35 Years of Advantage Play – Part 1
I’ve dragged out boxes full of hard-copy gambling records from the last 35 years. They safely survived two major moves – from Indianapolis to Las Vegas and now to Georgia, where they are scattered all over my office. When every desk and table and cabinet surface is full, the floor becomes an organizing station.
How to tackle this monster project! How to describe such a long road! And how can I give a final financial report when there were so many stages and changing circumstances.
I guess I will start at the beginning – that’s always a good starting point! I will give some details about our activities and the gambling environment so that when I mention the financial details they will make more sense than if there was no background information. An important note here: I did not keep good records in the early years. How could I know then that 35 years later I would really want to remember some of those little details!
After our first trip to Vegas in 1984 as purely unknowledgeable recreational gamblers, we had decided that we needed to study so we wouldn’t lose as much as we had that time and we could go more often. We didn’t know about video poker then – most people didn’t – so we started studying blackjack. We read books from the library and went to a seminar and bought a workbook that described and gave instructions for card counting. We practiced at home with cards on our kitchen table. If there was Internet help, we didn’t know about it since I didn’t yet have a computer.
That first trip in April – when we had stayed at the Landmark but played mostly at the Westward Ho – generated a surprising invitation from the ‘Ho that came in the mail just a couple of weeks after we returned home. Wow!!! Free room for 3 nights, free mini-breakfasts every day, a free tournament, and a free party. “Free” had always been my favorite word and now I was seeing a wonderful world opening up to us just by giving our names to the BJ pit boss on that first trip. I’m not sure I even realized then that these were called “comps.” But “free” was a strong enough word to get my attention.
Soooo…we felt we just must return to take advantage of these free things, a feeling that would be an overwhelming motivator for the next 35 years. We crunched the numbers and decided that with the Westward Ho freebies we could afford an “inexpensive vacation” back to Vegas in Sept. On this second Vegas trip Brad ignored the slots he played – and lost on – that first trip and joined me at the BJ table where we both started using our very rudimentary card-counting skills. Then in November we went on our first cruise – a 4-night trip on the Carnival on which we were less excited about shore excursions in Freeport and Nassau than playing BJ, honing our skills in the little ship casino from the time they opened until they closed down in the wee hours of the morning.
We continued getting regular mailings from the Westward Ho so returned in March and May of 1985 and despite the sketchy records I have for this time period, I did note our first (of many more as we would find out later) airline bump of $800 TWA credit. Hurrah – that would pay for our next TWO trips to Vegas! Coupled with freebies the ‘Ho sent us regularly, we could take more frequent vacations than we would ordinarily be able to afford.
Our next casino trip was a 10-day road trip to Atlantic City, with lots of BJ play every day. Still doing very sketchy record-keeping. But after modest losses (in red) in our previous low-level BJ play, I finally could add a green entry for this trip: “Broke Even.” And a note I added then makes me smile now: “We know how. Start cumulative records.”
Little did I know how little we knew!
We were still in the “elementary school of gambling.” But I did start keeping a little more detailed records, although diary-style in a 3-ring binder, adding pages frequently as our casino trips increased. (It would be years until I broke down and bought a computer although I continued with mostly pen-and-paper records to the very end.) Although Brad was still working full time, he had a lot of vacation time in his government job, and we took many casino trips for the next few years. At the end of 1988, I made a summary in my diary of those first 5 years: “33 casino vacations at the cost of $287 each.”
Looking back at my skeleton notes now, there is a problem with those figures. First, we counted all expenses for these trips, including airfare. And casino visits weren’t the only kind of gambling we were doing. When we weren’t out of town on those usually short 3- or 4-day trips, we were doing heavy Tonk play at the local Moose Lodge just down the street. We never could figure out exactly what advantage percentage we had in that game full of mostly – how can I put this politely…well …not very savvy gamblers. All I know is that we made enough money over those years to pay cash for our Indianapolis condo and finance a lot of our travel during those years. I also made a lot of money at Catholic Church Monte Carlo crap tables. (That is a long and so far untold story in itself.) And we added all that income to our casino gambling figure.
There is another problem with my figures those first 5 years. We had the common mindset that one could never beat a casino game. I figured we could maybe break even counting cards at BJ. But I was quickly learning that if you played the comp game wisely, you could take marvelous vacations for free. And that was our only goal those early years.
I can see now that this “financial report” I promised may take more background explanation than I planned. So, I just added Part 1 to the title and I will continue this saga in my next blog.
Great story, We first went to Vegas in 1985 and actually didn’t stay at the HO, but they used to have a slot pull out in front for a freebie or entry into a slot tournament.
We stayed at the Barbary coast for all the years until it was taken over by Harrahs.
I think that the best part of your stories is the memories of all our fun times that come back after you give us such great descriptions….Funny how we sit back and smile about all the fun times, and we forget the other things that we really disliked about the trips.
117 degrees in July, really long flights with brutal connections to all type of airports and flying with injuries or recovering after surgeries…..LOL “Thanks for the memories”
MO
Thank you Jean. Have your books but love hearing about your life. Bless you and Brad.
You know it’s all about the storys of our lives that we always want to share, good or bad and you my dear have a lot of storys to share, so don’t stop, cuz we all enjoy reading/sharing about them!
Many years ago, my Mom went to a travel show in Phoenix and ended up putting my name in at the Western Ho booth. My first COMP!!!!
After a Vegas trip in the early 70s, we began more regular trips in the late 80s. We used a free offer from my Mom and Dad to stay at Westward Ho. We could have run into you if we had only known then. We limited our Vegas trips to 1 per year, continuing to the Ho but eventually going to Circus Circus, Stardust, and finally the Riviera. Later we ventured to Harrah’s and then Bally’s. I mostly played BJ and my wife played slots. It was about then that I decided I would have to up my game to higher limit BJ. I also heard about the Queen of Comps and got my wife interested in video poker. I played both games and later added Texas Hold Em. I have several of your books. We owe a lot to you in learning to practice frugal gaming, playing just enough at the BJ tables and at video poker that we both got plenty of room and food comps. Thank you Jean.
I stayed at the Westward Ho on my first trip to Las Vegas as an adult, Washington’s birthday weekend of 1969. We drove up from Davis-Monthan Air Base in Tucson with no reservations and walked right in. The Landmark was not yet open. It was topped out in 1964 and can be seen in Elvis’ movie “Viva Las Vegas,” but then it sat unfinished for years. In 1969 Howard Hughes had just bought it, and it opened in July. Later I stayed there, in a tower room complete with constant elevator noise. The 27th floor lounge was a great place to sit with a drink watching the planes come into McCarran.
But that’s all gone now.
yes,,,,I use to love the HO….so many freebies….such fun….!!!! I can hardly wait for your next post….Thank you,,,for the memories….VA
Thanks so much for telling the story. I look forward to hearing more. You may not need to go into line by line detail. If you find it overwhelming, I for one, would still love to hear about highlight years. It would not be cheating to give an accounting of the years you do have a complete record of. The ups and downs of a decade or two would be very educational.
Your blog was most welcome today. We first went to Las Vegas in 1996 and paid full price for our room at the Treasure Island. After that I read your books about comps and vp, so we pay less or nothing for our annual trips there. We joined slot clubs and LVA and have even won a small jackpot on a bingo “Hot Ball” number. We are retired now and live in a motorhome, with April always spent in Las Vegas using our LVA coupon book, until this year. Anxious to hear the rest of your story.
u must of been running the craps game at the church or explain
So glad you’re back to sharing your life story, at least the gambling part. It’s especially helpful to all of us during this difficult time. Hope you’ll write an auto-biography some day.
BigKen in San Diego
Oh, I remember the “Ho” well. We stayed there on “freebies” till they closed. Loved the staff and the loose machines, the free buffet and the free shows! I miss that place.
Can’t wait for the next segment!
Love your books and blogs. Wife and I have been regulars since Atlantic City opened.
We play video poker, use computer programs and read what I can find. Most of the good comps are gone and our results are not what they used to be. Sad.