What to do when the losing is relentless?

Personally, I go into every trip with a separate gambling budget that I assume I'm going to lose. If I break even, great; if I win, even better. And if neither, there are plenty of great restaurants I can use to take my mind off of things.

 

This . Right now you are in “chasing loss” mode. It’s not a good thing and we’ve all surely been there.

It’s hard to walk away knowing you are in the hole, but that’s exactly what is the best thing to do. Go and do something completely different for the rest of the day. Then when (because it’s inevitable) you go back to the tables or slots, it’s a new session with the objective to break even or better. Chasing the loss isn’t a good place to be.

When I’ve been in this situation, which is practically every year I go to Vegas, I take a break, and then change games. I can’t tell you how therapeutic playing Buffalo is after getting hammered on the craps table !! It also slows down the pace and allows me to reset.


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Pick something random. Peel off a couple hundred and go indoor skydiving or rent a cabana or something. You might have fun, and even if not, it might be the cheapest half a day you get on that trip. If you still want to gamble, obviously everyone has games they like/dislike, I often take sanctuary at pai gow. I don't care much for the game, but just flat betting the table minimum and having a few drinks it is tough to get into trouble. Not pleasant when it happens, but everyone gets it, unfortunately.

 

maybe you are tired, what I try to do:
low roll Bartop VP, get as drunk as possible, sleep it off,
then,
up and at them tomorrow,
it's a whole new day..

If you get a nice VP hit, run it back at the tables drunk, lol.

 

I lost every day of my trip last week but was able to mitigate it to ONLY 75% of my trip bankroll. It required a lot of slot traveling to staunch the bleeding. The reality is that some trips are really just really bad.

 

This is why we use the daily envelope plan - if that day's gambling $ is gone we are done for the day aside from maybe one more $20 to low roll some bartops and have some drinks, and then the next day we wake up flush with a new days worth of gaming $. It's a psychological thing that keeps us from feeling awful that we've lost everything for a 4 day trip on day 2.

As for what to do, as others have said, walk away for a while. Have a nice sit down meal, walk around and see sights, etc. Chasing after losses is a good way to go full on tilt, and that's never good.

 

Been there - probably too many times. For me it's a combo:

1. Do something totally non gambling related for a bit. Massage, pool, whatever.
2. Find a game that is something you normally don't play. I like carney poker games so I'll slide over to Blackjack or Craps for a bit.
3. This is the hardest thing for me, cause I'm a creature of habit is to get out of where ever you are losing and go someplace else. I'm not a huge fan of the south end of the strip but I'll head down to Luxor or Excalibur just to change it up.
4. Pay it forward, this sounds cheesy but if I'm taking a beating I purposely tip someone more, hold a door open for a group of people, tell someone randomly to have the best day. Anything to spin that positive mental attitude into gear.

Most importantly - as much as a beating like that is tough to take, remember you are still in Vegas and try to enjoy yourself. I have to tell myself this at least twice a trip!

 

I enjoy more than gambling in Vegas. I just go do something else.

 

Some great advice here. Because I come to Vegas once or twice a year for a holiday, it's a big deal for me and not a casual or easy thing. It's a few months of saving up, a long-ass flight, a chunk of time off work, and a big reward for me for completing something important - usually writing a significant part of a new book. With that in mind, I always:

1. Use the envelope system. It genuinely makes things more exciting.
2. Move around A LOT (different machines and places).
3. Do plenty of other stuff. Shopping, eating, gawping, taking photos.
4. Expect to 'spend' my full bankroll. I see gambling as VERY expensive (and for me, VERY fun) entertainment.

Ultimately, I look around and gape at the insanity of the place and remind myself of the old adage, "Vegas wasn't built on winners."

It helps!

 

Even though golf costs hundreds of dollars per round in Vegas, it's literally saved me thousands of dollars lol

 

Damn $100 bets on a $5k roll? I bring $5k and maybe do a couple hands of $25.

 

This is me as well. Basically, if I go to Vegas with $5K to gamble, in my mind, that money is gone once I pull it from the bank. At the end of my trip, if I come home with 10% of that, I don't think of it as losing $4,500. But as winning $500, since I prepared myself to come back with $0.00 if the shit hit the fan.

With that said, I do money manage. But I also have stolen from the next days bankroll, as I am a degen.

It sucks to lose. And to lose so hard and fast right out of the gate, can really ruin your vacation. Ive done it in the past. And the feeling of blowing my wad half way through the trip literally made me feel sick to my stomach.

That was a learning trip for me. And no matter how tempted I am to over steal from my future self, I stay strong, as I don't want to ruin my vacation with so much regret.



Nothing wrong with cruising the malls, hitting the pool, relaxing in the room or just playing tourist and wander around the different resorts. Sometimes, when I crap out too soon, those actually turn into my favorite days in Vegas, as I get to see a lot more than just the inside of a casino.

 

Oh, we also do an "emergency" envelope, for those days when we can't buy a break and need a little extra in that days bank roll. I'll stick a few hundred in there, with hopes we won't have to touch it. It's dumb, but I feel better knowing if we really hit the skids one day, there's a little backup available.

 

Pinball museum

 

Yep. That's why they call it "gambling". The critical thing is to have fun. Obviously everyone would rather win than lose, but if you're not able to still have a good time overall even when losing, then Vegas is not the place to go.

It's funny, I never used the golf analogy, I like it. My usual analogy is going to the movies. Not in terms of an alternative to gambling, but you pay to get in, and there's no expectation that you'll get anything other than entertainment. That's how I look at gambling; if I win, great, but I'm primarily in it to have fun.

 

I'd quit....you'll thank yourself on the return trip for not losing 10 or 15 K. Walk around, people watch, have a good meal. You can keep yourself entertained without going full tilt.

 

Historically I went to movie theatre to kill an afternoon. One especially bad trip I went 3 times.


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That's what I thought too.... and then someone introduced me to skins...... casino turned out to be cheaper!!

It's a long trip for me too and quitting will never be an option - it is an intrinisc part of why I go, somewhat unsurprisingly, as I'm sure it is for nearly everyone on here. My main pit game of choice is craps and when icy you can blow through your daily roll in minutes. So I've definitely been handed my lunch on many occasions, but then if I played for stakes that didn't matter..... then it doesn't matter! It has to sting a bit (lot) for it to get the juices flowing. I don't actually use envelope segregation, but I don't walk around with my full roll in my pocket either, so I sort of practice it without doing it.

Often I see something on a trip report, or something I see advertised, or something I have done before that was fun. Cauterise the bleeding and back into bat the next day.

Skydive/zipline/rollercoasters
drive up Mt Charleston
cabana
go shopping
golf, golf and golf
enter a poker tourny (try not to bust out in level1)
play pai gow and get drunk for "free"
mooch around a casino or two that you haven't visited before
spa day
hike red rock
race track

Anything like that sounds alrite to me and I'm sure there's lots of other good ideas on TR;s here, as well as ofc a bunch of things that others would like but aren't for me. I'm not a heavy gambler, but enough where any of those activities are still cheaper than taking a bath in the pits when it is sour.

 

Add High Roller to that list. It's pretty awesome at night!