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Bob Dancer's LVA Column - 24 MAY 2016

<< My Wife Thinks This is Cheating >>

That's an amusing story, Bob--not least because it's such a beautiful example of brain-dead casino management behavior.

But it's also a great example of something every AP encounters repeatedly--attitudes casting aspersions on all kinds of things that we do to earn a living. We get it from family members, non-gambling friends, other players at the table. From casino management we expect it, of course, and from that direction it's simply hypocritical and self-serving. But think of the civilians who think that counting cards is cheating, who cluck their tongues like chickens if a dealer shoves a hole card in your face, and tell you you can't pay attention to it, who will actually stand with 17 when the whole table knows the dealer has 18 because she just flubbed the deal and flipped the hole card face up. It's incredible how many have a Miss Goody Two-Shoes attitude, when it should be obvious to everyone that the casino gives no quarter.

I realize that APs tend to push the envelope pretty hard. There are plays on the ethics of which reasonable minds may differ. But we are surrounded by so many people who never even ask themselves that question, who just consider it all players' duty to behave exactly as the casino would want. Soldiers think only other soldiers understand them, etc.

WRX

Reminds me of a similar situation when casinos mail you scratchers where you pick 1 of 3 options to scratch off at players club to reveal your free play amount. Casino does not want you to know which position the best prize is in, but once they send me a scratcher and it is in my possession I have no qualms about using whatever techniques I can to discern where the largest amount resides. Some are easier to crack than others. At one store I had a better than 90% success rate. I never once considered this cheating.

SB

---In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, <wrx144@...> wrote :

<< My Wife Thinks This is Cheating >>

That's an amusing story, Bob--not least because it's such a beautiful
example of brain-dead casino management behavior.

But it's also a great example of something every AP encounters
repeatedly--attitudes casting aspersions on all kinds of things that we
do to earn a living. We get it from family members, non-gambling
friends, other players at the table. From casino management we expect
it, of course, and from that direction it's simply hypocritical and
self-serving. But think of the civilians who think that counting cards
is cheating, who cluck their tongues like chickens if a dealer shoves a
hole card in your face, and tell you you can't pay attention to it, who
will actually stand with 17 when the whole table knows the dealer has 18
because she just flubbed the deal and flipped the hole card face up.
It's incredible how many have a Miss Goody Two-Shoes attitude, when it
should be obvious to everyone that the casino gives no quarter.

I realize that APs tend to push the envelope pretty hard. There are
plays on the ethics of which reasonable minds may differ. But we are
surrounded by so many people who never even ask themselves that
question, who just consider it all players' duty to behave exactly as
the casino would want. Soldiers think only other soldiers understand
them, etc.

WRX

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SB wrote: Reminds me of a similar situation when casinos mail you scratchers where you pick 1 of 3 options to scratch off at players club to reveal your free play amount. Casino does not want you to know which position the best prize is in, but once they send me a scratcher and it is in my possession I have no qualms about using whatever techniques I can to discern where the largest amount resides. Some are easier to crack than others. At one store I had a better than 90% success rate. I never once considered this cheating.

ยทยทยท

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Perhaps 10 years ago (might have been more --- it was back when George Maloof ran it), one month the Palms mailed you a sheet of 20 or so scratchers each of which were only good for a particular day. A high intensity light shone through the back told you what was available. It was not totally random --- VIP players got better scratchers than non-VIPs on average, but even VIP players got some 2-for-1 buffets. These were completely worthless because these same players got 75% off their buffet using points and to use the 2-for-1 coupon you had to pay retail --- but occasionally there were 3x or 5x point multipliers. If you knew which day the "good" ones were coming, you could plan accordingly.

As it happened, a frequent casino gift given away at the Palms in that time period was a pocket high intensity light --- so most of us had the ability to figure out the "code." (A lot of us gave these lights to slot attendants in lieu of tips. They were very good for that. But hopefully you kept at least one.) The Palms management of the time learned from their mistake and didn't repeat this particular error in the future --- but I have been able to use it elsewhere a couple of times so I still keep a high intensity flashlight.

There are always a few people who live within walking distance from any given casino. For the rest of us, it takes some effort to make a trip there. In Vegas and certain other places as well there are a number of casino options and time management is part of the problem to be figured out. Anything to get more information on how to make better choices is appreciated.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I once had a birthday freeplay postcard depicting a birthday cake where the flames on the candles were scratch-off areas to reveal a freeplay amount. Holding it up against a bright light revealed that all of them had the same amount :-/