Trip Recount March 2010

#1
So, I figured 'twas about time to post some of my adventures in the month of March.

This month I branched out a bit in my play and the efforts ended up being rewarding. I did more scouting and had better shots at game selection too.

Over the course of a fairly long session I ended up 200 units which I considered pretty respectable. I also managed to examine the psychological side of my play. By this I mean that mathematically if you are playing a game at an advantage there is really no reason to put an artificial stopping point in your session. But of course tiredness, possible heat, hunger, desired session length, etc can of course make good breaking points. As can the impending end of a trip I found.

For me at least, the emotional satisfaction of being up a significant amount outweighed the possibility of increasing that gain when maybe 5% of the trip time remained; plus I was not seeing any kind of earth-shattering opportunities around. I used the time to explore and scout and I think it served me well.

I managed to see some pretty attractive penetration here and there and did my best to go to war with my chip-based ammo. And I learned the valuable lesson of exploring your store on every trip just in case you find some hidden gems that you were not expecting to uncover.

However the trip was not all golden. My biggest mistake was not properly ratholing like I -knew- I should be. And then trying to hustle for comps at a table that I did show a significant loss at only to be told rather bluntly by a PB that I should not even try to claim that I am down "for my entire trip". Lesson learned/reinforced.

I also found that the common perception of AP-ers as legendary beasts is quite useful. It allows some comments to be very easily played off as jokes and works really well in those tense seconds when you are trying to figure out if a dealer/player/Voice of God is making a jest or is actually asserting your mythic status.

Especially funny can be a player's story of the person that you just missed at the table that was "making all these crazy plays and everybody was winning, and you know those MIT people, they are out there somewhere". Hilarious.

Final thoughts: PBS gets a smack upside the head for not handling chips properly and thankfully managed to learn and grown in a non-painful manner.
 

kewljason

Well-Known Member
#2
Nice! Enjoyed your hearing your thoughts.

Under the topic of reasons for ending session, you listed possible heat. Possible heat may be too late. If they have taken some measure that you deem as heat and you then leave, you may just be confirming thier suspicions. If playing rated, that "heat" may begin again immediately on your next visit. :( I try to end my session before possible heat. Short sessions, but thats just me.

Your phrase 'properly ratholing' made my laugh. Is there an improper way of ratholing? Maybe this one that happened to me several years ago. I ratholed a black chip during one decent session, which was a bad move to begin with. You only need to rathole your hourly EV or perhaps a bit more and this was way more than that at the time. Ratholing blacks is not the greatest idea either as some keep close track of them. Anyway, being right handed I used my right hand and slipped the chip into my right front pocket, where I keep my wallet. Not my bankroll money, but my wallet. Sometime after the session, when I went for the chip...guess what? No chip in pocket. Rethought my activities and remembered reaching for my wallet for a tip for a bottle of water. :eek: I think that was a $101 bottle of water. :laugh:

I also like the way you are always trying to learn from all experiences. That is my philosophy as well.
 
#3
kewljason said:
Nice! Enjoyed your hearing your thoughts.

Under the topic of reasons for ending session, you listed possible heat. Possible heat may be too late. If they have taken some measure that you deem as heat and you then leave, you may just be confirming thier suspicions. If playing rated, that "heat" may begin again immediately on your next visit. :( I try to end my session before possible heat. Short sessions, but thats just me.

Your phrase 'properly ratholing' made my laugh. Is there an improper way of ratholing? Maybe this one that happened to me several years ago. I ratholed a black chip during one decent session, which was a bad move to begin with. You only need to rathole your hourly EV or perhaps a bit more and this was way more than that at the time. Ratholing blacks is not the greatest idea either as some keep close track of them. Anyway, being right handed I used my right hand and slipped the chip into my right front pocket, where I keep my wallet. Not my bankroll money, but my wallet. Sometime after the session, when I went for the chip...guess what? No chip in pocket. Rethought my activities and remembered reaching for my wallet for a tip for a bottle of water. :eek: I think that was a $101 bottle of water. :laugh:

I also like the way you are always trying to learn from all experiences. That is my philosophy as well.
That's pretty funny! In a couple of the Midwest stores the $100 chips are white and look an awful lot like $1 chips. Almost gave one to a waitress. I probably would have gotten to sip my next drink out of anywhere I wanted after that, in this place.

I'm surprised the PB openly associated losing with receiving comps. They're not supposed to do that, suggest comps are given for losing, but allege that they are based on your action. The casino wants people to remember winning, not losing.

Ratholing: yeah never rathole bigger than green. No reason to. Getting caught ratholing is just one of those things that sets off alarms and can lead them to believe you are up to something worse than counting. Better to not do it at all than to do it badly.
 

kewljason

Well-Known Member
#4
Automatic Monkey said:
That's pretty funny! In a couple of the Midwest stores the $100 chips are white and look an awful lot like $1 chips. Almost gave one to a waitress. I probably would have gotten to sip my next drink out of anywhere I wanted after that, in this place.
Tipping a $100 white chip would have been right in character with your overly drunken monkey act, :laugh: but at quite a hefty price.
 

21forme

Well-Known Member
#5
Rat-holed chips turning up in odd places

We moved to a new place last year. When the movers finished packing my bedroom closet, one of them handed me a black chip from Trop. He said he found it on the floor. Must have fallen out of my pants pocket after I hung them up.

BTW, rat-holing black works if other players at the table are playing black.
 
#6
Yeah, I thought the PB's comment was a bit interesting myself. Nevermind that my heart was revving up as I was calculating how to best handle the situation. I think the the end I simply came off as a jerk winner who was trying to get the house to pay for dinner on top.

As for "properly" ratholing I mainly meant doing it and doing it at least a little carefully. I like to think I am pretty decent at being subtle but that does not help well you pull a silly and do not even do it at all.

Although, maybe in retrospect I can use the conversation with the PB as a very solid defense if anyone ever did make a comment on me slipping my chips off the table.
 
#7
From Rats to Riches

Here's the easy way- just make sure you have a lot of green in your pile, pick them up and put them in your pocket to go to the bathroom. In the bathroom, transfer a small amount of them to your ratholing location, then when you go back to the table pull the chips out of the initial pocket and play. They'd probably have to review the tape to catch you.
 
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