The Western has an official "we cheat" policy

[The Mayor]

Playing at the Western - a bunch of small cards came out the first two rounds, the dealer shuffled. Why are you shuffling, I ask the Asian dealer. "Our policy to shuffle when small cards come out, please ask boss." It's your policy! You mean, when the player has the edge, whether advantage player or ploppy, it is your intention to cease dealing? "Please ask boss, I don't know why, policy."

Next deck a bunch of high cards come out. Why aren't you shuffling? "Our policy, deal many hands if high cards come out, please ask boss." You mean, if the house has a large edge, then you keep dealing? That's out and out cheating! You don't want to deal when the player has a chance, and you keep dealing when the game is in your favor. I can't believe that cheating is an official policy here. "Please ask boss, I don't know, I just do it."

--Mayor

 

[Running Count]

Sounds like a legitimate complaint with the Gaming Commission

 

[Syph]

LOL!

But on the good note, if it's the Western I know and love...it's still a positive EV game.



Cheers!
Syph

(PS Eliot, how are things? I'm still in the game (life can be odd) but all is well. Once I breakthrough, I hope to do a bit of a goodwill tour. I look forward to seeing you again.)

 

[phantom007]

MAYOR, please don't shoot the messenger. Try a few "loaded" tips, and see how the shuffle shuffles. Should only decrease EV by 25-50% or so.

Besides, at the Western, what are we talking, a $4:$2 spread? I suspect that you, Mayor, were playing RED, a DEAD give-away to a CC!

And, I hope, before your presence there, you got your Tetanus shot, your AIDS shot, your Hepatitis ABC shots, Smallpox, Monkeypox, etc.

And, finally, please tell me which toilet seat you sat upon, i.e., first to the left, second to the left, etc., so that I may know where it is safe to SH++it when I go there in the fall.

I must presume that the little pustule that just "popped up" in your groin is more than just a "zit".

YOU LOOKED, did you not?

phantom007

 

[The Mayor]

>Besides, at the Western, what are we talking, a $4:$2 spread? I suspect that you, Mayor, were playing RED, a DEAD give-away to a CC!

I was not playing... I was watching a friend play. I was commenting while he played. He only played two decks worth before we left, I don't think he spread at all.

>And, I hope, before your presence there, you got your Tetanus shot, your AIDS shot, your Hepatitis ABC shots, Smallpox, Monkeypox, etc.

We were offered drugs 3 times on the walk over (9 am) and we saw three separate busts -- you know, guys with no shirts being pounded face first with handcuffs on to the top of a police car. I asked. The officer said "oh he stabbed the other guy, but he won't press charges -- says he doesn't know the guy."

>And, finally, please tell me which toilet seat you sat upon, i.e., first to the left, second to the left, etc., so that I may know where it is safe to SH++it when I go there in the fall.

I actually heard an advertisement on the radio for the W on the radio coming home. Maybe that's what doomed my car!

--Mayor

 

[Sonny]

Re: Meanie Dealers

>MAYOR, please don't shoot the messenger. Try a few "loaded" tips, and see how
>the shuffle shuffles.

Unless you mean "loaded" as in dynamite, I wouldn't even bother. If a dealer is going to be that uptight, just look for another table. Why waste any money on a weak game with a "shifty" dealer? Just walk a few tables down and check out the other dealers before you sit down. You're not going to get great pen at the Western, but sometimes playing multiple hands can increase it enough.

Since the Mayor was coaching a friend, it would look very awkward to tell them to get up and circle the pit for a while. Luckily he had the good sense to just leave.

"You gotta know when to walk away, and know when to run."

>Besides, at the Western, what are we talking, a $4:$2 spread?

Just because your minimum bet is $2 doesn't mean your max bet can't be $30-$40. The low minimums are a GREAT place for young counters to get experience or red-chippers to increase their spread by dropping their minimum bets. With $1 minimums, who needs to Wong?

-Sonny-

 

[Coug Fan]

Western Max bet?

You mention that your max bet could be $30 or more? Either you have a really good act, or I have a really bad one for that place, but I would doubt that you could bet $30 with any kind of a spread and get away with it. I've only played there twice, but red chips seem to get the pit running over to your table. A $30 bet there gets the same amount of attention that a $500 bet gets at the Horseshoe.

I am surprised that they have their dealers watching for small cards. The dealers there are all break-ins who are real nervous about making any mistakes. Seems to me that if they are distracted by trying to watch for high or low cards, then they may be susceptible to more mistakes, especially if a player rushes them a bit, and bets odd amounts, etc.

 

[Sonny]

Re: Western Max bet?

>You mention that your max bet could be $30 or more? Either you have a really
>good act, or I have a really bad one for that place, but I would doubt that
>you could bet $30 with any kind of a spread and get away with it.

No cover plays at all! I don't have an "act" per se, but I think that my naturally sloppy appearance and demeanor have a way or reducing heat. About the only thing I do for my "act" is to ask a LOT of stupid questions when I play. Things like asking "Why do you burn a card after the shuffle?" or "What's that?" when they ask if you want insurance can go a LONG way. Coupled with some of the wierd BS deviations you get to make in SD games I come out looking pretty clean. Also, several things were working in my favor that particular day.

Like I said in my trip report, I had a great dealer. For some reason, she would always scream out "Green Action!" or "Checks!" when I played a green chip by itself, but she would save her breath if I added a red chip on top of it. I guess she figured that she wouldn't call it out if she didn't have to. This is how I got away with my $30 bets, although I later switched to 2x$20.

Another helpful factor was that this was on Christmas day. The regular day shift PB (a keen-eyed asian woman) must have had the day off because there were two kids that looked about 14 years old supervising. They glanced at me a few times from the other end of the pit, but they had no idea what I was doing, only that I was making big bets.

Then when I went to cash in my many green chips, the cage worker was already on the phone with his wife so he didn't call my winnings into the pit as is the house policy. I made a clean escape. It was the best Christmas present ever!

-Sonny-

 

[Sonny]

Re: Another time...

...on that same trip I went in there to check out their early morning action. I was circling the pit checking all of the dealers' penetration levels when I stopped dead in my tracks as a $2 table. There was a guy, all by himself, betting 3x$25 on almost every round! He would switch to 2x$50 or 1x$100 occasionally (I think he was trying the "Grifter's Gambit"). The PB was standing right behind the dealer watching his every move, but nobody ever said anything to him. This gave me another chance to play without any heat. Unfortunately I didn't leave with as many chips that time.

As an AP, sometimes you have to just be in the right place at the right time, and be ready to jump on any opportunity you can find. If you play like I do, then sometimes you need all the free camo you can get!

-Sonny-