35 Years of Advantage Play – Part 3

1989 was a major transitional year in our lives.  The government was in the midst of a RIF (reduction in force) for civil service employees.  Brad had in his 30 years at Naval Avionics in Indianapolis, but although he was only in his late 50’s and was able to continue working, we decided it would be a smart move for him to take the generous buyout and retire.  Did the thought pass our minds that we could now go to casinos more often?  You bet it did!!

We decided to change our gambling style and leave the junkets, where we would need to take –  and sometimes lose –  several thousand dollars for usually just 3 or 4 days of fun. We figured we could take that same bankroll to Las Vegas, stick to playing lower level blackjack stakes, and we could have fun for longer periods of time.  So, we planned our first after-retirement trip for the month of June in Vegas.

Things did not go well.  We hit a long losing stretch the first two weeks.  We got a little scared – me especially!!!!   I told Brad we must change our air reservations to return back to Indianapolis a week earlier.  He didn’t think that was necessary – we weren’t running out of money and we were still having a lot of fun.  I said I just couldn’t have fun losing money that fast.  He had been gambling his whole life and knew all about volatility.  I just hadn’t had enough experience.

Well, the minute I changed the reservations, we started winning and that next week recouped most of our earlier losses.  We could have changed back our reservations to stay that 4th week, but we decided to go home at the 3-week mark and enjoy our hard-won victory.  I needed a rest after my first fierce battle with volatility.

We flew to Vegas a couple more times that year and many more in ’90 and ’91, increasing our stays from 10 days to up to a month.  We went through other losing streaks, but we were learning not to panic but just keep on the track of advantage play.

As we had learned in the earlier days, comps and promotions would be the thing that would smooth out the rough patches during these years. We had decided to no longer do those high-level junkets to exotic destinations, but in fact the casinos were not offering these as much anyway.  We did take advantage of something called “charters,” catering to more mid-level gamblers. These packages would bundle flights and free rooms and sometimes other perks.  You could purchase the package for a low price or you might be comped the whole package if you had a previous history of play. We did a couple of these from Indy to Atlantic City.  (And there are – or were before Corona – many of these same type of charters available currently.  For example, Harrah’s Laughlin brought in hundreds of players every month from smaller cities all over the country.)

We were getting many of our room nights free during these years, but not all.  So, we did many “Gambler’s Sprees.”  I forget the details now – what we paid – not much I don’t think – but I remember they would usually provide 3 nights free room and a certain number of gambling chips and perhaps some other perks like free meals or shows – always a good value over the cost.   We did one or more of these during our long Vegas stays – mainly at the Riviera, Stardust, and 4 Queens.

The casinos were promotion-crazy during this time – and I never saw a promotion I wouldn’t check out.  Slot tournaments abounded, often including comped room nights – some being free for established customers, but even some that had an entry fee  provided high-value comps.  We really jumped on the “cash programs,” like pay $200 and get $400 in chips.  We even did a couple of the crazy Stupak Stratosphere packages.  And I don’t need to talk about coupons – most of you have heard many stories of my incessant search: sweet-talking  – and a few tips – to get the room attendants to save all the coupon books left behind by former occupants;  walking from one end of the Strip to the other to use a high-value coupon; and to my daughter’s embarrassment, picking through mustard-laden trash at the Westward Ho for unused mini-breakfast coupons.

During these early 90’s when we weren’t traveling to Vegas and other gambling destinations, we were still making a lot of money – to cover our travel expenses – playing Tonk at the Moose Lodge.  And still plundering the Catholic Monte Carlo’s.

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Okay, quit begging and I’ll stop to answer some of your persistent questioning.  Here’s how I made money at the crap tables.

This was not casino craps – this was “street craps.” A dinky crap table with no nice green felt with markings, just a plain wooden surface.  A shooter would throw out to the middle his bet – whatever amount he could afford.  Then one person – or several people if the bet was large – would throw money to “cover” it.  (The middle was a bad bet since the church would take half of the money before paying the winners!!!) Once the “church’s money” was covered, all of us around the table could do side bets.  This was fast and furious action.

If the number rolled was “8,” I might throw down $10 or $20 on the side in front of me and shout “no 6.”  Someone who wanted to bet on the “6” would cover my bill with his corresponding bill. But if the table was full, I might have several people wanting to bet me, so I would have a row of bills in front of me all properly “covered.”   Some would want the “8” too.

“Okay, if you insist, I’ll cover the “6” and the “8” – just throw your money down here.”

If you know craps math, you know I had a nice edge.  But here is where the fun really started.  I would offer the same “no” bet whatever the numbers these crazy side betters wanted.  And the men (mostly young men at the table) would fight to get their bet down on my money even if the number was “4” or “10.”  When the shooter made the number, I would loudly complain as everyone picked up the money in front of me. However, when a “7” came up, I would just smile and scoop up all the bills, not wanting to draw any attention to the fact I was collecting fistfuls of money.

Occasionally some old codger would mutter something about “odds.”  The young men would ignore him, “We’re feeling lucky betting here with Grandma.”

I didn’t feel like it was my place to explain that some women – even old ones – could, contrary to widespread common belief, understand craps!