Rigged machines, programmed cold cycles, and server based technology??

[slingshot]

I hit my second $100k royal in October ($25/coin) after starting with $2500 @ $5/coin. When I worked it up to $5,000+ I switched to $25/coin and the royal hit.

When I hit my first $100k royal a year ago I played first at $25/coin, won some money, moved down to $5/coin and hit a handpay and then moved back to $25/coin for a royal.

Wow! So you're WAAAY ahead for both years? Nice.

[Rob.Singer]

Alan, that's great of course. The thing is, it's heater-shelter play with no rhyme, reason or goals other than to satisfy your insatiable craving for casino action....which is EXACTLY what the casinos want and expect everyone who wins to do. And, based on the fact that you snuck back to play the $25 machines after your first huge hit and didn't say a thing until the next big royal, it's more than likely by now that you've done the same thing over & over again considering all those trips you report from or about LV on. Based on common sense deduction and aside from you having played far over your head but getting lucky twice, it's entirely possible that those royals cost you more than your dozen divorces.

Losing or hitting big winners isn't the jist of my advice. It's not having the discipline to go down in denomination after the big wins. That's what the high limit slot rooms were made for.

Compare that to what I'm going thru at this moment. I was ahead $7700 after my royal, and I switched over from playing ARTT which produced the $2 RF to playing nothing but dollar BP. I've only played maybe 4 hours since then, and it's cost me around $1100. I'm done, so we leave at +$6600 minus the $650 in food & drink I spent plus whatever they don't comp on my $65/night casino rate room. So I'm well over $5k ahead, and it's 100% attributed to my NOT giving in to casino vices. Sure I could have kept trying with my play strategy and done more damage to the machines--which is more likely than not BTW. But I didn't come here to mug them to death, and by doing what I want it makes me know that it's ME who is in charge of my gambling habits and not the casino.

Few people can say that.

[Alan Mendelson]

No Rob. The divorces cost me more than anything I ever lost in casinos.

I do have a plan when I play in casinos, and it's a simple plan: I go with a fixed budget. When I lose my budgeted amount I leave. If I win, I keep playing using a win goal stop-loss.

You've admitted you have no knowledge of how a win goal stop-loss works, and I accept that. But it can be very effective.

But for the record: I have never had a profitable year gambling.

[blackhole]

But for the record: I have never had a profitable year gambling.

Your constant reference to this statement might be viewed by some as a head fake by you that you don’t want to reveal being a winner for hidden and obvious reasons.
I going to take a guess here based on the visits to casinos you do discuss, (which is probably only half of the actual visits) and the action you do talk about.

We all know your income could support high rolling. I predict you’re not a compulsive gambler to the point that you wake up and have to make a bet. Phil Ivey comes to mind. But, you certainly wake up and wish you were in a casino bedroom. You run a business and are busy most of the week, but if you retired you might have the DNA to blow everything, unless you grasp reality.

I think your loss limits are bullshit. People with real money make certain they have full access to funds regardless where they are today. I saw a friend wire 20K to a cruise ship while sailing in the middle of the Caribbean. Today the anodized titanium credit card and the likes usually make things painless.

I predict you gamble all you want until your starving, need the bathroom, can’t think clearly anymore from fatigue, forced to entertain the wife, or just plain had enough of it to the point of not wanting to play anymore.

A hundred K royal could be life changing for some, but for punters like you, it’s nothing more than ammo for future and more often visits.

I totally believe you never had a winning year, and would think the only small chance of having a winning year would be if you hit a 100k royal on New Year’s Eve.

This post might sound like I’m trashing you, but trust me it’s not. You’re lucky you get to live life in the fast lane. There’s nothing like it, and most here are envious of your action. Even the envious AP’s who wish they could make what you piss away, and want to keep reminding you how much of a fool you are for not hiding in corners waiting for a play on a slot machine, or wearing a disguise so you could play BJ.

If you made sure your future and your children are secure, I for one will be looking forward to your next 100k royal picture.

Good Luck

[Alan Mendelson]

That's right: I never had a profitable year gambling.

[regnis]

Alan--doesn't that blow the whole EV long term play theory to hell? Just by chance you should have had a profitable year somewhere along the line.

I have never turned a profit in VP--but my play is minimal and I play games with high variance and bad pay tables for the most part. However, I have almost always been profitable in craps and horses, this year being an exception in horses where I haven't had a big Pick 6 or similar score this year.

Math guys--what are the odds of Alan playing so many years without a positive, even a small one?

[redietz]

I think they'd need an estimate of hands-per-year to take a stab at that.

It suggests Alan plays a lot of hands per year, and consistently year-to-year. I'm not a math guy, so I have no real idea what the number should be to make losing every year likely.

Maybe Alan has a keno habit we don't know about, or maybe he categorizes meeting ex-wives in casinos as a loss.

[regnis]

I hope he's not like the cubs---one win in 108 years.

[a2a3dseddie]

Maybe Alan has a keno habit we don't know about, or maybe he categorizes meeting ex-wives in casinos as a loss.

I don't care who you are, that's funny right there! Creative tax deductions!

[Alan Mendelson]

Alan--doesn't that blow the whole EV long term play theory to hell? Just by chance you should have had a profitable year somewhere along the line.

I absolutely should not have a profit according to the EV long term play theory. My return is exactly what the whole EV long term theory says should happen because I play negative expectation games. And that's exactly what I tell all the lawyers of all the ex wives who look at my photos of progressive royals and $100K jackpots.

[Alan Mendelson]

maybe he categorizes meeting ex-wives in casinos as a loss.

There was a weekend a few years back when I was with wife #3 at Bellagio and I also checked in to Caesars so wife #1 and her new husband and my kids could stay at Caesars that weekend on my comps.

However, I did not deduct anything as a business expense. LOL

[RS__]

So Alan occasionally moves up to $25 denom.....and has hit two $100k royals....yet never had a winning year? I mean "never had a winning year" wink wink.

[Alan Mendelson]

So Alan occasionally moves up to $25 denom.....and has hit two $100k royals....yet never had a winning year? I mean "never had a winning year" wink wink.

Actually... and this will shock you math guys... I do have a profit playing video poker. The video poker profit however is not big enough to offset my losses at craps. This is why I believe Rob Singer when he said he can win $100,000 a year playing VP.

[Rob.Singer]

Like Alan, I've had two $100k winners on $25 machines, albeit their being close to 10 years apart. And I can attest to them being intoxicating. The key of course is in what you do with them. Some people run in to the $100 vp machines in completely uncontrollable fashion. Bob Dancer comes to mind, which SHOULD have told anybody who knows about him and his long-time claims everything they need to know. These people are just plain stupid and are incapable of stepping back for a moment to assess what just happened. Others will, as the above poster noted, just use that sudden windfall as having plenty of ammo for more frequent trips to casinos....esp. if such a win is not really that life-changing. Alan PROBABLY falls into that category.

In my case, since I played for a living within very strict parameters the first time I hit one, I simply got up and went home, returning the following trip to start play all over again at the $1 level. The 2nd time was more mainstream since I wasn't playing for any type of weekly or yearly goals. I spent it, then got a big surprise in the form of the famous Alternative Minimum Tax from the IRS that took almost half of it back.

But none of this matters if someone has a trail of ex-wives and girlfriends-on-demand

[mickeycrimm]

In my case, since I played for a living within very strict parameters the first time I hit one, I simply got up and went home, returning the following trip to start play all over again at the $1 level.

Yes, driving back to Scottsdale and tagging the building is the key to Rob's success. LOL!

[slingshot]

What is the difference in the alternative minimum tax and the tax normally withheld, now 35%? In other words, while playing your artt strategy on the $5 machine (win $100/lose $100 at 1,2, and 5 credits) I should I ever be lucky enough to hit the royal-would there be such a tax at $20,000?

[mickeycrimm]

What is the difference in the alternative minimum tax and the tax normally withheld, now 35%? In other words, while playing your artt strategy on the $5 machine (win $100/lose $100 at 1,2, and 5 credits) I should I ever be lucky enough to hit the royal-would there be such a tax at $20,000?

No. Rob has stated several times that he never payed a dime of income tax in his ten year pro career.

[Alan Mendelson]

No. Rob has stated several times that he never payed a dime of income tax in his ten year pro career.

This is what I remember. Now Rob mentions the Alternative Minimum Tax????

[redietz]

Yes, driving back to Scottsdale and tagging the building is the key to Rob's success. LOL!

I tried tagging the nearest cocktail waitress, but for some reason the casino banned me after the third tag.

Hey, mickey! Ahoy, there!

[redietz]

This is what I remember. Now Rob mentions the Alternative Minimum Tax????

Rob was just funnin' with us. He never contradicts himself. We all know that. He had multiple RVs, remember? One was paid with cash; the other was paid with something, I don't remember, maybe bravado.