It doesn't explain what happened to you, but I routinely am "de-carded" and an employee card inserted when I am getting a hand-pay jackpot, and they used to do the same thing when there were tokens and the machine needed a fill -- so I'm guessing it's part of a problem with the machine or some kind of casino policy / activity that has absolutely nothing to do with your good play and good outcomes.
--BG
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12a. Re: Strange Happening Today at Barona
Date: Tue Jan 27, 2009 12:39 pm ((PST))Roberto,
There is nothing that they could "check up on" by removing your card
that they do not already have.Chances are there was a brief communication problem between the main
computer and a few machines in that area. A trouble message may have
been generated and they needed to interrupt your session (by
inserting a different player's card) to force some transaction processing.This may not be the explanation but is one possibility.
Bill
At 12:53 AM 1/27/2009, you wrote:
>I had been playing Bonus Poker Deluxe and White Hot Aces today on one
>of the ten "close-to-full-pay" 25c machines at the Barona Indian
>Casino near San Diego. I was up about $150 after approx an hour's
>play, when something happened that surprised me greatly. A woman in a
>uniform that I assume was that of a slot technician came up to me. She
>said that I needed to be momentarily "un-carded". I asked what this
>means. She said something like 'something has been sent over to the
>machine', and she had to check if it was OK. This involved pulling my
>card out, and putting hers in. I protested that this would erase the
>display of my point total for the day. (I have been periodically
>recording the point total, and thus the hand count, as well as the
>credit balance for later analysis so that I get a better idea of what
>results are likely to be common longer-term, and what is unusual.)
>
>She seemed insistent on it, so of course I had to agree. I finished my
>hand, pressed "Draw", and recorded my point total. Then she pulled out
>my card. She held mine while her own went in. I saw the display for
>her card, and it said "Welcome Slot Player [instead of a person's
>name] you have 3 points." After doing this, she put my card back in.
>
>Now, what is this about? I have been playing there regularly these
>past few weeks (just occasionally before that). I've been playing a
>pretty tight game on these machines, with a "perfect strategy" sheet
>for each game in front of me when needed, and have on average been
>walking out of the casino with more money than I brought in. In other
>words, whenever I get significantly ahead, I cash out and go home. I
>wondered if somehow they were trying to "check up" on me? This did not
>seem to be part of any casino-wide inspection or update of machines,
>although this same woman did also later "de-card" the guy sitting next
>to me, but nobody else as far as I was aware. This guy had just
>recently been hand-paid a wad of bills (without leaving the machine),
>presumably he got a Royal while playing 50c or $1. (He had been
>smoking a vile cigar most of the time, and looked sort of gruff, so I
>did not feel inclined to go over and chat.) Is it possible that they
>were "checking up" on people who seemed to be doing 'too well'? Or am
>I just being paranoid?
>