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EvenBob
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August 16th, 2012 at 6:57:47 PM permalink
Discovery Channel owned cable channel Destination America
has a new series starting Aug 19th (this Sunday) called
'Cheating Vegas'. I have Comcast Xfinity and thats channel
113 here. We need to watch so we can make fun of it later.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
midwestgb
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August 16th, 2012 at 7:14:09 PM permalink
While we're at it, screenings of the other Vegas show on CBS, with D. Quaid, will be warranted... http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/tca-2012-vegas-dennis-quaid-cbs-ralph-lamb-michael-chiklis-355705
EvenBob
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August 16th, 2012 at 7:34:50 PM permalink
Quote: midwestgb

While we're at it, screenings of the other Vegas show on CBS, with D. Quaid, will be warranted...



The only problem I have with Quaid's Quaid's show is
the whole thing is filmed at Santa Clarita Studios in
LA. The pilot was in NM. None of it is being filmed
is Vegas. At least on the last Las Vegas show, with
James Caan, the pilot was shot in Vegas, and lots
of exterior shots of the Strip were in every episode.



"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
odiousgambit
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August 17th, 2012 at 12:15:32 AM permalink
I've caught some "Breaking Vegas" episodes lately on "History-2" channel [note this is not the MIT-team movie but a TV series]. So, there is a chance to catch some of those still, perhaps. I saw 2 episodes, one of which I had not seen before.
the next time Dame Fortune toys with your heart, your soul and your wallet, raise your glass and praise her thus: “Thanks for nothing, you cold-hearted, evil, damnable, nefarious, low-life, malicious monster from Hell!”   She is, after all, stone deaf. ... Arnold Snyder
FleaStiff
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August 17th, 2012 at 2:07:49 AM permalink
One show will be "Fresh Butter Hyped, Decades old margarine provided".

The other show is more a period piece constantly set in Vegas of 1960. Old Time Coyboy Sheriff Tangles with Old Time Mafioso Big Wind.
DJTeddyBear
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August 17th, 2012 at 6:04:29 AM permalink
Quote: EvenBob

Wait a sec ...

Is that supposed to be Vegas? With a sidewalk newsstand? And PARKING METERS... on a pedestrian mall?

I mean, are we supposed to think that the above location is the same as this?

Admin note: removed image www.djteddybear.com/images/golden_nugget.JPG
I invented a few casino games. Info: http://www.DaveMillerGaming.com/ ————————————————————————————————————— Superstitions are silly, childish, irrational rituals, born out of fear of the unknown. But how much does it cost to knock on wood? 😁
Ibeatyouraces
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August 17th, 2012 at 6:08:02 AM permalink
deleted
DUHHIIIIIIIII HEARD THAT!
zippyboy
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August 17th, 2012 at 7:11:18 AM permalink
Quote: EvenBob

Discovery Channel owned cable channel Destination America
has a new series starting Aug 19th (this Sunday) called
'Cheating Vegas'. I have Comcast Xfinity and thats channel
113 here. We need to watch so we can make fun of it later.


Oh no! It comes on the same time as Breaking Bad!
"Poker sure is an easy game to beat if you have the roll to keep rebuying."
NickyDim
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August 17th, 2012 at 8:05:52 AM permalink
Quote: Ibeatyouraces

Quote: DJTeddyBear

Quote: EvenBob

Wait a sec ...

Is that supposed to be Vegas? With a sidewalk newsstand? And PARKING METERS... on a pedestrian mall?

I mean, are we supposed to think that the above location is the same as this?

Admin note: removed image www.djteddybear.com/images/golden_nugget.JPG


It's supposed to be old Vegas, not new Vegas.



And the reason why they are not filming in LV.

Hi all, just joined.
"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."-Ben Franklin
JohnnyQ
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August 17th, 2012 at 10:56:56 AM permalink
I'm looking forward to the Dennis Quaid / Michael Chiklis
series. I saw a preview of it somewhere, and I thought
it looked good. I think the 2 lead actors are pretty
talented.
There's emptiness behind their eyes There's dust in all their hearts They just want to steal us all and take us all apart
EvenBob
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August 17th, 2012 at 11:26:51 AM permalink
Its the early 60's Vegas and they built the whole
set in LA so Dennis Quaid could go home every
night. I kid you not. The 60's are very hot right
now, Mad Men has won best drama 4 years in a
row.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
DJTeddyBear
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August 17th, 2012 at 11:54:20 AM permalink
Well, if it's a period piece where they can't use actual locations even if they wanted to, then I don't know what the problem is.

Build it and film it wherever you want.

Although I still question whether Golden Nugget had a brick wall with a newsstand out front. I'm inclinded to believe that there WERE parking meters on Fremont back in the day...
I invented a few casino games. Info: http://www.DaveMillerGaming.com/ ————————————————————————————————————— Superstitions are silly, childish, irrational rituals, born out of fear of the unknown. But how much does it cost to knock on wood? 😁
EvenBob
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August 17th, 2012 at 12:04:24 PM permalink
Quote: DJTeddyBear



Build it and film it wherever you want.



Mad men is all about NYC and the whole thing
is fimed in LA, even the neighborhood outdoor
scenes. NYC is a nightmare to film in anyway.

The whole big Montecito Casino in the Las Vegas
TV show was a huge set in Burbank. If you watch
it closely, its supposed to be the biggest joint in
Vegas, but they only have one craps table, one
roulette wheel, maybe three BJ tables, and zero
carnival games. Mabbe 50 slots. But everything
is cleverly spread out and you don't really notice.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
EvenBob
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August 19th, 2012 at 1:54:25 PM permalink
Don't forget to check out Cheating Vegas tonight
on Destination America channel at 10pm. Its a
Discocery Channel offshoot, check your TV schedule
to find the channel, mine is 113 on Xfinity. The show
might not suck, but don't count on it.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
EvenBob
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August 19th, 2012 at 8:15:58 PM permalink
Watched the first ep, not bad at all. Loved all the info
about Aria surveillance. Looks like the security room
on the old Las Vegas show, with all the big color
screens. Its a quality show compared to dogs like
Breaking Vegas, which was pretty cheesy. I'll be watching
the coming ep's for sure.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
zippyboy
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August 19th, 2012 at 8:57:54 PM permalink
Yeah, but much footage they played while they spoke about Aria was dated April 2008, and Aria wasn't opened yet.

We saw much footage using El Cortez cards...I wonder what thye paid for that right?

I liked how during the mini-bac scam story, they mention after the perps were caught, that the perps had to pay back the casino, AND the IRS! Ha! "We caught you cheating, and you have to pay them back, but we want OUR cut by God!" ---love always, the IRS
"Poker sure is an easy game to beat if you have the roll to keep rebuying."
MrV
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August 19th, 2012 at 11:17:46 PM permalink
Quote: DJTeddyBear

Although I still question whether Golden Nugget had a brick wall with a newsstand out front. I'm inclinded to believe that there WERE parking meters on Fremont back in the day...



This is earlier than the sixties, but it's illustrative:

"What, me worry?"
EvenBob
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August 19th, 2012 at 11:25:35 PM permalink
Quote: MrV

This is earlier than the sixties, but it's illustrative:



From all the late 40's cars, I date this to the very early 50's.
Cool pic.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
FarFromVegas
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August 20th, 2012 at 9:56:57 AM permalink
I had set the timer to this show but didn't get home in time to watch it. I'll try to catch one of the repeats tomorrow.
Each of us is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts. Preparing for a fight about your bad decision is not as smart as making a good decision.
rxwine
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August 20th, 2012 at 12:11:44 PM permalink
Quote:




I'd take any of those cars that I can see. Even though, the ones in the foreground are taxis I believe.
There's no secret. Just know what you're talking about before you open your mouth.
EvenBob
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August 26th, 2012 at 4:39:57 PM permalink
Don't forget to check out Cheating Vegas tonight
on Destination America channel at 10pm. Its a
Discocery Channel offshoot, check your TV schedule
to find the channel, mine is 113 on Xfinity. The last
episode was pretty good.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
ten2win
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August 26th, 2012 at 5:06:11 PM permalink
286 on DIRECTV.
I don't know everything but I know a lot.
ThatDonGuy
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August 26th, 2012 at 6:31:25 PM permalink
465 (1465 for HD) on U-Verse - but it's on the U300 tier, which is $15/month more than the level with most of the non-premium channels.
EvenBob
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August 26th, 2012 at 8:26:01 PM permalink
Great show, lots of detail about the different slot
cheating devices that were used in the 80's thru
2006. They had the guy on that invented most of
them. He got away it with mostly, for decades.

I was amazed at the amount of time a slot cheating
family got in 2008. 16 years for one and 22 years
for the other. Vegas don't like them cheaters..
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
FleaStiff
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August 26th, 2012 at 9:14:21 PM permalink
Anyway you look at it, no surveillance department is going to be giving away its secrets.

And if those idiots at GN in Atlantic City couldn't detect an ordered deck, then what is surveillance doing?
Mission146
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August 27th, 2012 at 7:49:58 AM permalink
Quote: FleaStiff

..what is surveillance doing?



I'm thinking they would have caught it if not for Internet porn. I'm kidding, of course.
https://wizardofvegas.com/forum/off-topic/gripes/11182-pet-peeves/120/#post815219
buzzpaff
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August 27th, 2012 at 8:00:58 AM permalink
Quote: Mission146

I'm thinking they would have caught it if not for Internet porn. I'm kidding, of course.




Anytime you laugh at something, if you examine it, you will find TRUTH.

Debbie Does Dallas or Vicki Visits Vegas. What were the guys watching ?

Or was it classic week : Deep Throat !
Paradigm
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August 27th, 2012 at 8:53:29 AM permalink
What amazed me about the show is what a big deal they made about the installation of security cameras. I didn't visit Vegas for the first time until 1988 and I thought they had had camera's everywhere for a long time. I guess it was a relatively new security feature.

You do have to wonder about surveillance as it would seem fairly easy to see these guys sticking 12" rod devices up the coin dispensing holes of the machines. That Carmichael fellow sure got away with a lot of device cheating for a long time and it didn't seem like he spent that much time behind bars even when they caught him.

I do think it was one of the better shows on cheating in Las Vegas I have seen.
EvenBob
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August 27th, 2012 at 10:48:26 AM permalink
Quote: Paradigm



You do have to wonder about surveillance as it would seem fairly easy to see these guys sticking 12" rod devices up the coin dispensing holes of the machines.



You have to know they're there and what to look for.
They weren't getting caught so surveillance wasn't
looking for them. There were BJ card counters around
before Thorp wrote his book but they never got caught
because the casino was unaware of them. You can get
away with a lot right under their noses if they have no
idea what you're doing.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
Paradigm
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August 27th, 2012 at 10:54:46 AM permalink
Excellent point Bob......these guys were coming up with a completely new angle to cheat......just seems like if anyone saw a player sticking something up a machine, they may not know what is going on, but they have to have known it wasn't clean.

Like you said, I guess no one was looking for a player doing that and as a result they didn't see what was happening "right under their nose".
EvenBob
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August 27th, 2012 at 11:31:40 AM permalink
Quote: Paradigm


Like you said, I guess no one was looking for a player doing that and as a result they didn't see what was happening "right under their nose".



Did you see the blond woman near the end, who went
to jail eventually? She was so fast using a light wand
that they said you couldn't catch her with the naked eye.
You could barely see it on a stop action camera. These
people are very good at what the do, thats why they
didn't get caught for so long.

Richard Marcus says the mechanic who did the past posting
moves on his team was so lightening fast you almost
couldn't see him make the move if you knew it was coming.
Thats why players didn't rat them out, they didn't know what
they just saw.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
buzzpaff
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August 27th, 2012 at 12:11:56 PM permalink
Even before Thorpe's book came out, John Scarne was barred from BJ in Vegas.

No way anybody would let him touch the cards. LOL
Paradigm
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August 27th, 2012 at 12:25:24 PM permalink
Quote: EvenBob

Did you see the blond woman near the end, who went
to jail eventually? She was so fast using a light wand
that they said you couldn't catch her with the naked eye.
You could barely see it on a stop action camera. These
people are very good at what the do, thats why they
didn't get caught for so long.

Richard Marcus says the mechanic who did the past posting
moves on his team was so lightening fast you almost
couldn't see him make the move if you knew it was coming.
Thats why players didn't rat them out, they didn't know what
they just saw.



Agree she was lighting quick, but the whole moving the purse and sticking her had in the coin bin looked suspicious all by itself and that happened in real time that could be seen.
ThatDonGuy
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August 27th, 2012 at 12:27:15 PM permalink
Quote: EvenBob

There were BJ card counters around
before Thorp wrote his book but they never got caught
because the casino was unaware of them.


Actually, card counting became quite "public" about 10 years before Thorp's book (if Amazon is correct in that it was published in 1966). There was a late-1950s episode of I've Got a Secret where one contestant's secret was that he was a card counter (and was going to teach panelist Henry Morgan how to do it).
EvenBob
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August 27th, 2012 at 12:28:55 PM permalink
Quote: ThatDonGuy

Thorp's book (if Amazon is correct in that it was published in 1966).



It came out in 1962. It was revised in 66.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
buzzpaff
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August 27th, 2012 at 2:04:10 PM permalink
Once again Bob is right. The tear out strategy cards were cardboard then, not plastic coated.

I think it was a $1.99 ??? New copy now at Hastings is $14.99
EvenBob
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August 27th, 2012 at 2:32:16 PM permalink
I remember Thorp mentioning that no casino in
Vegas allowed you to split aces for a long time,
in the 40's and 50's. Even in 1962, when the
book came out, it was on again off again as
regards to aces. Can you imagine the edge that
gave the casino?
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
kulin
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August 27th, 2012 at 2:38:30 PM permalink
I watched last nights episode and it showed that the slot machine that they short circuited with the "top and bottom join" was mechanical (levers slid into position and completed a circuit causing payout). Everything I've read on wizardofodds.com and from posters here has said that slots are computerized and the reel doesn't actually matter. It seems that no attempt was made to change the winning condition after the "top and bottom join" in the 80s. Is that because that was when all the slots became computerized and it was only practical to to work with the payment mechanisms? Are all slots in Vegas casinos now computerized or are there still mechanical slots on the floor?

I am not trying to cheat, was just having a conversation with someone where I repeated the idea that slots pick a number before the reels start/finish spinning and therefore it doesn't matter what you do and now I wonder if I may have been wrong in some cases.
Ibeatyouraces
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August 27th, 2012 at 3:44:16 PM permalink
deleted
DUHHIIIIIIIII HEARD THAT!
EvenBob
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August 27th, 2012 at 3:48:49 PM permalink
Quote: Ibeatyouraces

-0.18% according to WoO.



What is -.18%? Minus 18%?
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
Ibeatyouraces
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August 27th, 2012 at 4:07:41 PM permalink
deleted
DUHHIIIIIIIII HEARD THAT!
samparker
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September 1st, 2012 at 12:59:19 AM permalink
this show is too good
FleaStiff
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September 1st, 2012 at 5:31:21 AM permalink
Quote: buzzpaff

Anytime you laugh at something, if you examine it, you will find TRUTH.


There is a lot to be said for that Half in Jest, Whole in Earnest. Humor can both disguise the truth and bring it to the forefront!

I frankly can NOT imagine all the suits and all the security goons gathered around that table and no one in surveillance looked at the card order because they were all so focused on esoteric cheating methods such as card switching or card marking or shoe-swapping.

Perhaps surveillance cameras really do get overly focused on "cleavage" or the like. Or at least that may be where the attention goes. Lets face it, its boring work. Day after day you watch tv monitors and only occasionally do you even get a spilled drink or a more than ordinarily lowered neckline.

Surveillance is focused on capturing and storing images, but the image analysis phase is still left to "some creamers" who rose to the top and in many casinos... they just may get sour before that happens!

Low pay, boredom, ... no wonder no one caught on to the unshuffled shoe at the GN. They were not asleep, just acted like it.
FleaStiff
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September 1st, 2012 at 5:43:29 AM permalink
Quote: EvenBob

I was amazed at the amount of time a slot cheating family got in 2008. 16 years for one and 22 years for the other.
Vegas don't like them cheaters.


That's for sure! Its a ONE INDUSTRY TOWN, no matter how much you want to quibble about bars, restaurants, shows, or nightclubs... its still the gambling that really brings the money into town to let the various "Players" fight for it as casino moguls, nightclub owners, etc.
That ONE INDUSTRY pays ALL the state taxes... oh, okay so somewhere maybe there is a few pennies that trickle in from other sources, but you know what I mean. So yeah: armed robbery of a liquor store can mean a slap on the wrist, but armed robbery of a casino will always mean Hard Time. Same thing with monkeying with them slot machines... its those slot machines that pay the taxes that support the entire judicial system. So if you monkey with a slot machine, you do Hard Time!
FarFromVegas
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September 1st, 2012 at 6:29:16 AM permalink
It's on now. Pretty much Breaking Vegas warmed over, but with more from the original perps.
Each of us is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts. Preparing for a fight about your bad decision is not as smart as making a good decision.
FleaStiff
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September 1st, 2012 at 9:03:08 AM permalink
Quote: FarFromVegas

. . . , but with more from the original perps.

So filming some convict or ex-convict may add something to the story but in reality its still the same old stuff reheated one more time.
Or as DateLine would put it: A Dateline Classic. (Which is industry-speak for "been aired five times already but we are trotting it out one more time anyway").
EvenBob
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September 1st, 2012 at 10:58:53 AM permalink
Quote: FleaStiff

but in reality its still the same old stuff reheated one more time.



I disagree. It goes into so much more detail
that there's really no comparison. I now understand
how all those devices that they stuck in the
slots work, and before I just had a general idea.
BV was amateur hour compared to this show.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
FarFromVegas
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September 3rd, 2012 at 8:06:31 PM permalink
The newest episode just ended. "Hall of Fame" is all new stories. The second segment deals with the Bellagio motorcycle guy. The first segment was such a simple scam I'm surprised it isn't duplicated more widely!
Each of us is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts. Preparing for a fight about your bad decision is not as smart as making a good decision.
EvenBob
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September 3rd, 2012 at 8:20:53 PM permalink
In fact, right now they're showing all 3 episodes
from this season. Tune in..
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
FarFromVegas
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September 3rd, 2012 at 8:30:54 PM permalink
Quote: EvenBob

In fact, right now they're showing all 3 episodes
from this season. Tune in..



I'd seen the other two, but my son is at his first ever college football game and it was on ESPN, so I was switching between channels to watch both shows. Ended up mostly watching Cheating Vegas because it was interesting.

The game is over now and I have the show back on.
Each of us is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts. Preparing for a fight about your bad decision is not as smart as making a good decision.
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