Unbelievable Luck?

So far this year I have won over 30k at the casino. My Dad goes once or twice a week. I usually go with him once or twice a month. It all started when I hit a royal flush on a quarter double double bonus machine with a $20 buy in. I took that thousand and started playing the multiple line with bonus muliplier machines. I’ve been playing 5 or ten lines per hand, and I keep winning big. I was there last night for 2 hours and walked out with 14k.

I do study the strategies and know the math for each game I play. Is it possible that I am actually getting good at this, or is it just an abnormally long streak of luck? I suppose some of it has to do with having an adequate bankroll to play with for a change.

I hope it holds out for a while. I’m going to Vegas on the 8th for a few days.

I hope you aren’t especially attached to that 30K you won.

Actually I am very attached to it. :wink: I’m only bringing 4 or 5 thousand with me, and I plan on doing alot of eating and drinking. I’ll probably only gamble in the wee hours.

Oh, well in that case have a blast. I still say ‘abnormally lucky’ though :stuck_out_tongue:

Any machine is definitely out to fuck you over. Some card games can be won, just barely, until you get kicked out of the casino.

I say spend the money you got on [del]hookers and blow[/del] something nice before you waste it on stupid games.

Just don’t forget to set aside about $8,000 to pay taxes!

There is no such thing as “getting good at this”. The machines win, and you lose. The longer you play the more certain that is. Walk away NOW, cash in your winnings, and thank your lucky stars you were one of the fortunate few. Save it, put it towards your mortgage, or spend it on something lasting.

If you are ever again tempted to walk into a Vegas casino, stand outside it and look at it, long and hard. See how big it is, how opulent, how many staff it has. Imagine what the cost of financing, designing, building and running that place must have beeen. Now think this thought: “they built and run this casino knowing - for certain - they would make a bigger return on investment than if they’d left that money in the bank. Where does that certain return on investment come from? **Me. **Me and people like me. Fools who think that it’s possible to beat or game the system for any period of time beyond a few hours or a day maybe”.

That is just…beautiful. To the point, yet tells you everything you need to know. I’m totally saving that and using it on some of my gambling friends.

I appreciate everything you are saying, and I know it wont go on forever, but I did hit for another 9.5k tonight. Its not like I’m playing slots. I’m playing video poker. Only the best pay tables, and optimum strategy.

My house is paid off, and we are very comfortable. This is a windfall that I am having fun with. The Palms sent be free first class flights and comped rooms, so I’m taking my Dad to show him a good time. We will probably do more eating and drinking than anything else. I’m a night owl so I’ll probably spend my nights in a poker room playing holdem.

I was just curious if there were any gamblers on the board, and anyone have a great run like this before.

Congrats on your run of luck. I know a few gamblers who have “done ok.” My father’s method for Vegas is to gamble X amount for the weekend. He’ll leave up and sometimes make enough to pay for his trip sometimes. Other times it just all goes away. Luck is streaky.

Statistically though, all games favor the house. When your luck starts to go, gamble less.

We live in Las Vegas.
On average, we will go to a casino once a week for a buffet and movie, and then play $40 in nickel video poker. (At this low amount, we get to play more hands on our limited budget.)
On some days, we will win $100-$500 just playing that $40.
On other days, ten minutes later, that $40 is gone.

I would say those “lucky days” are about 1 in 5 days - meaning 4 times we come out with “zip”, and maybe one time we will come out ahead.
This isn’t a science; sometimes 10 visits to the casino playing video poker winning absolutely nothin’. Other times there will be two, or three visits in a row where we might come out with something.

The “trick” - once you have more than doubled your money, learn how to stand up and walk away. If you can do that, and play video poker with some sense of strategy, you can play longer and maybe come out ahead every once in awhile.

Still, over the long term, it is rare (unheard of) for “lucky streaks” to last longer than a couple times in a row.

However, memory is selective. You remember those good days and tend to forget those other days. Every local in Las Vegas can tell you about the time they hit two Royal Flushes back to back or the time they won $10,000. They tend to reminisce less frequently about the two months they didn’t win anything, or about the time they took a nice jackpot and stupidly put it all back in the machines and lost it.

Rule of thumb - only take the amount of money you can afford to lose and play it. Once that is gone, go see a show, hit a buffet, take a walk, go take a nap, whatever. In our case, we just go home.
And if you win, plan in advance when you will call it a day! Winning anything more than double your daily investment is always a wise time to bid adieu to the machine/tables.

I’m planning to go to a Vegas casino soon, but I’m going to come out a winner…it’s to the Rio to see Penn & Teller. Can’t lose with those two.

I know everyone who’s been to a casino has a luck story somewhat like this, but it’s a cute one so I’ll tell it. The first time I went to Vegas I was playing deuces wild 25-cent video poker and a couple sat down next to me. They mentioned they were on their honeymoon and were just going to play until their table was ready at the restaurant. About a minute or so later the wife of the couple taps me on the shoulder and says, “OK, what should I do here?” She had A-K-J of hearts and junk. I said of course “keep the A-K-J and throw away the other two.” Just as she was doing that, her husband goes, “No, don’t do that!”

Of course she drew Q-10 of hearts. $1,200 jackpot. Now how cute was that…on their honeymoon, wife ignores hubby’s advice and comes up big. I’ll bet she never listened to him again.

How does one get flight and rooms comped at a casino they’ve never visited before?

I always stay at the Palms. I was just there in Sept.