Palace Station: Praise to Palace Station for Correcting Player Error

It isn't often that a casino will correct a player strategy error after the fact, but I witnessed them do that at the Palace Station yesterday. I was playing tiles, and cocktail waitress trivia, with JB at the Palace Station yesterday. The Asian lady to my right started to take an interest so I asked her some questions. She said she was from Taiwan so I asked her what are the four "Asian Tigers" and where Chiang Kai-shek is buried. She got neither right, and blamed it on being in the U.S. for 30 years. So I said, "Okay, then tell me where Elvis is buried." She started to talk about it with another Asian player at the table. Mississippi was mentioned, to which his birth city became a secondary question. In short, she was very flummoxed by the question, and seemed embarrassed to not know. I finally had to put her out of her misery and tell her the answer.

After all this she was dealt 2-2-H10-H8. Any tile player would know the correct play is to maintain the pair and play pair-8, which has an expected value of +84.5%. Instead, she played gong-2, which is worse in both the high and low, for an expected value of -13.3%. It was an absolutely terrible play, because she was still thinking about Elvis and didn't notice the pair.

When the dealer turned over his tiles he was stunned at how she played it and called over the floor man. I don't know what she said in Chinese but I could tell she was muttering the names of states. I also chimed in and took the blame for distracting her. To make a long story short (I know -- too late) he reset the hand to pair-8, for a win instead of a push, on what I believe was about a $50 bet.

I think most casinos would have a policy that the player is responsible for his own hand, and that the player was SOL in that situation. So, due praise to the Palace Station for extending the player a little grace and forgiveness. By the way, the player noticed me on my way out and treated me to a sandwich at Subway, for which she had a comp. I should also add that earlier the floorman gave JB, who was betting $20 a hand, a cigarette token without having to be asked.

Cool. What's a cigarette token?

Gold Star for Palace Station! For player errors, Casinos seem to fall into three main categories:
1. No Forgiveness: you screw up and your money is gone
2. Some Forgiveness: for certain situations, they'll help you out
3. Complete Forgiveness: they'll do what's right, and many times go above and beyond, as a company policy

Casinos that adhere to policy #1, I won't frequent. Greektown in Detroit I've had good experience with- they actually pulled back collected cards on a Pai Gow Poker bet to reset a player's hand- from a push to a win after someone spoke up! Now that's customer service!

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Quote: Ibeatyouraces

I've never seen an instance where a player was not allowed to reset a hand in either of these games so I cannot exactly give Palace Station any praise for doing something ordinary. In fact just yesterday at Motorcity a player was allowed to reset a loss to a win in PGP. Now when surveilence calls down to correct something in the players favor, then its a different story.

My experience has been that most places seem to allow for a one-time change: resetting the hand but warning the player that "next time", probably not.
I think Greektown went above and beyond actually pulling cards out of the collected pile to reset things. I've personally experienced having my bet collected after placing my high hand in the low hand spot and vice-versa at a certain casino up North: I don't frequent them anymore...

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Once at the Mandalay Bay, where I was a very good player at the time, I didn't notice a pair in pai gow and made a similar error to the one in my story. The dealer asked the floor if it could be set to the obvious best play. The floor made a call to somebody. In the end I got denied.

Also, once at the Grand in Biloxi I fouled my hand in pai gow poker, and lost automatically. It would be a nice gesture that if the player fouls his hand then it be set to the house way.

To answer the question above, a cigarette token is something you can give the cigarette/cigar woman in exchange for a pack, or take it directly to the vending machine.

Normally a Stations casino might not be quite so generous but they know they are not on the Strip and don't have a humungous "nut" so a little slack to regular customers is a good policy for them.

I guess if casinos encourage cigarette smoking they might as well comp it from time to time. I hate the charges those cigarette girls levy if I'm with someone who smokes but worse is the great hunt for the hidden vending machine.

Quote: Ibeatyouraces

I've never seen an instance where a player was not allowed to reset a hand in either of these games so I cannot exactly give Palace Station any praise for doing something ordinary.

No, this is NOT ordinary. If a player fouls his hand, standard procedures is that it is a loss the player swallows. For a so-called "mean and evil" casino operation to both forgive and pay a player - on the player's mistake, mind you - IS very fine, and should be acknowledged.

Quote: IbeatyourAces

In fact just yesterday at Motorcity a player was allowed to reset a loss to a win in PGP. Now when surveilence calls down to correct something in the players favor, then its a different story.

1. What difference does it make if surveillance or the Casino pit or "The Floor" carry out this act for forgiveness, so as long as the player catches the break?
2. The Surveillance department cannot do this, as they are responsible for surveying the ENTIRE casino, and are not "department attached." It is the table games pit supervision who decide and resolve all table game calls.

Quote: Paigowdan

For a so-called "mean and evil" casino operation to both forgive and pay a player - on the player's mistake, mind you - IS very fine, and should be acknowledged.

With the proliferation of gaming, casinos can definitely differentiate themselves by correcting certain player mistakes: it generates such good will- and they will ultimately have positive ROI from the act to boot. I think smart management gets this, and others do not. Competition is good.

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Quote: Ibeatyouraces

What I'm saying is if they catch a mistake that favors the player, they should call down to report it and correct it just as they would do when a player is mistakenly paid on a loss. Sure not every instance is caught, but regardless who it favors, if it IS caught, it should be fixed.

They do - all mispays and dealer errors are simply that - dealer errors and mispays to be corrected, regardless of direction. Fouled hands are player errors, not dealer errors, and Table game calls are handled by the floor supervisors, not surveillance. Again, surveillance watches the whole place, and spends a lot of time with the property's security concerns.

LoL, total hijack..but isn't it:
1.) Memphis, TN (Graceland to be exact; right next to his twin brother)
2.) Tupelo, MS

Four tigers...
Trivia: Can you name the four "tiger cub' economies?

Chiang Kai-shek was entombed for about thirty years after his death, unburied.
I believe he is now buried in Taipei, but I remember there was controversy surrounding the funeral.

Quote: WongBo

Chiang Kai-shek was entombed for about thirty years after his death, unburied. I believe he is now buried in Taipei, but I remember there was controversy surrounding the funeral.

Dang! I told that lady at the table the wrong answer. I confused Chiang Kai-shek with Sun Yat Sen, and said he was laid to rest in Nanjing. I should have known better, as I went to that memorial in 2009.

Quote: Wizard

Dang! I told that lady at the table the wrong answer. I confused Chiang Kai-shek with Sun Yat Sen, and said he was laid to rest in Nanjing. I should have known better, as I went to that memorial in 2009.

I've been to both CKS and SYS's tombs, in Nanjing and Taipei, respectively. They couldn't be more different. SYS's is in the old presidential palace, in a peaceful garden. CKS is a really gaudy mausoleum with a million steps, but kinda cool. I have pictures somewhere that I would post if I could.

Would you have given me a two-team parlay that I could name both their resting places? :)