Day 2

I wake up at 4:30 am WTFLOL. Well, I'm here, can't fall back asleep... honestly I'm still pissed that I gave that much money away yesterday.



Some of the free goodies that I basically never touch.



Just one of the signs when you run bad. I need 4AWAK so badly- I can hit twice, but no kicker.



Same comments as above.

I'm just hemorrhaging money. It doesn't matter what I play, I can't find a winner. Also, I'm playing super slowly, but it doesn't really matter if you get waves of a single hi card, **** pair, etc. There's simply nothing to draw at and I still zip through hands that have basically no shot at something decent.



Same comments as above, and above. Sht I really could have used this on the 12x.

Breakfast arrives just in time- I'm stuck 10k for the AM, 27k for the trip!?!



After breakfast, I kind of mentally regroup. I'm meeting B and his boys at TI at 11am. I've got almost 2 hrs to go. I could sleep, but I'm not that tired. I'll save my nap for after TI if this post breakfast session is bad.



OK, that's MUCH better, hit a kicker in 2/3 spots!



GAH where's the multiplier?!

This next part... I get a wave of dealt winners at UX. Honestly I was up at least 2k on the dealt flushes/straights alone. Here's one-



Dealt full followed by dealt flush.

Here's a good one and a further example of what I'm talking about-



Result-


Now, you may be asking- why am I taking before and after pics on UX when I typically don't? Well, this machine has just been so hot. Between spin and this, I've made an 11k recovery and am actually up for the day. But the main reason is- once it started dealing me so many made hands, I really started paying attention to the next hand, which of course is super important. Dealt flush but next hand is one hi card? That's not very helpful. But this whole session, the next hand has been at a minimum a paying pair. AND, once... dealt full. 12x everywhere. I start praying, hit deal, and see A, A, A...3. OMG. One ace off of a dealt 240k and the unicorn. Plus, I still have 5 shots at 48k... not to be. That one really got my heart rate pumping. SO, I tell myself that I will from here on out take a before/after pic on any massive draw, if nothing else for the sake of the TR. Plus, had I done a before/after pic with the trip aces, who knows how the timing would have worked out. Sure enough, soon after...



OMG SO CLOSE TO A DEALT 240k, AGAIN!!!!

To be clear, this is the SECOND time this happened to me in about 15 min. SUCH A TEASE. OK, well I've still got the draw...

Result-


FCCKK! 10 shots at 48k and no winner!

OK, still a good winner- 11k recovery. But... I can't help but feel the 10 make or break minutes of the trip have just come and gone...



B and I figured the Marvel exhibit would be cool for his 8 yr old. His 2 yr old could care less, obv. I've been here years ago with my boys while looking for something to do- I remember it being good for killing an hr or so. Nothing special but not bad either. The second time around, it definitely wasn't as cool. I guess if one was a huge Marvel fan, then maybe, but having almost no memory of this place and still being underwhelmed... I guess it's better than nothing. B and family are headed home in the PM- we part ways until San Diego. Of course I tell him about the near-dealt 240k x 2 I just went through. I think my heart rate was STILL high after those near misses.



Heading back to the Wynn.

OK, now I've got hours until T arrives. Let's keep this recovery going, with an eye towards not giving too much back also. I head back to the UX machine- it's not my usual, this one has no sound, but if it's going to be hot...



So I'm pushing buttons, it's still warm, but I'm regretting the near-unicorns misses and HOLYF!!!!



I have to admit... I really "knew" this was going to happen this trip. After years of "no dealt 4 AWAK at the Wynn", I finally popped that cherry last trip. So of course, I'm overdue and I'll get it on back to back trips, right? Of course, we also recognize that once again we only have one multiplier... we HAVE to make these hands count, and objectively as awesome this is, it's not enough...

So I play on.



3 out of 5 times! Where were you on my 10 48k draws???

Soon after... dealt quads number 2 of the trip-



I'm clearly well up for the day now, I want to say +33k? I take a break from UX after it goes cold for quite a while.



At some point, I went up and took a nap as well. When I wake up, T is close to arriving. I know I went and played craps, just a meh session where I was in for 3k, out for 1k? We play a bit before dinner at Delmonico.



Does this count as dealt quads? Hold one ace...

Delmonico



T is also mostly keto, and steak is pretty easy to split. We take it easy on the potatoes. Everything 7/10 except the pork which was at least 8/10. The bourbon list was extensive, but it's pretty hard to beat Bookers at 20$/pour or whatever it was.

After dinner, I take stock of where I'm at- was stuck 27k. Now +10k. Today has just been a massive comeback. We HAVE to preserve this win!

I'm back at UX, and hit dealt quads #3!



AGAIN with the 7s!

Overall, it's pretty cold, and I move to old school to finish the evening.



I'm pretty exhausted, nothing seems to be happening, it's close to midnight. This is the right time to go to bed. Not quite at my high point for the day, but all things considered I made a lot of good decisions today and things worked out well!

Day 2 result- +22k
Overall- +5k

Day 3 coming soon...

Congrats on the comeback! Looking forward to Day 3.

The reason why vp is so addicting in a nutshell!

Grats on the turnaround!
And as usual, thanks for taking the time to take us along for the ride.

awesome day 2!

nice rally back!

Nice comeback. Hope you continue to run it up the rest of the trip.

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Day 3

Wake up at 5:30am. Today is an important day, I've got to try and lock in a win, and if the drawing goes well... I bink 150k! I am also acutely aware that I'm only up 5k, and 15-20k daily swings are not only possible but common for me. Let's hope we end on an upswing! At least I've programmed more non-gambling things for today.

I start off with UX, then old school, and both are bad. Move to hi limit and it's much better.



The spin poker hits are why that game is so fun. If something comes in, it's almost a guarantee to be on multiple lines. Alas, as anyone who's followed my TRs know, it's very easy to give money back quickly, and if I'm changing machines it's usually bc things have gone cold/I've given too much money back. This was definitely the case this AM, I ended up only 5k for that session. Breakfast is at Tableau again, I meet up with T and get biscuits and gravy, extra eggs, hold the biscuits just to change it up.



After breakfast, T and I walk over to give craps a try. We catch one good (actually amazing) roll- unfortunately only good for me bc I was doing my usual place/buy all the even numbers. The shooter hit at least 8-9 points, but by my guess at least 6 of those were 5s and 9s. Sigh. Still a good roll, caught some numbers along the way, was in for 3k and out for-



OK, so now I'm up 7k for the day. I head immediately back to the Wynn for VP, and walk right into a buzz saw of a session. Give back 8k in near record time- overall, the multiline machine has just been SO cold. I head up for a nap, as much to kill time as anything.

After the nap, I'm laying in bed wondering what to do. I really want to win. BUT, I'm here to play, aren't I? Seems kind of ridiculous to be in Vegas, up, but trying to find ways NOT to play. I decide I'll get a snack, meet up with T and we'll go play bubble craps- should be a cheap way to have some fun and maybe go on a run!



VIP lounge.

Bubble craps is choppy. We go in 1000 me/500 T and get all the evens 75/90/90/75. We initially get raped, then catch some decent rolls. We were up for a hot second but end up down 1k jointly. Certainly not my biggest loss and we kill some time. Happy I've managed to play and not lose too badly, I head back to VP... and walk right into another buzz saw. To put this in perspective, the last jackpot pic was pre-breakfast. This next one is from the giveaway drawing- 6pm!!!! Looking back on it, what a horrible, long-ass time to run cold. I can't believe I managed to "only" lose another 7k during that time period. I'm now down 9k for the day and stuck for the trip. Ugh.



One of these is worth 150k. One is worth 100k.

I wanted to be here in person, mostly bc if I bink I want to know right away. It will let me know how much freedom I have to play for the rest of the trip immediately, rather than waiting for them to compile results/get a text from my host. I didn't have to be there in person, and I remember now how much I HATE being at these things and not binking (obv didn't bink). I'm sure if I'm ever physically present and bink I'd change my tune, but at this point... it's pretty infuriating to hear name after name called and not have it be yours. Multiple duplicate names (everyone only entitled to one prize). The rapidly diminishing prize pool, coupled with the INCREASED chance that your name will be called... they call a duplicate, you briefly get your hopes up again, then they call another name... Ugh. It's slow torture. At the end, the only thing I could win was 2,500 free credit and yet I was enraged out of proportion to the odds of me winning and the quality of the prize.

Ugh. OK, we didn't bink. I'm booking a loser right now. No free credit to fall back on. At least all the cards are only the table. With that, I head back to old school, knowing I need to slow this down.




One jackpot, such a long time coming. This session was break even.

Min's Test Kitchen

I make sure to order mostly different things than 3 weeks ago. It's T's first time so of course he gets whatever strikes his fancy,



This meal solidified my impressions from before. It's... ok. Every dish just seems like it should be better than it actually is. It's a decent place, but solidly avg for the Wynn. I suppose price-wise it's actually really cheap for the Wynn so there is that, but I don't see myself coming back any time soon. Hopefully they get Mizumi up and running again soon.

After dinner, we get changed and ready for our strip walk! I've allotted 2+ hrs to get from Wynn to Mandalay.



We walked on the East side of the Strip until we got past the Cosmo. In retrospect, I wish we'd walked on the West side. There would have been more interesting things that we would have been closer to (eg, volcano, fountain, etc). We also didn't amble as much as I thought we would, which makes sense in retrospect bc both T and I are no-nonsense when we walk. Got somewhere to be? We power walk, and I hope everyone gets out of the way. I should have ambled. Also, from a crowd perspective we often had to walk fast/shoot the gaps anyways- it was the Strip on Sat night afterall. Saw plenty of those porn-passers from back in the day, lots of F'ing ghetto people, lots of cops, lots of homeless guys just passed out right on the sidewalk... I have mixed feelings about this walk, honestly. I'm glad we did it. And, I've been spoiled by the Wynn. JESUSF there are some really F'd up sides to Vegas. I'd forgotten about that, or at least hadn't had it so prominently in my face in a long time.

Anyways, T and I made the walk in less than an hr LOL. I call the car to come pick us up, and we're back at the Wynn by about 10pm or so.



It's old school again for me.



This last one was REALLY annoying. JFC hold one jack get back 4 4s.

I think I clawed back a whole 1k that session. God I love/hate this game.

Day 3 result- -8k
Overall- -3k

Day 4

Obv sleep well since I'm stuck and it's the last day. I think I woke up at 7am.

I decide I'm good with an overall trip loss of 10k. In the grand scheme of things that's not that big of a deal, and definitely less than even my first day loss. So I hit UX and spin again and IMMEDIATELY hit that loss. WTF. Obv snap revise stop loss, head to hi limit and get a little back.



Breakfast is room service.



OK, post-breakfast... T has a couple of hrs then he has to leave, I've got a couple more after that... I watch him play slots for a bit, and leave after he hits a nice bonus. I head to old school and it's icy. I'm down 10k for the trip, new stop loss 15k. That gives me 5k to play with.

I decide to throw a VERY small (500$) mini bullet at spin poker and am immediately rewarded.



So easy right? Now comes maybe the 2nd most heartbreaking part of the trip, behind only the 2x shots at a dealt 240k, definitely in front of not binking the giveaway (which I knew was a long shot). I was dealt, in the space of about 5 min, trip aces twice, 4 to a royal once, trip 234s twice. Blanked all of them. Any of those with kicker would have put me in the black. The royal and aces draws would have put me up 5 figures. Sigh. It's like the machine knows and is messing with you. So tantalizingly "close"... miss. Wait here's another chance! And another! Another! Denied.

So of course I fed a few more K in that machine somehow hoping all of that was a sign I was "due". Head to hi limit with a whole 1k left to play with.



OK, I've got a little more now...

I give back 2k of that 4k hit and then stop. 13k trip loss is bad enough/good enough. I get some takeout at Red8, settle up all my chips and vouchers and actually just barely make my ride on time. I should add I also tapped out my F/B and got 800$ worth of bourbon to bring home so there is that. Sigh. Another Vegas trip in the books.

Day 4 result- -10k
Overall- -13k

Thoughts- this trip was more disappointing than many others where I lost more money. I know it was a combo of being dealt 4AWAK on UX again, BUT not having it be that big (Sht I've hit multiple 40ks on UX before, including holding 1 to a royal and having it come in on a 10x). Even the "hold one ace, 4awak comes in on an 8x" was worth more than my dealt monster this trip. To hit such a rare event, AND have it not be that big...

Combine that with all of those massive "what if" moments... there were just too many let-down points this trip. I know I imploded day 1, but in light of the opportunities for tilt that came up this trip, I'm actually pretty proud I didn't get completely derailed. Old me probably would have rage-donked my entire trip bankroll at some point. As it is, I'm still healthy and there'll be another trip. Thanks for reading!

Setting a trip stop-loss, immediately hitting it, and then revising a new stop-loss -- if that's not relatable to any degen gambler, then you're not a degen gambler.

True story. Sometimes I feel like I don't even need to add that clarity, it's frickin' obv...

Leon, I think I mentioned that I have a friend who goes to Vegas 2-3 times a year and either wins an absolute fortune or loses an absolute fortune. Well they just arrived late last night from Europe, and as expected after checking in went straight to high limit lounge and $10 spin poker. He was down $100k in no time but recovered and ended the night “only” being stuck $25k. It’s the first night and I think they will be there for 3 whole weeks, it will be a total bloodshed.

Bloodshed is indeed the word. My goodness

One of his hits last trip:

And another one, then I’ll stop spamming

I can't imagine all the paperwork he receives after a trip. Each win is tax-reportable. $500-1125 a spin is just wow

He’s from Sweden, so 0% tax. He also plays at Cosmo mostly, every hand pay is automatic.

Too small, should have been triple double bonus...

Muck, what kind of comps/treatment does your boy get from Cosmo?

thanks for thee TR Leon as ever. When is the next trip?

They get the wraparound suite, more or less unlimited food comps and I think like $5k free play. Right now they are staying at the Bellagio however, in one of the bigger suites. Burning through several hundred K a night so would assume with crazy comps but don’t know the exact details.

So this thread got me interested in VP years ago and wanted to pass this along as a thank you more than anything. Hit this on my first night in town which was a great way to turbo charge the weekend. Amusingly I was so exhausted it took a few seconds to realize what happened but then again who expects to hit a royal drawing four.

Nice!

How do you "Insert Witness"? Do you have to chop up the witnesses really fine to get them to fit in the machine?

You really gotta chop them up, because the card readers on these machines are super old and very fickle.

When I took this pic, the attendant already pulled my players card to process my paperwork. When they return, they insert their card and verify the handpay before the machine gets unlocked.

were you taking a $5 flyer with a couple grand?
if so, open and shut case of hit and run.

Pretty much. Don't feel bad, I have a feeling Bellagio still turned a profit that night though.

Subbed for sure


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