This thread has reminded me of an experience that happened to me
three years ago that some of you may find interesting. I live about
a 5 hour drive from Atlantic City, but at the time was predominately
a single deck BJ player, so did the lion's share of my gaming in
trips to Reno (where the best single deck games are found.) For a
couple of years I had been playing $.25 10/7 DB when the tables were
busy and had become very comfortable with the game and its intricate
strategy. In the summer of 2000, the officer's of the golf league I
belong to decided that our year-end outing would be to Atlantic
City. From the various sources at my disposal I had learned that
there was exactly one 10/7 DB machine in all of AC, that it was a $
machine, and that it was at Trump's Plaza which was also offering .5%
instant cash back. From my quarter play I was well aware of the high
volatility of DB vp, but after considerable thought I decided I was
going to take the plunge and move up to $ play. So off to Atlantic
City I went, ostensibly to play golf, but my thoughts were dominated
by the vp adventure I was about to pursue. After golf Friday, I
played 4 hours and lost $900. Then on Saturday night I played 3
hours, lost $600 more, and had to leave at midnight because we had an
early tee time on Sunday.
With the late hours and the lack of sleep, my golf game was
suffering Sunday morning, and, of course, I was anxious to get back
to the machine and win my money back. After I pushed my approach
shot out of bounds on the 10th hole (Brigantine Links), I told my
playing partners I had had enough, walked back to the parking lot,
slammed my trunk, and took off for Trump's Plaza. When I arrived
about 12:30PM I found the machine locked up. At the time, I was
unaware that casinos locked up machines for players so I thought it
had malfunctioned and was waiting for repair. I asked a slot
attendant if the machine would be repaired soon, and she explained
that it had been closed down for a player and would be activated when
the player returned. I then asked what they did if the player didn't
return and she said that after 2 hours they re-open the machine.
When I asked her how long the machine had been closed she opened it
up and found that it had been locked up at 2:00AM, over ten hours
earlier.
"Oh," I said, "That means that you can open it up for me right
now, right?"
"Well," she said, "I'll have to check." She then called the Host
that had the machine closed, the host called the player in her room,
and reported back that the player planned to return "soon" and that
the attendant should not open the machine for me.
"Wait a minute", I said. "It's been more than 2 hours, I've
played the machine 7 hours over the last 2 days, and I should have as
much right to the machine as anyone else."
"Sorry", said the Host, and she walked away. I was dumbfounded.
I couldn't believe it. A woman playing a couple machines away then
told me she had been playing there last night and knew the woman who
had the machine closed to be a high roller that usually played the $5
machines. Then I understood what had happened, but I still felt
slighted and wasn't happy about it. Anyway, I thought about hanging
around and giving the woman a piece of my mind when she arrived, but
my better sense told me that that would do nobody any good, and so I
decided to collect my cash back and head home.
I was tired and angry. I went to collect my cash back and was
told that they discontinued "instant cash back" two weeks earlier.
No fooling. That's what happened. Now you LVer's have a taste of
what it's like to gamble in Atlantic City.