Your two VP TR's from this year inspired me to update this list and add your threads to the LVL TR HOF:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...6&postcount=81

"9/7" simply refers to the full house/flush payout for each game. You can see it right on the paytable. Every game will have better or worse tables, usually defined by those two numbers. They're all published and easily found on the web. At a minimum you should know what the good paytable settings are for the game you want to play.

I wrote about the difference between TDB and DDB in think in my last TR; again, good descriptions of each game type can be easily found online. It all comes down to the pay tables.

In TDB, if you get "just an ace", yes, you hold it, it's better than drawing all 5.

Awesome! Think I'll occupy myself and read the other TRs there...

For all the people who are looking to find more info on Video Poker you probably want to spend some time reading the following website.

http://wizardofodds.com/games/video-poker/

That site will teach you basically everything you need to know, even has a trainer to try out some of the games.

I also like to use www.videopoker.com as their trainer is much more realistic to the actual games and they have a way bigger variety.

Basically, the starter game is Jacks or Better, it's very simple and has a low volatility. The different games typically have a higher and higher volatility. Leon has turned me on to Triple Double Bonus Video Poker, which is super sick ....I somehow have made 4 Aces with a kicker several times in the last week, which pays just as much as a royal flush jackpot

Leon you are a bad influence on me.

I used to enjoy playing jacks or better or bonus deluxe, with the odd double double bonus session to spice things up. Now I have a really hard time playing anything but Triple Double Bonus...

Also to make things worse, I have moved on from single line to 5 or 10 times multi hands haha Super crazy swings this week but I've hit several four of a kind Aces with a kicker...

Getting a dealt quad on 10 line is such a rush !

LOL sorry. As I've said, once you go TDB you can't go back. Think of how pissed you'd be if you made 4 aces w/kicker on JOB- OOHH, 125 credits! I basically can't even play DDB anymore (except the times it's the only thing offered, such as ultimate X. Never seen a TDB ultimate X game). If I make 4 a,2,3,4 w/kicker in that game I feel like I got robbed...

Back in the day when they actually sold you change or you could ask them where a specific type of machine might be, you could semi-justify a tip by saying "thanks for the lucky quarters" or some such nonsense. These days they do literally nothing that helped you win. 95% of the time I can't find a slot employee. I'd be inclined to tip the center of a donut but I don't wanna get banned for being in a tipping argument.

Leon, you ever play those 50 or 100 play machines?

I have but @ 5 cents, $25 a pull

Obv. strategy is different, it's ALL about the draw..

Yeah in my case the tip is simply bc it feels like the right thing to do, it DOES keep 'em coming fast on those good days when you're hitting a lot, and I'm a regular at my local place. I'd rather not be thought of as a cheapskate reg. At the Wynn, they also take very good care of my dad (helping him get up, finding his lost stuff in the past, etc). He's lost his phone several times, ID, sometimes left money on the machine- every time, they pick it up and coming running to him.

About the DEAL you mean- what you're dealt is critical. A dealt amazing hand is like when my dad hit that 200K. Getting ONE hand on the draw to come in, well, that barely pays for the push...

To answer your question, only a couple of times, when messing around. I figure 100 hands at 25c credits is 125$/push- that's BIG. And yet, if I make a royal or 4 aces/kicker on only 1 hand (expected), I'm only getting 1000$. Screw that. I have to get dealt the big one on one of those machines, but if that's what I'm hoping for what's the difference between getting dealt a monster on a machine with fewer lines, but bigger credits? At least on the latter when I make a hand (not on the deal) it'll be a nice ratio of my total bet size.

Ultimately I know the outcome is going to be the same, but those huge number of line machines- if it doesn't deal it to you, it almost doesn't matter.

Thanks, that makes sense. I've only hit a hand pay once ($4000 royal on a $5 JoB spin), and tipped $100, because that felt like what I would tip for a BBJP of the same amount. But that does seem excessive and would legitimately cut into you EV if you are getting handpays multiple times a day.

Leon, have you ever played much of the Dream Card Video poker variant ?

It seems perfect for Triple Double Bonus, also amazing if you can find it multi hand, about 10 lines/hands seems perfect.

For quarters its $25 bucks a push on 10 hand, however pretty easy to get dealt monsters because of the dream card bonus.

Yeah this is one of those things that I think each person should just do according to what they feel is right. For me just getting paid does not merit a tip. I don't think slot attendants are exempt from minimum wage restrictions so the expectation of tipping is not built into their wages. Plus, fairly or unfairly, I view the whole process of a hand pay as an inconvenience to me and the idea of paying to be inconvenienced is off putting. On the other hand, if a an attendant helps me out with something that is not a normal part of their duties (i.e. fixing a jammed machine or doing a handpay) I will tip them.

Leon,

Thanks for taking time to write up these past few trips and bring us along for the ride. The pic documentation, as well as the writing was excellent. Not to mention all the VP madness. Huge congratulations to you and your pops for the wins on the trips.

Some quick questions:

- You mentioned your folks were coming in from Taiwan in your last TR if I'm not mistaken. Do they live part time out there and do they ever play in Macau? VP doesn't seem to be a prominent game but I'd be curious if they make the trip.

- Thoughts on best XLB or Beef Noodle Soup in Vegas?

- Where do you lift when you're in town? Geographically, I would imagine N. Strip area would be most convenient for the Wynn, but based on olympic background, perhaps Average Broz is your spot?

- Favorite Oly lift?

Thanks again for some epic entertainment. Definitely got TO and I excited about our trip. Drop me a line if you're out here later in the summer and would like to get a gym session in and some Chinese food.

Thanks man, pleasure was all mine to experience and write up

My parents live in Taiwan 9 months out of the year; my dad has been to Macau a few times, but not recently. It's not worth the trip and he has a hard time getting around now.

I haven't found amazing XLB or beef noodle soup anywhere in Vegas to be honest; I'd imagine if it were to be found, it'd be somewhere on Spring Mountain rd in one of the Asia town places. The beef noodle soup at the Red8 was decent.

I lift at CrossFit Max Effort; I've been friends with the owner for years. I did lift at Broz' once, it was actually a little far away. I only did it bc CFME was closed that weekend- they don't charge me at CFME so all else being equal I'm always going there.

Favorite lift is a tough one- before, I'd definitely have said the clean and jerk. I had a relatively big clean and jerk and would typically win meets that were close after the snatch, but then I'd cl/j 10kg more than the next guy and just blow him away. To me, there's nothing more badass than a massive cl/j- it truly shows who's just that much stronger than everyone else.

At this point though, with my ongoing knee injury I'm cleaning far less than I used to be capable of. As in, 10-15kg less. It's pretty disheartening, and my snatch technique has improved a ton in the last few years or so. I routinely nail weights that would have been challenging before, and still out-snatch guys that are a lot younger and stronger than me simply b/c of technique. I can't cl/j more than them at this point, but it's pretty satisfying to outlift someone bigger b/c you know your technique is spot on. So maybe I don't have a favorite any more?

This story does not compare w/any of Leon's tales, but since he converted me to Ultimate X - he deserves this troll.

The way that I control my urge to gambol @ slots is to only take a small sum to the casino & NEVERNEVERNEVER go to the ATM during that session; if I lose my small roll for the day = I leave.

So I have my case $$$ on a 5-play $0.05 JOB UX machine when I decide to leave a small winner; but the machine won't respond to my cashout request; so I push the "service" button and prepare my psyche for the tortured wait....I then decide to make one more play because all 5 of my hands have a 2X multiplier working.....Lo &
behold I get dealt AdKdJd & hold these three to tray to catch a "Leon"...It works = I make a 2-card RF & cash $400....Also, the machine now "honors" my cashout request.
the dodeconanosecond right move worked!...YeeHaw

Nice hit skipper! Your UX mistake worked out this time! Pro tip- your last push on UX should ALWAYS be for full credits per line but NOT with the UX feature (eg, if normally it costs 50 credits to bet max + UX on 5 lines, just bet 5 credits x 5 lines = 25 credits). That way you don't spend money to get multipliers you're not going to use. In other words, your last hand is just a "normal" hand, taking advantage of any pre-existing multipliers which exist, but not spending more money to generate more multipliers (which you presumably then will not use).

Some people actually hunt for these unused multipliers on UX machines, going thru every game, every denomination to check. A little sad but technically way +EV.

When's the next trip ?

Leon, love your TRs. Question, how do you and the wife manage to get away from the kids on your trips? How often do you do these trips with wife + kids? Have a toddler so thinking about my options for the next trip to Vegas whenever that will be.

We have a nanny who is more like a member of the family. It's usually no issue for us to leave the kids with him for a few days.

I'd say we bring the kids to Vegas probably once a year; always when my parents are in town. Sometimes our nanny will come along as well. So between everyone there is usually the opportunity for people to do their own thing, but it's definitely not like a kid-free trip. Can't stay up late bc you know the kids are waking up at 6am, gotta put them down for a nap, etc. You know the drill.

Honestly I don't think there are great options if you're planning on staying at a hotel. You might want to look into a babysitting service, there has to be something like that. Rent the necessary kid stuff with pickup/dropoff at the hotel so you don't have to bring everything over. As far as fun stuff to do, the usual (shark reef at Mandalay, tigers at Mirage, Circus circus) will help for a bit but we know that LV or at least the strip is not a kid friendly town. The science museum was pretty cool- it's downtown and in a standard ghetto area. Some of the local parks were alright as well but there was always someone there who I'd never leave my kids alone with if you know what I mean.

No plans for now... maybe Aug?

Newbie mistakes: double check what game you are playing.

After playing triple double bonus single line inspired by the op, i sought out an ultimate x machine, selected a 5 line game and went at it. About 30 minutes later i get dealt 4 aces no kicker. Ahh this what we were told to live for. Held the aces and binked 3 kickers out of the 5 games. No ding ding ding. Wtf. Checked the pay tables and no bonus for AAAA+2-4. Wrong game selected. So i had to make do with 2000 credits. Quite tilting...

GAAHHH. For what it's worth, I've never seen TDB (only as big as DDB) offered paired with Ultimate X, so at least you didn't lose out on THAT. And what you just described is exactly why I say once you go TDB you can't go back, b/c from that point on any time you make a hand which would be premium in TDB it just won't be as good...

I hit quad 4's on DB today. Not big enough for a hand pay (400 units) but it's the biggest win I've had on this stupid video game.

How much do taxes affect your overall expectation? While any given year you might be up or down, if you treat it as one long session, you will expect to lose about 1% of your total coin in with relatively perfect play. However if you lose $5,000 one year and win $5,000 the next year. Your net will not be zero since you will only get to realize about a $3,000-$3,500 profit in your winning year due to taxes while you absorb the entirety of the $5,000 loss in the losing year. So basically to get back to even after a losing year, you have to win about 30% more than you lost during the losing year. This seems like it would have a pretty significant impact on the overall expectation of VP, at least if you are playing at stakes where you will expect to get get lots of hand pays.