Professional Players Rate the Las Vegas Casino Surveillance Departments
by the Blackjack Forum Online Moderators
© 2005 Blackjack Forum Online
[Editor’s note: The “inside” information in Las Vegas Casino Surveillance Report Card was compiled by The Vindicator and the Las Vegas Surveillance Mafia, a group of casino surveillance professionals. Other contributors to this report were full-time professional gamblers who have logged thousands of hours in Las Vegas casinos.
Players’ opinions of the game protection competence at any particular casino occasionally split along lines of their specialty or Griffin/C.V.I. status. One player said, “When it comes to spotting card counting, I think every place is too sharp.”
Disclaimer: All of the information in this chart was based on the observations and subjective opinions of individuals whose information may have been incomplete or inaccurate. Bear in mind that conditions within casino surveillance are constantly changing. As this report card was published in 2005, I’m posting this in the Blackjack History section as well as the Surveillance section. Some of the casinos reported on no longer exist and most have gone through many changes since 2005. Is it time to update? — Arnold Snyder]
The Professional Players’ Las Vegas Casino Surveillance Report Card
| Griffin Agency | Facial Recog. | Computer Evaluation | Casino | C.V.I. | Overall Rating and Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Aladdin | Yes | Will recognize anyone in Griffin pretty fast, and they have clearly read some books. |
| Yes | No | No | Arizona Charlie’s | Yes | Sweaty rather than smart. Normal action is red to green and bigger action frightens them. |
| Yes | No | No | Arizona Charlie’s East | Yes | Not too smart, but if they’re letting you play an aggressive count game, it may be a situation you can’t beat. Quick to flyer low rollers. |
| Yes | Yes | No | Bally’s Las Vegas | Yes | Separate surveillance from Paris. Some sharp and sweaty floormen, pretty lousy surveillance. |
| No | No | Yes | Barbary Coast | No | Floor reacts to any bet spread. They certainly know what they know. |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Bellagio | No | Nice dealers, great restaurants (at Picasso, try the $20 scallop with the potato chip stuck in it), but the dumbest floor person we’ve ever encountered was in their high-limit room. They do have some sharp floor, but there’s the usual percentage of people who could only be there because of juice. Surveillance seems studious and book-learned. They make full use of their Griffin subscription and all the latest equipment but are overly focused on wins. We’re not afraid to play there. |
| No | No | No | Boardwalk | No | No comments at this time. |
| No | No | No | Boulder Station | Yes | Floor is frightened, surveillance is helpless. Short sessions easy. |
| Yes | No | Yes | Caesars | Yes | They can’t distinguish between a hole-card play and a cheating play, we know that for sure. Not as sweaty as it was under the management from AC, but if they get to look at you long enough, they will eventually recognize you. |
| No | No | No | California | No | Some decent floor, poor surveillance. |
| Yes | No | No | Cannery | Yes | A good place to play. |
| No | No | No | Circus Circus | No | Lots of heat, but little fire. |
| NA | No | No | El Cortez | NA | Marginally better than Circus. |
| No | No | No | Excalibur | No | Surveillance is helpless, a few floor think they know something. |
| No | No | No | Fiesta Henderson | No | Paranoid, but helpless. Backing off players for winning. |
| No | No | No | Fiesta Rancho | No | Mistrusts money. |
| No | No | No | Fitzgerald’s | No | Have fun! |
| Yes | No | No | Flamingo LV | Yes | A grab bag. Some floor sweat wins, others have some perspective. They have caught a counter or two in the past. They have MindPlay tables, but they either don’t have the surveillance package or don’t know how to use it. |
| No | No | No | Four Queens | No | Marginal surveillance, sweaty floor. |
| Fremont | Ha ha ha. | ||||
| No | No | No | Frontier | No | Very mixed reviews. |
| No | No | No | Gold Coast | No | All the Coast foibles. Land of the paranoids! |
| No | No | No | Gold Spike | No | Do they have a surveillance department? |
| No | No | No | Golden Gate | No | A surprisingly pleasant place with a good diner. Thumbs up for Golden Gate. |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Golden Nugget | Yes | We agree with Vin: Was once a force to reckon with. |
| No | No | No | Green Valley Ranch | Yes | This place has some talent on board, which is probably why they don’t sweat action. Recently featured in TV series; game protection is at its best when the television cameras are rolling. |
| No | Yes | Yes | Hard Rock | Yes | Surveillance has a checklist, and they think they know what they’re doing. |
| Yes | No | No | Harrah’s LV | No | Mixed reviews. They do use their Griffin subscription. |
| Yes | No | No | Horseshoe | No | Time to take another look. |
| No | No | No | Imperial Palace | No | They’re more likely to catch you walking through than actually playing. Some sweaty floor. |
| No | No | No | Klondike | No | Does anyone play here? |
| Yes | No | Yes | Lady Luck | No | Playable until you’ve let them record a few wins. |
| NA | No | No | Las Vegas Club | NA | Floor and surveillance are semi-sharp (El Cortez level). |
| Yes | No | Yes | LV Hilton | Yes | Player friendly. |
| No | No | No | Luxor | No | Helpless eye, frightened floor. |
| No | No | No | Main Street Station | No | Completely mixed reviews from players. |
| No | No | Yes | Mandalay Bay | No | They can’t watch everyone. They do pay attention to your win/loss record, and a series of wins will trigger a Survey Voice. Security is a bunch of Harry Callahans. |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | MGM | Yes | Pretty sharp, but big. Surveillance won’t see you without a call from the pit. They do run Survey Voice once your action hits around $500/hand (and will run it more than once), but anything under $1k looks small to them. |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Mirage | No | Conscientious, but big. Stay away when not crowded. |
| No | No | No | Monte Carlo | Yes | Easier lately. |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | New York New York | Yes | Very mixed reviews from players. Worth another look. |
| No | No | No | Orleans | Yes | Coast owned. Some smart sweaty floor who know what they know. Surveillance is busy zooming in on girls. |
| No | No | No | Palace Station | No | Takes green action well. Used to be sharper. Always small minded: they never know what anyone’s doing, but if you’re betting black, you must be a pro. |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Palms | Yes | Surveillance watches the high-limit double deck first. They do make use of their Griffin subscription sooner or later, including at CTR time. Day shift relies on sending down “Coach” to intimidate you. |
| Yes | No | No | Paris | No | Separate surveillance from Bally’s. Very mixed reviews from players. Some sharp floormen. |
| NA | No | No | Plaza | NA | Some floor sharp, some just sweaty. Okay surveillance. |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Rio | No | Big. |
| No | No | No | Riviera | Yes | Marginally good surveillance. Old mean floor. |
| No | No | No | Sahara | Yes | Can’t find anyone who feels like playing here. |
| No | No | No | Sam’s Town | No | There’s a rumor they caught somebody once. |
| No | No | No | Santa Fe Station | No | Sharp surveillance on swing. Will recognize those in Biometrica. |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Stardust | Yes | Reviews wins and will back off on return. Long memory for backoffs. Even some floor are well-informed. We have to say, one of the sharpest in town. |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Stratosphere | Yes | What a waste of a spinning restaurant! All they know how to do is sweat action. |
| No | No | No | Suncoast | No | Coast group. A couple sharp floor who know what they know. |
| No | No | No | Sunset Station | No | Takes action well in high limit room. |
| No | No | No | Terrible’s | No | More paranoia than knowledge. |
| Yes | No | No | Texas Station | Yes | Can be sweaty. Some sharp dealers. We have heard of a guy who got tossed here. |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Treasure Island | Yes | Careful and diligent. |
| No | No | Yes | Tropicana | Yes | More sweaty than knowledgeable. |
| No | No | No | Tuscany | No | A limited play. Not very knowledgeable, but some good memory on the floor. Paranoid of big action. |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Venetian | No | Fancy but sweaty. They definitely pay attention to flyers. They want to know their big players, and prefer their mobster clientele. Wins scare them. Overall, more suspicious than actually knowledgeable or smart. |
| NA | No | No | Western | NA | Yes, we’ll go anywhere there’s money. Used to be a complete joke, now only a partial joke. |
| Westin Casuarina | Anyone??? We do know that it’s possible to get bounced here. | ||||
| No | No | No | Westward Ho | No | Ha ha ha. |
| No | No | No | Wild Wild West | No | Surveillance seems to understand its limitations, and will call Stations for big action. ♠ |
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