Monday, May 21, 2012

Sorta went Big

Harvey's gave me 3 $100 chips for the $300 voucher and 4 $25 chips and 1 $5 chip for the $105 voucher.

Only had a little over $200 in my pocket when we arrived Friday night and I am too cheap to use the ATM in casino when there is ATM for my bank across state line in California.

My instant strategy decision was $5 pass line bet (using non-negotiable chip),  Point was 5 so I used 3 $25 chips on 4,9,10, 1 $25 chip for odds and 2 $100 chips on 6 and 8. leaving me a single $100 chip and had to pull out $2 ea to make 6 and 8 proper bets, $1 ea for buy of 4 and 10 and $2 added to pass line so I could do $25 odds and another $1 to make odds an even number.

Shooter was kind enough to roll 4 8s, 2-3 6s and hit a few other numbers before crapping out.  I bumped the 8 bet to $120, $150, $180 and then $210 (using 2 promotional chips) leaving me with no promo chips but a little over $1100 in regular chips before 1st shooter finished.  I stuck around for a circuit of the table before going to bed with no significant change of money.



Saturday we took an afternoon cruise on Lake Tahoe to Emerald Bay,  the transition of the water color from deep blue to an emerald green upon entering Emerald cove was the most fascinating aspect to me.  If visiting Lake Tahoe I think it is worth taking a cruise once to hear about the history of the area but renting a boat and spending more time in the area around Emerald Cove appeals to me more.

Upon return to Harvey's wife saw a sign that Rick Springfield would be performing that night, I investigated whether I had built up enough comps for tickets (NO) but then agreed to go to to box office to buy them tickets as long as I did not have to go.

Demons review of show: "OMG there were a bunch of women mommy's age acting like they had Bieber fever"

I went to Mont Bleu to pick up my $50 in promotional chips there and learned the difference between promotional chips and non-negotiable chips.  Unfortunately I was only able to turn that $50 into $30 because win or lose the bet MontBleu picked up chips they had given me.  Since wife and daughter had rushed to primp for Rick I had late lunch at MontBleu using a $50 dining voucher that they had mailed only to discover when I checked on damage to bill after my entree and 3 Margarita's that I was dining during $1 Margaritas.  I quickly order another Margarita using top shelf Tequila and later got another in a to go glass and visited poker room.  There were no seats at $1/$2 so I chose to play $2/$5 but it was typical Lake Tahoe poker where 5 people are seeing a flop no matter what happens pre-flop.  My demise occurred when I made a raise to $15 UTG there were 3 callers ahead of the aggro button who re-raised to $50,  BB shoved for $200 and with a little over $500 left in front of me and looking at AA I chose to reshove.
The hands that saw the flop were 78hh, KK (button), AKo (BB) my AA, 89ss and 75cc which won main pot with 2 pair, I collected $250 from side pot and decided to return to craps.

I managed to win money at the crapless craps table and lose money at regular craps rest of weekend and the tequila induced confidence inhibited my adherence to stop losses but overall a good trip despite small losses.

Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Ending my New Blogger protest

Casino M8trix is supposed to be open in "Spring 2012"  Unfortunately the City of San Jose has delayed approval so I have had to wait as owners expected it to open 1 month ago.  My wife has a bad opinion of Bay 101 due to an old neighbor (prior to eviction) playing too much there so it is not worth the drama for me to go there.  Garden City was acceptable which is strange because realistically it was seedier which is why the owners built M8trix and transferred license. In the meantime my only choice for real local poker is banned.

I will journey to Lake Tahoe in a week because they have finally sent me an offer I can not refuse.  I have been granted 3 free nights + 3 $100 promotional chips.  As well as a non-conflicting $100 chip offer as well as free Mother's day bauble.

I was thinking if I get $400 from Harrah's to gamble with and I stick to playing craps at .5% house edge there is no way I should not be net positive even after paying $50 for gas.

I asked the wife if she wanted to go Mother's Day in manner that there was no way I sound serious and she decided she wanted to see Lake in non Winter situation for 1st time.

Today it dawned on me that my entourage costs will exceed the $400 in meals alone.

 I could get the $400 in slot credits and play Cashman as Grubby would or play Video Blackjack as Tony would.  But I think I will have to figure out a way to augment my craps play with chips.

I am not sure if it is allowed for me to bet $100 on pass $100 on don't and $4 out of my pocket on 12, to leave me a guaranteed cash of $96 on each of 1st 3 chips and left to play the remaining chip un-hedged.

The other extreme is to bet $100 on pass line and bet $300, $400 or $500 as odds where I think if there is no house edge it is a moral imperative to reach into own pocket for the $100-$200 to max odds.

The other approach I am considering is to bet my normal $10 Pass and max odds out of pocket.  Follow it up with $25 buys of 4 & 10 and $48-$51 inside and betting promotional $100 come to insure against the dreaded Recess.I could then take down the places and buys for the numbers rolled and et come again until turn ended or all the promotional chips were on numbers.

Still have 10 days to figure out strategy but most important thing is to make sure wife and kid are not bored.