I was just thinking recently that I know of 5 different people who are currently in Vegas or are going to in the next month. All random to each other and all happening now. Something must definitely be going right with the country because no one last year was even thinking about going, let alone actually doing it.

This is great. So to add to the mayhem; myself, 44 and Hollywood will be making our triumphant return to Vegas for March Madness this year. It should prove to be a smashing good time as always, but this year we will be adding some additional new West Coast members to the group. Hollywood swears by them and well really it can’t be any worse than our trip in 08. We had 3 different people in our group lose their minds at one point or another during the trip and it was frankly exhausting. None of that this year, but we will see.

So get ready for more posts as the run up the MM10 is on… My Vegas is most definitely showing.

Now I have written about tipping before, but I did come across this list from the good people at Vegas.com that pretty much covers most of what you will be tipping on an average trip to Sin City. (I will note that they missed the cab stand guys ($1-$2) and the bathroom attendants at the umm, adult establishments ($1-$2 per visits).

Tips on tipping: Because Vegas is a service-based city, tipping is a big, big deal. You may not be sure how much to tip and when, so here’s a quick rundown.

Bellmen: They usually receive $1 a bag, but an extra tip is suggested if you ask them to make show reservations or if they help you with taxis, etc.

Cigarette Girls: About $1 to $2 is sufficient, depending on how much you buy and how many times you want her to return.

Concierge: If the concierge helps you arrange show tickets, tours, hair appointments or anything else, it is customary to leave a tip. It’s up to the customer, but anywhere from $2 to $20 is graciously accepted.

Cocktail waitresses: About $1 to $2 per round is sufficient for a small group (two to three people). Increase it for larger groups. Don’t fail to tip, even if your drinks are comped.

Front desk clerks: If you’re looking for a room upgrade, tipping the front desk clerk can get you a better room. We leave it up to your discretion, but we’ve heard everything from $10 to $50.

Valet parking attendants: We suggest $1 to $2 for valet parking attendants when you drop off and pick up. If you want them to leave the car up front, be prepared to tip higher, anywhere between $10 to $30 depending upon how busy it is.

Taxi drivers: These folks drive like mad to get you where you’re going, they help you with your bags, and provide a little chit-chat along the way. About 15 percent of your total fare should make up for their efforts.

Dealers: Tipping a dealer is a little trickier. You can give the dealer a tip in between hands or spins, and this tip can range from $1 to as much as you want to give. You also can wait until the end of your session and tip the dealer then.

Keno and bingo runners: $1 every few rounds is acceptable and suggested even if you aren’t winning.

Food servers: Unless your bill indicates that a gratuity has been included (typically this only applies to groups of six or more), tip your food server 15 to 20 percent depending on the quality of their service. Drop a buck or two at the buffet as well.

Room service: Yeah, we know. The food is already outrageously priced. But don’t hold that against the people who have to lug your breakfast back and forth from the kitchen to your hotel room. Go with the standard 15 to 20 percent of the bill, unless the bill indicates a tip has already been added.

Change person: Don’t forget to slip a few bucks to these helpful folks — especially if you win. Don’t try to palm off a $5 tip for a Megabucks win; it’s insulting.

Slot supervisors: They fix bill jams and fill the hopper, allowing you to collect your jackpot — could it hurt to tip a buck or two?

Pool attendants: Slip the hottie dishing out towels a dollar or two between dips in the pool.

Maids: We’d recommend $1 to $2 a day for the maid service in your hotel room. After all, you couldn’t pay us enough to clean up after you.

These are just suggestions — you’re always welcome to tip more!

Hello to my VegasChronicles Peeps! It’s been a minute since our last post and really all I can say is that life has gotten in the way.  Lori messed up her knee playing football on a company field day (uggh), and I have been traveling like a fiend so the posts have been thin lately.

Not to worry, we will get back into the swing of things and all will be right with the world.  Vegas Baby!

Just getting back from Vegas over the holiday weekend and we have a ton to talk about. There will be reviews, observations, stories and the like, but I had to start with what I can only describe as, “The Run”. If you have been reading our blog for any length of time you know that I am a big believer of Hedge Economics. I have talked about the basic principles here, how they help you get rated and free stuff from casinos here, and have even given some real world examples of some outcomes to give you an idea of what to expect here. All of that is well and good, but when it goes right it’s a sight to behold. Well Lori had one of those runs that exemplify the pure beauty of the theory. When applied properly, under the right circumstances, and with the fortitude to remain true to the escalating betting patterns, the outcome can really be nice. 

So to set the scene it’s around 9:30 am on Saturday and we are up and ready to roll. Destination; the main pit at Caesar’s. We love this place because of the chill atmosphere, older dealers, and great player payouts in that you can split A’s up to 4 times, BJ pays 3 to 2, and you can surrender as well. But really, we mainly love this place because we win, and Lori normally wins big. There was nothing really spectacular happening. Lori survived a couple of shoes with little to write home for, but the third shoe was the magical one. About half way through that 3rd shoe (one that Lori cut, which is crazy because that normally isn’t a good thing) Lori starts her run. She wins the first 4 hands and now has her bet up to $125. So that’s a nice start, but nothing out of the ordinary. At this point she ups her hedge amount to $50 per hand. This is nice as she wins the next 5 hands and her bet is now up to $350. Excellent. Especially since the next hand is a BJ! Yes!

Lori continues to hedge and now is up the $400 and gets a double down opportunity. Now it’s not your normal 11 versus dealer 6. That could be something that is easy to pull the trigger on. However it’s a soft Ace (A4 vs.4) and this was something that Lori would not have done in the past, but this trip we talked about playing all of angles. This means you are playing it by the book, the whole book and that includes doubling on the right soft Aces, splitting small pairs versus dealer 2-6 (or 7), and just believing in doing the right thing. So there is a moment where the dealer pauses before he pulls out the cards, but eventually he busts and boom, winner $800. Now what’s great about that is that she pulls back $1200 and then puts another $50 up on her bet and wins the next hand as well. She wins two more hands and I am just praying for the shoe to end.

Well it finally came to the end after 13 straight wins. She played out the remainder of the shoe, which was only another 2 hands left, and then takes an inventory of the rampage and decides to go to the cage. Lori bought into the table with $300 and left with $2775. I would say that qualifies as “The Run”.

It has been some time since we have had an installment of hedge economics, so let’s correct that shall we? 

I think that it bears repeating that the over goal of the approach is to maximize your winning potential while minimizing your exposure; i.e. your bankroll!  So if you don’t play at a 6-8 deck manual shuffle table with about 2-3 other players all playing proper Blackjack, your expected positive return will be diminish. But you know all that, so now what?

When I tell people about the mechanics of hedge economics I get a wide range of looks from puzzled, to intrigued, to crazy enthusiasm.  Whatever the case may be, I almost always get the, “does it actually work?”  Well let’s look at the last four sessions that I had while in Vegas as a case study.

The first place that I sat down was Paris.  There was a nice mix of people and I settled down at first base with 3 other people at the start of a new shoe.  I started with $400 in chips and a $30 min bet.  I do this mainly because I like to be able to hedge up to $50 after a win and not be basically “stacking” my bet without pulling something back.  I talk in detail about this in the first post on hedge economics, so I won’t go over all of the reasons why, but the main increments of hedging after wins is a green $25 chip, or quarter.

The play was crisp and I got a lot of double down opportunities and got on a nice roll towards the later 3^rd of the shoe.  At the height of the run I was at around $1150.  Normally this would have been a good place to stop, but I was having a good time and just decided to ride out the rest of the shoe.  There were some more up and downs for the rest of the ride, but as the dust settled I got up from the table with $1047.  Not bad for the first run.

The next day I sat down at $25 table at Caesar’s with $400 and hopes of another little run.  I like playing at the main pit because they offer the best possible players odds and generally most people down there play straight.  So after about an hour and a half of nothing great there was a nasty little run of about 6 or so straight losses and bang I am tapped out.

That’s not unusual mainly because if you do everything right you are happy with about a 50/50 chance of winning.  The key is to really get the most out of the times that you are winning, and either minimize your losses or elongate your play.

Well I am not one to be deterred, so I sidled up to another table later that night and bought in again for $400.  Unfortunately for the home team the results weren’t that great.  I liked my tablemates, but 3^rd base left and was replaced by this woman who was playing scared.  She announces after the 2^nd time I watch her not take a card with 16 versus a dealer 10 card that she never hits 16.  I look at her and then look at my chips knowing that they will all be in the dealers rack before too long.  I was right and well I have no one to blame but myself.  I should have just gotten up, but I decided to roll with it.  Well “it” cost me my buy in.

So at this point I am down and don’t have much to say for myself other than I just need to find the right table.  And that table came late at Paris.  There was 5 people already seated and the dealer was shuffling so I said what the heck and I sat down with my usual $400.

Since it was late, Lori decided just to watch me as I had told her that I was only going to play a little bit and then we could go to bed.  She normally plays herself, but wanted to show me a little support.  How nice.

Well this shoe was hot from the jump.  I win the first 12 hands and frankly could have won even more if the guy on my left would have hit that soft 17 like he should have.  It was equally tough in that I had about $250 out there and a 20 in the hole so my stomach sank a little when the dealer turned a 6 card 21.  Dems the breaks as they say.

I decide to continue the ride it out and almost immediately got on another roll.  I won another 7-8 hands in a row and really had some nice BJ sprinkled in there and looked at my stack and decided just to cash out.  I didn’t even play an entire shoe and I cashed out with $1205 after tips and what not.

So what’s the bottom line?  I think that these 4 consecutive runs capture the essence of what happens on average in that when you lose you only lose what you are willing to wager (in my case I wagered my entire buy in each time) and when you win you can really max it out.  Now it’s important to note that you have to understand that when you are on a great run and then you have a couple of losses of your min. bet you have an opportunity to reassess and take your winnings off the table.  When you are on a negative run you don’t necessarily have to risk your total buy in, but you won’t lose more than you put out there.  These two points are equally important as you don’t want to sit at a table too long when you have won a bunch because you don’t want to give it all back, and you certainly don’t have to stick around to get your head kicked in if you are running bad either.

Just remember to always be getting on that roller coaster on the way up and don’t be afraid to get off before the point that everyone starts screaming!