(read part I here or Part 2 here or Part 3 here or here for part 4 for here for part5 or here for part 6 or here for part 7 or here for part 8 or here for part 9 or here for part 10 or here for part 11 or here for part 12 or here for part 14 or here for part 15 or here for part 16 or here for part 17 or here for part 18)
| Q: | Laughlin Tables and Food I’m going to Laughlin, and staying at the River Palms. I will take your advice and play at the Colorado Belle and Edgewater, along with the Pioneer Club. Any other suggestions on which tables to play? Also where are the best gourmet and casual eats in Laughlin? |
| A: | As I mentioned in Part One and Part Two of my Laughlin Table Report articles, I really like the tables at Golden Nugget-Laughlin, but the Pit-guys can get a bit cantankerous and grouchy if they think you are taking TOO MUCH of THEIR money. A couple of them seem to take it personally when you win too much. |
The Pioneer Club has gotten somewhat win-intolerant due to a number of skilled players who have taken a bit more than their fair share of profit off of what it obviously a very sweet-rolling table. If you hold your win-limit to just under $300/session, and you don’t play more than one session/shift; then there shouldn’t be any undue heat from the PC Pit.
In addition to the three other sets of tables that were mentioned above, I also have a strong preference for the ones at Flamingo-Laughlin. Although their tables may appear to be bouncy; in fact just slowing the dice down to their ABSOLUTE minimum energy (just enough to get them to the backwall), will release a surprising number of on-axis results. The crew also responds well to the few tokes that they receive by bending over backwards to assist your Precision-Shooting efforts in any way that they legally can.
I’m still loving the Colorado Belle for their tables, but not their food and especially not for their rooms, on an ever-increasing basis. It just seems that I can groove into their tables almost instantly, and then stay in that shooting-groove for extended periods of time. So far they’ve been very win-tolerant, especially in the evenings.
Likewise, the Ramada Express continues to amaze me with the way I can almost assuredly get at least one good mega-hand per session, although the grousing and grumbling from the waiting-to-die players is a constant negative-vibe consideration, if that sort of thing affects your game. Right now, I restrict my playing here to just one relatively short session per day.
As far as gourmet restaurants are concerned, I like the Lobster Bar at Tarzans (Golden Nugget), The Range Steakhouse at Harrah’s, and Don Laughlin’s Gourmet Room at the Riverside.
For the best-bet in casual dining, I like:
- Alta Villa at the Flamingo for Italian. The quality is good, and the service and pricing is good as well. Comps are fairly easy for the “$22 Inside” type of player, and you can easily get an unreserved mid-week table that overlooks the Colorado River.
- Baja Blue at Harrah’s would be my first choice for Tex-Mex, and you can make a meal out of the appetizers alone. Staff is good, but they should be a little more attentive about not letting your food get a tan while sitting under the heating lamps.
- The Boiler Room at the Colorado Belle has some great microbrews that go perfectly with their wood-oven pizza. I’d tell you about the rest of their menu, but frankly ever since I’ve been going there for all these years, I’ve only had their pizza and a couple of their app’s. That should give you a pretty good indication how good it is (as far as edible pizza West of the Mississippi River is concerned).
- The Hickory Pit at the Edgewater is not overly pricey for the quality of food that you get. Good staff and a decent enough ambiance make this a good, quiet mid-week retreat. On the weekends, it tends to get quite crowded.
- The Prime Rib Room at the Riverside has traditional food, traditional service and traditional pricing from the late ’70’s. If you can get a comp to this place, you’ll be VERY happy with the outcome. However, on Sunday evenings this place is packed.
There are no good Chinese or Asian restaurants in Laughlin, and believe me when I tell you that I have looked HARD. The Rice Bowl and Panda Express are poor choices, even on their best days. There are two more places across the bridge in Bullhead City (on Hwy. 95), that are equally forgettable.
| Q: | Pressing Your Bets After a Regression I have just finished re-reading your entire The When, Where, Why, What and How of Signature Numbers series, and I got even more out of it this time around than I did the first time I read it. I am still a bit confused about the use of Steep Regressions. I set the Passline-Point and then put $25 or $30 on each of the Inside Numbers, or on my Top-3 Signature Numbers. Okay, so far so good. I back up my PL-Point with enough Odds to equal my normal initial Place-bet (pre-regression level) if my PL-Point is also one of my Top 3 S-N’s. Okay, I’m still on board in understanding everything at this point. After I have one winning-hit on any of my Place-bets, I regress them down to one-unit each. I realize that I’ve now got a locked in profit, especially if I reduce my PL-Point Odds down to 1x. So far, so good. Now here’s my problem: As the hand continues, I frequently manage to press my Place-bets back up to 2 or 3 units before my PL-Point finally repeats. When the next PL-Point is determined, do I leave my Place-bets as is and continue on with Pressing them, or do I start over with the five unit initial bet ($30 on the 6 and 8, and $25 on the 5 and 9) and do a Steep Regression again? |
| A: | It really comes down to YOU, your comfort level, and your tolerance for risk. For me, I would keep them at the pressed-up level after the new (second PL-Point) Come-out. How I “get used to” the new betting-levels, is to keep them there (instead of further pressing, I call that a “bet-plateau”) for a couple more hits. By that time, I am no longer thinking “Gee, that’s a lot of money I have wagered out there“, instead I start thinking, “Gee, I’m getting some good paying hits at this level, maybe I should start pressing it up again“. |
The problem is if you are thinking too much about the money, then you AREN’T thinking ENOUGH about your next throw. That slight shift in thinking is often enough to blow your next toss into a 7-out loss.
I cover the whole “betting comfort-zone” idea in my “How to Get THERE From HERE“ series of articles.
Again, it’s a matter of getting comfortable and locking in a profit along the way. As you plateau your winnings, you will develop a newly “desensitized” (detached/disconnected) feeling towards the amount of money you still have on the layout (after your initial Regression), because of the amount of money you already have locked up in your rack.
| Q: | New Gaming Channel MP, during one of the Monthly on-line Chats you mentioned that they might be starting up a dedicated gaming channel somewhere. Can you share any more details? |
| A: | With the hyper-specialization of niche television (PetTV, Game Show Network, Aquarium Channel, Cartoon Network…I think there’s probably even a Toenail Clipping Network out there somewhere), it was only a matter of time before a 24-hour gaming channel hit the airwaves. In fact, there is already one gaming channel on the air right now, and a couple more that will be beamed to you VERY soon. |
On the air right now is the United Kingdom based Casino TV. You can pull them in on the AsiaSat 3S satellite (or one of it’s re-bounce transponders). That channel is mostly dedicated to on-line gambling (well, on-satellite gambling if you will).
It is bankrolled by Stanley Ho of Macau casino fame. He’s the guy who owns the eight casinos and Jai Lai frontons (Lisboa, Macau Palace, Kam Peck, Kingsway, etc.) in the former Portuguese colony off the south coast of China (where Steve Wynn and Shelly Adelson are currently building their own Asian versions of Wynn-LV and Venetian, respectively). Along with that, he owns another five casinos in Cotai and Taipa; so he’s well financed as far as backing a fairly ambitious broadcast undertaking is concerned.
I mention all of that because it means that he has a built-in sponsorship/advertising base, so this single-channels longevity looks pretty good. His on-line gambling uses actual live dealers that deal out real cards to you on your TV screen (unlike a computer-generated deck of cards in online gambling). Right now however, the non-gaming portion of the programming content on Casino TV is a bit on the light side…well, in truth it’s on the EXTREMELY light side, with short-segment 3, 5 and 10-minute infomercial/TV magazine (Entertainment Tonight) type of shows, along with a ton of instructional “How-to-Play” demonstrations.
The Casino and Gaming Television Network is currently in pre-launch mode as they sign up digital cable providers in North America and secure a dedicated satellite channel. With shows such as their poker-expert based “Winning Hand” and their “Dusk ‘Til Dawn” night-spots tour of Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Bahamas, Sun City, Monte Carlo, and Baden-Baden, etc., the content appears to be of a much higher quality than Casino TV. I’d probably put it on par with STAR-TV or the “E!” network.
EdgeTV, to be launched early in 2005, will be the first 24-hour network
dedicated exclusively to casino-gaming. It is bankrolled by the new owners of LV’s Bourbon Street Casino-Hotel (Reagan Silber, Keith Richman and Charles Katz…each one of their fathers is fairly well-known within the banking and real-estate development communities), and they’re in the middle of signing up some major casino sponsorship. Like CasinoTV, they have a ton of pre-commitment ad-contracts from popular on-line internet-gaming sites like goldenpalacecasino.com.
Currently, EdgeTV is headquartered in Beverly Hills, but it appears that before it’s early 2005 on-air launch, it will have a production and broadcast operation right inside a major Las Vegas casino. Word has it that the Golden Nugget, The Palms, Mandalay Bay, The Hard Rock, TI (the resort formerly known as Treasure Island), LV Hilton, MGM Grand, and Green Valley Ranch are on the short-list. Of course, that seems like a pretty LONG list to me, but…more details to follow.
| Q: | Toking to Buy Latitude Does toking the table-crew get you additional latitude for your Precision-Shooting? |
| A: | If you are an unknown player to them, you have to build up their “tolerance level” by priming the pump with a few tokes (and maybe a couple of jokes) before you even get the dice. However, you can’t have the attitude that the tokes are “buying” their favor. That makes them feel like whores, and when is it ever in your best interest to make a whore actually feel like one? |
Instead, you have to do it on a friendly “we’re-all-in-this-together-so-let’s-make-some-money-together” approach. Once they see tokes consistently coming their way, they’ll be as accommodating as they can be. However, if there is an anal-retentive “I want to see the dice rebound at least five feet off the backwall” Pit Boss hovering nearby; then they may have to rein in their enthusiasm a bit.
Likewise, if they’ve just been chewed out by the Table-Game Supervisor because they didn’t properly “wash their hands” during the last stick-change (the process where they lightly clap once, then spread their finger and turn over their hands to show they haven’t “palmed” any chips); they’ll likely be in a pissy mood, and start to over-enforce the game rules. It’s nothing personal..it’s just human nature.
If you are looking for a greater in-depth view of the role that tokes can play in your Precision-Shooting toolbox; you’ll want to have a look at my Tipping: Is There Two Sets of Rules article.
| Q: | At-Home Practice MP, can you explain to me how practicing at home can replicate casino conditions. To my way of thinking, it makes no sense to do that if the table you practice on isn’t exactly like the table that you gamble on. |
| A: | For YEARS I thought the same way as you do about practicing at home. I figured that at-home sessions could never come close to replicating real-world casino play, so I perfected my game in-house. Now THAT has got to be the world’s most expensive dicesetting course EVER! |
I can freely admit that that way of thinking was just plain dumb and uninformed on my part.
When I’m in the casino, that is the LAST place I should be experimenting with grip, motion and toss alterations to my throwing mechanics or with hereinbefore untried set-permutations.
It took me a long time (and a TON of money) to realize that I could hone my skill at home and develop new methods and techniques on even rudimentary, non-regulation surfaces. Without money at risk, I was better able to test the boundaries of what I THOUGHT would be the best way to throw versus some counter-intuitive experimentation which ended up bringing some really innovative and PROFITABLE improvements to my game.
If you’re ever wondering how I come up with so many innovative ways to keep the dice on-axis, and hitting on the four primary-faces that I initially set them on; the answer is that I’ve been able to perfect my game on a Practice Rig, and then transfer those ground-breaking skills to the real-world tables where I turn that talent into real-world profit.
Nowadays, I do very little “tweaking” of my actual throw while I am in the casino. Yes, I still adapt my throw to the characteristics of each table, but if the dice aren’t doing what I want them to do after making minor adjustments; then I cut the session short and take my toss back to “the lab” for further analysis. It’s a lot cheaper than staying at the tables and trying to correct it; plus it’s a lot less frustrating in that I don’t have to wait for the dice to cycle back around the table for yet another opportunity to make even more bad throws.
| Q | Casino Marker Discounts Hey Mad Professor, I had to tell you about something pretty funny about one of your articles. When I first read your Casino Credit Update – Part Four article about a year ago, I thought it was a good idea, but I had no need for casino credit at the time, so I put it out of my mind. About four months ago, I opened my first Line of Credit and have used it quite a bit since. In following your advice from Profit Skimming 101, I have been able to color out what looks like a “loss” even when I have good wins, and when I have a small loss, it looks like a BIG one thanks to your ideas. The real reason that I’m writing is to thank you for that Casino Marker-Discount idea that you talked about in your CCU-P4 article. Now that I’ve increased my betting and increased my “apparent” losses, I’ve been able to negotiate fairly substantial discounts on my casino-credit markers. This alone has increased my profitability by another 4% to 5%. Obviously I don’t need to tell you what this has done to the quality and frequency of Comp offers and the monthly cash vouchers I receive in the mail from them now. Thank you very much. So can you tell me if you have any further Casino Credit Update articles planned? |
| A: | It’s gratifying to hear that many players have been able to use some of my profit-generating methods for their own benefit. As I mentioned in that above-noted article, the Marker-Discount method is best applied with players who meet the minimum credit-use threshold of at least $5,000 or $10,000 during their stay. Below that point, it’s rather difficult for the casino to justify giving you a discount. On the other hand, the lower the casino is on the credit-granting ladder (Bellagio, Venetian, Caesars, and Mandalay is on the top rung; while Sahara, Plaza, Tropicana, and Fremont… are nearer the bottom rung, but still offer good-to-excellent playing conditions, as well as a much lower threshold in granting Casino-Credit Marker Discounts) the more willing they are in offering a discount on your “apparent” losses that you have to pay back. I’ll also add that you have to skim your profit or increase your visual “rack losses” in a subtle way. You have to do it gradually, without looking like a paranoid junior G-man undercover spy. The freshly milled Casino Credit Update – Part Five article is ready to go, but frankly there are literally scores of other, more mission-critical Precision-Shooting articles that I would rather give posting-priority to. |
| Q: | No Call Bets Though I see the words “No Call Bets” stenciled onto the craps table layout, I never knew what it meant until I read your Tipping: Is There Two Sets of Rules article. Last time I was at the Claridge Hotel in AC, the female box lady was upset because a loud-mouthed punk had made a $300 Call-bet on the Don’t Come, and a 7 rolled. Then his partner said, “Don’t pay them, you didn’t have your money out.” Punk No. 1 obeyed and didn’t pay, then they were ordered to leave, but he came back by himself to the SAME table a little while later, and security was called. As security was leading him away the upset box lady, said to the dealers, “Unless I know the person, then no more Call-bets.” Can you explain the whole “No Call Bet” thing a little more? |
| A: | The rule on “No Call Bets” is to avoid bets being made by players who either don’t have the money (at all), or who don’t have the money (chips or cash) out on the rail. I’ll give you an example of a Call Bet CATASTROPHE (from the casinos point of view): A player is about to throw the dice. A new guy walks up to the table as he is reaching into his pocket for money, he loudly calls out, “Twenty-Two Inside”. Out of automatic reflex, the closest dealer says, “You’ve got a bet, twenty-two Inside“. At that moment, the stickman calls out, “Five“. Mr. New Guy pulls out exactly $2200, and throws it down on the felt. The boxman looks at the wad’o’cash, then looks at the new guy, then looks at the dealer who booked the bet, then looks at the wad’o’cash again, then looks at the new guy one more time and says (in a disgusted tone) to the now wide-eyed dealer, “Set it up, then pay it.” |
The new player happily collects his payout, calls off all of his wagers, and orders the dealer to take down all of his bets. Quite nonchalantly Mr. New Guy goes to the cashiers cage to cash out his $700 INSTANT profit, and then he is off to make the EXACT same CALL BET at the next casino down the line.
Oh, in case you haven’t figured it out yet; if the dice roll resulted in a non-Inside Number outcome (especially a 7-Out), then Mr. New Player would have pulled out his OTHER much smaller pack of money containing exactly $22.00.
That’s a fairly strong argument for “No Call Bets“, but I’ll give you another.
In the case that you witnessed, the guy who called the $300 bet probably didn’t have the money out on the rail, either in chips or in cash.
If the money (in chips or cash) isn’t “out” in plain sight, then the bet is “unenforceable” by both the player and the casino. That means that the casino cannot legally collect on the wager if it loses, and the player can’t collect on that bet if it wins (if the casino decides to be a prick about it).
In most cases where the bet would have won, the aggrieved (winning) player puts up a huge and loud stink, so the casino pays him anyway; but they’ll certainly start enforcing the “No Call Bet” rule a little more stringently…and that player may find himself excluded or barred from the premises.
Let me ask you this:
What happens if the dealer books a players Call Bet of $1000 No-4. The player is rummaging through his pocket as a 4 rolls. The player says, “Oh, sorry I don’t have it on me”. The casino just “lost” $1050, so who should pay, and who is at fault? The player can argue that he thought he had the money, but since he didn’t, the bet couldn’t legally be booked, so therefore he shouldn’t have to pay.
If a 7 had rolled and the bet won, should the player be paid even though he can’t produce the $1050 that would enable the casino to legally convert cash to cheques (chips) and then set it up so that it could be paid? Is he entitled to the winnings on a bet that couldn’t be booked in the first place? That’s the basis behind “No Call Bets”.
Obviously, there is a lot of leeway that the casino will extend to its customers, especially ones who are known and highly-regarded (this is where toking comes into play). On the other hand, a “shot taker” like the guy that you mentioned, will usually be unceremoniously kicked out of the premises.
However, if a player has enough money in his rack to book a particular bet even if he can’t get it out on the felt-layout in time; then the casino will usually allow him to “Call” any bet up to the table-maximum, or at least to a maximum of what he appears to have available in his rack.
That type of “Call Bet” is permitted in most, if not all gaming jurisdictions in North America, Europe, Australia and the more sophisticated joints in South Africa. In that case, the bet was legally made because the dealer verbally confirmed the bet, and the player clearly has the necessary amount of money available in his rail to cover the wager. So the bet will be paid if it wins, and is also legally collectable by the casino if it loses (and yes, it can be FORCEABLY collected by security personnel if necessary).
In some casinos in the Mediterranean (especially Turkey, Greece, and Crete), the Middle East (especially Israel, Egypt and Lebanon), South America (especially in Argentina, Peru and Ecuador) and in North Africa (especially Tunisia, Algeria and much further south in Kenya) plus the resort-town casinos along the Adriatic coast; your bets have to be on the table and fully set-up in their proper place on the layout before the next roll, otherwise it’s a “no bet” situation.
As an added layer of game-protection, “late-betting” (making any bet after the dice are sent out from the center area of the table to the shooter) is not tolerated in most of the foreign places I just mentioned, and will often lead to having them tell you to leave the premises…immediately…with just one prior warning. It’s very telling, when a tourist throws in a late-bet at those casinos, the first thing the heavily-accented boxmen usually says is, “Your American aren’t you!”
| Q: | Shift Changes I read in your Creating More Shooting Opportunities article that we should look at dealer shift-changes as a way to find newly opened, but still empty tables. When do most casinos change shifts? |
| A: | Normally the shifts are: Ø 10 am until 6 pm (Day-shift or Days) Ø 6 pm until 2 am (Swing, Evening or Night-shift) Ø 2 am until 10 am (Graveyard or Sunrise) Ø Some casinos do it on an 11 am to 7 pm, 7 pm to 3am, and 3 am to 11 am basis. While still others prefer the 4:30 am ‘til 12:30 pm, 12:30 pm ‘til 8:30 pm, and 8:30 pm ‘til 4:30 am route. If you call ahead to the Dice Pit at your target casino, they’ll be able to tell you when their shift-change is, and what time you can expect to find newly opened additional tables. |
| Q: | Bet-Progressions During a Hot Hand I was reading one of your Discussion Forum posts about the dealer-turned-boxman, where he told you how to improve your profit by doing a strong Press-progression on your Place-bet 9. You said you won quite a bit more money using his approach than you would have made by betting with your normal way. Would you care to share his method and whether or not you continue to use it? |
| A: | Yeah, that was white-haired Rocky who was sitting box on that game when he used to work at the Frontier. I remember that event as though it happened yesterday. I’ll tell you why I remember it so well in a moment. |
Instead of the one-unit press on every other hit that I had been using up until then; Rocky told me to:
- Single press on the first hit;
- Then double press on the next hit,
- Then triple press on the next hit after that,
- Then quadruple press on the fourth hit,
- Then do at least a five-unit ($25 or $30) press on EVERY hit after that.
It was much more aggressive than I was used to at the time, but I’ve integrated it into my betting-regimen now if I get on a hot roll. In fact, you’ll find some additional details of how I currently Press and Plateau my bets in the entire eight-part How to Get THERE From HERE series of articles.
The reason I remember that event as though it happened yesterday, is because that was the basis for the realization that I had been passing up all kinds of profit during my medium to long-roll hands. From that point forward, I began to get more and more aggressive as my rolls got longer and longer.
In doing so, I’ve been able to extract so much more profit from the same number of comparable rolls, that I refuse to look back and consider just how much profit that I missed out on grabbing from my previous Precision-Shooting skill over the years. Instead, I’m satisfied that I’ve corrected my betting-methods so they more accurately reflect my current shooting skills.
And frankly, with the amount of profit that my craps play is generating right now, there’s no need to look back and wonder about what might have been.
| Q: | Getting Priority Service from Valet Parking When we go to Vegas, we always valet park our car. If we go to a show or a boxing match or something, we come out to a sea of people waiting for their car. We’ve waited up to 90 minutes with the other cattle in what has got to be the most aggravating wait. What can I do to get my car faster? I’ve been tempted to go and get the car myself, if I only knew where it was. |
| A: | Here is what you can do to avoid it: — When you drop your car off in the first place, simply give the valet car-hop $5 and ask that your car be put in the “No Wait” or “VIP” area. — If you have a gold or platinum or diamond Players Card from that particular casino or from it’s corporate-family, they’ll often do this as a matter of course, with or without the need to pre-tip. — By the same standard, if there is a sign that says “Valet Parking Full”, a $5 tip will usually make Valet Parking “un-full“…quickly. Or you could tell them you that are just running in to cash a sports-bet ticket, and they’ll likely accommodate you. — If you come out to a sea of people who are also retrieving their vehicle, and your car isn’t in the “No Wait” or “VIP” area; then you could wrap a $5-bill around your valet receipt when you are handing it in, and tell them that if there’s anyway they could help you out (speed wise), it would be appreciated. — My preferred method is to get to know the valet guys and girls on a first name basis, especially when you are handing them a tip. That way, they remember you (or your car, especially if it is an exotic, vintage or classic), but moreover, they’ll remember you because you are a frequent toker. Just like at the craps table, the frequent tipper is almost always given priority attention and premium service. — If you’ve read my seven-part Match-Play Coupon Circuit series, you’ll know that the valet-parking personnel have some unexpected connections that can come in handy for a variety of purposes. We’ll discuss that subject a little more in a moment. |
| Q: | Reaching Past the Stickmans area I often wondered how far into or past the center-of-the-table Prop-bet area you are allowed to reach for your throw from SL-1 or SR-1 to be considered illegal. I see this as an advantage in being able to release the dice as close to the far wall as possible. How far can this reach be “pushed” and how often? The reason I ask is because last week I had two different dealer-stickmen tell me I couldn’t throw across them during my toss. I had never heard this before and it rattled me. I 7’d-Out right after it happened. Do other players run across this often? I was the only player at the table toking the dealers. |
| A: | The reason you are not supposed to extend your hand into or over the Prop-box is because of Game Protection. — The stickman is supposed to be watching the dice, NOT where you are putting your hand when you throw the dice. The base-dealer on your end of the table is supposed to be watching that, along with his end of the table (not “hawking” the dice at the other end). If you are putting your shooting-hand in or near the stickman’s work area, then you could possibly: — Steal a few chips from the top of his “working stacks“. Those are the two or three piles of cheques that he uses to set up new bets and to collect and store losing wagers. — Steal chips from the Prop-area that have already been set up on the layout. As they throw and release the dice, some social miscreants will swipe a few chips off of the stickman’s Prop-bet layout at the same time as they withdraw their hand. — “Past-post” a bet in the Prop-box (AFTER you see the dice outcome), and thereby collect an illegal win. — Some stickman just feel the need to jealously guard and protect their “territory” from interlopers. You shouldn’t take it personally (I don’t), and if it throws you off your mental focus; then it’s probably a good idea to call your bets “Off”, and regroup your emotions. It’s part of the rules of the game, although it is haphazardly enforced. |
| Q: | Supreme Compliment MP, I mostly play in Tunica. A few players have taken to following me around from table to table and even casino to casino, so they can cash in on what hopefully turns out to be another good hand. A few of them even ask me when I’m coming back, or where and when I’ll be playing next. Have you ever had to deal with this sort of thing, and if so, how do you handle it? |
| A: | I first wrote about the “Pied-Piper phenomenon” in my The Pied Piper of the Pass-Line article. As I said then, and as I’ll tell you again now; when it happens, it really is a SUPREME compliment in regard to your Precision-Shooting abilities. On the other hand, when you have to deal with a bunch of players who are giddy at the prospect of yet another great hand courtesy of your good throwing; they naturally have a hard time hiding their enthusiasm, so it does not follow the conservative precepts of “flying under the radar” too well. |
The last thing on their mind is the idea of making money virtually undetected. For them, the thought process is a lot simpler. They have found a golden goose and they want to hear it quack loud and quack often, and they don’t care if all the quacking draws a lot of attention. They don’t care whether the golden goose gets killed AFTER a mega-roll, as long as it produces some golden eggs for them RIGHT NOW!
The whole pied-piper thing often gets infectious after awhile, and players who get charmed and mesmerized by your consistency, will even get on their cell-phones to call spouses, friends, associates and other loved ones, so they too can get in on the betting frenzy and unbridled excitement. Suddenly your craps table looks like the Frozen Pork Bellies trading pit at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange…only not quite as genteel and reserved as the Merc. Hands full of cash are being waived about in vain attempts to force open a space at the table; the cacophony of yelled bet-orders are only drowned out by the roar of the collective crowd when yet another heavily-pressed Place-bet or PL-Point is repeated…unbelievably…AGAIN!
Listen, I’m not complaining about people making money off of my rolls…far from it. However, these kind of hot-rolls draw an attention all on their own even when a random-roller is tossing the cubes, but if the same old face (yours or mine) is the one who constantly seems to be able to roll the mega-hands; then there’s an ever growing chance that they’ll somehow…oh, I don’t know…associate the disappearance of their money with our faces.
Don’t underestimate the collective intelligence of some casino management. Okay, well don’t underestimate it THAT much…because sooner or later even Homer Simpson could clue in to what is happening, and you might find yourself persona non grata (not welcome) at their house.
As ego-gratifying as a string of long, hot hands with a bunch of groupies and hangers-on watching your every move and wildly cheering your every roll is great for your self-esteem, you have to take a somewhat longer view beyond the rush you get from the momentary adulation. As intoxicating as it may be at the moment, and believe me, I know EXACTLY what it’s like; you also have to keep the best interests of the entire Precision-Shooting community and dicesetting fraternity in mind too.
What separates the “occasional good roll” player from the consistent, money-making professional Precision-Shooter is the ability to make it look SO EASY without making it look so OBVIOUS. I prefer to pass my mega-rolls off (to them) as just an incredibly good run of luck, and try not to make my entry or exit from the table look like the running of the bulls in Pamplona.
| Q: | Access to High-End/Premium Nightclubs How do you get into exclusive places, high-end nightclubs, limited-access clubs or (semi-)private parties that are booked way in advance or not open to the public? How do you dodge the lines at the premium ones? |
| A: | Ah, that’s an excellent question. Well I don’t want to give you ALL of my social-activity secrets, but I’ll share a few. Ø Some of the maitre d’s for a number of the top Las Vegas restaurants are able to make the appropriate arrangements at clubs, parties and exclusive events which are located in the same hotel. The better you know the maitre’ d (as either a frequent customer or a good tipper, or both), the better your chances are of him being able to do for you. Ø Likewise, your hotel-concierge is very astute at making such arrangements for an even wider variety of exclusive places…that’s what they do…that’s their job…and that is why they are paid (and TIPPED) so well. Money lubricates the social-machinery in any town, and it is even more so in Vegas. Ø Another thought regarding using hotel-concierges for your partying needs, is that the better hotels tend to have the best concierges with the best contacts; which means they are more likely to be able to satisfy your requirements for events outside of their “home” venue. Ø Your Casino-Host has the best line on most of the things that are happening in-house, so that is the first place I would start, but if you aren’t successful, it certainly isn’t the last place I’d stop. Do a lateral move to the Shift-Manager or the General Manager of the casino for your next step. The more highly they regard you as a player; the more likely they’ll be able to accommodate your request. Ø Sometimes a Pit Boss or Casino Shift-Manager can get you VIP’d (at no charge and no tip) to even the most elite clubs and exclusive events. This is an especially cheap and effective way to get into the private and semi-private parties for the entertainment (music and film) industry. Ø If you are willing to pay the “bottle charge” which consists of a few hundred dollars spent on booze for your group, then that sometimes puts you right into the VIP area of some clubs all on its own. You’ll find that especially true for clubs at Caesars, Bellagio, Venetian, Mandalay (excluding House of Blues-Foundation Room), Rio, and The Palms. Ø Casino hosts are an excellent source at one end of the food-chain while valet-parking guys and limo drivers are an excellent source from the other end. Your casino host is, or at least should be incredibly well-connected to the entire entertainment side of the casino equation just because that is part of their job-description; while the valet and limo guys are more into the trading of sold-out tickets and VIP passes purely for the “I’m a player” monetary/ego gain. Ø Security guys are another great source (especially the old line, high-ranking guys) because of their peer contacts with other similar-type short hair/big shoe guys all over town. For example, if you know the head of security at let’s say the HardRock Hotel-Casino, he’ll not only be able to set you up with a line-pass, or VIP access to the H/R’s own venues and parties; but he’ll usually be able to do the same thing for similar functions across town at equally exclusive events. The same thing goes (on a much smaller scale) for the club-doormen who are looking for ego-acknowledgement (and a little jui$e) in order to maintain their erection. Ø A number of clubs around town have what they call “Service Workers Night”, where casino-hotel employees from any resort, get in for free. You’ll often meet people there from a variety of other high-end venues, which comes in handy when you run into them again at their own joint. That’s all I’m prepared to say about that particular angle. Ø There are also a number of internet-sites that sell VIP and/or priority line-passes to some clubs, but I’m not entirely familiar with any of them, so I can’t make a specific recommendation. |
| Q: | Hey Mad Pro, I’m not convinced all of these great Precision-Shooting ideas, concepts, and inspired theories that you’ve come up with, aren’t actually the collective work of some kind of dicesetting group that hasn’t yet been revealed to the world. I don’t mean to take away from what you’ve written, but I just think that there has got to be a dozen or more guys who assemble all of this incredible stuff and post it under the same MP name and banner, because in my mind, no one person could possibly know as much as you do. |
| A: | I’ll let Georg Hegel respond to your comment. No, Mr. Hegel isn’t part of some secret, none more secret, oh so secret sect of dicesetting geniuses. Rather, he was a 17th century German philosopher, whose quote seems especially appropriate right now. “No man is a hero to his valet. This is not because the hero is not a hero, but simply because the valet is a valet.” |
Well folks, the mailbag is a little lighter now, so let’s return to the Practice Rig to reinforce our strong Precision-Shooting skills and re-fortify the fragile ones.
Until next time,
Good Luck & Good Skill at the Tables…and in Life.
The Mad Professor
