Have you ever won at a casino?

[MNDEM2004]

I have won some small payouts. What's the largest one you have ever seen someone win.

[KitchenWitch]

1. A couple hundred dollars off Video Slots

[rwheeler31]

6. yes

several times, 1000, tops no big money.

[sundog]

2. no, lady luck hates me

:P

[Seabiscuit]

3. I've won $4K jackpots - several times.

I was born with Lady Luck attached to my hip. :)

[RagingInMiami]

5. playing what?

[Seabiscuit]

8. Double blazing sevens machines at Paris, Las Vegas (dollar slots)

They pay out $10, $20, $40, $60, $80, $100, $120, $150, $160, $200, $240, $300, $320, $600, $1,000, $2,000, $4,000 and a progressive which generally ranges from $10K - $45K.

[RagingInMiami]

10. damn, that's pretty good

I usually avoid the slots and play blackjack

[Seabiscuit]

13. I play blackjack as a break from the dollar slots

but I don't bet huge stacks of chips at blackjack, so I never win much on any hand. So eventually I go back to the slots for the bigger payouts. Seems I have better luck with slots than blackjack too. Go figure. I sure don't get it. Lady Luck just seems to lead me around by the nose and I follow.

[EstimatedProphet]

4. I've won about $150 before

Last weekend some tourist walked up to a machine, dropped in 3 quarters, and won $300. She didn't even sit down.

[Philosophy]

7. But have you won more than you've lost?

That's the important question.

[Seabiscuit]

11. I think so. I've never kept exact records but I've had more winning trips

than losing trips.

[candle_bright]

9. I've won and lost

decent amounts of money and have probably broken even overall.

I worked with someone who won a Harley-Davidson on a slot machine. It's one of those mounted above the games, and he stuck some change in the slot machine at the end of his trip to Reno, NV and won the Harley!

That kind of thing NEVER happens to me though!

[Lucky Luciano]

12. I do well in casinos generally

although I lost $200 yesterday playing poker - after being up $700 - ugggg!!!

Usually, I do well in poker, but I got caught with some really good hands where someone else had a slightly better hand :-(

I also count cards in blackjack and I almost always win there. What most people do not understand about card counting is that the theory of gambler's ruin is equally, if not more important than the counting itself! Basically, this is just a mathematical formulation of how large your bets should be given the size of your advantage so that you can give yourself a very high probability that your bankroll does not go bust. Blackjack can be defeated for sure, but you need to do your homework.

I do not follow sports too much, but well informed sports fans can get an edge in sports betting. Not my thing, so I stick to poker and blackjack so I do well.

I usually pick up about two thousand from Vegas when I go - but then I blow it all by partying, clubs, the hotel rooms, the air ticket, car rentals, taxis, nice restaurants - they get your money one way or another dammit!

I NEVER gamble without an edge, so I never play craps, baccarat, slots, roulette, etc - I have zero interest in playing games I cannot win - I don't gamble for entertainment - only to win. I consider myself to be going to work when I hit the casino and I take it seriously. I am also in finance - and in that arena as well, I only like to gamble with an edge - except in that instance, it is not really gambling when the dice are loaded :)

[Seabiscuit]

14. I always figure that if my winnings cover all my expenses it's a free

vacation and I'm more than satisfied. On several trips, however, I've won over $10 G's net. On other trips I've lost a few G's. So I think, overall, on balance, I'm way ahead of the game.

I never have to pay for rooms any more. They know I've got their money, and the want it back. They all beg me to stay in their minisuites or suites for free as long as I like. And I usually never pay for food either. Just planefare, cabfare, tips, and cable movies.

[Lucky Luciano]

15. I totally understand you

I want to get comped too!!!

but.....as a cardcounter, I am a little paranoid and when the floorman tries to comp me - and find out my name - I tell him that I really should not be in the casino or my ficticious wife would kill me....I would also say that I have a very bad gambling problem and have lost a lot in the past and it is probably a bad idea if I get involved too much in the comp program that could keep me coming back due to my "addiction."

I am just talking shit of course, but this helps extend by card counting career. I want to get a fake ID just so I can get comped properly without them knowing my name.

[Seabiscuit]

35. I'm not sure how seriously to take you. On the one hand...

you refer to gambling as "my 'addiction'", and on the other you say "I'm just talking shit of course".

I get V.I.P. hosts to handle the comps for me (including booking reservations, free limo pickup at the airport, etc). I never listen to the guys in the card pits who bring up the subject of comps. They're usually just offering a free meal to someone who just dropped several thou on their watch. If they find out you've got a V.I.P. host, they withdraw the comp offer.

[Lucky Luciano]

39. I think you misunderstood

WHen I say "my addiction" that is what I say to the floorman.

When I say "I am talking shit" I am referring to the fact that I am lying to the floorman.

I guess I am just paranoid. I do not want to meet any VIP hosts either. I don't want them to know my name. When you read about the strategies, it teaches you to be paranoid. I don't really need to be because I do not play spreads of 200-800 on a single deck game - that would really cause me to be paranoid. In the future I plan to do that, but I am in no rush right now - and in the meantime I might as well maintain the low profile. I want to feel them out as best as I can to understand all the non-mathematical aspects of counting - the cat and mouse game. For a 200-800 game, I would want to have a $100K bankroll dedicated exclusively to blackjack for the system I employ. You also could not play at any table longer than an hour. Win or lose, you have to move on to the next hotel so as to not arouse suspicion.


I use spreads of 25-100 and I only play in the seedy downtown hotels - Lady Luck, Las Vegas Club etc. I don't shit where I eat - so I do not stay at those hotels either. Actually, Hard Rock had a nice double deck game last time I was there - 75% pen too. I never play those single deck games at the big hotels because they only pay 6-5 on blackjacks. That cuts down your odds by 1.47% - that is worse than playing basic stategy on a 6-deck game w/o counting! yikes! A little thing like that makes a huge difference because as I am sure you know, counting only gives you a small edge. Las Vegas club has the best rules I have seen yet - it is right next door to the now gone Horseshoe. You can do all the nice things you would expect except:

1) They do hit soft 17 - hurts you by 0.2%. Always avoid this at 6 deck games - the casinos often offer both - Always take the one that stands on soft 17. Single deck games that stand on soft 17 appear to be nonexistent.

2) No double downs after splits - I forget how much this hurts you, but it does zing you a bit - maybe about 0.15%. Only on single deck games have I seen this.

Alas, I may never really take counting so seriously as to do it for high stakes. Like the originator of card counting, Ed Thorpe, I am also heavily interested in hedge funds and quantitative finance. Thorpe started the very first hedge fund in 1969 and he is also the first person to really do heavy quantitative mathematics for a fund of any kind. I am at the entry level there and the sky is the limit once your foot is in the door. Why go to a casino when I have that? Perhaps casinos will just become entertainment for me and I may get brazen about counting and not caring if they catch me while taking nice comps - but only once I am fully established in finance will I not give a shit.....fresh out of grad school though, I am not firmly established quite yet! I went to UCLA which is why it was so easy to hop over to Vegas! :)

[Seabiscuit]

42. Yes, sorry - I misunderstood.

But I do understand the paranoia involved in the kinds of card-counting systems you're working with - you can get kicked out of casinos/blackballed if you win too much at any one table, and it's best to keep moving on, and remain anonymous. It looks like you've got that game figured out. And yes, you're absolutely right about the rules you've referenced. When I do play blackjack, I stick to the rules, but don't bet heavily. My luck at cards is very streaky - just moving to another table can change a losing streak into a winning streak.

I understand your kind of player, but personally, I just to to Vegas for a good time. There are only certain machines I play there (through experience I've located most of the ones with high payout chips installed in the only 3 casinos I play in - MGM, Paris and Caesars), I can enjoy winning on them for hours at a time, although I do take lots of breaks to take in the sights, shows, etc.

[IranianDemocrat]

30. What poker games do you play?

Mostly holdem/omaha 8b for me.

[Lucky Luciano]

41. Just Hold'em

My friend is trying to encourage me to play Omaha. He says that with some math skills that I have, that I may be able to understand the game better than others, but it seems like it will take some work. Understanding your outs is a lot more difficult since an out for you could be a better out for someone else very easily....in holdem, your outs have a far greater probability of being a winner for you.

I am going to try to devise a strategy, but it will take some time. The IRC Poker database may supply me with some of the data I need. In the end though, we must remember that it is poker and psychology plays a role too. Sometimes an idiotic strategy is the best strategy against an idiot! Always look for the fish and then try to fry him - I don't want to beat great players - just the bad ones - easier money is better and faster.

Omaha is interesting in that it has some of the combinatorial aspects of holdem when trying to calculate your outs and your opponents' outs - but it also has some of the aspects of draw poker, because with 4 cards in your hand, reading your opponent and figuring on what they can possibly beat you with is very hard. I am still trying to figure out how to deal with the fact that flopping the nut straight, for example, in Omaha can put you at a statistical disadvantage to someone dedicated to staying to the river. In hold'em you almost always would have the edge when you flop the nuts, but not in Omaha!

I have only played Omaha once. I broke even. I only played because I was in Dublin at Fitzwilliam Casino and they had tables that played a round of hold em followed by a round of omaha - so I had to learn, but I was more of a spectator because I did not understand the game. It was pot-limit - and it was like the fucking lottery! The pots were HUGE every time and all the money that people fought hard for in holdem evaporated instantly playing omaha making someone a lot of cash. It seemed like 3-4 people were all-in every hand and that people were dedicated to seeing the river. Obviously the people were hold'em players overestimating the value of their Omaha hands. Those people can probably be relieved of money real fast, but first I want to learn. I don't like to gamble unless I am well informed.

[Doctor_J]

16. I was + at the craps table 4 straight days

while vacationing in Reno a few years back.

[opiate69]

17. My former drummer once won $10,000 at a slot machine.

[MNDEM2004]

18. Was it a dollar machine?

[opiate69]

24. Hmm.. I'm not sure..

I think it was a $.25 machine, but could be wrong.. his father had died about 2 months prior, and as the only beneficiary, he had gotten about $150,000 from insurance and inheritance.. he and his wife were at the casino, and he was bored, so he was just mindlessly hitting the "play all lines" button, and then mindlessly hitting "stop".. not really paying any attention until the machine started to ring, and the lady next to him flipped out, pointing at his machine..

[qnr]

19. As a former casino bartender, I saw many, some quite large.

However, even many of the larger jackpots (aside from the huge ones, which tended to be hit with very little effort on the part of the winner (who knew nothing of the 5,000 other people that had put hundreds of thousands in to that machine)) pretty much only gave people their money back.

[Left Is Write]

20. Yep, but never anything big.

My biggest single win was about $400 or so at a casino in Lake Tahoe. Usually I do anywhere from breaking even to winning $50 or $100.

When I went to Las Vegas, I came home with $10 more in my wallet than when I left, and that included meals, shopping, and entertainment. Not bad!

[Left Is Write]

26. Adding - I only play blackjack.

I don't do slots or any of the other games.

[Kire]

21. I've never been to a Casino.

not interested, either

[MNDEM2004]

22. I saw some one win a progressive jackpot worth

$11,500. She just sat down and her husband had just gone to the restroom. She won it on her second or third try. She couldn't believe it. Nor could her husband when he returned.

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. $1200 in December

right before Christmas. That was sweet.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

25. A friend won $2,000 on slots

And a few days later I won $1,000 on deuces wild video poker. The casino where he won made a big deal out of it and gave us a certificate for dinner for two. The casino where I won was surly because the same machine had paid out a grand earlier that day, and they acted like I had messed with the machine. Classy joint.

[soothsayer]

27. according to my win/loss from the Taj i'm up $1269 last year!

Now, from the OTHER casinos....

: (

[tammywammy]

28. I met someone who won $30K

I work at a car dealership (but I don't sell cars) and a husband & wife came in, and put $18K down in cash. They told us the whole story about how they went to Vegas with $500 and put it in one of the slots and on the third pull they won. He said they paid off their credit cards and paid for about half the car outright.

[IranianDemocrat]

29. I've gone up about 600 bucks playing NL poker...

...at the bellagio.

[SmileyBoy]

31. I've won 120 dollars on the nickel slots.

That was the only time I've ever won big.

When I was at Bally's in New Orleans a while ago, I won 90 bucks in Roulette, but I eventually lost it all...

[SoCalDem]

32. $1600 on a dollar slot... and $4,200 in one night..4 casinos

and a few years ago I went into the high roller slot area with $40..came out 15 minutes later with $800.. Played all but the $100 slot.. My friend took my money and would not let me play it :grr:

[Wapsie B]

33. Came out $20 ahead on slots one time.

But that's it.

[TSIAS]

34. I've won small

Usually I can make $30 playing $1/2 Texas Hold 'Em. Takes some time but I can make small profits.

I've made over $150 in a few hours playing straight $2 hold 'em. They don't offer no-limit cash games where I live.

[Mojambo]

36. I won 400 my first night there

And ended up blowing it all at a wonderful gentleman's club later that evening.

Good times, good times...

[ariesgem]

37. I won $1500 on a nickel Cleopatra Slot Machine

in a indian casino here in Califonia called Payla. I also won on $250 on an on-line casino once.

[LoZoccolo]

38. Some guy winning $400 odds bets at a craps table.

I think he'd put like $15 on the pass line, and since the casino allowed 100x odds he'd put $400 behind the line and he won a bunch of those. He had tons of black chips, but I don't know how many he'd come there with.

I also saw someone turn in a ton of purple chips ($500), maybe like 20-80 of them, I can't remember, at the cashier's cage.

[ronzo]

40. When the Gulf Coast casinos opened up,

I made a couple of trips to kill them at blackjack. I came home a winner once in five trips....

I won't gamble my bucks anymore.

[WinterStorm]

43. 50 cents

I lost it along with $800.00 dollars in the change machine. I kept putting my $1.00 tokens in and it kept eating my changes for some odd reason.

[Scooter24]

44. I was up about $700 playing roulette

in a casino onboard a cruise ship. Ended up with about $300 after I started feeling the alcohol and kept playing. LOL

[NewJeffCT]

45. I saw a guy win at least $25K in blackjack

He was normally betting the table max at the Venetian in Vegas. Not sure why he wasn't in a private VIP room, unless he wanted an audience.

The biggest I won was about $350 in blackjack at Treasure Island in Vegas... the next day, I lost about $100 of that, so I stopped gambling as I had covered my plane ticket to Vegas of $250.

[ComerPerro]

46. I've won enough to get drunk from video poker

and I only put in five dollars.

It was after getting my ass completely handed to me at the blackjack table, and I had five bucks left. So my friend and I went to get a beer, and as I drank my first beer I put a dollar in the video poker game that was at my seat at the bar.

I was able to continute playing, drinking, and chatting with my friend for about forty five minutes and still left with ten bucks.

But I came in with 30.

Fucking blackjack...

[Awsi Dooger]

47. I saw a young NASCAR fan win $18,000 a few hours ago

At the Venetian. He hit Triple Diamond/red7/Triple Diamond with two coins in on a $5 slot machine. So that was 9 times $2000 for $18,000. He hit it while I was checking out a progressive poker machine that was at an unusually high royal flush level, above $9000. Normally it is in the $4000 - $5000 range, and I was trying to figure out if it was worth playing at $9000. At that point I heard a sharp "Yeah!" and walked across the row to check it out. The guy was maybe 25 and about to leave town after coming here for the NASCAR race. He said he won $6000 on a machine the day before. But if he's playing high limit random slots, the big losses will come in bunches.

I play bonus machines in Las Vegas and win on them, but there aren't that many anymore. I look at them while walking to and from the sportsbook. It was a gold mine in the late '90s, when every casino was drenched with them. Friends of mine literally made hundreds of thousands. They are called Vision machines. Tourists unknowingly play them close to the bonus level, then abandon them.

For example, my favorite are the Diamond Mine machines. If you get 10 diamonds you get a payoff of 10 coins. So I'll walk past them and look for one of these scenarios -- any column with 9 diamonds, any machine with 8 diamonds in one column and 7 in another, or any machine totalling 16 diamonds in the three columns. Those are my minimum requirements, based on a computer analysis I did a few years ago. I will not deviate. The other guys in town don't prioritize Diamond Mines, or the equivalent like Fishin' For Cash or French Bread, so I have an advantage even with the vast majority of bonus machines now long gone.

Tonight I won $80 in about 3 1/2 hours. I walked the center Strip looking at the NCAA basketball lines, but waltzed past the bonus machines en route. Admittedly, that was above average. In the old days we calculated the bonus machines at $25 per hour. Now it's $10 or slightly less, especially since the Chinese bonus machine hawks will camp out behind a machine and rout for the tourist to leave a gem for them, even blowing smoke at the tourist to hasten the departure.

[Mike Niendorff]

48. The best poker jackpot I've personally seen: $30K on a 95 offsuit.

This all happened two tables away from me, about two years ago.

Guy was in the big blind, with 95 offsuit, and nobody raised him off of it.

He flopped trip 5s, and another guy flopped four to the straight flush wheel. By the time the river came, the guy with the 95o had hit quads, and the guy with the SF draw had hit his straight flush.

The upshot: quad 5s beaten by an A2345 straight flush -- and the quads' 9 kicker played.

This was good for the room's progressive bad beat jackpot that was just over $60K at the time. The losing hand (the 95o) took home just over $30,000. They paid him off with three racks of black chips, plus change. Sweetest payoff I've ever seen.


MDN

[Mike Niendorff]

49. ps: yes, I've won at a casino :)

Bottom line: if you want to win, learn to play poker.


MDN

[AngryAmish]

50. only when blind drunk