Vegas Trip Report(s!): Fine Dining, Gambooling, and more...

[lapoker17]

i have been here 16hrs and am only up 7k in bj. my new strategy of truly not caring if i win or lose individual hands or overall seems to have the dealers and pit staff flustered. looking for a breakout session today. i have also moved all in a lot with mixed results. this is second stay at wynn and i know where my room the pool and bj is.

[JaBlue]

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After dinner, stinkypete finally woke up for good (I think he had crawled out of bed at 9pm and so by midnight was just coming to life)

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Getting some sleep really helped. For those who aren't following, stinkypete is doing incredibly in the main event -- still in, day 4, only 300-some left of 6300 entrants.

Way to beat out six thousand people so far, Pete!

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wait... he knows how to play with a full stack?

[El Diablo]

la,

How is the Wynn about getting you all green at a $100 or higher minimum table?

[DannyOcean_]

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After dinner, stinkypete finally woke up for good (I think he had crawled out of bed at 9pm and so by midnight was just coming to life)

[/ QUOTE ]

Getting some sleep really helped. For those who aren't following, stinkypete is doing incredibly in the main event -- still in, day 4, only 300-some left of 6300 entrants.

Way to beat out six thousand people so far, Pete!

[/ QUOTE ]

wait... he knows how to play with a full stack?

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obv he just lets himself get short, doubles up on some fool, and folds til short again. Rinse and repeat, and you've got a winning strat! And who could play the desperately short stacked gotta-make-a-move game better than pete, amirite?

[lapoker17]

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la,

How is the Wynn about getting you all green at a $100 or higher minimum table?


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not really sure what happened but i seem to only ever play with purple anymore? like i may have been brainwashed by my host or something? in 24 hrs i had completely forgotten about my love for huge stacks of green. kinda scary. like pretty sure if i walked downstairs right now and put 500 down on a $10 table they would just give me a purple. conspiracy prob. also as you know i try to never play on tables with 100 limits. way more exciting to go on a huge run among the grinders.

[El Diablo]

la,

When the Wynn goes broke, they'll wish they would have told you a smaller limit to get the big suite comped.

I know your policy regarding 100 limit tables (and of course follow the same one), but I figured this trip you might want a higher table max than the Wynn would give you at 25 tables.

Not sure how I feel about you betting purples. Purple and yellow blackjack bets have continued to be very unlucky for me. I think you should go one denomination lower than what you really need, so big stacks of black for you this time.

[PITTM]

294 - Petri Pollanen

gg petes.

[James282]

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my new strategy of truly not caring if i win or lose individual hands or overall seems to have the dealers and pit staff flustered.

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la,

Sounds like we would probably get along. I have a lot of cutting edge theory regarding how to handle the dealers and pit bosses and needless to say I have contemplated this method. My only weakness re: this method is that I so often find myself rooting for the other players at the table and wanting to high five them if they win(or pay them back if they lose should I be entertaining a monster win myself) that they wind up seeing through me. Hey, I care.

So I sort of take a hybrid approach: Scenario A) Everybody wins. Here I go ape and it's high fives all around, usually telling the dealer that it was over from the start and that he/she never had any chance to begin with. Works especially well with less experienced dealers. Scenario B) Everybody wins except me: very similar reaction to scenario A, with a little nod to the fact that I lost but that I fully anticipate making it back with interest soon enough. Since I am usually the leader at the table, it's important that my teammates see this confidence in me. Scenario C) We all lose. No bitching and moaning. A few quick nods, a pat on the back if anyone is particularly down, and right back to the grind. It's important to fire your bet right back into the spot so that no one at the table contemplates leaving.
D) Only I win. Allow others to cheer for me if they want, but this is my most silent response. I will humbly accept their congratulations, but once again it's back to business as usual.

A few specific things I will throw in occasionally:

Offering the dealer insurance - sometimes asking him or her to get the pit boss over to confirm if they want it or not. This is important because, especially if I am up a lot, I don't want them to think I'm a sore winner. I will accept as little as a 4/5 payout instead of the full if they choose t o buy out of their bet, and it some cases I'll take as little as 3/5 if I only have say a 13 vs. a face up 8.

Telling the dealer that he/she can't win. This is very important if the table is showing a bunch of 20s but it's critical that you do this only when everyone at the table covers the dealer upcard So if we all have 19+ vs. a dealer 8, it's fine to let her know she can't win. If one straggler is sitting there on a 17, it's a lot of finger pointing and demanding a number card for the betterment of the whole team. The exception of course being if the 17 will offer up on his own that he wouldnt mind pulling a loss for the benefit of the group as a whole.

Double/Single deck games: I think it's critical here to have a few different plays in your arsenal. Early on, if things are going well, I am a firm believer in slowrolling the dealer. Say you have 12 showing with 19 behind and the dealer peels a 3 card 18. Now's the time to start complaining oh come on, give me a break, how do you get 18 there. Then bing! You table the relative nuts and send her on tilt. If the stars align, you will soon get a blackjack that you can tuck while calling out for dealer bust. Here you have plenty of very very good outcomes. A) dealer busts - this is probably my favorite because you cheer for the bust the whole time, she grabs 3 blacks to match your bet and has to go back into pocket when she sees the bad news. B) Dealer makes 21: the second best scenario for obvious reasons. She smugly has her hand hovering over the cards ready to scoop you because hey, you only had 2 cards and didn't table it. Then it's the same thing, back into pocket baby and ship it like you never had a chance in the first place. All other scenarios are fun, but not nearly as satisfying as these.

Anyway, I hope some will find this post helpful. I'd love to get more into detail but for a beginner I think these tips could go a long way.


I will quickly weigh in on the big chip/small chips debate because I feel pretty strongly that it's similar to poker in that you want to build a pot to attract the fish. You'd be foolish to play 500/1000 in a casino with purple chips, so I think bringing more chips is crucial for blackjack as well.

Lastly: LA you are exactly right about running it up with the grinders. It really increases the whole attitude of the table if you are running it up OR if you are not sweating your loss. Plus, you maximize the chances of giving the casino a losing session for that table if you can manage to win a little when the rest of the table loses. the more losing sessions the casino has, the more likely it will tilt, which is good for games everywhere.

James

[Admo]

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my new strategy of truly not caring if i win or lose individual hands or overall seems to have the dealers and pit staff flustered.

[/ QUOTE ]

la,

Sounds like we would probably get along. I have a lot of cutting edge theory regarding how to handle the dealers and pit bosses and needless to say I have contemplated this method. My only weakness re: this method is that I so often find myself rooting for the other players at the table and wanting to high five them if they win(or pay them back if they lose should I be entertaining a monster win myself) that they wind up seeing through me. Hey, I care.

So I sort of take a hybrid approach: Scenario A) Everybody wins. Here I go ape and it's high fives all around, usually telling the dealer that it was over from the start and that he/she never had any chance to begin with. Works especially well with less experienced dealers. Scenario B) Everybody wins except me: very similar reaction to scenario A, with a little nod to the fact that I lost but that I fully anticipate making it back with interest soon enough. Since I am usually the leader at the table, it's important that my teammates see this confidence in me. Scenario C) We all lose. No bitching and moaning. A few quick nods, a pat on the back if anyone is particularly down, and right back to the grind. It's important to fire your bet right back into the spot so that no one at the table contemplates leaving.
D) Only I win. Allow others to cheer for me if they want, but this is my most silent response. I will humbly accept their congratulations, but once again it's back to business as usual.

A few specific things I will throw in occasionally:

Offering the dealer insurance - sometimes asking him or her to get the pit boss over to confirm if they want it or not. This is important because, especially if I am up a lot, I don't want them to think I'm a sore winner. I will accept as little as a 4/5 payout instead of the full if they choose t o buy out of their bet, and it some cases I'll take as little as 3/5 if I only have say a 13 vs. a face up 8.

Telling the dealer that he/she can't win. This is very important if the table is showing a bunch of 20s but it's critical that you do this only when everyone at the table covers the dealer upcard So if we all have 19+ vs. a dealer 8, it's fine to let her know she can't win. If one straggler is sitting there on a 17, it's a lot of finger pointing and demanding a number card for the betterment of the whole team. The exception of course being if the 17 will offer up on his own that he wouldnt mind pulling a loss for the benefit of the group as a whole.

Double/Single deck games: I think it's critical here to have a few different plays in your arsenal. Early on, if things are going well, I am a firm believer in slowrolling the dealer. Say you have 12 showing with 19 behind and the dealer peels a 3 card 18. Now's the time to start complaining oh come on, give me a break, how do you get 18 there. Then bing! You table the relative nuts and send her on tilt. If the stars align, you will soon get a blackjack that you can tuck while calling out for dealer bust. Here you have plenty of very very good outcomes. A) dealer busts - this is probably my favorite because you cheer for the bust the whole time, she grabs 3 blacks to match your bet and has to go back into pocket when she sees the bad news. B) Dealer makes 21: the second best scenario for obvious reasons. She smugly has her hand hovering over the cards ready to scoop you because hey, you only had 2 cards and didn't table it. Then it's the same thing, back into pocket baby and ship it like you never had a chance in the first place. All other scenarios are fun, but not nearly as satisfying as these.

Anyway, I hope some will find this post helpful. I'd love to get more into detail but for a beginner I think these tips could go a long way.


I will quickly weigh in on the big chip/small chips debate because I feel pretty strongly that it's similar to poker in that you want to build a pot to attract the fish. You'd be foolish to play 500/1000 in a casino with purple chips, so I think bringing more chips is crucial for blackjack as well.

Lastly: LA you are exactly right about running it up with the grinders. It really increases the whole attitude of the table if you are running it up OR if you are not sweating your loss. Plus, you maximize the chances of giving the casino a losing session for that table if you can manage to win a little when the rest of the table loses. the more losing sessions the casino has, the more likely it will tilt, which is good for games everywhere.

James

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A+ would read again.

Just did. Still A+.

[PITTM]

james,

that was my favorite post in here in at least the last 6 months. thanks.