A brief encounter with Tom Jones last month has led me to the
unbridled speculation that I have also met the one-and-only "Bob
Dancer" but failed to realize it at the time.
Last month I passed Tom Jones in the second floor corridor between
the Trump Taj Majal and the Showboat at 2:00 a.m. (the morning before
his scheduled concert). He was with "a couple". He was wearing a suit
jacket and looked like "himself" as he appears in the promotional
photographs. Afterward, it occurred to me I may have had
other "brushes with greatness" without realizing it.
I don't want to sound disrespectful but I saw a man who looked like
Bob Dancer in AC playing positive games twice. Has anyone else seen
him? Albeit with Bangs and Black Rimmed Glasses? Bootcut denim jeans
and a sweatshirt? Both times!
Maybe he was visiting family the first time and on business the
second time (dropping off an article to Casino Player magazine, or
consulting for the gaming industry) but I believe he was there and
that I saw him.
It was the same man each time. The first time was last year in Trump
Plaza playing "All American" for Quarters. The guy was sitting next
to me and told me (loudly and with a tone of alarm) to put away my
strategy card and to memorize it at home. He asked me if I wanted
them to "remove the game the way they had at Caesars" AC the month
before. (It never occurred to me that a Nevada Resident and "pro"
would be playing quarters or that he would even visit AC considering
the better opportunities elsewhere. I wrote the stranger off that day
as a neurotic, eccentric or a "disturbed person")
His appearance was somewhat altered (hair style and type of eyeglass
frames) and his clothes were "very" casual. However, the "other"
facial characteristics were identical. Also, he was on the tall side.
The second time I saw him was in the Diamond Cove at Harrahs AC this
year. Every morning before leaving, I would walk through or near the
Diamond Cove (High Limit)... I had seen the same, well dressed,
blonde to light-brown haired "couple" sitting in front of the only
two $5.00 DBDJ machines at around 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. for three
consecutive Saturday mornings in May to early June this year. I was
playing Friday nights to Saturday mornings from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
(Perhaps they were playing the same schedule as I.)
On the third consecutive weekend (when I hit the $8,000.00 RF on
$1.00 DBDJ), I again saw this couple but this time that guy (Bob
Dancer-?)was with them. I recognized him as the same dude from Trump
Plaza last year. When the couple marched into the Diamond Cove (with
the tall guy in tow) and made a beeline for the $5.00 machine I had
just walked up to, I knew they felt very "proprietary" about these
two machines. However, each time I had seen the "couple" previously,
they were not playing; they were sitting there or only one of them
was playing. I said: "hello, just checking the paytables."
My impression is that they were taking turns on a single machine. I
could not figure out why they were not pounding both machines as fast
as they could or why the "wife" was not "keeping up the act" by
showing how rapt she was by her "husband's" play. Sometimes it was at
5:00 a.m.; sometimes it was a little after 6:00 a.m. Out of money?
No, probably waiting for the new gaming day to start or maybe they
had just finished pulling an all-nighter and the promotion that made
it an attractive play had just expired with the end of the gaming day
at 5:59 a.m. Perhaps they were holding the seats until the "second
team" arrived. I just found it odd to tie up a machine or two and not
play it... Three people standing around in the deserted high limit
room.
Since a lot had been written on acvpp about the high variance of DBDJ
and the belief that an RF had not hit on those particular $5.00
machines in 40 cycles, I found it even more strange that a "pro"
would go near the game with only a tenth of a percent edge on the
base game.
These $5.00 machines with the DBDJ and three coin 8/5 BP were removed
shortly thereafter by Harrah's. Then the $1.00 and $0.50 and $0.25
DBDJ were also removed.
If these machines had such a good drop, why were they removed?
If "pros" were playing at an advantage, they could have reduced the
hands per hour by turning off the credit meter to spill the coins or
by slowing down the speed of the machines with DBDJ, and reduce the
edge by making those machines with DBDJ ineligible for the CB or Comp
multiplier.
[I just started reading "Million Dollar Video Poker". I also enjoy
reading the acvpp and vpFREE posts and hope to meet a few of those
pundits someday, too.)]
So, I ask you: Is a "Bob Dancer" Sighting Possible or even Plausible
in Atlantic City?