Stargazer? (Foxwoods)

I recently got invited to play at the Stargazer Casino (which is the private room on the 25th floor for VIPs/High Rollers only), but as the minimum up there is $200 and I had no clue what it was like, I politely declined.

Anyone know what the rules and/or heat is like up there? I won't be moving to a $200 unit for a while, but I'm just curious.

(Oh, and on a side note, I got sent a $250 free bet coupon from Mohegan Sun...it doesn't say match play or bonus chips...just 'free bet'. I'm assuming that means match play [if I'm wrong, feel free to let me know]. Either way, seems to be pretty good +EV )

Can't answer either of your questions (I'm pretty useless ) but I just had to say that I thought your picture/icon is phenominal!

If you have a host, ask him/her to give you a tour if you are not going to play. It's rather quiet and well watched by both the eye and the pit...unlike the Newport Room where the wild gambling Asians spread 1-20 or more. Unless your max bet is going to exceed 5k, why bother? The Newport Room is much better for cover. Remember, all Foxwoods high stakes is no mid-shoe...but you can back play if wonging. The ultra high stakes player is not going to allow back play. Also, during extremely slow periods or if you know the pit supervision, they will let you open with a $100 bet if your average hovers over $500. I will admit that I have never run a sim or worried about the exact ror, but experience dictates that a $200 minimum needs at least a $40,000 session bankroll if you expect to win more than 50% of your sessions. Years of experience have shown me that if you know what your max bet is(your own threshold) work backwords and find your table minimum. Play at the lowest minimum that will allow your to get near your max. Remember, you can usually spread to a second hand as well. If you are never going to bet over $3000, play a $50 table.

Avoid, avoid

Unless you are planning on making bets greater than $1000 per hand, I'd recommend avoiding both Stargazer and Newport. You are not only exposing your play to more scrutiny, you are throwing away EV by choosing a game where you cannot come and go as you please.

Never thought about asking for a tour...and yeah, I have hosts at both the Sun and FW.

Generally I don't wong that much. If the count gets bad I'll go to a 1/2 unit, move to a different table, or sit the shoe out, but I'll play a 0 TC pretty much all the time for a single unit. The problem with table jumping at FW is that there aren't enough open seats to do it effectively...and I hate back counting because the few times I've tried it there are only one or two seats and they both get taken before I can get in when the deck gets hot.

I actually spread to as many hands as the casino allows when the count is good (TC 1 seems to be fine)...I ran some numbers with a friend and it turns out (though not surprisingly) that the more hands you play during a positive count, the higher your EV, even if the total bet is the same as one hand (i.e., 4 hands of $250 > 1 hand of $1000).

Now granted, I'm relatively new at counting and not that amazing, but this has been working out extremely well for me. Maybe it's just good variance, who knows. In any case, I'll grab my host next time I'm around and ask him to give me a tour...it should be good times.

Just a players advice... don't spread to more than 2 hands. At three, even with a reduced bet, the amount you will win is about a break even. At 4, the math will not support the move, and you are just 21 years old and don't need to take the heat.
I doubt that you will be maxed out at fw/sun table limits, so don't try to get too fancy. You will find out that this game requires dicipline and the ability to grind it out. I've seen many shooting stars and hot shots come and go.
Just spread to 2 hands and raise your bets.