Multiple questions for zg(or anyone who knows)

[shadroch]

Does that work much in casino play? I've never done it myself, but have seen others at the table put bigger denomitations on top...and the dealer rearranges it before the deal. Does it work in hurried situations or with weak dealers?

Just curious.

good luck

Up until a few years ago,the $25 chips at El Cortez strongly resembled a much higher chip at MGM. For some reason,Cortez used a brown chip pattern instead of the usual green.Savy hustlers would sandwich an El Cortez chip into a stack of regular MGM chips. If you won,you got paid on the higher value. If you lost,you walked away quickly.

Dealers are taught to be sure the highest chip is on the bottom. That makes it harder to slide a hi value chip on or off your bet after seeing the cards.

 

[bj bob]

Good point. And this raises another question. Does ratholing get noticed via eye in the sky? If so, doesn't it just make me look more suspicious? And is that the kind of activity that generates a SAR?

The protocol I like to follow is :
First, asumming that a good counter figures to net ~2 units/ hr, is to rathole that amount/ hr. therefore one unit every 30 mins. This should be easy for most people to do.

Second, the trick I like to use, since I smoke, is to reach in my shirt pocket for a cig while holding 2 chips, then letting one slide down the pocket as I'm pulling the pack out along with the other chip, making visual detection almost impossible. If you don't smoke, no worry, you can also use the same ploy with a pack of cough drops or mints. As mentioned above, having a purse makes such gimicks even easier.

 

[Mimosine]

go to the toilet and in the toilet transfer some of them to another pocket where they will stay until I leave the casino. When I go back to the table, I pull the chips back out of the original pocket and unless you were specifically watching for it, you won't realize there are less than I put in, or at the very least you won't be sure.

i have to start rat-holing at one casino that i play at because the pit doesn't have much to do while working so they keep really good records. i'm a big fan of the bathroom method. i usually look suspiciously at my table mates as i sweep up my chips and ask the dealer to hold my spot. as i return a green is usually missing in my pocket.

another good time to do this i've noticed is when dealers are switched, there is a pause in the action where if you were playing with a few chips in your hand you could slip them out of sight with ease. as the pit, if they are watching are distracted too.

then again, one casino where i play there are a bunch of wanna be gangstas who keep all their chips in their pockets. no joke. not one chip on the table. maybe you could sport a do-rag and some fronts and start getting away with "rat-holing" murder!

 

[EasyRhino]

The protocol I like to follow is :
First, asumming that a good counter figures to net ~2 units/ hr, is to rathole that amount/ hr.

I'll confess that I have a ratholing addiction, but if you're winning 2 units per hour you might want to rathole 3 or 4 units per hour. Only 2 would make you look like a long-term break even player. And that's still pretty damn suspicious.

i i usually look suspiciously at my table mates as i sweep up my chips and ask the dealer to hold my spot.

Given where you play, I don't think that's a stretch!

 

[21forme]

A good time to rathole chips is when you're losing. It would be unexpected, and then they'll see you buying in for more chips, too.

 

[zengrifter]

One problem with ratholing is that the chips are still disappearing from the tray and the PB is supposed to know what's in the tray.

Just a few per hour - 5u is plenty - won't be noticed and ameliorates the statistical win. zg

 

[zengrifter]

I'll confess that I have a ratholing addiction, but if you're winning 2 units per hour you might want to rathole 3 or 4 units per hour. Only 2 would make you look like a long-term break even player. And that's still pretty damn suspicious.

I set some new guiness records at ratholing where Edgecapper used to work - 30-50u in a session while they're marking me for a loss and scratching their heads.

One time at at Sam's Town the shift changed and the incomming SM shows up at my table and is giving the PB grief about the count, and I said "Don't look at me, I ain't got'em!" And they said, Oh, we LNOW you didn't get them!" And they meant it! I had 100 greens in my pocket!

Thats ADDICTED TO RATHOLING! zg

 

[Knox]

Ratholing should be more effective with additional players at the table. I prefer head up play, but a few random ploppies drifting in and out is a great way to cloud the issue of who is swiping the chips.

Magnify your losses and reduce your apparent winnings, that's the ticket.

:grin:

 

[EasyRhino]

I had 100 greens in my pocket!

Teach me Obi-Wan.

My personal best is only about 15 greens after a couple hours. That's when I realized I had a problem.

 

[Mimosine]

That's when I realized I had a problem.

is that when you made the call to 1-800-gambler?

 

[EasyRhino]

is that when you made the call to 1-800-gambler?

1-800-toodamnmanyratholedchips

I think the brochure was titles "when you can't pocket any more..."

 

[biggamejames]

I set some new guiness records at ratholing where Edgecapper used to work - 30-50u in a session while they're marking me for a loss and scratching their heads.

One time at at Sam's Town the shift changed and the incomming SM shows up at my table and is giving the PB grief about the count, and I said "Don't look at me, I ain't got'em!" And they said, Oh, we LNOW you didn't get them!" And they meant it! I had 100 greens in my pocket!

Thats ADDICTED TO RATHOLING! zg

But wouldn't ratholing at that rate throw up red flags on your table. The new shift managers would be alerted to a table missing 2500 in chips!

Some one is getting written up and some one is gonna spend time in the film room trying to find out if it wasnt the dealer attempting to sneak off chips here and there..

And then they will probably zero in on you and figure out that you are a deadly player who knows what they are doing to a T. (I dont think they will let you play again after catching you ratholing that many chips and fooling them into thinking you are losing.


(On that note, i was at a casino one time, coming back from the bathroom actually caught the PB asking another player who was sitting opposite me how much i bought in with and if i came in with chips.:grin: They had changed dealers and the new dealer had no clue what i came in with...I thought that was weird Wasnt ratholing chips..(never done that before)..... Although i think the confusion might have come from me buying in using chips from the casino next door. Some casinos in Tunica will accept their competitors chips.

 

[biggamejames]

Do las vegas casinos accept competitors chips?

Especially the MGM and harrah's family of casinos. Do they take each others chips? (never seen it before but i am curious if they do. )

That could greatly help in hiding your profits from the big casinos with multiple properties.

 

[zengrifter]

But wouldn't ratholing at that rate throw up red flags on your table.

Yes, not recommended. Recommended 5u per hour.
BUT, if YOU did it there would be no red flags! zg

 

[EasyRhino]

Do las vegas casinos accept competitors chips?

Sometimes.

My last trip to Vegas, on my last day, on my second to last casino, I found myself with a $100 Monte Carlo chip stuck in my pocket, but I was at Circus Circus or some godforsaken place. A couple of joints wouldn't take the chip, so I ended up needed to navigate traffic back to Monte Carlo just because I didn't want a hundred dollar clay souveneir of my trip.

 

[Knox]

Teach me Obi-Wan.

My personal best is only about 15 greens after a couple hours. That's when I realized I had a problem.

I pocketed about $300 in greens in a relatively short time. I like to do it while going to the bathroom. Wear cargo pants or shorts, lots of pockets is ideal.