The Adventures of MDawg

I've really enjoyed all of your posts. I especially like seeing how a big player utilizes comps with high-level play.

My question for you, is this:

How do get all of your stuff to Las Vegas when you travel?

From what I can gather from your posts, you live on the West Coast somewhere.

Do you have a large SUV and drive?

Are you comped/reimbursed Air Travel by the Casino?

With all your clothing and personal items for a multi week stay, how do you do it?

How do you travel around Las Vegas? Uber, Casino Limo?

I'd be interested to hear about these aspects of your gaming activities.

multiple

Quote: OnceDear

You want more moderation, or less?

I believe multiple snarky comments should be dealt with. Please examine HugoSlavias recent post, he speaks for many.

Quote: DeMango

I believe multiple snarky comments should be dealt with. Please examine HugoSlavias recent post, he speaks for many.

So do you or do you not believe his claims to have beaten the game of baccarat ?

Quote: michael99000

So do you or do you not believe his claims to have beaten the game of baccarat ?

We have people who claim they have winning Roulette systems along with claims of long term Dice Setting/ Influence/ whatever here as well.

Common math sense, which this site is based on, understands it’s impossible. This guys claims are the same.

Yet these silly casinos continue to lavish him with suites and comps as he financially rapes them trip after trip.

Sounds perfectly reasonable to me.

Quote: michael99000

So do you or do you not believe his claims to have beaten the game of baccarat ?

Has he claimed that? What proof is there either way? Just put thread on ignore, so much easier.

Quote: Boz

We have people who claim they have winning Roulette systems along with claims of long term Dice Setting/ Influence/ whatever here as well.

Common math sense, which this site is based on, understands it’s impossible. This guys claims are the same.

Yet these silly casinos continue to lavish him with suites and comps as he financially rapes them trip after trip.

Sounds perfectly reasonable to me.

They're going to get him one day.😂🤓🤣

Quote: DeMango

Has he claimed that? What proof is there either way? Just put thread on ignore, so much easier.

For being such a staunch MDawg supporter, you certainly aren’t too well versed in his casino gaming conquests.

We drive from southern Cal to Vegas. From where we live, driving consistently maybe a bit over speed limit but not really, it's four to four and a half hours. It actually beats the airport because by the time we get to the airport, which these days you gotta arrive early to make it through TSA screening, and then arrive in Vegas and are driven to the casino, the time savings becomes something like...maybe a half hour. Yes, nothing beats arriving in a plane versus having to drive four hours, but we live about a half hour from the airport anyway, so that's an hour plus of driving no matter what.

Do not use an SUV for these trips. I'm a little paranoid of stacks of visible luggage in an SUV. We drive a brand new sedan, with all the latest safety gadgets in it, the auto braking, lane keeping assistant, blind spot detection, adaptive speed control, all that, the safety makes us feel okay about all the driving, and we put the valuable items in the locked trunk, the rest stacked across the back seats. Which - all that luggage - is another reason why we couldn't fly we'd have to pay a fortune in excess baggage/weight. Even if we had a private plane, which a family member used to have one so I am very familiar with them, not too many small reasonably priced planes could handle all this luggage plus passengers. Additionally, any pilot worth his weight will check out his plane very well before each flight both with instruments and by checking manually/visually moving parts, and all that takes TIME which in the end, detracts from the efficacy of flying versus driving, at least as far as versus a four to four and a half hour drive.

Once IN Vegas we generally have the casino drive us around, although my play rose to that level again (to the level where it is a given that they will drive us anywhere) only fairly recently. We don't save any money by having the hotel drive us around - I tip ten dollars for a drive from one end of the strip to the other, and twenty for a trip downtown, which these are about the same or even more than Uber rates. If I'm going on business, such as today, or going to buy something in a store etc. or needing to go to more than one stop, I will just take my own car, which I generally just leave in the valet. When the car is there long term and going out and back in, I'll tip them only when I pick it up, not return it, although on the first initial arrival I will give the valet who takes my keys a fiver, and on final departure I will give the valet a fiver too.


I did end up playing today (tonight). I bought in for five, ended up winning...nada. I didn't play long, a bit over an hour, double deck BJ, stand 17, I bet minimum 100 (although, funnee, I did bet 50 one hand, which was the table minimum on the ONE hand all night that dealer got a blackjack), max 1000. I had the two green chips from the prior hand where I won a BJ with 100.

I counted the deck perfectly, I tracked the flow perfectly, but things just weren't going my way. Hands where I jumped the bet to 1000 and was dealt say, face nine, and dealer had an eight up, she'd turn over an ace. Then I'd reduce the bet drastically, even though the count was about the same (but the flow had altered, which did justify at least some reduction), and I'd LOSE the next hand. Anyway I was never up, was down as much as -2500 at one point, and came back to minus -100 twice and then plummeted soon afterwards to -1200, TWICE. So, when I finally got back to even, I quit. I was just putting in face time anyway, I am generally not a night time player I prefer playing during the day. I've been up since early working on minimal sleep from last night and never did go back to sleep or take a nap today.

My buddy, the one who LIVES at the casino across the street in the big suite came over as I was playing DD at high limit. I'd forgotten that I had mentioned to him via text earlier that I might be playing there at such and such time, which actually it was by then a couple hours later than the time I had mentioned.

He's crazy. He pulled up in one of those electric disabled person vehicles. A bright red one. When I saw him I started to say, Oh no, what happened but then when he crawled out with a big grin on his face, I knew he was fine. I didn't get into the, hey that cart is for the DISABLED you shouldn't be misusing it, but anyway, he had rented it from the casino, charged it to his room, and now here he was driving it right into the high limit pit practically crashing into the BJ table chairs.

The pit boss started to tell him that he'd have to park it someplace else, but when he and the shift manager, who had come over to say Hi and wish me Happy New Year realized that he was with me, they told him that he could leave it there as long as he at least shoved it more against the high limit room barrier to allow people to pass by behind the table chairs.

He played for a while, mostly lost, then tried to get me to go play "Pinball." I kept thinking he was talking about some kid's arcade game - visions of the underground one at Harvey's Lake Tahoe dancing through my head - until he explained that no, this is a slots game.

SLOTS. I said to him. Those are horrible odds. Why you wanna play slots?

But he kept insisting that he had been having luck with these, and he got up and went over to some machine, telling me he'd come back over to say Goodbye on the way out.

About a minute later I got back to even, colored up 5000, decided to just walk with it for tomorrow's play

and walked over to where he was JUST AS he hit a $2500. jackpot, with only, I think it was twenty five bucks in the machine, or on that spin. He hadn't even been playing more than a few minutes.

He didn't even have a valid ID with him, expired only, but they found him in their player card system and eventually handed him the cash with no deduction. He dumped a couple hunny more into the (nowadays, no armed) bandit, and then got back on his motorized disabled person's machine, and headed back out to go across the street. He is REALLY crazy. Before he power scootered back out of the casino, he actually called his hotel and asked them to come pick him up.

What, you're going to just LEAVE that cart here?

I don't care, was all he had to say on that subject.

He didn't follow through on that notion only because the casino told him that it would be a while before they could make it over.

The attendants were really excited for him, told him that he'd now be having a very happy New Year, but he mumbled something about Sure, I already lost two million - but that's actually crap, I think it's more like a half a million that he's dumped, and besides, these two ladies were so genuinely excited for him, I'm glad they didn't hear him say something so negative, I mean come on, let's keep the positivity flowing, people don't always need to be enlightened as to the status of the big bad world, let them have their happy moment.

The silver haired lady was the main attendant, the one who came to pay him.

Quote: michael99000

For being such a staunch MDawg supporter, you certainly aren’t too well versed in his casino gaming conquests.

correct. I don’t care half as much as you all. He has his agenda, to entertain us. He does a fine job. Don’t like it? Put on ignore. After 45 pages he does know what you think. You all know the definition of insanity, quit repeating the same snark hoping for different results.

Quote: DeMango

I don’t care half as much as you all. He has his agenda, to entertain us.

Well,

Here we are now, entertain us

bring your friends
It's fun to lose and to pretend.

A denial, a denial, a denial, a denial, a denial
A denial, a denial, a denial, a denial


I feel blessed
Our little group has always been
And always will until the end

Quote: DeMango

correct. I don’t care half as much as you all. He has his agenda, to entertain us. He does a fine job. Don’t like it? Put on ignore. After 45 pages he does know what you think. You all know the definition of insanity, quit repeating the same snark hoping for different results.

I’ve always been more entertained by true stories

What these guys are doing is calling me a liar. If that's not a personal insult, I don't know what is. First they came in claiming that I was a complete fraud posting made up pictures with fake watches. Then they realized that oh sh*t we were wrong about that, he really does play Vegas, and really does have a couple sheckels in the bank, he's legit.

I am not sure what this michael99000 (and the others, like Axel, which Axel does it in a nastier way with his weird videos) mean by continuing to claim that I am lying. Everything I post is true, and what they all evidently fail to realize is - that if I weren't successful at this I wouldn't do it. Losing - anything - isn't fun to me. I would not repeat the same un-fun behavior expecting different results.

Anyway, onwards. My friend did lose most all of her money, she keeps messaging me that she has only 800 left. I assume that means negative -5200 in that she told me her bankroll was 6000. (Okay just got another message from her, confirmed minus -5200.) She extended her flight to leave tonight. The casinos are raising their limits at all tables as we get closer to NY's, so I messaged her just now and advised her to forget about it, that 800 isn't going to do anything at a 200 or 300 minimum table.

I worked out pretty hard at the gym yesterday including by stringing up those TRX straps. No one said anything, but then the gym at this casino isn't really that regulated. I actually had to think for a moment where/how to string them up as I have never had to put them up before, but it was pretty easy.

Before I gambled last night we went to this casino's steak house. As you all know, every casino has at least one high end restaurant, even the dumps downtown, and this casino is by no means a dump, although "Old School." That was pretty nice, and set the stage for a nice evening of gambling, which I ended up winning nothing but even is a win when you're down for all of the session. I am still thinking to play DD BJ stand 17 at this casino versus their Bacc. unless they open more than one Bacc. table. It's funny because the former Director of Table games at this casino, when he was the Director at a different casino is the one that banned me from BJ years ago, which that two-year ban on BJ is what led to my starting to play Baccarat in the first place!

In case you didn't read the story, I wasn't so much banned as handicapped. This came after repeated sessions when I was clocking them at double deck BJ for low to mid five figures per session. And these repeated big win sessions came after some years of consistent BJ wins. They put a notation in my player account that I was allowed to bet no more than 3X my prior (hand before) bet at BJ. But after staying away from all casinos for about a year, and from BJ for two years, I came back into playing some BJ, casino ownerships had changed, and somehow that notation had either disappeared or been deleted from my account. Plus I had become by then very good friends with this Director of Table Games and although he kept laughing about how I like to alternate between table min and table max at BJ, he never again did anything about it. However, to this day I do remain banned from one major casino in Vegas (actually two, owned by the same company, but I was interested in playing at only one), and that is, my research shows, because someone who is the Director there now used to work under this other Director who banned ("handicapped") me.

But what is interesting is that by then, by the time I was back in at BJ, I had won so much money at Bacc. that I didn't really want to play BJ any longer. Plus I was still worried that if I did come back to BJ and play it as hard as I used to, I would get banned, for good this time. And that's the true story of how MDawg came to start playing Baccarat.

Quote: michael99000

I’ve always been more entertained by true stories

But the fact of the matter is you don’t know, yet everybody projects.

Quote: DeMango

But the fact of the matter is you don’t know, yet everybody projects.

People who understand math know that when a person brags about a 6+ standard deviation event then that person isn't telling the truth. Doesn't matter if it'a 18 yos in a row or winning 95% of your baccarat sessions. They aren't being honest, which in turn calls every other statement they make into question.

As such, it's akin to reading fiction. If you enjoy it, then by all means read it. But don't pretend that it could be real.

I haven't really taken a look closely at what most of these guys have posted, sabre, Michael990000, Axel, MaxPen, TomG, lilredrooster, (excuse me if I got any names wrong or included a name that does not belong in this list, or left anyone out of the list who wishes to be included) etc., but it seems like they all post based on theory. A guy comes along with empirical data that gainsays whatever their theories are they spout out sitting at home apparently never gambling a dime anywhere in any recent times, and they can't handle it. That's the bottom line.

As far as any other theories for why they post such negative things, we will leave that subject alone.

I'm not the negative type. Indeed, there is zero evidence that any one of them has stepped foot inside a casino in years, and yet if they post that they have, I would not dispute it.


Anyway, this thread will continue, sticking to trip reports and such.

It's when you say things like you stopped playing BJ because the "flow of the cards" has changed. There is no such thing and if there was, how would you know if it changed for better or worse. When you make claims that are based in superstition people aren't likely to take your other claims seriously either.

In BJ: A count of whatever after a sequence with a lot of face cards and aces is different in my book from the identical count after a sequence ("flow") that had no face cards/aces whatsoever, especially if you are tracking the deck or clumps. It's perhaps a little hard to describe, but there is a difference. The count, even the true count, is not everything.

I don't think I said I stopped playing BJ because the sequence ("flow") changed, I said that I altered my bet for that hand. The reason I stopped playing for last night's session was because I got back to even and am not big on night time playing usually.

In any case, if what you're doing works for you and you are winning at the casinos, fine.

Quote: DeMango

But the fact of the matter is you don’t know, yet everybody projects.

He has stated several times that reading the flow of the cards, riding banker/player streaks , and just having a feel for what’s coming next .. are the keys to his long term and consistently success at baccarat.

You can continue to believe that. I’m very comfortable in my stance that it’s all total bs

I usually enjoy a good fiction story. Good being the key word.

Quote: michael99000

I’m very comfortable in my stance that it’s all total bs

And I'm very comfortable in my suite. 😜

Quote: DeMango

He has his agenda, to entertain us.

you are badly mistaken

his agenda is to glorify the person in the world most important to him - that he loves the most

himself

Give me a break, lol, I find many trip reports or gambling adventures worth reading, whether they be about Circus Circus or Nobu, or anyplace in between, above or below.

Liiiighten uuuup why donchya.

I never thought I'd miss Nathan.

Quote: billryan

I never thought I'd miss Nathan.

agreed. compared to this guy Nathan was Ernest Hemingway

I'm glad we made it in Saturday. We read about a couple who took twenty two hours to drive in to Vegas from Southern California after leaving Thursday morning. The article mentioned that they settled into the same casino we are in. Should find them, and compare notes!

When we arrived Saturday evening, my host said that one player of his had used a lot of unpaved side roads to make it to Vegas Friday. ("We'll take the not-so-dangerous road, whatever that might be....") For us, on Saturday, the roads were clear and there was traffic only during a twenty minute or so portion, an accident or something like that near Barstow. ("We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the urge to win kicked in.")

Vegas seems to be filling slowly with people for New Year's. I imagine today incoming traffic will be heavy.

Some of you guys are throwing the baby out with the bathwater, here...

MDawg's superstition-based beliefs can easily be disproved. Fine. But it does not call into question many of his other claims. How many Asian whales are there that are ten times more superstitious? Are they lying about being billionaires?

He's even posted proof of many of his claims that no one has been able to disprove; claims, as I have said before, that aren't even remotely unbelievable, which makes the criticisms even more ridiculous. Betting $500 or $1000 or $5000 a hand is nothing in Vegas. Winning $30,000 in a session happens every freaking day.

I see the same old weak arguments from some of y'all;

"Why is a rich guy hanging out with us poor slobs?"

"That's a fake watch!"

"You borrowed those chips from the casino just to take a picture!"

"Fake this! Fake that! Wah wah wah!"

And of course my favorite one of all:

"There was another guy on here years ago that lied; that means MDawg is lying too!"

So what if he's superstitious. So what if he likes to stroke his ego. Just block him if you don't like his stories. This MDawg harassment is getting old.

Someone brings up Nathan, a proven liar, many times over. I never had a problem with Nathan, I put her on ignore, end of problem. No need for snark. Can’t believe it took me 12000 posts to figure out someone here never had anything interesting to add. Life is better with that stiff on ignore.

Quote: MDawg

What these guys are doing is calling me a liar. If that's not a personal insult, I don't know what is. First they came in claiming that I was a complete fraud posting made up pictures with fake watches. Then they realized that oh sh*t we were wrong about that, he really does play Vegas, and really does have a couple sheckels in the bank, he's legit. .

I'm not sure that most of us realized anything. What made you come to that conclusion? I'm certainly not convinced of anything, as I said before, I've been down this road before multiple times and I've always been right.

I would love to be proven wrong, it would restore my faith in Humanity when it comes to members such as yourself.

Whatever happened to you being open to meeting up with someone like the Wizard and someone else? At one point you seem to be gung ho about that idea, but you have since have kinda backpedaled on that. You seem to have been to Vegas quite a few times since you originally said you were open to that idea. You can't really claim you have nothing to prove since your posts indicate quite the opposite of that.

Quote: MDawg

Anyway, onwards. My friend did lose most all of her money, she keeps messaging me that she has only 800 left.

I knew once I told you, you would never tell us if your friend lost, that you actually would end up telling us your friend lost<<<That was so predictable.

I have very little doubt that MDawg is some rich guy who gambles a lot, that’s never been my point of contention. The reason I dislike him or I should say the personality he posts with is because his personality isn’t likeable. He is arrogant, full of himself and he wants everyone to know how much money he has. Good for him I guess.

I will continue to call bull on his ways of beating the house edge because either he is just lucky or he’s lying about his results. Either way I don’t want some poor soul to think he has the secret to beating the casino and lose their shirt trying it. Last time I checked Mike made this site and WoO to educate gamblers about HE and how to gamble smarter which this is the direct opposite of.

Lastly I have to say it because I laughed when Mdawg posted it. You wonder if those guys even step foot in casinos? I can’t say for all of them but I’d say MaxPen and Axel spend way more time in casinos than you.

Quote: HugoSlavia

I like your strategy there. You established a 𝐩𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 in case your host gives you any trouble on the back end.

I wonder how many members here have also been able to obtain a 𝐩𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 by emailing the casino about their comps...... 😄

Quote: sabre

People who understand math know that when a person brags about a 6+ standard deviation event then that person isn't telling the truth. Doesn't matter if it'a 18 yos in a row or winning 95% of your baccarat sessions. They aren't being honest, which in turn calls every other statement they make into question.

As such, it's akin to reading fiction. If you enjoy it, then by all means read it. But don't pretend that it could be real.

I hope this post was intentionally ironic. Because people that think 6+ standard deviation events don’t happen a certain percentage of the time don’t understand math.

hola MDawg!

I play casino Caliente Mexicali melgar you visit me sometime

Hellllo to all, and to all, Good Luck!


I went in, played basically just one shoe of DD BJ, no decisions to be made wasn't betting much, won about fifteen hunny. No decisions to be made in that it seemed like I was winning every hand but looking back I might've lost a couple or so. Was betting peanuts tho. Played one more hand the next shoe, lost that one hand, left. To the good 1350. It'll add up.

Quote: MDawg

As Steve Cyr has put it:
"There’s two types of players

Ones that are here for the cost of entertainment, and you love those guys, win or lose doesn’t matter, they’re just here to have fun,

then there’s a guy coming here to win we gotta watch that guy there’s definitely two types of players, you know a guy that wins Friday night, okay if he’s a steamer he’s going to steam probably blow his winnings and by Sunday owe me money, a guy’s that disciplined [wins] Friday will go home Saturday. So, there’s definitely two types of players."

As Dave Berns added:
"The one thing the casinos hate about high rollers, are high rollers who are what they call hit and run high rollers, someone who comes in, gambles for a couple of hours, wins some money, and leaves."

Here for two more weeks plenty of time.

I paid off yesterday's marker when cashing in the winnings.

Cashing in a little over a grand I probably didn't have to pay the marker, but I did.

I needn't worry about comps in that we're far under comp'ed coming in anyway....

Until tomorrow.


By the way here's a pic of my friend's red "scooter" in his Encore room that he sent me today.

which he tells me that he's been downgraded to a regular suite room now. Still, that he's been continuously in residence at Encore for almost all of this year, and most of last year, is impressive, no matter what kind of room he has been in, and he has been in one of their salon 2261 square foot suites most of the time.


Oh by the way turns out that recurring fog horn sound is not coming from outside. I had driven by Fashion Show mall couple days ago with windows down hadn't heard anything thought that was odd. Anyway, I had emailed my host about the internet connectivity and the noise and he emailed me back that he was taking care of the internet comp'ing it all off, and looking into both issues.

Just before I played this evening I ran into him in the VIP lounge, and he said that the sound is coming from a transformer within the walls of the hotel, and they are working on isolating and resolving the issue. He said that another guest had complained too. I did think actually that the sound was somehow coming most prominently from one corner of the walk in closet, but I just assumed that that corner of the suite was more in the direction of Resorts World. How a transformer makes a regular fog horn sound versus just constant humming, I could not say.

I did find this by Googling, I didn't read it carefully, but maybe this guy is talking about something similar?
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?78994-Power-Outage-Noise(s)&s=d805bb43a67ef607996fe1d174d42feb&p=929616&viewfull=1#post929616

Wynn / Encore doesn't charge resort fees for comped rooms, right? But it also doesn't include wifi for free in comped rooms.

That seems ridiculous to me. Wynn positions itself as the classiest casino in the world. So if it's offering a guest a comped room because the guest is a big enough deal to gamble big at the Wynn, why is it nickel and diming the guest for wifi?

It's going to be 2020 in 2 days. Throw in the wifi for free. It's like charging for water or heat at this point. In fact I think I'd rather have wifi than heat.

Hi Soda. We're actually not at Wynn/Encore yet we are across the street.

Will be at Wynn/Encore later during this same trip.

However, yes, that's exactly what most all of the Vegas and Tahoe casino resorts do. Even if you are full-on RFB comp'ed status the resort fee or internet (if you choose to go that route of forget the resort fee and instead just charge me per device for internet) is not included up front; you must ask the host to comp it off. (There is actually some confusion about this, at Wynn/Encore I've had some hosts say that when you are RFB internet charges will come off automatically, others will say resort fees will come off automatically, others will say nothing will come off automatically, but I've never had any of these charges come off "automatically" I have always had to ask.)
However, when you are on RFB status you have some sort of "quasi-resort fee waived" status on your account, in that you are allowed into the fitness facilities, but no internet is included up front with RFB status.

At some resorts like Cosmopolitan, WiFi is free for EVERYone, and once you achieve Platinum status in their Identity Player's Club, all resort fees are comp'ed. (But, and this is where the head spinning starts, on closer inspection I found that it isn't so much that your account at Cosmo then shows "resort fees paid" but rather that your account reflects that sort of "quasi-resort fee waived" status since you are Platinum that allows you access to the gym.)

In the old days, and I don't mean like ancient times but refer to the early 2000s, you paid a per day gym/spa access fee. This fee got you into both the casino resort gym, and its spa. You could not access one without paying for both, and it was around $40. per day. In the old days too, this access fee was either comp'ed instantly off your bill if you were RFB such that you never saw it, or disappeared the moment you mentioned it to your host. Not like today when trying to get any of these silly charges taken off takes a bit of effort.

Nowadays the resort fee permits entrance to the gym, but no spa access. Now, spa access is separate and costs - you guessed it, about $40. per day, more in some casino resorts.

The disadvantage of the new system is that since most guests cough up the resort fee (or are forced to cough it up as mandatory in some properties), the hotel gyms are more crowded these days. However, the spas are much less crowded, as people must pay specifically and separately just to go there.

To summarize the above: YES, THEY CAN AND WILL TRY TO NICKEL AND DIME YOU.

Quote: TigerWu

MDawg's superstition-based beliefs can easily be disproved.

This deserves a much deeper explanation. His wins at the casino have been well-documented. How exactly can they be easily disproved?

Quote: TomG

This deserves a much deeper explanation. His wins at the casino have been well-documented. How exactly can they be easily disproved?

Define “well-documented”.

Other than him saying on gambling forum posts that he always wins , what other documentation have you seen?

Quote: PokerGrinder

I have very little doubt that MDawg is some rich guy who gambles a lot

FACEPALM!

Quote: michael99000

Define “well-documented”.

Other than him saying on gambling forum posts that he always wins , what other documentation have you seen?

You must understand, TomG is most likely being facetious, or whatever you want to call it.

Mientras el necio piensa, hace el sabio la hacienda

Quote: Mendoza

Mientras el necio piensa, hace el sabio la hacienda

Quote:

Mientras el necio piensa, hace el sabio la hacienda
While the fool is thinking, the wise man makes his fortune
This saying advises us not to dwell too long on considerations and plans prior to acting. The advice to “get one’s feet wet” is good; one will learn along the way.

I'm going to stop with a warning, as this is a Spanish saying - but it would seem to indicate you're calling someone a fool, as well. You've already been suspended once for calling names in Spanish - stop doing it, please.

That recurring fog horn sound...my host did say it is internal and a transformer within the walls of the hotel, but whatever it is, it is still going on. Slept with earplugs last night, doesn't seem to bother her. This isn't Motel 6 there shouldn't be any noise in the room!

Quote: HugoSlavia

I like your strategy there. You established a psychological advantage in case your host gives you any trouble on the back end.

I usually don't comment a lot, but I'm enjoying all your posts. You're providing some of the best content on the site.

What if I emailed the host, something like

The recurrent fog horn sound, which you said is from a transformer within the walls of the hotel, continues. Sleeping with ear plugs. I know you're comping the suite and all the food and we love the layout of the room, it's great - but honestly, I wouldn't take this room for free given how hard it is to get decent sleep in here.


or would that be too over the top?


The refrigerator was buzzing too, but I had them come in and replace it with a brand new one.

Quote: TomG

This deserves a much deeper explanation. His wins at the casino have been well-documented. How exactly can they be easily disproved?

I'm not talking about the hard numbers of his wins or losses. I'm talking about the superstitions and trends that he seems to believe in regarding baccarat.

I’m not sure how someone could find baccarat remotely interesting if they didn’t believe in superstitions or trends to an extent.

The powder room toilet (OnceDear might call it the water closet) is running water, but not making much noise. I don't want to deal with maintenance I need to get to the gym and run a couple errands in town before noon.

Who is staying in these rooms, not complaining about noise and malfunctioning fixtures and appliances? One of the stays at Encore the Alexa device wouldn't work for the drapes or lights, only the music. I called right away to get it fixed, although it took them a few tries I stayed on it.

Wouldn't it be easier just to get a personal assistant to handle these minor matters? Just choosing which watch to where when must be both physically and mentally exhausting.

Good point! but I don't travel with one these days.

I have a best friend who used to travel with me, and I'd call him "my manservant" and he'd help with stuff like that, and also in the old days I'd travel with a legion of minions, but these days I travel with the wife only.

Deciding which watch to wear is not exhausting, but making sure they are all secured and safe can be.


Speaking of minions, Drake was playing at Encore last night, in the high limit pit, according to my red scooter driving friend. I want to follow up to find out if he was playing alone somewhat incognito or with an entourage. I've played in Tahoe at the same table with Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan back when Jordan used to play, and they would play alone. Same with Oscar de la Hoya, Wayne Gretzky, Howie Mandel, and others, I've seen them play alone. I watched Bill Gates play years ago - five dollar red chips only is what he played with, and I understand that he gave even that up eventually, doesn't gamble at all anymore. Gates played alone at a regular table with regular players at the same table, as did these other celebrities when I saw them playing, or was playing at their table.

Quote: MDawg

or would that be too over the top?

That's above my pay grade, lol. I'm not at the suite level of comps, and in general I try to keep my host interactions minimal because I don't want my action scrutinized. If the setup allows, I prefer to book my free rooms online or by phone with an anonymous reservations agent.

My room complaint would need to be really major to involve a host. Something like being given a smoking room because the n/s rooms are filled. Even then I would try the smoking room to see if it's tolerable.