Can Casinos Ban Creepy Slot Vultures?

My wife and I play video poker at the Wynn weekly. The last few times there, I've noticed the same couple of guys "vulturing" the video poker machines, along with certain slots. Can casinos ban these people? I realize they aren't doing anything illegal, but it just looks creepy and pathetic.

[Editor's Note: This answer is written by Ben Rosenthal, author of our upcoming book Breaking the Slot Code.]

As is often the case in this business, the answer is, it depends on the casino.

Most casinos don't care and won't do anything unless a guest brings it to someone's attention. That may occur when an overzealous "vulture" is sometimes standing mere inches from a particular machine, salivating in wait for the player to go broke or just leave.

Having been to the Wynn many times over the years, I haven't ever run into trouble with security. Things could always change there or anywhere overnight — as was the case at the Cosmopolitan for a stretch before it partnered with MGM — but most casinos have concluded that trying to pick off every single slot grinder is a losing proposition.

You might have noticed the "same couple of guys," but if you really watched the slot floor at a place as popular as the Wynn, you'd see that actually, hundreds of different people cycle in and out all day and night.

Whether it looks creepy or pathetic is up to interpretation. Yes, I'd agree that some folks routinely check both boxes, but one can certainly be a vulture without being so obvious about it. Perhaps those myriad folks who blend in with the crowd at the Wynn have been able to walk that line better than the couple of guys you rightly identified.

To circle back, yes, casinos can and do ban people for this. Some take it very seriously and will deactivate an offender's players card as soon as they detect this sort of activity. But at least from what I've seen in the wild, that's the exception, not the rule.

In a way, it's like trying to stop illegal drugs from entering the country. Sure, every now and then you hear about a massive drug bust, but you better believe most of the drugs reach their intended target. And if people get caught, more foot soldiers are ready to take the risk. The rewards are too great.

Further — and I know I'm veering off topic a bit, but — when a place gets too inundated with vultures, the cannibals sometimes become the cannibalized, because there aren't enough favorable plays to go around. In that way, the circle of life is restored and everyone loses at the casino, just as God intended. The casinos are smart enough to make this connection as well.

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Bob Sep-18-2025

Video Poker

I would guess... with the pay tables getting less and less friendly, if you are an avid VP player and on one of the few machines that has a good return. there will be other Avid VP Players Hovering and wanting that seat! and unless they are in your space and up in your face, don't worry about them.  Creepy and pathetic is pretty subjective in Vegas!

Randall Ward Sep-18-2025

vultures

author? I hope this book is being updated, if it was written when it went on sale it's out of date.

John Dulley Sep-18-2025

Evil eye

Im 99% a BJ player but if someone is hovering over me watching, which actually has happened at the Wynn a handful of times watching me bet, I just stop betting and stare them down. After a little bit they get the drift and move on. I’d guess the same thing could work while playing slots or VP but these vultures are also a strange breed..

Marcus Leath Sep-18-2025

Bigger question

The answer should have been YES.  Once when I was playing at a BJ table, one of the other players was very obnoxious, rude to the dealer and to other players.  Finally the pit boss had him kicked out of the casino entirely.  The pit boss later told me and another player "We are the law.  We can bar anyone, at any time, for anything."  And of course that is true.  They run the city and the state.  They are the law in practice.  The cops, DAs, state "lawmakers", and the governor all work for the casinos.

Ben Rosenthal Sep-18-2025

vultures

Yup, I've updated some of the numbers a few times and tried to go with the more common games to highlight, in addition to general advantage play concepts. However, I'll also have a website through Las Vegas Advisor/Huntington Press to go over hundreds of less common and newer games out there.

Ben Rosenthal Sep-18-2025

Bigger question

If a player alerts security or a slot attendant that someone is stalking their machine or otherwise bothering them, that person will at the very least be told to leave for the day, if not outright permanently banned. But if the person isn't obnoxious about it and no one says anything, it's unlikely the casino will take action.

Ben Rosenthal Sep-18-2025

Evil eye

Hah! I will do this too from time to time if I'm at a casino where the slot hustlers don't know me. Generally, most people will catch on quickly that I know what I'm doing (betting fast, large voucher, not paying much attention to my machine), but every now and then someone will still stick around and wait for me to get off.

Ben Rosenthal Sep-18-2025

Video Poker

"Creepy and pathetic is pretty subjective in Vegas!" So true lol

David Sabo Sep-19-2025

The risk is real

I got banned from an unnamed casino for checking AP slots. The casino was quite empty at the time and I only checked games that were empty. The risk is real and pestering someone will definitely speed up the banning process but banning also happens for winning too much too. I've never pestered people and I feel like I win more by checking more. I've witnessed Chinese slot mafia members blow smoke into the face of a ripe AP game while slow playing the machine next to the ripe machine.

Ben Rosenthal Sep-22-2025

The risk is real

Yes, it will happen if you do it enough. I've checked slots at casinos all over the country and have been banned from three places (two permanently). Now, it's definitely possible that the conditions change in the future or some areas of the country are more aggressive with booting people than others. But still, at least in my own experience, I've found it rare when a casino takes action if you're not bothering anyone. For what it's worth, one casino that booted me did so when it was empty as well. Maybe APs stick out more when there's not as much activity on the slot room floor. As far as that slot mafia story, I believe it 100% and have seen similar beyond sketchy tactics over the years.

Question of the Day - 18 September 2025

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