Are You Serious ?

I know that things are bad economy wise here in Las Vegas. Casinos may have seen their bottom line affected. But this action that I'm about to tell you about really calls for a "Are You Serious"

While playing poker on Monday night a happened to be speaking to a new resident of Las Vegas who is doing the usual actions of new residents and that is getting in as much casino visits as possible. You know like a kid in a candy store.

Well he happen to have purchased a copy of American Casino Guide which has a ton of valuable coupons that can be used all over town in many different casinos. Well he happen to be using a match play coupon at Ellis Island Casino which is located behind Bally's on Flamingo and Koval.

He put out his coupon and matched it with his bet of the same amount and was dealt a 20. When the dealer also made a 20 to push his hand the coupon was removed from the table by the dealer. When he asked why that was done since he did not lose the bet nor win it since it was a push, the dealer called over the floor person who told him the dealer was correct in removing the match play.

This is 100% wrong and one heck of a way for a casino to make a player feel welcome. When business is slow why do they continue to do things that are just plain bad for business?

p.s. we should start a weekly thread of " Are You Serious" where we can post different stories that have happened to you or a friend in a casino that makes you say.......................ARE YOU SERIOUS

I have a few in my memory bank that I will share in the future but please feel free to submit yours here on LVA.

The House of Pane

Ellis did that to me on the $5 matchplay from the table mat.

It's not just the casinos, it's the customers, too. I have had many an occasion to bankroll another person's double down when they didn't have the cash. Often it's a 10 or 11 against a 5 or 6, and I end up doubling my money. It's nice when people offer you the double, rather than letting the casino get away cheap on the hand.

For the first time ever, a fellow player shafted me on it. She didn't have the $25 to double and offered it to me. I took it. We won the hand. Instead of giving me $50, she kept $75 and just gave me back the $25. That's a lot of gall. A couple of hands later, she scooped up her chips and left. In case anyone runs into her, she was Asian and about 50.

That narrows the field of suspects down


The House of Pane

Here's my story - I've run into this situation twice total at two different MGM casinos. The second time it happened in a HL room. Both times I was playing a face up game and the dealer dealt the cards so that I could only see one of the numbers right side up on my cards as they covered up the corner of the bottom card that I wanted to see. The main reason that this is a problem for me is that the first time this happened to me my cards were a 9 and a 6 and I almost misplayed the hand when I looked at the bottom card upside down. Each time I asked them to please lay my cards so that I can see both of them face up the dealer would not do it and the floor person backed them up. I didn't get too excited about it as I simply quit playing each time and found the shift supervisor who in one case wrote me an unlimited comp to the California Pizza Kitchen and in the other instance he acted like he didn't need any more words from me as he wanted to go and have a talk with the floor dude in the HL room.

What would you have done if this happened to you? I probably should have asked for the shift supervisor to come to the table and get it fixed right in front of both the dealer and floor person.

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you on this.

I have found that if the dealer and floorperson will not listen to a valid complaint from a player or in this case you, the next proper course of action is to have a shift manger sort the problem out.

Remember if you never give the dealer a hand signal as to what you action on the hand will be you hand is not completed and the dealer can not act on their hand.

If they ask you to give them a clear hand signal you can always say I will do that once I speak to the shift manager about the current problem at hand.

In this case you must be able to see both of your cards so that you can make the best choice in how to play the hand.

The last option if you feel you are not being dealt a fair game and in this case not being able to see both of your cards before you are asked to act upon your hand is something that a Nevada Gaming Control Agent might find some interest in.

Take it from me they do not like it one bit when you call gaming on them. I will post a story of a incident that happened to me at Mandalay Bay over their attempted refusal to cash a $5,000 chip that I had.

The House of Pane