![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
...tha sees some reet strange people at racetracks and in casinos
Stag do: Haydock & Bolton casino.
Was a bit late getting to Haydock as got off the M60 2 junctions early to avoid a huge jam and had to fly blind for a bit. However, the rest of the party were exactly the same amount late - about 15 minutes - so it worked out OK.
Lots of non-runners made Caerleon's picks and the Racing Post's tipster roundup mostly useless. When their recommendations did run, they didn't win. If it hadn't been for Squirtle in the last I'd have been more than 25 down (though that did include admission and some food and drink, so not so bad)
There were lots of people wearing strange costumes - hen parties and stag parties, possibly, but I think some were just loonies. Men in Foster's lager uniforms dispensing it from huge tanks on their backs. The fast food concessions are a licence to print money, but we knew that. Some people might have looked better if they'd dressed up in silly costumes instead of just dressing up.
As my motor can go quicker than a minibus, I got to Bolton Casino about 40 minutes before the rest. This gave me time to join, drink half of a pint of Guinness, and have a look round. It's much more civilised being able to go in the same day you join: possibly you don't even have to actually join anymore, I dunno. They've either also relaxed the rule about alcohol not crossing the line between the bar and the gaming area or people are turning a blind eye.
I was pleased to find soft drinks are still free, though catching a passing wait[er|ress]'s eye is harder then hitting your number on the roulette table.
The others arrived, got drinks etc, but nobody wanted to be first to lose money at the tables, so we got the restaurant to move the reservation forward (it was empty at the time). I had a very nice hunk of lamb on creamy mash, people who had steak were pleased with that, the wine was OK, and it wasn't expensive.
There'd been a poker tourney running when I got there - it had started at 5 and rebuys were allowed until 7 - but by 8 they were consolidating tables as people got knocked out and there was room for some sit&goes and cash games. I should have tried one of those, but as Chris said, it's a long haul thing and we were all there to socialise and just have fun.
We didn't much like the table limits...
5 quid min on anything easier to hit than a block of 6 at roulette, though you could do 50p on the longer shots. No doubt this is why the electronic roulette machines are popular - 20p a play any bet, iirc.
2 quid min at 3 card poker, a bastard cross between brag and blackjack (you play the dealer, not all the players, and there's only 1 basic bet plus one option)
2 quid min at blackjack. I knew I'd have to steel myself to try that eventually, having practised against a flash version all week. I'd been expecting half that stake though.
Everybody knows how to play roulette - you put some chips on some numbers, and the croupier taks them away a few seconds later. So we had a quick go at that first to break the ice.
You see some weird stuff: people laying out complex patterns of 30 or more chips, presumably minimising the risk of not hitting anything at all. It makes no difference of course - the house has a 2.74% advantage, and it'll get you in the end. Occasionally somebody finds the variance in their favour, and that's what you hope for if you're a once-every-5-years casino visitor like me: you risk a tenner, and if you lose it, it's what you expected; if you get 50% or more up at any point, you walk away feeling very pleased.
Chris had found somewhere on the net that in "3 card poker", you play any hand Q64 or better to get minimal house advantage. So we gave it a try. You place an ante and get 3 cards. If you want to play them, you add an equal 'play' bet. And that's it. If the dealer gets worse than Qxx, your ante pays off at even money; if Qxx or better, and your hand is best, both bets pay off at even money. There's a separate bet that you get dealt a pair or better, and some bonuses for very good hands, but they can be disregarded. Took a while to lose 20 quid each, but we surely did. Saw people playing without bothering to look at their cards - what's that all about?
So... Blackjack. Continuous shuffling these days, thanks to machines, so no point counting, not that I can. I have learned basic strategy according to Wong, though. Bought in for 40. At best, 18 ahead, early on. Mainly oscillating between 8 up and 8 down. Couldn't bring myself to hit soft 18 against 9,T, or A, even though I know it's right. Exchanged pleasantries with a succession of people who came and went at the table as I was there for 2 and a half hours. Some had no clue, some knew there was clue to be had but not what it was, some knew pontoon and needed the dealer's help with the differences, etc. A chinese couple were there when we went to dinner and there when I left, I think I saw them pass about 300 quid in notes to the dealer, and I don't think they were taking any home - they clearly had some idea, but if Wong's charts are right, they were making frequent mistakes.
I was enjoying it, but realised it was getting rather late and I ought to go: I was 15 down. That's no kind of number - 20 is rounder. So I put a fiver on black at the adjacent roulette table and let it ride when it hit, and it hit again. So on that 2.5 hours I was even.
Might do it again in another 5 years or so.
Stag do: Haydock & Bolton casino.
Was a bit late getting to Haydock as got off the M60 2 junctions early to avoid a huge jam and had to fly blind for a bit. However, the rest of the party were exactly the same amount late - about 15 minutes - so it worked out OK.
Lots of non-runners made Caerleon's picks and the Racing Post's tipster roundup mostly useless. When their recommendations did run, they didn't win. If it hadn't been for Squirtle in the last I'd have been more than 25 down (though that did include admission and some food and drink, so not so bad)
There were lots of people wearing strange costumes - hen parties and stag parties, possibly, but I think some were just loonies. Men in Foster's lager uniforms dispensing it from huge tanks on their backs. The fast food concessions are a licence to print money, but we knew that. Some people might have looked better if they'd dressed up in silly costumes instead of just dressing up.
As my motor can go quicker than a minibus, I got to Bolton Casino about 40 minutes before the rest. This gave me time to join, drink half of a pint of Guinness, and have a look round. It's much more civilised being able to go in the same day you join: possibly you don't even have to actually join anymore, I dunno. They've either also relaxed the rule about alcohol not crossing the line between the bar and the gaming area or people are turning a blind eye.
I was pleased to find soft drinks are still free, though catching a passing wait[er|ress]'s eye is harder then hitting your number on the roulette table.
The others arrived, got drinks etc, but nobody wanted to be first to lose money at the tables, so we got the restaurant to move the reservation forward (it was empty at the time). I had a very nice hunk of lamb on creamy mash, people who had steak were pleased with that, the wine was OK, and it wasn't expensive.
There'd been a poker tourney running when I got there - it had started at 5 and rebuys were allowed until 7 - but by 8 they were consolidating tables as people got knocked out and there was room for some sit&goes and cash games. I should have tried one of those, but as Chris said, it's a long haul thing and we were all there to socialise and just have fun.
We didn't much like the table limits...
5 quid min on anything easier to hit than a block of 6 at roulette, though you could do 50p on the longer shots. No doubt this is why the electronic roulette machines are popular - 20p a play any bet, iirc.
2 quid min at 3 card poker, a bastard cross between brag and blackjack (you play the dealer, not all the players, and there's only 1 basic bet plus one option)
2 quid min at blackjack. I knew I'd have to steel myself to try that eventually, having practised against a flash version all week. I'd been expecting half that stake though.
Everybody knows how to play roulette - you put some chips on some numbers, and the croupier taks them away a few seconds later. So we had a quick go at that first to break the ice.
You see some weird stuff: people laying out complex patterns of 30 or more chips, presumably minimising the risk of not hitting anything at all. It makes no difference of course - the house has a 2.74% advantage, and it'll get you in the end. Occasionally somebody finds the variance in their favour, and that's what you hope for if you're a once-every-5-years casino visitor like me: you risk a tenner, and if you lose it, it's what you expected; if you get 50% or more up at any point, you walk away feeling very pleased.
Chris had found somewhere on the net that in "3 card poker", you play any hand Q64 or better to get minimal house advantage. So we gave it a try. You place an ante and get 3 cards. If you want to play them, you add an equal 'play' bet. And that's it. If the dealer gets worse than Qxx, your ante pays off at even money; if Qxx or better, and your hand is best, both bets pay off at even money. There's a separate bet that you get dealt a pair or better, and some bonuses for very good hands, but they can be disregarded. Took a while to lose 20 quid each, but we surely did. Saw people playing without bothering to look at their cards - what's that all about?
So... Blackjack. Continuous shuffling these days, thanks to machines, so no point counting, not that I can. I have learned basic strategy according to Wong, though. Bought in for 40. At best, 18 ahead, early on. Mainly oscillating between 8 up and 8 down. Couldn't bring myself to hit soft 18 against 9,T, or A, even though I know it's right. Exchanged pleasantries with a succession of people who came and went at the table as I was there for 2 and a half hours. Some had no clue, some knew there was clue to be had but not what it was, some knew pontoon and needed the dealer's help with the differences, etc. A chinese couple were there when we went to dinner and there when I left, I think I saw them pass about 300 quid in notes to the dealer, and I don't think they were taking any home - they clearly had some idea, but if Wong's charts are right, they were making frequent mistakes.
I was enjoying it, but realised it was getting rather late and I ought to go: I was 15 down. That's no kind of number - 20 is rounder. So I put a fiver on black at the adjacent roulette table and let it ride when it hit, and it hit again. So on that 2.5 hours I was even.
Might do it again in another 5 years or so.
Bolton casino