Ed Tice: Trip Report: Latvia (Riga) (continued)

[Ed Tice]

I arrived by train at 6:30 in the morning. I was pretty much in a daze. I had lots of trouble getting settled. I couldn't find a complete list of casinos at first (I finally did), so I used the shoe leather technique to get started.

First went to the Aladins in the Hotel Latvija. This is the worst game in town and I was feeling pretty sad after inquiring the rules. Next I went to the Tower. Better rules bot not impressive. Asked at the reception where they might recommend, since I wasn't going to play their lousy rules. Got referred to the Klondaika.

I was now very cold (-10 in Riga) and nobody could speak English at this place. The rules were bad (see previous post), but I had nothing else to do, could play heads up, and didn't care if I got backed off, so I decided to blast away and see how long I could last at 20:1 spread. Unfortunately since I was the first to play I couldn't see the penetration until I bought chips. 2.5 decks out of 6 cut off! I thought of screaming and running out, but decided it was better just to play a few hands and leave. Got an 8,8 vs 10 at a slightly positive RC. Stood and lost. Complained about no surrender and left.

Found the Vegas casino next. 1 Lat minimum, 2 boxes. ES10. Played not so aggressively (6:1 spread) with lots of indices. I was the ONLY person in the place. Not even some loses playing roulette (which is the most popular game in Latvia, except maybe poker games) Dropped 30 units. Was done for the night.

Next day had a meeting near the Play & Boy casino. I thought I'd check it out before the meeting and come back and play if it was alright. I ended up arriving early. Rules were bad, but it was completely empty. Again, NOBODY in the place. The pit bosses were playing roulette with house money just so the dealers could have some practice. Since i had a half hour and since it was heads up 1 box only, I decided that it was time to do some 1:20 blasting. What do I see but again 2.5 decks cut off. Count gets high though so I put out some big bets and lose 30 units. Leave for the day. Go to my meeting. Not feeling very inspiretd to play, since all I am doing is walking around in the cold and finding bad games/bad penetration.

Next day back to the Vegas casino. Still 100% empty. I say that I dont want to play alone that its uncomfortable. Ask for recommendations. Sent to Libirints, owned by the same company. Don't find it. But spend hours walking in the cold. Go home discouraged.

The next day I finally obtain a complete list of casinos. Its my last day in Riga and so I decide thtat I'll spend the night blasting away until I get backed off, since I dont plan to come back for a while.

Return to the Vegas casino. Again completely empty inside. Crazy. What kind of a business? I figure its got to be bad to play since security has *nothing* to do. They'll do a skils analysis on me just to keep themselves awake.

Get no more than 5 units on the table since the count never got so high. Get dealt A,8 vs 6 with 5 units on the table. Ask the dealer what you're supposed to do with it. Still haven't decided whether I should double it or not. Dealer says she doesn't know. I ask the dealer at the next table. "Hey its your money." Okay, so I double. Huge commotion in the pit after that. 5 minutes later the pit boss comes over and tells me that its seven o'clock and the minimum is now 2 Lats/box. So I say that I'll go home. I have 15 units back.

Next to Club 777 or Casino Voodoo as its listed in the visitors guide. Shady place. Again nobody playing blackjack. Just a few roulette players. Win 5 units and leave. They encourage me to stay ("What, thats nothing. Surely you want to play more). Now I have a complete list of casinos and have found them on the map. I know they are close (easier to jump casinos than in AC or the Vegas strip), so I have no interest in staying too long at one place.

Next casino on my route is Labirints, but since its owned by the same company as Vegas where I drew heat to myself, I decided to stip it and play at Tobago.

When I arrive, I have a dealer cutting 4/6. Not great. But there are a few other people at the table and the casino is full of players playing other games. But there is room to spread to multiple hands. So I decide to blast away.

Spread 1 - 2x8 without drawing any heat. The only bad thing is that they dont have many of their low denomination chips and I had been parlaying my bets. So I won them *all*. No i'm not exaggerating. Everybody else was playing with the red 5 Ls chips. I was playing with the yellow 1 Ls chips. And I won *all* of them. Up 60 units. Decide its a good time to leave!

Now to the Labirints. I didn't know if Vegas was going ot call over and alert them to me, but no such trouble. 3-4 other people at each table. No trouble spreading 1 - 2x5. Win 10 units and leave.

Go by taxi to the Casino Olympic. Get cheated for 5 Ls. It is only a 5 minute ride. I was able to walk back!

Great game. Good rules. Good penetration. I go down 100 units, buy in for another 30. I had been playing mixed chips, but when I bought in again (high count) they gave me all 2 Ls chips. I start winning a lot. I'm so used to the bad cuts that with 4 decks in the discard tray I stat spreading to multiple hands to get better penetration. But of course there is a long way to go. RC hits 20. I stop counting and start only acting. Spread to 5x6 units (no I'm not kidding). But all in the small chips. Again I win *all* of the low denomination chips. Last hand of the shoe, I'm way up. If I win, they'll have to add up my hands and pay me off in larger chips. I surrender one hand. Hit one stiff to bust (against dealers) 10. Have 2 20s and a 19 left. Dealer draws to 21. I add up my stack and I'm even for the night. Decide I should leave after that spectacle. (how do I go from 5x6 to 2x1 unit on a shuffle?)

Decide to start the loop again. Vegas here I come. Its four hours later now, but the same people are there. I sit down at the table, the boss's mobile phone rings. They change dealers as soon as I sit down. I start playing. The count goes up, I lose two hands. I have my chips in stacks of five, they way the dealer gives them to you, and stacks of two, so I can bet them easily. But now my stacks of two are gone (tough night). So what else can I do but take two stacks of five and put them in my boxes. Seemed natural tome. Bu tI guess not to the boss. Again I am still the ONLY person in the entire joint.

As soon as I do this, the relief dealer comes. She fires out cards at an alarming rate. But I keep the count and win. End of the shoe I am slightly positive. Color out. Dealer says to me "35" as she hands me 45 in chips. I cash out 15 ahead. I dont know if I was really 15 ahead and she spoke wrong or if I was 5 ahead and won on a coloring error. In any event, I'm back even.

I return to Club 777 and play even for a few shoes. Nothing notable.

Back to Tobago. They are now cutting off a full 3 decks. Yuck. Some drunk is playing three spots and taking 5 minutes to make each decision. I bitch about how little we are playing. Dealer says "What can I do. Cutting three decks is procedure." Next cut though he puts the card at 2.5 from the end. The moves it to 2.25 and then to 2. Thanks buddy. Play is still very slow. But I blast away. Nobody is going to watch my play. They would die of boredom as I almost did. But I won 10 units.

I go back to my hotel after this. Deciding what I should do. I wan to go hit the Casino Olympic again, but I'm tired (its 4am) and my flight is at 9am. Decide its better to sleep a few hours before flying and enjoy my wins.

Talk about feeling invincible! Casino Play & Boy still owes me 30 units. If I ever get back, I'm going to blas away there (50:1 spread) until I get it back.

But overall a good trip.

[Orson]

Actually, at the moment there are 15 working casinos in Riga. I just wanted to say that you could save lots of your effort if you e-mailed me before your trip. But you didn't miss that much, because remaining casinos aren't much better. I was surprised to read that Labirints was packed during your visit, it is probably the worst place in Riga and nobody plays there. Maybe you happened to get there at lottery night or other special event. Some of your info was new for me, too, because I am barred at most places. Klondike used to have the best rules in town for a while with ES10, triple and side bet for your first card being 10 or face (pays 2:1). Anyway, if you need more info or if you ever come back to Riga, just e-mail me privately and I'll be happy to help you.

Best regards and good cards,
Orson

P.S. I lost bunch of money at Prague airport, too. It looks like dealer's 10 always attracted another 10.

[chance king]

nice report .. now all us vultures coming over for the feast ... probably gonna be all burnt by the time i am done!!

I arrived by train at 6:30 in the morning. I
> was pretty much in a daze. I had lots of
> trouble getting settled. I couldn't find a
> complete list of casinos at first (I finally
> did), so I used the shoe leather technique
> to get started.

> First went to the Aladins in the Hotel
> Latvija. This is the worst game in town and
> I was feeling pretty sad after inquiring the
> rules. Next I went to the Tower. Better
> rules bot not impressive. Asked at the
> reception where they might recommend, since
> I wasn't going to play their lousy rules.
> Got referred to the Klondaika.

> I was now very cold (-10 in Riga) and nobody
> could speak English at this place. The rules
> were bad (see previous post), but I had
> nothing else to do, could play heads up, and
> didn't care if I got backed off, so I
> decided to blast away and see how long I
> could last at 20:1 spread. Unfortunately
> since I was the first to play I couldn't see
> the penetration until I bought chips. 2.5
> decks out of 6 cut off! I thought of
> screaming and running out, but decided it
> was better just to play a few hands and
> leave. Got an 8,8 vs 10 at a slightly
> positive RC. Stood and lost. Complained
> about no surrender and left.

> Found the Vegas casino next. 1 Lat minimum,
> 2 boxes. ES10. Played not so aggressively
> (6:1 spread) with lots of indices. I was the
> ONLY person in the place. Not even some
> loses playing roulette (which is the most
> popular game in Latvia, except maybe poker
> games) Dropped 30 units. Was done for the
> night.

> Next day had a meeting near the Play &
> Boy casino. I thought I'd check it out
> before the meeting and come back and play if
> it was alright. I ended up arriving early.
> Rules were bad, but it was completely empty.
> Again, NOBODY in the place. The pit bosses
> were playing roulette with house money just
> so the dealers could have some practice.
> Since i had a half hour and since it was
> heads up 1 box only, I decided that it was
> time to do some 1:20 blasting. What do I see
> but again 2.5 decks cut off. Count gets high
> though so I put out some big bets and lose
> 30 units. Leave for the day. Go to my
> meeting. Not feeling very inspiretd to play,
> since all I am doing is walking around in
> the cold and finding bad games/bad
> penetration.

> Next day back to the Vegas casino. Still
> 100% empty. I say that I dont want to play
> alone that its uncomfortable. Ask for
> recommendations. Sent to Libirints, owned by
> the same company. Don't find it. But spend
> hours walking in the cold. Go home
> discouraged.

> The next day I finally obtain a complete
> list of casinos. Its my last day in Riga and
> so I decide thtat I'll spend the night
> blasting away until I get backed off, since
> I dont plan to come back for a while.

> Return to the Vegas casino. Again completely
> empty inside. Crazy. What kind of a
> business? I figure its got to be bad to play
> since security has *nothing* to do. They'll
> do a skils analysis on me just to keep
> themselves awake.

> Get no more than 5 units on the table since
> the count never got so high. Get dealt A,8
> vs 6 with 5 units on the table. Ask the
> dealer what you're supposed to do with it.
> Still haven't decided whether I should
> double it or not. Dealer says she doesn't
> know. I ask the dealer at the next table.
> "Hey its your money." Okay, so I
> double. Huge commotion in the pit after
> that. 5 minutes later the pit boss comes
> over and tells me that its seven o'clock and
> the minimum is now 2 Lats/box. So I say that
> I'll go home. I have 15 units back.

> Next to Club 777 or Casino Voodoo as its
> listed in the visitors guide. Shady place.
> Again nobody playing blackjack. Just a few
> roulette players. Win 5 units and leave.
> They encourage me to stay ("What, thats
> nothing. Surely you want to play more). Now
> I have a complete list of casinos and have
> found them on the map. I know they are close
> (easier to jump casinos than in AC or the
> Vegas strip), so I have no interest in
> staying too long at one place.

> Next casino on my route is Labirints, but
> since its owned by the same company as Vegas
> where I drew heat to myself, I decided to
> stip it and play at Tobago.

> When I arrive, I have a dealer cutting 4/6.
> Not great. But there are a few other people
> at the table and the casino is full of
> players playing other games. But there is
> room to spread to multiple hands. So I
> decide to blast away.

> Spread 1 - 2x8 without drawing any heat. The
> only bad thing is that they dont have many
> of their low denomination chips and I had
> been parlaying my bets. So I won them *all*.
> No i'm not exaggerating. Everybody else was
> playing with the red 5 Ls chips. I was
> playing with the yellow 1 Ls chips. And I
> won *all* of them. Up 60 units. Decide its a
> good time to leave!

> Now to the Labirints. I didn't know if Vegas
> was going ot call over and alert them to me,
> but no such trouble. 3-4 other people at
> each table. No trouble spreading 1 - 2x5.
> Win 10 units and leave.

> Go by taxi to the Casino Olympic. Get
> cheated for 5 Ls. It is only a 5 minute
> ride. I was able to walk back!

> Great game. Good rules. Good penetration. I
> go down 100 units, buy in for another 30. I
> had been playing mixed chips, but when I
> bought in again (high count) they gave me
> all 2 Ls chips. I start winning a lot. I'm
> so used to the bad cuts that with 4 decks in
> the discard tray I stat spreading to
> multiple hands to get better penetration.
> But of course there is a long way to go. RC
> hits 20. I stop counting and start only
> acting. Spread to 5x6 units (no I'm not
> kidding). But all in the small chips. Again
> I win *all* of the low denomination chips.
> Last hand of the shoe, I'm way up. If I win,
> they'll have to add up my hands and pay me
> off in larger chips. I surrender one hand.
> Hit one stiff to bust (against dealers) 10.
> Have 2 20s and a 19 left. Dealer draws to
> 21. I add up my stack and I'm even for the
> night. Decide I should leave after that
> spectacle. (how do I go from 5x6 to 2x1 unit
> on a shuffle?)

> Decide to start the loop again. Vegas here I
> come. Its four hours later now, but the same
> people are there. I sit down at the table,
> the boss's mobile phone rings. They change
> dealers as soon as I sit down. I start
> playing. The count goes up, I lose two
> hands. I have my chips in stacks of five,
> they way the dealer gives them to you, and
> stacks of two, so I can bet them easily. But
> now my stacks of two are gone (tough night).
> So what else can I do but take two stacks of
> five and put them in my boxes. Seemed
> natural tome. Bu tI guess not to the boss.
> Again I am still the ONLY person in the
> entire joint.

> As soon as I do this, the relief dealer
> comes. She fires out cards at an alarming
> rate. But I keep the count and win. End of
> the shoe I am slightly positive. Color out.
> Dealer says to me "35" as she
> hands me 45 in chips. I cash out 15 ahead. I
> dont know if I was really 15 ahead and she
> spoke wrong or if I was 5 ahead and won on a
> coloring error. In any event, I'm back even.

> I return to Club 777 and play even for a few
> shoes. Nothing notable.

> Back to Tobago. They are now cutting off a
> full 3 decks. Yuck. Some drunk is playing
> three spots and taking 5 minutes to make
> each decision. I bitch about how little we
> are playing. Dealer says "What can I
> do. Cutting three decks is procedure."
> Next cut though he puts the card at 2.5 from
> the end. The moves it to 2.25 and then to 2.
> Thanks buddy. Play is still very slow. But I
> blast away. Nobody is going to watch my
> play. They would die of boredom as I almost
> did. But I won 10 units.

> I go back to my hotel after this. Deciding
> what I should do. I wan to go hit the Casino
> Olympic again, but I'm tired (its 4am) and
> my flight is at 9am. Decide its better to
> sleep a few hours before flying and enjoy my
> wins.

> Talk about feeling invincible! Casino Play
> & Boy still owes me 30 units. If I ever
> get back, I'm going to blas away there (50:1
> spread) until I get it back.

> But overall a good trip.