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Feeding the Machines

In last week’s article, I mentioned that I had played $500,000 coin-in on a game at the Palms. A man I know as “Al from New York” asked me how I could possibly get that much money into a machine. After all, feeding a machine with hundred dollar bills is a time-consuming process. (I normally don’t give out the real names of people in my columns, but Al complained that he never got credit for his questions, so I took that as permission to use his name.) Continue reading Feeding the Machines

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Why Didn’t Somebody Tell Me?

On Saturday November 3, I was at the Palms for a special drawing. This was not the typical 7 p.m. weekly drawing open to everyone. This was a special invited guest drawing where fewer than 200 people (based on previous play) had been invited to receive a free cruise — and this group would have a special drawing at 9:30 p.m. where $20,000 in cash, free play, or cruise credit was to be given away. Continue reading Why Didn’t Somebody Tell Me?

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A Look at The Grifters

One of the websites I’m regularly checking out these days is Arnold Snyder’s www.write-aholic.com. I always knew Snyder was a gifted writer (But who knew he was an old hippie?) and I find a lot of his insights fascinating. His review of Jim Thompson’s The Grifters inspired me to pick up the book. I’m not going to be repeating the stuff Snyder wrote, so I recommend you start from:www.write-aholic.com/book-review-the-grifters-by-jim-thompson-regency-1963/. Continue reading A Look at The Grifters

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The Ability to Pull the Trigger and Keeping One’s Promise to Oneself

One of my favorite websites is www.richardmunchkin.com. Munch is a friend and a frequent guest on the radio show — and also someone who regularly writes or says something that gets me to thinking. His October 7 blog called “What makes a great AP?” was one of those somethings. Continue reading The Ability to Pull the Trigger and Keeping One’s Promise to Oneself

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It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time — Part I of II

In September of this year, South Point ran a “Spin 2 Win” promotion every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It was for slots only — not video poker — and I basically ignored it. Still, I received some information during the last week of the month that convinced me that I should play a whole lot of money through $5 and $10 slot machines. Continue reading It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time — Part I of II

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Power of the Pack

Let’s say you’re playing a variation of Deuces Wild. Assume you are asked to look at the following two hands: Qâ™  Jâ™  K♦ T♦ 4â™  and Qâ™  Jâ™  K♦ T♦ 3â™ . Assume further that you are told that in one of the hands you hold Qâ™  Jâ™  and the other one you throw all five cards away. The question is which is which? And why? Continue reading Power of the Pack