Who likes to go to the casino?

[Droopy]

I occasionally go to the Argosy river boat casino in Lawrencburg, IN. It's about 50 miles away from where I live. I used to play slots, carribean stud and video poker, but now I exclusively play black jack.

What casino(s) do you like to go to and what do you like to play?

[MissMillie]

1. I am afraid to go

I have such an addictive personality, I imagine me gambling away the rent.

[jonnyblitz]

2. i live next to one here in CT (two streets over)

and have never been. I make believe it isnt there. :hi:

[MissMillie]

6. I'm not that far away

in Southern Central MA. I've never been. I guess I feel like if I'm going to blow money, I want something tangible in exchange.

[jonnyblitz]

9. i gambled once in vegas.

what happens is it takes just one win to want to keep goin and goin. I don't need this particular vice especially when I can walk to a casino from where i live.

[Droopy]

3. Yeah, you have to set yourself a limit for your losses

and only play what you can afford to lose. The key to gambling is knowing when to get up whether you are winning or losing. If you are winning you need to know when to get up so you don't lose all of your winnings. If you are losing you need to know when to get up so you don't gamble away the rent.

[Longgrain]

4. I've been a few times, lost a few hundred bucks here and there...

but had a hell of a good time doing it...}(

[NewHampshireDem]

5. Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun in CT

I usually only gamble $20-$40 in the slots and spend the rest of my time people watching, browsing the shops, and reading menus at the restaurants. I go once a year, but I haven't been since my brother moved to Missouri. :(

[Droopy]

7. I sometimes take a break from the tables

and do a little people watching myself. It's kind of cool to be a spectator especially at the cards tables.

[Awsi Dooger]

8. Can't say I like it, but I'll visit 15+ today like every day

I consult some Las Vegas sportsbooks in linemaking, etc. Today I have to check in with a few, regarding prop bets for the NCAA tournament among other things. One joint wants to deal specialized golf wagers on the Players Championship. Stuff like a Tiger Woods over/under score for round two.

Then I'll wander around and look at various sportsbooks to see if they have any good numbers for me to bet on. Historically, some of them screw up bigtime on college basketball first half totals, by cutting the number in half. That is base ignorance. College basketball second halves are considerably higher scoring than the first half, as a rule. If a game has a 140 over/under, the proper split is 65 for the first half and 75 for the second half. Usually at least one genius will chop it in half and I'll be able to go under 70. But I didn't find anything like that last night.

Otherwise, I'll wander past the bonus slot machines where you have a small edge with select play. That used to be a big money bonanza in the late '90s. I screwed up by not playing them more, in lieu of sports betting. Many of my friends made tens of thousands simply by playing slot machines. You could not lose if you knew what you were doing, or even close. People tend to scoff at that, but it's absolutely true. The machines are called Vision machines because you look at them and can tell how far they are from paying a bonus. Tourists unknowingly abandon the machines close to the bonus payoff. Most of them have been yanked now, less than 10% of the peak numbers remaining. There is a group of Chinese who swarm the remaining machines in Las Vegas, sitting behind them and waiting for a tourist to leave, even blowing smoke to encourage the departure. That is low class, IMO. I just walk past the machines and look for ones that have been abandoned in positive territory. Last night I made 30 bucks in 3 hours while walking from sportsbook to sportsbook and checking out the bonus machines en route. That is about average. A few years ago it was worth at least $25 per hour.

Table games don't exist to me. But many of my friends play the 2 for 1 coupons on blackjack. Bet 10 to win 20, or similar, on a hand of blackjack. Casinos give the coupons away in funbooks as a promotion. Several people I know abuse them, and play coupons all day all over town. They hit multiple shifts and play several coupons per casino, per shift. They claim to make at least $200 per day. I don't doubt it, considering the size of the sports bets they make. They tell me they get heat from pit bosses or dealers after a while, but it cools off and they simply avoid that specific shift or dealer.

Well, I'm due on the Strip in 35 minutes. Oh joy. At least I always manage a comped buffet from the sportsbook manager.

[Droopy]

10. You sound like a pro Awsi

Do you make a living gambling?

[EstimatedProphet]

11. I do have a thing for slot machines

Not really because I win so much as because when I do win, it's a big chunk

[Droopy]

12. Yeah those slots can hit big

if you catch them at the right time. But I've seen people hit 500 on a dollar machine only to give it all back trying to hit that 10 grand. I guess it's like any other casino game, you have to know when to quit. Oh and congrats on being a mod. That kind of surprised me. I haven't been here in a while. You don't seem like the mod type to me. :)

[alwynsw]

13. I'll never darken Argosy's door again.

I go to Grand Vic, Caesar's, Aztar, and harrah's on the Ohio. We do Vegas, Laughlin, Tunica, Gulfport/Biloxi, and Reno at least a couple of times per year each.

Why don't I do Argosy? I spanked their asses for almost a quarter million on blackjack about 5 years ago and the tight sons of bitches wouldn't even comp my wife and me a buffet, much less a hotel room. (Yes, I was being rated.)

I called Grand Vic and got a room for a couple of nights (they offered it longer if I wanted it) all my food comped, etc. I spanked them for about $15,000.00 and they practically put hickeys on my ass trying to keep me there.

How did I win that much at Argosy? A few good licks and I went to the house limit of $5,000.00 per hand at the time and won almost 50 straight hands. Lightening will likely never strike like that again. Hell, I was even winning after they restricted the table and had the shoe shuffled after every hand. I gave the dealer a $10,000.00 tip then asked for a comp room and meal. The floor referred me to the host on duty who said that my play didn't rate any comps. Go figure.

edited to add: I made my living for a while playing blackjack. I quit that because I like the game too much to turn it into work. Nowadays, I'm a loss limited, hit and run player.

[Droopy]

15. Good God, alwynsw

That's an amazing streak. You're right you will probably never see anything like that again. Personally I don't have the guts to play more than $50 a hand. A couple of hundred up is a good night for me. The most I've ever won is $1000 and it took me 12 hours to do that.

Are you a professional or do you have a day job?

[alwynsw]

16. I'm retired - early

Check out the addendum to my other post.

Not a pro, but did it (make my living at it) once.

PM me if you want the wager progressions. Not a system. Just straightforward odds with increased wagers if you're winning. It can either make you a hell of a hit and run profit, or run your ass out in under an hour. Forget systems. None of them work. Money management is a solid key. Limit your losses by setting a limit you can live with. When it's gone, it's gone. Checkbooks, credit cards and debit cards should never be taken into a casino. The temptation is too great for many to resist. "Just one more bet....just one more bet" That's a sure trip to the poor house.

[alwynsw]

14. Forgot to mention

I met and married my wife at Casino Aztar in Evansville, IN.

That's the best jackpot yet!

[Technowitch]

17. Any casino with single-deck blackjack, however...

...I'm far more careful when gaming than in the past. There was an incident a few years ago when someone slipped me a drugged drink.

In less than an hour, I was unconscious.

Fortunately, whoever did it didn't realize that I was there with my spouse, and she got me home safely. Still, I scared the hell out of her. On the way out of there, in the car, I could talk okay, but my vision turned into a tunnel, and I barely remember the walk into the house we owned in Vegas for a time.

That was about all I could manage, and ended up passing out on the floor for a few hours. My last words were something like, "Please don't worry, I'm pretty sure I'll be all right. But I have to go away for a while."

Sometime around 3:30 or 4am, she was able to rouse me enough to get me upstairs and into bed, but I don't remember it. She said that my breathing got really slow and deep, but that otherwise I seemed all right -- just extremely unconscious.

The next day, I called the casino and asked them to review the surveillance tapes. They didn't see anything, alas... Our theory is that some guy was watching me, and paid a bartender to doctor the glass of wine I'd ordered from a passing coctail waitress -- because they didn't see any sign of anyone fooling with the glass once I got it.

Obviously, the plan would've been to follow me, and then after I became sufficiently incapacitated, haul me off somewhere. *shudder*

Anyway... I kinda lost my enthusiasm for gambling after that.

-Technowitch