Every year I like to come back here and reflect on what happened over the previous year. 2018 was a fairly large year for me as I went on 10 trips to a casino (either Vegas or my local) and while the year was up and down, I did have several positive things to show for it.
1. Video Poker is my jam. - It doesn't seem to matter what casino or in what city. If it's available, I'm playing video poker. And 2018 was a good year for that as I've now added three Royal Flushes to my ledger, including two more in Lake Charles including my first at Golden Nugget Lake Charles and my second at L'Auberge, which was also a hand pay on a progressive of around $1,700.
I also hit my first Royal in Vegas at the Long Bar at the D, where their progressive maxes out at $1,199. No tax form but those did spare me from what would have otherwise been a pretty tough year. As it stands, I'm down slightly, but not horribly. I was severely dinged by slots this year, as I seem to have no luck on them. While I was playing them more frequently to begin the year I've severely curtailed my play at the end of the year where I'm now up to almost 90% video poker. While that doesn't guarantee profitability, it does seem to limit the losses.
2. My luck on slots sucks. - As stated earlier, I'm on a brutal run on slots. My only significant win being a "major" jackpot on Dancing Drums at the Cosmopolitan. It's all timing, and mine sucks. Even Buffalo Gold, which provided me a brief run of hope, has gone South in a hurry. Any and all Buffalo games are just a money suck now, which has me avoiding them. Which is too bad because I really enjoy them when it's paying out. My low point on Buffalo was a $1.40 total bonus win on a $2.40 bet. Ouch.
3. Table games haven't been much better. - I want to play more 3-card, blackjack and Pai Gow Poker, I really do. But my luck on them of late has just been brutal. It's been a minute since I've gotten a decent 3-card hand, and the dealer keeps beating my by one in blackjack. I'm thinking about playing more craps in 2019, I do need some break from video poker monotony.
4. PGP is noticeable now. - I am really noticing it on my Vegas trips. The Strip is rapidly turning into a gambling wasteland as slots are getting tighter, video poker odds are getting worse, three zero roulette is becoming more prevalent and 6:5 blackjack continues to be the scourge of the land. The worst bit? The scum is starting to creep downtown. Even El Cortez has installed red light/green light drink monitoring. It's a sad day in Clark County, NV when even Fremont is racing toward the bottom.
5. Despite the mess, offers are becoming more plentiful. - I'm even getting free room offers from Cosmo of all places. I've no doubt that I'm viewed as a low-margin player, but I'm starting to see the benefits of increased soak time on the machines, and not always losing. With all of our trips I'm now booking Vegas using points on flights, and free rooms. With those factors flying out to Clark County is making the local seem less and less attractive.
6. The Sports gambling revolution is passing me by. - Currently, I live in Texas, one of the more backwater states when it comes to gambling. Now, I don't think that Texas has any business in the casino industry, I think they'd make a hash of it, but online horse and sports betting, legalized and taxes, should at least be on the table. Being able to bet multiple tracks through TVG or TwinSpires would help as well. Yes, there are still the offshore books, if one is so disposed. But legalized gaming is much preferred to the unregulated type. As it stands Texans are going to have to hope that Louisiana and Oklahoma get it right. Relying on those two states is somewhat scary.
7. I had a bad College football season, and (surprisingly) a good NFL one. - If you've followed on here for any length of time you know that this is a reversal of form for me. All year I could never seem to get any traction on college ball, but had good results in the NFL. Even last weekend when I called all underdogs worked out well (4-0). If only I had made the bet.
And that's the story for 2018 methinks. "If only I had made the bet".
Ciao 2018.
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