Sonny said:
For a 3-day trip, spend the entire first day scouting. After that you should have a pretty good idea of what games to play, which dealers to look for, what opportunities to be aware of, what kind of action you can get away with, etc.
-Sonny-
Sonny is a much more experienced player than I am, but on this point I think it largely depends on where you are. I recently went to reno for the first time for several days. My M.O. was as follows:
Go with a lot of knowledge of the place, rules, pen, heat
Go house to house looking for acceptable playing conditions given the guidelines above. Then sit down and play at the first acceptable game. The reason being, if conditions are good you should be playing, second you will not be able to figure out heat levels at a place until you actually sit down and play. Additionally, while playing you can determine if pen is consistent.
on short trips with lots of houses I go with a game plan in mind, then check the conditions, if good - play, if not go to the next house. I couldn't imagine scouting 10 casinos, taking notes, then deciding where to play, by that time you are on a different shift, having missed many playing opportunities. At reno I would play the same good games 2 times a day on different shifts... by day 3 i knew which houses to return to, which ones to avoid, several of which i never sat down to play.
if you are strictly looking for weak dealers, etc then I think Sonny's approach may have some merit, as if you are playing at a given house you could miss many pieces of recon....
