The drop in visitation to Las Vegas and decline in hotel occupancy show no signs of slowing down over the summer, considering the reports that came out last week.

https://cdcgaming.com/las-vegas-drop-in-tourism-and-gaming-revenue-shows-no-sign-of-slowing/

One of the most fantastic and complete rainbows I have ever seen!

I mentioned a Players IAR run of 9.  From HMoney's notes on this, here is the run of 9.  Although I do not (DO NOT) believe in previously drawn cards influencing the next hand, I do believe in, 'go with what is being presented'. 

P 4/J  flop 4.  B A/K flop Q
P 10/5 flop 4.  B 10/7
P 8/6  flop 5.  B 10/2 flop 9
P 3/5          B A/A
P 2/2  flop 5.  B 6/8 flop 10
P 9/A  flop 5.  B 8/4 flop 2
P 3/10 flop 5.  B 4/2
P 4/9  flop Q.  B 7/3 flop 2

Stop with the likes and dislikes in playing the game of bac.  When you can't beat something, you join it.  Lots of people where I play are not favorites of wagering the Players side. But when they are getting cards to either kill the Bankers side or just squeeze by, $750 or $1,000 or greater on the Players and just keep pulling down the winnings until it cuts, is nice! 

They have to (HAVE TO) do something and it is starting.

https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/casinos-gaming/strip-casino-ditching-resort-fees-this-summer-3387482/

Did rather well.  Stayed longer than anticipated, but friend was hell-bent to profit at least $10k and he was hovering around $6-7k.  Finally he did it and we colored up and left Chicago. 

I must say they do not nickel and dime their players, at least those playing black and purple at the bac table for comps.  They offer nice meals and snacks without even having play history once they see what you are wagering, etc.  I'm talking about $50.00-$100.00 comps. 

More later.

Two shoes advise played.

First was extremely choppy in the beginning.  Mostly 2 card draws both sides.  Very close together, like Players 6 and Bankers 7, Or one side a Natural 8 and the other a Natural 9.  8-9 hands. 

Then a Players IAR streak of 9, followed by 2 and 3 IAR Bankers with mostly a single Players hand, maybe one double Players out of at least 12 additional after the 9 IAR appearing. 

1s and 3s the final 20% or so of the shoe. 

Will add additional tomorrow. 

We are staying off property and enjoying some great food places. 

  Tried to take a pic of the score board but the floor people had an atomic fit about it.

Played half a shoe (second half), mostly chop chop and some doubles.  Did pretty good.  We are going to play another shoe in bit from the beginning. 

First half of the shoe had a run of 11 for the Players and a run of 6 Bankers followed by a single Player and then 7 additional Bankers. 

Almost there with another bac friend.  Stopped to get gas and had a late breakfast. 

Seems these Chinese players got caught as most all eventually do because of their own greed and believing they can outsmart the system. 

Anyone remember the Tran Organization??


https://www.casino.org/news/multi-state-baccarat-scam-nets-1-5m-cops-hunt-cheating-ring/

https://cdcgaming.com/brief/six-charged-in-1-5m-baccarat-cheating-scheme-at-casinos-across-the-usa/

IMO they brought it all on themselves.  They took their bread and butter and made it so others can profit on it from their own customers and future customers in other jurisdictions. 

https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/las-vegas-casino-dealers-face-layoffs-amid-tourism-slump/

Read into anyway you want but I know they caused it all themselves.  It all began around 2013-2015 with the revamping of the two largest brands, points and promotional programs.  Then the rising on all prices by the branded chains as well as the local establishments, etc., and so on. 

The payment could be split among more than a million people in the class-action suit, and after lawyer fees are taken into consideration, it could result in as little as $2 per person.

Despite the low relative payment to get out of the situation, O'Neal is still going to lose out. He was paid roughly $750,000 to promote FTX, and will now pay out more than $1 million in damages after the company's collapse.

https://www.mensjournal.com/sports/shaquille-oneal-agrees-to-pay-1-8-million-settlement

I posted earlier that the Chicago gaming destination market was getting extremely aggressive.  I will tell you they have some of the highest table maximums by far, for 'Off The Street' walk in, no front money players. 

Lots to do in and around Chicago with great food as well!  Prices all around are cheaper as a plus for your out of pocket expenses.

From Timeout:

News

A new study says Las Vegas isn't the best casino city in America—here's what beat it

How could this happen?!

For gamblers—both high-stakes players and people who can barely push a dollar into a slot machine—there's one destination that comes to mind when you think of casinos. It's a city famous for its neon, its enormous themed hotels, its successful ad campaign that promises secrecy and blanket forgiveness for whatever happens there, and a reputation for constantly coming up with new things to entertain visitors. That city is Las Vegas. But shockingly, a new study says that, despite all of that, Vegas isn't the number-one casino city in America—so what the heck is?

RECOMMENDED: The most fun city in America? Las Vegas, of course

In fact, in the list of best casino cities in the U.S. by gaming aggregator SlotMatrix, Las Vegas isn't even in the second or third spot. Somehow, Sin City came in fourth, while a city that few people associate with casinos—Chicago, Illinois—managed to wind up in first place.

Let's look at how that's even possible: The study looked at a variety of data, including how many casinos there are per 100,000 residents of the city; how many casinos have connected hotels or restaurants; the number of slot machines, table games and poker tables in each casino; the number of late-night bars open in the city; average hotel price; and  the percentage increase of online searches since 2022 for casino-related travel to that city.

After crunching all those variables, Chicago shows up as the clear winner. Okayyy.

To be fair, Chicago does have the highest number of table games and poker tables per casino—159 per casino—and the third highest number of slot machines, at 2,100. Interest in traveling to Chicago for its casinos has increased by 258-percent since 2022, according to an analysis of Google searches. Yet both Detroit and Philadelphia have higher percentage of online interest, with 340 percent and 336 percent, respectively.

In second place is Detroit, Michigan, another destination we don't necessarily associate with gambling, yet it came out with the most slot machines per casino and the largest increase in travel-related searches. Atlantic City—finally, a city that does have a casino-based reputation—came in third place overall, with the highest number of casinos per 100,000 people.

As for Vegas, well, darn it. The Nevada town does have one of the highest densities of casinos per 100,000 people, but its hotels are expensive (that's because you can literally pretend you're in Venice, Paris, Egypt or medieval England while you're there, fantasy elements that cost a pretty penny). However, the priciest hotel night actually is found in Detroit, where an average night costs $304. In comparison, the average hotel cost in Vegas is $210, the fourth highest behind Pittsburgh ($285) and Chicago ($232).

We're all little unsure of how all the metrics are weighted because scrutinizing the data actually makes it look like Detroit should win out over Chicago—and Atlantic City and Las Vegas should be worlds above those cities. Ah well, whatever happens in Chicago will be immediately shared with your significant other.

Here's the list of the top 10 casino destinations in the U.S.:

1. Chicago, Illinois

2. Detroit, Michigan

3. Atlantic City, New Jersey

4. Las Vegas, Nevada

5. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

6. Everett, Washington

7. Prior Lake, Minnesota

8. St. Louis, Minnesota

9. Biloxi, Mississippi

10. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Among others things, the other night I cooked a dish of manicotti with homemade sauce for fellow baccarat players getting together for one of our regular discussions.

I snapped a picture when I took it out of the oven.

Deadly shooting outside the Bellagio last night concerning online YouTube social media posting between two competitors.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_aDS6eJp_uM&pp=ygURQmVsbGlnaW8gc2hvdHRpbmc%3D

This next one will explain it all.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0QR49os0UNI&list=RDNSdS-Qm2Mof4I&index=5

To grind it in a bit for the serious students and those that desire to improve their play, I offer the following.

Bank Rolls Versus Buy In Amounts

I read and hear both terms all the time.  My buy-in and my bank-roll.  There goes my bank roll, I lost my buy in, I can increase my bank roll, etc., etc., and so on.

To me, Bank Roll and Buy In amounts/items are two entirely separate things with different functions. 

Bank Roll.  Bank Roll is your total funds you have for gambling. 

Buy In.  Buy In is the amount of money you bring to the casino for the session or trip you will engage in.

While we all have varying amounts and guidelines or desires for our gambling, I learned the following is paramount to the longevity of gambling. 

1)    Allocating a certain amount of my Bank Roll to be my Buy In depending on how long and how many sessions I am planning to engage in.  Also, playing local versus a trip out of state to a major gaming destiny, etc. 

2)    Local Play.  Approximately a Buy In amount of 5% to an absolute maximum of 10% of my Bank Roll for the session to be played.

3)    Out of State, Longer trips.  I would probably bring 50% of my Bank Roll, and then divide it up among the amount of session/days I was to play.

4)    I personally keep my Bank Roll at the same amount as I do not believe in a continual upping/increasing of play level according to one's Bank Roll.  Personally, I found that led to my own downfall numerous times as well as everyone I every talked with, that were long time players of baccarat.  (Winning can be handled with the instant win money for higher levels of play within a session).

5)  Replacing Lost Bank Roll Amounts.  I found it paramount above all else to replace any removed Bank Roll funds at the earliest time possible when funds are won during a session. 

Money Management Guidelines

I have previously mentioned what I feel is, that of a proper Money Management method that will boast the player's buy-in/bankroll and capitalize on sizable wins, cutting down large amounts of play time at the table. 

My Money Management method is made up of 6 areas. It works for myself with years of fine tuning:

1)    Capital Risk.  The buy in.  Partial bank roll, a fraction of it for a session.

2)    1-3-2-6 and/or 1-3-2-4 type of positive progressions.  Max of 2 negative progressions.

3)    1/3rd--1/3rd--1/3 Dividing up your wins every so often.

4)    1 + 4 Parlay for sideways wagers excluding my B or P wagering.

5)    Pull down and use their money for clear thought process. (Important.  If you cannot think clearly, you cannot win).

6)    Length of play time.

The above will govern how long I play and what happens to me.  I have no set win stop or loss stop.  However, I am governed by my buy in and subsequent losses. 

One thing is rock solid, going to happen, will never change, cannot change and will 100% of the time, be the ultimate outcome.  That is; turn of events, change of presentments, the failure of the player and countless other things that all equate to one thing.  And that is, you will lose what you win if your play continues.  That is why your Money Management Method must be allowed to make you more in quicker and larger denominations if you win, and you must walk away from the table with a portion of the win, if you begin to lose. 

Risk.  Pure speculative risk.  Complete open mind with extreme consciousness and awareness.  Stop loss/stop win does not exist in a sense where it is equated to a few units each way.

1/3rds.  If you do not win you have nothing to manage.  If you win, you must protect yourself and I have referred to and almost regularly allow the following to manage my win money.  1/3rd back to my buy in, in front of me.  1/3rd to my pocket and locked up, never to be used again.  1/3rd to a reserve pocket in case I do lose and still decide to play that same session.  If not, then 2/3rds to the locked-up section and totally off limits, etc.   

1 + 4 Side Parlay of wagering.  I use a very little part of my win money before splitting it up to 1/3rds as I mentioned for the allocation of 3 to 5 side wagers that I will attempt to parlay each one, up to 4 times.  Say I won $700.00.  I would put $500.00 aside for 5 attempts at my 1 + 4 Side Parlay wagers.  Each one I would attempt to build up to $3,200.00.  A $100.00 wager parlayed 4 times will equal $3,200.00.  I give myself 5 chances to do that.  Or perhaps I spilt up $1,000.00 for 5 chances at $200.00 each or greater numbers.  In the first example, then I put the other $200.00 to my win money, etc.  These wagers have nothing to do with my straight up B or P wagering, they would be on top of them without regards to my buy in stack, etc.

Pull down and use their money to positively progress with clear thought.  Self-explanatory.

Length of play.  It will turn.  The sole governing factor in my length of play, is how the wins versus the losses are occurring.  What I already won.  You cannot do anything except fall prey to the events waiting to come out.  That is what most do not realize in their management of their time at the table. 

These things combined is my Money Management Method.  It works for me, more times than it does not.  A few units here and few units there or a stop loss of 3 units, will not do anything for you after numerous times of playing except grind you down.  IMO.

NOTES/EXPERIENCE: I have made more larger wins using my 1/3rd-1/3rd-1/3rd and my 1+4 Side Parlay block of wagering, than anything else.

My 1 + 4 Side Parlay wagering thing, is not bets placed on F-7s, P-8s, Ties, or any other side bet, they are all placed on B or P along with a regular wager.  The 1 + 4 Side Parlay block of wagers, derived from win money might take me 20 or 30 or 40 hands to complete.  Varies.  Think of someone betting blacks or purples or stacks of greens, takes $200 and gets 2 stacks of red chips and occasionally throws a red chip or two on a F-7 or a 200 to 1 (3 card 8/9), etc.  Same type of wagering. 

This method allows me to use the casinos money as well as maintain a much clearer mind.  To me it is sideways money I call it.  Not even from my buy-in stack. 

It has worked and worked very nicely for me. 

Remember, Money Management Method is not (NOT) betting /wagering strategy or decision.  It gives you the largest and best advantage a players can possess.  I certainly wish I knew these things early in my playing.