Blackjack Bailey VR - Blackjack Bailey VR is a casual casino blackjack game you play in Virtual Reality against a cute and charismatic dealer that goes by the name of Bailey. It's simulated gambling so there are no real money transactions, it's just for fun and practice!
Sharing an analogy I like from mindset coach Elliot Roe. This was originally in spoken format from his interview on the Chasing Poker Greatness podcast, so I had to paraphrase it a little:
Every time you go and play, you've got a choice. You can either be The Casino, or you can be The Gambler. As The Casino, you can sit there, playing the game the way you know is correct, placing your bets correctly and staying emotionless. Or you're there for fun, and you're The Gambler, and you're hoping to get lucky. If you start to realize this, you're just running blackjack. You're not allowed to hit on 18. Not allowed to hit on 18 in the same way that you're not allowed to deviate from your poker strategy. And if you stop following your strategy for emotional reasons, you're no longer The Casino, you're The Gambler. And when players adopt that mindset, there's a big difference between looking at the long term as The Casino and seeing that you're looking to make money over the year, or The Gambler, who's looking to make money in that hand, or that session. Making this realization is a dramatic edge that you can take. You are The Casino. You make your money over the long term. Doesn't matter what happens today. Your only job is to play each hand the way that you know you're supposed to.
I was asked to make a post about some stories within the Casino grounds so I thought I'd share. I have many so I'll do my best to pick the better ones. Some back information: I've been a Casino Dealer for 11 years, I've been a supervisor for five years, and I've been a Surveillance Operator for one year. I've worked at three properties, none of which are connected or owned by the same company. I've worked on : Government/Private/Native American owned casinos.
From Hero to Zero.
At my first Casino, I was one of the first group of people who were trained to deal Roulette . After 4 weeks of working 6PM-3AM then doing roulette training from 3AM-8AM (Not paid) , I actually really enjoyed the game and after about six months I became extremely quick at the number game and the pace of the action was steady with very low margin of errors. Young man walks in, cashes in for $500. He buys in for $2 chips and just loads the board. After a few spins and pretty decent hits, he then changes his chips from $2 to 5$ then to $10 and racks his winnings up to $10,000. It was then, five spins in a row, he loaded the board with some pretty gross bets, and every spin I would hit the ONE number with either NO CHIPS on it, or maybe 1 chip , He lost all $10,000 in a matter of minutes. He leaves , and I go on break. After my break I was going back to the same table and wouldn't you know it, the same young man walks in and cashes in another $500. He tells me he just sold his car outside and this is all that he had left. So we do the same deal, buys in for $2 chips, then slowly starts betting $5 chips, $10, $25...and he makes $10,000 AGAIN. Within the next 25 minutes it was straight agony. Every spin, same thing, he would bet $2500 in chips, and win only $250, $400, and after about a half hour he lost it all . Never saw the guy again. 2) Man down At this property, we are 24 hours for table games. It's currently 5AM , and I'm dealing some $25 Blackjack to this guy. He's probably early thirties , heavy guy. He's sober as can be, but right away I can tell he's been losing. We know how much you've bought in for, how much your down, or up, and I could see he was down $2000+. After about twenty minutes of pure losing, his temper starts to flare.At this point I now have two other guests at my table. Drinking coffee, not saying a word, just losing their money. After losing hand, after hand, this guy looks me straight in the eye, seized up, starts shaking, he can't move. He tries to punch towards me and smashes his stack of chips all over the place and falls backwards to the floor. I call for security, we cannot touch him due to liability . I can't move from my table because, well, liability / casino cash property, all I can do is try to talk to him. As I'm doing so, these other two woman who are sitting at my table just look at me and one says "OK, dealer, cmon lets go " as she taps the table telling me to start dealing and forget about the guy having a stroke on the floor. As security takes him to the ambulance out front, I had to stay behind for a couple minutes and give a statement. I go on break. I come back, and 45 minutes later, he comes right back in with a oxygen tank and keeps gambling for the remainder of the morning. 3) You get a dildo, and YOU get a dildo! On a late summer Saturday night, we had a large event for these massive muscle guys/strongman competition type thing. After their show, I'm at the roulette table , and five of these boys come over to play. They were absolutely hilarious. They were feeling pretty good, cashed in somewhat large amounts and I could tell this was going to be a fun time. After about a hour of dealing to these guys, it's almost midnight, everybody is pretty hammered , I spin the ball, and all five of these guys take out these god damn (what I can only tell was) two feet purple dildos from inside their pants, and wiping them around in the air. The ladies were just loving it, one of the dildos landed in the roulette wheel and we had to shut the table down to re-calibrate the wheel to make sure nothing had been changed. I just remember that night was so much damn fun, I couldn't believe what I was seeing and I would never forget it. 4) Full Moon On this day, I was actually training dealers / supervising them on small games like Three Card poker. We opened the table at 10AM, and this older man came and sat down . He played all day. The jackpot was $21,000 and that was pretty high for this table. He played, and played and played. He's one of the players where you know he's wearing a diaper because he's been drinking coffee/pop all day and hasn't moved in eight hours. As the day went on, this man never moved from his chair. Getting closer to midnight, he was aggravated and said "I need to go have a smoke, I'm getting killed in here". He left, and the very next hand, the lady beside him was dealt the jackpot . He didn't say much, but you could just tell he just hated life at that very moment because had he not gotten up, it would of been his hand. The man calmly took his cane , his hat, jacket, coffee, and left. The next morning I found out when he did leave he drove his car straight through his bank and was arrested. 5) Slick Robber I actually give props to people who can actually pull this off. This story may confuse you so I'll try and explain things as best as possible. A lot of casinos have machines as soon as you walk through the front doors. A man walks up to one of these machines and sticks in HIS $100 bill. He doesn't gamble it, instead he hits the cash out button and gets a $100 TITO ticket where he then takes the ticket to the ATM machine to get his $100. Now remember, his Original $100 is in the slot machine. He then takes the $100 from the ATM and goes back to the same machine, and repeats this process over a hundred times. Essentially he's taking money from the ATM, and loading up the Slot Machine . Now he knows he can't do it too much because if the slot machine gets full of money, the machine will shut down and the slow attendant will have to take all the cash out. So he deposits over $10,000 , then has a small crowbar, he cracks the machine open and makes a run out the front door. To my knowledge he was never caught . But damn, that was pretty smart . EDIT: 6) Mental Health is a thing. 10PM man walks in to play some high limit BlackJack. This guy knows the game and played well. Dressed nice, drank juice/tea , a little bit of a attitude, cashed in over $10,000. When this man was half way down his buy in, he said something a long the lines of "If I don't win here tonight, I'm going to go set myself on fire." I wasn't sure if he was serious because when people are down, they tend to say a lot of nonsense. I actually left early that night, and from a third party was told he did exactly that in the parking lot. The next day it was clear something terrible had gone wrong in the parking lot . EDIT: 7) Nothing good happens after midnight After a busy Saturday night, I was dealing a mix of games, and during this story I was in the middle of Blackjack. I had one young kid (probably 19) sitting in the middle, one older male probably in his later 40's sitting beside him on his right, and I had a really nice couple in their 20's sitting together at the other side. This young kid wasn't playing just sort of watching, and ever time the old man won he would give this young guy some of his winnings. The older man, was a wine drinker, and he had black between all of his teeth, I'll never forget. He's a little drunk but nothing terrible. As the night goes on, the older man goes and uses the washroom, at which point the couple asked the young guy "Oh was that your dad?" and the young guy says "Hah, no I wish!". The couple and I just looked at each other. This old guy, was in complete control over this kid. Absolutely disgusting. The night ends, and I find out the couple called a few of their friends, and they all waited outside by this old mans truck and beat the living hell out of him. 40 years old, sleeping with a 19 year old, completely brain washed . Very weird. 8) That one co-worker where you just wish they would quit. One of our co-workers, nice guy but had a very big ego and we as employees just sorta left him alone. One day he had enough of the atmosphere and quit. Now usually when you quit, you cannot come back until you paperwork is finalized. How ever, HR was in that day, and he was given the paperwork the very next day. He came in, cashed in $1000, and made $50,000 in about a hour at the Baccarat table. My manager, was extremely annoyed, because now this guy is just mocking the casino and having the time of his life (Thanks for the big tip by the way :) ) and so he decides to call it quits. He wants to ban himself and he wants $50,000 in cash. The casino says Nope, we are going to give you a cheque. Now here's the thing, most business people will take the cheque, how ever you CANT CASH the cheque until the following monday because it's on that day where the funds are available. The casino on the other hand will cash their own check in anytime , because they want you to play. So this guy pretty much said go to hell I want my cash, and he called the police. Police show up, and management promptly gave him the cash.I though it was absolutely hilarious . 9) No good deed goes un punished I was dealing Three Card Poker, and the jackpot was around $17,000. This old man (a regular) was sitting there all day grinding it out. Super nice guy, always a pleasure to deal to. Well, after hours of playing, he stands up and says "Hey john!, can you come here for a minute?" so his buddy John comes over. He says to John "I need to go take a piss real quick, can you play my card until I get back?" John agrees . John takes the chips and I stop him and explain he can't play his friends chips, he needs to cash in and play his own. And he does. Welp, second hand out and bam, doesn't he win it. The old man comes back and is so happy, he can't believe it. John, took his $17,000, didn't say a word to his "buddy" and walked away. I never felt so much hatred in all my life. Didn't give him a dollar, not a thank you, nothing. The old man sits back down again, the progressive resets to $2500, and he sat there grinding away again. 10) The Top Knot I had this player , young guy, who was born into a fortune. One of his relatives passed away and left him a pretty big sizable amount of money, so he played poker every single day for the rest of his days. I will add, he IS a good player. I did not enjoy his company just because of the "Know-it-All" attitude, but he was good. We'll call him John. John is 5'10, and well build, with muscle. John also decided today was the day to show off his Top Knot. (google top knot if you're not sure what I mean) So he sits down, and he's absolutely KILLING the table. Every hand, after hand, after hand. And because he's in such a good mood, he's playing any two cards, calling any $500 bet, and he's just dominating. This one guy at the table decided he had enough. He got up, without saying a word and left. A moment later, he comes back in, walks behind John, and takes a pair of scissors , and cuts off his Top Knot. I for one couldn't believe it, dying laughing inside, and it just turned into one big brawl. That was a good day. 11) That one bad seed One of my best friends who I haven't seen in YEARS ended up being part of the crew. Was kind of nice to catch up. We never really got along as we grew up because he has a very high picture of himself . He wanted that 10/10 woman. A mansion, and a new Corvette. So every month or so we would all go up to the other casino to play. I myself would bring no more than $500, but I couldn't understand how this guy (we'll call him Kyle) was spending THOUSANDS of dollars at the tables. So this wen on for a few months. Well, one day, as we're closing the casino, he and I are in the High Limit room and we're getting ready to close the tables. We are told to take the chips out, count them, put them back, sign this piece of paper and that's it. Well as the supervisor was locking the tray, the piece of paper fell to the floor, so she asked Kyle to grab the piece of paper. As he bends over, a great big $500 chip falls right out of his sock. Kyle was fired immediately , but it all made sense. They offered Kyle a deal where if he replaced all the stolen chips they would not make it public. Not sure how that turned out. 12) If I ever decide to write a book, this will be the last chapter: <3 After working at my first Casino for five years, I met a Indian woman who was visiting from another part of the country. During this time I was explaining a game to her, which honestly I don't think she even cared. She explained she was visiting and sight seeing , and that was that.Well, two years later I ended up moving to the other side of the country and transferred casinos, and low and behold she worked there as a Dealer. We got married , and it's been 5 years. 13) The Tip One of our tables that we've had for a couple years had a progressive jackpot that had reached $100,000. The dealer at the table was sitting pretty lonely. Nobody really played the game because people knew it was extremely difficult to win the jackpot. My memory is a tad foggy, but you somehow needed to flop the royal flush. This young guy sits down and says to the dealer, we'll call him John. "John, if you pay me that jackpot, I will tip you $10,000" Well John started dealing, and about a half hour into his shift, he F*cking did it. He dealt him the royal. And you know something?This young lad, kept his word, and he made sure there was a audience, and he tipped exactly $10,000. That was a moment right there. That pay cheque was real nice. I think we all got about $500 more than usual. The moment that jackpot was awarded they got rid of the table because the money it was making was not near what the casino wanted. I'm sure there have been bigger tips at other casinos, but that was something special . 14) The Lawsuit Now this story I'm going to have to beat around the bush a bit due to the nature of what happened. I can't won't answer any questions that you may have on this topic other than what I have to say because it had a lot of publicity . The waitresses at this casino had to wear very thin sexy clothes. Not borderline legal, but it was noticed. One day they called all the waitresses to come in and explained they were changing their outfit to something even more sexier. Now these new dresses were very very borderline legal . The staff said No way. We're not wearing that.So , friday night comes, and the staff work their whole shift, then at the end of their shift were called into a meeting and were all fired. Welp, one of those ladies father was a pretty big time lawyer. Brough the casino to court and won. They won big. Good for them. We had no waitresses for a couple days haha. Thanks for reading along, I have many more I can add as the day goes on, those were just some off the top of my head. Feel free to ask any questions of the Casino industry. I don't really have many stories about the surveillance department because that's the one area where I can't really say a whole lot due to its privacy and contracts I was and still am under.
Cyberpunk at its core its an amazing game, despite its flaws and bugs
So, I just completed the game from A to Z, cleared everything apart from the baseball bat police icons. And while the game is not a perfect game, due to lack of polishing in many of the existing mechanics, bugs and "missing" features, it was an amazing emotional ride. I just feel like talking about all (since I feel I've exhausted the content but need more), the good and the bad, and what we could expect in the future. I'll be talking about many things, especially story related. If you don't want spoilers, please stop reading now. *SPOILERS AHEAD* First off the bad.
The bugs. Obviously it sucks, but it will get fix gradually so there isn't much to expand on. Made for good moments when it wasn't immersion breaking.
The gear system. I personally hate systems in which gears get outdated by level. Especially when the exact same gear change stat with level. Since we can buy some of the gear, it isn't too bad since it is fairly cheap. But when it comes to unique items, it is impossible to keep them up. Since the upgrade cost scales to infinite, you simply CAN'T upgrade your guns and clothes till the end. Factor in that materials becomes rarer and rarer the higher quality it is, and it is unsustainable. What I suggest is to either streamline the upgrade cost of every item, or simply give them fixed stat. You already gain stats through attributes and mods, there really is no need for stat to scale with level on gears.
The police system. Honestly, what we have now is a place holder, a simple band-aid just to say there is a police system. I believe this will be patched eventually. But at the same time, in games like GTA/RDR, police is mostly just a pain in the ass unless it is mission related. Yes it would be nice to have something more refined: patrols, police spawning out of map and going in, you needed to dodge em... but I don't think it is what will make the game more enjoyable.
The combat AI, is pretty bad, but honestly I can't remember a game where I said "wow the AI is so good it makes the game amazing". I guess the best I've found was the Alien in Isolation. But then again, the AI is too good it just makes everything frustrating. Fixing some things like synchronizing attacks, backing up melee when they engage, and have more awareness overall could help it make better.
The NPC AI, could use help in the city. Having a wider range of response, staying true to their handicaps, not disappearing, actually moving around with Time Skip, driving around your cabike, etc. It would make the experience more enjoyable.
Now on to the good.
The interactions with story NPCs is just outstanding. The best I've played in any type of RPG. The poses we take are so casual and well done, sitting, leaning, eating. The first person makes everything so intimate, and makes you notice all their expressions so well. The amount of time we sit face to face, them talking, looking around, than straight into your eyes, its all so real. Also, the fact that people actually talk over each other before they finish makes conversations super fluid. 99% of RPG games just finish 1 audio before starting the next. The overlapping feels SOOOOOOOO great.
Almost everything that is modeled is just gorgeous. From the city to the model, everything is so detailed. Obviously some things were cut short... looking at you french fries and liquids... but other than that, it is beautiful.
The story actually got to me. I felt wanting more and more. I was actually demoralized to find out how short the main story is because I felt it could be expanded so much more with how massive the world they built is. The character's emotions were too real at times. You can see how much time they spent refining all the endings. They were all pristine. The amount of emotions I felt during my first play through was unmatched in some aspects from any game I can remember. The unease and feeling of sickness when deciding what to do, and when learning about how we are basically doomed. The melancholy of the nomad ending. The shearing fucking happiness from seeing Judy at the camp, and then receiving her message in the credit. The straight up horror and disgust from the corpo ending. How everything is so dark I just wanted to bash everyone. The straight up despair from the suicide option. Seeing Judy in that state and say these exact words made me burst in tears as if I inflicted that pain to someone real life. I felt bad for days, thinking that's how my wife would most likely react. Honestly, just such a wide range, which just shows how I connected with these fictional characters.
The gameplay, while it could use tuning, was actually good. I went a mix of stealth (with breach and quickhand) and exclusively melee. After I found out of the keep my armor stacked up, it was actually very OP and just fun. Maybe too easy even on hard, but still enjoyable.
The side quests were great. The characters are again very unique and authentic. I wanted to expand on every single side quest! I needed more of Kenny, more of the Peralez, more Delamain, more Rogue, more more more. (I count Judy and Panam as main story tbh)
Now to what they could add and refine to make the game we have now better.
As I said, seperate clothes and guns from stats. Clothes with mod slot only, and guns with fixed stat and mod slots. The point is to scale your stats through attributes, perks and cyberware implants only. There are enough to make it works. Just add more mods to fine tune your gains and armor and thats it.
Add more customisation. Some car tuning, mainly color to match your outfits. More outfit choices, especially in color range. It should be easy enough to have what we have more colors. Add a barber for beard and haircuts. Add tattoos and eye customisation to ripperdocs. Just more things to make your character exactly how you envision it. I also believe CDPR will work on that eventually, that it was cut short by management to focus on the main game.
Add more interactions with the characters, especially post story. I think receiving random texts from Takemura, Judy, Panam, Blue Moon, etc. It is easy to add more of them, as it doesn't even require voice actors. Once their mission is over, getting them on and off would be amazing.
More side actions, like mini-games with friends, going to "dates", just a kiss/hug option with your romance once their mission is over, actual repeatable races with actual race AI, a casino with some games (slot machine, blackjack..), I think these could add just enough to decompress between missions and feel more immersed.
Anyway, I just felt like talking about it even though only 3 person will take a look at this wall of text lol. Let me know how you feel and what you agree/disagree, etc!
Background IL casinos reopened last week. Drove down (about a 45 minute drive) this past Saturday only to find out that they were limiting how many people were in the casino and there was a 30+ minute wait (in the cold) so we decided to cut our losses and return home. I was bummed but my wife already wasn't excited about going to rivers. She prefers Potawatomi (Milwaukee) but they have removed all tables..hence my desire to go to Rivers (they do have 3 bubble machines at Potawatomi but not the same to me). Because my wife wasn't too excited about going to Rivers, I knew my time might be short. I was hoping she would have a good day on the slots so I could play a while....but I also didn't want to push it too much as I'm hoping to go back down again and didn't want her annoyed waiting for me while I'm having fun. The Casino We had a snow storm come through the area on Tuesday and work was slow so we decided to try Rivers again Tuesday afternoon. The place was busy but not crazy and they had a lot of tables running. From a craps perspective, I counted 5 tables (one $5, three $10, and a $15). 3 to a side. One thing that surprised me is they were apparently short 'boxmen' as I only counted two and they were bouncing between tables, primarily handling cash and coloring up. My dealer took my cash and gave me chips without a boxman at the table. The table I joined ($5) was full but there was at least one $10 table with only one guy at it when I left. As far as other table games go, Blackjack had $10 & $15 tables I saw and Ultimate Texas Hold'em had $5 and $15 tables. I'm sure there were other games being run but those are my jam so that is what I noted. My short time playing Craps I must have pulled up at the right time as a spot was open at the $5 table. Point was either 8 or 9 so I waited to join. They had just hit all the small and were one away from all the tall (I believe the 9). The guy to my left played a heavy lay bet as he had $10 on the all. The next roll hit the point and the roll after got them all...I believe a roll or two after 7'd out. I got in after the point was hit and ended up losing a little of my starting ($300) bankroll. I was playing the line with heavy odds (100x at rivers). After that the dice made a fairly quick pass around the table. I rolled poorly in my first time rolling. Going into the casino, I assumed they would only have $15 tables so I wanted to try placing a $30 6/8 and then lowering it to table minimum after the first hit. Since I was at a $5 table, I adjusted a bit to play the line with odds but still placed a $30 6/8 on some shooters. That didn't work too well my first time at bat. I believe by the time it came back to me, I was down to my final $100. I played a similar strategy. I usually only play ATS when I roll which I did ($5 minimum). I hit a couple 6/8's but was down so much that I abandoned my strategy of lowering my wages after the first hit (I came to play, right?). Ended up hitting all the small and only had a 9 left on the tall. The guy to my left again, played a heavy lay bet against the 9 but I took a chance....I should have followed his lead as the next roll was a 7, At this point I was close to my starting bankroll (I believe the small paid $160). I played the line and the point started at an 8. I placed the 6 for $30 and $25 odds. What I didn't do was play ATS. I mean...what are the chances.....but the guy to my left was having a good day. He played $5/$15/$5 on the ATS I believe. By now you probably see where this is heading....all the small was again hit first (again)...I don't recall what the last number was on the tall but he did his heavy lay ($900 I think) but hit it for a $2000 plus payout. I ended up with $450 after tipping. My wife was having horrible luck at the slots and wasn't 'in the mood' so we weren't even there an hour (that's right....1.5 hours driving round trip and less than an hour at the casino). It felt like I should have been up a lot more but points weren't actually hitting that much...I hit my place bets a few times and then I hit the small once. But it was fun to see my 'teammate' next to me go up probably $3k in the short time I was there....I don't even think he was playing much outside the line bet and the place bets I mentioned. All in all...a fun time was had. Wish I could have played longer (of course) but leaving with a 50% profit and not annoying my wife too much is a win in my book. Now I just have to wait for my next trip to Michigan/Indiana (Four Winds/Bluechip) next month.
If you can only double on 9, 10 and 11 how does that affect splitting lower pairs?
I've recently started playing blackjack for fun but am still trying to play an optimal strategy. The best game my casino (crown casino melbourne) offers is H17, no surrender, DAS allowed and only doubling on 9, 10 or 11. Rules aren't great for edge but that's what I have on offer. The chart I'm following is a blackjackapprenticeship one. Since I can't double down on these low cards after hitting an ace, does it change the splitting strategy for the lower pairs? Also a super quick question about the chart, it says to deviate at certain true counts. I know what true count is, but for example it says with a 16 against a 9 you should deviate at 4+ true count. Does this mean to deviate to a stand instead of a hit? And with a 10 against a 10 for example, it says to deviate at 4+ as well, does that mean deviate to a double instead of a hit? Thankyou for any help.
I Have played there Crazy Time game and monopoly games as well as poker and blackjack tables. The games are fun but not when you suspect some of them are rigged. Watch the wheel games closely you can see when they are slowing the wheel down. I was in lightning roulette game the other day and the wheel malfunctioned for a few minutes. I had $2 bet on red black and the ball landed on 28. They called it a "Glitch". I never received that payout for the win. Other players in the chat put way more money than me and they also didn't get paid. Well as far as I'm aware they didn't judging by what they were saying in chat. I disputed with evolution game support and she basically flat out lied to me. Then I talked with roobet support and they helped none. It was $2 but if they are willing to steal that, you know! I closed my account out Immediately and left my balance. Wasn't but a few bucks. Now today I logged into my other casino and not that I wanted to play any evolution games but come to find out none of the evolution games will load for me. I was just curious. Now not only that games that use to work before at this casino before wont load either. Do I even need to say what I think is going on here? I'm just letting you know be aware. They stole my money.
Ended my gambling career (for now) on a high note - jackpot handpay to end 2020. My thoughts and ramblings as a now-retired gambler.
Warning: long rambling stories ahead. I am bored and waiting to get through my first day back at work since before Christmas. You've been warned! I've been going to the casino pretty regularly for the past few years. Before that, I played occasionally. I exclusively play slots. I view it as a night out - first with friends back when I brought $50 and played penny denom minimum bet spins and prayed to win $20, and then eventually shifting my mindset to playing higher bets and denominations. I hit my first jackpot handpay a couple of years ago. I hit $3700 on a $27 bet on a Geisha machine. I've hit a few other jackpots here and there, culminating with my biggest jackpot ever this past summer. I hit $12K on a $50 bet on a Pompeii slot machine. Well, the long story short is that I have fallen out of love with gambling. I have somehow managed to have a positive ROI on gambling. I track my withdrawls and win on a spreadsheet. To put it bluntly: I have been extremely lucky over the past few years. I know that slots are not a viable way to win money in the long run, so I made a decision a few months ago to "retire" from gambling at the end of 2020. I went to my local casino last Wednesday. It just so happens when I hit a jackpot that I usually do it within the first half hour or so I'm at the casino. Well, it happened again. After going up $600 or so on another slot machine (I don't remember the name), I went to one of my most hated/favorite old school slots - Zeus dollar denomination. One of my worst moments in all of gambling was a few years ago. I got a bonus round on the Zeus dollar denomination on max bet of $45 a spin. I was BEYOND excited. I've seen Youtube videos where people have won tens of thousands of dollars in that exact scenario. Much to my shock, I won nothing. In that game, you don't win anything for triggering the bonus. So I actually *lost* $45 on getting the bonus. I cashed out and left immediately. Anyway, last week I hit a modest $4500. It was exciting...but not as exciting as I thought it should be. I was cool, calm, and...detached. The wins didn't mean much to me, and the losses mean absolutely nothing. My wife and I are in the EXTREMELY fortunate position that losing $500 or so every week or two at the casino is affordable. I'm not ignorant to how lucky we are to be in this position. After getting paid out, I played a bit longer. But that hand pay drove home the realization that I had a few months ago: it was time to stop gambling. If I can't get pumped about a big win like that, and if I'm not even phased a little bit by losing, it's just not worth gambling any more. I used to go for entertainment, but even now gambling doesn't provide that much. As I sit now, I am up roughly $18K over three years of slots. Not bad, but not life changing. Enough that I bought my wife a Burberry and Louis Vuitton handbag on separate occasions. The rest if stashed in savings or in an investment account somewhere. But I am 100% committed to being done. At least for 2021, and probably longer. If anyone is interested in hearing my thoughts on how to win...I don't have any insight to share. It's luck. I got lucky. I know I got lucky. The usual tropes about setting win and loss thresholds is good advice. Sometimes I chased payouts and hit them. Sometimes I chased and lost. But I managed to hit more than miss, and for that I'm lucky. And thankful. Anyway. I don't have a major takeaway or anything. I don't have many people I can talk about this with in my personal life, so I figured I'd share a bit of my story here. If you do gamble, please do so responsibly. Good luck, and try to have fun. If you're not having fun, it's probably not the right way to spend your time or money. EDIT: I just wanted to say to anyone who reads this in the future that I appreciate the nice responses and PMs from people. It's nice to share a positive experience with others! I sincerely hope that if any of you choose to play in the future, you choose to do so responsibly. Gambling can be a hugely problematic lifestyle for some people. Stay safe. (end of preaching here). I also want to take a second to address some comments from some people about slots being skill based. This is 100% false. The concept of slots being skill based in any way is demonstrably untrue with three seconds of reasonable thinking. If we accept that there is a hypothetical slot game which is based on skill and not pure luck, what are the consequences of that? First of all, this information would leak out. There would be no way to contain it. If one person can solve the system, another an as well. Subsequently, someone would write a book on the subject. Think about all the poker and blackjack strategy books out there. These are games where skillful play can increase your odds of winning. Last I checked, there aren't any books or Supersytem-level analyses from prominent individuals willing to stake their names and reputations on publishing a "slot technique" book. There's a reason for this. And also - think about this: casinos still carry blackjack tables for a reason: they still have an edge to win. If there is a surefire way for individuals to win when playing slots, casinos would 100% for sure take these games out of circulation. Casinos are not in the business of giving away money. Any claim there is a foolproof way to win money playing slots does not make sense when critical thinking is applied to the circumstances. Slots are not like card games. Finding and playing only games where there is a "must win by" progressive is not the same thing as skillful play. That's more akin to something like card counting in blackjack. Many people who design slot machines and engineer the software behind the scenes have posted on Reddit and elsewhere that wins are based on random number generators running behind every spin. There is literally no skill involved - you win or lose each spin based on pure random luck. I am saying this because there are a number of people who come to this subreddit to look for ways to cheat the system and get easy money. I see posts like this fairly often, and I'm only browsing this subreddit occasionally. Gambling is not, and should not, be a way for anyone looking to make a quick buck. If you're looking to get an edge playing slots because you need to pay bills or make a quick buck, you are already in serious trouble. Do not buy into the delusion that you can get an edge or guarantee a win. People saying this are snake oil salesmen who do not care for you or your well-being. Anyway. I'm going to stop monitoring this post. I'm still open to receiving PMs or messages, but I've had my fun with this so far. I could do with fewer trolls, but this is the internet. I knew what to expect. Bon chance, everyone!
I turn 20 IN 3 hours, but I want to leave some parting advice of things I’ve learnt through my teenage years.
As the title says I’m turning 20 years old. I have learned a lot being a teenager, it’s the prime of our lives, it’s where we finish secondary school, get our first part-time job, choose a university, or leave school and get a full-time job. Personally, I have learnt a lot, most of it is from my own experiences but I wish someone else had told me earlier on before I found out for myself. I wouldn’t say I’m leaving this sub forever; I’ll give myself the “old” tag and give advice where I think I could be of help. I would still like to write the bulk of what I’ve learned here to help you. 1. I see a lot of posts about mental health and suicide and you need to know it’s okay not to be okay. Help is out there I love helping people I enjoy it, so please message me if you need help. I to have felt depressed at times, one major thing about me is that I care too much about what people think about me, if someone has a problem I want to know why. If you’re like this too learn to let things roll of your back and ignore them. 2. Stop worrying about relationships at 13 to 16 years old, at the time of writing this I haven’t had a girlfriend yet nor anything even close, nothing lasted more than a night 2 days at the most. We will all find someone at some point. I have thought about losing my virginity to a prostitute, it might fun, and I shouldn’t regret it, but I probably would. 3. Do well in school, one of my biggest regrets is being too busy trying to be the funny popular guy trying to be everyone’s friend, I failed at both having a huge circle of friends and failed school as well. 4. Your school grades don’t define who you are. There are plenty of options for you to take and still do what you want to do but doing as well as you can in school will make doing what you want easier. 5. Get a part time job once you are old enough. Even if it a volunteer job it will give you much needed work experience that will help you eventually get a paid job. Also looks good on a university application. Try and avoid customer service for your first! 6. Save up your money. I understand once you start working you might be tempted to spend your money on new games or PC upgrades I know I was, and that’s ok, it’s nice to treat ourselves every so often, however even putting just £50 aside each month into a savings account will help massively for when you wish to buy a car, pay for university or pay for when you decide to go on holiday with friends after you finish school and help you get a property for when you wish to move out. 7. If you know what to do you could invest your money in stocks, I wish I’d known to do that sooner, if you can invest £100 each month into shares over a few months or years your portfolio will grow and hopefully if you bought the right shares could make some sweet profit. 8. Carrying on from number 3. Use this time while you’re still at home to travel, I live in the UK so after we did A levels (I did engineering Btec) after saving up for about 2 years my friends and I were able to go interrailing (backpacking as the Americans call it!) through Europe for 4 weeks. But only do this with friends that you know you can have fun with. The people I went with didn’t enjoy going out to clubs and getting drunk as much as I do, so I wish I had gone with people I could do that with. 9. if it, it’s too good to be true it usually is 10. your Parents don’t always know best, if you want to follow a career path and your parents don’t agree do it, you will regret it. Thankfully I have parents that support me in whatever I do, but I know people that do. 11. Don’t hang around people who aren’t your friends. Fake people are the worst people, people like this will uses you, manipulate you and lie to you. 12. It is ok to have no friends, there is a difference between being alone and being lonely. Eventually you will find a small social crowds with whom you will do everything with. 13. As Chris Gardner once said Plan B and C are rubbish, stick to your plan A and you will succeed. 14. People don’t always change; some do I am completely different now than 2 years ago. But some people I was at school with are the same, they are the same dickhead who likes to be funny by putting others down, people like that are stuck in their own little world to scared to realize that they have been left behind due to still being immature. 15. As I said in 11 and 4 if you don’t have fun you will regret it, I promise you, one of the friends I went with told me he regrets not smoking weed in Amsterdam or getting drunk on £1 beers in Budapest and wants to go again to have the experience he didn’t. Life is fun enjoy it while you can. 16. You will probably have that night where you go to a party or a night out in town where you’ll drink too much and get beyond the point of wasted, at the time you’ll feel like shit and regret it but after time for me it was a year it becomes something you and your friends laugh at especially when they tell you all the things you can’t remember. 17. “In game theory, it serves you to be two-faced. Be everyone's friend 'til the moment you're not. Make them love you so much that when they're up against you, their own loyalty will act against their own self-interests”. That's game theory. This was taken from one of my favourite TV series prison break. And I think it perfectly describes social interaction between teenagers and young adults. People will use you and you will use people even when that wasn’t your intention. I’ve been used by people id call my closest friends some did it intentionally some not. 18. Find a hobby there is no such thing as an odd or weird hobby, it allows you to find a common interest with people allowing you to make new friends and meet people, when I turned 18 my hobby was cigars, I’d go to various cigar lounges around London and meet people obviously they were older but the best thing about a cigar is the great conversation that comes with it. That’s just my opinion. 19. You will most likely regret the things you didn’t do not the things you did. Don’t dwell on the past and your previous mistakes focus on the present and the future. If there is someone you fancy, ask them out what’s the worst that will happen? They might say yes worst case they say no. but at least you tried. 20. At a nightclub or festival where your surrounded by people you don’t know, never except a drink from anyone if it wasn’t poured out Infront of you. First time I went clubbing I excepted a drink of champagne from someone I didn’t know in one of London’s busiest clubs I was lucky that it was fine. 21. Never shake someone’s hand sitting down and always grip firmly and make eye contact. 22. In a negation never make the first offer. 23. Take the time to talk to a homeless person, they sometimes have the most interesting stories and lessons to teach. Everyone falls on hard times, someone I spoke to was a veteran and ended up losing his home. 24. Friends come and go 25. Never stop in the pursuit of happiness 26. Loneliness isn’t forever. The most popular person may also feel alone. 27. It might not be a good life, but it’s your life so live it. 28. You can never please everyone, live for yourself and not others I know this is a long post but below I’ve left a summary of all the things I’ve done and experienced being a teenager (2012 – 2021) 11-12: Started secondary school where I made new friends and experienced a whole new environment including no more packed lunches. 12-13: Another year of secondary school, made it into the higher level classes for science and IT, at this point I started to experience bullying for the first time from the same person I was friends with the year before, I also entered my schools coding competition where we competed against the neighbouring school in who could create the best game on scratch. During this year I re-kindled a past friendship with someone from primary school whom I drifted apart from. We remain close to this day. (He won the coding competition with a moon landing game). Joined my school’s car mechanics club too. 13-14 3rd year of school, the bullying started getting worse. Applied for the bronze Duke of Edinburgh award ( for the non-brits here it’s an award scheme where the participant has to take part in volunteering, something physical a skill and finally a hiking expedition) no you don’t get to meet prince philip until you complete the gold award too. Picked my GCSE options. Had my first real crush (this was a fiasco in itself) as well as had my first kiss with someone else (another awful experience). 14-15 Aight cool year 10, time to start my GCSE studies and think about the future. The bullying reached its peak I lost it tried to fight him failed sort of, I got a few punched in before teachers came and pulled us apart, spent the rest of that day and the whole next day internal exclusion room, him too. (was oddly fun ngl), might I add that even the headteacher was aware of the bullying and didn’t care neither did the pastoral manager who when I told her about the first time told me to go away and grow up. Completed my Silver Duke of Edinburgh award. I never completed the last level (gold). 15-16 Woo last year of high school time to sit the exams that so many people think will ruin their lives if they fail. Yes the best you do will allow you to go on and do better things like a good university or doing the A levels you want, but it won’t stop you getting the career you want, you will just need to take a different path to get there like I did. Towards the summer I was getting ready to go on Israel tour my first time away from home for more than a week and to a new country without my family. For those of you that don’t know what Israel tour is, it is when you go to the state of Israel for 3 weeks maybe more depending on the tour organiser and see various sites such as the western wall, dead sea, Masada, ride camels in the desert, live on an army base for a few days as part of a small boot camp type thing (my favourite part) and much, much more. On this though I sadly realised that some people can’t be trusted and will stab you in the back, my “friend” liked the same person I did and instead of saying something to me he just spoke shit about me to her. 16-17 Secondary school, been there done that got the fucking t shirt. After not doing as well as I expected to in my GCSE exams, I had to change my plan slightly. I wanted to go into forensic science to do this I wanted to study level 3 Btec in applied science, but because I had failed 2 of my exams (the important ones) I had to do a level 2 course instead (same subject but lower level) during this year being in a new environment from the last I bought and smoked weed for the first time as well as getting my first hangover. During this year I was able to re sit my exams I passed 1 but still failed the other. I realised that the subject I was doing was no longer my passion. I got my first part time job as a receptionist so I could build my first gaming PC. My other close mate: after helping him meet his first girlfriend which by this point was at the 8- or 9-months mark, the 2 of them wanted to help me find someone. After fancying the same girl for the last 3 years at this point they introduced me to someone else, we were all away on a summer camp together so after being introduced we got talking for the next 4 whole days became really close only for on the last night before the big party for her friend to talk shit about me to her (seems to be a pattern here). A week later I had my second snog (kiss, make out, get with) with someone else (whatever u want to call it), this one was decent this happened to me on the NCS award (national citizen service) it’s like the Duke of Edinburgh award. 17-18 As I said before science was no longer what I wanted to do, so I changed to engineering at a new college (community college for the Americans). As I still didn’t have a C grade or above in my remaining GCSE exam, I had to do another level 2 course to pass. I got a new job as a waitekitchen assistant. started talking to another girl who in many ways she was a female version of me, we agreed on everything and got on well had so much in common it was unreal. My mate sadly broke up with his girlfriend so he was on the market too looking for someone else, I suggested to him that for his 18th he should throw a massive party, he agreed. I saw it as the perfect opportunity to make a move on the girl I was talking too; so, I invited her as my plus one. I got to his house early to help setup the house, she arrived about an hour later. I made a poor miss judgment that night and drunk about half a bottle of Russian standard vodka (no mixers). Being my drunk self I stumbled over to her and we began talking, then guess who comes over to us the same girl who cock blocked me previously and she does the god damn same, I have to admit me being as drunk as I was at That point definitely didn’t help. As you could I lost my shit at the person who yet again ruined something for me I went off on one in front of the whole goddamn party by this point the full force of my drinking hit me, I was unrollable cursing at the bitch who for the second time ruined something I had with someone. By this point the girl I invited left early, and my parents were called to pick me up. FYI the party stared at 8 I was home by 9 30 passed out. The girl I invited never spoke to me again I tried to apologise she didn’t really want much to do with me (understandable). My 18th I went clubbing for the first time and experienced a casino for the first time (played blackjack with £25 walked out with £120(I don’t encourage gambling, only play with what you can afford to lose)). The night club itself was something I didn’t enjoy all too much, main reason being there was only a few of us and the club was full of much older crowd than us, drinks where a fortune too, it was fun I enjoyed being out in the capital with my close mates at that time. It’s all about finding clubs that offer student nights where the crowd will be younger. Summertime, before the majority from my year head to university they all host a second school prom a reunion. This night again I learnt that people can and will be 2 faced if it serves them better. A girl who my mate had been helping me get talking to decided that the night before prom at a separate party he would make out with her himself (I was fine with that; I wasn’t at that party). I got invited to pre-drinks at this girls house the minute I walked in something felt off, it wasn’t until later I knew why; I found out my mate had made out with her the night before, unexpectedly he apologised to me (he didn’t need to, however I told him it was fine and move on) I was still hoping to get with her. 20 minutes later Infront of me the same mate of mine and the same girl were making out again (now I was pissed, first you apologise and then 20 minutes later do it Infront of me and everyone making me look like a mug). And again he apologises I played the bigger man held myself back from sparking him in the face and said that once is a mistake, 2 times is a slap in the face) this mate of mine was coming traveling with me 3 days later we didn’t speak until then. I went interrailing (traveling) through Europe with 4 mates that summer. 18-19 What was supposed to be my first year at university turned out to be another year at community college. This was also the start of where things got bad for me, by this point all my friends have had some sexual experience except me. My social crowd at this point is dwindling slowly at the time I didn’t notice I was just being left out more, (looking back, with some of my friends I was a background friend). I was finally on level 3 Btec engineering and have finally passed my last exam that I needed (took 4 attempts but if at first you don’t succeed try, try again). 19-20 (Present) Ok things are bad, I’ve realised that only 2 of my close mates are my only friends ( I walk a lonely road, the only one that I have ever known, don’t know where it goes but its home to me, I walk alone). I knew for a while since the previous summer that most of the people I trust and call my friends don’t care about me. I only ever spoke to them If I was lucky enough to be invited out on the rare occasion (I would usually have to be the one to make the effort). I wanted to rid of the people who don’t care about me, I never thought for a second 2 of my other close mates (separate from the ones I mentioned in 19-20, they will always be my close mates) would be the ones to go first. One of these mates was someone who I had so many memorise with, we went clubbing together, wingmen for each other, I allowed him to get off with someone at my house while I was asleep in the same room (didn’t know until the morning); and now since the start of the coronavirus pandemic we haven’t spoken or seen one another and is telling people it’s my fault. (he and many others know that if I have done something to upset someone I will always be happy to fix it, I hate beefing with people) I realised he didn’t care for me no more, the memories we had together meant so much to me and nothing to him, he’s part of a new social crowd most of them I know and have also tried to get close with but I was never able to. I know I did something wrong to make all these people pull away from me I just don’t know what, I run so many possible reasons through my head but none make sense or seem big enough to make to a huge social crowd no longer want me around (popularity baffles me, it’s one thing I’ve never been nor able to understand). Now in my FINAL year of college and looking at either looking at going to university to study either Aerospace or Electronics engineering, getting an apprenticeship or I may join the army or the royal air force. I kind of wish I studied law. All I really want for my self is a job I’m proud of, something that when someone asks what I do for a living I can tell them and not be embarrassed or ashamed and not have to lie or exaggerate about it. However, before coronavirus hit the UK badly, I started a new part time job in retail pays very well for what it is, and I get nice bonuses I still managed to keep it through the lockdown. Been predicted high grades for my course more than enough for my university choices and the apprenticeships schemes I want. As I said at the beginning, this isn’t goodbye. I’ll still be here offering advice where I see fit giving my wisdom to those who need it. Also, if any of you need to talk or any advice drop me a message on here and I’ll try my best to help. “life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all” -u/randomhuman_23 Edit: i hope this doesn't get lost in new
Attention gamblers, Bright Lights Casino is scamming you!!!
I don't mean to brag when I say I've been to Vegas once or twice. That's why I was so appalled when I visited the latest gaming addition to our city. Friends and neighbors, be forewarned; while this casino may look fun, it is surely a scam:
Hot Potato, while a fun summertime activity, is not a recognized game by the National Casino Association (NCA). The casino tosser can literally just say you had the hot potato whenever they want, there's no way to win.
Similarly, Duck Duck Goose is not a National Casino Association game. It is possible to win this one, but you really have no control over it, you're basically paying $10 for each round ($20 if you're doing it on Friday nights). The house literally always wins.
While Capture the Flag was added to the NCA's list of official games in 2016, I suspect that the casino has been up to weird shenanigans by having its staff dress like they're tourists and compete for the opposing team. Notice how they always know when and where to get the flag.
It seems silly that I have to say this at all, but not only is fingerpainting not an NCA-approved game, it's not a game at all. It's just painting, it's just art. There's no way to "win" it.
Off that last point, the casino doesn't offer paper towels or anything to guests after they're done with fingerpainting. That's why the cards are all smudged at blackjack.
Off THAT last point, the cards they use for Blackjack aren't even your standard deck. Tulip is not a suit in playing cards. Neither is horseradish. And there should only be four suits, not seven!
Their sportsbook not only lets you bet just on sporting events happening at Eastern Kentucky University, but they aren't even the school's NCAA-affiliated sports, they're just the weird social ones like rec dodgeball and quidditch. (Maybe I shouldn't complain, I did win $150 here)
The casino doesn't have a "theme," but I noticed the staff was all dressed in a familiar way. Only until I got home did I realize that they were wearing the same uniforms (red shirt, khakis) that the kids wear to school in season 4 of "The Wire." That show has been off the air for like 15 years! WTF?
Strangely enough, none of the TVs in the guest rooms have HBO.
Today i lost 1.2k. Well my original deposit was 300, built it up to 1.2k through sports betting. But when i went under a 1000 i started chasing losses. Bet 500 on red. It landed black. Shit, Ok its gotta be red this time.. bet 500 again. Nope black again. Damn it was so hard not to deposit again after. I felt like i went thru a lot building up that much money, it felt unjustified.I felt like such an idiot playing fucking roulette chasing my losses. I even told myself i wouldnt do that. But ive been here before. 3 years ago i had it way worse. Lost 16k gambling online. All credit card debt. Ofc i couldnt pay it, pretty soon i had collections calling 3 times a day. Everytime i saw their number id get a hit of anxiety. Never picked up. What was i supposed to say? "Hi i gambled ur money and lost it all"?. Well eventually they sued me and so i had to figure something out. Settled for about 30% for both credit cards. The last card i actually settled yesterday, while playing blackjack. I thought it was funny at the moment, thinking i overcame my addiction, and if i could follow the rules and strategies i set up for myself, ill be good. But once i started losing big numbers relative to the stack i had, i couldnt stop doubling, tripling down. It was like i was possessed by a demon making the most perfect excuses in the world. Those excuses sounded fucking delicious. "U only deposited a fraction of what u have now anywayss" "what if u could double ur money right now? That would be soooOoO awesome wouldnt it?" "Imagine if u could get another double after this!" "CMOON BET ON RED 1 MORE TIME AND U WILL BE 50X UR ORIGINAL DEPOSIT!" Its more persuasive than a hot chick trying to have sex with u. I dont even think drugs can replicate the dopamine and adrenaline rush u get when so much is on the line. This is when i remembered. This shit runs in my family. many many years ago my uncle spent 200k of borrowed money gambling in russia. He lost it all and was held by the russian mafia. My grandfather who also was a gambling addict had to pay the debt in order for them to let him go. My grandfather was a rich man. Owned a hotel and was very very well off, but he couldnt beat his gambling addiction. Lost everything including his hotel. My dad told me he attempted suicide many times only to bail because of his fear of death. He had everything.. now he asks my dad for money occasionally and he doesnt even make a fraction of what grandpa made. Went from a millionaire to a begger overnight. Being old, its hardto financially recover from that. I realized, in gambling eventually ur gona lose it all. Whats the fun in winning 10 dollars if u have 10000? Its the psychology of gambling that makes casinos billions. We are hard wired to lose and the house was designed to win. I dont wanna do this anymore, I feel like i cant enjoy watching sports without betting now. Having money on the line made the thrill that much better. Higher highs, and lower lows. Exactly the same wave pattern as drugs. I want to get into (crypto) trading and have been learning. I have holding position and some money laying around i wanna try trading with. I dont know how my gambling problem would affect me. I lost money i can afford to lose, im not financially ruined at all. But mentally im ruined with regret and shame. I had a huge urge to deposit and bet half my checkings on red again but i managed to hold that off, sounds fucking retarded right? Well i wouldve thought the same yesterday. But in the moment i was not in control, like something switched on inside me. But the pain of past history wouldnt let me do that. I controlled my pain with the possibility of even more pain. How would i feel being even more in debt than last time? Now thats a shitty feeling. Fuck Tl;dr : lost 1.2k today chasing losses. Was very hard not to deposit again. 3 years ago i lost 16k of borrowed money (credit card) had collections calling me everyday until i got sued and then settled. If there wasnt a credit limit i probably couldve went way higher. Uncle lost 200k in borrowed money in russia and was held by the mafia until grandpa paid it off. Grandpa then lost his hotel and all assets gambling, attempted suicide multiple times. All in all, im glad i only lost that much today. It just hurts to see all that profit disappear just like that. Mentally its very painful. I wanna put in another 5k and double up. But i know itll never end until i lose it all again, this time 10x more than before. Fuck man
It’s been a while since I gambled. I do enjoy it tho. I’m not a full gambling addict and can go long periods without gambling and usually don’t think about it. But I do have a problem.and I am compulsive when I do gamble. Yesterday I had 1400 in cash laying around in my truck(otr truck driver is my job). I just started working for a new company and was at the terminal which happens to be next to a casino. I figured I’d check it out. Initially I only brought $300 and left the 1100 and my debit card in truck. I had a feeling I would get lucky if I didn’t bring too much.. and I was.I walked around and found a slot I liked. I usually play any slot that has Egyptian themes. So I hit a bonus on the Egyptian slot playing $10 spins and cashed it out for 1800. I should have stopped there but figured it take my winnings to blackjack and play with a few hundred of my winnings. I was also up a bit on blackjack. But kept playing. There were two drunk dudes at the table that kinda hyped me up. Honestly it was very fun. That’s part of why I stayed. I think of it was just me I would have left. Anyways I lost all my winnings and the initial 300 I came in with. Then went and got the cash and card from my truck. And lost the 1100 in cash and then withdrew 2000 from my card and lost that. I was gonna withdraw more too but my card atm limit was reached. I honestly had a lot of fun for the few hours I played. And played for a very long time. At the end tho I started placing big bets and kept getting dumpstered. I’ve always wanted to experience a big win in a casino like 20000 or something. But I always just lose if I bet too big. I know it’s not smart.. and I should just play for fun sometimes and be happy with the medium small winnings. I just wanna say I don’t think about gambling often.. but I have done this quite a few times in past. I’m a truck driver and get very bored and impulsively lose a few thousand dollars at a time which is a significant amount of money to me. I’m the type of person who if I lose a good amount it hurts me too bad to go back and try and chase it right away and I usually just forget about it for a while. I feel like if I were to win a big chunk of change it would be the same way but I’ve never had any huge wins. If I were to put a number on how much I’ve lost in poker games and casinos over the years it’s probably like 20k. I have always been bad with my money. Financially I’m in a decent position to be well off in 4-5 years if I can start being smart with my money. I just started my second year as a truck driver and just moved to a new company a month ago. I take home about 1400 a week here and don’t have any real bills. I have opened a few brokerage accounts and those do help with my gambling urges. And to anyone with a serious gambling problem I think it helps as a compromise to gambling. It’s kind of like gambling but you have more control over it. I’m up about 6k. That being said I don’t have a ton of money but I haven’t put myself into crippling debt and still have about 5k in the bank and 9k on my investments. I also put some money into some startup companies. So I can be great full for what I have. The reason I’m posting here is because I’m upset with myself for staying at the casino after I was up and ignored my gut that said I should leave. Then I lose all that money. If I were to have left after winning that slot I would be happy with my winnings and forget about the casino for a while. Also I would be 4700 richer. I know deep down I shouldn’t gamble at all and especially going against my gut feeling like I did. Now is always a good time to stop gambling and if anyone is in a similar position or has a problem and wants someone to talk to let me know. I was thinking it would be cool to have a friend on here to talk to where we can motivate each other not to gamble and kind of remind each other that it’s not worth it. I feel like gambling addictions or being impulsive like myself are hard problems to solve alone.
3 AM in Montreal, Quebec. Felt nice reading these posts knowing I am not alone. 10 years ago when I turned 18 (legal age here to gamble) my friends brought me to the casino in Montreal just for fun. Even though I was iffy about it and had a bad feeling about this place, I went to check it out and played $5 for the heck of it. Second time, went back with some close friends and hit that $125 "jackpot" at War and that was it. It turned the switch in my head. So many wins and losses mostly losses. Changed to blackjack one day when my brother taught me the game and lucky me had won about $1500. Followed by more losses. Some big wins (7-8k) then lost it all. Fast forward 10 years with so often on and offs, digging holes, getting back up and so on. My ex at that time left me and I don't blame her. Got myself a second pizza delivery job to pay some of it off. 2017 got a new gf, told her about some of my problems and promised to not do it again very supportive and helped me pay it off when i got a new job at the bank. 2019 when things were going, I gambled again and maxed all my credit after having it cleared after years that really fd me up, so I turned to making quick money to fix this. 2019 ending, got fired from my job. Mentally fd me up even more so I turned to gambling. Luckilly found a decent job in finance and decided to never gamble again. Everything once again going well with maybe only 15k in the deep from gambling (very fixable). Started trading stocks in March through August. Little did I know my gambling nature would impact my trading decision started taking big risks and thought of big WINS. During that time while losing in stock, friend showed me bet 365, was just betting small amounts for the fun of it. September 2020, I had ordered a ring for that same gf who supported me soo much and looking at my finances, stocks not soo good. So this one day in September I played a round of online blackjack after being free from card gambling for almost 10 months. I made 7k which would cover my gfs ring and told myself im going to take time off and not go back. September to October 26th while I kept telling myself I wont go back I was on my hottest winning streak of net $50k. I had lost my head, my whole life was uphill, I was living the life. I had enough to pay all my debts, my car , my motorcycle and still have a little left. Heck Come Ocober 27th, overnight I lost it all. Then it had hit me, I needed change, self excluded myself right away on bet 365. Started applying to new jobs and stayed busy with the interview process. December 24th, got an offer for a job but I was still unhappy about having lost all that money which could have given me a different life. Told my fiancée it was through stock trading and I would not do it again. During the holidays I saw an ad on casino.com, couldn't resist the thought of having that same streak on bet365 and fixing all my problems. Made 8k wow was feeling great. Nope, 2 days later all gone and another 15k on cc maxed out on top. Went through depression for the 10000th time. Told myself new job pays well and ill get a second part time job which to my luck oncd again a local mikes needed a driver and schedule works good. On last Thursday got an email, after self excluding from stupid casino.com, from casino tropez. I am so fked financially about 40k deep and supposed to get married in June, told myself IF ONLY I can make it back. These fkrs took another 2K of money I needed and have had to borrow. 20 and 20 I have, machine gets 21 with 4 cards and followed with 3 blackjacks in a row. Just some examples. Anyway I self excluded from all these online sh1t sites and hoping to work hard and pay off this mess and live peacefully with my partner who deserves much more. I'm tired of being depressed, sad, anxious and stressed. I wish gambling were illegal. Anyway I don't think anybody will read this because it's long but felt good to share this here and for everyone going through this, there will be better days.
Help me Build a List of Fantasy Casino Games and Plots
A little background: My players LOVE going to the casino in game. Absolutely adore it. Whenever we are killing time waiting for other people, we'll play a few rounds of blackjack or a dice game called "Exploding Dice", where you roll off against the dealer, trying to get the higher number. If you get a double, you roll again and add the numbers, and can "Explode" your dice as many times as you want. I was thinking after our session tonight, if they regularly come in and gamble hundreds of gold pieces at a time, it makes sense to put in time crafting a rich casino environment for them. Extra games that could exist in a fantasy setting, re-skins of current games, realistic and balanced restrictions on gambling odds etc. Additionally, what sort of shenanigans come about flashing that much cash in the casino? Maybe they piss off the owner by winning too much, and they and the dealer are dragged away to be questioned by goons? Or a rich local sees their talent and offers them the opportunity to high-stakes gamble as a hired player with deadly consequences for losing too much? I was wondering if anyone else had some cool ideas. I wouldn't be surprised if they asked for an entire session to be dedicated to gambling entire fortunes worth of gold away, which is fun because I love playing the dealer. I think I'm gonna make an NPC who they regularly play with.
So I have been playing blackjack for 2 years now but mostly as degenerate gambler. Recently, I realised that no matter what i do i will always be on minus in the long run ( who would’ve thought hahaha). I want to make a new approach and start introducing card counting and statistics into my game. I want to add that i’ve completely given up on gambling and want to do this to train my mind, fun and my unexplored pleasure for statistics. I would need some guidance on where to start my training before going back to the casino. Any help would be appreciated.
Hi Everyone, I would just like to introduce myself. Tell my story and explain why I'm here. I got into bitcoin back in the day. I loved how easy it was to send and withdrawl from casino sites. They also had provably fair playing. The transaction fees were low. And wow, what a crazy ride. Bitcoin was around $200 then. I was losing and winning so much. One time I won 200btc in a slot machine and blackjack and video pokered it up to 500btc. It was over 100k USD. Part of it was on bitzino which is now shut down. Then I lost it all at bitzino in 25btc/hand blackjack. It all was so fast. Working nightshift made me crazy. I just loved clicking those buttons. Eventually I had to take an 8k loan from my 401k to cover the losses. I shut my coinbase account down. Honestly that's why I do robinhood. I can't send the crypto to these awesome sites. I don't want to take that ride again. I still play on these sites with free money but the ride up and down in robinhood is fun enough and great and crypto goes up. But hearing how Robinhood had to get $1billion in funding makes me concerned. I'll just be honest that i'm taking all my Doge profits and sticking it in GME as soon as I can. I'm really thankful for everytime elon tweeted about Doge. I'm thankful that all the interns over the summer at my company were obsessed with memes giving confidence in my DOGE investments. I think there's a great chance that elon is inspiring some meme loving great young leader to do something with it. I think Doge being and inflation coin is just ok ... it makes it more likely people will use it. I also think ethereum is great with it's defi and exchanges which would be publicly managed compared to this fiasco with robinhood and clearinghouses and citadel. I think ethereum 2.0 is awesome. People literally just put 32 ethereum on a computer and make more ethereum while the price fluctuates. 2.0 just seems like a great ride you can take for a long time. I think the bch community is great. The grasberg vs asertii drama was great. I'm pissed as fuck robinhood didn't give me any abc coin or even sell it for me. Fuck bitcoin and there high fees and low blocksize. I hope you guys post due diligence before pumping coins no one has heard of. I love due diligence and then memes. I hope you guys make so much money and buy boats and houses and cars and pay off student loans. Regards, Jimmerish
Since we are all throwing out new formats, how about a new Commander variant? Ante Up.
The rules are pretty simple, but they are easy enough to make sure you lose your friends. It's a variant of EDH, so a lot of the same rules apply:
Life total starts at 40
Singleton format
Color identity applies (except for ante cards)
Commander damage is 21, with one more rule that is different
London Mulligan
Same banlist as the Rules Committee for EDH, except for the ante cards.
Changes:
All the Ante cards are unbanned. You may choose to run any ante card in any deck, regardless of the color identity of your commander. You still have to pay the costs associated with that card however.
At the beginning of the game, everyone antes up the top card of their deck as they did in the old days. Winner of the 4-player pod gets all the cards.
If you kill someone with commander damage at exactly 21 damage and say, "Blackjack" as you do so, the person you killed gives you the possession of their ante'd card immediately, and that card does not end up going to the winner of the pod. If you end up losing, you can replace your own ante'd card with the blackjack card.
There is no commander tax. However, every time you cast your commander beyond the first time (think of it as the free buffet at the casino), you have to ante up another card. If you are playing with partner, only the first partner you cast is free. Beyond that? You have to raise the bet.
Also, I guess we add a "Know When to Fold'em" Clause. You can concede at sorcery speed to keep any card you ante'd up, as long as you ante up two more cards to replace the one you want to keep.
You have to play Kenny Rodgers as you play, or that sweet theme from Persona 5 where it's in the casino palace. That, or you can play the Casino Zone theme from Sonic.
Make sure to pay Ante Up with all your closest friends! If it's not clear, no, I do not want Ante Up to be a new format, just poking fun at the fact that there is a new format every other day. Anyways, keep posted, because I will be creating another much needed and much asked for format within the next month. It will be something that is going to be innovative. Truly. Remember folks, its time for you too, to post your own brand new formats!
DraftKings (NASDAQ: DKNG) - Deep Dive Research - Part 1
TL:DR
This is Part 1 of my two part deep dive on DraftKings (Ticker: DKNG, I will refer to the company as “DK”)
This first part introduces you to (1) me, (2) the company, (3) my thesis on the company, and (4) digs into how they make money.
The second part (already released, you can read it here - but get through part 1 first :) ) will go in depth to explore the question “Can we 10x from here?”
DK is an exciting, disruptive company working to change how we experience watching sports and make it better.
I am not a financial advisor and this is not investment advice. These are just my opinions to help facilitate learning and discussion.
Hello, welcome to my first deep dive write up. My name’s Mark and I’m an accountant with a passion for investing. About two years ago, I used to work as an auditor at a public accounting firm and have been behind the scenes at many different publicly traded and privately held companies in the U.S. My goal is to bring my unique perspective from that past experience, my current experience working in a new role at a large corporation, and my understanding of accounting to help break down some of the most exciting growth stocks on the market today. I’m a long-term investor. I am focused on finding great companies and holding them for a long time. I’m willing to endure volatility, crazy price drops, and everything that comes with this approach as long as the facts that led me to originally invest and believe in that company have not changed. If you want to learn more about this approach. I recommend reading the book “100 Baggers” by Chris Mayer. Introduction I think it’s fitting that my first stock pick has to do with sports. Sports has been a part of my life since I could walk at the age of 2. First with baseball and soccer, and then later in my childhood with golf. I’ve always played American football and basketball for fun as well and have always been an avid fan of all the major sports in the US. I started playing fantasy sports (mostly just fantasy football) about 6 years ago and have always enjoyed it. Traditionally, with fantasy football you draft a team at the beginning of the year and those are your players for the rest of the season. If you have a bad draft, oh well. You can try to improve your team with trades and free agent additions but it is tough. Leagues usually consist of 10-14 teams (each managed by an individual) and there’s obviously only one winner at the end of the season (about 4 months after the draft). This can lead to the managers of the lower performing teams losing interest as the season wanes on. I believe DraftKings’ (DK) founders saw this issue and saw an opportunity. Enter, daily fantasy sports. Now, with the DK platform you can draft a new team every week. Or if you want, every day. This allows fans of fantasy sports to engage at whichever point of the season they want and at varying financial stakes. The Thesis Statement For every stock pick I make, I want to provide a quick thesis statement that can serve as a reminder for why I’m buying and holding that stock for the long term. I’ll always aim to make it just a few sentences long so it can easily be remembered and internalized. This helps during times when the price may sporadically drop and you need to remember why you’re holding this position. The thesis statement I have come up with for DK is as follows: “DraftKings: The leader in allowing fans to engage financially with their favorite sports, teams, and players. Having money at stake makes the game a lot more interesting to watch. The era of daily fantasy sports games, online sports betting, and online betting (outside of sports), is just getting started and DK is as well positioned (or better positioned) than anyone to capitalize off of this trend.” Notice how I said “allowing fans to engage financially” as the first sentence and not necessarily “allowing fans to gamble”. There’s a reason for that. According to US Federal Law, Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) contests have specifically been exempted from the prohibitions of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). DK has always been, and I believe will continue to be DFS contests 1st, sports betting 2nd, and other forms of gambling/entertainment 3rd. It is noteworthy that states at an individual level can still deem DFS contests illegal if they so wish, but as of this writing (11/26/20), 43 of the 50 US States allow DFS contests and DK, accordingly, is offering DFS contests in all 43 of those US States. I’ll try to clarify the difference between DFS contests and sports betting real quick: DFS Contest – Pay a pre-set entry fee to enter a contest. All entry fees go towards “The Pot”. “Draft” 9 players to be on your “Team” for 1 week. Enter your “Roster” into a contest with other players (could range from 1 other person to 1,000s of people, the DK user can choose). Whichever “Roster” amasses the most points for that week out of all contestants wins. The winner will get the highest payout, and depending on the nature of the contest, other top finishers will receive smaller payouts as well. Sports Gambling – Team A is considered a 10 point favorite to defeat Team B. This means that Team A is expected, by the professional gambling line setters, to outscore Team B by 10 points. This is known as a point spread. You can bet on the underdog or the favorite. If you bet on the favorite, they have to win by more than 10 points for you to win the bet. If you bet on the underdog, you will win the bet as long as the underdog keeps the game within less than a 10 point defeat. These are just a couple simple examples to help you see the difference. Sports Gambling (the 2nd priority of DK) is a very lucrative market just as the DFS contests are. However, in the US, Federal Laws and regulations are a lot stricter on Sports Gambling than they are on DFS. As of this writing (11/27/20), 22 states (including the District of Columbia) out of 51 possible allow sports gambling. DK is still in the infancy stages of getting their sports gambling business going. In the 22 states where they could potentially operate, they currently have a sports gambling offering in 11 of those states. The sports gambling business model for DK can be broken into two main offerings – mobile sports betting, and retail sports betting. Mobile sports betting means you can place a sports bet online from the comfort of your own home, while retail sports betting means you must go to a casino and place a bet with the sportsbook in person. I personally believe mobile sports betting is the real potential cash cow for DK out of the two types of sports betting offerings due to the convenience and ease of access. DK is currently working on and encouraging customers to lobby their state lawmakers to legalize sports gambling in more states. How DK makes money At the very least, before you invest in a company, you better understand how they make money. In Chris Mayers’ excellent book, 100 Baggers, that I mentioned above, he continually references top line revenue growth as one of the main common indicators of a possible 100 Bagger. This isn’t to tell you that any stock I pick will be a 100 Bagger just because it has great top line revenue growth, but if I am looking at a growth stock to hold for the long term, revenue growth is one of the first things I look at. For DK, their means of making money is quite simple. I already went into detail above about DFS Contests and Sports Gambling. In DK’s latest 10-Q filing with the SEC (filed 11/13/20), revenue is broken out into two main streams: Online Gaming and Gaming Software. Online Gaming (82% of Total Revenue for 9 months ended 9/30/20): Online gaming is the true core business of DK and includes the aforementioned DFS Contests, Sports Gambling and additional gambling (non-sports) opportunities. DK refers to their additional gambling (non-sports) as “iGaming” or “online casino”. For the 9 months ended 9/30/20, Online Gaming revenue totaled $239M, up 30% YoY from $184M in the same prior year period. Keep in mind, that this is an increase that happened during a COVID-19 global pandemic that delayed and shortened many professional sports seasons. Online gaming revenue is earned in a few ways that are slightly different, but very similar overall. In order to enter a DFS contest, a customer must pay an entry fee. DFS revenue is generated from these entry fees collected, net of prize payouts and customer incentives awarded to users. In order to place a sports bet (sports gambling), a customer places a wager with a DK Sportsbook. The DK Sportsbook sets odds for each wager that builds in a theoretical margin allowing DK to profit. Sports gambling revenue is generated from wagers collected from customers, net of payouts and incentives awarded to winning customers. The last form of online gaming revenue is earned in similar fashion to a land-based casino, offering online versions of casino games such as blackjack, roulette, and slot machines. Gaming Software (18% of Total Revenue for 9 months ended 9/30/20): While the Online Gaming revenue stream mentioned above is a Business to Consumer (B2C) model, the Gaming Software revenue stream is a Business to Business (B2B) model. The Gaming Software side of the business was born out of the acquisition of SBTech, a company from the Isle of Man (near the UK) founded in 2007 that has 12+ years of experience providing online sports betting platforms to clients all over the world. The acquisition occurred as part of the SPAC driven IPO in April of 2020 that combined “the old DK company” with SBTech so that they now are “the new DK company” listed as DKNG on the NASDAQ. SBTech is a far more important part of the story than just being 18% of today’s revenue. The reason for this is because DK will eventually (planned mid-late 2021) be migrating all of their DFS and gambling offerings onto SBTech’s online platforms. Currently, for DFS, DK uses their own proprietary platform but that will move to SBTech with the migration. Currently, for online gambling, DK uses Kambi, the same online gambling platform that services Penn Gaming (PENN), a DK rival. But that’s enough about the software migration for now, back to the Gaming Software revenue. The Gaming Software revenue stream for DK is essentially a continuation of SBTechs’ B2B business model. DK contracts with business customers to provide sports and casino betting software solutions. DK typically enters two different type of arrangements with B2B customers when selling the gaming software:
Direct Customer Contract Revenue: In this type of transaction, the software is sold directly to a business (casino for example) that wants to use the software for their own gambling operations. This revenue is generally calculated as a percentage of the wagering revenue generated by the business customer using DK’s software and is recognized in the periods in which those wagering and related activities conclude.
Reseller Arrangement Revenue: In this type of transaction, DK provides distributors with the right to resell DK’s software-as-a-service offering to their clients, using their own infrastructure. In reseller arrangements, revenue is generally calculated via a fixed monthly fee and an additional monthly fee which varies based on the number of gaming operators to whom each reseller sub-licenses DK’s software.
As mentioned above, SBTech was an international company based in the Isle of Man before being acquired by DK. Thus, the majority of their business in their first 12 years of operating independently has always been international and outside of the United States. This has helped DK, which has historically been US focused, expand it’s international reach. A perfect example of expanding this international reach occurred recently during October (technically Q4) in which DK’s B2B technology (powered by SBTech) helped enable the launch of “PalaceBet”, a new mobile and online sportsbook offering from Peermont, a South Africa based resort and casino company. The deal was headed by DK’s new Chief International Officer, Shay Berka, who previously spent 10 years working for SBTech as CFO and General Manager. Mr. Berka took on the role of DK’s Chief International Officer upon the merger in April earlier this year. I think this deal shows that DK has integrated SBTech and it’s business very well into the larger business as a whole. They are not wasting any time using their newly acquired resources to expand their reach and bring in new sources of revenue. This is the end of my first article about DK. My goal is to drop Part 2 later this week. The focus of Part 2 will be an in depth answer of the question – “Can we 10x from here?” Disclosure: I am/we are long DKNG. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
DraftKings (NASDAQ: DKNG) - Deep Dive Research - Part 1
TL:DR
This is Part 1 of my two part deep dive on DraftKings (Ticker: DKNG, I will refer to the company as “DK”)
This first part introduces you to (1) me, (2) the company, (3) my thesis on the company, and (4) digs into how they make money.
The second part (to be released later this week) will go in depth to explore the question “Can we 10x from here?”
DK is an exciting, disruptive company working to change how we experience watching sports and make it better.
I am not a financial advisor and this is not investment advice. These are just my opinions to help facilitate learning and discussion.
Hello, welcome to my first deep dive write up. My name’s Mark and I’m an accountant with a passion for investing. About two years ago, I used to work as an auditor at a public accounting firm and have been behind the scenes at many different publicly traded and privately held companies in the U.S. My goal is to bring my unique perspective from that past experience, my current experience working in a new role at a large corporation, and my understanding of accounting to help break down some of the most exciting growth stocks on the market today. I’m a long-term investor. I am focused on finding great companies and holding them for a long time. I’m willing to endure volatility, crazy price drops, and everything that comes with this approach as long as the facts that led me to originally invest and believe in that company have not changed. If you want to learn more about this approach. I recommend reading the book “100 Baggers” by Chris Mayer. Introduction I think it’s fitting that my first stock pick has to do with sports. Sports has been a part of my life since I could walk at the age of 2. First with baseball and soccer, and then later in my childhood with golf. I’ve always played American football and basketball for fun as well and have always been an avid fan of all the major sports in the US. I started playing fantasy sports (mostly just fantasy football) about 6 years ago and have always enjoyed it. Traditionally, with fantasy football you draft a team at the beginning of the year and those are your players for the rest of the season. If you have a bad draft, oh well. You can try to improve your team with trades and free agent additions but it is tough. Leagues usually consist of 10-14 teams (each managed by an individual) and there’s obviously only one winner at the end of the season (about 4 months after the draft). This can lead to the managers of the lower performing teams losing interest as the season wanes on. I believe DraftKings’ (DK) founders saw this issue and saw an opportunity. Enter, daily fantasy sports. Now, with the DK platform you can draft a new team every week. Or if you want, every day. This allows fans of fantasy sports to engage at whichever point of the season they want and at varying financial stakes. The Thesis Statement For every stock pick I make, I want to provide a quick thesis statement that can serve as a reminder for why I’m buying and holding that stock for the long term. I’ll always aim to make it just a few sentences long so it can easily be remembered and internalized. This helps during times when the price may sporadically drop and you need to remember why you’re holding this position. The thesis statement I have come up with for DK is as follows: “DraftKings: The leader in allowing fans to engage financially with their favorite sports, teams, and players. Having money at stake makes the game a lot more interesting to watch. The era of daily fantasy sports games, online sports betting, and online betting (outside of sports), is just getting started and DK is as well positioned (or better positioned) than anyone to capitalize off of this trend.” Notice how I said “allowing fans to engage financially” as the first sentence and not necessarily “allowing fans to gamble”. There’s a reason for that. According to US Federal Law, Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) contests have specifically been exempted from the prohibitions of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). DK has always been, and I believe will continue to be DFS contests 1st, sports betting 2nd, and other forms of gambling/entertainment 3rd. It is noteworthy that states at an individual level can still deem DFS contests illegal if they so wish, but as of this writing (11/26/20), 43 of the 50 US States allow DFS contests and DK, accordingly, is offering DFS contests in all 43 of those US States. I’ll try to clarify the difference between DFS contests and sports betting real quick: DFS Contest – Pay a pre-set entry fee to enter a contest. All entry fees go towards “The Pot”. “Draft” 9 players to be on your “Team” for 1 week. Enter your “Roster” into a contest with other players (could range from 1 other person to 1,000s of people, the DK user can choose). Whichever “Roster” amasses the most points for that week out of all contestants wins. The winner will get the highest payout, and depending on the nature of the contest, other top finishers will receive smaller payouts as well. Sports Gambling – Team A is considered a 10 point favorite to defeat Team B. This means that Team A is expected, by the professional gambling line setters, to outscore Team B by 10 points. This is known as a point spread. You can bet on the underdog or the favorite. If you bet on the favorite, they have to win by more than 10 points for you to win the bet. If you bet on the underdog, you will win the bet as long as the underdog keeps the game within less than a 10 point defeat. These are just a couple simple examples to help you see the difference. Sports Gambling (the 2nd priority of DK) is a very lucrative market just as the DFS contests are. However, in the US, Federal Laws and regulations are a lot stricter on Sports Gambling than they are on DFS. As of this writing (11/27/20), 22 states (including the District of Columbia) out of 51 possible allow sports gambling. DK is still in the infancy stages of getting their sports gambling business going. In the 22 states where they could potentially operate, they currently have a sports gambling offering in 11 of those states. The sports gambling business model for DK can be broken into two main offerings – mobile sports betting, and retail sports betting. Mobile sports betting means you can place a sports bet online from the comfort of your own home, while retail sports betting means you must go to a casino and place a bet with the sportsbook in person. I personally believe mobile sports betting is the real potential cash cow for DK out of the two types of sports betting offerings due to the convenience and ease of access. DK is currently working on and encouraging customers to lobby their state lawmakers to legalize sports gambling in more states. How DK makes money At the very least, before you invest in a company, you better understand how they make money. In Chris Mayers’ excellent book, 100 Baggers, that I mentioned above, he continually references top line revenue growth as one of the main common indicators of a possible 100 Bagger. This isn’t to tell you that any stock I pick will be a 100 Bagger just because it has great top line revenue growth, but if I am looking at a growth stock to hold for the long term, revenue growth is one of the first things I look at. For DK, their means of making money is quite simple. I already went into detail above about DFS Contests and Sports Gambling. In DK’s latest 10-Q filing with the SEC (filed 11/13/20), revenue is broken out into two main streams: Online Gaming and Gaming Software. Online Gaming (82% of Total Revenue for 9 months ended 9/30/20): Online gaming is the true core business of DK and includes the aforementioned DFS Contests, Sports Gambling and additional gambling (non-sports) opportunities. DK refers to their additional gambling (non-sports) as “iGaming” or “online casino”. For the 9 months ended 9/30/20, Online Gaming revenue totaled $239M, up 30% YoY from $184M in the same prior year period. Keep in mind, that this is an increase that happened during a COVID-19 global pandemic that delayed and shortened many professional sports seasons. Online gaming revenue is earned in a few ways that are slightly different, but very similar overall. In order to enter a DFS contest, a customer must pay an entry fee. DFS revenue is generated from these entry fees collected, net of prize payouts and customer incentives awarded to users. In order to place a sports bet (sports gambling), a customer places a wager with a DK Sportsbook. The DK Sportsbook sets odds for each wager that builds in a theoretical margin allowing DK to profit. Sports gambling revenue is generated from wagers collected from customers, net of payouts and incentives awarded to winning customers. The last form of online gaming revenue is earned in similar fashion to a land-based casino, offering online versions of casino games such as blackjack, roulette, and slot machines. Gaming Software (18% of Total Revenue for 9 months ended 9/30/20): While the Online Gaming revenue stream mentioned above is a Business to Consumer (B2C) model, the Gaming Software revenue stream is a Business to Business (B2B) model. The Gaming Software side of the business was born out of the acquisition of SBTech, a company from the Isle of Man (near the UK) founded in 2007 that has 12+ years of experience providing online sports betting platforms to clients all over the world. The acquisition occurred as part of the SPAC driven IPO in April of 2020 that combined “the old DK company” with SBTech so that they now are “the new DK company” listed as DKNG on the NASDAQ. SBTech is a far more important part of the story than just being 18% of today’s revenue. The reason for this is because DK will eventually (planned mid-late 2021) be migrating all of their DFS and gambling offerings onto SBTech’s online platforms. Currently, for DFS, DK uses their own proprietary platform but that will move to SBTech with the migration. Currently, for online gambling, DK uses Kambi, the same online gambling platform that services Penn Gaming (PENN), a DK rival. But that’s enough about the software migration for now, back to the Gaming Software revenue. The Gaming Software revenue stream for DK is essentially a continuation of SBTechs’ B2B business model. DK contracts with business customers to provide sports and casino betting software solutions. DK typically enters two different type of arrangements with B2B customers when selling the gaming software:
Direct Customer Contract Revenue: In this type of transaction, the software is sold directly to a business (casino for example) that wants to use the software for their own gambling operations. This revenue is generally calculated as a percentage of the wagering revenue generated by the business customer using DK’s software and is recognized in the periods in which those wagering and related activities conclude.
Reseller Arrangement Revenue: In this type of transaction, DK provides distributors with the right to resell DK’s software-as-a-service offering to their clients, using their own infrastructure. In reseller arrangements, revenue is generally calculated via a fixed monthly fee and an additional monthly fee which varies based on the number of gaming operators to whom each reseller sub-licenses DK’s software.
As mentioned above, SBTech was an international company based in the Isle of Man before being acquired by DK. Thus, the majority of their business in their first 12 years of operating independently has always been international and outside of the United States. This has helped DK, which has historically been US focused, expand it’s international reach. A perfect example of expanding this international reach occurred recently during October (technically Q4) in which DK’s B2B technology (powered by SBTech) helped enable the launch of “PalaceBet”, a new mobile and online sportsbook offering from Peermont, a South Africa based resort and casino company. The deal was headed by DK’s new Chief International Officer, Shay Berka, who previously spent 10 years working for SBTech as CFO and General Manager. Mr. Berka took on the role of DK’s Chief International Officer upon the merger in April earlier this year. I think this deal shows that DK has integrated SBTech and it’s business very well into the larger business as a whole. They are not wasting any time using their newly acquired resources to expand their reach and bring in new sources of revenue. This is the end of my first article about DK. My goal is to drop Part 2 later this week. The focus of Part 2 will be an in depth answer of the question – “Can we 10x from here?” Disclosure: I am/we are long DKNG. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Rough Night at The Running Bear Casino (PAGE 1 of 2)
…The raging river, pulled them down. Now they’ll always, be together, In that Happy Hunting Ground… - Running Bear by Sonny James “Snakeyes! New roller, please, next up.” The game runner raked in the dice and chips and ignored the despair in the countenance of the most recent “high roller”. Ted shook his head and other people crowded him away from the dice pit. He was almost out of funds and it was still early. He’d budgeted his, “loss level” carefully to maximize his time at the reservation casino. It was an older one, filled with stereotypical paintings and statues intended to honor the local First Nations Tribes while fulfilling the expectations of rude tourists. He looked around forlornly for a new game to play. He didn’t care for the slots or the drawn-out and ever-shifting card games… ah, Blackjack! There was an opening at the table. He rushed over before anyone else could snag it and bustled onto the chair. “Okay to deal me in on the next hand?” He interrupted the dealer, who ignored him until he was done dealing out the rest of the players and raking in the chips. He still did not speak but once Ted placed the minimum bet, he flipped a card down in front of him and the game began. Ted immediately started winning the straightforward game. He picked up most of his losses from his unfortunate run at craps and was finally enjoying himself. The couple at the far end of the table had apparently had enough and didn’t care for the new player. Ted liked to talk to new people and thought he was good at it. Before long, the other players had left and it was down to him, the dealer, and an older man, who wore a black cowboy style hat and chain-smoked thin cigarillos. Ted, grinning heartily at his latest win, glanced over at the man, who had just fired up his next cancer-stick, “You know casinos, and a few bars are the last public places where anyone smokes. I remember when there were smoking sections at most places and my parents told me that there used to be no restrictions. I’ll bet you get plenty of pressure to stop from your family and friends. It’s a pretty bad habit for your long-term health…” Ted usually rambled on past any non-verbal cues that people might give him to stop talking, yet his diatribe came to a screeching halt at the look with which the stern-faced elder favored him. The older man drew in a long pull on the firestick and then exhaled the stinking cloud into Ted’s face. He coughed a little and gagged at the odor of the raw blend of tobacco and chemicals. The old one removed the cigarillo from his mouth and tapped ashes onto the edge of the table and down onto the floor at his toes, “Sonny, nobody cares. Nobody wants your opinion, and you are not special, no matter what your mommy told you. I’ll do as I please and if you don’t like it, go bother people at another table.” Ted gaped in shock. In his mind, the man’s words verged on an “assault”. He looked helplessly at the dealer, who just ducked his head and tried not to laugh. Indignant, he rose, took his pile of chips and fled into the depths of the gaming house in search of a friendlier table. He didn’t find one that he liked, so he finally gave up and sat at the bar. The bartender seemed to ignore him in favor of tidying up her workspace. He cleared his throat and received only a glance. He mumbled as much to himself as to her, “I just want a drink while I wait for a table to open.” He wondered at her stony silence, maybe she resents me for being… His vocal ruminations were interrupted by a feminine voice, “What do you want?” Ted looked up to see the bartender, mocking smile in place below shining, mesmerizing eyes. Ted simply gaped and eventually worked his jaw uselessly. The bartender shrugged and walked back to the other end of the bar. She spoke with a large man who was clearly part of the security team. He glared at Ted while she spoke. Ted wanted to avoid a confrontation. He’d been conditioned that he should seek authorities if such a situation loomed. Yet casino security was the only available authority here locally. There were Tribal Police on the Reservation, but he wasn’t sure they would want to listen to him. He finally shrugged and decided to go back over to the hotel for the rest of the night. This trip had been very unsatisfying… like all those he’d taken since he moved away from his parents’ home a few years previously. There was an indoor walkway to the hotel, but Ted decided to go by the outdoor route to get some fresh air and enjoy the natural beauty that the builders had incorporated into the facility. As he walked dejectedly down the sidewalk, local flora pressing in from each side, he heard, from the nearby forest, a screeching wail. It startled him and he had to stop a moment to catch his breath and wait for his heart rate to slow to something more manageable. He realized that it must have been an owl or some other night bird. His father had told him that there were always weird noises “out in the sticks”. As he plunged his hands into his pockets and determined to go to his room for rest, he caught the faint smell of burning tobacco on the breeze. It wafted over his shoulder from behind and caused him to emit a feeble cough. He looked back in annoyance. In the shadows behind him, he saw a figure. It was dark and stood still in a way that made him uncomfortable. An orange glowing circle of embers hovered around the face and rendered just enough light to illuminate the blue-grey curls of smoke as they exited the tiny conflagration and rose above the brim of a black hat. The ember flared for a moment and then flashed to the ground and was snuffed by a shadowed… foot? It wasn’t exactly clear to Ted; the figure’s lower extremities were... blurred. An even brighter flare, from a lighter or match stabbed into Ted’s eyes as the Smoker lit his next cigarillo. Ted glared irritation but felt uncomfortable at the unnatural stillness to which the figure returned once the new fire was lit. He coughed once more, this time deliberately in a passive-aggressive attempt to communicate his displeasure and resumed his walk. He strained to listen behind him to determine whether the figure followed. He truly wished to get away from the stink and the threat of cancer or other respiratory illnesses. He slowed to listen, then gave up and looked over his shoulder again. There was no figure in the dark back near the exit to the casino. He turned to resume his walk, but a smoky black form now loomed before him! Its eyes glowed and smoked like large twin cigars as it gaped a maw that emitted pure black smoke and glowed with blue flames within the deep tunnel of the throat. Ted’s consciousness fled his body and found itself in a burning nightmare landscape that extended for as far as he could perceive in all directions. **** * **** Darnell, known to his public as “Murder Bush” a deliberate mistranslation of “merde bouche” a.k.a. “Deadly Rapper” for having been a suspect in a shooting back in his youth, stepped up to the dice pit as the geeky dude left. He had plenty of chips and cash to back them. His entourage was there to support him and kiss his backside as often as he wished. He rolled through six passes before he crapped out. He hadn’t over-bet, so he’d won a small amount. He picked up his latest winning chips and handed them to the hostess who had kept him well plied with drinks and snacks. He was sure that for the right price, she would take care of his other needs. He played a few card tables and finished with Roulette. Each time he won a few chips, he passed them on to the young woman or to one of his flunkies. In the end, they had all received at least some reward for the praises they’d heaped upon him; not for any real accomplishments, but rather to curry favor with the man whom they considered to be wealthy and important: a celebrity. The girl stayed at his side and except for when he asked her questions, she said nothing. He liked that: bitch know her place, he reveled in internal satisfaction. He liked her looks too. She was medium height and a little, “thick”. She was clearly interested but hadn’t gotten in his way when he flirted with other women. He truly liked this one. The more he considered her, the more he wanted to get down to business. Eventually, he posed the question to her, “How much for the next few hours?” His brazen suggestion that she would take money for sexual favors was the final test. If she grew angry, then she didn’t appreciate his genius… “Whatever you think is fair. How about we see if I can satisfy you? If I can, then you may want to be generous… as you have been so far.” She hefted the chips so that the pieces clinked in her palm. “If not, I don’t deserve a reward.” She had passed with flying colors. Might even take this one back to civilization with me, he purred in his mind. He’d always thought of himself as a Big Cat… maybe a leopard or jaguar, definitely something dangerous and sleek. His need grew more intense by the moment. He desperately wanted this woman. “Come on, let’s go to my room.” He husked in a voice grown thick with desire. They reached his suite, his groupies having been dismissed to their own nefarious pursuits, even his bodyguard. The big man had shrugged, “Your call boss-man.” and then stumped across the hallway to his own room. Now he was finally alone with… her. He stripped off his shirt and flipped his shoes into a corner. She stood by the window and watched. The drinks he’d consumed finally caught up with him before he’d shucked his pants and drawers, “Hold on, I’ll be right back.” He was excited, which made urinating a challenge, but it had to be done, so that he could maximize his pleasure. When he stepped from the restroom, au natural, he saw that his latest conquest had done the same and now stood, bare to the world and staring out the window, all the curtains on it pushed to one side, so that the night loomed and the light of a single small desk lamp lit the room. He stalked over to her, ready to take her right there at the window in full view of anyone who looked up from the outside. He secretly hoped for an audience. He enjoyed having others watch him take what he wanted. She turned to face him, her head lowered… no, it had sunken into her body, only her hair remained above her shoulders! A… mouth, gaping and slavering opened on her stomach, a mouth too large for her body and rimmed with rows of teeth like sharpened spikes. She stepped forward to embrace him and the screaming began… sounds that he was accustomed to eliciting from others rather than emitting from his own person. **** * **** “Rhino” was unhappy. He didn’t like to leave Darnell unattended. Perhaps now that his boss was in the room, he could go stand guard outside the door. He took care of some personal ablutions as he wolfed down a couple of energy bars and then walked out into the hallway. He started to settle in front of Darnell’s door, when he heard a muffled scream and faint… slobbering-gobbling noises come from the other side. He quickly tried the door, initially too panicked to think of the extra key card with which Darnell had entrusted him. He fumbled for it and soon had the door open. The interior was completely dark. The light from the hallway spilled inward but didn’t seem to reach as far into the room as it should. He drew his pistol from the holster on his waistband and began to stalk forward, “Boss, you okay? You hurt?” The room was as silent as a tomb, he shivered a little as that thought crossed his mind. Over by the closed drapes, he smelled something awful: fresh blood and spilled entrails… recent death. His feet squelched on wet carpet. He turned around quickly. There had been no noise, but he’d felt a… presence. There she stood, arms spread wide, mouth on her gut spread wider. Rhino wasn’t one to scream or yell, even in extremis, so no others would come to this room to investigate. **** * **** Shelly was glad when the rowdy group left the roulette wheel that sat behind her favorite row of slots. The former “one-armed bandits”, that were now, “multiple button digital bandits” lined every available wall space, and in some spaces stood in rows that drew regulars like a dung-heap draws flies. She’d grabbed her favorite machine early in the evening and sat sliding in dollar bills and working up her points. It was called “Buffalo Dance” and featured images of American Bison and feather-bedecked hunters. The theme on the screen matched and she hoped to one day see the “White Buffalo” image adorn the entire set of images… the grand prize view. Despite the fun graphics, it was her favorite because it was near a restroom and a free soda and snack bar. She found herself ahead and on a roll. She absently lipped her dangling cigarette back into her mouth for a long draw. The smoke obscured the screen for a moment, and then she noted a shadow that lengthened across the reflective surface. Someone stood close behind her. Someone who exuded a chilly air. She paused and looked around, “Can I help you?” There was no answer, though the shadow shifted slightly as if its caster had heard her. Now she grew annoyed, this is just the sort of thing to break my winning streak! she raged internally. She braced her hands against the machine and worked her buttocks to make the stool on which she perched spin, so she could confront her harasser. She gaped, and nearly lost her cigarette, there was no one standing near enough to cast the shadow. No one even faced her. She chalked it up to excitement, maybe someone stepped too close when passing to go to the restroom, she thought, still a little annoyed and... chilled. She turned back to her game and continued working the buttons, pumping in bills, and winning, a little at a time, the points now built well above her investment. This weekend is gonna pay for the last two months of losing and breaking even, she thought triumphantly. The shadow loomed across the screen once more, this time even larger, as though the figure that cast it stood closer. The shape was amorphous but hinted at anthropomorphic. She shivered as an icy breeze flowed around her, as though the air conditioning had sent out a short, cold burst, a minor malfunction… She turned around with more alacrity and determination than the last time, mouth agape, cigarette once more dangling… precipitously and endangering the cleavage she displayed, already baked and wrinkled from years of sunbathing. The frigid air passed, and no one stood anywhere near her, though a customer approached, headed for either snacks or relief. “Excuse me sir, did you just see someone, maybe a large man, standing behind me?” The man paused and looked at her in confusion. He had clearly been absorbed in his own thoughts, “Er, what? Uh, No. I wasn’t really paying attention, but… no.” He bustled on toward the free fountain drinks machine. Shelly shrugged, can’t give up now, the pot is even bigger. She checked her points; she was nearing her all-time high. The winnings would pay her space rental fee at the RV park for the entire month. She pressed and played the buttons more fervently than ever, determined to break the bank on straight points or to reach that magical spin that would offer an instant reward of $10,000.00. She set her new points record and reveled for a moment. She reached for the now small stack of dollar bills the rest having been devoured by the machine. She fed in the entire remaining amount, then once more gazed at the screen. It was entirely blackened by a looming shadow. The temperature of the air around her plummeted and she shuddered with the sudden biting cold. The cigarette was long extinguished, and she’d let the cold fag fall into the ash tray built onto the side of the machine opposite the drink holder. She was so cold, and she wanted to cry out for help, but the darkness closed in around her as the shadow enveloped her and cut off her breathing. Her fingers, paused above the “spin” button, struck and as her consciousness faded, she saw the flashing blue light and heard the blare of the winner’s siren. White Buffalo images filled all nine spaces. I won!The grand prize! **** * **** Terry filled his large cup and stood sipping and daydreaming. He’d lost everything he’d budgeted to lose. Yet he knew that one more try would put him back in black for this trip. He mused about what he would do with the prize money. He’d set his limit at $300.00 and had quickly lost it all on slots. Maybe he could risk just a few more dollars… skip a lunch or two until his next paycheck if it didn’t work. He was startled by the jackpot winner’s flashing light and siren that went off just behind him. That bitch! He yelled internally. Figures some old used up skank would win the big prize. He looked over at the nearby machine with anger and envy vying for control of his senses. She was gone! He stepped over to the machine and looked around in confusion. Maybe she’d gone to the restroom? No, she’d have passed right by me. He shook his head and stepped up to look at the screen. He could still feel the recent presence of a player, the trace of warmth from a human body that might linger in a space for just a moment after the human had vacated the space. He looked around the casino floor, she was nowhere in sight. She’d been wearing a low-cut silver-spangled top that was cut way too low for her sagging, sun-ravaged bosom. She should be easy to spy, she looked like a deflated disco ball that had fallen from the ceiling to play slots. The only thing that came his way was a train of employees, led by a waitress in a skimpy outfit with purple sparkles and carrying a tray with a glass and a dark bottle. She was followed by other employees, who’d formed a sort of conga line: they sang a congratulatory chorus as they approached. Terry gaped for a moment when he realized that they thought he was the big winner. He’d have to deny it of course. Surely the woman would be back at any moment to claim her prize. The floor cameras would have recorded who had sat at the machine, but it was too late. The group of enthused employees encircled him, and the attractive young waitress poured him a glass of champagne and snuggled up to him. The manager approached and seized his hand for a vigorous shake, “Well done sir! I see that not only have you hit the jackpot, but you’ve raised an additional $3,000.00 in points. A fabulous prize and well played I’m sure.” Terry was flabbergasted. He’d never won anything like this… I still haven’t, not really, he reminded himself. He rarely broke even on his gambling forays, whether to the casino, or the corner store for lottery tickets and video slots. He allowed himself to be swept into the reverie and led from the machine to the bar. The employees peeled away as they approached, and he soon found himself with only the bottle and a receipt that he could cash out before he left the premises. A sullen-looking woman stood behind the bar, wiping glasses and a large, mean-looking security staffer menaced the far end. He already had his bottle, so he wasn’t sure why the staff members had deposited him with these two killjoys. He shrugged, picked up the champagne and started to walk away from the bar. “You can’t take that with you. Either drink it here or give it to me and I’ll put it in the trash.” The bartender stated in monotone. The security officer stood up straight from where he’d been leaning against the far wall, apparently propping up the building. He folded his massive arms in a threatening manner. Silly, thought Terry, folded arms should be a hindrance, but I get the feeling he’s dangerous regardless. He figured that he’d had enough anyway and set the nearly empty bottle on the bar, “You can keep it ma’am. I can afford another at the hotel.” Terry started to walk away from the bar, but a huge ham-like hand seized his shoulder. Sausage-sized fingers applied painful pressure, “You apologize to the lady.” The wet heat from a mouth placed uncomfortably close to his ear and beath smelling of river bottom, sent a shiver of disgust through his body. The voice was low and deep as the river that ran past the back side of the property. Terry decided on the better part of valor and head facing forward to avoid the obscene orifice, “Sorry ma’am, I meant no offense.” The fingers let go and a harsh laugh sounded from behind the bar. “He don’t even know why he’s apologizing, fool. He ain’t worth the trouble, let him go.” Terry felt a slight shove and he was sent on his way to the cash-out window. There he met with the lead cashier, an older woman in drab clothing, “I’m sorry sir, we give out only these pre-paid cards, we cannot provide cash over $1,000.00. However, you can treat them like a debit or credit card.” the cashier informed him. It seemed he had no choice, so he accepted. Thirteen grand is thirteen grand, he assured himself. He was elated, though he continued to glance around nervously, waiting for the woman in the sparkly fish-scale top to accost him and name him thief. Yet she was nowhere to be seen. The floor was full of players, some laughing, some intense, some dejected or mesmerized by the games of chance in which they’d lost themselves. He thought about what to do with the rest of his evening. He didn’t have a hotel room; he’d planned to sleep in his station wagon as he always did before the long haul home. Perhaps he should get a room? Maybe they would take him without a reservation… he giggled a little at the unintended pun: a reservation at the Reservation… he shook his head to clear his overreaction to the silly internal joke. He decided that maybe someone on staff could help him. He approached the major domo at the front entrance that led to the interior walkway and the hotel beyond, “Excuse me sir, do you know whether the hotel will accept a resident without a prior reservation?” The man, single dark braid wrapped in a leather holder and draped over one shoulder, looked at him gravely, “Yes, I know.” He said nothing more and did not smile as though he’d intended to be humorous. Terry tried again, “Will you tell me please?” The man flicked his chin in the direction of the hotel, “See the clerk at the desk.” “Jerk, you’d think I hadn’t pissed away enough cash in this place over the past few years,” Terry muttered as he stumped toward the hotel, ensuring that he was well beyond earshot before he spoke. His head had begun to buzz a little from the champagne. Took a while for it to affect me, he mused. The hallway appeared to narrow, and his peripheral vision grew grey. He felt dizzy and as he entered the main lobby, the large room began to spin. His last view was of the sky-blue ceiling decorated with a few puffy clouds as it faded into darkness like the sun had set. He awakened to the sounds of voices chattering happily. He looked around, his vision blurred slightly and his head feeling heavy and sore. He soon found that he could not move his arms or legs… they were bound… he was strapped to a table. He saw numerous bodies moving about in the mostly dark space in which he found himself. “Please.” He croaked, throat dry and feeling scraped. “Please, help me, let me loose. Loose me…” his perceptions cleared slowly, and he saw that the bodies that moved around him, now chanting rhythmically rather than babble-chattering, were emaciated. The owners showed as much bone through their skin as would a dead thing, long decayed. He noted spikes above a few heads… no, antlers… The rest wore… masks? Of various beasts… no, the skulls of those creatures, still filled with glistening fangs. Their dance grew ever more frantic, more energetic than they should be capable of performing. Then one of them reached out with a stick, on the end of which was a small claw, taken and preserved from some dead animal. It used the claw to gouge out a scoop of flesh from Terry’s side. He screamed in torment and horror. His screams soon matched the rhythm of the chanting and they went on for a long time before they at last faded when he’d lost too much blood to remain conscious. **** * **** END PAGE 1 of 2
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Casino Superlines Review
Casino Superlines is a relatively new online casino, established in 2017. It is owned and operated by Equinox Dynamic N.V., a company registered in Curacao. Equinox Dynamic is also certified by the local gambling authorities to conduct gambling operations and carries a license from the government. The Superlines brand is one of the main properties of the company and one of their more successful online casinos. Since it was released to the general public, Casino Superlines has only increased in popularity. This is due to the fact that it offers a solid gambling experience and is available to a wide player base. There are hundreds of slots and table games on offer, allowing anyone to have a good time. Moreover, the casino also provides players with worthwhile promotions and supports a large number of payment services, thereby making it easy for anyone to quickly come on board. In this review, we will take a look at the major aspects of Casino Superlines and provide you with our honest feedback.
Casino Superlines Promotions and Bonuses
The Welcome Package Casino Superlines will give you the opportunity to greatly increase your bankroll over the first few deposits. Your first deposit will be matched an amazing 400% up to €1,000. Effectively, you will have five times the deposit amount to play with. When you make your second deposit, the percentage match is humbler than the previous one but still pretty good. The second part of the offer involves a 100% match up to €1,000, while the third bonus is a 200% match up to €1,000. All in all, you can get up to €3,000 in bonus funds and that is absolutely great. Of course, you will need to deposit a minimum of €20 each time to get your bonus. Additionally, there are certain rules that you have to follow if you want to get the most out of your bonus. For one, there is a wagering requirement that you have to fulfil before you are allowed to withdraw the funds which amounts to 45 times the value of the bonus. For the purposes of the wagering, your maximum bet will be limited to €5.00 at a time and exceeding this cap may result in the invalidation of the bonus. Moreover, the requirement can only be met while playing slots and scratchcards, with table games and other game types being excluded. Additionally, specific slot titles have reduced contributions while others are altogether excluded. As far as withdrawals are concerned, you can only cash in a sum resulting from your bonus that does not exceed 20x the original deposit amount. >>Get Exclusive Bonus Here<<
Casino Superlines Software Providers
One thing that many gamblers overlook when considering an online casino is where the games of the given casino come from. Software providers are an essential part of the online gambling industry, developing the games that we all love to play. However, there are many such companies out there, each offering specific titles. Casino Superlines has partnered up with some of the most respected software providers in the business and was able to acquire a substantial library of casino games. Among the list of software providers, we find large names such as NetEnt, NextGen Gaming, Betsoft, Play’n GO, 1×2 Games, Amaya, Thunderkick, Elk Studios and others. Each of these software providers has a history of creating high-quality slots and table games, allowing customers to have a great time gambling on the Internet. Their names alone should speak volumes regarding the quality of their product and with hundreds of games to choose from, you will be able to play to your heart’s content.
Casino Superlines Banking
Managing your bankroll is an important skill for any gambler and you also need to be able to easily move funds between your personal balance and your casino account. At Casino Superlines, you will not be able to use physical cash and as a result, you will be required to utilize one of the many online payment solutions supported by the casino. These are available in several different forms – credit cards, eWallets, online banking, prepaid solutions and mobile payments. Typically the minimum deposit, regardless of what method you use, begins at €20. The maximum limits, however, will vary depending on the service. If you choose to make your deposit with a credit card, you will be able to use the three most popular brands out there – Visa, MasterCard and Maestro. Alternatively, you may also opt to use an eWallet service due to their many advantages. In such a case, you will be able to manage your bankroll with Skrill, Neteller, Qiwi Wallet, and Przelewy24. These allow for instant deposits and quick withdrawals, where supported. Moreover, they also allow you to maintain some degree of anonymity on the Internet. As far as online banking services are concerned, Casino Superlines gives you a lot of options. More specifically, you will have at your disposal UseMyServices, EPS, PostePay, TrustPay, POLi, EasyEFT, Sofort, GiroPay, Interac Online, and Trustly. While these can make instant deposits, you need to consider that many are regional services and may not be available to you. Prepaid solutions are available in the form of ecoPayz and Paysafecard, whereas mobile payments can be made via Zimpler and Siru Mobile. Alternatively, you may also make a deposit in Bitcoin if you are a crypto enthusiast. Withdrawals are available, though not via all the above-listed services. You will be able to cash in your balance with Neteller, Visa, Skrill, Qiwi Wallet and Bitcoin. If you made a deposit with a service that does not support withdrawals, the casino will be more than happy to send you your money via Bank Transfer. The processing times will vary significantly between the different withdrawal solutions. Credit card withdrawals can take several days to clear, whereas transactions issued to eWallets will process almost instantly once they are sent. The minimum withdrawal starts at €100 and the maximum goes up to €5,000 per month. >>Get Exclusive Bonus Here<<
Casino Superlines Mobile Features
Playing from a mobile device has become the norm for millions of gamblers from all over the globe and online casinos can scarcely afford to ignore this tendency. To this end, they offer fully-functioning mobile versions of their gambling services and Casino Superlines does the same. Should you wish to take your favorite slots and table games with you, the casino gives you the opportunity to play from anywhere that you like. The only requirement is a working smartphone or tablet and a stable Internet connection. Accessing the mobile version is completely easy and you can do so on just about any device. All you need to do is load the casino website within your browser and continue as you would on a desktop computer. It is that simple. You will be able to navigate any section of the casino and still have the same features at your disposal, namely, promotions, customer support, banking options and the full extent of the gaming library. You will not be limited in any way should you choose to play from your mobile device. In fact, the mobile version also comes with some features to make your experience better on a small-screen device. You will notice that all the menus have been adjusted for better functionality from a smartphone while some games include different user interfaces for improved usability. All in all, the mobile casino does not lack any features and we are sure that you will have a great time. >>Get Exclusive Bonus Here<<
Casino Superlines Games
The games selection is the primary reason why you would want to join Casino Superlines. It comes with more than 600 unique titles and each gives you the opportunity to experience something new and exciting. These span multiple different game types, including but not limited to slots, roulette, blackjack, progressive jackpots, live dealer titles and others. There is always something new to play so you will be occupied for quite a long time if you choose to join Casino Superlines. Below, we will outline some of the more popular genres and also make mention of the worthwhile titles that you can play.
Slots
If you are into slots then Casino Superlines certainly has something for you. The majority of the gaming library consists of slot games and there are more than 500 unique titles for you to enjoy. They come in a variety of different forms – video slots, classic slots, with 20 paylines, with 25 paylines, with 40 lines, etc. Regardless of what your preference is, you will find it here without a doubt. As for the specific titles that you can enjoy, there is a large variety of themes and aesthetics in the slots category. Classic-themed games are always popular with prominent examples including Sevens & Fruits, Fruity Wild, Golden 7 Fruits, and more. Alternatively, you can also have a lot of fun with the animal-themed titles as well. Particularly, Golden Mane, Nuts Commander, Safari Spin, and Birds being among the more interesting. Of course, we also recommend that you try out some of the games with the Asian culture theme, namely Dragon King, Xing Guardian, Dragon Lady, 12 Animals and others. Slots inspired by mythology are always popular and for good reason. At Casino Superlines, you will be able to play Viking Gods: Thor and Loki, Medusa II, Thunder Zeus, Miss Midas, Zeus the Thunderer II and others. Crime is also a popular theme at Casino Superlines, with notable games like The Slotfather 2, Cosa Nostra, Yakuza, Art of the Heist and others. Of course, these are only a few examples of what awaits you at this online casino. There are hundreds of titles at your disposal and they are only a few clicks away.
Table Games
The table games selection is downright humble when compared to the slots one, yet still, there are some excellent titles awaiting you at Casino Superlines. These come in the form of blackjack, roulette and other table game types. If roulette is your game of choice, you will have several titles to choose from. These include the classic variations – European and American Roulette – as well as some more interesting ones that put an additional twist on the original roulette formula. The second type can be played in the form of Zero Spin Roulette, Solen Prive Roulette, Micro Roulette, Premium Roulette and more. Regardless of what you choose to play, we are sure that you will have a great time with the available games. The betting limits are quite permissive across the board and you will be able to make good use of your bankroll. Insofar as blackjack is concerned, there are a handful of variations that you can try your luck on. These are available in the form of American Blackjack, VIP Blackjack, and Classic Blackjack. The more intricate variations come in the form of Blackjack Switch, which allows you to exchange cards between two hands, and Blackjack Surrender where you can easily forfeit your hand and reclaim some of your original stake should things take a turn for the worst. Much like the roulette titles, the available blackjack games are also suitable for both high rollers and casual players on account of the wide betting limits. Of course, you should also not ignore the casino poker offerings either. While not the most popular game type, casino poker can certainly deliver an excellent gambling experience. At Casino Superlines, you will have the opportunity to several variations of casino poker, namely, Caribbean Poker, Casino Hold’em Poker and Poker Three. If casino poker is not to your liking, then you can also consider Baccarat, Baccarat 777 or Keno.
Progressive Jackpots
If you are looking to one large lump sum all at once, then the only game type that can meet this expectation is the progressive jackpot genre. Featuring large prize pools, these games give you the opportunity to win a small fortune if your luck is good enough. They typically come in the form of slots and this is also the case at Casino Superlines. You will be able to try your luck on some highly entertaining games, such as Dark Harbour Jackpot, Magic Destiny, Fear the Zombies, The Giant, Lagertha, Sunset and more. Even if you do not win the jackpot during your first session, you can be sure that you will have a great time simply spinning the reels.
Live Casino
When it comes to online casino gaming you will rarely find a better experience than in the Live Casino section. Live dealer titles represent the best that the industry has to offer and each game allows you to experience a different classic game type. At Casino Superlines, you have the opportunity to try out some live dealer titles, hosted by professional dealers and offering the genuine land-based casino experience. More specifically, you will be able to play Baccarat, Casino Hold’em, European Roulette, and Blackjack. Usually, live dealer games have slightly higher minimums than the typical virtual title, however, this should not prevent casual players from participating in the fun. >>Get Exclusive Bonus Here<<
Casino Superlines Licensing and Regulations
Licensing is a major factor when it comes to choosing an online gambling website. There are only a few ways to determine the legitimacy of a given online casino and you want to make sure that any website you frequent is a legal and trustworthy operation. To this end, you wish to avoid casinos without licensing or from institutions with a bad reputation. Fortunately, Casino Superlines does not fall in either of those categories. The operator behind this casino is licensed by the Government of Curacao, one of the major regulators of online gambling websites outside of Europe. As a result of this, you can be sure that you will have a fair betting experience. In order to acquire this license, Casino Superlines has had to undergo strict audits of the RNG systems to make sure that everything is above board and that the results from games are truly random. With this in mind, you can be sure that when you play at Superlines you will be treated fairly and any winning or losing streak will be solely the product of chance.
Casino Superlines Customer Support
Something that you should take seriously is the customer support available at the casino. Depending on how long you play, there will come a time that you may need to contact customer service to resolve something or to simply ask a question. In such a scenario, you want to make sure that there will be someone on the other side who will take you seriously and provide genuine help. At Casino Superlines, you will have several methods of contacting customer support. The live chat system is the best means at your disposal. It allows for instant communication in real time and is the most efficient way to reach the support staff. Alternatively, you may also opt-in for phone support. The casino maintains a direct line that you can call, available at +421 2330 560 65. Keep in mind that charges may apply depending on your carrier plan. Finally, if neither of those methods is suitable for you, consider contacting the casino by email. You can forward all of your messages to [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) and you expect a response within the next 24 hours. Additionally, there is also a detailed FAQ section, where you will find the answers to the most commonly asked questions. >>Get Exclusive Bonus Here<<
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