vpFREE2 Forums

Regarding Cheat Sheets

#1

All VP activity is watched via cameras in places you would never expect.

If casinos were overly concerned about "cheat sheets", they would have
already asked many of us to stop using them. This hasn't been the case.

I agree with those who suggest learning a game well enough to not
require any written assistance. But this suggests always playing the
same game. Proficiency obviously diminishes as the number of games
studied increases. For that reason, I may not need a 9/6 Jacks "cheat
sheet" but I certainly do need one for 9/5 SDB which I neither see nor
play as often.

The sheet need not include every possible play.

At http://www.vpgenius.com/video-poker/games an entire strategy sheet
for a game might be four pages long. But, usually only one of those
pages contain the plays that might be most unfamiliar to me. I simply
reduce complex decisions to a few notes. So, the discreetness of my
cheat sheet is that of a small note card. We are not talking "War and
Peace" size here.

#2

All VP activity is watched via cameras in places you would never expect.

True and not true: In general, I'd say you are not being filmed playing MOST VP. There are
just too many machines at most casinos for them to bother. If you don't believe me, make
up some good reason why the casino should check the "tapes" and see what happens.
Certain things you do today will almost always put you and your machine under
"surveillance" however. These include asking them to open up a machine and change a
setting for you (like turning up/down the volume or the hand pay amount). Try it and then
ask about surveillance (actually some places won't jump to make the adjustment for you.
Just let them know you are comfortable being put under surveillance and see what they say
then)

If casinos were overly concerned about "cheat sheets", they would have
already asked many of us to stop using them. This hasn't been the case.

In my experience, using a cheat sheet is good "cover", especially in blackjack, but also in
VP and other games. Ever need to slow a BJ game down? Have someone struggle to read
their cheat sheet each hand. Ever want to be sure they think you aren't an AP with VP?
Yup, you can use a cheat sheet. Even better, when you are being evaluated (and most of
you out there seem to think you know when this is happening) why not purposefully make
a mistake... sure it could cost you, but so would (in theory) be barred from play.

···

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

#3

what happens.

They always play dumb if you request video surveillance, like: "oh
sorry, are cameras aren't working today, maintenance is working on
it." This is standard procedure to prevent you from probing their
surveillance. Pretty much everything has a camera on it, cameras are
cheap. Surveillance is private, you don't have a right to it, unless a
crime is involved and it is police evidence, even then casinos seem to
suffer from Nixon "accidental erasure" syndrome.

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "cdfsrule" <vpfree_digests@...> wrote:

If you don't believe me, make
up some good reason why the casino should check the "tapes" and see

#4

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "nightoftheiguana2000"
<nightoftheiguana2000@...> wrote:

They always play dumb if you request video surveillance, like: "oh
sorry, are cameras aren't working today, maintenance is working on
it." This is standard procedure to prevent you from probing their
surveillance. Pretty much everything has a camera on it, cameras are
cheap. Surveillance is private, you don't have a right to it, unless a
crime is involved and it is police evidence, even then casinos seem to
suffer from Nixon "accidental erasure" syndrome.

Robert Neressian, the lawyer who has won many a civil case against the
casinos, has stated that he won every case where the surveillance tape
was "accidentally erased." The juries eyed it with great suspicion.

#5

I am glad I am not a stockholder in some of these places that question the use of cheat sheets. A play that would make an effect of less than 1% in expected value on a hand a few times an hour at most is really worth an employees time to ask you to put it away or whatever while ignoring customer service to a player that really needs you (change request, machine malfunction, etc) really helps the bottom line. While they are telling you to put the sheet away, the player two rows down plays 20-30 less hands waiting for service. I am sure the casino loss is greater from the lack of play there than you making a slightly better play on a single hand. As the song goes, "when will they ever learn?'

···

--- On Fri, 1/30/09, cdfsrule <vpfree_digests@vpfree2.com> wrote:
From: cdfsrule <vpfree_digests@vpfree2.com>
Subject: [vpFREE] Re: Regarding Cheat Sheets
To: vpFREE@yahoogroups.com
Date: Friday, January 30, 2009, 4:16 PM

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

All VP activity is watched via cameras in places you would never expect.

True and not true: In general, I'd say you are not being filmed playing MOST VP. There are

just too many machines at most casinos for them to bother. If you don't believe me, make

up some good reason why the casino should check the "tapes" and see what happens.

Certain things you do today will almost always put you and your machine under

"surveillance" however. These include asking them to open up a machine and change a

setting for you (like turning up/down the volume or the hand pay amount). Try it and then

ask about surveillance (actually some places won't jump to make the adjustment for you.

Just let them know you are comfortable being put under surveillance and see what they say

then)

If casinos were overly concerned about "cheat sheets", they would have

already asked many of us to stop using them. This hasn't been the case.

In my experience, using a cheat sheet is good "cover", especially in blackjack, but also in

VP and other games. Ever need to slow a BJ game down? Have someone struggle to read

their cheat sheet each hand. Ever want to be sure they think you aren't an AP with VP?

Yup, you can use a cheat sheet. Even better, when you are being evaluated (and most of

you out there seem to think you know when this is happening) why not purposefully make

a mistake... sure it could cost you, but so would (in theory) be barred from play.

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

#6

Yes everywhere can (likely) be watched and recorded. But its not-- moreover if a location
does have a camera on it, that doesn't mean the credits readout, the screen or anything on
a machine will be visible or useful in the recording. If there's enough money on the line
the "tapes" or a witness (or both) will likely appear if they exist and help the casino. I can
tell you from personal experience that not every machine (screen, credits, panel) is regularly recorded (well enough), unless the casino really did think the money they owed
me was worth less then their precious and private "tapes". If they are playing dumb when
you request the surveillance, then you probably don't have a good enough reason to see
the "tapes", or there is not enough at stake for the casino. So think of a better reason.

Likely it's surveillance's public reputation that is a bigger crime deterrent then surveillance
itself- but that's certainly debatable (the lojack effect, which has been well established).
Typically a floor person will see something and call for camera surveillance to
monitor/record the situation. Of course some areas are regularly recorded/monitored, but
not all. I suppose the reason is that the technology is just not there yet, and the cost
prohibitive given that monitoring every single machine perfectly won't reduce the crime
more then say monitoring 80% or 50%, or even fewer machines, and the benefit is not
there. Sure cameras can be cheap, but humans to analyze the images are not, and automated computer methods fall way short.

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "nightoftheiguana2000" <nightoftheiguana2000@...>
wrote:

···

They always play dumb if you request video surveillance, like: "oh
sorry, are cameras aren't working today, maintenance is working on
it." This is standard procedure to prevent you from probing their
surveillance. Pretty much everything has a camera on it, cameras are
cheap. Surveillance is private, you don't have a right to it, unless a
crime is involved and it is police evidence, even then casinos seem to
suffer from Nixon "accidental erasure" syndrome.