Just got back from my long-awaited trip to hit the single decks. I took the board's helpful advice and didn't spread from $5-15 (except once, which I regretted); just did $3-10 or $5-10 depending on the minimum. Overall, I lost about $100, but I used some of the LV Advisor's coupons to reduce to that total. I also took advantage of their free hotel deals.
Boomtown - played once on each shift, and won each time. One mistake I kept making was forgetting that I could late surrender. This definitely cost me. On my third trip, spreading $3-10, I was up about $60 when a new dealer started dealing extremely fast. I couldn't even count his totals, much less do Hi-Lo. I cashed out up $50. It dawned on me perhaps this was a gentle form of heat, that I'd won enough given my betting level.
Circus Circus - visited three times on two shifts. Two small wins and one big (for me - $78) loss. On the two wins, there was only one or two other players at the table with me, while my loss came on three full tables Monday night.
Golden Gate - I got heads-up play at a $5 table one afternoon, and spread $5-15, losing $67.50 in about 15 minutes. I have had success there in the past, but not this time. I was pretty mad, but took a long break for dinner and then went out and had my $50 Boomtown win.
Western - Took New Age Fern Sniffer's suggestion for old time's sake (I have actually stayed at this place). I had forgotten what it smelled like! Was doing OK spreading $2-10, but then split 2 9s against a 5, and the dealer made 20. I then lost a couple more high bets and gave up down $20.
Gold Spike - Lost $20 spreading $2-5 here. Nothing really unusual.
I sometimes found it difficult to keep my emotions in check, especially when losing. For example, had I stayed at the Western rather than leaving, I probably would have had the dealer to myself as everyone else left, too. In addition, I wonder if I was wrong to leave tables after 30 minutes to ensure that I left a winner (even single digit amounts). I did notice that a lot of dealers seemed to deal relatively close and high to their bodies, which made me nervous, but I don't think I was cheated in any case.
Despite my loss, I'm not too discouraged. I was especially pleased with how I came back from the first big (GG) loss to get a big win.
Cheers, KT