I didn't bother to look over the forum posts to find it but Mickey was very loudly proclaiming that he would love to find a $5 9/6 JoB game with 1.5% cashback. I don't have that exactly, but my regular game is very volatile and close to break-even. I earn between 1.2% and 1.5% in various flavors of cashback/freeplay depending on what point multipliers are in effect the day I play, plus other comps that I value. The edge is not huge but it is available 24/7 which is nice because I can just park in front of the game and grind away.
I have been playing the game since May and started keeping records in early August. Before I discovered this opportunity I used to play 7/5 BP recreationally and this is my first real go at AP. The wild swings are the toughest part of the game. The theoretical edge is wonderful but the swings are crazy. I only play for quarters but I have gone through $500 without hitting a single quad. I lost $2,200 in August, broke even in July, and won over $3,000 in June by hitting 3 royals (two dealt!). So far I am +$750 in September. I didn't keep great records at first but I do now, and I reckon I am ahead about $300-$600 plus comps. The negative swings are not fun and I cannot afford to lose $2k a month for several months, but the positive swings present perhaps more problems. When I won $3,000 in June I spent some money on a vacation, a 65 inch TV, etc. I do not regret these purchases, but I am prone to the "found money" mentality where I blow money on frivolous but fun things like expensive meals, etc. that I have to avoid.
I am very Zen about the loses, understanding that big hands will necessarily be tens of thousands of hands apart and that these hands are critical to realizing my advantage. If I can become equally Zen about the winnings and understand that I will likely give back part of the win before winning more I will be a more successful gambler. We often argue about the importance of paytables, but I have played $200k coin in this year at the game. If I was playing the 99% version of the game where a flush or full house pays 1 less instead of the breakeven game, I would be $2,000 behind where I currently am. Instead of being up about $500, I would be $1500 in the hole. This is a huge difference. Likewise if I could get 1% additional cashback I would quintuple my profit. These small differences add up when we play hundreds of thousands of hands.