#ulog (115) The Low-end Gambling Life -- Oct. 15, 2018

This Steemit ulog is a series of posts based on my day-to-day gambling activities. Basically, I summarize my results and possibly add notes or observations based on what happened on a given day at casinos. You the reader, should feel free to ask any questions or provide any feedback in the comments.

Next-day delays in posting are common due to having no stable schedules in my line of work.

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Category Definitions

I split my results into categories based on the type of game and opportunity to make a profit. These categories are:

• Core video poker: These are video poker games/machines that either has a player edge built-in, or which flips the edge from the house's favor into the player's favor when a promotion is applied. If the game has a progressive on the royal flush and/or other hands, the edge is based on the jackpot(s) being at its reset value. In the absence of any other extraordinary opportunities to capitalize on, I expect to spend most of my gambling time on core video poker games.

• Other video poker: All other video poker games that are not part of my normal repertoire (e.g. progressive video poker games with excessively high jackpots).

• Slot opportunities: Slot machines where I know of or perceive an edge in the player's favor. This edge will always be a temporary one except under the most extraordinary of circumstances. Depending on the opportunity, a slot session could be over in just seconds or take several hours to complete.

• Other gambles: Everything else. It could be results from trying out a new slot machine, or playing other games such as video keno.

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Summary Of The Day's Results

Core video poker: none

Other video poker: 1 opportunity, went 0 for 1. Spent 2 minutes and finished at -$7.50.

Slot opportunities: 2 opportunities, went 2 for 2. Spent about 1 hour, 15 minutes total and finished at +$202.01.

Other gambles: none

Total: +$194.51 for the day

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Notes/Observations For The Day

Many Konami video slots make use of something that the company calls "Action Stacked Symbols", which results in games with very high volatility. Players routinely go through stretches of several hundred spins at a time without hitting a single decent stacked symbol win. When attacking a jackpot that is attached separately to one of these games (as is always the case whenever I play one of these games from Konami), getting one's fair share of these wins (each one typically paying 60x or more of a player's wager) is critical. Without them, it feels like the slot machine is more like a Hoover vacuum than an actual gaming device in a casino.

I had a crappy session going after one of those Konami jackpots. Betting at $1.75 per spin, I had no payoff higher than $67.50 until just a few minutes before I took down the jackpot. A full screen of a mid-level symbol paying $375 was the only great spin I had all day, and that one spin was the difference between winning and losing the session.