Nine winning sessions in a row came to an end yesterday. It was very fun while it lasted. The night started when I got caught trying a big bluff early, running into a nutted hand in a spot where our ranges suggested that I should have been the one with the big hand, and that would prove to be the theme for the night.

The more I whiffed, the more my credibility dipped, until even the loose-passives were raising me on the turn, forcing me to fold everything worse than a bluff catcher, and I couldn't conjure even a bluff catcher most of the time.

Bart Hanson talks about this: when the table perceives you as a losing player who never has anything, and they start to bully you en masse, it's time to either change tables or to end the session.

As for the first option, changing tables: my pride got in the way. Oh no, this $1/$2 table is just too tough for me. 14 years studying the game, and I can't outplay them.

A sarcastic self-rebuke is not the correct manner of thinking about a poker spot, and a bruised ego makes for a poor poker mindset, but that's how I handled it.

Packing up and leaving early is another option, but I exercised that one too often back when I was in Las Vegas. Back then, whenever there was a minor bump, I'd pack up early and head home for beer and video games. And because of that, in part, here I am, for my sins, as the Brits say.

I'll need to embrace some adversity at the table, in order to grow as a player. If I want to move up, I'll need to play better. If I want to play better, I'll need to play my way through some tough spots.

I took stock of my situation, and found myself with a lousy image: a stone-faced aggro bluffer who couldn't help but raise pre and try to bet at it--which was a good thing. All I had to do was to be patient, pick up a hand, and bet the **** out of it.

I pick up QT UTG and open for $10. And yes, I open QTs from any position, tilted or no. UTG+1 calls, BTN calls, SB calls, and BB calls.

Pot ($50) - 5 players.

Flop AQT

Bingo. Yes, the straights and better two pairs are out there, but I have redraws against better, and I'm going to be called very widely by worse, given the semi-wet board and my bad image. I bet $25.

UTG+1 folds, BTN folds, SB folds, BB folds.

This is a $1/$2 thing: you make an adjustment based on obvious factors that have given you a clear-cut image, only to find out that no one has been paying attention. They're only playing their own hands.

I play our ranges, and it works for me, most nights. Last night I had nothing when my range said that I should have had something most of the time, and my opponents had something good when their ranges said that they should not.

That happens sometimes. There's no adjustment to be made. You just take the L and keep playing.

I lost a fair amount last night, but the good old football promo gave me back $200.00 of it.

Springfield MGM: 5 hours
(-$225.00)

Running Total: 74 hours, +$4190.00

Yesterday I looked at the algorithm for identifying the +EV state of the Regal Riches/Prosperity Pearls slot machine. The slash in the name is from it being one machine with two different names. I assume that the former name is meant to conjure Western sentiments of the easy, unearned wealth of the nobility, while the latter name evokes Eastern ideas equating luck at gambling with holistic prosperity and happiness.

In any case, the algorithm isn't rocket science, and it fits easily on my phone screen, so I hit the MGM and went hunting for regal riches and prosperity pearls.

I found around ten of the machines on the floor. None of them were in the +EV state--but two were close. While I checked the machines, I ran into a fellow slot grinder. I could tell who he was because there's a semi-hidden mini jackpot on the machine that requires one to get in there and--without making a deposit, thankfully--push some buttons before it will reveal its state, and we found ourselves on the same bank of machines pushing the same buttons.

I'd like to think that he looked more surprised than annoyed at my presence, as that would mean that there are some slot regs about, but that it's not infested. And that might mean that there's money to be made without too much competition. But this is a very preliminary hypothesis. Time and more data will tell.

More importantly, I noticed as many as a dozen additional models of machines that featured persistent mini-jackpots, just like Regal Riches/Prosperity Pearls. There may be 40-50 advantage slot machines at the MGM, the gaming floor of which is around the size of a smallish Walmart.

It seems likely now that I've missed the advent of a new generation of advantage slot machines. I texted myself the names of three of them. I'll check on them this weekend and, if I find +EV algorithms on the Internet, I'll start a spreadsheet on my phone, with plans to add three more new models every time I visit, until I have them all.

As far as poker went: I played fine, and I was ahead for most of the session, until I ran a top set of queens into a rivered backdoor flush and lost a big chunk. A $75 payout from the football promo eased the pain.

Springfield MGM: 4.5 hours
(-$78.00)

Running Total: 78.5 hours, +$4112.00

Interesting stuff on the advantage slots and the amount of other potential advantage slot grinders.

Have to imagine these new plays are much higher variance than the old Piggy Bankin slots.

I am by no means a slot advantage player - and in fact have never played -, but I assume you know the following site, wizardofodds, amirite!?! :

https://wizardofodds.com

and heard of this excellent podcast (GWAE) about advantage players of all sorts and their stories/challenges they must overcome : https://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/gamb...odcast/page/8/

As always, gl friend

Love the GWAE podcast but they don’t really give much insider type info on advantage plays. Maybe occasional stuff on plays that are dead.

No, perhaps no, but it is through them that I found out about wizardsofodds (not that I have any use for it) and certain podcasts, depending on the guests (as the hosts are kind of boring), are absolutely elite as far as the living-on-the-fringe-of-society-stories-goes!!!

I don't know, Da_Nit. I'm a n00b at these new games. Stick around and we'll learn together. If I find any plays, I intend to add them as a separate line to the running tally.

Thanks Dubnjoy000! Wizard of Odds taught me how to play double bonus vp properly. I'll check out the GWAE podcast, looks to be right up my alley.

Nice! Just keep in mind that each episode is hit or miss, as the hosts don't have the most engaging voice in the world, yet some guests' stories, are just absolutely otherworldly!!!

None of the MGM Springfield slots I had slated as potentially +EV had an Internet presence, beyond YouTube slot influencers playing them for enjoyment...and views, and likes and whatnot, so I switched my approach from bottom-up to top-down, and I copied down the 10 most recently covered +EV slots on advantageslots.com.

Only one of the ten was on the casino floor: Ultimate X Poker, a single unit of which sat on the edge of the poker room, but it was deactivated, with a note taped to it saying that it was due to be swapped out. There were variants of Ultimate X Poker elsewhere--I forget their names--but in my experience with the prior generation of +EV slots, variants are always nerfed versions that are -EV.

That sort of rug pull began with the old Piggy Bank game from the late 90's. Everyone loved that game, including the slot grinders. The developer came out with a new version around the turn of the century. The sequel also had a side jackpot, but the twist was that--even with the side jackpot--the game was never +EV. The standard reels paid out less often than the old game, and the coins in the side jackpot added up more slowly, so that when the jackpot hit, the player was almost always behind.

The new Piggy Bank game lasted about as long as New Coke, while the original stuck around until the mid 2010's.

Which brings us to Rich Little Piggies, a new game which sports an impressive panoply of side jackpots, the +EV algorithm of which may be as difficult to crack as actual rocket science.

Wizard of Odds reports that slot grinders are sharply divided on Rich Little Piggies: with one camp saying that +EV play is possible but that the variance is high, while the other camp calls it an expensive money trap, a rug pull just like the original Piggy Bank sequel.

I didn't count the Rich Little Piggies units at the MGM, but I think 8 seems right. Only one of them was being played when I did my sweep. 9 of the 12 Regal Riches/Prosperity Pearls were in play.

Making a game with a deceptive side jackpot is just making a lousy game. If a game is never +EV at its best, then it's terrible at its worst, and even the rec players will shun it fairly quickly.

Last night our poker table did not win any football promo money, and I ran QQ<AJo pre for -$150. I also got caught in a triple-barrel bluff, the details of which might have some amusement value to them. I'll post that hand at some point.

Springfield MGM: 4 hours
(-$61.00)

Running Total: 82.5 hours, +$4051.00

Highly recommend Risk Of Ruin podcast. Do yourself a favor and listen to the Two Hustlers episode. One of the guest is Bob Dancer from GWAE. The other guest is Mickey Crimm who in an odd way is fascinating. He was a rail riding/day laborer hobo who ended up credit hustling in Laughlin, learned about advantage slots and has been an advantage player ever since.

Also the first episode is him taking clips from some of his favorite guests on GWAE.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1267901

Really depends on the guests. The good thing is they have 500+ episodes to sort through for one you find interesting.

Not sure if you want to vulture multipliers on Ultimate X. A good way to possibly be 86ed from your local. I did this on a work trip to Baton Rouge with a coworker who was a degen on the electronic craps machine.

A hand from Sunday: V and I both have around $500 to start.

UTG limps, MP limps, CO limps, I make it $18 on the BTN with KT. Blinds fold, UTG calls, MP folds, CU calls.

Pot ($59) - 3 players

Flop: JA2

UTG checks, CO checks, I bet $35, UTG folds, CO calls.

Pot ($119) - heads up

Turn: 6

CO checks, I bet $65, CO calls.

Pot ($249) - heads up

River 9

CO checks. I'm not Garrett Adelstein, meaning I'm not overshoving for $382. If CO likes his hand, he'll probably call a shove. A hundo, on the other hand, is a big bet at $1/$2, and the proportions of the pot matter less on later streets than the actual monetary value, at least at the lower limits. A hundo will do what I want it to do: fold out hands that he's not entirely sure about.

I bet $100. CO calls and shows AK, which he had limp/called pre and check/called all the way.

I show my bluff, announce that I was bluffing, and tell V very nice hand, you trapped me good, scrubbing every iota of sarcasm out of my tone.



Last night I got to see a Regal Riches machine in a +EV state. Of course, someone was playing it, but now I know that it's at least possible to find a +EV play.

I ran cold again at the table last night. No AA, KK, QQ in 4 hours. I opened AK once and got a walk. I opened AQ once...same result. I did not flop any sets. Fortunately my god-run at the football promo continued, and I hit that for $325.00.

Springfield MGM: 4 hours
+$258.00

Running Total: 86.5 hours, +$4309.00

Will do, thx for the link

Much less frequent than GWAE but I would say much better. For a guy that loves, “living-on-the-fringe-of-society-stories-goes”, the Mickey Crimm one is great. The epitome of this.

Just don’t go to his twitter or any of the gambling forums he spews on. Guy might of lost his marbles.

I bought a Powerball lottery ticket for the first time in several decades. I bought it on a whim, but I also figured that the $1.6 billion top prize made the game mildly +EV.

The real value of these tickets is the entertainment you derive from daydreaming about what you would do with the top prize money.

Most winners take the reduced lump sum payout; I would not. I have no issue with getting a giant paycheck every year for 20 years. Even if I died within a year, I would still enjoy myself just fine with 5% of $1.6B, even after taxes.

I would put all of it into nitty, safe annuities and trust funds that would pay me a reasonable allowance every year, while keeping the bulk of the money safely invested.

I would also call a meeting/celebration with around 35 friends and relatives. Five of these folks would get $1.5M a year for 20 years; the other 30 would get $300k/year for that two decade interval.

After I announced that, I would go over the stipulations.

(1) This is what you're getting. This and no more. If you live too high on the hog and start borrowing off your yearly income, and get into debt, that's on you. I'm not giving or loaning you another dollar. If you can't handle $300k/year, you don't deserve $300k/year.

(2) If you have a great investment or business opportunity or multilevel marketing downline, I wish you the best of luck, but do not--under any circumstance--approach me with it. I am profoundly uninterested, and I will not put a dime into any of these things, ever.

(3) Same goes for charities. I have my own charities in mind, and I have no interest in hearing about any others. People are going to try to get to me through you. Do me this favor; tell them no for me.

(4) Word of this is going to get out, and you are going to be approached by old friends and second cousins and acquaintances about loans and business opportunities and charities. I suggest that you remember my stipulations today and use them in your own lives. You can say no. You should say no. You're not a bad person for saying no.

Now let's kick back and enjoy the party. Bar's open.

This sort of daydream is worth the $2.

I've got one too, it is fun to think about, "whose life could I change with this?"

Gifting out $ to friends sounds fun. I was daydreaming about showing up with literal cash at their places. "Hey, thanks for being such a good friend. Here's a suitcase full of $100 bills."

Also what non-charity things might I support? Green energy, politics, medicine, whatever one's into. Not only life-changing money for you, of course, but could make a mark on the world.

I'd buy cartons of Marlboros, and always keep a pack with me. Then, when a bum walks up to me on the street (happens to me all the time) and asks if I have a cigarette, I can hand him the whole pack and say Keep it, I'm trying to quit.

I'm feeling generous today. I've decided to bump the two tiers up to $400K/yr and $2M/yr, what with inflation persisting...

I guess we should start being more respectful in our blog replies.

Yup, definitely a fun episode Will likely listen to (all?) the others... I assumed you checked out The Ringer's Gamblers series...??? Solid stuff as well!

Yup some really good stuff there as well.

Plus a regular reader, chosen at random, getting a one-time buy-in to the ME?

On the dream EV part of lottery tickets, such is why I believe live tournaments to be the most positive part that the poker world has to offer to rec players ; of course, in a 5-10k, a rec player might have an EV of 2.5-5k (50% of his BI), but those days/weeks before the tournament where he gets to freely dream of a deep run/bink and how his life will change, or hours beforehand where he shows up early to the MTT, soaks in the atmosphere etc., are (relatively) priceless imho, and the best part of da pokerz, me thinks!!!