halcyon1234
Well-Known Member
Today was my brother's birthday. A friend of his on a local university's sport's team ran a fundraiser: a bus trip to Casino Rama in "beautiful" Orilla, Ontario. So we knew what we were doing for his birthday!
I didn't have anywhere near the bankroll I wanted going in. I was expected over 1K in cashouts from some VERY good positive variance while bonus whoring. But I miscalculated bank days and real days. Today was Good Friday, and the banks weren't transferring any wires. So I was stuck with the measly $200 I had, $100 someone owed me, and another $100 I borrowed from my brother.
The bus trip up was shorter than I thought, and all the while I got to watch civilization slowly fading from existence. We started in the very heart of Toronto, and proceeded North to Nowhere. Along the way, it got snowier, more desolate and isolated-- and to top it off, being Good Friday, everything was closed. It was like a ghost town!
For the bus ride up, my brother had covertly snuck some vodka and orange juice into a 7-up bottle. A mighty effort of subterfuge-- completely obliterated by the fact that a group of underaged girls were drinking Guiness and Labatts RIGHT OUT OF THE LABELED CANS.
Finally we arrived at the casino. We were given the standard "get you player card or you don't get food, have your ID ready or you don't get in" speech. Aforementioned underaged girls borrowed their friends IDs to get in and get PCs. Then when said friends went for their PCs, then had to try to explain why, they were trying to get ANOTHER PC when they just got one 30 seconds ago. Yeah, some people don't think things through.
No concern of mine, as I wanted to do 2 things. Check out the tables and friggin eat something. I did a walkabout while the rest of our party got their PCs, just in time to see every single table being pumped up to $15/$25/$50 limits. (For the record, it was 2pm on a Friday). Not a problem, just means I'll have to wong like a Standford. So, onto food!
Last time I was at a Casino, it was at Niagara. The buffet, which was comped, was beautiful. Every piece of food was tasty, and tasted different. The desserts were gourmet, and the fresh-sliced was nice, rare roast beef. It was something I would have gladly paid full price for.
Here? Not so much. Things took a turn for the worse when the first thing I encountered was a sign that said "Spaghetti Pasta" (differentiating it from, y'know, all those non-pasta Spaghettis???) . Then they went further downhill when I got a 5-minute lecture from the slice-lady about why it was called CORN beef. Oh yeah, and the German Chocolate cake was neither german, nor chocolately, and just barely cake. I was describing some of the food as "craptacular" at the exact moment the waitress came for drink orders. She didn't flinch. I think she a agreed.
So, with a Standard, Generic Mess of Carbohydrates and Proteins out of the way, it was time to play some BLACKJACK! Or at least, wander table to table looking for anyone that had seats that weren't reserved. The place was frigging PACKED! There were lots of places to backcount two tables, but no places to sit when the count got good. Nothing is more frustrating than having a TC +4-- and no open spots.
After about an hour, I finally found a table I could count and sit at. Count rose, I sat, I won about $50, I left. Worked out well. Another half hour passes, and the crowds are thinning out. At last I find +TC table, grab a seat, and start taking some Player Advantage! The count stays high the whole shoe. During the shuffle, I take a few cell calls "from my brother, regarding our poker waiting list". (That's my cover-- I'm a timid poker player who might throw down some blackjack, y'know if it feels lucky and stuff). I keep talking for the first hand of the new shoe-- and right away, TC+1. I sit back down, play again. Repeat this two more times, and in the end, I'm up about $100.
All the while, zero heat. The pit bosses are just too busy running around raising table limits and (finally) nullifying the Reserved tokens that have been sitting there for hours to care. I swear I could have been counting out loud, and no one would have heard.
I had a couple interesting dealer interactions. The first, I was mispaid. I'd been alternating my bets between $15 on TC+1, and $40 on TC 2 and higher. (I never had to wong out on TC 0 or less. Nice shoes!). So I was either better 3 reds, or 3 reds with a green underneath. Well, one had I accidently bet $35-- 1 green, 2 reds on top. I got paid $15. As soon as I saw it, I was just WHOA HANDS OFF. Once the dealer finished with the table, I just said "I think you mispaid me". The critter confirms, I get my $35, everyone's happy.
Soon after, the dealer runs out of $5 chips (because, y'know, understocking dealer trays is just how Rama rolls). She asks the table to color in what they can. I say "Sure, as long as we all get Blackjacks." Sure enough, next hand-- 3/7 of them are blackjacks (including my big bet). I couldn't help but tip on that one. =)
Some hours later, I'm up ~$300, when my brother tells me that the (severely undersized and "douchebag-operated") Poker Room has called us. Alright, fine, I might as well try poker again. I'm not horrible at it. I've made money off it before.
An hour later, and two enormous suckouts later, I'm down $125 for the trip. Bleh. It's time for the bus to leave, so I can't win it back. I cash out, all the while adding #4 to my Halcyon's List of Rules:
1) Don't Martingale anymore.
2) Seriously, don't Martingale anymore.
3) I ****ing mean it.
4) No more poker. You can't force it to be +EV, and twice it's eaten you BJ winnings.
So yeah, next time I'm in a casino, Blackjack only.
The bus ride back is spent reviewing how things went. I was up in BJ, which I'm happy about, and identified several points in which I should have walked away from Poker (which will come in handy when I violate #4, and have to add #5-- see #3)
Oh yeah-- at the same time, a group of drunken Scottish rugby players, two of whom are in kilts, dance in the aisle and sing hip hop-- while the bus is driven by a heavily accented man named William Wallace. (I absolutely dare any of you to claim to have ever uttered anything even remotely close to that in a trip report.)
In summary:
1) Casino Rama heat level is near nilch. (Every time a black hit the table, the dealer would half-heartidly mutter "checks play", be ignored by the critter, and deal anyways). They don't care if you literally run between two tables, muttering "plus one here, neg three there".
2) Casino Rama is a festering, over crowded crap hole with bad food, located thirty minutes to the north of the middle of nowhere.
3) I don't have enough comp points to get the orange fleece hooded sweater in their gift shop. I like fleece, and I like free things. So me = :sad:
Meanwhile, I shall regenerate my bankroll online, and save up for my next planned counting outing. Stay tuned this summer for: My Super EX-Counting Report (in IMAX where available)
I didn't have anywhere near the bankroll I wanted going in. I was expected over 1K in cashouts from some VERY good positive variance while bonus whoring. But I miscalculated bank days and real days. Today was Good Friday, and the banks weren't transferring any wires. So I was stuck with the measly $200 I had, $100 someone owed me, and another $100 I borrowed from my brother.
The bus trip up was shorter than I thought, and all the while I got to watch civilization slowly fading from existence. We started in the very heart of Toronto, and proceeded North to Nowhere. Along the way, it got snowier, more desolate and isolated-- and to top it off, being Good Friday, everything was closed. It was like a ghost town!
For the bus ride up, my brother had covertly snuck some vodka and orange juice into a 7-up bottle. A mighty effort of subterfuge-- completely obliterated by the fact that a group of underaged girls were drinking Guiness and Labatts RIGHT OUT OF THE LABELED CANS.
Finally we arrived at the casino. We were given the standard "get you player card or you don't get food, have your ID ready or you don't get in" speech. Aforementioned underaged girls borrowed their friends IDs to get in and get PCs. Then when said friends went for their PCs, then had to try to explain why, they were trying to get ANOTHER PC when they just got one 30 seconds ago. Yeah, some people don't think things through.
No concern of mine, as I wanted to do 2 things. Check out the tables and friggin eat something. I did a walkabout while the rest of our party got their PCs, just in time to see every single table being pumped up to $15/$25/$50 limits. (For the record, it was 2pm on a Friday). Not a problem, just means I'll have to wong like a Standford. So, onto food!
Last time I was at a Casino, it was at Niagara. The buffet, which was comped, was beautiful. Every piece of food was tasty, and tasted different. The desserts were gourmet, and the fresh-sliced was nice, rare roast beef. It was something I would have gladly paid full price for.
Here? Not so much. Things took a turn for the worse when the first thing I encountered was a sign that said "Spaghetti Pasta" (differentiating it from, y'know, all those non-pasta Spaghettis???) . Then they went further downhill when I got a 5-minute lecture from the slice-lady about why it was called CORN beef. Oh yeah, and the German Chocolate cake was neither german, nor chocolately, and just barely cake. I was describing some of the food as "craptacular" at the exact moment the waitress came for drink orders. She didn't flinch. I think she a agreed.
So, with a Standard, Generic Mess of Carbohydrates and Proteins out of the way, it was time to play some BLACKJACK! Or at least, wander table to table looking for anyone that had seats that weren't reserved. The place was frigging PACKED! There were lots of places to backcount two tables, but no places to sit when the count got good. Nothing is more frustrating than having a TC +4-- and no open spots.
After about an hour, I finally found a table I could count and sit at. Count rose, I sat, I won about $50, I left. Worked out well. Another half hour passes, and the crowds are thinning out. At last I find +TC table, grab a seat, and start taking some Player Advantage! The count stays high the whole shoe. During the shuffle, I take a few cell calls "from my brother, regarding our poker waiting list". (That's my cover-- I'm a timid poker player who might throw down some blackjack, y'know if it feels lucky and stuff). I keep talking for the first hand of the new shoe-- and right away, TC+1. I sit back down, play again. Repeat this two more times, and in the end, I'm up about $100.
All the while, zero heat. The pit bosses are just too busy running around raising table limits and (finally) nullifying the Reserved tokens that have been sitting there for hours to care. I swear I could have been counting out loud, and no one would have heard.
I had a couple interesting dealer interactions. The first, I was mispaid. I'd been alternating my bets between $15 on TC+1, and $40 on TC 2 and higher. (I never had to wong out on TC 0 or less. Nice shoes!). So I was either better 3 reds, or 3 reds with a green underneath. Well, one had I accidently bet $35-- 1 green, 2 reds on top. I got paid $15. As soon as I saw it, I was just WHOA HANDS OFF. Once the dealer finished with the table, I just said "I think you mispaid me". The critter confirms, I get my $35, everyone's happy.
Soon after, the dealer runs out of $5 chips (because, y'know, understocking dealer trays is just how Rama rolls). She asks the table to color in what they can. I say "Sure, as long as we all get Blackjacks." Sure enough, next hand-- 3/7 of them are blackjacks (including my big bet). I couldn't help but tip on that one. =)
Some hours later, I'm up ~$300, when my brother tells me that the (severely undersized and "douchebag-operated") Poker Room has called us. Alright, fine, I might as well try poker again. I'm not horrible at it. I've made money off it before.
An hour later, and two enormous suckouts later, I'm down $125 for the trip. Bleh. It's time for the bus to leave, so I can't win it back. I cash out, all the while adding #4 to my Halcyon's List of Rules:
1) Don't Martingale anymore.
2) Seriously, don't Martingale anymore.
3) I ****ing mean it.
4) No more poker. You can't force it to be +EV, and twice it's eaten you BJ winnings.
So yeah, next time I'm in a casino, Blackjack only.
The bus ride back is spent reviewing how things went. I was up in BJ, which I'm happy about, and identified several points in which I should have walked away from Poker (which will come in handy when I violate #4, and have to add #5-- see #3)
Oh yeah-- at the same time, a group of drunken Scottish rugby players, two of whom are in kilts, dance in the aisle and sing hip hop-- while the bus is driven by a heavily accented man named William Wallace. (I absolutely dare any of you to claim to have ever uttered anything even remotely close to that in a trip report.)
In summary:
1) Casino Rama heat level is near nilch. (Every time a black hit the table, the dealer would half-heartidly mutter "checks play", be ignored by the critter, and deal anyways). They don't care if you literally run between two tables, muttering "plus one here, neg three there".
2) Casino Rama is a festering, over crowded crap hole with bad food, located thirty minutes to the north of the middle of nowhere.
3) I don't have enough comp points to get the orange fleece hooded sweater in their gift shop. I like fleece, and I like free things. So me = :sad:
Meanwhile, I shall regenerate my bankroll online, and save up for my next planned counting outing. Stay tuned this summer for: My Super EX-Counting Report (in IMAX where available)
