vpFREE2 Forums

LVA-QOD-27 Feb 2013

#1

QOD-What is the maximum number of days you can occupy a hotel room by law in Las Vegas?

This question got me to thinking about all the comp days I did in Nevada from Jan. 1997 through Nov 2007, almost eleven years. I estimate it to be somewhere between 1300 and 1400 comp days, with the bulk of it, about 900 days, being in Laughlin.

I stumbled onto advantage machine play quite by accident in Oct. 1996. But it wasn't until Jan. 1997 that I got my first comped room-If you want to call it comped. I met Bill Hartman, a casino hustler and compulsive gambler, sometime that winter in Laughlin. I was a drifter without a mailing address at the time-except for fictional ones. He convinced me to get a P.O. box at the Riverside, explaining to my ignorant ass that I was missing out on all kinds casino offers through the mail.

Hartman introduced me to his casino host at the Riverside. He had already schooled me on how to handle the situation. We were sitting in the North Tower Bar.

"How many days you want?" he asked.
"I don't know, how 'bout seven?" I responded.
"Okay, when she gets here I'm gonna introduce you to her. Put $70 in the palm of your hand and shake hands with her when I introduce you."

When "Jane" showed up, Hartman introduced me saying "Jane, this is Mickey Crimm, he needs a room for a week." She and I shook hands. She palmed the money, took my particulars and told me she would be back with a voucher in a few minutes.

As she walked off Hartman said

"Now, you pay her $70 a week for a few weeks, then get her down to $40. Tell her the gambling ain't workiin' out. Make up any kind of excuse."
"Okay" I said, but I never made the move. She and I would meet every week in the North Tower Bar with a $70 handshake and she would punch me in for another week. But every few weeks she made me check out, then check back in.

At the time I was working the linked bank Flush Attacks, House a Rockin', and the Piggy Bankin' slots at the Riverside. The money was good but you don't run much of a wager on those games-to get room comp-so the $10 a day was well worth it to me. Don Laughlin's joint was the only one on the river with 40 channels on the TV. And it was great to be just an elevator ride away from my work.

I had stumbled into a very unique situation. The Riverside hosts were allowed to take tips. It became a racket. All the casino hosts were on the take. And they mostly worked the bottomfeeding casino hustlers on the river. Except for a one month trip, where I hit Las Vegas, Reno, Tahoe, Elko, Wendover, and Blackhawk, Colorado, I spent practically all of 1997 living in the Riverside.

It was a kick in the pants for a guy who had spent years living out of a sleeping bag and day pack. But all good things must end. It all came crashing down in Nov 1997. Luckily for me, I had learned enough about comp systems by then to put together what I called the Laughlin RFB 362 strategy.

More later on why it came crashing down, and what my next move was. Got to go make some money today....

#2

Has anyone checked with a host or other employee to find out whether resort fee will not be charged for Diamond and/or 7 Star reservations?

···

------------------------------------------
Jean $¢ott, Frugal Gambler
http://queenofcomps.com/
You can read my blog at
http://jscott.lvablog.com/

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

#3

You’re the man, Mickey!

Ah, the good old days. We milked the system pretty good ourselves for many years before we bought our condo in Vegas, perhaps an average of 100 comped nights per year for about 10 years. Our favorite technique was to switch back and forth every few days at the same casino between my name and Brad’s.

···

------------------------------------------
Jean $¢ott, Frugal Gambler
http://queenofcomps.com/
You can read my blog at
http://jscott.lvablog.com/

From: Mickey
Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2013 9:07 AM
To: vpFREE@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [vpFREE] LVA-QOD-27 Feb 2013

QOD-What is the maximum number of days you can occupy a hotel room by law in Las Vegas?

This question got me to thinking about all the comp days I did in Nevada from Jan. 1997 through Nov 2007, almost eleven years. I estimate it to be somewhere between 1300 and 1400 comp days, with the bulk of it, about 900 days, being in Laughlin.

I stumbled onto advantage machine play quite by accident in Oct. 1996. But it wasn't until Jan. 1997 that I got my first comped room-If you want to call it comped. I met Bill Hartman, a casino hustler and compulsive gambler, sometime that winter in Laughlin. I was a drifter without a mailing address at the time-except for fictional ones. He convinced me to get a P.O. box at the Riverside, explaining to my ignorant ass that I was missing out on all kinds casino offers through the mail.

Hartman introduced me to his casino host at the Riverside. He had already schooled me on how to handle the situation. We were sitting in the North Tower Bar.

"How many days you want?" he asked.
"I don't know, how 'bout seven?" I responded.
"Okay, when she gets here I'm gonna introduce you to her. Put $70 in the palm of your hand and shake hands with her when I introduce you."

When "Jane" showed up, Hartman introduced me saying "Jane, this is Mickey Crimm, he needs a room for a week." She and I shook hands. She palmed the money, took my particulars and told me she would be back with a voucher in a few minutes.

As she walked off Hartman said

"Now, you pay her $70 a week for a few weeks, then get her down to $40. Tell her the gambling ain't workiin' out. Make up any kind of excuse."
"Okay" I said, but I never made the move. She and I would meet every week in the North Tower Bar with a $70 handshake and she would punch me in for another week. But every few weeks she made me check out, then check back in.

At the time I was working the linked bank Flush Attacks, House a Rockin', and the Piggy Bankin' slots at the Riverside. The money was good but you don't run much of a wager on those games-to get room comp-so the $10 a day was well worth it to me. Don Laughlin's joint was the only one on the river with 40 channels on the TV. And it was great to be just an elevator ride away from my work.

I had stumbled into a very unique situation. The Riverside hosts were allowed to take tips. It became a racket. All the casino hosts were on the take. And they mostly worked the bottomfeeding casino hustlers on the river. Except for a one month trip, where I hit Las Vegas, Reno, Tahoe, Elko, Wendover, and Blackhawk, Colorado, I spent practically all of 1997 living in the Riverside.

It was a kick in the pants for a guy who had spent years living out of a sleeping bag and day pack. But all good things must end. It all came crashing down in Nov 1997. Luckily for me, I had learned enough about comp systems by then to put together what I called the Laughlin RFB 362 strategy.

More later on why it came crashing down, and what my next move was. Got to go make some money today....

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

#4

Looking forward to that update Mickey.
Also interested in your take on Wendover which never gets much mention here.

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "Mickey" <mickeycrimm@...> wrote:

QOD-What is the maximum number of days you can occupy a hotel room by law in Las Vegas?

This question got me to thinking about all the comp days I did in Nevada from Jan. 1997 through Nov 2007, almost eleven years. I estimate it to be somewhere between 1300 and 1400 comp days, with the bulk of it, about 900 days, being in Laughlin.

I stumbled onto advantage machine play quite by accident in Oct. 1996. But it wasn't until Jan. 1997 that I got my first comped room-If you want to call it comped. I met Bill Hartman, a casino hustler and compulsive gambler, sometime that winter in Laughlin. I was a drifter without a mailing address at the time-except for fictional ones. He convinced me to get a P.O. box at the Riverside, explaining to my ignorant ass that I was missing out on all kinds casino offers through the mail.

Hartman introduced me to his casino host at the Riverside. He had already schooled me on how to handle the situation. We were sitting in the North Tower Bar.

"How many days you want?" he asked.
"I don't know, how 'bout seven?" I responded.
"Okay, when she gets here I'm gonna introduce you to her. Put $70 in the palm of your hand and shake hands with her when I introduce you."

When "Jane" showed up, Hartman introduced me saying "Jane, this is Mickey Crimm, he needs a room for a week." She and I shook hands. She palmed the money, took my particulars and told me she would be back with a voucher in a few minutes.

As she walked off Hartman said

"Now, you pay her $70 a week for a few weeks, then get her down to $40. Tell her the gambling ain't workiin' out. Make up any kind of excuse."
"Okay" I said, but I never made the move. She and I would meet every week in the North Tower Bar with a $70 handshake and she would punch me in for another week. But every few weeks she made me check out, then check back in.

At the time I was working the linked bank Flush Attacks, House a Rockin', and the Piggy Bankin' slots at the Riverside. The money was good but you don't run much of a wager on those games-to get room comp-so the $10 a day was well worth it to me. Don Laughlin's joint was the only one on the river with 40 channels on the TV. And it was great to be just an elevator ride away from my work.

I had stumbled into a very unique situation. The Riverside hosts were allowed to take tips. It became a racket. All the casino hosts were on the take. And they mostly worked the bottomfeeding casino hustlers on the river. Except for a one month trip, where I hit Las Vegas, Reno, Tahoe, Elko, Wendover, and Blackhawk, Colorado, I spent practically all of 1997 living in the Riverside.

It was a kick in the pants for a guy who had spent years living out of a sleeping bag and day pack. But all good things must end. It all came crashing down in Nov 1997. Luckily for me, I had learned enough about comp systems by then to put together what I called the Laughlin RFB 362 strategy.

More later on why it came crashing down, and what my next move was. Got to go make some money today....

#5

Hey, Jean. I remember reading an article back around that time. It was titled something like "Fifty Straight Comp Days in Las Vegas." I think they called the lady that wrote it the "Comp Queen" or the "Queen of Comps", soomething like that. While reading the article I remember thinking "this lady is after my own heart."

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "Queen of Comps" <queenofcomps@...> wrote:

You’re the man, Mickey!

Ah, the good old days. We milked the system pretty good ourselves for many years before we bought our condo in Vegas, perhaps an average of 100 comped nights per year for about 10 years. Our favorite technique was to switch back and forth every few days at the same casino between my name and Brad’s.

#6

Hartman was right about that mail box. I went around to all the slot clubs in Laughlin and had my address changed to the Riverside. I paid $14 a year for it. And it was conveniently located at the Riverside. In the long run of things it paid off bigtime. But that first year I mostly played linked bank Flush Attack, Full Pay Deuces at the Golden Nugget and Gold River (later became River Palms), the Piggy Bankin' slots at the Riverside, Edgewater, Colorado Belle, Ramada Express, Pioneer, Golden Nugget, and Harrah's.

And early in that year of '97 Silicon Gaming's Oddyssey multi-game machines came out. The first two exploitable games were Fort Knox and Buccaneer's Gold. And not long after the Oddyssey's arrived here came the IGT Vision Series, you know, Cherry Pie, Diamond Mine, , Fishin' for Cash, Slot Bingo, etc. Twenty years of thumb bummin' and ridin' trains....and I finally hitchiked into the right town. Praise the Lord and pass the loot, brother. No more sleeping in the weeds....what the hell? A shower every day....what the hell? Steak and eggs for free....what the hell is goin on here? Am I dreaming? Forty-three years old and I finally struck it rich....at least I felt rich for the first time in my life.

One of my first moves was mosey'n on over to the Horizon Outlet and buying some presentable threads. I threw the tramp cloths away. Not the sleeping bag, though. I didn't trust anything. I knew it had to come crashing down sooner or later. It was 1998 before I trusted the situation enough to throw the sleeping bag away.

The Flush Attack bank in the smoking section of the Riverside was hustler's headquarters in Laughlin. There were Flush Attack banks at the Flamingo, Pioneer, Ramada, and Gold River. But the Riverside bank was king kong because there were twice as many machines as the other places, and the bank got a lot of action from tourists. It was an 18 machine long bank that sat at the base of the escalator up to the Bingo Hall. They had a Bingo session every other hour that lasted an hour. When them bingo players came down the escalator, what's the first bank of video pokers they see? The Flush Attacks.

That bank was the most profitable bank of video pokers Don Laughlin had. It was the most profitable bank for the hustlers too. The payscale was 8/5 Double Bonus with every fourth flush paying 125 coins. The theoretical is 101.8%

So how could it be the most profitable bank in the Riverside, especially with all the hustlers working it? It has something to do with strategy. A strategy based on a 25 or 30 coin flush will yield a flush about every 90 games. A strategy based on a 50 coin flush will yield a flush about every 55 games. A strategy based on a 125 coin flush will yield a flush about every 43 games. The tourist/ploppies played the game very badly. There money paid for everything. They paid Don Laughlin....and us too.

more later....

#7

Yes, I checked and was told they do not apply to Platinum, Diamond or 7 Star guests.

Bob

···

From: Queen of Comps
Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2013 4:18 PM
To: vpFREE@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [vpFREE] Caesars New Resort Fee

Has anyone checked with a host or other employee to find out whether resort fee will not be charged for Diamond and/or 7 Star reservations?

------------------------------------------
Jean $¢ott, Frugal Gambler
http://queenofcomps.com/
You can read my blog at
http://jscott.lvablog.com/

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

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#8

I sure remember those Flush Attack banks. The Riverside was my favorite place to play this game, but I had a problem. My wife hated that smoking area. She would give me 30 minutes at a time to play those. I remember the regulars playing slow...or one coin at a time until it got ripe, and then bang- everyone went into hyper mode. I very quickly learned the ropes on this game and did pretty well. I actually ended up spending a lot of time at the Flamingo banks, as my wife had some playable games for her close by. I probably played these games with you Mickey, as in those years I made a lot of trips to Laughlin.

I also remember checking out the piggy banks up and down the river for some advantage plays. That was a fun time.

My last trip to the Pioneer found one piggy bank still in operation, and I cleared it out a few times.

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "Mickey" <mickeycrimm@...> wrote:

The Flush Attack bank in the smoking section of the Riverside was hustler's headquarters in Laughlin. There were Flush Attack banks at the Flamingo, Pioneer, Ramada, and Gold River. But the Riverside bank was king kong because there were twice as many machines as the other places, and the bank got a lot of action from tourists. It was an 18 machine long bank that sat at the base of the escalator up to the Bingo Hall. They had a Bingo session every other hour that lasted an hour. When them bingo players came down the escalator, what's the first bank of video pokers they see? The Flush Attacks.

That bank was the most profitable bank of video pokers Don Laughlin had. It was the most profitable bank for the hustlers too. The payscale was 8/5 Double Bonus with every fourth flush paying 125 coins. The theoretical is 101.8%

So how could it be the most profitable bank in the Riverside, especially with all the hustlers working it? It has something to do with strategy. A strategy based on a 25 or 30 coin flush will yield a flush about every 90 games. A strategy based on a 50 coin flush will yield a flush about every 55 games. A strategy based on a 125 coin flush will yield a flush about every 43 games. The tourist/ploppies played the game very badly. There money paid for everything. They paid Don Laughlin....and us too.

more later....