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Thread: Shills

  1. #1


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    Shills

    Quite often after I sit down at an empty table or with one or two players other people pop out of nowhere and join in the game. I am sure you are all familiar with these people, I think they are called shills. I assume they work in the casino and are easily dispatched to a table to slow down an APs play. Unless you can hide your play really well and are not known to the bosses you will find these people everywhere you go. Do they make a shill repellent product of some type?

  2. #2


    3 out of 4 members found this post helpful. Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    No, but they make paranoid spray. Ask your doctor.

  3. #3


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    Hi, CYU

    With respect to empty tables, this happens to me all the time and I always assumed it was just that many gamblers are highly social people and don't like to play alone at a table. As soon as you sit down, that's a cue to them to join the game. If you look around, you'll see them loitering in the table games areas, probably looking for a game to join. I seriously doubt the Man would bother using shills to stop APs since there are much easier and cheaper ways to do it.

    The only thing I know to do is to play at the highest limit table you can find because this is slightly less of a problem at the higher limits, in my experience.

    Best,
    SiMi

  4. #4


    1 out of 1 members found this post helpful. Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    Is the OP a BJGenius alt?

  5. #5


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    Spiced chilli, beer with deviled eggs - consumed approximately 1 hour prior to commencement of play. Do not mix the aforementioned with dates or prunes. Don’t hold back.

    You will create an aura about you, which will advertise the fact that you want to play alone.

  6. #6


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    Quote Originally Posted by 21forme View Post
    Is the OP a BJGenius alt?
    Don’t think so. The word “beast” was not mentioned.

  7. #7


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    Quote Originally Posted by Freightman View Post
    Spiced chilli, beer with deviled eggs - consumed approximately 1 hour prior to commencement of play. Do not mix the aforementioned with dates or prunes. Don’t hold back.

    You will create an aura about you, which will advertise the fact that you want to play alone.
    Eat enough of that lunch and you will not only be able to get your own table but the entire pit as well.

  8. #8


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    Quote Originally Posted by BoSox View Post
    Eat enough of that lunch and you will not only be able to get your own table but the entire pit as well.
    Solid AP play requires advanced tactics.

  9. #9


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    Quote Originally Posted by Freightman View Post
    Solid AP play requires advanced tactics.
    Now I know why they use the term relief dealers, once they get the relief they punch out for the day.

  10. #10


    2 out of 2 members found this post helpful. Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    Does it matter? Is the count high enough to run them off? On 6D, I'd prefer another player to move the count faster, and if the count is tanking you can take this as an opportunity to leave.

    I'm a little more refined than Freightman, but here's some less offensive ways to ensure a less crowded table.

    1. Use your body, or better yet have your SO sit in an empty chair. Choose the seat NEXT TO third base, but scoot over far enough to make sitting there uncomfortable for anyone else. If you have a bag, put it in the chair. Prop your leg on an adjoining chair. In other words, make the seating uninviting.

    2. Spill a drink. Apologize and toke. That spot is dead until it dries.

    3. Play two hands to start. In ploppy logic, this means that other spot is permanently yours, even if you only play it every fifth hand.

    4. Split tens.

    5. Irritate the table, but not the dealer. Place a tip in front of everyone's circle, except for one person. Jump in and out, taking phone calls. Be careful though, the more obnoxious you are the more you have to toke. Don't piss off the beloved local whale. Talk politics.

    Or better yet, scout the casino to learn the least crowded times and play then. White rabbit and wong, or add a hand when the count goes up. Poppies are a necessary utility, and sometimes the best course of action is to just play your game and not worry about them.

  11. #11


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    Casinos prefer to pack 'em in at full tables. It amazes me how bad business it is for the house to not have every available table game open.
    They used to employ shills to drive up action, but in order to cut labor costs they now shut down entire sections.

    It's a psychological / social thing where folks don't want to open a new table, but people who otherwise would walk by & not sit down will do so when seeing someone playing. Similar to how they put high limit slots / table games in cut out alcoves & low traffic out-of-the-way areas. Gamblers prefer to sit in dimly lit sections with a feeling of privacy among a few other persons playing a fast-paced game.

  12. #12


    1 out of 2 members found this post helpful. Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    Just got back from Vegas, and I was astounded by how many open high minimum tables sat empty while people waited behind packed tables. Many properties had 10/15 or 100, nothing in the middle. So we'd ask for a $25 table.

    Evil Empire: every single time was a no. They'd rather have an empty table. R was especially stupid...literally 6 empty $100 tables and 2 packed $15 tables on the floor.

    ML: mixed. Twice yes, once no. They'd rather have a table generating revenue than an empty table.

    Freemont: one place dropped the 100 to 25 for us.

    It seems some operators realize they are running a business, while others do not.

  13. #13


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    Problem with asking for a lower limit is, being you know it, you're raising your bet to above what was the minimum, and that raises eyebrows.

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