Vegas trip report

I did a longer report, blow-by-blow style, but IE froze up and I lost it; I blame Microsoft.

Anyways....

arrived on Sunday

did VIP check-in at Excalibur, the lines to check-in and checkout in the regular area were PACKED, a two hour wait

VIP lounge at Exalibur nothing to scream about, only thing they give you is complimentary water

played craps early on for a few hours, went up and down, up and down, ended up quitting after 3 hrs up like $16. Sometimes it happens like that.

had some freeplay on the slots, played the only slot machine I play in Vegas for an hour, made $5

played some more craps, lost $120 when buddy wouldn't stop calling me on the phone while I was at the table, and I was shooting, and I rolled a 7 after hanging up on him

ate lunch at In-N-Out Burger, delicious

ate dinner at Ellis Island, had the steak dinner, still the best deal in Vegas. won $100 in craps there while waiting for my table

went to Aria, very impressed by the valet service

checked out the sportsbook, which was empty because it was after midnight, but looked nice. more like several separate lounges than one open area, but still nice.

checked out the craps pits, they had two going, one for $25 min, one for $50 min.

I played at the $25 table. Bought in for $500, and played for about 4 hours. went up and down, never managed to get on a good roll. Was down to about $150 when I dinally started to shoot well, got myself back up, cashed out with $600, so made $100 in 4 hours.

Went back to my room at Excalibur and crashed out at 6 am.

Woke up at 11 am, went to Mandalay Bay to have lunch at Burger Bar with a cousin of mine who lives in Vegas. Good food and good service, although the hostess was incompetent.

I go back to Excalibur and hit the weight room; not a bad weight room for a hotel, but I'd like more free weights. Shower, then go out to pick up buddy who is drinking at Hofbrau Haus. We go over to TI, he plays BJ, I play craps. I am betting $110 a roll, and losing badly. The dice don't roll well for me on the tables at TI. I lose about $450.

Go back to Excalibur and crash.

Wake up and checkout, see craps table on my way out, decide to play some more craps. Had a guy next to me who had never played before just learning the game. I got on a hot roll at the $5 pit, roll for 45 mins, turned $50 buy-in into $345. Guy next to me just asks why I am betting the way I am, then just starts telling dealers," I don't know what I'm doing, but put my money where he put his." When I seven out, he also has over $300 in front of him. He hands me a $5 chip in appreciation for making him money, I change it into dollars, and bet all the hard ways for the dealers, with pressure on the six (the point) as their tip. My short stop to play some craps on my way out has turned into three hours at the pit.

I check into TI at about 7 pm. I have some food credit and some promotional chips waiting for me. I eat at Canter's Deli and it is excellent. I go play some more craps that night into the wee hours of the morning, leaving TI even.

We leave TI at 4 am, I begin driving. We stop at Route 66 Casino in New Mexico. We eat the buffet there, which is good. I hit the craps pit there, have a two nice long rolls, turn $100 buy-in into $348, putting me up overall for the trip. For some reason, I always do well at this casino.

Arrived home Thursday evening.

I tend to rate casinos on how friendly their service is, how good their valet service is, and how good their dealers are.

Excalibur has the worst valet, by far; if I wanted to wait 15 minutes for my car, I'd park it myself and walk. The craps dealers were friendly and helpful, though.

Ellis Island had the friendliest dealers I met; probably a byproduct of being a local's place off the Strip, though.

Aria/CityCenter had outstanding dealers, and excellent valet service. They were quick to get my car and answer my questions about getting around the casino.

Overall, a great trip. My buddy is already talking about going to Vegas again on Labor Day.

Beergut,

Sounds like a good time. How do you (personally) play craps? Do you have any good strategies to share? Seems like that is your game. I love playingas well.

Bateman (good handle, btw, love that movie),

Craps is my game, it is the only game I can consistently make money off of in the casino.

My basic strategy depends on who is shooting; if someone else is shooting, I typically only bet the Iron Cross, and watch how they shoot. If they are someone who stacks the dice in a particular way every time they shoot, I make the assumption that they are an experienced shooter who tries to duplicate their results every time, and will ride out the bet. If they just shake the dice or don't look like an experienced shooter, I'll play it for four rolls, and then have them turn my bet off. This way, I'll either get even on my bet or make a little bit of money; either way, I still walk off with money.

If I am dealing with an experienced shooter, and they appear to be getting hot on their roll, after I have won four bets on the Iron Cross, I will make two come bets, and place the odds. If they hit their point, I will begin playing on the Pass line and keep two come bets working the whole time until they seven out.

If I am shooting, I'll play pass-come-come along with the Iron Cross because I want to make money on every roll, and want to take advantage of my propensity to throw 6s and 8s.

Any time I make a bet on the pass line or on the come line, I always get a crap check so I have insurance on my bet.

Only other thing I do is if the table is cold and a few people have sevened out, I'll do a count on shooters. After they do the come out roll, I count four rolls after that, not counting the point. People have a tendency to seven out in their first five rolls when the table is cold is something I have noticed. If they make it past the four count and keep rolling the same way consistently, I'll begin the Iron Cross.

That's pretty much it. There isn't much science in my system, I just enjoy playing, and this is a system I've found works for me.