> Thanks for the information. I agree that Vegas is a
> better venue to play BJ, no doubt. But Laughlin is
> where I am headed, so I thought I would bone up on the
> rules so I can formulate my basic strategy and
> indices.

> The GN Laughlin seemed very tolerant during my last
> trip there (in 2004) and so did Harrah's. Both
> tolerated green action without any problems. I hope
> that hasn't changed, but from some of the reports
> coming in, it may have. Since there seems to be a
> dearth of absolute information about Laughlin here,
> perhaps I need to take it upon myself to catalogue
> what is going down here and report back to the troops
> the situation we are facing. If I can manage to
> remember the info by the time I get back to my room, I
> will write it down and report back. Although, I'm
> lucky to remember how much money is in my pocket or
> what my room number is, so remembering the situations
> could be challenging to me.

> Thanks again. Any other input will be helpful, so
> don't close down the thread just because I replied
> back. If you have info to share, then please do. I was
> looking forward to Laughlin Marauder's report since he
> seems to be based there. This is the only place I
> absolutley without a doubt ran into another counter,
> so I'm wondering if I will again.

SOrry for the very late reply. Although the moniker says Laughlin I am now back in So Cal. I have made a few visits to Laughlin in the last 8 months and things seem to have gotten pretty bad. Riverside's SD is now unplayable before 1 AM as there are too many players and therefore not enough rounds. The Gold Nugget is under new onwership and management and as has been reported is a good game that is unplayable if they even think you have a clue.

River Palms, Edgewater, Ramada Express and Avi are hit and miss - but the rules in all of Laughlin are TERRIBLE.. to win you must have a good act, and spread LARGE. By Large I mean 1 - 10 or better on DD and the 6 decks are only playable if you are backcounting a shoe that was cut really deep. To win in Laughlin you pretty much have to live there.... You have to know which dealers cut deep, or will shuffle deeper in to Pitch games. And which dealers will call out checks play, and which ones wont, which ones will hustle you for tokes etc.... Laughlin is a tough town for the short stay counter to win at. Vegas is still the better option and only 90 minutes away. Also Laughlin is the poor mans version of Reno - Expect to get the entire floor on you if you are play green as more than likely you will be one of a very very few in the casino that are playing that color.

Here is a quick hint at how to beat Riversides 3X previous bet and shuffle rule:

1st make sure its late at night on a weeknight (by late I mean midnight at the earliest).
2nd play red
3rd look for a dealer who seems to be consistently dealing deep as in 40+ every time.
4th find a table that is either empty or no more than 1 player.
5th engage the dealer in small talk.... talk about bullhead, as that is where most of them live.
6th The initial deal on a newly shuffled deck. bet 3 times your normal bet at counts of 0.... if the count goes down you can lower your bet as normal... however if say the count gets good you can go up to 2.5 times your previous bet without the automatic shuffle. and if the count stays up repeat... essentially this system "can" get you to a 1-12 spread on a single deck game that you cased the dealer on and could very easily get in hundreds of hands per hour for a couple hours. even with lousy rules on SD a spread that large can produce very nice results if you chose a dealer foolish enough to deal 80+% of the deck to you (they are there). Be advised that with this type of spread and betting scheme Variance will be high (which is good in my oppinion). The good thing about this system is that the pit at the riverside is so dumb they will think you are just another one of the degenerates from Bullhead playing a strange hunch/progression system.

I have forgotten the SCORE for playing the Riverside SD this way but I know it was around 250+ But again it took me a month of looking/tickling around the casinos to find out which dealers did what and how. Again though.... most travelling players dont have the time nor inclanation to do this much intelligence work beforehand.