Buick Riviera: In the Saddle Again

[Victoria]

> Thanks for the update. This Flamingo thing
> is scary stuff. I thought playing BJ with
> computers was illegal in Las Vegas. Must
> only apply to one side of the table.

> Buick

There is a law suite pending on Mindplay but since the casinos pay the bills in Nevada, I would think the law suite would fail. I have read reports of early shuffle at the El Dorado in Reno, which is the original casino home for Mindplay. It was at the Vegas Hilton, but I heard of no times where they broke a shoe, though they did identify counters. The good news about this device is that it is expensive, it would kill off some pit jobs (this is good news because the pit hates it and it was rumored that they sabotoged it at times) and it in fact cost the Hilton the majority of their bigger non counting players. Call if superstition or call it anything you want, but big players do not want to play at tables with things like Mindplay or CSM's. To date, according to a host I know there, they have not been able to get these people back.
The thing is marketed (a cute term for lying) to the public as a device which will accurately measure your play so you get the correct amount of comps. Accurate is not what most larger players want, they already think they are getting more.

Victoria

[bfbagain]

is slowly......v..e..r..y slooowly getting some big players back. Unfortunately, whoever is minding the store (and to their credit the mindplay tables have moved on -- they're now located at the Flamingo) is still a little braindead as the HL room, is non-staffed most of the time.

Evidently, they never saw the movie "Field of Dreams", you know, the "if you build it, they will come" motto, where the people came after it was built. If they staffed it, people will play. Duh.

All that said, life -- as we know it -- is returning to the Hilton. Hopefully, they'll figure out that being penny wise, is, very much, pound foolish.

cheers
bfb

[Buick Riviera]

Hard 8! I feel like I?m at a class reunion. Great to hear from you and flattered that someone not only read but remembered a post of mine. You reminding me of that trek sure brings back fond (and sometimes profitable) memories.

I confess to sticking my head in the Gold Spike on one occasion and I would have at least played a round or two to say I did it but the Princess claimed to be ready to pass out from the stench so I had to leave. I?ve never been in the Western and don?t expect I?ll ever muster the courage to do so.

On the Strip portion, the CR was usually pretty good and in fact my recollection of my last trip was that their game was downright desirable. And you may remember the IP offered a good DD game at one time with an easy comp to the buffet even for us red chippers. Heck, I even argued in one post that the IP?s buffet wasn?t that bad based on the theory that free slop was better than actual food that you had to pay for.

Thanks for the south strip tip. I?ll check it out. In the meantime, could someone get me up to speed on the Desert Inn property?

Buick

[Bettie]

> Thanks for the south strip tip. I?ll check
> it out. In the meantime, could someone get
> me up to speed on the Desert Inn property?

I'm almost sure that you're joking on this one. DI has been closed since 2001, mostly imploded in October 2001 and the remaining imploded just a couple months ago. Wynn Las Vegas is supposed to open in April of this year.

Bettie

[Buick Riviera]

Thanks Bettie. I knew about the Wynn purchase and the imploding but honestly know nothing about "Wynn Las Vegas" (which I presume is another casino/hotel). I Googled "Desser Inn" and found a story that claimed a new facility was scheduled for Fall, 2004 and thought maybe something was already up.

I'll Google Wynn Las Vegas and get myself up to speed. My trip is scheduled for mid-April, maybe it will be open by then.

Thanks for the info!

Buick

[bfbagain]

[Buick Riviera]