Vegas.....

[mudpuppy]

I can never even remember what I walked into a room for, or where I laid my phone 6 seconds ago.  I don't think I'd be a good card counter.

Despite my avatar, I'm the same.  I kind of know the concept behind counting, but I can't remember anything from one hand to the next.  Too easily distracted.

The other thing with counting is the house is watching.  Unless you get an idiot dealer (they're out there), they know the counts too and will notice if your bet patterns follow the count.  It's not illegal, but if you're caught (or suspected) they can ask you to leave and never come back.

 

[MA_PE]

UI thought the whole concept of using multiple decks and swapping out decks randomly kind of made counting irrelevant.

 

[Supe]

It can still be done with multiple decks.  That's why they'll do stuff like forced dealer swaps if they're watching.

 

[Road Guy]

I would think if you are playing small money you might stay off their radar? I watched the History Channel with the actual MIT folks from the movie 21- they were pushing 10's of thousands of dollars- so who knows if the dealer would bat an eye if your pushing a $200 bet? (Its pretty interesting if you can find it, I downloaded it off youtube)

I got bored and started reading too much into this, it does look pretty simple, but I wonder for us small timers, if you just not better off to employ the basic strategy and just make enough money to have some fun and a few hours of free drinks?

I would be curious if just knowing how many large cards are "out" if that would help?

 

[mudpuppy]

I would think if you are playing small money you might stay off their radar? I watched the History Channel with the actual MIT folks from the movie 21- they were pushing 10's of thousands of dollars- so who knows if the dealer would bat an eye if your pushing a $200 bet? (Its pretty interesting if you can find it, I downloaded it off youtube)

I got bored and started reading too much into this, it does look pretty simple, but I wonder for us small timers, if you just not better off to employ the basic strategy and just make enough money to have some fun and a few hours of free drinks?

I would be curious if just knowing how many large cards are "out" if that would help?

Yeah, card counting at best gives you 0.5% to 1% advantage...  so for it to be profitable you need to play lots of hands.  And at low bets that doesn't amount to much.  Typically about 60-100 hands per hour, so at a $5 table that's less than $5 profit per hour on average.  $100 hands would be more profitable, but you're still going to lose around half your hands so you'd need a bankroll at least in the $1k to 2k range and be willing to lose it.

I imagine it's helpful to know if a lot of large cards are out.  Personally at a full table it's just too much work to me to keep track of everyone else's cards.  I'd rather watch the game or the eye candy while I play.

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

That's why I play poker. It's a lot easier to control the game, and the house doesn't care if you're manipulating the table because they take a cut out of the pot regardless of who wins. They prefer the pots to be big.

 

[Road Guy]

There is a show on Amazon Prime called "cheating vegas" that was pretty interesting - its the "real "story of the MIT / Boston University Medical blackjack teams - pretty nifty they went for more than a decade and only got busted by an inside mole who was on the team and then sought out the casino security team and basically got paid to out the team members. The security team then went and got the MIT yearbooks and scanned them all in to the database.  Their method was the big betters only came in when the table was in their favor and just bet a couple of really large hands and then walked away - apparently it worked for them for a long time. Its pretty interesting you all would enjoy it i think.

Two guys at our office lived in Vegas the last 10 years and they said they would go in and try and count through one or two decks and they said they would get to around $300 bucks and then would bail, they both said they had a few instances where they stayed after getting beyond $300 they were pulled aside and told that they could either continue to play but bet a constant bet every hand or they needed to leave. But they said they never had any place refuse to allow them to play -

I still think I just enjoy playing the pass line at craps and just maximizing my time at the table. Less stress that way IMO!

 

[csb]

One of the cosmo pools... //content.invisioncic.com/r86644/emoticons/default_sad.png 15 Dega here right now....
 

It's 37F in Vegas right now and 22F in Denver. Just put on your swimsuit and go lay on your own deck. 

 

[Road Guy]

I did shovel all the snow in the sidewalk in my cul-de-sac in my running shorts Saturday?

 

[csb]

I did shovel all the snow in the sidewalk in my cul-de-sac in my running shorts Saturday?

Full split?  :eyebrows:

 

[Road Guy]

luckily it wasn't too cold

 

[Road Guy]

Jimmy Buffet coming to Vegas in October - lets start planning people!n

October 19th for anyone interested - He is playing at MGM - Is that hotel any good?

 

[mudpuppy]

Finally getting back to this...

My wife likes Jimmy Buffett (mainly because her parents do too), so this might be a thing--but not sure what our travel schedule looks like for the end of the year yet.

I haven't stayed at MGM Grand, but we're planning to in June for a couple days.  We did stay at Signature at MGM, which is connected to MGM but a totally separate hotel.  The Signature is pretty nice (the kind of place where the TV motors up out of a box at the end of the bed,) especially if you get a balcony room.  It's also fairly quiet.  The down side is it's nearly a half mile off the strip, so if you forget something in your room you're not just popping back in.

MGM Grand is huge--used to be the largest hotel in the world and is now #3.  It's also back off the strip a ways, so it's a lot of walking just to get around there.  It also tends to be crowded.  It has one of the biggest nightclubs in Vegas at Haakasan--not my thing but a lot of the kids seem to like it.  Lots of good dining options too.  As far as the hotel goes, it ranges from very basic to extraordinary accommodations.  The west wing used to be the Marina hotel, built in 1975, and from everything I've heard  those rooms are pretty crappy.  Beyond that, I think their standard rooms are solidly middle-range for Vegas.  But if you want to spend $$$, the terrace suites ($600+/night) and the SkyLofts ($900+/night) look awesome.

MGM Grand has one of the best pool complexes in Vegas--not quite Mandalay Bay with a sand beach, but a lot bigger than most of the other resorts, plus a lazy river.  The Signature rooms get access to it, plus their own smaller pool at the Signature.

 

[MA_PE]

I'm not really a Jimmy Buffett fan.  I only know his popular music and i understand his concerts are fun but I've never been motivated enough to go.  I would like to go to Vegas though.....

 

[Road Guy]

The wife wants to stay at Mandala Bay on one of our trips, the pool there does look amazing! 

MA - You could come to vegas and just skip buffett?

 

[BamaStrucPESE]

Leaving tomorrow morning for Vegas! 

 

[JayKay PE]

Jimmy Buffet coming to Vegas in October - lets start planning people!n

October 19th for anyone interested - He is playing at MGM - Is that hotel any good?

Ah!!!  He comes almost every year to Jones Beach!  Will the parrot heads be able to build beaches in front of the MGM?

I stayed at the MGM, it was pretty good roomwise and the buffet was nice.  Hakkasan...was exactly like any club I've been to before, but maybe it's different for guys?  Only thing I didn't really like is that it's near the end of the strip, so to see the Bellagio fountains/going to a majority of the shows, required a bit of a hike.

 

[Road Guy]

Were staying at Caesars next month, the wife was able to get some extra time off but for whatever reason the rooms at Caesars are now like $300 a night (for a Tuesday) so we are thinking about just staying a night at Mandalay bay and just vedging out by the pool and day drinking - we have some friends were meeting the next day down the strip.  This will let us explore MGM area for the Buffett concert in October

 

[mudpuppy]

Let me say I've had breakfast at the MGM Grand buffet once and thought it was kind of gross.  It was free and I might do it again for free, but I wouldn't pay for it.  There are much better options nearby for a similar price.

For comparison I've eaten at both the Mandalay Bay and Bellagio buffets twice each, and I won't go to either of those again even if it's free (I know that sounds stuck up, but really the food is bad--the people next to us at Bellagio said the same thing unprompted--and there's so much good food in Vegas.)  So in that respect the MGM Grand buffet is better than those.

 

[Road Guy]

I am not a buffet(food)  person. Just don't see the joy in it

The friend we are going to Vegas with next month want to do Hells Kitchen - Doesn't look too bad, about $100 bucks a person?  My daughter will be jelly..