, I feel badly bc Mom and N are both stuck bad for the trip- and I'm complaining that I'm "only" up 44k. However, I HAVE lost 33k in 24hrs! Post breakfast, it's back to old school- no more UX, no more hi limit for the rest of the trip. If I've made one mistake this trip, it's playing too big and not coasting enough.
I'm hanging in there, and actually making a recovery.
Keep going- dealt quads #7!!!!! Make it good machine!
Spoiler:
pretty sick that this is only about as much as a regular 'ol quad 234 w/kicker...
OK, I've coasted long enough here, I can coast at hi limit, slightly more lines...
Then, that turns too. Back to old school. Just giving money back slowly but surely... I make it to the finish line. We're gonna grab food at Red 8 one last time then head to the airport. I get up from the machines for the final time this trip, a bittersweet taste in my mouth. Final tally- +41k for the trip.
Day 4 result- -9k
Overall- +41k
Dealt quads- 7
Afterthoughts- obv an amazing trip. And, what a sht way to end. That 36k loss in about 24hrs is probably the worst 24hrs of my life. There were many times during this trip where I had thoughts along the lines of "well, maybe this trip I'll be dealt 4AWAK twice to make up for all the years before" "how amazing would it be to hit something huge now that I'm playing huge" "Maybe I can win 6 figures this trip! I'm 3/4 of the way there". And now post-facto, to give 50% of my high point away. It really goes to show- this is all random BS. There's nothing scripted, nothing is due, and of course I know all that, but how easy is it to start thinking thoughts like those above... it's what keeps you coming back, I suppose.
I did end up winning 2.5k free credit from the black card drawing event- not much, but 11th place! Jeez. It's ridiculous how top heavy all of these things are! HAVE TO BINK ONE at some point.
So yeah. A good trip overall. I'll be back soon- until then, thanks for reading!
06-12-2023
, 07:14 PM
06-12-2023
, 07:31 PM
06-13-2023
, 11:47 AM
06-15-2023
, 01:04 AM
06-20-2023
, 12:23 PM
Quick update- had a rather good day at the local yesterday. Padding the bankroll for the next Vegas trip!
First- dealt premiums, very early on-
Kicker draw result-
Totally smack at expectation.
This, of course, allows me to play bigger. Dealt premiums again, this time with kicker so I don't even have to worry about the draw!
Alas, I went huge after this (100 lines, 50c) hoping against hope today would be that knockout punch that breaks all kinds of records... not to be. Gave a lot back, but still ended up booking a 35k win.
First- dealt premiums, very early on-
Kicker draw result-
Spoiler:
Totally smack at expectation.
This, of course, allows me to play bigger. Dealt premiums again, this time with kicker so I don't even have to worry about the draw!
Alas, I went huge after this (100 lines, 50c) hoping against hope today would be that knockout punch that breaks all kinds of records... not to be. Gave a lot back, but still ended up booking a 35k win.
06-21-2023
, 12:11 AM
06-21-2023
, 12:12 AM
06-26-2023
, 02:05 PM
6/22-6/25 TR
Just got back!
Backstory- have a good buddy T who's featured in many of these TRs in the past coming on 6/23. I'm planning on participating in the Land Rover giveaway at the Wynn (low chance, but could bink up to 150k cash). Also, B will be in town, but mostly for family stuff (his daughter has a dance competition all week). He's got his non-gambling wife and all his kids, including his 2 yr old with him. Likelihood of him being able to peel away for more than a few hrs is nonexistent, but it's better than nothing.
Agenda- I'm planning on treating B and his family to the Wynn buffet on Thurs. I haven't been in yrs and it's obv a kid-friendly option. Plus, in the interests of changing it up... B and I will either gamble before/after, or just after.
As far as T and I, he doesn't get in until Fri early evening. We're going to hit Delmonico Friday night. We were really struggling thinking of non-gambling things to do. We've seen all the shows and he's not a big pool guy. Finally, I had the "brilliant" idea of walking the strip like tourists. We haven't done that in decades, and most of the things to see we've long ago glossed over or forgotten about. So we're going to walk from Wynn to Mandalay and likely get a ride back after. As soon as I proposed it, T said, "you know, that sounds REALLY fun!".
Thurs- get in, buffet with B's family, gamble with B
Fri- try not to lose my ass, ? meet up with B's family for Circus Circus, Mandalay aquarium, something like that. Dinner at Delmonico with T
Sat- bink 150k at giveaway, dinner at Min's Test kitchen again (bc it's totally new to T), Strip walk
Sun- head home
Day 1
I'm shocked at how eager I am to go, esp given I was just here 3 weeks ago. It really does never get old. I'm slightly tilted at the 15 min delay on the tarmac but eventually we make it in.
I check in- B is on his way solo! His wife and kids will meet us for dinner. I grab two doubles of Little Book from the bar, one for B. I'll probably get 10 min of solo play in before he gets here and we head to UX. I decide to start with spin poker, 2$ credits. Have had visions of smashing this machine since it treated me so well 3 weeks ago.
Alas, spin poker sucks and I'm in the hole 3k pretty quickly. I decide to switch to UX. B still isn't here! Very weird- turns out, he's WALKING from Westgate. I guess I just assumed he'd take a cab. So he's going to be here soon, but I've got more solo time than anticipated. I try desperately to slow things down, but quite honestly it was just garbage right out of the gate. By the time he makes it in, I still haven't even hit a jackpot and I believe I was stuck 6k already!
We partner up in the usual fashion. Down, down, down. Move to hi limit, old school, spin, nothing. I'm in the hole about 11k
before e even hit a jackpot!
It's literally basically a min hand pay.
Keep going.
OK, THAT's what I'm talking about!
After that hit, I'm basically dead even. We play on a bit more and head into dinner down a few K at most. Not the start I was looking for, but at least we've mostly recovered from the debacle at the start.
The buffet is obv nothing exciting but B's kids loved it so that's good. We spend a while eating and talking. I'm trying to stay mostly keto so I took a small bite only from each dessert and mostly stayed away from the carbs. I've never actually had the dinner buffet here before, I'd say 6-7/10 for a buffet. At my age and just trying to stay healthy, the reality is any buffet is going to be a waste. I was beyond full after 1.5 plates of food.
After dinner, B's wife takes the kids back and we play on. Here's where we really screwed up, and I wonder how things might have turned out had we actually known what was happening. Somehow, we screwed up the math about how much B was in for. We somehow got it in our heads that he was in for 400, when a 5-600$ loss was his absolute maximum. So we played, it was cold, and he thought he was far more stuck than he was, so the session wasn't fun. Finally he hits 600$ and he has to bail. I can tell he's really upset, and of course he and I barely got to play. So he packs it in and I keep going, with this vague sense something was off.
As soon as he leaves, I get a text from him. He wants to run the math again. We do, and lo and behold he was stuck 100$, NOT 600$. Big difference. Basically he was owed far more from our ticket than either of us realized. It didn't help that I was down more than him bc of my play earlier solo, which made the math harder to figure. So basically we cheated ourselves out of a lot of potential time together. At least he only owes me 100$. We plan on hitting the Avengers exhibit at TI tomorrow, mostly to give his 8 yr old something to do.
So I continue getting crushed- who knows, if B is here, butterfly effect and all that... at some point, I have to use my free credit rather than continue the bleeding. I've got my 1.5k usual and 2.5k that I won in the drawing 3 weeks ago.
Start.
End. 100% payback, can't complain about that.
Jeez finally!
At some point, I move back to hi limit.
Ultimately, it was just a terrible first day, and I tilted at some point. Those hits provided me with just enough motivation to keep going- at which point I'd hit my stop loss, set a new stop loss, hit something else, keep going, hit new stop loss, go past it, etc... I finally went to bed at 11pm. Not too late, but WAY past when I planned on going upstairs from a financial perspective. I lost control, didn't stick to my "no big first day loss" goal, and got punished for it.
Day 1 result- -17k
Day 2 coming soon...
Just got back!
Backstory- have a good buddy T who's featured in many of these TRs in the past coming on 6/23. I'm planning on participating in the Land Rover giveaway at the Wynn (low chance, but could bink up to 150k cash). Also, B will be in town, but mostly for family stuff (his daughter has a dance competition all week). He's got his non-gambling wife and all his kids, including his 2 yr old with him. Likelihood of him being able to peel away for more than a few hrs is nonexistent, but it's better than nothing.
Agenda- I'm planning on treating B and his family to the Wynn buffet on Thurs. I haven't been in yrs and it's obv a kid-friendly option. Plus, in the interests of changing it up... B and I will either gamble before/after, or just after.
As far as T and I, he doesn't get in until Fri early evening. We're going to hit Delmonico Friday night. We were really struggling thinking of non-gambling things to do. We've seen all the shows and he's not a big pool guy. Finally, I had the "brilliant" idea of walking the strip like tourists. We haven't done that in decades, and most of the things to see we've long ago glossed over or forgotten about. So we're going to walk from Wynn to Mandalay and likely get a ride back after. As soon as I proposed it, T said, "you know, that sounds REALLY fun!".
Thurs- get in, buffet with B's family, gamble with B
Fri- try not to lose my ass, ? meet up with B's family for Circus Circus, Mandalay aquarium, something like that. Dinner at Delmonico with T
Sat- bink 150k at giveaway, dinner at Min's Test kitchen again (bc it's totally new to T), Strip walk
Sun- head home
Day 1
I'm shocked at how eager I am to go, esp given I was just here 3 weeks ago. It really does never get old. I'm slightly tilted at the 15 min delay on the tarmac but eventually we make it in.
I check in- B is on his way solo! His wife and kids will meet us for dinner. I grab two doubles of Little Book from the bar, one for B. I'll probably get 10 min of solo play in before he gets here and we head to UX. I decide to start with spin poker, 2$ credits. Have had visions of smashing this machine since it treated me so well 3 weeks ago.
Alas, spin poker sucks and I'm in the hole 3k pretty quickly. I decide to switch to UX. B still isn't here! Very weird- turns out, he's WALKING from Westgate. I guess I just assumed he'd take a cab. So he's going to be here soon, but I've got more solo time than anticipated. I try desperately to slow things down, but quite honestly it was just garbage right out of the gate. By the time he makes it in, I still haven't even hit a jackpot and I believe I was stuck 6k already!
We partner up in the usual fashion. Down, down, down. Move to hi limit, old school, spin, nothing. I'm in the hole about 11k
before e even hit a jackpot! It's literally basically a min hand pay.
Keep going.
OK, THAT's what I'm talking about!
After that hit, I'm basically dead even. We play on a bit more and head into dinner down a few K at most. Not the start I was looking for, but at least we've mostly recovered from the debacle at the start.
The buffet is obv nothing exciting but B's kids loved it so that's good. We spend a while eating and talking. I'm trying to stay mostly keto so I took a small bite only from each dessert and mostly stayed away from the carbs. I've never actually had the dinner buffet here before, I'd say 6-7/10 for a buffet. At my age and just trying to stay healthy, the reality is any buffet is going to be a waste. I was beyond full after 1.5 plates of food.
After dinner, B's wife takes the kids back and we play on. Here's where we really screwed up, and I wonder how things might have turned out had we actually known what was happening. Somehow, we screwed up the math about how much B was in for. We somehow got it in our heads that he was in for 400, when a 5-600$ loss was his absolute maximum. So we played, it was cold, and he thought he was far more stuck than he was, so the session wasn't fun. Finally he hits 600$ and he has to bail. I can tell he's really upset, and of course he and I barely got to play. So he packs it in and I keep going, with this vague sense something was off.
As soon as he leaves, I get a text from him. He wants to run the math again. We do, and lo and behold he was stuck 100$, NOT 600$. Big difference. Basically he was owed far more from our ticket than either of us realized. It didn't help that I was down more than him bc of my play earlier solo, which made the math harder to figure. So basically we cheated ourselves out of a lot of potential time together. At least he only owes me 100$. We plan on hitting the Avengers exhibit at TI tomorrow, mostly to give his 8 yr old something to do.
So I continue getting crushed- who knows, if B is here, butterfly effect and all that... at some point, I have to use my free credit rather than continue the bleeding. I've got my 1.5k usual and 2.5k that I won in the drawing 3 weeks ago.
Start.
End. 100% payback, can't complain about that.
Jeez finally!
At some point, I move back to hi limit.
Ultimately, it was just a terrible first day, and I tilted at some point. Those hits provided me with just enough motivation to keep going- at which point I'd hit my stop loss, set a new stop loss, hit something else, keep going, hit new stop loss, go past it, etc... I finally went to bed at 11pm. Not too late, but WAY past when I planned on going upstairs from a financial perspective. I lost control, didn't stick to my "no big first day loss" goal, and got punished for it.
Day 1 result- -17k
Day 2 coming soon...
06-28-2023
, 12:00 AM