TheBigPaybak's Blog

I used to work in that casino....hope you got around the island.

I got offered a position as training manager there but the money was not good.



Have they managed to get the golf course in good order at the Marriott? I remember when I was there in 2007/8 they had no golf there because someone had apparetnly watered the golf course with sea water? I don't know how accurate this is, could just have been a cab drivers tall tales.

Used to love their pool and the beach wasn't bad either!



Thanks for the review.

We did get to see the island! I thoroughly enjoyed the scenic railroad tour they had which was about two hours on the train and 45 minutes on a bus- but I like trains so found it relaxing. We also had a rain forest hike planned but it sadly rained during that time so we had to cancel. Plus a lot of time at the pool!

Not sure about the golf course as golfing isn't our thing although from what we causally saw I trust it was all in order- and sure thing!

Nice report!



I had a chance to visit the Royal Beach Casino in 2009 while on a cruise ship stop in St. Kitts. I posted an image of my souvenir chip (linked here) in the Casino Chip of the Day thread, and along with it I told a couple of stories about my visit to that island. I didn't get to stay at the casino long enough to form much of an impression of the full gamut of the gaming.

I'm in the process of asking the Wizard if he has plans to cover the Caribbean casinos.

OK, a 'scoop' for those few checking into blogs, stay tuned for a WoO report on the Dominican Republic coming soon to a computer near you

Well they say to buy on the rumor and sell on the news... so I can understand going short the April Puts but why go long the May calls unless you feel the need for a hedge?

Actually there's no hedge with what I've done, at least none that I can see: if the stock goes down, I lose on both. I sold the puts earlier in the month for a premium of $3.15, so as long as the stock stays above 12 through the 19th of April, I stand to profit. If it's 15 or higher, I keep it all on that trade. Below 12, I lose.



The May calls are completely speculative on my part. I'm banking on some positive news that may compel the now 155+ million shares sold short to cover. As the new CEO seems like a straight-shooter, I tend to believe some of his recent comments which seem to have implied more of a good versus bad surprise coming.



We'll know tomorrow.

Certainly yesterday's trading action wasn't the best outcome. The Company reports a profit well above any estimate, but still ended the day slightly down on Nasdaq, although oddly slightly up on the Toronto exchange.



All in all, for anyone following the Company, it was a great quarterly report, though. So we may see some positive activity going forward.

Well on the Puts, I was able to keep about 2/3 of the premium although it would have likely been 100% if not for the fraudulent news perpetrated on the Company.



Still have some hope on the Calls, although cutting it close to expiration!

All calls expired worthless- although doubled-down for January 2014. 6/27/2013 will be a major catalyst either way- hoping for a better outcome this time!

they let you match play roulette? did it have to be on black or red?

They allow for Red/Black, Odd/Even- maybe some other bets, but I'm not sure. I bet Odd and got lucky. My preference would have been to bet Bacc- but their table never seems to be open...

I hit two straight flushes last time I played, but one was a Dragon Hand so I didn't have a Fortune Bet out--I only earned an Envy Bonus for myself and the table. The other one I only had $5 on the Fortune but the $250 was welcome!



Congratulations on your big win!

Thanks! Pai Gow Poker is probably my favorite game to play in the casino. Over the years, I've been fortunate enough to have 5-Aces, although never a natural royal or 7-card straight flush. My buddy's fiance actually did get a 7-card straight flush one time, although it was at a casino without the bonus bet, of course!

Nice hit ! Pai Gow Poker is not kind to me at all.

The D/ Fitzgeralds did not allow player banking. In the 10 months I worked there I had about 5 customers get mad they could not bank

It's true not a lot of people seem to bank these days, although for me, it's one of those nice options that will affect where I play at, along with other factors.

I've seen these in various casinos. Is there a strategy to it?

I asked the operator for some tips, and he mentioned to stand more in the front where you could presumably have an easier chance of stuffing money in the box which made sense. For this particular promotion, you couldn't grab anything from the ground nor stuff any in your pockets. Any that you held at the end, though, would count- and I had a good amount there- so when you sensed the end was coming, you'd probably want to try and open your arms some more and use your coat a bit. There were different denominations although I'm not sure how high they went: I caught around 6 $50s or so. I thought I heard they had a $500 bill in there, but maybe I was wrong. But it would seem difficult for the person who got $1200 to have been twice as good as me and others who scored like me.

I was in one of those once. At the Foxwoods Bingo Hall.



One trick they told me was to put my arm up against the wall. The dollars would catch and I could scoop them.



Their other hint wouldn't have helped you. Their rule was, I had to catch them and slip them thru a narrow slot in the wall. An employee would help pull from the other side, once they were able to get ahold of it. The hint was to fold them first.



One hint they never told me was, after a while, when there wasn't a lot of bills swirling around, to look up. There was a ton stuck to the roof vent. I reached up and scooped them down.

In my case, there was a large number of bills- but your point about looking up was something I didn't try which may have been quite useful- good point!