The Adventures of MDawg II
No doubt you and I will be standing shoulder to shoulder as to how we like our steaks though.
Quote: MDawgHow about this hamburger. Far too raw.
I sent it back.
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I infer from this picture and comment that steak tartar is something you would NOT abide. For me, I personally love ground sirloin and/or groud round steak at 95% lean as well as the aforementioned steak tartar.
tuttigym
A good burger would never be more than 80% lean
Quote: Ace295% lean. Same flavor and texture as a sponge?
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No, for me, tastes like butter (unsalted), and it is definitely not chewy like a sponge. So let me ask you, do you like your filet mignon medium rare of well done? A thick cut of beef that is red in the middle is basically raw. Would you enjoy that kind of fare?
tuttigym
Quote: Ace295% lean. Same flavor and texture as a sponge?
A good burger would never be more than 80% lean
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Steak tartar is not 80% lean, but I do agree that a good burger is 80% lean. Round steak or roast is usually 93+% lean (usually tough), so if I want steak tartar or even raw ground beef, I pick out a very lean piece of round steak and ask the butcher to grind it twice. Yum!!
tuttigym
To my mind, steak tartare is something best left to the restaurateurs, like boiled whole live lobster.
Hamburgers medium, lamb medium, steaks / prime rib / etc. medium rare.
Sometimes when we get take-out steaks such as at one of the very high end restaurants in Vegas, or from a hotel's room service, I will ask for the steak to be done rare on the premise that by the time we eat it it will have cooked a bit in its container, or covering (including in the take out cart's warming oven). The thinner the expected cut of take-out steak, the more likely to just order it rare and expect it to be medium rare on arrival.
We will go through (sometimes long) periods where we won't eat any red meat at all...just a passing phase.
tundraQuote: MDawgAt the tables, there are times that it's happening and times that it isn't. It isn't that hard to figure out which phase is underway at those moments.
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Oof
Quote: MDawgThere is something that tells me what to do.
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And that applies to more than knowing exactly how to deal with women!
Which is why MDawg more often than not ends up with good amounts of chips ahead at the end of his sessions.
I've often wondered why casino chips are so simple?
Look at all the details and safeguards in a $100 bill. Then look how simple casino chips are.
Of course I understand high value chips have RFID but lower value chips must be so easy to counterfeit.
Even $25:chips must be a target.
Quote: AlanMendelsonOn a side note...
I've often wondered why casino chips are so simple?
Look at all the details and safeguards in a $100 bill. Then look how simple casino chips are.
Of course I understand high value chips have RFID but lower value chips must be so easy to counterfeit.
Even $25:chips must be a target.
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I think it's just because casino chips have such a limited use and are exponentially easier to track, even without RFID, it's not worth it to many people to try and counterfeit them, so they don't need as many safeguards. If they catch a counterfeit chip in a casino, they can probably track it back to the specific table and narrow down who might have played it using the security cameras. There are people that have gotten away with counterfeiting chips for a while, but the ones who do it to any decent degree get caught.
On the other hand, you can spend a $100 bill almost anywhere in the world and no one is keeping track unless they think something suspicious is going on.
Bellagio Bandit: How One Man Robbed Vegas’ Biggest Casino and Almost Got Away
The high denomination chips such as the 5K and 25K at some casinos actually have serial numbers on them, and at casinos like Resorts World all chips are RFID tracked at at least the tables, but lose a chip, no matter what the denomination, and there is still no way for the casino to track it specifically meaning that you are SOL unless the person who ended up with your lost/stolen chip is somehow caught trying to cash a chip that doesn't seem to belong to him, or caught with something in his possession that clearly doesn't belong to him - i.e., caught by chance or circumstances.
Holders of the old style chips had to produce them in person and justify their ownership.
Quote: AlanMendelsonOn a side note...
I've often wondered why casino chips are so simple?
Look at all the details and safeguards in a $100 bill. Then look how simple casino chips are.
Of course I understand high value chips have RFID but lower value chips must be so easy to counterfeit.
Even $25:chips must be a target.
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I don't think you realize that casino chips actually are not that easy to counterfeit. I think more people have been successful changing the denominations of the chips than actually counterfeiting them.
Quote: AlanMendelsonOn a side note...
I've often wondered why casino chips are so simple?
Look at all the details and safeguards in a $100 bill. Then look how simple casino chips are.
Of course I understand high value chips have RFID but lower value chips must be so easy to counterfeit.
Even $25:chips must be a target.
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Color, sound, weight, size (diameter/thickness), UV, stamp marks, edge insert patterns/colors, edge printing, inset type, inset printing, clarity of print...
There was a pretty fascinating documentary. It's probably still floating around Youtube. I believe at peak production, the crew was converting about 20 chips a day, but I could be misremembering.
As well, he didn't get caught trying to cash them at the cage, but in trying to unload them to casino patrons, one of whom ended up cooperating with the police to lure Carleo into disclosing that he was the Bellagio robber.Quote: MDawgI believe it came down to that if the robber had given up on trying to cash in the 25Ks, he would have gotten away with it.
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An acquaintance of someone I know was caught with about ten thousand dollars of counterfeit $5. Vegas chips. The person was pulled over on or near the Strip for some relatively minor offense, and in an inventory search of the vehicle while it was being impounded the chips were found. The police didn't know that the chips were counterfeit, just suspected that something was amiss because of the quantities of such low denomination chips discovered away from the casino. An investigation revealed that they were counterfeit.
Quote: billryanIs it illegal to have counterfeit chips outside a casino? I'd think you'd have to be caught trying to use them or exchange them to be charged with a crime. Possibly if you are trying to sell them to someone as real, but simply possessing a knockoff of a private company's chips shouldn't be much of a crime.
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There is a question in the art world that asks "is it art or is it counterfeiting" to produce duplicates of art, currency, and I guess this could apply to casino chips too.
I think there are Legal opinions on this.
What I do know well are the regulations on currency.
Copies of coins MUST have the word COPY impressed into the coin.
Copies of bills cannot be the same size as US currency and can't be printed on both sides of the paper. The difference in size is also set by law.
What about fake "Bellagio chips" for your home game? I don't know.
Quote: billryanIs it illegal to have counterfeit chips outside a casino?
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NRS 465.080 seems pretty clear.
Quote: NRS 465.080NRS 465.080 Possession, use, sale or manufacture of counterfeit, unapproved or unlawful instruments or items; possession of certain unlawful devices or paraphernalia for manufacturing slugs.
1. It is unlawful for any licensee, employee or other person, not a duly authorized employee of a licensee acting in furtherance of his or her employment within an establishment, to possess, use, sell or manufacture counterfeit chips, counterfeit debit instruments or other counterfeit wagering instruments in a gambling game, associated equipment or a cashless wagering system.
I'm struggling to come up with a punchline here.
Quote: DieterQuote: billryanIs it illegal to have counterfeit chips outside a casino?
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NRS 465.080 seems pretty clear.Quote: NRS 465.080NRS 465.080 Possession, use, sale or manufacture of counterfeit, unapproved or unlawful instruments or items; possession of certain unlawful devices or paraphernalia for manufacturing slugs.
1. It is unlawful for any licensee, employee or other person, not a duly authorized employee of a licensee acting in furtherance of his or her employment within an establishment, to possess, use, sell or manufacture counterfeit chips, counterfeit debit instruments or other counterfeit wagering instruments in a gambling game, associated equipment or a cashless wagering system.
I'm struggling to come up with a punchline here.
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But what if you're a collector of counterfeits? I know people who collect counterfeit coins.
What if you use them in a home game played without real money bets?
I think there's an argument that can be made if the chips were not "in a gambling game."
Or, am I missing something or misreading something?
I was thinking that a collection of counterfeit chips might be interesting next to a collection of prison casino chips from when Nevada allowed prison casinos.
Found this on Ebay:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/125121886854?hash=item1d21d87a86:g:bfUAAOSw5Cxh80h5
Quote: AlanMendelson
What if you use them in a home game played without real money bets?
I think there's an argument that can be made if the chips were not "in a gambling game."
Or, am I missing something or misreading something?
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(quote trimmed)
I'd have to read through the historical versions to see what was added when. Diagramming sentences written over decades by committee is a nuisance.
You hit it exactly. It seems possibly ambiguous if the term is "wagering instruments in a gambling game" or if the "in a gambling game" applies to the distributed list of counterfeit items. I doubt that the manufacture of counterfeits would need to occur while seated at a blackjack table to run afoul, so my feeling is that "in a gambling game" applies to the wagering instruments.
My instinct is to truncate the text right after "counterfeit chips".
"It may not be illegal, but don't do that. You're gonna get arrested; you're gonna go to jail." -- some advice I'm sure I'm misremembering from a podcast.
Quote: AlanMendelsonCopies of bills cannot be the same size as US currency and can't be printed on both sides of the paper.
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The bill I found on the ground that had the religious message on the back was smaller, and printed on one side only.
However the other one was same size and printed on both sides.
THIS money that I found, was real.
EDIT: I remembered the story wrong. The guy's name was Louis Colavecchio and he was sentenced to seven years in prison, not one. But as a funny side note to the story, after he was arrested they auctioned off his counterfeiting equipment on eBay. WTF?!?
Here's an Amazon special for a replacement.
This set actually has red chips.
500 Poker Chip Set for Texas Holdem, Blackjack, Gambling with Carrying Case, Cards, Buttons and Dice Style Casino Chips (11.5 gram) by Trademark Poker
https://tinyurl.com/yakbzs5z
More than 20 years ago a private mint in LA that made gaming tokens for casinos went out of business. The tokens included $5, $25 and $100 slot tokens.
At the bankruptcy auction for the Mint SAMPLE tokens for a Vegas casino were sold. I dont remember the casino.
The buyer of the sample tokens paid only a few dollars for the sample tokens.
The buyer took them to the casino's cage -- and had them cashed. The cage checked the tokens, checked the mint mark (the authentication stamp from the company) and accepted the tokens even though that new design was not yet in use.
The buyer had something like an $800 profit.
The Fake Chip Collateral Scam
Seems unimaginable that anyone would fall for such a scam, let alone even show up to do such a thing, but apparently the scam is tried and proven.
Or so the pitch went. My sister had a friend of a friend who was "lending the book" $500 on Thursday and getting back $540 on Tuesday. She brought it to my attention and no matter what I said, she knew this was a great investment. As a new investor, she was limited to $500 investment, and sure enough, each week she had between $515 and $550 delivered to her house a few days after she sent them $500. Every week, she would bring up how wrong I was to tell her it was a scam.
The playoffs came and because of increased betting, the casinos needed bigger funding and because of her excellent record, she would now be allowed to invest up to $10,000. The money was always sent in cash, via Fed Ex. I tried to explain that crooks use Fed Ex to avoid mail fraud charges but my sister knew better.
She wanted to send the whole $10,000 but her husband and son talked her into sending only $2500. She never heard from the people again.
That’s an APR of about 27000 %Quote: billryan
Or so the pitch went. My sister had a friend of a friend who was "lending the book" $500 on Thursday and getting back $540 on Tuesday.
Sounds too good to be true
Quote: Ace2That’s an APR of about 27000 %Quote: billryan
Or so the pitch went. My sister had a friend of a friend who was "lending the book" $500 on Thursday and getting back $540 on Tuesday.
Sounds too good to be true
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It was obviously too good to be true, and along with the sending cash through Fed Ex., set off multiple alarms. I even googled the address she was sending the money to and there were two reports of scams associated with the address. Sometimes the prospect of easy money makes otherwise intelligent people do silly things.
However, there are of course degrees. Getting sheared perhaps, but not skinned.
Note: Lately, for security reasons, session reports are not necessarily presented in real time corresponding directly to the day played.
Seriously once you achieve Seven Stars the offers start flowing mightily and I even told them not to mail me anything and yet paper offers flow constantly too including from sister properties.
I think we could take a staycation to Tahoe and spend a week with thousands in freeplay and have them pay airfare back and forth for four people at the freebie rates they are offering.
Quote: MDawgCaesars Rewards definitely does fill the inbox with offers more so than any other casino - freeplay, free stays, free airfare, free dinners, free concert tickets free this free that. All I've done is clobber them for winnings and the offers flow in just same, based on theo which is how I earned the tier credits. I've barely used any of the comps we have stayed at the property only once literally and the other couple times just figuratively in a basic room just to qualify for a given offer, a basic room where I went upstairs just to look around and did not stay.
Seriously once you achieve Seven Stars the offers start flowing mightily and I even told them not to mail me anything and yet paper offers flow constantly too including from sister properties.
I think we could take a staycation to Tahoe and spend a week with thousands in freeplay and have them pay airfare back and forth for four people at the freebie rates they are offering.
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They will pay for your airfare and also send a limo to pick you up in Reno and take you to Tahoe. I have taken advantage of that many times. They also do this for us lowly Diamond players. It is so easy to beat Caesar's.
Quote: MDawgAt the other end of the spectrum Resorts World Vegas doesn't seem to be offering up nearly as much as it should given that it is the new kid on the block and looking for friends.
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They might not need to depending on their financials.
Or maybe they just don't know what they're doing.
There are more expensive Japanese Wagyus, but this one is solid.
We have had this steak both in house and take out. It costs a bit over a hunsky, but then, this is Vegas and we're on a full comp always, anyway.
Done medium rare, of course.
Quote: MDawgThis ended up being one of our favorite steaks in Vegas. It is a domestic Wagyu - a 10 oz. Dry Aged Snake River Farms Gold Grade New York Strip. Normally I don't care for NY Steak - a little too lean, prefer ribeye, but THIS particular NY, perhaps because it is Wagyu, has more than sufficient marbling in it.
There are more expensive Japanese Wagyus, but this one is solid.
We have had this steak both in house and take out. It costs a bit over a hunsky, but then, this is Vegas and we're on a full comp always, anyway.
Speaking od steaks, the Waffle House sells more T-Bone steaks than any other restaurant in the country.
Quote: MDawg
THE DRAWING:
ALL RIGHT so believe it or not there are under 100 participants in this drawing. The maximum number of tickets a player may earn into the drum, no matter how hard a player plays during this time period of a few days, is actually a pretty small number. So, the odds of winning 200K or 100K CASH are actually ridiculously good, compared to any other lottery I have ever heard of with six figure prizes.
I currently have earned about 1/4 of the maximum number of tickets, during my two sessions. I don't expect to end up with even half of the max. You really would have to be playing a LOT of hours, like a madman, to max out tickets, but the fact that there is a fairly low ceiling to how many tickets any one person may earn, no matter what, levels the playing field pretty nicely.
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Quote: MDawgThere is good news and bad news, as they say.
Good news is that I did win something somewhat substantial in the drawing - five figures (but not in the top three). The bad news is that I had bad sessions at the tables (details to follow).
What was amazing is that the winner of the $200,000. lost out because was not present! Can you imagine? What's crazy is that in order to even get tickets in the drum had to be present past few days, but to collect had to be present during actual drawing. Where was this person? Had to go back home for an emergency? Playing at the tables and couldn't be bothered to get away? Anyway the person who won the $200K was ecstatic that the first name drawn was a No-Show!
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I thought I had posted this addendum already, but just realized that I had not.
The person who won the $200K (not the no show, but the second ticket out of the drum), had qualified to place only one ticket in the drum. Now THAT definitely proves the adage of that it takes only one to win!
I talked to others who had maxed out their tickets and won nothing.
I ended up with about 1/4 of the max tickets and won five figures.
Quote: MDawgT-Bone is, what? Tenderloin on top and Striploin on the bottom? But is that tenderloin in a T-Bone the same as a filet mignon?
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Yes it’s a filet mignon if cut from the bone. T-bone is a thin version of a porterhouse.
Looks like a good cut, but that steak is between medium and medium well. It's way beyond medium rare...another few minutes of cooking and there would be no pink remaining at allQuote: MDawg
Done medium rare, of course.
