HOLLYWOOD: Talk about intrigue

[HOLLYWOOD]

I'm sitting in a casino last night.

I'm playing with another persons card. All was going well. I'm up a few thousand and I stop playing. However, i'm still sitting there because i'm with a friend who is a non=counter and he is stuck and i'm waiting for him.

All of a sudden a pit boss who knows me comes over and says "HI -----" I almost shit.

Next thing I know, a 2nd and 3rd guy who know me come over. We talk a few minutes and they say, "HOW HAVE YOU BEEN, I HAVE NOT SEEN YOU IN A WHILE" all small talk and I tell the guy i'm with lets get the hell out of here.

I had not been playing for a half hour under the other name when they came over, so I don't know if they busted me or not, or they were just being polite. I always maintained a nice relationship with them.
I had not played there in so long, I didn't remember I had a few nice bosses I liked.

Anyway I went to another casino and as far as I know that was that.

What's your take on it.?

Hollywood

[Don Schlesinger]

> What's your take on it?

My take is that it's awfully foolish/risky to play under a new, assumed name in a casino where there are bosses who may know you.

Don

[HOLLYWOOD]

> My take is that it's awfully foolish/risky
> to play under a new, assumed name in a
> casino where there are bosses who may know
> you.

> Don

Tell you the truth Don, I had not been in this place for such a long time. I was shocked these people remembered me.
I'll tell you, AC is starting to appear very small to me. I need to either cut my visits down or find some new places to play.
13 casinos, you figure if a person goes twice a week, he/she need not go back to one for 6 weeks.
I would think that would be enough.
But for some reason it aint happening that way.

If I saw a person every 45 days I certainly wouldn't remember who the hell they were.
But lately, I have been having nothing but trouble.
Maybe I just need to throw a few more places into the mix (conn. etc.) that will take the 45 days and turn it into 60 or more.

But something has to give here.

Hollywood

[Don Schlesinger]

> If I saw a person every 45 days I certainly
> wouldn't remember who the hell they were.
> But lately, I have been having nothing but
> trouble.

Reread the last full paragraph of p. 6 of BJA, and then tell me why you don't think they're going to remember you. It's their job!

> Maybe I just need to throw a few more places
> into the mix (conn. etc.) that will take the
> 45 days and turn it into 60 or more.

> But something has to give here.

I repeat: If they have your picture, why do you assume you can hide? You can't. But, I'm not getting through to you.

Don

[Norm Wattenberger]

As one of those with no memory for names or faces, I?m often amazed as the capabilities of others, particularly successful people in sales. Before I lived in New York, I would come into the city to buy shoes. On one trip I told the salesman I wore a size 9 and a half-D. He said, no a 9D ? he had remembered from last year?s trip. Imagine how many people he sees in Midtown Manhattan in a year. I visited a bar in D.C. once during a conference. Two years later I visited the bar for only the second time in my life. The bartender says ?haven?t seen you in awhile.? I said you?ve confused me with someone else. Nope, he remembered me, and my drink, from two years back. First casino that barred me was the Four Qu**ns playing nickels. Didn?t return for six months. When I did, I only got within five feet of the tables when the PB pointed at me and then at the door. Now that?s facial recognition. Only it was decades before such sophisticated techniques.

BJStats

[HOLLYWOOD]

> As one of those with no memory for names or
> faces, I?m often amazed as the capabilities
> of others, particularly successful people in
> sales. Before I lived in New York, I would
> come into the city to buy shoes. On one trip
> I told the salesman I wore a size 9 and a
> half-D. He said, no a 9D ? he had remembered
> from last year?s trip. Imagine how many
> people he sees in Midtown Manhattan in a
> year. I visited a bar in D.C. once during a
> conference. Two years later I visited the
> bar for only the second time in my life. The
> bartender says ?haven?t seen you in awhile.?
> I said you?ve confused me with someone else.
> Nope, he remembered me, and my drink, from
> two years back. First casino that barred me
> was the Four Qu**ns playing nickels. Didn?t
> return for six months. When I did, I only
> got within five feet of the tables when the
> PB pointed at me and then at the door. Now
> that?s facial recognition. Only it was
> decades before such sophisticated
> techniques.

I guess (as usual) you and Don are right.
With this business of me getting busted only a few months old, i'm still getting adjusted to the concept.
Of course if someone is circulating your photo it's gonna be a problem.
Up until the other day, I have been having a great deal of success playing with other peoples cards.
It was a big miscalulation not remembering that people knew me at that hotel on that shift.
Trust me it wont happen again.

When I first got caught in the middle of all this surveilence stuff I thought it was funny.
But,they have made me lose my sense of humor.
It's not only very serious stuff, but has proven to be quite expensive. I feel like i'm going to war with these assholes.
I think with what has happened over the past several months, i'm only now understanding how real all of this is.

Hollywood

[Norm Wattenberger]

As the number of pictures in Griffin increases, I would expect the use of Griffin to decrease. Flipping through pictures and recognizing someone - even a recent, posed picture, is difficult. Candid pictures in odd lighting must be awful. And the eye in the sky has a poor vantage point. If they managed to put every counter in the book, its size would render it useless. I imagine this is the reason behind the advent of facial recognition. But, I would also think that facial recognition requires a reasonably good picture source - not a candid photo. It's not like they have police front and profile photos shot in a controlled ligthing.

[HOLLYWOOD]

> As the number of pictures in Griffin
> increases, I would expect the use of Griffin
> to decrease. Flipping through pictures and
> recognizing someone - even a recent, posed
> picture, is difficult. Candid pictures in
> odd lighting must be awful. And the eye in
> the sky has a poor vantage point. If they
> managed to put every counter in the book,
> its size would render it useless. I imagine
> this is the reason behind the advent of
> facial recognition. But, I would also think
> that facial recognition requires a
> reasonably good picture source - not a
> candid photo. It's not like they have police
> front and profile photos shot in a
> controlled ligthing.

That's quite interesting Norm. I don't know alot about that stuff, but trust me in the next few months I will become an authority.

You know how it works, if it does not effect you then you don't care.
However, lately it has been having a severe effect on me and i'm going to operate accordingly.
Let's face it, if they are looking at a picture of you, then it's just time to move on.
I was playing the other day at a different casino and I was playing with another card that was not mine. All was going fine, then a couple of hours later a pit boss comes walking by my table and says "hi _______" my real name.
Next thing I know, they are cutting off 4 of the 6 decks and I am playing againt 2 out of 6.
Outside of the "hi ______" no one else said a word to me.
So I know i'm being very careful with my play. So I guess at the moment i'm just hot.
I wish to learn more about the surveilence stuff, which I will now do.
I remember Arnold addressing stuff in old Forum issues, so I will go back and read that.
It's like Don said Norm, "THEY ARE JUST DOING THERE JOBS".
I guess it's less of an issue for a person who plays alot less then I do.
When a person goes to AC as often as me, it makes the town VERY SMALL. So really all this comes down to is moving on.

Hollywood

[Bettie]

Hollywood,

Try keeping a diary or a spreadsheet, or whatever. List the casino, the shift you played, how long you played, the dealers you played against (including any pertinent info like their pen or attitude toward counters), and the floor people you talked to or came in contact with. This will really help you plan your visits accordingly and hopefully keep you in the mix a little longer.

Otherwise, move to Vegas!

Bettie

[Oldster]

Comment on NPR this am that Tampa Police department had removed its facial recognition cameras. Not because of ACLU complaint but because the cameras had not identified a single suspect in 18 months.

Norm probably could haved simmed this result & saved Floridians a ton of money.

> As the number of pictures in Griffin
> increases, I would expect the use of Griffin
> to decrease. Flipping through pictures and
> recognizing someone - even a recent, posed
> picture, is difficult. Candid pictures in
> odd lighting must be awful. And the eye in
> the sky has a poor vantage point. If they
> managed to put every counter in the book,
> its size would render it useless. I imagine
> this is the reason behind the advent of
> facial recognition. But, I would also think
> that facial recognition requires a
> reasonably good picture source - not a
> candid photo. It's not like they have police
> front and profile photos shot in a
> controlled ligthing.

[HOLLYWOOD]

> Hollywood,

> Try keeping a diary or a spreadsheet, or
> whatever. List the casino, the shift you
> played, how long you played, the dealers you
> played against (including any pertinent info
> like their pen or attitude toward counters),
> and the floor people you talked to or came
> in contact with. This will really help you
> plan your visits accordingly and hopefully
> keep you in the mix a little longer.

> Otherwise, move to Vegas!

> Bettie

I think at this point I just need to spread my wings out a little further.

Trips to a few different places may be the answer.

AC must just be placed on a list of places to visit along with many others. And not an exclusive area for me.
I allowed the convenience of it to govern my actions more then they should have.
I will continue to play there, but in more moderation and not exclusivly.
Enough people have warned me in the room about beating them up so much, and I didn't listen.

Well, they have my attention.

For starters, I will only go to AC once a week instead of 3 times. At that pace, I will only see the casinos worth playing at once every 8 weeks.
The times I used to go to AC, I will visit other places.

If that don't work then i'll find a new hobby.

But I will tell you something Bettie. I did like that vegas idea.

Hollywood

[Norm Wattenberger]

Heard that. Quite funny. But they did screw up one guy. When it was installed they ran a story in the local paper with a random picture from a camera. Then another paper picked up the story, printing the same picture but putting a caption under the picture saying he was a criminal. It was just some bloke walking down the street.