Golden Nugget on 8/11

I just spent a three day weekend at the GN. I'd never stayed downtown but we went with another couple who loved it there so I went along. I have to admit I was very pleasantly surprised. Before I went there I established a line of credit on line and soon after got a call from one of the hosts. She took the room that I had booked and upgraded us a notch.

We were almost an hour late because of the airline and some bad directions by the gate agent. Our host had arranged a limo for us and, to my surprise, he was still there despite our delay. He told us to stay put until he came to our area and then pulled up in a long golden limo.

We met our host and checked in at the VIP area. The room was nice but could have used some more light. The safe was broken but it didn't matter to us.

We ate at the buffet, which was nothing special, and the Chart House, which was excellent. Our group also left the hotel to see the Mob Museam. If you're downtown that's a must see.

Freemont Street was a freak show although in a tacky way, not a bad one. What bothered me about it was all the bad parents who had their kids out there. Vegas is and always be gambling, hookers, and booze. It's not a family destination.

I played craps almost exclusively, betting the darkside, taking a 5K marker and betting $100 a roll. My wife is a slot jockey and came out ahead. I was troubled at the crap table because NOBODY was tipping the dealers, except myself. The drink service at the table was very slow but when I played Black Jack they came every 15 minutes. Go figure.

As an aside, the cards in the shoe were reshuffled manually-no machines. I can't remember the last time I saw that.

There was more to see and do but we only stayed those few days. Before we left I spoke to another host since my original one was off duty and he comped the entire trip except for the gratuities so our final bill was $30.

I'm honestly curious if they comped everything because a) I was just smart enough to ask a host b) was betting big enough to be considered a high roller on Freemont Street or c) word got back that I was (not to blow my own horn) the only one tipping the dealers.

I've been to Vegas 20-25 times and I'd definite go back to the GN.

Does getting a LOC necessitate a pull on your credit, or do they just call up your bank? Any harm in getting a $10k line if I'm just betting quarters?

Don't know how I missed this.

For what it's worth, GN is the highest caliber hotel/casino on Fremont. I.E. It's the closest thing to a strip resort that Fremont has.

Quote: Timesharemooch

Fremont Street was a freak show although in a tacky way, not a bad one. What bothered me about it was all the bad parents who had their kids out there. Vegas is and always be gambling, hookers, and booze. It's not a family destination.

You're preaching to the choir here....

Quote: Timesharemooch

I'm honestly curious if they comped everything because a) I was just smart enough to ask a host b) was betting big enough to be considered a high roller on Freemont Street or c) word got back that I was (not to blow my own horn) the only one tipping the dealers.

Probably all three. In most systems, there's a field in the customer tracking system for tokes.

And good for you for those tokes.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

Don't know how I missed this.

For what it's worth, GN is the highest caliber hotel/casino on Fremont. I.E. It's the closest thing to a strip resort that Fremont has.


You're preaching to the choir here....


Probably all three. In most systems, there's a field in the customer tracking system for tokes.

And good for you for those tokes.

IF YOU ARE PENALIZED FOR NOT TIPPING, THEN I GUESS TIPPING IS NOT VOLUNTARY AFTER ALL ?

Quote: sixsisters

IF YOU ARE PENALIZED FOR NOT TIPPING, THEN I GUESS TIPPING IS NOT VOLUNTARY AFTER ALL ?

Discretionary comps are also voluntary. If you tip, but are a jerk, you probably won't get those comps…

Quote: sixsisters

IF YOU ARE PENALIZED FOR NOT TIPPING, THEN I GUESS TIPPING IS NOT VOLUNTARY AFTER ALL ?

There is no penalty for not tipping, there is only a level of customer service that is commensurate to your level as a customer. You can volunteer whatever tips you want and they will volunteer whatever comps they want

Visiting in the middle of August may have also helped as that's a slow time for Las Vegas

Quote: DJTeddyBear

For what it's worth, GN is the highest caliber hotel/casino on Fremont. I.E. It's the closest thing to a strip resort that Fremont has.

Sure, as long as you're comparing it to the dumpiest of strip casinos.

The Golden Nugget is one tricky animal for me to figure out. My friends and family get all kinds of mailers that do not compliment one another even though we are playing the same games and put the same amount of coin in. I wouldn't doubt that they rate on loss and not coin in. I beat them out of 9k in the pit and it was very difficult to get 100 dollars in comp for Vic and Anthony's. I lost 3k in Reels and the Host told me that a 3k loss is nothing and will generate nothing which I know is a F'ing lie from the pit of hell! He also told me that they are not a downtown Casino lol... they are a Strip Casino located downtown. My wife hardly plays and gets great mail. It's obvious they have something in the computer about me since I was with my friend who beat them out of 400k at the Dice Table and for years when they had a .6 card and really good VP I beat them out of a ton of dough. They even moved the Deuce Progressive game and didn't reset it correctly and it was a 5% winner which I beat them out of 8k in 3 weeks. IMHO they are an evil place to play these days for edge players. Still beatable but so many better choices downtown right next door... I only play at the GN when I find a weak spot. I will tell you this. If you generate Free Play make sure you give them some play when taking it off. If you just keep going in and taking the Free Play only they will cut you for sure.

Quote: monet0412

It's obvious they have something in the computer about me since I was with my friend who beat them out of 400k at the Dice Table

Please tell us more about this...

1. How did he/she win 400 K at the Dice Table? (I mean what sort of bets, size, time)

2. Why did his/her good fortune, in your opinion?, result in something negative/positive as far as you were concerned?

Thanks and regards.

Casino mailings are rarely based on one computer program but are usually based on a hodgepodge of different programs with different data and different weighting factors. There is usually a time lag as well.

Anyone plunking down a black chip at every bet can get a Tray Lizard sent over. If you ask the Floorman he will promptly go to a phone and MAY actually make a phone call even though he has no real authority over the beverage service scheduling. Anyone "doing the Lord's work" (tipping) will usually get a Tray Lizard on demand even if they have to send the Pit Clerk to find a CW, tip her and drag her over to the dice pit. It does vary particularly by time of day and staffing levels.

This was quite some time ago but when I called out "Dealers Wearing Black Shoes" (meaning dealers have Black in the Don't Come and a Black Chip as Odds on it) I saw the entire crew suddenly wake up and stay alert. Later on alot of big players at the other end of the table started tipping heavily but the crew sure notices who is the first to not only tip but to give the dealers bet shoes.

Sometimes a host simply does not like a player and its up to the player to decide if he should seek redress or vote with his feet. There was an old ditty: I do not love thee Doctor Fell, I can not tell you why, but this I know and know full well: I do not love thee Doctor Fell. If some host/casino/casino computer program thinks you are Doctor Fell... vote with your feet.

Quote: NokTang

Please tell us more about this...

1. How did he/she win 400 K at the Dice Table? (I mean what sort of bets, size, time)

2. Why did his/her good fortune, in your opinion?, result in something negative/positive as far as you were concerned?

Thanks and regards.

I've told the story a few times on this website. If you search my posts I think you can find it pretty easily. I'll keep it short. He started with 6k if I remember correctly. Its been almost 2 years now. We were playing VP and Poker that night and as usual he fell into the dice pit. I left to go across the street and came back 20 mins later or so. He had 75k in front of him and was betting large amounts. I think I came back 10 mins or so later and he was busted lol. He said he was going home to get his case 10k and would see me later. He took a Taxi and I was playing some Reel Machine at the Fremont. I didn't see it but he went to the 4 Queens and ran his 10k up some. The next time I seen him he was back at the GN. He didn't even tell me that he was at the 4 Queens. Our host asked told me about it and asked where he went. I was playing VP at the 4 Queens on some crazy rush wining 2700 without making Aces or a Royal on DB. I lost 3k playing some Reel Machine at the Fremont so I was still losing. When I ran into my friend he had a ton of 1000 dollar checks and was betting 500 to 2000 flat with full odds. As he likes to do he was DCing and placing the 6 and 8 bringing them down after so many rolls. Anyways I would leave and check back on him and he had rows of 1k checks and 5k checks and showed me 100 grand in cash inside his light jacket lol. I ended up borrowing 100k in cash off of him to put in my room safe at the Fremont just in case he got flat. After 12-14 hours on the dice table he left for a taxi with 300k plus in his jacket and I was sleeping across the street. I woke up and my wife came down for breakfast and we went to his place to give him his dough which we did. He ended up going broke a few months later. Completely Flat eventually pawning everything. I did see him driving the car he bought a month or so ago so at least he kept that lol.

We went to the host a few times and getting comps was like pulling teeth. It was like they seen how much he won and they didn't want to give him anything. They never really sent him good offers like the GN of years ago. When you win large amounts of cash from the Casino they get funny about it even if your playing a game that you have no chance of beating. I ended up playing some dice with him in the weeks after the big win and he won over 20k and I won over 9k and it was tough getting comps from the hosts for him and for me when I was by myself. I am just saying they aren't all about just coin in like some Casinos. Heck all the Casinos are funny about comps when your winning. Some places are better since they have comp and cash back built into the players card which is what I prefer anyway.

I don' think winning 400k and not getting large comps or offers is a negative result by the way. I think having 400k in cash is by far better than comp or mail. F them if they don't want to give the guy comps when he was betting over 20k a roll for over 10 hours!!

Edit:

Just for the record when this guy plays dice and drinks he tips like a madman. I know for a fact he tipped well into the thousands so it does not really make a difference about if you tip or don't tip. For us it is just part of the culture. We have worked both sides of the tipping fence and aren't going to stiff anyone in the industry.

Also they had suits watching his every move for hours with disgust on their faces. One box man made a snide remark about how he will go broke inside of a year if he keeps betting like this. I've been with him at other dice tables where everyone was betting very small amounts and the floor and box would laugh about how great it was that nobody was betting big this time. These employee's are some a--holes IMHO. You don't want to offend your customers. They just don't care anymore. They just want you to not drink or ask for anything and leave your money at the door before you come in. Gone are the days where management was nice to the gamblers and tried to get you to be a loyal repeat customer/player.

It used to be that comps were based on money you put at risk and that your individual results (wining or losing) did not really matter unless it was an unusually extreme amount of either winnings or losses. With large winnings or large, fast losses you would get a sweetener on your comps to keep you happy.

Way, way back in the days of old when records were kept on file cards, neither wins nor losses were noted, only money put at risk.

Now in this day of age of MBAs and computer programs restricting host discretion, I'm told things have changed in many casinos but do not know any details or recent events.

Never worked for a casino, but I can imagine the reason pit bosses often get a sour attitude about winning players, those that are winning big, is because someone above them asks "wtf is going on down there?" at some point and they have to answer to that. Of course, the acceptable answer should be that someone has just gotten lucky, is all, and the house should be happy about it as long as we can make sure the guy does the rest of his gambling here, in which case he will lose it all back with us and not somebody else.

Can I believe that answer is not accepted? Yes, because all businesses tend to be the same - on no single day does the pressure to make money cease. On no single day does anyone up at the top ever want to hear it was a bad day. You might think a casino business would be different, more ready to accept ups and downs, but I think stories like this show that is not always the case.

Quote: odiousgambit

Never worked for a casino, but I can imagine the reason pit bosses often get a sour attitude about winning players, those that are winning big, is because someone above them asks "wtf is going on down there?" at some point and they have to answer to that. Of course, the acceptable answer should be that someone has just gotten lucky, is all, and the house should be happy about it as long as we can make sure the guy does the rest of his gambling here, in which case he will lose it all back with us and not somebody else.

Can I believe that answer is not accepted? Yes, because all businesses tend to be the same - on no single day does the pressure to make money cease. On no single day does anyone up at the top ever want to hear it was a bad day. You might think a casino business would be different, more ready to accept ups and downs, but I think stories like this show that is not always the case.

It wasn't always like this. These are low level employees who are in the pit that think the money is theirs which it is not. In the old days the bosses would shake your hand and act happy if you were on a hot streak. They damn sure would do anything to keep you on property till you gave it back or some of it back. Nowadays they could care less and many of them get ugly in the pit that is. Slot people always act happy on big jackpots. A few months ago I was up over 30k in one place and asked for a room. The Casino manager and slots manager on grave refused because all rooms were taken. I said I know for a fact you keep rooms open for management or high rollers or VIPs. They agreed but said only dayshift has the power to give me one of those rooms. I told them no problem... down the street this other Casino loves me and would be glad to give me a room and take my action. I ended up losing 10k over there. Corporate Casinos don't care about people. They have their rules and they stick to them. The GN is one of those types... more so than others.

Before my time in the 50's up to the 90s it was even better but you might of got rolled in the parking lot!