Playing time: 2 ½ hours.
Buy in: $240.
Win/Loss: -$61.
Session Evaluation and Things I Learned
I charted the table. This was an easy table to join because the first 2 shooters I observed hit multiple points each. I bought in and was the next player to shoot.

Excited to try the Patrick Hedge, I immediately went to a $10 pass line bet with $6 each on the 6 and 8. I roll a 7. I’m down $2. Same bet. I roll another 7. I’m now down $4. Same bet. I roll a nine. I don’t make my point. Not a positive start to the session.  What would I do differently? Start each session conservatively and let my success dictate my bet progression. What I want to do in the future is start with a $5 pass line bet for the first 2 points, then progress to a $10 pass line bet for the 3rd and 4th bet along with starting the Patrick Hedge. I would increase my pass line bet after every 2 wins. With a $15 pass line bet I would add a $1 any craps bet. At $20 pass line bet increase to $2 any craps. If I reach a $25 pass line bet the hedge goes to a $4 3-way craps high ace/deuce.

When an obvious trend establishes itself, don’t be afraid to consistently bet that trend. During this session another player was hitting field numbers, especially a lot of craps. A couple of players began making prop bets and they were hitting. I cautiously made some field bets and won several, but I think it is okay to be more aggressive and in a situation like that, follow the trend and make the same bet consistently until the trend is over. In this case, when a field number is rolled, start betting the field until a non-field number comes up, then wait for the next field number to start betting again. Three losses in a row and it’s a wrap for that shooter.

I noticed a couple of players who bought in, had a good roll, then leave.  This reminds me of a craps book I read where the author was a proponent of the hit and run strategy. Swoop in, make a bet then leave. It’s all about discipline and not becoming overly greedy. It’s a strategy to think about.

I continued to qualify each new unknown shooter, a strategy I learned from Sam Grafstein. This means I miss out on some possible profits, but I wonder if those profits would make up for the losses from players who seven-out before hitting one of my numbers. Something to observe going forward.

Parting thoughts. I hate to lose. I need to exercise greater discipline and follow a prescribed bet progression. Be more aware of trends and see if I can take better advantage through my bet selection.

To prepare for my next visit to the ilani I carefully re-read John Patrick’s table charting techniques as explained in his book Craps for the Clueless. In it he advises that, as a right bettor, you want two games where the shooter establishes a point and throws at least one inside number, before sevening-out or making his point. This approach is different than the
5-count system advocated by Frank Scoblette, or the one followed by Sam Grafstein of waiting for a shooter to either hit their point or roll a natural on their come out roll. I like Patrick’s conservative approach to playing so I’ll try his table charting technique.

I also wanted to add to my arsenal of playing strategies so I could better respond to the playing conditions. For my wrong betting strategy, I decided to use a mash-up of Sam Grafstein’s “Mrs. Dice Doctor’s Wrong Betting Play” with John Patrick’s “Simple Don’t Hedge”:

• Bet the don’t pass line with 1 unit
• If the point is 6 or 8, make no further bets
• If the point is 5 or 9, make 1 bet on don’t come
• If the point is 4 or 10, make 2 bets on don’t come
• For the first don’t come bet, lay odds on the don’t pass bet to protect the bet in the don’t come
• Get the first don’t come bet into action and then remove the odds lay against the don’t pass line bet

While I prefer betting on the right side, I now felt prepared to bet wrong if my table charting indicated a cold table.

Trip Report
This was a Saturday noontime visit to the ilani so it wasn’t crowded yet. A couple of craps tables were open, both with a $5 minimum. Action was light. One table only had a couple players and the other table had 4. I stood off to the side and charted the table with 4 players. After 3 players quickly sevened-out, I bought in for $200, determined to play my dark side strategy.

Action was choppy. I made some money on the first 3 players, then the dice came to me. I put $5 on the Don’t Pass line. My point was 4. Established a couple more don't come numbers. Rolled 5 or 6 numbers then hit my point! Second series I hit my don't numbers, then sevened-out. Ouch! I would pass on the dice the rest of the session. Next 2 shooters did well. So well in fact I switched to right side betting when they had the dice, but the rolls weren't long so I got whip-sawed. Things weren't going well so I get out. Loss for the session: -$71.

Things I learned

1. One complaint I have with wrong side betting is you don’t get as much action, even with 3 don’ts working. You win only if the outcome is a seven. An advantage of betting the right side is you can win on multiple numbers multiple times. 
2. Pass on the dice when playing don't. Unless I want to try setting the dice to roll a seven, probably best to let someone else roll the dice.
3. Grafstein preaches to stay right or stay wrong, but never try to anticipate the trend by switching betting strategies. Patrick has a strategy to follow the trend, but I was playing more based on player past performance. Next time I’ll stay wrong. If there’s a hot shooter, better to just step back and not make a bet. If I want to play right, I’ll go to a different table.
4. A lesson I learned when I was playing right was how discipline was critical at a choppy table. If a winning trend hasn't been established, take your bets down after one hit. It may be a grind, but at least It will lock in some winnings.

All in all it was fun playing wrong. I had played Grafstein’s wrong strategy several years ago in Black Hawk but this refresher was sorely needed. With this additional experience under my belt I think I can improve my winning percentage the next time I bet the wrong side.

My return to the ilani was sooner than I expected. A recent Friday evening was free from obligations with Mrs. Poorman so with her blessing I paid another visit to this gambling establishment.

Right when I drove into the parking lot I knew the tables were going to be packed. There was a huge difference from the Monday night I had first visited where I had my choice of parking, while on this Friday evening around 9pm, I was forced to find a spot on the outer reaches of the property’s parking.

As I made my way to the tables, the whole atmosphere was markedly different. The casino was relatively crowded. People were in a hurry. The noise level was higher, with music from a live band blaring from a stage in one of the lounges. Even the slots seemed louder and more chaotic.  

All 4 craps tables were open, 2 with a $10 minimum and the other 2 at $5. There were some open spots at the $10 tables but the $5 tables were packed. I walked around a bit, contemplating the possibility of a short evening. I watched some blackjack (boring), and some baccarat (also boring), and then stopped for a moment at a Roulette table (I knew there must be a way I could win at this game, and after my last Roulette experience swore to learn some strategies before my next adventure. This game would have to wait). I then wandered back to the craps tables and watched the action. The table I had played at in my previous visit was still packed, with a lady having a good roll. A spot opened up at the end but I really wanted a spot next to the stickman so I wouldn’t have to toss the dice as far. I spied just such a spot over at the other table so I walked over and after watching the action a bit, decided to grab the spot before someone else did.

I bought in for $200. Sat out the first 2 rollers because they didn’t make their points. Figuring box numbers were being rolled, I made some 6 and 8 place bets, won a little, pressed some, didn’t regress my bets, lost, then lost again, sat out a roller, bet on the next who immediately sevened-out, and found myself to be down $51. Considering the crappy action I guess that wasn’t too bad. I was up next so I made a $5 pass line bet. My number was 10. I put down $10 in odds and placed the 6 and 8 for $12 each. Hit the 8 and kept the $14 winnings. Rolled about 5 other numbers then sevened-out. Not my night. I knew when to quit so I grabbed my chips and headed to the cashier. Final damage for the evening: -$82. If you add the $81 I won from my last visit, I was essentially down $1, but I still wasn’t happy.

After-action review. There seems to always be more learning opportunities after a losing session. Here are a few I learned from this evening’s play:

Table selection. I chose a table based on the playing position, which is really irrelevant if a table is trending cold. If I had grabbed the end position on the hot table and not even thrown the dice, I could have ridden the success of others. By my selecting a table based on playing position, I put too much faith in my own dice control (which could be affected by the general trend of the table. Maybe I would have had more success on the hotter table even if I was at the end spot).  

Roller qualification. If I had been more disciplined and waited for each roller to qualify themselves, I would have definitely limited my loses. It would have been acceptable to bet on new players if the table was trending hot, but this table definitely was not.

Qualify myself. Just because I was optimistic I would have a good roll when I got the dice, it doesn’t mean I can skip qualifying myself. I need to treat myself just like any other shooter. Make a pass line bet with odds, then wait until I hit 5 numbers before making any further bets.

Charting the tables. Something I remember reading in The Dice Doctor, and also mentioned by John Patrick. I need to watch the action longer before joining a table. I may have been a little self-conscious standing at the craps table not making any bets, but I could have avoided any awkwardness by just watching and only joining a hot table.

Strategy flexibility. One of the Big Four requirements to be successful at craps, according to John Patrick, is Knowledge of the Game (the other three being Bankroll, Money Management, and Discipline). Something I’ll include in that category is knowledge of various strategies I’m comfortable using that I could pull out of my back pocket depending upon table conditions. If I had recognized how the table was playing, I could have entered the game with a different strategy instead of stubbornly playing my predetermined strategy.

Evening traffic was light and I was in the parking lot of the ilani in 30 minutes. Signed up for my Player’s card and then scouted out the tables. Being a Monday evening around 8pm, 3 of 4 available tables were open. One had a single player, the other two maybe 3 or 4 players each. I settled on one and elected to take a spot at the stickman’s 3 right. Turned out to not be my favorite spot, as it felt like I had to toss the dice a mile. Too far for a gentle toss, although half-way through my session the fellow at 2 right went bust so I scooted over to his spot. It was marginally better. Next time I’ll try to get the 1 spot either to the right or left of the stickman.

I followed my cautious approach, letting shooters qualify themselves by making a point before I bet on them. The younger guy to my left had a similar conservative approach to the game as I did, reducing or calling down bets after a few rolls by the shooter. He also had a nice, gentle controlled roll. I even complimented him on it. He thanked me and said he’s been watching a lot of YouTube videos.  

The fellow to my right had an interesting hedging strategy. He would make a Don’t Pass bet, then place the inside numbers. I’m intrigued by this strategy and will practice it at Poorman’s Casino to get the hang of it.

Overall the shooters had some nice rolls. I was ahead after my first bet. No one had a monster roll to really press a lot of bets with. After 2 hours I left with an extra $81 in my pocket.

After-action review: Whenever you come away a winner it makes for a fun evening. The dealers and other players all were pleasant to play with. I can’t fault my strategy and was happy with my play. With the closeness of the casino I hope I can make regular visits to increase my confidence and perhaps expand to other games. Roulette looks like a possibility.

The ilani itself was a pleasant place. Bright and not too smoky. My only complaint is they don’t have soda machines anywhere in the casino, forcing players to order their drinks form cocktail waitresses. That wouldn’t be so bad except they weren’t too plentiful and not particularly fast.

My, my, my, how time flies. Nearly 3 years since my last post, due mostly to lack of opportunity, and a not-so-good session in the intervening years that I didn’t care to blog about. In my move from Denver, Colorado to Portland, OR, I went from having the casinos of Black Hawk a mere 60 minutes away, to the nearest Indian Casino, Spirit Mountain, being over 2 hours away, a distance not conducive to gambling with any frequency. However, with the lovely Mrs. Poorman planning a long-weekend trip to visit family, I felt the siren call of the stickman and made plans to visit Spirit Mountain one Saturday.

Spirit Mountain is a nice casino, for it being of the Indian variety, bright and not too smoky. I arrived there about 10:30am and after getting my players card wandered past the craps table ($5 minimum). It was staffed but no players, and I didn't feel like playing alone. I found a 5 cent video poker game and occupied myself for 45 minutes, then went to check out the craps action again. By this time there were 3 players so I watched the action, then bought in with $200. I was at position 2 to the right of the stickman, with a couple of players to my right and another fellow at the other end.

One of the few books on gambling I've kept with me in my moves is "Craps for the Clueless" by John Patrick, and I had read through a few chapters the night before to familiarize myself with some of his strategies, plus a chapter on money management. My strategy was to avoid betting the pass line and just place the 6 and 8 after the point was made. I would start with 2 units on each, drop to 1 unit after a win, then off after 3 unsuccessful rolls. I would also wait until a new player made their point before I bet on their roll, so pretty conservative, but appropriate after a few years away from the tables. I followed that pattern most of the day, except a few times I placed the 5 and 9, (and my worst play of the day, where I bet $42 on the inside after a new player qualified himself by making his point, whereby after establishing his new point he immediately seven-ed out on his first roll. I should have hedged that bet!)

The first 2 shooters had some good rolls and I was ahead early on. Then I got the dice. I don't know what it was about it, but it felt right, and I quickly got into a zone. My throw was gentle and accurate, my control was good, there weren't chips in the way at the other end, and I had a great roll. Lots of numbers, but not too many 6 or 8s. After I seven-ed out, the next few shooters had good rolls also. The next shooter passes on the dice and they come back to me. I then had a monster roll! In fact, I think every time I got the dice I had a monster roll. At one point I had a point of 4, placed a 2-way hard 4 bet, then proceeded to roll a series of hard 10s, 6s and 8s, before finally getting my hard 4. A lot of people made money off of that roll. It was fun! My timing was good too, several times bringing my bets down to 1 unit each right before sevening out. At the end of the day I went home up $525! The best I've ever done!

After-action review. It’s good to ease into a game, especially after being away for several years, but I think it’s always good to get a feel for how the shooters are doing before betting. Similar to the 5 -Count system, I made the shooters prove to me they could make their points.

Money management is critical to walking to the cashier versus walking by the cashier. Statistically, the average shooter rolls 3 times before rolling a seven, so I went in with a plan to be exposed for short amounts of time. If none of my numbers hit after 3 rolls by the shooter, I took down my bets.

I was comfortable with my conservative style although I want to work on pressing my bets more consistently during a good roll.

I do quite a bit of reading and I always like to know the background of the authors I read,  particularly their gambling experience. As the saying goes, if you want to be a plumber, learn from a plumber. What are their bona fides?

The latest book I have been reading is The Dice Doctor by Sam Grafstein. As I read, I knew I was holding in my hands a classic in the world of craps books. This guy is the crap shooter's crap shooter. He walked the walk. He started gambling at the age of 6. He made his livelihood from gambling, either booking his own street craps game, working as a dealer, or extracting profits from bank craps (craps played in a casino).  He's the kind of guy I would want to be my mentor. Although he has passed away, his wisdom lives on in his books in which he offers advice and observations about the gambling life, sprinkled liberally with gambling lingo. A true keeper for Poorman's library.

Grafstein explains a handful of different playing methods, both for the right and wrong bettor. With a planned trip to Black Hawk over Labor Day weekend, I was anxious to try out one of Sam's methods of right betting. I choose his Converted Come Bet method.

The Converted Come Bet 
This method consists of having 3 bets working. A pass line bet with odds and 2 Converted Come Line bets. After the point has been established, wait until a box number has been rolled, then place that number with a bet equivalent to the amount of a combined flat and odds bet if you made a come bet.  For example, if you make a come bet of $5, and the point is 9, you would have a $5 come bet on the 9 with $5 in single odds. For the Converted Come Bet, you would place the 9 with $10. Simple as that. This is part of Grafstein's philosophy that instead of guessing what numbers will show up, you let the dice tell you.

Grafstein preaches sensible progressive betting, and a strong money management system. For example, whenever one of your points is hit, you press the bet by 50% and place the balance into the lock-up rack. (The railing of a modern day craps table has two chip racks. The front rack is reserved for your betting stake and the rear rack is your lock-up rack, where it is off-limits. When your betting stake is used up, count your lock-up rack. If the total is more than what you started with, you can pocket the difference or move up to the next size bet.)  

Trip Report
My betting stake was $350. I bought in for $500. This is at the Ameristar casino, the only 4-star hotel in Black Hawk, which, as I discovered in my research, has a very generous comp program. Read about my comp strategy. I'm interested to see what kind of offers they send me after this 3-hour playing session! After going through my betting stake twice, I walked away with a profit of $102.

After-Action Review
Any day you can walk away from a casino with some of their money in your pocket is a good day. I was very happy with the results. Playing the Converted Come Bet method for the first time went well, although re-reading Grafstein's instructions after the fact, I discovered I wasn't following his stop-loss rules correctly, which kept me from walking away with a greater profit.

Here are some of my observations.

Plan Your Bet and Bet Your Plan
Grafstein stresses that you should plan out your betting strategy before you reach the tables. Your bets should be made automatically based upon the roll of the dice. Grafstein describes it as being robotic in your actions. I like this approach. The less thinking I have to do during the excitement of a game, the better.

Qualified Shooter
Grafstein stresses to only bet on a Qualified Shooter, which he defines as someone who has either hit their point or rolled a natural on their come out roll. Several times I experienced  a shooter rolling 10+ times before hitting their point, and thereby becoming qualified. I've written about the 5-count method for qualifying a shooter, which I have had success with in the past. Waiting for a shooter to make their point can sometimes take a while if the shooter is on a roll, thus missing some betting (and winning) opportunities. I am going to modify this and define a Qualified Shooter as someone who has either hit their point or rolled 5 numbers. 

Money-Management
Part of the Converted Come Bet method is to progress your wins approximately 50% after your number is hit. Mrs. Poorman pointed out that it seemed foolish to leave your bets working after several progressions until a seven showed and not profiting from it. I admitted that seemed like a flaw in Grafstein's method, but when I returned home and re-read his description of the Converted Come Bet, I realized I wasn't playing his method properly. Grafstein actually has stop-loss rules that would dictate that a player either reduce their bets or take them completely down, thereby preserving a profit. If I had employed his strategy properly, I would have walked away with some extra winnings.

Playing with Confidence
I know dice control is a controversial subject. Many people scoff at the idea of being able to affect the results of a roll of the dice, and there are others who swear by it. I have read enough to be intrigued by the idea, to the point of spending some time practicing dice control methods. I had some long rolls, but I don't know if it had anything to do with my attempts at dice control, or if it was just because I felt more confident. Either way, it had a positive effect on my shooting and I will continue with my study and practice of dice control methods. There were two other players that I could tell were control shooters by the way the set the dice and aimed their toss. They both had good rolls. Was it just confidence? Were they able to affect the outcome of the dice?  Does it matter?

The Dice Doctor is a classic, however it is not a book for the novice player. It can best be appreciated by a more experienced player who has an intermediate knowledge of the game. You will be exposed to the wisdom of a man who  lived the gambler's life, and you'll come away with some excellent betting methods and money management strategies. This is Poorman's favorite book.

I took a trip to Black Hawk on Saturday, where I wanted to try one of the techniques I learned in Frank Scoblete’s Beat the Craps out of the Casinos. While Scoblete’s book has several ideas that are very intriguing and that I intend to try, I’m rooted in the IT approach to troubleshooting, which is to change one element and then to observe the results of said change. If you change up your game too radically, you never know for sure the specific cause of either a good outcome or a bad one. Best to keep it simple and change one element of your game at a time.

On this trip to Black Hawk, my posse Sal couldn’t meet up with me because he was repacking the bearings of Sal Junior’s car. If you got to do it, you got to do it, right? So this turned into a solo trip for ‘ol Poorman. I needed to get up to the Isle Casino anyway because they emailed me a coupon I could redeem for $20 cash, and the coupon was set to expire the next day. This is one example of the benefits of enrolling in a casino’s player’s club. You’ll receive deals like this via email or snail-mail, although I’m a little bit miffed because Sal has received more deals than I have, like free nights at the casinos and $10 chip coupons. I don’t know why Sal is such a favorite of the casinos over yours truly. Maybe they know Sal tends to lose more money than Poorman. Who knows?

I don’t know if it was out of superstition or comfort level, but I found myself at the same craps table at the Lady Luck Casino where I had won $300 during a previous trip. I bought in for $100. (Drat! I realized too late that I forgot to give them my Player’s Card.)

Since my trip to Las Vegas 3 weeks prior, I have been busy reading. As I mentioned earlier, I just finished reading Beat the Craps out of the Casinos by Frank Scoblete. An excellent book that will certainly be added to my permanent library. Of the several techniques I read about and that I would like to incorporate into my play, on this trip I decided to test out the ‘5-count’.

The idea behind the ‘5-count’ is that most rollers will seven-out in a fairly short amount of time, so we practice patience (and discipline) and wait for the shooter to make five successful rolls of the dice before risking our first bet. This reduces our overall risk because we aren't betting on every shooter. 

The count begins when the shooter hits a point on the come out roll. If he hits a 2, 3, 7, 11, or 12, the count does not begin. After a point has been made, any number except a seven will count toward the second, third, and fourth roll. On the fifth roll, the shooter must make a point number 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 to qualify as the fifth count. This makes the shooter “qualified,” and your betting can begin.

I took notes as to what numbers were rolled and I observed some interesting results. By waiting for shooters to become qualified using the ‘5-count’, I avoided a loss of $90 (6 shooters, $5 pass line bet plus $10 odds). While I didn’t win money on every qualified shooter, I did capitalize on shooters who had hot rolls. In this session, I can definitely say the ‘5-count’ saved me money, and I plan to incorporate this technique into my future betting strategy.

Some other observations. A theory I have is that shooters tend to have good luck across multiple dice possessions. On Saturday, on her very first possession, a female shooter controlled the dice for 36 rolls. By far the best of the session. She’s a hot shooter, right? The next time she held the dice, she rolled 7, 7, 11, (all winners), made a point, then immediately sevened-out. While this evidence seems to negate my theory, I believe this to be the exception rather than the rule. In the limited number of gambling sessions that I have been involved with, hot shooters tend to continue their hot streak across multiple possessions. But certainly this is a phenomenon that I can easily track with better record keeping. If I find this theory to be a fallacy, I can easily avoid losing money by applying the ‘5-count’ rule on previously hot shooters.

Another observation. There was a lady by the name of Stephanie who was playing next to me. She was slightly inebriated, playing proposition bets, and placing all the numbers. By her own confession, she didn’t even understand some of the prop bets she was making. A recipe for disaster, right? All the books I’ve read state that prop bets are stupid. Well Stephanie had nearly a row of $25 green chips in front of her, and I figure she was up at least $1,000. Stupid luck? Probably. But that isn’t any reason to change your betting style. Decide how you’re going to bet, then stick with your plan. While I’m an advocate of being flexible and changing your bets as dictated by the trending dice, to totally change your betting style because someone was having stupendous luck will only spell disaster.

Counting the $20 in free cash I received with my Player’s Club coupon, I left Black Hawk $51 richer. Modest winnings for sure, but a victory none the less since my objective is to leave a casino with more money than when I arrived.

I took another trip to Fremont Street on Sunday, losing most of my bankroll (being the equal opportunity kind of guy that I am) between the Fremont and The Four Queens playing craps. Fremont didn’t have much action at the table I was at and I quickly left after dropping $48. I moved to a table at The Four Queens where there were a couple of good rollers and one novice player, a real Dork. I thought I could ride the 2 good shooters and make a profit but at one point I was a little bit too aggressive and made a $36 Place bet on the 6 which promptly lost when the Dork was shooting, along with my other Place bets. That was when the tide turned. I didn’t have much luck throwing so I would pass, waiting for the dice to reach the two hot rollers. Then the Dork starts calling the hot shooter “Peter” which bothered the shooter and throws him off his stride. He promptly seven-outs, after I covered all the Place bets. The two hot shooters colored-up and were gone. Soon I was down to my last $15, all on the Pass line, with the Dork shooting. Fortunately he hit his point. I left soon after with $26 in my pocket.  

Play Analysis: At the Fremont, the table I played at was dead, both from the standpoint of lucky shooters and no one else playing. I don’t like playing at a table by myself so it wasn’t a hard decision to leave.  At The Four Queens I was both too passive and too aggressive. I didn’t cover the numbers like I should have when the good shooters had the dice. The hot female shooter rolled 19 times before she seven-outs, and I only won $21 because I was covering only the 6 and 8 Place bets. In that sequence she hit the 5 five times and the 10 three times. 

I was too aggressive with the $36 Place bet when the Dork was shooting. He had a couple of good runs earlier but I don't like novice players generally so I shouldn’t have trusted his run of good luck. 

There was a $3 minimum table at the Fremont that had a lot of people playing, but there wasn’t any room. I think I should have waited for a spot to open up. There is always better energy with a lot of players.

Tally for the day: -$122

Mrs. Poorman and I flew home the next day without visiting another casino. Although the trip was a net negative total (-$195), I didn't lose my whole budgeted bankroll, so in a twisted logic sort of way I left Vegas a winner. A little lighter in the wallet, perhaps, but it was a cheap price to pay compared to what I learned.

On this trip we are meeting up with family from Los Angeles (Mrs. Poorman’s sister, her husband and daughter), and also family related to my brother-in-law (a niece and her husband, and a nephew named Raymond). Ray is your typical New Yorker, a smart-aleck kind of guy, loud, and very funny.  He has also competed in the World Series of Poker. He’s also very lucky. On Saturday we met for lunch. Half-way through Ray excuses himself to go to the bathroom. When he comes back he sets down $300 in chips he just won on Roulette!? My brother-in-law laments you always have to follow Ray to the bathroom and copy his bets because he tends to get waylaid by a Roulette table and always comes back with winnings. I asked Ray his strategy and he says he plays a set of numbers that are next to each other, kind of like if you cut a slice of pie from the Roulette wheel. His numbers are 7,17,20,32. Then he picks another random number, in his case it is 23. It’s a similar strategy I’ve read about for playing the Lotto. You have a set of numbers you play every time and you let the numbers come to you. It’s an interesting strategy I hadn’t thought of before.

After lunch we went our separate ways and I headed downtown. First stop, The Four Queens. I walked the casino floor and saw a couple of moderately busy Roulette tables with $5 minimums. I got my Players Card (I received a free deck of cards!) and joined a Roulette table with one other person. I bought in for $100. By the time I left I was down $73.

Play Analysis: I never got into my zone while I was playing. It was probably a combination of playing Roulette for the first time in years, getting used to the playing rhythm, and not having a strategy. The ball was landing predominately in the top third of the numbers, followed by the bottom third, and only occasionally in the middle third. If I had focused my betting on the top third I would have done better, instead I chased the numbers. I also had a slight headache, so physically I wasn’t at my best. It also hurt my neck to look up at the number display because I was sitting instead of standing.  The only right thing I did was I stopped the bleeding early and left before I lost all of my allotted gambling funds for the day. More study will be required before I return to the Roulette table again.

Poorman’s Law #3: If things aren’t going your way, get out before you bleed to death. 

I remember my early trips to Las Vegas when I wasn’t even old enough to gamble. Back then (early 80’s), you could go to Las Vegas for cheap food and cheap lodging. Anyone else remember the 99 cent shrimp cocktails and the $39.95/night rate at the Tropicana? That was when the Trop was the first hotel on the strip. Back then I would make the 5 hour drive from Los Angeles with my best friend Mark. I remember staying at the Tropicana, The Imperial Palace, a few places off the strip. Being underage, we would limit ourselves to feeling triumphant when we would get away with playing the slots. Beyond that, the highlights our trip were eating at the buffet at Circus Circus, and going to strip clubs, although during one of those trips I experienced the excitement of playing craps, and it has remained my favorite game to this day.

My oh my, how the town has changed in 30 years. The only things that are still a good deal around here are car rental rates and the free parking. Food and lodging have priced Poorman out of staying at a strip hotel unless underwritten by my employer. Fortunately for this trip, our lodgings at LVH are being subsidized by Mrs. Poorman’s work. Our only expense was my flight, which we paid for with frequent flyer miles. (Hurrah for my Southwest Frequent Flyer Visa card!)

We got into Vegas around 11am on Friday. Picked up a new 4-door Fiat (very roomy for my 6’1” frame), and because we were both hungry, immediately headed to lunch. Based upon a review, we headed to Monta Ramen, at 5030 Spring Mountain Road, for authentic, Tokyo-style ramen. We ordered a couple of ramen bowls and some fried rice. It was an outstanding meal! The small restaurant reminded us of a trip to Tokyo we took in 2012. The slices of pork in the ramen was melt-in-your-mouth tender, the broth was delicious, and the fried rice was incredible. And at a reasonable price! Poorman’s rating: A++

This is when I realized there were still incredible deals to be had away from the strip, at the places the locals eat at. With a car giving us mobility we haven’t had on more recent trips, Vegas can be an inexpensive place to visit.  

I dropped off the Mrs. at the Convention Center for her conference and I went to check-in. After unpacking in our room, I went down to the casino. Not much afternoon action going on. A couple of craps tables were open, the dealers looking bored. Also a couple of Roulette tables with $10 minimums, too pricey for Poorman. So I went in search of a Deuces Wild video game. As part of my research, I’ve been reading one of those Poker for Dummies guides, and there was a chapter on video poker that recommended Deuces Wild as a good game for beginners. Hey, that’s me! So I wandered the slot areas and found a handful, but I was looking for a game that offered a 25-for-5 payoff for four-of-a-kind (quads), which according to my book was very important because one-third of the total payback of this game comes from quads. Cutting the quads payoff to 20-for-5 cuts the payback by 6 percent. Alas, all of the Deuces Wild games at LVH offered 20-for-5 on the quads, so I left the casino floor with my bankroll intact. I still have the weekend so I will bide my time.

Poorman’s Cardinal Rule #3: Only gamble on your terms. Be selective and only play at the best possible odds.