Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[MANTIS01]

Depending on the MTTs you wish to play, why not fly out with your lady, do the West Coast and then head over to Vegas afterwards. Pretty sure the WSOP doesn't start properly until 1st June and the first weekend is either Millionaire Maker or Colossus, and Vegas is not fun to be around at those times for non Hold'em players, cash games are horrendous waits and probably minimal mixed games MTTs (but I am on my phone and can't check the schedules)

Good shout but then again not sure if WAGS should be allowed on the staking trip. We've got enough distractions to contend with this year. Like trying to get the weeing problem under control.

[tikay]

❤️ Mantis

Good to see the diary back up and running, I enjoy all the daily stuff you do. I'm sure others do too.

Thanks Vinny.

Some of it just feels a little mundane compared to the big hitters & degens, but anyway, we'll see.

I LOVE talking about work, & the business side of things, so we may dip our toes in that area soon.

Today, of course, is a big, big day for Sports Betting firms, lots going on, it's utterly fascinating how the Bookies gear up for it, why they do certain things, how all the Staff are on hand today, manning the pumps & monitoring the software loadings & all the preparation for it.

It's not always realised or understood what a complex beast it is, how big it has become, & the degree of analysis that goes into it. I won't be giving away any numbers, but for context, on a regular Saturday afternoon, a decent sized online bookmaker will measure bets placed & log-ins in hundreds per second. They are serious numbers by any standards.

The real software headache is not so much before a big football match, or, say, the Grand National, as there is plenty of time before the event, & not everyone waits until the last minute, so as of now, Noon or 1pm, the traffic loads are already building steadily & so the load is spread over many hours.

The real software load headaches occur immediately AFTER the event finishes, when so many people log-in the moment it finishes to check their balance, withdraw, or use the funds to bet again. The software loadings at that point really do spike.

All the staff of SB&G can log in to something called "Slack", which is like a sort of Internal Twitter or Facebook, & so we can see, minute by minute, how many bets or log-ins per second are being placed, & how the liabilities are mounting.

Then, just before the event, be it a big football match, or Grand National or whatever, we see the final liabilities, who we want to win, who we want to get beat, & the overall book.

Making a profit on a major event is not really the be-all & end-all though - acquisition & reactivates is key.

The basic measurement of progress in a Sports Betting Firm is primarily 3 things - stakes, uniques, & margin.  All 3 are important, not just margin.

A bad set of results in a well-run business is not a bad thing really. Think of Ev in poker - well the same applies in Sports Betting.  If a few bad results come in, & the Firm loses a chunk, they can actually calculate how much above or below EV it was. So it's not a disaster, & the amount of stakes, & number of uniques ("uniques" are different people) are just as important.

So a bad result as to Margin, but with good stakes & uniques is fine in the long term. 

[tikay]

I'm out of time for now, will continue with the replies, & get the staking offers listed later today, or tomorrow.

Next up, my daily walk, or, more correctly, brisk waddle.

Before that, of course, I have to remember to have a wee in case matters become urgent mid-walk. I have a little post it note on my walking boots, "have a wee before you go". Now that is organisation at it's finest.

[RED-DOG]

 my walking boots

Call.

[Mohican]

I would like to be rewarded with 1% please. It's been  an interesting and enjoyable sweat the last two years, even if I don't understand some of the games you play.

[sonour]

2% please.

xx

[Redbull]

In for the bracelet sweat, usual 1% pls! 

[tikay]

1% please.

Thanks David, good to see the regulars who invest year after year.

How is your health now, all settled down after the scare?

And the motorbike project?

Still got the same job, at the School?

[tikay]

All this book talk has reminded me of that book you sang the praises of (at least I think it was you) a while back, something to do with Vegas and the guy behind Wynn hotel. What was it called? Got a couple of holidays coming up in May and I like to take a book away with me. Contrary to what you might think, we can read in Yorkshire. Some of us anyway

Oh and put me down for 1% if its available this summer, please. No Vegas for me this summer unless I can somehow win a package next door, so might as well punt some cash away on people going invest in a solid opportunity.

Not sure about "solid opportunity", but I'll not argue, & thank you. I'll construct a proper staking list shortly.

The book - see the reply by Skippy. Thoroughly entertaining read.

Man City to win the CL?

If I may ask, as I interact with you quite a bit, here & Next Door, but I've no idea what your day job is. I'm going to throw a few guesses out there though. 

Personal Fitness Trainer

Librarian

Dance instructor

Diplomat with the Foreign Office



Am I close?

[tikay]

All this book talk has reminded me of that book you sang the praises of (at least I think it was you) a while back, something to do with Vegas and the guy behind Wynn hotel. What was it called? Got a couple of holidays coming up in May and I like to take a book away with me. Contrary to what you might think, we can read in Yorkshire. Some of us anyway

Oh and put me down for 1% if its available this summer, please. No Vegas for me this summer unless I can somehow win a package next door, so might as well punt some cash away on people going invest in a solid opportunity.

It was this :

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Running-Scared-Treacherous-Times-Casino/dp/1568581904/

Running Scared: The Life and Treacherous Times of Las Vegas Casino King Steve Wynn

I read it on the recommendation of Tikay. It's pretty good- you feel like it was trying to be a hatchet job but it never quite managed to get the blade in far enough. TL;DR; - Steve Wynn started his Casino empire with Mob help (like every other casino in Vegas), Wynn casinos are full of wrong 'uns, and sometimes the wrong 'uns are using the casino to launder money (like every other casino on earth) and he told a pack of lies to get permission to have dolphins in one of his casinos (like everyone else does on every planning application ever). I ended up liking him quite a lot by the end of the book.

Well I agree, it was definitely a "hatchet job", & if he were as bad as the author makes out, he'd be locked up in prison by now, I'm fairly sure.

If nothing else, it taught me a great deal about how casinos work, how junkets work, & The Mob.  

I was quite interested to learn that, at one point, he owned Golden Nugget in Vegas, then opened another Golden Nugget in Atlantic City, which he later sold on for an absolutely massive profit during the Atlantic City gambling "land-grab".

Next, he owned Mirage & Treasure Island, & he also built & opened Bellagio, eventually selling them all. With the proceeds, he started Wynn Resorts, first in Vegas (Wynn & Encore) than Biloxi & Macau.

The guy seems to have done very well for himself, no doubt about that, & I doubt any single person has done more to build the Vegas we know than Steve.

I did develop a pet dislike of him at one point, several years ago - every time I got in a taxi in Vegas, that little video screen would start showing the Wynn advert, & Steve's gravelly voice would drone on & on.

The book, & the legal battles around it, is mentioned in Steve Wynn's Wiki page.....

In 1997 Wynn sued Barricade Books for defamation over the catalogue description of an unauthorized biography Running Scared by John L. Smith. Wynn was initially awarded $3.2 million, forcing Barricade, which is known for publishing works such as The Anarchist Cookbook, into bankruptcy. In 2001 the ruling was thrown out by the Supreme Court of Nevada on a judge's error. Retrial was scheduled for 2004, only for the issue to be settled between Wynn and New York publisher Lyle Stuart out of court in a confidential agreement, and the case dismissed

Steve also built the amazing Shadow Creek golf course in Las Vegas. He had a house by the 18th hole, which he later sold for $17 million. Nice house, one assumes.

The Golf Course is simply stunning, but the thing is, it sits, quite literally, in the middle of s desert, & yet you'd think it was in lush parkland.  Every tree & shrub had to be imported. An aerial view astonishes, an island of verdancy surrounded by arid desert.

I still think that Wynn & Encore are the best designed hotel properties in Vegas.

It must be lovely to look back on your life & say "I built that, & that, & that, & that, & I'll forever be remembered for it".


 

[booder]

1% please.

Thanks David, good to see the regulars who invest year after year.

How is your health now, all settled down after the scare?

And the motorbike project?

Still got the same job, at the School?

Health pretty good thanks Tony,walking the dog gives me plenty of exercise.

The bike is stored away in the shed ,had a few good rides out but my eyesight has deteriorated pretty rapidly and i no longer feel safe on two wheels .
Still pottering about at the school , we get plenty of holidays  lol


Good to see the diary active again.

[Tal]

You know you can turn the sound off on those screens in taxis, right?

The driver will often be so grateful to you for doing that, they might consider not going the long way round.

[tikay]

Over the years we coulda had a few good episodes of 'Blonde Poker on Jeremy Kyle'

Just a few.

Who would best have played the role of Jeremy Kyle?

[tikay]

Depending on the MTTs you wish to play, why not fly out with your lady, do the West Coast and then head over to Vegas afterwards. Pretty sure the WSOP doesn't start properly until 1st June and the first weekend is either Millionaire Maker or Colossus, and Vegas is not fun to be around at those times for non Hold'em players, cash games are horrendous waits and probably minimal mixed games MTTs (but I am on my phone and can't check the schedules)

Thanks Adam, but that does not really work for us. Besides, I don't have many WSOP events on my provisional list, just 3 or 4 I think, later in the Series, the bulk of it is 4 card stuff around town, GN, Nugget, Venetian etc. Gill will be with me 5th to 15th June.

Gill likes to be Vegas based, but we are planning another few days on the Californian coast. Monterey & Carmel, flying into San Jose, seems to be favoured at present, as we can tick several boxes - a flight on Southwest Airlines, an Amtrak train ride on the Coast Starlight, & a beautiful location.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coast_Starlight





 

[tikay]

Depending on the MTTs you wish to play, why not fly out with your lady, do the West Coast and then head over to Vegas afterwards. Pretty sure the WSOP doesn't start properly until 1st June and the first weekend is either Millionaire Maker or Colossus, and Vegas is not fun to be around at those times for non Hold'em players, cash games are horrendous waits and probably minimal mixed games MTTs (but I am on my phone and can't check the schedules)

Good shout but then again not sure if WAGS should be allowed on the staking trip. We've got enough distractions to contend with this year. Like trying to get the weeing problem under control.

No worries there, I can manage up to 2 hours without a restroom visit these days, providing I don't drink anything for 8 hours.