At 6:30 a.m. on September 11, 2001 (“9/11”), I was just walking into my room at the Main Street Inn (now the Bridger Inn) in downtown Las Vegas after an all-nighter playing and scouting. I turned on the TV and saw the fire at the World Trade Center, which had been hit by a small plane, they said. I grew up in sight of the towers (at least on a clear day from the cemetery on top of the hill), so it was surreal seeing them collapse. Then all domestic flights were grounded, and I found myself locked down in Vegas.
Today’s youth, and some of us old-timers, have forgotten who the luckiest person on earth was that day. Lost in the shuffle of 9/11 was one U.S. Representative Gary Condit. At the time, he was dominating the headlines after the May-2001 disappearance of Chandra Levy, an intern with whom he had had an affair. The public (read “I”) believed he had a role in her disappearance, or at a minimum was not sharing all of his information with investigators. Then 9/11 happened and the Condit Scandal evaporated, just like that. When Levy’s body was found in 2002, it was barely a story.
The same thing just happened with the Coronavirus Pandemic. To remind you, dear reader: just three months ago, much of the world was mourning the death of Kobe Bryant. We were deluged by epitaphs, murals, candlelight vigils, and sobbing testimonials about how lives were changed from having glimpsed Kobe at LAX. In my own way, my last blog post (Coronavirus I) was an exhortation to embrace the #MambaMentality, but I guess I won’t get much traction until I create an alliterative moniker, employ hashtags, become a billionaire, and then die tragically, perhaps only then inspiring a young generation of APs to study their charts and their Paints.
Before we move on to re-opening casinos in the brave, new, coronavirus-infected world, I want to discuss the gambling world’s hottest topic, that has been rendered as cold as the Border Wall—the MGM $800 million settlement with the 58 victims of the Las Vegas Shooting of October 1, 2017. First, I would like to propose a policy for the media—unless a shooter is at large, his name should not be published! Many of these mass murderers, the Vegas Shooter in particular, are losers who want attention and fame. Mass murder is a loser’s easiest path to fame; a lifetime of hard work and constructive creativity (the Bill Gates path) is much harder! Some in the media will say that the name of a shooter is “news,” and that the public has a right to know. Really? I don’t need to know a shooter’s name any more than I need to know the names of victims of sexual abuse, the names of minors involved in crimes, or the names of government whistleblowers.
I sometimes read that the Vegas Shooter’s motive remains unknown. I’m gonna do the media and the FBI a solid, in this blog. I will reveal the motive right here: the Vegas Shooter was on full-blown tilt and wanted to set the record to show how “smart” he was. Read that horrific truth again: he wanted to set the record. He had no particular ax to grind with the people at the Route 91 Harvest, but the event satisfied his sole criterion—max body count.
The casino-manipulated Vegas media tries to shape every square gambler into the round AP hole, and so we immediately heard stories that this guy was some kind of AP, a diabolical genius with trajectory calculations on a notepad in his hotel room. (I’m guessing he used the Pythagorean Theorem—middle-school math—to determine whether his bullets would reach the concert field from his 32nd floor room at Mandalay Bay.) GWAE hosts Richard Munchkin and Bob Dancer were both quoted in stories about the shooter. One article had a line that went like this: “Some speculated that he could have been an AP. Expert gambling consultant Richard Munchkin says that APs are very smart and creative.” Do you see what they did there? Why are we trying to amplify this loser?
The casinos put out the story line that this guy was an AP, or at least a wealthy man gambling within his means, and kept quiet while the media quickly turned this into a gun debate. Reporters raced to interview every gun shop owner from Tonopah to Mesquite. That the guns were legal then led to calls to limit ammunition sales or ban bump stocks. While it’s fair to discuss most shootings in the context of gun control and perhaps mental-health policy, this shooting was different. This one was about gambling. Only weeks after the shooting did I start to see an occasional comment from a casino host, of course devoid of any hard numbers or account statements.
Before we look into this loser’s gambling, let’s get two things straight. First, diabolical genius is not the same as a willingness to kill. Secondly, the Vegas Shooter was not a diabolical genius. I have argued since the beginning that the guy is not even smart. He is not a winning player. Some APs then said, “He was locking up two machines on a car giveaway.” So what? Even degenerates recognize value. That’s why casinos offer promotions! Machine players said they had crossed paths with this guy numerous times. At a casino I used to play, I crossed paths daily with degenerates who would try to play the same dealers I did, try to get the same seat I wanted, and then lean way back while going for the hole card. They were losers. Even degenerates recognize the value of knowing the hole card versus not.
The AP community is small. As Worm tried to explain to the snotty dealer in Rounders, “We all know each other here.” Despite all the APs saying they crossed paths with the Shooter on good slot machines, I have yet to hear any AP who personally knew him, personally played on a team with him, knew his handle on the AP message boards, or any of that. I hear he bought some AP books. So? Is he in the Griffin Book? Was he barred from any casino?
I’d be impressed if the media could assemble a simple spreadsheet listing every Vegas casino and how much money this guy won or lost at each one over the last three years. That’s your motive right there. To those who have told me that this guy was actually a winner at some casinos, I would ask, “Says who?” Even if the guy happened to win at some casinos, the overall trend is down. Successful APs don’t buy a new house in Mesquite and brag to the neighbor about being a professional gambler.
The media says the guy had millions, so they can’t explain his behavior. Smh. For the people out there who don’t understand gambling, and particularly degenerate gambling, pay attention: Tilt happens. Have you ever seen a poker player get stacked twice in five minutes, and then go on tilt? The fact that those two buy-ins on a $500 max game are inconsequential relative to total bankroll seems not to matter. Now imagine the tilt level when 80% of the bankroll is wiped out. If the Vegas Shooter once had $8 million, but dropped to $1 or $2 million, you think he’s happy to be a millionaire? Now layer on top of it that he’s surrounded by gorgeous cocktail waitresses and other Vegas baubles that he can no longer afford. His “girlfriend”? Please. She met him when she was working at a Reno casino. I’d bet anything that their relationship was entirely financial, and that she was accelerating the bleeding.
With every AP who disagrees with my admittedly speculative assessment, the argument ends with my simple question, “Based on what you now know about his gambling (and not the mass murder part), if you were the Casino Manager making the business decision, would you bar him?” Every AP I’ve talked to says they would not bar him.
The casinos smartly kept their mouths shut regarding the extent of this guy’s gambling. I’m irritated that the media gave the casinos a pass on that. However …
The MGM Settlement
I think it’s ridiculous that the MGM, Mandalay Bay’s parent company, has now been pressured to pay $800 million to the victims (though I’m not faulting the victims for playing the game and taking money they can legally extract from a casino). I’m not aware of anything that indicates that MGM did anything wrong in regards to the shooting and hotel security. I’ll break this down into two parts—the response of hotel security personnel, and the general security conditions.
I heard that the Mandalay security ran the other way, or that timelines indicate that most of the deaths happened after the initial shot that alerted hotel security. I don’t care. Sure, it would be great if hotel security took the guy out and saved the day before any lives were lost, but as a hotel guest, I do not expect hotel security to protect me from a heavily armed terrorist. I expect hotel security to quiet unruly neighbors, stop people from smoking weed in the hallway, deter rampant breaking and entering, maybe break up a shoving match in the nightclub, and call the cops in an emergency. I prefer that hotel security not be armed (and indeed, most hotels in the world do not have armed security), and when they are armed, I expect that to be for deterrence, basically a bluff. Stopping the worst mass shooting in US history? The Mandalay security guard did not sign up for that! He is not military, not even police. I do not expect him to put his life on the line in that situation. Would it be great if he did? Sure. Do I expect it or think he has some legal obligation to do so? No, and IANAL.
Even if the guard failed a duty, how could MGM or any hotel ever have a hiring process that could vet applicants for such scenarios? Who knows what a guy would do when facing an active shooter? If the employee did have some legal duty to engage a shooter, what if the employee just turned around, called the front desk and said, “I quit.” Would MGM be on the hook there?
As far as I know, cops were called, which is all I would expect, and the whole thing was over in 10 minutes. Should the call have happened a minute or two sooner? Perhaps, but overall indications are that the response of hotel personnel was “normal.” Try as they might to create heroes, the media needs to admit that sometimes there isn’t one, which is fine.
As for general security conditions, and the claim that Mandalay Bay was negligent in allowing the guy to get twenty suitcases of gear into his suite, I say, “Nonsense!” First of all, that amount of luggage is not that unusual in Las Vegas. A single LA party girl can have four suitcases—easy! On several occasions, I have been part of an entourage with valet carts piled high with suitcases heading to the suite. A Nebuchadnezzar needs its own crate, and there could be several of those. A band or film crew would have tons of gear. Besides, suitcases can go up to the suite one at a time, so now people want staff to enforce luggage limits within the rooms? Many guests in Las Vegas want privacy in their rooms, and legitimately do not want hotel staff checking luggage and closets. Even if hotels starting limiting luggage, that would simply be more security theater. The shooter probably could have carried out his plan with only five locked suitcases. Future hotel policy should not be based on the most extreme case in the history of Las Vegas.
I have enjoyed my stays at Mandalay Bay over the years. I think it’s a wonderful hotel, and the berry bowl at The Café was heavenly. Their hotel security was comparable to every other Strip hotel, which is already excessive. I find room-key controlled elevators annoying (which is one reason I prefer the Bridger Inn downtown). Boosting fake security, such as inspecting car trunks in the parking garages, does nothing but perhaps increase resort fees.
Every Strip casino operates in the same way. If you think Mandalay should pay, then why shouldn’t every casino on the Strip have to pay? Oh, because our legal system awards judgments based on actual measurable damages, not EV. Mandalay/MGM got unlucky, while the Palazzo got lucky. And now MGM will pay millions to avoid the bad PR, and avoid any examination of the issue underlying all of this—the gambling. I’m surprised we don’t see more violent manifestations of full-blown tilt, because the dark truth of it is that the Vegas Shooter isn’t an outlier. Millionaire losers on their way to Bustoville are a dime a dozen.
Excellent, thank you
Quite a panoply – but connections are there. I couldn’t find a single thing I disagreed with – how boring.
Of course I do remember 9/11, since I live in Manhattan, and the company I worked for when I came here had two floors in one of the buildings. I watched on TV as my GF showered. She used to work across the street in the World Financial Center, and ate lunch underneath the WTC as they shared an underground mall. Mostly I remember the stink of death as the ruins burned for exactly one year, and the stink would hit us when the wind shifted northward. One large difference. That night, the bars, restaurants and streets were mobbed. People didn’t want to be alone with their thoughts. They wanted a sense of community. And, it wasn’t really mournful as folk didn’t want to wallow in sadness. That’s missing with Covid. The bars and restaurants are closed. The new normal ain’t normal. Lots I could say about Giuliani’s incompetent handling – but let’s not go there.
On the MGM settlement – no, it made no logical sense. Except that juries reflexively award to victims from deep pockets, thus they had no choice but to settle. On the Wikipedia talk page, I provided the huge number of entrances and elevators at the Mandalay Bay. I agree about the name of the shooter. I fought to keep it out of Wikipedia – but, knew it was a losing battle. I fight to keep victim names out of mass killings, and lose more than I win. The public wants names, as if they matter. To me, names are random. Friends have told me that he was highly active; but not really an AP. Pigeon-holing is an exercise bred in weak minds. I don’t care about his motive. I care about his ability to inflict.
Next post, could you say something I disagree with? Makes for a more interesting conversation.
norm
Norm I bet me and you can have a disagreement.
Norm wrote:
” Lots I could say about Giuliani’s incompetent handling – but let’s not go there.”
Yah right, like not every Gaming Forum Moderator, can be like Norm Wattenberger.
I agree; really good take. The whole AP tag was actually quite annoying actually.
The MediaVirus is the most dangerous virus on earth!
Excellent article, but Gary Condit was a Representative from California, not a Senator
Thanks for the correction! (Would you believe I was being sarcastic? Ha, didn’t think so!)
Now, if you could only get away with doubling, losing, and then saying your bet didn’t count because it was just sarcastic.
Thank you! I have had the same theory on the motive and when I shared it with people they rolled their eyes!
James your entitled to voice your speculative theories about the tragic Vegas Shooting like anyone else even if it’s way late. I personally think the so-called shooter had help and he wasn’t the only shooter involved. I’m not buying the mainstream medias official fairy tale and then the security guard goes missing only to have him go on the Ellen Degenerate show to put so-called closure to the story. If you watch the video of the interview Ellen basically puts the words in this guys mouth and steers the narrative, who’s going to believe that? Comments were disabled on that video and a great percentage of people didn’t buy it noting the thumbs down the video got. The story got swept under the rug for a reason.
Granted that Kobe was a great basketball player he had to settle with the woman who accused him of rape to the tune of millions of dollars. Presidents and mayors of large cities have had to do the same to silence people.
Sports stars are notorious for bad behavior and it’s only gotten worse as time moves forward. There are too many examples to name. It sets a bad example for people to idolize sports stars when they do not care about them. People are so infatuated with pop culture that they forget to live their lives. There are people in the world who value an animals life such as a dog or a cat over that of a human, where is the humanity in that?
James, you have to leave the casino to see the light of day.
“Your [sic] entitled to voice your speculative theories …”
Agree. It’s called a “blog.” I actually refer to it as “my blog.”
“Granted that Kobe was a great basketball player”
To clarify, I am not a fan of Kobe and those who idolize him. I’m rooting for Lebron to wipe out all things Kobe, but the lockdown isn’t helping Lebron’s quest.
“There are people in the world who value an animals [sic] life …”
Yes, I am one of them. I was rooting for Cecil the Lion to take out the evil dentist from Minneapolis.
Lebron James still has his work cut out for him to catch Kobe in championship wins. I’m not so certain that Lebron will be able to lead the Lakers to another championship. I didn’t like seeing him go to L.A. and think it would have been better had he stayed in Cleveland.
On your MGM Settlement article I think MGM should pay the survivors and the families who lost a loved one during that chaotic night at Mandalay Bay. That’s a no brainer. For the people who survived the attack it was no game for them when they had to dodge bullets whizzing past them. It became a life and death situation. I see it as a complete failure on the lack of security protocols put in place to protect people in the first place by Mandalay Bay. They could have had X-ray scanners in place to scan luggage before it goes into a hotel room. Sure, we can’t predict when people are going to snap or if other people were involved in a more complex crime that investigators cannot solve. Has the casino industry ever gotten bailout money for any reasons? They should pay.
I would prefer to have armed casino security on stand by if needed in big casinos. You never know when they may be called upon like in the case of Mandalay Bay but of course the casino probably wouldn’t pay them much to lay their life on the line when needed. I thought that most casinos have some type of armed security, however I’m not sure if they do or not. Maybe on a reservation casino they do. I know most banks don’t have armed security, all a person has to do is show a handwritten note to a bank teller to get cash. But if someone tries that in a privately owned gold & silver coin or jewelry store a thief will get a gun pointed in their direction and get shot. If revolvers were allowed in today’s poker rooms perhaps you would see or hear more about violent manifestations of full blown tilt at a casino. People don’t even need a gun, just give them alcohol and the fire will get fuel.
Kobe didn’t catch Robert Horry.
As a pro player, my risk of serious injury or death from armed casino security is way higher than the chance they protect me during a mass shooting.
So Mandalay should scan bags? They’re negligent because they didn’t have a bag-scanning policy? They could strip search us, too, but most people don’t want that type of zero-tolerance policy. Bag scanning wouldn’t have worked, because all of the co-conspirators and inside guys who were helping the Vegas Shooter would have gotten the weapons in anyway, right?
Instead of this ploppy comment, “Security was inadequate” AFTER a mass shooting has occurred, how about being pro-active. (In poker terms, let’s look at the EV when the money went in.) So what places currently have lax security that should be upgraded to metal detectors? Should they be wanding us at Waffle House? Should every Knight’s Inn be scanning bags (and Lord knows there’s all kindsa shady stuff at those motels)? Should they currently be checking the trunk of every car that parks in a parking garage on the Strip (after all, someone could bring in a car bomb)? And does anyone want to pay higher prices for this fake security?
I was scouting Luxor when the guy put an IED on the car in the parking garage. I have rollerbladed on the very strip in Nice where the truck killed dozens of people. I have eaten sausage and fries at the very cart that got plowed by the truck in Berlin. I have gone running over the London Bridge, where people get stabbed from time to time. I had been to the observation deck of the World Trade Center several times. Security at all these places was fine. By your “logic,” the owners of the WTC should pay the 3000 victims of 9/11, since obviously the building owners didn’t do enough to protect the building’s airspace.
Hell freezes. Pigs fly. Grosjean defends a casino. My god, what’s next?
Kidding aside, I looked it up and though Horry won 7 titles, he’s only tied for seventh on the list. All above him were Celtics, led by Bill Russell with 11 in 13 seasons. There’s a stud.
Yeah, but someone would argue that those Celtics played when the game was different, so I always go with Horry, who was a contemporary–in fact a teammate–who won three rings with Kobe. Everyone brings up rings when they want to put Kobe above Lebron, but when you mention that Steve Kerr, Tim Duncan, Magic Johnson, and Dennis Rodman all have as many rings as Kobe, then there’s some LA stammering. When I want to pump up in the morning before writing some code, I go with something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SezmOAEnBPI
Awesome clip. But I think you just like guys nicknamed Worm.
Yeah, no armed security in casinos.
https://www.thebeargrowls.com/?p=1038
I hope you have a “plandemic” for the grand reopening.
James your delusional to think that casino security wants to do you harm in your statement, “As a pro player, my risk of serious injury or death from armed casino security is way higher than the chance they protect me during a mass shooting.”
Casino security doesn’t want to hurt you. They don’t even know you. Your statement is grossly overstated. Please wipe that Kool-Aid stain off your face. You live in a liberal state with liberal values, that’s why you are on lockdown. Get used to it.
“James, your [sic] delusional to think …”
I base my blog on actual data from decades of casino play:
1. Casinos know who I am, or they figure out who I am, eventually. When they figure out who I am, they always back me off, and often with great hostility. They have lied in court to claim I was dangerous in order to justify use of force. So what is your point, exactly?
2. You have no idea what state I live in. Regardless, I consider it a lockdown because I am a casino player, and casinos are closed nationwide, in red and blue states. Once again, you miss the entire point. I’m not advocating a lockdown, or any particular health or economic policies whatsoever. Casino lockdown is a fact, in red and blue states. And your snarky comment to “get used to it” has missed the entire point of my earlier post–I’m being very productive during the lockdown. I’m quite used to it, and quite satisfied with my ongoing productivity. Other than the legitimate risk of death to loved ones, I could handle this pandemic and lockdown for months easily, if not years.
3. I’ve already been handcuffed numerous times (illegally, as evidenced by jury verdicts) by casino personnel and police (and MGM personnel!). I have been chased. I have been manhandled. I have had casino personnel threaten to smash my head into the wall. I have been put in jail (illegally), which in and of itself carries a risk of injury, disease, or death. CCDC is not a safe place. Many of my teammates have also been assaulted by casino personnel and police. No one I know has ever been injured, kidnapped, or threatened by terrorists. How can you presume to assess my risks better than I can, when I have massive data about my own life and activities, and you have none?
How did you even turn my blog post into a political one, and ramble about “liberal states” and blahblah? I’m not a Kobe fan, but he worked hard at his craft. Gary Condit got a pass when 9/11 happened. I don’t think Mandalay Bay security was deficient, and I don’t want any increase in casino security, scanning, or armed casino guards, because I’m a professional casino player, and none of those things help my craft. How is that a political statement of any kind? I guess the liberals have you on tilt. Worried that your boy will lose in November? My blog doesn’t care about that.
Why do you read and comment on my blog? It is obvious you will always disagree with virtually everything I write, and you have no interest in learning anything I think I can teach: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_troll
What did MGM do wrong that should cost 800,000,000$?
I am NOT an MGM fan by ANY means, but I have spent a couple years of my life in Vegas, so I get what it is about….
Beyond publishing a statement with condolences, I don’t think MGM should be liable for one dime to any victims. It was happenstance.
I agree with your theory about the Vegas shooter . My understanding is he had real estate investments which when sold generated 8-9 million net worth at least 5 years ago but he lost steadily and big in the last 5 years and was not worth any more than $750,000-1,000,000 net worth tops at time he died. He had not worked in several years and had some pension and social security income. My opinion he had gotten used to being a whale and was unwilling to reduce his level of play to reflect his greatly reduced bankroll. He knew end of bankroll and being a whale was at hand within year. I saw a published report done by the FBI which mentioned some of shooter’s financial condition but was woefully weak in details. My opinion there should have been full forensic audit and preparation of financial statements based on bank records,credit card records ; win loss statements from all casinos in Las Vegas , Reno and anywhere else shooter was known to play. Report I saw online did not have any of this. Believe FBI should release all shooter;s financial records.
I agree with you 100%. Unfortunately, the casinos are never going to allow complete gambling records to get out. Even the FBI wouldn’t be able to get the real info from the casinos. I have always argued that a good reason to sue casinos is to get information–documents, video, depositions. Even when casinos doctor and destroy evidence, you usually get some pretty fascinating stuff. In the case of the Vegas Shooter, as with card counting movies and the like, we’ll have to settle for knowing the truth while the rest of the world lives the Vegas fantasy.
This will likely be the last time I reply to you, “Blitzkrieg,” because you don’t read what I write. In reply to your latest comment that I excerpted and quoted below, instead of posting separately:
“No James you’ve missed the point. Casino security doesn’t want to hurt you. Las Vegas casinos have a high attrition rate and they are always shuffling in new employees who don’t know you. You don’t have to start all this name calling by referring to me as a troll.”
Of course, security does not know me on sight in most places. As soon as they are told who I am, and in some cases falsely told that I am a cheat, or whatever, then they often do want to hurt me. I have encountered this many times. That is a fact. I have encountered personnel who wanted to, and in some cases did, hurt me. What part of that do you not understand? Your stubbornness in taking your own speculation above my own factual experience is what makes you a troll. I also call Bernie Madoff a con-man, Putin a dictator, and Kim Jong Un a murderer. So does that mean I’m resorting to “name-calling”? Ok, fine, I’m calling you a name–“troll.” Look up the definition, see if it fits.
“Casinos are NOT closed down nationwide, online gambling casinos have been open and they are ready to cater to players be it blackjack, poker, or some other game. Brick and mortar casinos can shut down but the online realm is another avenue of approach which remains clearly open. Think outside of the box James.”
Do you think I don’t know about online play? Can you read? My Coronavirus I post said “play online” as one of the recommendations. Regardless, my audience and my blogs are mainly about brick-and-mortar play, not online play and not machine play. So the fact that I’m not talking about stock market investment opportunities means I’m not thinking outside the box? Do you even understand who the target audience of my blog is? It’s clearly not you, except that you like to troll online blogs.
“Blue states have been locked down the hardest compared to red states. It’s a fact.”
First, as I wrote, you have no idea what state I live in. Second, we’re not talking about overall lockdown, as applied to restaurants, beaches, etc. We are talking about brick and mortar casinos. All states, red and blue, locked them down. Regardless, I’m not the one complaining about the lockdown one way or another. I wrote about what people should do with their time.
“If you’ve had to run from casino security it’s probably because you were doing something wrong.”
You don’t want me to resort to name-calling, but this line proves you’re obviously a troll. What can I say?
“Your’re not Cecil the Lion or some endangered species that they want to go extinct.”
Casinos don’t want APs to go extinct? Really? I hope you can find the help you need, but your further comments are no longer welcome on my blog. I won’t even comment on the rest. Thanks for the boost in traffic, but it’s not worth my time or yours.
I’ve been holding off on this, because James obviously doesn’t need my help, but I now feel it’s time to clear up a few things regarding the comments from Blitzkrieg and others who might follow the same path. What everyone needs to understand is that these blogs belong to the bloggers. They’ve been given this space because they are experts at what they do. We are lucky to have them. It’s absolutely fine to take issue or disagree with something and comment thusly. You can even have a bit of a back-and-forth. But when it gets to the point where the commenter’s primary objective is to heist the spotlight, I’m stepping in. A blogger’s blog is his house and the last thing I will allow is for someone to be harassed in his own house. That’s how we lose great talent. It’s pretty easy to know when enough is enough. Biitzkrieg has reached that point. It needs to stop or his ability to post will be taken away. If he or anyone wants to discuss this further, call or send me an email and I’ll gladly elaborate.
Oh yeah? Well I’ve been holding off on this Anthony Curtis and I’m glad you stepped in so I can have your undivided attention. A few years ago before you changed over your website to an upgraded new look you had free poker games on your LVA website. You encouraged people to come and play on your website and I read the message. Well I came, I played, and I won on more than several occasions but on 2 of those occasions I NEVER GOT MY PRIZE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anthony I know you remember that you used to give out $25 Ellis Island Free Chip Plays on some events to the winners of the poker games you hosted on LVA. I won one and I never got my prize! I’m sure someone used my prize to start off their session at Ellis Island Casino or had some cold beers on me and had a good time with MY PRIZE. I haven’t forgotten and I never had someone send me MY PRIZE or ask me how I would like MY PRIZE. I’m not making this story up because I kept my records every time I put it to the LVA players and beat them. Haha! I still remember the ruckus I caused during that Fathers Day poker game at LVA. I showed just how diabolical a friendly online poker game can become as I know that I had some people ready to pull the hair out of their heads. I loved every minute of it.
Now about James, he is not being harassed by me. The next time that happens it will probably be casino security because his camo isn’t good enough to fool the casino. I’m not attempting to steal the spotlight from anybody on this blog but when it gets to the point where I cannot even make a comment to a blogger because my 1st Amendment rights are being stepped on and I’m being silenced then I know what kind of control freaks I’m dealing with Anthony.
By the way I seen the video on your recent interview with CBSLA news on Las Vegas reopening.
Thank you for admitting that you are a troll. You take great delight in a past game in which the highlight was not winning a ton of money, but rather putting people on tilt. To this day that brings joy to you to the point of bragging about it. Putting people on tilt is a tactic sometimes used to win a bunch of money, but you obviously delight in the tactic as an end in its own right. That’s a troll. Get it?
Are you aware that the 1st Amendment applies to the government abridging your rights. A private website has nothing to do with the 1st Amendment. You are quite free to write your own blog somewhere (we both know you never will). When you do, I will not comment on it.
Thanks for that story. We never gave out Ellis Island chips. That was their own tournament. Please take it up with them. Now, final warning, dial it back or you’ll be bounced.
Here’s a question that came via email.
Hi, I just have a question for James. Sorry, it’s not gambling related. In your April 29th post, you mentioned seeing the Twin Towers from a “cemetery on top of the hill.” Can you please tell me in what town that cemetery was located? Thank you, Mary Alice Cedrone
I’ve never actually been inside the cemetery, only stood atop its wall, mostly during hills training (to Harry’s deli, which is a name no young person has ever heard): https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fair-Mount-Cemetery/115971838423926
“… knew his handle on the AP message boards,…”
Reminds me of the time “Shack” (of WoO) tried to pound his chest and intimidate an unknown poster on green chips on BJ21.Com. Some new guy using the handle James Morgan was commenting and making corrections to Shack’s posts (regarding Shack’s faulty analysis and defective programming or code). Shack was having none of “people” correcting him … he was the Shack of WoO fame.
Turns out James Morgan was none other than James Grosjean and Shack was being the anal canal that he was (and still is). Shack got quiet as a mouse once the other green chippers figured out “Morgan” was “Grosjean”.
Some of us have long memories and we know people’s handles on AP message boards (while many of those message boards no longer exist). Btw, I joined bj21.com in 1995/1996 time frame and have read a lot of AP message boards since then.
James, love your writing style and great to see your pen back in action. You manage to make this miserable AP slog even seem fun for a moment or two! Well wishes to you…..
You must have a bug in my place. I was just talking about you to a teammate two weeks ago. We were wondering when your last GWAE podcast appearance was.
I believe it was January of 2018
https://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/gambling-with-an-edge/podcast-guest-molded-truths/