Although the family reunion I described in my last entry was the high point of this Indiana visit, that was really just a side benefit of being invited to a VIP slot tournament consisting of 8 teams from various Harrah’s “regions” in the Eastern US. Brad and I were one of 10 player on a Chicago team, westerners invited due to our heavy play at the Hammond Horseshoe.
We played two sessions, each of them just a short 3 minutes but with a feature on the reel machines that made them especially exciting. Periodically, but not on a regular schedule, a balloon with a bonus value would pop up on the screen. You had to “pop” the balloon – by touching it – within 3 seconds to collect the bonus credits, which would be added to the base credits you were earning on the multi-line base game itself.
I usually hate the mindless but furious tapping on the deal button in a slot tournament, often for a seemingly unending session of 10 minutes or more, finishing with a very cramped arm. Thank goodness this session was only 3 minutes because while you were vigorously hitting the deal button with your right hand you had your left had poised up near the screen to be able to pop the balloons when they appeared. This made for a very tense but exciting 3 minutes, and the first slot tournament that I actually enjoyed.
Our team was super enthusiastic – and even Brad, who is known for laid-back molasses effort, was pumped up for the rapid action. However those capricious gods of tournament play were not smiling on us this time and we didn’t come in on the money. But it was fun – and that’s the most important element in the casino part of our life these days.
We also did not do well in our VP play on the floor outside the tournament action, but that did not diminish our enjoyment of this trip. We have been playing long enough to know that we will not win every session or on every trip even though we are doing a positive expectation play. We keep our faith in the successful long term, a mindset that has held us steady for the last 28 plus years and makes all of our casino visits pleasurable – win or lose.
This subject of losing is getting some discussion in the “Comments.” I am seeing some very disillusioned gamblers there and in some private e-mails. I want to address this issue – and I plan to do so in my next blog entry. Stay tuned for some advice on how to cope with it!
Russ asked: “I am curious how you “track” your play, do you keep separate records for JoB vs. Bonus vs. dueces wild games, or do you just keep “Totals” for wins and losses?”
We just keep totals for each session. But I know people who have elaborate spreadsheets and can tell you the individual totals for specific games or specific casinos. That interests some people; it doesn’t interest me. I don’t need to know all the specifics. We just plug along always playing at an advantage wherever we can find it and we almost always come out on top at the end of the year. That’s what interests us most!!!!
I’m glad you enjoyed HS So IN. My wife and I live two hours away, so this is our “Home” casino. You are right their employees are great, and the Non-Smoking 1st floor is wonderful.
I am curious how you “track” your play, do you keep separate records for JoB vs. Bonus vs. dueces wild games, or do you just keep “Totals” for wins and losses?
I just started keeping separate game records at the start of 2011 so I have limited data, but my bonus game returns are higher than expected and my JoB returns are much less than expected. I’m really curious to see how long it takes for my returns to regress to the mean returns.
Russ C. (Southern IN)