Positive Contribution Thread

[redietz]

Rob may not fit in downtown, but his wardrobe is right at home and visits regularly. Like Dr. Strange's cloak, sometimes it needs to get away from its owner for a good time and a good dry cleaning.

For those interested in the Main Street Brewery Pub, a glass of one of their beers made on site goes for $2.50. They also have some good late night specials -- I had quesadillas for around four bucks and sliders for the same. The portions are large; I should have ordered just one or the other, but was fooled by the low price.

Let me add that the Main Street buffet, while in a beautiful room, is nothing special, and its specialty nights should be avoided. It's also tough to track down a coffee in the place, as there is no real coffee shop or Starbucks or anything, and they seem to have discontinued the coffee cart in the lobby. The bartenders at the bar with the boar, however, keep coffee on hand. Put on your big boy pants if you want to sample it; sometimes it's a bit rough.

[mickeycrimm]

Most people downtown disgust me.

And you disgust most people.

[mickeycrimm]

[QUOTE=Rob.Singer;50352]

Weren't you the gambler who always claims you only go after the 10% or thereabouts "edges"?

No, that was me, dumazzzz.

[FABismonte]

I appreciate receiving actionable tips on this forum so let me toss one "small bore" positive contribution out there. Buying the annual American Casino Guide is a no-brainer as the slot and match play offers easily outweigh the cost of the book.

More interestingly, the American Casino Guide this year has for the first time a set of three coupons one can use at three downtown Boyd casinos: Fremont, California, Main Street. These give you 5 times your slot points for a day (up to a 100,000 multiple) when you first check in with the BConnected booth prior to playing. I used it to play 20,000 points in 8/5 Bonus Poker to get 100,000 points. You get a slot point for every $1 played in video poker. Since Boyds exchanges 600 slot points for a $1 comp, 100,000 points is worth $167 in comp dollars at Boyd owned restaurants and hotels. (Note, I believe cash back is $1 per 1,000 points.)

I like to play 8/5 Bonus poker which pays 99.17% payback which is essentially equivalent to $167 expected loss for $20,000 in action. So the coupon will give you essentially an even game, plus a good shot at allowing a player with no accumulated Boyd points this year -- like me-- to get to the mid-tier Sapphire level (25,000 slot points) which unlocks a lot of two night comp and other offers as well as free parking downtown.

Assuming you play 9/6 JOB you will have a theoretical loss of $92 by playing $20,000 -- but get $167 or net $75 comp dollars (assuming you value a comp as cash). Since you have three downtown casinos with these coupon offers, that will yield $225 in comps after theo loss , plus the associated benefits I noted above. Moreover, you can use the comp points in some interesting Boyd places such as dim sum at Ping Pang Pong in Gold Coast and the Oyster Bar at Orleans.

Sure there is some variance but to the extent you want to get established in downtown at little theoretical cost, consider getting and using these coupons.

FAB

[redietz]

I appreciate receiving actionable tips on this forum so let me toss one "small bore" positive contribution out there. Buying the annual American Casino Guide is a no-brainer as the slot and match play offers easily outweigh the cost of the book.

More interestingly, the American Casino Guide this year has for the first time a set of three coupons one can use at three downtown Boyd casinos: Fremont, California, Main Street. These give you 5 times your slot points for a day (up to a 100,000 multiple) when you first check in with the BConnected booth prior to playing. I used it to play 20,000 points in 8/5 Bonus Poker to get 100,000 points. You get a slot point for every $1 played in video poker. Since Boyds exchanges 600 slot points for a $1 comp, 100,000 points is worth $167 in comp dollars at Boyd owned restaurants and hotels. (Note, I believe cash back is $1 per 1,000 points.)

I like to play 8/5 Bonus poker which pays 99.17% payback which is essentially equivalent to $167 expected loss for $20,000 in action. So the coupon will give you essentially an even game, plus a good shot at allowing a player with no accumulated Boyd points this year -- like me-- to get to the mid-tier Sapphire level (25,000 slot points) which unlocks a lot of two night comp and other offers as well as free parking downtown.

Assuming you play 9/6 JOB you will have a theoretical loss of $92 by playing $20,000 -- but get $167 or net $75 comp dollars (assuming you value a comp as cash). Since you have three downtown casinos with these coupon offers, that will yield $225 in comps after theo loss , plus the associated benefits I noted above. Moreover, you can use the comp points in some interesting Boyd places such as dim sum at Ping Pang Pong in Gold Coast and the Oyster Bar at Orleans.

Sure there is some variance but to the extent you want to get established in downtown at little theoretical cost, consider getting and using these coupons.

FAB

Thanks, Fab. I am going to get a couple of copies this month, as I usually give a few away to friends and clients. The website is running a special now, so I'll pull the trigger.

[redietz]

While I'm at it, I want to report that I just received an email offer from the offshore Sportsbook.ag to entice me to reload for March Madness. They are offering a 75% bonus on whatever the reload amount, plus a free play match up to $100 on your first sports wager and a separate $100 match bonus on your first casino bet. There are rollover requirements, of course, but not a bad offer. On the down side, they accept only Visa or Bitcoin.

[FABismonte]

Here is another positive contribution tip. Feb 2018 I went to the Silver Sevens Casino corner of Flamingo and Paradise. It was the former Terribles Casino. It is an "easy-in, easy-out" place with plenty of parking. I came to play the 2-1 blackjack coupon from the Las Vegas Advisor coupon book (max $25 bet). I had played in Terribles years ago and had a players card but I did not have a card for Silver Sevens. So I had one printed out. I bought in for $400 and played $25 a hand blackjack. The rules were decent (only 3-2 blackjack) but after about a shoe and a half I lost all my money -- and I still had the unused coupon with me. I was disgusted but decided just to lick my wounds and walk.

Then come May I started receiving offers from Silver Sevens of $200 "free bets" per month (once per day) plus $60 in food comps ($30 per day) as well as 3 complimentary nights. I have received this same offer for June, and July. There was no stated requirement that I stay at Silver Sevens to use the free bets or food comps. I presume these offers were because I lost $400 so quickly in February.

On June 30, when my wife and I were staying in Flamingo, I stopped by Silver Sevens and went to a promotional kiosk. I was able to print out two $50 free bet paper chits and a $30 food coupon. All these coupons said valid for 48 hours. I then went to a blackjack table with three other players. The "free bets" were not match play bets but before I could use them, I had to hand them over to a pit supervisor who wrote my player's card number and countersigned the chits and handed it back to me.

I bought in $300 and I played a four deck shoe and one one free bet and lost another. The free bet coupons were taken away each time (not sure what would have happened on a tie). I also had a $50 bet in chips out when I finally had a blackjack and handed over the LVA coupon to the dealer. Although the coupon said $25 max bet, I was given a 2-1 blackjack payoff of $100 (oops). After the shoe was done I had won $200 and cashed out. The next day while wife was sleeping, I stopped by the Silver Sevens to eat at their cafe. I was entiltled to a free appetizer, main course, dessert and drink as long as it was less than $30. I had a good steak and eggs and big three scoop banana split. The service and atmosphere was good. I saw few people at the buffet and I had not heard good things about that buffet.

After I got back from the trip, I again received the same $200 in free bets, ect for August. Now I am not saying it was a free roll but I will be back next week at Silver Sevens and perhaps in August so I may get more in value from the free bets than I lost on that February visit.

FAB

[redietz]

My Dumb Is Your Gain -- Err, Scratch This Post

Anyone from Charlotte, North Carolina looking to fly to Las Vegas, or to visit Charlotte from Las Vegas, is invited to check out the Delta prices. You can go for $265 round trip as soon as two weeks away, which is about as low as you're going to get for a summer roundtrip. Dan visited Cherokee Casino near Charlotte a year or two ago.

I botched it, as I used air miles more than a month ago because prices had just gone up, and I figured they would continue to do so. I was wrong. This is a very rare value botch for me, as I (almost) never use air miles when a ticket is less than $400. The ticket pricing has bounced around, going up to close to $400, then back down, then up, then down again. I obviously do not understand the airline pricing swings, but now would be the time. The $265 is a real good deal. If you have air miles, you can make the trip for a sub-25,000 total right now. I messed up here, too. Had I waited, the mileage requirement for my flights would have been 3,000 fewer.

And while I had the Delta window open and was typing this, the prices bounced up to $409 minimum.

Well, best laid plans and all that. Sorry, guys.

[RS__]

as I (almost) never use air miles when a ticket is less than $400.

Is there a reason for this? Does the value of the points change exponentially or logarithmically? If they're linear (ie: 100 points = $1, constant), then it shouldn't matter one way or the other.

[redietz]

as I (almost) never use air miles when a ticket is less than $400.

Is there a reason for this? Does the value of the points change exponentially or logarithmically? If they're linear (ie: 100 points = $1, constant), then it shouldn't matter one way or the other.

It's because they are more chunked than mile-by-mile, so I usually (especially in the summer) have to use at least 25,000 miles for a ticket. It's not a dollar-for-mile scenario. It's usually a 25,000-for-ticket scenario. Now it's true that as prices go up, the number of necessary miles goes up, but it's not anywhere close to a perfect, direct correlation, and I shop 'til I drop to make sure it's not a direct correlation. So a $275 and $425 ticket can often each be had for 25,000 miles, but a ticket that is priced $600 or $700 is probably going to cost you 35,000 or 40,000 air miles.

Sometimes, in the winter, or if you are with a certain program, you can swing a roundtrip ticket for 20,000. I think USAir, before the American merger, allowed people with their credit cards or a certain status, to do that. This Charlotte/Las Vegas flight is sub-25,000 miles, which is rare for the summer and why I booked it. I got it for 23,000 miles, an odd figure. Last night, my particular flight and a few others could have been had for 20,000 miles. I called and asked if I could beg or borrow my way to swapping for the lesser amount, but I figured it would not work, and it didn't.

So, being a frugal sort, I try to save the miles for trips or times when the ticket equivalent would be at least $400. At one point, I had stockpiled more than 500,000 miles, but I'm down to about 50,000 right now, and I'm probably going to try to maintain something in that vicinity, as I don't want to keel over with half a million miles in accounts. That reminds me -- I have about 35,000 Amtrak points, and I better start using them, also. At some point, I figure to do a mickey-esque cross-country journey on the train, and that should blow most of those points.

[RS__]

Ah, gotcha. That makes sense.

[monet]

Nice to see that Regnis/Singer is allowed to come in here and take a dump on everyone. This is titled the positive contribution thread so you are supposed to be positive. I don't have much to say anymore in a positive light for most of you. However most of the information in here are things I already shared. I told forums and players about the Mother Lode when it was good for over 3 years when the system was glitched and you could double swipe but nobody cared or listened. The Gold Coast thing has been going on for some time but I remember when they first started it and I talked to the club and realized it was not very good or no good at all. Although they do have some games that you can get close to with your green card. Eastside Cannery has been doing that for a very long time but they fixed it years ago. If you search my first 300 to 450 posts on here you will find plenty of positive contributions for current ways to play machines in Vegas. No reason for me to list them or some of the new things going on right now because honestly nobody gives a shit.

[redietz]

Monet, your info was very good, and I appreciated it. Even the angles that are no longer available were interesting to those of us who don't know a lot about working things that way.

[monet]

Monet, your info was very good, and I appreciated it. Even the angles that are no longer available were interesting to those of us who don't know a lot about working things that way.

Not that it matters but the information wasn't just all about angles or angling. I gave up specific machines at specific Casinos. The machines are still current even as we speak. Not only that but I broke down specific information per Casino of how much coin in you need to play to generate certain mailers and how much is the maximum you can generate so you do not play too much so you can move to the next Casino or play. I also explained what days are best to play on and how to take advantage of point days. Recently I even explained that the 4 Queens was giving an extra 400 per player for X amount of points/coin in which is just gravy on top of everything else. The 4 Queens does this every 3 or 4 months and more so in the summer time. I told players exactly what stand alone progressives to play at certain Casinos and when to start pushing the button when the jackpots are at certain amounts. This information was the easiest by far to make 2 to 3 extra grand per month for a player if they have the time to push the button from 0-48 hours. Most places that I talked about will let you lock down the machine for 3 hours and if you have a partner it is easy to just hammer home the jackpot.

Anyways... whatever... I know you appreciated the posts but I just don't think most people understood what I was talking about or cared. I wish the best for your thread here but with people like RS and AW and others you are not going to get anything positive or worth an hourly for players and the other players who don't care or understand will just bash the whole thing. As a matter of fact, players like RS and AW go bonkers when someone like me talks about plays in an open forum and start with endless PMs about why are you telling everyone these plays?

[regnis]

Monet, your info was very good, and I appreciated it. Even the angles that are no longer available were interesting to those of us who don't know a lot about working things that way.

As did I. Whether all the stories were true or not I don't know or care. The info and stories were informative and entertaining. And then Monet turned on me and keeps referencing Regnis/Singer. I don't know what that is but oh well.

[Dan Druff]

Here is another positive contribution tip. Feb 2018 I went to the Silver Sevens Casino corner of Flamingo and Paradise. It was the former Terribles Casino. It is an "easy-in, easy-out" place with plenty of parking. I came to play the 2-1 blackjack coupon from the Las Vegas Advisor coupon book (max $25 bet). I had played in Terribles years ago and had a players card but I did not have a card for Silver Sevens. So I had one printed out. I bought in for $400 and played $25 a hand blackjack. The rules were decent (only 3-2 blackjack) but after about a shoe and a half I lost all my money -- and I still had the unused coupon with me. I was disgusted but decided just to lick my wounds and walk.

Then come May I started receiving offers from Silver Sevens of $200 "free bets" per month (once per day) plus $60 in food comps ($30 per day) as well as 3 complimentary nights. I have received this same offer for June, and July. There was no stated requirement that I stay at Silver Sevens to use the free bets or food comps. I presume these offers were because I lost $400 so quickly in February.

On June 30, when my wife and I were staying in Flamingo, I stopped by Silver Sevens and went to a promotional kiosk. I was able to print out two $50 free bet paper chits and a $30 food coupon. All these coupons said valid for 48 hours. I then went to a blackjack table with three other players. The "free bets" were not match play bets but before I could use them, I had to hand them over to a pit supervisor who wrote my player's card number and countersigned the chits and handed it back to me.

I bought in $300 and I played a four deck shoe and one one free bet and lost another. The free bet coupons were taken away each time (not sure what would have happened on a tie). I also had a $50 bet in chips out when I finally had a blackjack and handed over the LVA coupon to the dealer. Although the coupon said $25 max bet, I was given a 2-1 blackjack payoff of $100 (oops). After the shoe was done I had won $200 and cashed out. The next day while wife was sleeping, I stopped by the Silver Sevens to eat at their cafe. I was entiltled to a free appetizer, main course, dessert and drink as long as it was less than $30. I had a good steak and eggs and big three scoop banana split. The service and atmosphere was good. I saw few people at the buffet and I had not heard good things about that buffet.

After I got back from the trip, I again received the same $200 in free bets, ect for August. Now I am not saying it was a free roll but I will be back next week at Silver Sevens and perhaps in August so I may get more in value from the free bets than I lost on that February visit.

FAB

Thanks for this info. I may stop by and create a card there.

[FABismonte]

Monet, your info was very good, and I appreciated it. Even the angles that are no longer available were interesting to those of us who don't know a lot about working things that way.

Monet, I too enjoyed reading your suggestions on the casino plays, especially the downtown casinos.

FAB

[FABismonte]

Thanks for this info. I may stop by and create a card there.

I stopped by Silver Sevens this weekend. In the kiosk I did get two $25 free play vouches per day so a total of $100 in free play on the two days I stopped by.

That said, the BJ is 6-5. I thought it was 3-2 (they could have changed it or maybe I was mistaken). I played by vouchers on the Don't at the craps table. There was no one playing and only one dealer on the table. I won 3/4 free play bets last weekend.

FAB

[kewlJ]

That said, the BJ is 6-5. I thought it was 3-2 (they could have changed it or maybe I was mistaken). I played by vouchers on the Don't at the craps table. There was no one playing and only one dealer on the table. I won 3/4 free play bets last weekend.

FAB

6:5...really? Not doubting you. I haven't been to S7 in probably a month. It is not part of my primary rotation, but I do play there and their BJ has always been 3:2. So this would be a change for the worse. Was it the double deck game or the 6 deck game also?


kj

[FABismonte]

That said, the BJ is 6-5. I thought it was 3-2 (they could have changed it or maybe I was mistaken). I played by vouchers on the Don't at the craps table. There was no one playing and only one dealer on the table. I won 3/4 free play bets last weekend.

FAB

6:5...really? Not doubting you. I haven't been to S7 in probably a month. It is not part of my primary rotation, but I do play there and their BJ has always been 3:2. So this would be a change for the worse. Was it the double deck game or the 6 deck game also?


kj

Hi Kj:

I am sorry to say Silver Sevens was 6-5 even for a six deck shoe. Yes, it struck me as odd given that it is NOT a strip location. Or even offer any off-strip luxury. I did not check out each table, but the female dealer did tell me that all their BJ was 6-5. I also was with some buddies who did play and their Blackjacks were paid 6-5. I did not ask if it was a recent change, but the current situation deviates from my memory from last February and I NEVER play anything but 3-2 absent something peculiar like promotional chips or special coupons.

FAB