Moose: F(*#$ng Fitzgerald is barring everyone..

[Moose]

Ask me how I know

It's Mr. O'Lucky 's revenge.. I was up $200, decided to play just one more deck.. first round was literally 7 small cards, I'm at max bet $60 and lose lose lose lose lose until I'm down two bills and *THEN* I get the big speech.

Somewhere in the darkness, a fat Irishman is cackling..

In all fairness, they were very polite - the pitboss told me that "Upstairs called and they said I shouldn't play any more blackjack". For whatever reason, I asked the guy to "just tell me you aren't calling me a cheater" and he patted me on the back, said "Not in the least", and shook my hand.

Don't ask me why I needed to hear it, I guess I'm just weak. That's why I'm not a pro.

F'n O'Lucky strikes again. Of ALL the casinos it had to happen in. Damn fat Irish bastard.

M.

[Parker]

> Ask me how I know

> It's Mr. O'Lucky 's revenge.. I was up $200,
> decided to play just one more deck.. first
> round was literally 7 small cards, I'm at
> max bet $60 and lose lose lose lose lose
> until I'm down two bills and *THEN* I get
> the big speech.

> Somewhere in the darkness, a fat Irishman is
> cackling..

You never bet more than $60, you were down $200 and they backed you off?

And you were not counting out loud, or wearing a "Ken Uston Lives!" t-shirt?

Incredible. This place may give the Bar-U Coast a run for the title of "Sweatiest Pit in Vegas."

> In all fairness, they were very polite - the
> pitboss told me that "Upstairs called
> and they said I shouldn't play any more
> blackjack". For whatever reason, I
> asked the guy to "just tell me you
> aren't calling me a cheater" and he
> patted me on the back, said "Not in the
> least", and shook my hand.

> Don't ask me why I needed to hear it, I
> guess I'm just weak. That's why I'm not a
> pro.

> F'n O'Lucky strikes again. Of ALL the
> casinos it had to happen in. Damn fat Irish
> bastard.

I guess he's still there in spirit. :-)

Oh, well - there's always the Spaniard down the street. :-)

[Don Schlesinger]

Instead of playing in garbage heaps, why don't you play in a real casino, where $60 bets don't scare people?

Don

[John Maki]

> Instead of playing in garbage heaps, why
> don't you play in a real casino, where $60
> bets don't scare people?

> Don

I'm confused? In your opinion what are the casinos that are not scared of $60 bets with $5 min that are not garbage heaps? It seems to me all of
the downtown casinos with exceptions of ldgg,ldec,ldwe are all of the same class more or less.

[Parker]

> Instead of playing in garbage heaps, why
> don't you play in a real casino, where $60
> bets don't scare people?

While it is not in the same league as the Golden Nugget, neither are any of the other downtown casinos. Apart from the Nugget, it is actually one of the nicer downtown properties.

It even has an Elvis impersonator! :-)

New owner, Don Barden (Majestic Star), has been making changes, some actually for the good (DAS is now allowed on the double deck games).

After all, if a nickel bettor wants to play pitch games, he is not going to find a game at many of the major strip casinos.

I consider the game there one of the better options downtown, once one learns to work around the Harrah's-style cut. I have spread green there on numerous (and recent) occasions with no heat problems whatsosever.

The Irish joint is definitely not in the same class as the El Cortez, Gold Spike or the Western.

Which is why I find this report quite surprising (and with a Las Vegas trip looming in my near future, a little disturbing).

Moose, are you sure you weren't counting out loud? :-)

[Don Schlesinger]

> I'm confused? In your opinion what are the
> casinos that are not scared of $60 bets with
> $5 min that are not garbage heaps? It seems
> to me all of
> the downtown casinos with exceptions of
> ldgg,ldec,ldwe are all of the same class
> more or less.

Precisely! Did you have some compelling reason for wanting to play downtown?

Don

[98%]

> Instead of playing in garbage heaps, why
> don't you play in a real casino, where $60
> bets don't scare people?

Even the "classier" joints have gotten sweaty lately in Las Vegas. There seems to be a wave of extreme counter paranoia sweeping through town. Even some major Strip resorts have started to sweat action they normally never would have given a second glance even as recently as a year ago. Downtown, is of course, even worse as any kind of big action will get continuous, unrelenting scrutiny (though I don't know if $60 would qualify as big action everywhere). The level of sweating in general in LV seems to be way out of hand these days, especially compared to the small sweat factor in other areas, where they don't even seem to notice purple chips, as long as you don't rub it in their faces What's a counter to do? You know the answer to that: keep it short, don't go nuts with your aggression and spread, don't try to dig out if you're stuck and don't wear your "I'm a Card Counter" cap. Plan to play for about an hour, but, if you sense any trouble at all, just hit the door and go back later.

[Don Schlesinger]

> Even the "classier" joints have
> gotten sweaty lately in Las Vegas. There
> seems to be a wave of extreme counter
> paranoia sweeping through town. Even some
> major Strip resorts have started to sweat
> action they normally never would have given
> a second glance even as recently as a year
> ago. Downtown, is of course, even worse as
> any kind of big action will get continuous,
> unrelenting scrutiny (though I don't know if
> $60 would qualify as big action everywhere).
> The level of sweating in general in LV seems
> to be way out of hand these days, especially
> compared to the small sweat factor in other
> areas, where they don't even seem to notice
> purple chips, as long as you don't rub it in
> their faces What's a counter to do? You know
> the answer to that: keep it short, don't go
> nuts with your aggression and spread, don't
> try to dig out if you're stuck and don't
> wear your "I'm a Card Counter"
> cap. Plan to play for about an hour, but, if
> you sense any trouble at all, just hit the
> door and go back later.

See, here's what's too bad. That's the way I've been playing BJ for 27 years! Maybe if some of the hogs had been playing differently all these years, we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place, don't you think?

Don

[Barker]

> While it is not in the same league as the
> Golden Nugget, neither are any of the other
> downtown casinos. Apart from the Nugget, it
> is actually one of the nicer downtown
> properties.

> It even has an Elvis impersonator! :-)

> New owner, Don Barden (Majestic Star), has
> been making changes, some actually for the
> good (DAS is now allowed on the double deck
> games).

> After all, if a nickel bettor wants to play
> pitch games, he is not going to find a game
> at many of the major strip casinos.

> I consider the game there one of the better
> options downtown, once one learns to work
> around the Harrah's-style cut. I have spread
> green there on numerous (and recent)
> occasions with no heat problems whatsosever.

> The Irish joint is definitely not in the
> same class as the El Cortez, Gold Spike or
> the Western.

> Which is why I find this report quite
> surprising (and with a Las Vegas trip
> looming in my near future, a little
> disturbing).

> Moose, are you sure you weren't counting out
> loud? :-)

I used their valet parking and walked thru played
$25 DD 1/2 off top spread to 2 x 4. First shuffle she burnt 25 approx cards. Cow.

[MathProf]

I played the Fitz once, when I was foolishly trying to play downtown. I had spread 50-300 at a DD game, and they had bosses standing there sweating the whole time.

I am disappointed to hear that this stuff is continuing under Mr. Barden. We have been hoping he would open a casino here in Detroit.

Question Moose: What was your minimum bet? Were you spreading 5-60? Or 10-60? A 12-1 spread is kind of obvious in single deck.

You know it is really pretty easy to see if someone is counting down a single deck. Most bosses and surveillance people can count 10 or 20 cards.

> Ask me how I know

> It's Mr. O'Lucky 's revenge.. I was up $200,
> decided to play just one more deck.. first
> round was literally 7 small cards, I'm at
> max bet $60 and lose lose lose lose lose
> until I'm down two bills and *THEN* I get
> the big speech.

> Somewhere in the darkness, a fat Irishman is
> cackling..

> In all fairness, they were very polite - the
> pitboss told me that "Upstairs called
> and they said I shouldn't play any more
> blackjack". For whatever reason, I
> asked the guy to "just tell me you
> aren't calling me a cheater" and he
> patted me on the back, said "Not in the
> least", and shook my hand.

> Don't ask me why I needed to hear it, I
> guess I'm just weak. That's why I'm not a
> pro.

> F'n O'Lucky strikes again. Of ALL the
> casinos it had to happen in. Damn fat Irish
> bastard.

> M.

[Zee Man]

For someone who wanted $5 minimum tables, single or DD games and could visit Las Vegas only on weekends, the ONLY place you could get the games was in downtown or off strip casinos.

Has this changed? Are there good casoinos elswehere where one could play $5 minimum single/double deck games?

If you are limited to a $1500 Bank Roll, what other options are there?

[Parker]

> For someone who wanted $5 minimum tables,
> single or DD games and could visit Las Vegas
> only on weekends, the ONLY place you could
> get the games was in downtown or off strip
> casinos.

> Has this changed? Are there good casoinos
> elswehere where one could play $5 minimum
> single/double deck games?

> If you are limited to a $1500 Bank Roll,
> what other options are there?

Downtown is still the place for those on a limited bankroll. You can still find $5 single deck at the Las Vegas Club, Horseshoe (if they don't close the place), Four Queens, and Golden Gate. You can find tables below $5 at the El Cortez (if you don't mind a little sleaze) and at the Gold Spike and Western (if you don't mind a lot of sleaze).

You can always find $5 double deck games at the off-strip casinos that cater to locals: Stations, Fiestas, AZ Charlies, etc.

You can also find $5 single deck at the Fiesta (Rancho) and the Silverton.

On the strip, low roller options are limited and found mostly at the north end. Stardust, Riviera, Casino Royale, Slots-a-Fun, Circus-Circus and the Stratosphere are usually worth a look.

On weekends, the best time to play is in the morning.

[Vinegarjoe]

> Ask me how I know

> It's Mr. O'Lucky 's revenge.. I was up $200,
> decided to play just one more deck.. first
> round was literally 7 small cards, I'm at
> max bet $60 and lose lose lose lose lose
> until I'm down two bills and *THEN* I get
> the big speech.

> Somewhere in the darkness, a fat Irishman is
> cackling..

> In all fairness, they were very polite - the
> pitboss told me that "Upstairs called
> and they said I shouldn't play any more
> blackjack". For whatever reason, I
> asked the guy to "just tell me you
> aren't calling me a cheater" and he
> patted me on the back, said "Not in the
> least", and shook my hand.

> Don't ask me why I needed to hear it, I
> guess I'm just weak. That's why I'm not a
> pro.

> F'n O'Lucky strikes again. Of ALL the
> casinos it had to happen in. Damn fat Irish
> bastard.

> M.

I hear you Moose !

Although I was not given the "speech" I believe I was given the "pre-speech" on a recent visit to this property.

Playing dd and using a 1-6 spread, I slowly but surely was able to make a decent profit. The table had 4 players on it, and from my vantage point it appeared that the other 3 were simply die-hard Basic Strategy players.

We all continued to play and I was at a point where it called for my max bet to be put out, and low and behold I was dealt a double opportunity which I took full advantage of and made it.

As I am being paid and yucking it up with the other players at the table ( the old "WOW" look how "LUCKY" I got routine) the critter leans into my ear (I was sitting 3rd base) and says to me in a low voice, "Be humble now, be humble"...

Rather than wait for what I thought would be the "speech" I decided to ask for a dinner comp and just flat betted another couple of decks till the critter brought me the comp.

Not being one to miss an opportunity, while coloring up my profit ( $600.00) I looked at him and said, "I am a humble man" and the critter just smiled, chuckled and said, "Wise choice"...

After reading your post Moose, it makes me wonder if perhaps some of the critters are sweatier than others, and maybe, just maybe, it isn't the "house" policy to be so sweaty ??

I have read lots of negative posts regarding this property, but for a recreational red chipper like myself I enjoyed playing there, as I find the dealers ( for the most part) friendly and I highly recommend ordering an "Absolute and Cranberry" as although they may sweat the table, the bartenders are pretty LOOSE with the pour.