Liked the story and glad you won. It's good that you're paying attention to the pay tables and playing better games. I don't want to be negative, but I do have one criticism, and that is that you used the words "deciding to go for it".
I don't play Double Double Bonus (I live in NY and they only have 9/6 DDB in AC, so I play 9/6 Jacks or Better), but I checked the strategy and if my understanding is correct, it looks like you made the correct decision in going for the royal flush rather than keeping 4 to a flush. I'm just concerned that by saying "deciding to go for it", it implies that you are deviating from optimal strategy by making some decisions on your own as opposed to always making the decision that produces the highest expected return. Hopefully this isn't true (although of course everyone is entitled to play however they want).
I've had that experience playing quarter 9/6 Jacks or Better and winning $1,000 for a royal flush. The bells don't go off and no one comes by to congratulate you like when you play dollars and win $4,000, and you can't really yell as loud when you hit it, even though the difficulty in getting it is the same regardless of denomination. The good thing is that it doesn't get reported to the IRS and you don't have to tip the slot attendant for a hand pay. I have a cell phone but no camera on it, so I've never been able to get a picture.
Congratulations and hope you keep winning.
--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "exparkrangerguy" <boyd_peter@...> wrote:
>
> First, this is my first posting ever on here so just let me know if I do something wrong.
>
> Second, I would like to thank the lady, I don't know her name, who told me about this site sometime around the middle of 2011. She even loaned me her strategy card while we played quarter video poker (which I now know doesn't have the best EV's!) at Harrah's while her husband was in a World Series of Poker tourney. . .
>
> And now a quick recap. . . The first time I played VP was December 31, 1999. I hit a royal that first night and have been playing ever since. I would get out to Vegas anywhere between two and fifteen times a year. Never gambled a lot, so I usually just limited my play to Harrah's (mainly Harrah's and Rio) as I was comped there (well, at least for two nights a month!). I did pay attention to pay tables, but typically played them as I was too lazy too look elsewhere.
>
> During the last six months of 2011, I made a major change. I really started following this site, made some life changes and made it out to Vegas quite a few times. I limited my play to pretty much only SouthPoint, which I had found out about through this site and Gambling With an Edge (Thanks, Bob, Frank and Munchkin!). I purchased Video Poker for Winners to practice my hands and playing methods. Although I didn't hit anything major, my dollars did seem to last longer and I was able to enjoy myself longer while playing.
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> At the end of December/beginning of January, I made the leap, took a new job and moved to Reno. I waited a little over a month doing some homework and looking over the various casinos before jumping in. After seeing something with an EV of over 100% at Atlantis, I decided to give it a try. I found the machines (JoB 9/6 and DDB 10/6 where you have to put in ten coins)and had a little luck last weekend (my first weekend of play).
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> Yesterday, I tried my luck again at the DDB. My only regret, is due to my current life changes, I was only playing nickels. I started at $100, went down to about $60 and then hit a couple of quads to reach about $125. After that, it was a steady decline until I hit a straight flush which bailed me out for awhile. Then, another decline. I was down to between $10-20 and was having a hard time deciding when to quit. I like to set stop losses and leave with something, but had set the $100 as my allotment for the day. I ended up getting a hand with JQK and 2 of diamonds and a low spade or club, I can't remember which. Deciding to go for it, I dropped the 2D and pressed the draw button. To my surprise, the 10 and Ace of diamonds showed up! 8000 coins!!!! My first royal in over a decade. Like I said, I wish it would have been quarters, but I can live with it. I tried to get a guy sitting next to me to take a picture (I don't have a cell phone) and send it to my email, but he didn't have that ability either. I played a little longer, but ended at $410 with a nice solid (for me anyway!) winning day.
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> Now, I know things go up and down, but this was definitely a nice start to 2012. We will see how the rest of the year goes!
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> By the way, I love the trip reports, Mickey's stories (couldn't he write a book with all his experiences?) and discussion on the odds and math that explains the reasoning behind the decisions. Keep up the good work everyone!
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