Ongoing VP TR, PART 2!

Rest of Day 2

We make the long trek to the ballroom where the slot tournament is being held. It's halfway between Wynn and Encore... great.

The general theme is Wizard of Oz.

D and I register and lo and behold, we're in the same group number, despite specifically requesting not be multiple times. So annoying. This is my host... just good enough to feel taken care of and not be able to leave. Just inattentive to little details enough that's it's always something. This is actually really aggravating. If we're in different rds, not only does that give us more time away from gambling but also allows us maximum sweat equity. As is, we're really not going to be able to play and root for each other well. F. In better news, for the free gift (free credit), we spin the wheel and I bink 1000 and D hits 750. The lowest was 500 and average EV should be 750 so we're ahead there.

That done, I head back to VP and very quickly lose another 2k before dinner. FF Stuck 11.5k for the trip again.

Mizumi

Obv been here many times, it's always good but never amazing.

That meal came to ~ 1200$, all of which I'm covering with my comp. We could definitely run out this trip. I don't even want to think about how much more we'd be in the hole if D's wife's friend had been able to join us. We head over to David Blaine.

I didn't want to spend much time taking pictures but rather enjoy the show. It definitely exceeded my expectations. The magic side was good, you know it's not really magic but many of his tricks legitimately left you with no clue how he pulled it off. Several times he literally told everyone he was going to sleight of hand an object and even watching it he's so smooth you basically can't see it.

His endurance artist stuff was also fun. Not as unbelievable when you realize it's basically just pain tolerance/stuff he's trained up for but still impressive. He's a great performer- J pointed out that he really only had 6 acts, but managed to stretch them all out with audience engagement and jokes that it filled his whole time and never seemed forced. Would definitely watch again and he deserves all of his accolades.

After the show, we head to Encore for more dice, trying to recreate some of that first day magic. It's the exact opposite and we lose another 2k. Head back to Wynn side- I tell the boys I'm hitting VP, but not for much. I'm basically even for the trip and definitely upstuck.

I grab ice cream on the way back. D and I have talked about getting something several trips in a row but managed to dodge the calories. I need some sugar to feel better about this day.

OK, VP time. Nothing to report. I dump another 4k and am now down 17.5k on the day and essentially even for the trip. Sometimes I really hate VP.

Day 2 result- -17.5k
Overall- -500
5 digit hits- 1
Dealt quads- 3, 2 premium

Day 3 coming soon...

you very accurately summed up his style

I could tell by the writing that it was likely to be a bad day early on, but I was hoping you were bluffing

Good to get the bad day out the way early I hope

As a long time reader of this TR,

You are SO due for a slot tourney bink.

I know it's already happened, but here's to hoping for a full trip-saver.

Changing the subject a bit, what's your favorite piano piece to play leon? Is it different from your favorite to listen to?

We went to see the Cleveland Orchestra last week. They played Tchaikovsky's Fourth, and Seong-Jin Cho played Ravel's Piano Concerto in G Minor. Good live music really is an incomparable experience. Sometimes I wish I would learn to play, but I lack too much in discipline, talent, and increasingly in age.

Both favorite to play and listen to completely depends on the day. I play a mix of classical and modern pop/rock. So depending on the day I might be in the mood for Rachmaninoff, or Elton John.

I lean towards technically challenging, "epic" pieces like Rach's 3rd piano concerto, Chopin or Beethoven's piano sonatas. And therein lies the rub- I WANT to play them well, practice all the time to try and get incrementally better, but the reality is I'm just not that good (and probably never will be). So if I play well on a certain day, I might tell you my favorite thing to play is Rach 3's Ossia Cadenza. On another day, I'll tell you I hate it, I suck and I'll never play it again 😉

As far as your last sentence, it's never too late. I started about 8 yrs ago from scratch and as far as I'm concerned I've gotten pretty damn good. Ultimately I'm just playing for me and if I get better relative to where I was I'll take it as a win. Age shouldn't be a factor, discipline you can control, and talent... I come from the school of thought that talent is overrated. Hard work supplants talent 99% of the time. Sure, we may lack the talent to ever get to the highest level, but that shouldn't stop us from working with what we have.

My favorite piano song to listen to is Debussy’s Clair de Lune.

…As seen in Ocean’s 11, which has a very underrated soundtrack.

I really love impressionist art and music, it’s like being in a dream.

Clair de Lune, depending on the day, is definitely top 5 to listen to. Sometimes it's top 5 to play, BUT sometimes it's the height of frustration. I've known the notes to the piece for years. Been back to refine it several times since. I can play it cold, I've practiced it so many times. BUT, there's a couple sticking points where I know my lack of skill comes out and it doesn't sound pure. Knowing what it is SUPPOSED to sound like vs what I make, and knowing it's SO close but I can't quite make the piano sing... so F'ing frustrating some days. But yeah, on good days it can bring you to tears of joy when it comes out just so.

Two trips ago when D and I walked into the Bellagio, the pianist at the piano bar was literally playing Clair de Lune (well, I might add). Ocean's 11 is the bomb. I will always associate the piece with the movie and the Bellagio. I literally can't look at the Bellagio without hearing the piece play in my head.

For your next trip:

Pisces Bar and Seafare
Location: The Wynn
Projected Opening: Spring

Pisces Bar and Seafare, a new seafood restaurant, will swim into the Wynn this spring. The restaurant will take over the former Lakeside space, which was supposed to be chef Fabio Trabocchi’s Fiola Mare until plans fell through. Executive chef Martin Heierling will build a seafood-focused menu with caviar, crudo, seafood platters, fresh pasta, and dry-aged fish. Mariena Mercer Boarini will design a Mediterranean cocktail menu to complement the food, while the Wynn’s executive pastry chef Jennifer Yee has been tapped for desserts. Expect a redesigned interior with mosaic floors, mirrored portholes, and embroidered velvet walls.

https://vegas.eater.com/2025/3/11/24383331/anticipated-las-vegas-restaurant-openings-spring-2025

Eater Vegas

The 9 Most Anticipated Las Vegas Restaurant Openings, Spring 2025

Day 3

Have to survive today. HAVE TO.

Today in theory is the big day since we've got the tournament. I'll be honest, I'm strangely resigned to getting the bare minimum. Maybe it's bc I've played in so many of these things and have never had a bink of consequence (well, not never. 4th once for 25k). Maybe it's bc I've been in this exact situation many times before- machines have turned, and I NEED a slot bink to book a win, keep hoping, keep losing, etc. Whatever it is, I'm strangely at peace with the knowledge I'm getting nothing. With that in mind, I'm ALSO prepared to slow play/not play today if it means not posting a huge loss. I head downstairs, but with a stop loss firmly in mind.

Need some rungood Sphere...

Shoulda taken this yesterday to go with the show.

I decide to sit at the UX machine with no sound. I generally shy away from this machine bc, well, no sound. On a recent trip, I came down in the early AM just like today, found "my" machine occupied, was instantly annoyed at the person sitting on my machine and proceeded to reluctantly play on the no-sound machine... and ended up having a great morning. Whatever, it can't be any colder than the other machine has been.

What a great AM. As can be seen, I mostly played 5 lines with a few forays into 10 lines whenever I was up a decent amount. Stepped down when appropriate. I played for HOURS and hit 3 8k hits. I finished that session up 10k for the day.

That was JUST what I needed. I head to breakfast at Jardin with a much improved mood.

Food always tastes better when you're up.

J, D and I head to craps. It's good right from the get go. Nothing amazing but I was never down. In for 3k, out for-

Great start to the day! We head to the tournament and I'm feeling much better about our prospects now. Running hot today!

Sorry for the pic of the half-eaten plate, forgot to take the pic earlier. As is typical for Wynn slot tourneys, everything is ok but for "free" food it's pretty darn good.

The rounds- FFFF I have not seen such mediocrity in a long time. D and I are playing at the same time, so it's hard to really keep track of how both of us are doing at any given time. We're letting J and D's wife play as well, changing up people every rd- it literally doesn't matter. 6/6 on just utter garbage rounds. Well, that's that. We know we've still got a shot at a huge score if one of us can bink the bonus rd, but right now that's never seemed less likely.

I was prepared for the disappointment, as I said. But still. I kinda don't even want to have to walk all the way back here for what will surely be just another tease.

I head to the room to drop off my lanyard and try and catch a nap.

All the chips I've got on me. At least craps has been good.

I toss and turn for a few min but I can tell there's ZERO chance of sleeping right now. I get up and head to hi limit.

Session started decent but I end up giving back 3k.

Meet up with D and J again for the bonus rd. Not even going to bother with a spoiler here- we're now 8/8 on garbage rds. Argh. So frustrating. I make a big show of throwing my lanyard away- won't be needing this, to gain access to the awards ceremony that I'm not attending. We head to play dice, and it's BAD. I dump 2k pretty quickly and am now up only 8k for the day.

Head back to VP, dump another 3k. OHFOHFFFFFFOHFF I'm dangerously close to losing, again! And now we have no hope of a slot tourney bink. It's close enough to dinner (Casa Playa at Encore). We walk over so I can sweat 2+2's own TonySoprano who is playing in the Big O tourney.

We watch a few hands. It's hard for my old-ass eyes to really make out what's happening (I don't want to crowd the table), but from what I can see a) Tony's got a ton of chips, b) the flop looks dangerous. Tony makes a good sized bet and gets a reluctant call. He's got his opponent covered. Can't tell what the turn is exactly but it's more paint and seems suited. Tony moves all in. Good bet by him (unless he wants the call). My 2-sec read on his opponent is he's scared and isn't calling unless he just turned the nuts.

Opponent thinks for a bit and mucks. I text with Tony and he clarifies the chip colors for me- no idea of the value of these tournament chips. Turns out yes, Tony had a big stack. Also, he texts me back a few min later- he took that hand down with a bluff 😉

We head to Casa Playa.

Lots of old standbys here (diablo shrimp, carnitas) but some new stuff as well. We got the salsa made table-side and I got a tequila flight. All the food was 6-7/10 with the exception of the tuna- 5/10, not worth getting again, and the green rice. OMFG so good. No idea what they cooked it in, but it was so flavorful, fluffy... I could have eaten bowls of just the rice if I wasn't trying to be low carb. 10/10, would highly recommend. Tequila itself was 5-6/10. Just ok, I'm definitely a bourbon guy.

After dinner, I hit VP again and slowly lose another 2k. I'm up 3k for the day now and basically the same for the trip. I can book a trip win now, but it would require not playing anymore this trip. Not happening, so I resign myself to potentially losing "just a bit". That said, I hear back from my brother who is in town for business. He's going to be able to hang out for a bit. He doesn't gamble at all so we just chat for a while. At some point D and J get the hankering for dice again so we head back to Encore. It's the only hope of finding a 25$ table on a Sat night. In fact, the lowest table min is 50$, but they're going to open up a new table at 10pm. That's 30 min from now. Fine with me... I'll kill more time chatting with my brother.

Eventually, they open up the table and the three of us play. My bro doesn't want to play, but he does watch us for about 30 min before he finally gets bored and leaves. Meanwhile, the table is choppy. D and J both lose slowly while I somehow am up a few hundred mostly bc I'm hitting 4s and 10s and the other guys aren't betting on them. We're near midnight, no sign of a good roll in sight... let's take the small (honestly minimal) win. D and J elect to stay.

I walk back to the Wynn and decide to shove 2k into UX. Whatever, in the grand scheme of things that's nothing. Lose almost all of it, then hit-

Only 5 line UX has gotten it done this trip. I never should have played multiline or 10 line UX.

HUH. Well, I guess that was a good decision! I'm now up 4k for this session. Decide to play another 1k, that goes really fast, decide to play ANOTHER 1k which goes even faster... I can feel tilt starting to creep up... I cash out the ticket and power walk to the elevators. Shoulda pulled the plug earlier, but all things considered I dodged a lot of bullets today and it could have been a lot worse.

Day 3 result- +5k
Overall- +4.5k

Day 4, Final Day

This is how I know I've matured as a gambler. I wake up slightly later than normal but still super early. I actually DON'T have a burning desire to play. I have a much stronger desire to lock in a win here. So, I close my eyes and ACTUALLY GET MORE SLEEP IN VEGAS. Even writing it out now, I'm shocked at myself. When I wake up again, it's almost 8am and the sun is streaming through the windows. Not done yet, I make myself coffee in the room and JUST CHILL for about 30 min! Amazing, huh?

So pleased with the new "disciplined" me that I took a pic. AM view from the room.

We've got a room service breakfast coming in an hr. I head downstairs with one single minded goal- BOOK a win!

Hit this pretty early. SO CLOSE to being amazing!

I coast/play off of that... we get closer and closer to breakfast time and... DONE. Totally break even session. Time to eat. All the signs are there. I cash out, really pleased with myself.

I enjoy a nice breakfast with the crew, and we chat for a while afterwards. We actually don't have much time left in this trip- I tell the crew if they want to play dice it's now or never. I head to hi limit to cash all my tickets and chips and tell them I'll meet them at the tables.

Once I settle everything and square up with D and J (I owe D a bit, J owes me a bit), I'm a 5k winner for the trip. I walk over to the dice table. D has bought in short, and I literally DON'T feel like playing. That's not the same thing as "don't feel like being in action" of course, so I give D 500$ and have half of his action. Then, I just stand there and watch, feeling pretty content about this trip all things considered. The table is actually decent and when D stops he's doubled our buy in. Sweet, bank an additional 500$, that's fine with me!

Head to the airport, say our goodbyes, we make it home in time for the weekly game at my house yadayadayada... another trip is in the books!

Final result- +5.5k

Thoughts- REALLY happy with my level of discipline here. I think I've found my sweet spot in terms of both VP and craps. While I've had much larger hits before that pretty much aren't possible short of a miracle at 5 line UX, I still get enough of a thrill playing at that level at much less risk. And as this trip proved, 5 line UX can still provide plenty of hits if it's decent.

Craps-wise, same thing. I'm becoming more comfortable buying in for less, and trying to get my roll paid for first before I start making some big bets. Ultimately I'm just killing time and if the roll is good it's going to be fun no matter what.

Other than that... CAN WE POSSIBLY BINK A SLOT TOURNEY ONE F'ING TIME???!!!!

Thanks for reading!

Thanks, leon.

I wonder if the sphere's moon lighting is astronomically correct.

thanks as always for the sweat, leon

Glad you were able to finish the trip in the black.

Thanks for sharing as always and it was great to meet you in person.

Next time I’ll come and sweat you a little playing craps or video poker.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I read this as, “thanks as always, sweet Leon!”

And….a $5k win while hanging out with your buddies, doing something fun and eating, drinking and sleeping in a top tier hotel for free all weekend

Brilliant stuff and thanks as ever for the detailed report

You'd think I'd be bored of these TRs even just a little...but nope.

Thanks sweet sweet leon

Yo Leon, long time reader, I always enjoy the sweat.

I wanted to highlight some of your feelings around win/loss sensitivity because recently I've encountered a similar mental switch and I think it raises a few interesting situations. I'll probably draw on my own experiences more recently here but I agree about maturing as a gambler, I took a fairly lengthy break from poker, when I was younger I'd occasionally run up a stack but never had an exit plan for leaving and so inevitably I'd have zero clue how to continue or control it and therefore donk it off.

However, and I'm unsure if it's one thing or a combination of factors (likely the latter) I've been noticing that once I've run up around 1500bb past my buyin, I am far more sensitive to losing the stack than I am to the idea of pushing further and as a result have actually been locking in wins as a result, it's not a feeling I'm really used to, and I have replied here because I do feel in this space, there is a cultural inclination towards pushing it further at all times, and whilst I understand never ceding an advantage, playing while hot etc, I've been moreso attempting to recognise when playing past my best, weighing how I'd feel about locking a win versus how I'd feel if I ended up with a loss from this point and then making the decision from here. One of the biggest indicators I've been paying more attention to is when I start to spend more time considering the gain I'm on and less mental clock cycles on the game itself. I don't know if this is something that goes through your head as well.

Either way, I'm glad to see you locked in a win, and regularly ask myself "what would Leon do", so thank you for explaining your thought process. I look forward to the future sweat. Cheers.

Thanks for the TR, sweaty Leon!

Thanks everyone.

Regarding the comments about maturing as a gambler, I think a lot of them are spot on. Basically, whatever your preferred form of gambling, times will come when the best decision isn't necessarily based on EV or money but other factors. In my case, obv the best financial/EV decision is to never play, but other life goals (have fun etc) take priority. Even with something like poker there can be completely valid reasons to stop despite all the EV ones saying continue. I remember my last true poker session at the Bellagio in 2014- I was up 5 racks in the 40/80 limit game and I racked up for two reasons-

1. J was in the 4/8 game and I wanted to donk around with him
2. (main reason)- there was just something that felt amazing about having 6+ racks in front of me and I wanted to lock in that feeling. Sure, 7+ racks would feel better, but not as good as the pain I would have felt if I came down from my height.

Both of those reasons were -EV at heart. The game was good and I was running over the table. But I still got up and don't regret my decision.

I think the majority of my maturing (still ongoing to be sure) centers around making better long term life decisions and decisions that I'll feel better about once I'm home/away from the tables etc.

If gambling - or any activity, really - isn't something we're doing as a necessary means of making money or survival, then ultimately it's about how it emotionally makes our life better. There are situations where losing feels 20x worse than winning (more) feels good. If it's for fun, then we should really let ourselves have fun with things and not worry about every last dollar. That's a reason why it's important to gamble with money we can emotionally afford to lose, too.

Hey Leon thanks for the sweat. You’re a great writer and I feel like I’m there every TR

One thing I’ve always been curious about because you mention it often (absolutely feel free to not share if you want to) when you talk about your roll, do you just have one gambling roll set aside that you’ve had for all this time? Or do you add to it as it dwindles?

Thanks again bro!

I always stay at the Cosmo because I think they have the most solid food optuons in all of LV. You ever make it there?

Thanks, leon. Your TRs are always fascinating. Yours is a part of the Vegas universe that I do not inhabit, but it is awesome to read vicariously about your experiences.

Book it! On to the next one... 😀

Yeah, you said it more succinctly than I did.

I have a gambling roll. When it was a poker roll it was completely separate, since I became a casino degen a lot of money has been extracted into the life roll, and I've supplemented gambling from the life roll since then as well. The money is so co-mingled at this point I have no way of knowing how much of it is "clean" so to speak, but I do try and keep them separated or gambling -> life roll only as much as possible. It's part of the reason I've been short for almost a year now.

I've been to Cosmo several times with D and other March Madness friends. They started their March Madness trips there and I would join them from the Wynn. Been to most of the restaurants there and I mostly agree, there are some solid options. The overall vibe of the place isn't for me though, too loud and and too many people trying too hard to be "seen", if you get what I mean.