I worked in Poker and Blackjack for 35 years starting in Las Vegas in 1973. If you have questions that you would like to ask a professional in the business, here is your chance

Replay Poker Poker Discussion
123

Thank you, Winston, glad you liked it as much as I did at the time.

Here is another story about the same female dealer, although not as uniquely interesting as the last one, sorry to say. I am sure she did or said things that I never heard or saw, thank God. I knew her boyfriend and she was true to him, but she sure new how to earn her tips at the table. She had a smile, face and little body that were incredible. Oh well, new story.

If there are any Blackjack dealers out there, this is a story you probably never heard of happening anywhere before.

It was on a weekend afternoon, and we were fairly busy in the blackjack pit. The dealers were coming in from break for the next rotation when one female dealer walked over to me.
She said, “David, I am supposed to go into table number 4 and the lady in third base hates it when I come to her table. I am like a black cat to her. If I go into that table to deal, she might just decide to get up and leave. That would be very bad for the other dealers because she is a very good tipper. Is there anything that you can do so that I do not have to go into her table?” (By the way, I always had a rule with all my dealers wherever I worked. They could only call me David when everything was going Ok. If something had gone sideways, they were to call me “Sir.” That way at least I had some warning and could brace myself.
Besides, the dealers liked it."

Anyway, I looked over at the table in question and saw that our favorite dealer was at the table, all four foot eleven inches of her, and she was about to be rotated to the next table. She had amassed about $300 in tips during this last 30 minute down. The player was a high roller, and I really did not want her walking out the door. She was not winning very much but was tipping very well, as usual. The dealer’s chip stack had about 10 green chips with a lot of red chips. I had to do some quick and heavy thinking here. In this casino the dealers got to keep whatever tips they made. They did not have to pool their tips with the other dealers on shift like they often must do on the Las Vegas Strip. Each dealer carried around their own tip box that they carried with them from table to table. While dealing, they stacked their chips behind the plastic discard receiver to the right of the dealer. When the new dealer pushed into a table, the dealer leaving the table was then allowed to drop their tips into their tip box.

Ok, I came up with an idea. This situation had never come up before, and I had about twenty years in the business at the time. I walked over and whispered in the ear of the dealer at the table.
" I got a deal for you. If I let you deal another 1/2 hour down at this table, would you be willing to share your tips during the extra down with the dealer that would have come into this table? I will get you a new tip box." Her face lit up like a Christmas tree and she just shrugged a shoulder and said “Sure”.
This table was at the front of a three-table push, so I told the other dealer to just skip that table and go to the next table in the rotation. I then went to the cage and got a new empty dealer’s
tip box and exchanged it for the box at table #4 after I had dropped her stack of tips into the old box. Everything was now working just fine. One dealer did an extra down at a table and the dealer at the end of the rotation got to take her break on time.
One half hour later when the dealers pushed again, I changed out the tip box and gave her back her old box to complete the day with.

At the end of the day, I went to the cage with the two dealers and watched while the extra tip box was unlocked, the tips for that one down counted (almost $300) and split between the two dealers.

They were happy, I was happy, the player was happy,
all was well with the world.

That was one for the books that I have never seen or heard since. How often does a dealer do something that nice for her fellow dealers? She was willing to just skip the best tipping table in the house for the good of her friends. Amazing.

Happy Holidays, David

124

Hi Julie,

I already have a plot for the book I wish to write.
I have the major portions of the book already in my mind.
What is stopping me is the fear of putting it all together in a form that will capture the readers imagination and make it impossible for them to put down.

Have you ever read any books by “Clive Cussler”
He put a new spin on his books (I think that I have about 20 written by him). He wrote what I call historical fiction.
He took a major piece of history and wrote a fictional story surrounding it. “Raise the Titanic” would be a perfect example. He took the sinking of the Titanic, made up a fictional story that happened before the sinking that had nothing to do with the ship, put his characters on board and they went down with the ship. He then fasts forwards to the present and invents a reason to raise the titanic to recover the items that went down with the ship. He incorporates the fictitious far past, the real past and the fictitious present be blend the three together into a darn good book.

I just erased about 300 words that would have given away the plot to my new book, if I ever write it. Maybe we can talk about it in person

Happy Holidays, David

125

Hi David,

I just finished reading “Bluffing Texas Style. The Arsons, Forgeries and High-Stakes Poker Capers of Rare Book Dealer Johnny Jenkins,” by Michael Vinson. What a character!
Jenkins won Amarillo Slim’s Super Bowl of Poker in 1983 and Slim gave him his nickname “Austin Squatty.”
The book ends with this sentence: “Squatty’s final stack was short and the river was dry.”
Do you have any stories about him that you can share with us?
Thanks,
Bob

126

Hi Rasch,

Sorry, nothing on that topic, but here is a quick tournament story that I think you will enjoy.

I was watching a final tournament table at the Las Vegas Hilton years ago. It was a special summer tournament with 97 tournament and 3 live tables to make it an even 100 tables to start with and alternates waiting to get in to play. When it got down to the final two players, one player had over $2 million in chips and the other player had just about $25 thousand in chips. While the dealer was shuffling up for the probable last hand, the short stack said, “You want to split it”? We had a large crowd watching and everyone got a good laugh out of that. The other player just smiled. That hand finished, and the short stack had doubled up. He again smiled and said, “You want to split it?” Another big laugh all around, with nothing from the other player. Another hand was dealt, and the short stack asked the same question. This time the other player said “No” out loud. Another hand and the same question with a firm answer, “No thanks”. The 4th, and 5th hands were played with the not so short stack asking the same question once again after each hand dealt. He got the same answer, “No”, but it sounded a little bit hesitant this time. After the next hand and another double up, once again the question was asked. "Would you like to split it?’
This time the other player looked up and in a small voice said, “Yes, Please”.

Just goes to prove that old poker statement of,
“A chip and a chair”, (never give up hope, ever).

I know this is a true story because I was the floor person in charge of running that final table.
I will always remember the changes from the firm, “No” at the beginning of heads-up play to the final meek “Yes, Please”.
I guess it was the “Please” that got to me.

Happy Holidays, David

127

Ok,
I promised you a story about blackjack counters in California, so here it is.

I am sure most of you have seen the movie “21” or read a book on how to count cards at a blackjack table. Once you see the movie or read the book it is “duh”, how simple can it get. So off people go to make their millions with this information and go busted.
In a nutshell, a lot of blackjack tables use six deck shoes at the Blackjack tables. Now once you get your two cards you also get to see one of the dealer’s cards face up and you need to make a decision, to hit or to stand pat (stay with your two cards and do not ask for anymore additional cards). Easy right? Well, without your getting any other information, the house has about a 2% edge over the players. This means that for every $100 you play, you can expect to get $98 dollars back. You play long enough; the house will eventually take all of your money. You lose enough and they might even offer you a free dinner if you stick around to lose even more money (much more than the cost of a dinner for two).
This is where card counting comes in, to change the odds over to the side of the player. You see, the dealer must take a hit on his first two cards if their count is 16 or below, (sometimes 17 if he has an Ace). You see the house wins in three different ways. The player always acts first. If you bust (your card count going over 21 by taking additional cards), the house takes your wager even if the house itself goes bust on that same hand. If you stand on a low count, say 15 when the dealer is showing a 5 or less, and the dealer takes a hit and gets a count of 17 to 21, you also lose your money. If you have a high count, say 19, and the dealer shows a 20 or 21, you also still lose your wager. Sucks, doesn’t it!

Here is the simple trick to card counting. You start counting the cards that are dealt to everyone starting with a freshly shuffled six deck shoe. A high number of high cards left still in the shoe before a new shuffle is bad for the dealer, good for the player. A high number of low cards left in the shoe before a new shuffle is good for the dealer and bad for the player. Why?
Because if the dealer is showing a 5 or less up card, he must take a third card. If the shoe is heavy with high cards there are greater odds that he will go bust and you win on your 15 that you did not take a hit on. But, if the shoe is heavy on low cards and the dealer must take a hit, the odds are greater that he will get a winning count of between 17 and 21. You lose.
So, card counters start counting the cards coming out of the shoe with a simple plus or minus system. Every high card that is seen is a minus for the player. Every low card that is shown is a plus for the player. The player starts betting minimum until he gets a count that he thinks is good enough in his favor, and suddenly his bets jump from $5 per hand to $100 or more if allowed per hand because the odds of winning are now in his favor. It does not mean that he will win, just that the odds just shifted from the house to the player. Being an ex-floor person, I know that most card counters are easy to spot simply because of their betting patterns. If they are losing or breaking even, we continue to let them play. But, if they start winning big, we have the legal right to ask them to leave because we believe them to be a card counter.
Fair, HELL NO, legal, yes.

Ok, now for my story. I was working in a tribal casino in California when I heard about a potential problem in the Blackjack pit. The eye in the sky keeps track of people who win large amounts of money frequently. We seemed to have an elderly Chinese couple coming in every few weeks, betting max starting with their first hands for both of them who were playing on the same table and winning big almost every time they came in. Statistically, this was not supposed to happen. They became the object of intense surveillance every time they came in to play. Unfortunately, they played at different tables with different dealers. Damn! The only pattern that we could see was that they came in after 11 pm and sat down at an empty table but did mind if another player or two also sat down and played at their table. Always different players. Double Damn!
Now security really became annoyed. This was not supposed to happen on their watch, but it was. Our security got in touch with other tribal security, some of whom also had this couple on their radar. They put their heads together and came up with nada. They finally hired a special investigator who specialized in casino theft. They sent him everything they had on digital surveillance. He lived out of state, but the casino was paying the bills, so he flew to California and mimicked what he saw the couple doing during their play. It took a while, but he finally figured out what their scam was, and it was legal.
If any of you have every dealt blackjack, you will easily understand what I am going to say

To begin with, let me point out that poker cards are made out of plastic, are very forgiving if you bend them, and are used for months before being replaced. Blackjack cards, on the other hand, are made out of paper, and are not at all forgiving if bent.
That is one of the reasons we do not let the placers touch the cards anymore. The detective copied the motions of the Chinese couple exactly and got absolutely nothing. Not a hint. So, he traveled to a few other casinos where the couple were playing and almost always winning and struck gold. He figured it out and went back to the casino that was writing his checks and explained it by showing how it was done to the high casino officials who were involved.
When a new table is opened, the six decks are offered to a new player with a cut card for the player to place where he wanted the six decks to be cut in half. The husband was taller than the wife, but neither was very tall. The husband would always cut the six decks. He would stand, lean forward and place the cut card where he wanted and then sit back down and start playing, together with his wife.
Have you ever noticed that little triangle shaped thing right in front of the dealer’s tray. Anytime that the dealer’s up card is a face card (a ten count) or an Ace, he must slide both cards into this triangle to see if he has an automatic Blackjack.
Now the dealers make most of their income from tips. The more hands dealt, the more possible tip income. The same goes for the house. The more hands dealt, the more potential profit for the house. The dealers are trained to do everything quickly, including sliding the cards into this metal or plastic triangle. Quickly here means not gently, in and out.
Now paper blackjack cards have a one-use lifespan. At the end of each day, they are destroyed. The next day a whole new carton of cards is unboxed for use.
This is where the couple saw the flaw in the system.
After a full day of use, the paper cards started to get a little shinny along the top edges from being constantly jammed into that card reader. The husband was looking at the top of the six decks, looking for a thick batch of shinny cards (meaning high count cards) and placing the cut card just in front of them. The dealer would then move all of the cards in front of the shiny cards to the back of the deck before placing all six decks in the shoe for play. The couple had their cards counted, so to speak, before they played their firsthand. They would not play for long, just long enough to make a few thousand on that shoe, tip the dealer, and leave.

Time after time, week after week, casino after casino.
I wonder how much they made, all perfectly legal.

In case you are wondering, most casinos in California now change out their Blackjack decks after each shift, instead of just once a day.

Hoped you liked the story.

Happy holidays, David

1 Like
128

Glad that I could make you smile half as much as she made me smile.

happy Holidays, david

129

By the way craig. the people I was referring to were members of Tony Spilotros Hole in the wall gang. Members of the Mob who now, years later, I sincerely hoped were in no condition to take a personnel grudge against things that I really should not be talking about in public, even 40 years later.

1 Like
130

Hi smooth,

No, I never met Dean Martin. A little before my time in Las Vegas.

But I do have a story for you. I hope you are a fan of the actor James Garner (Maverick, The Rockford Files, etc.)
Anyway, I was working at the Las Vegas Hilton poker room when they were making a movie starring James Garner.
They roped off an area of about 15 feet by 15 feet right alongside our poker room. Right next to our railing was his personal chair with his name on it. I finally got up the courage one day to ask him a question when he did not look too busy, just glancing around the casino.
Now to understand this question, you have to have watched two of his movies. "Support Your Local Gunfighter’ and the other movie was “Support Your Local Sherrif”. They were both westerns and funny as hell. For years in my mind, I had a question. This was before Google and I had no one to ask, so I might as well go to the source. The two movies were very similar in many ways except for the movie plots. The old west towns looked similar, and a lot of the main actors were in both movies.
I always wondered if they just made both of them back-to-back to save expenses, so I got his attention and just asked him.
He smiled and said, “No one ever asked me that before, but no, the movies were made a little over two years apart.
Good question though.” He smiled and turned away.

One of my happiest days.
I grew up watching the old Maverick western series as a kid.
If you like westerns, please watch these two movies.

“Allways tip your hat to a lady, and always cut the cards”
One of his mottos in the series. Words to live by.

Happy Holidays, David

131

I just remembered another scene from one of the old Maverick TV series that all of you poker players will enjoy hearing about.

Maverick was playing poker in an old west saloon late one afternoon, when a beautiful, well-dressed young female walked by the table and stood watching for a few seconds.
She finally looked at Maverick and asked,
“Is this what they call, gambling?”
Maverick stood up, took of his hat, and replied,

“Not exactly, Mam. You see all of these other fine gentlemen sitting at the table?
They, are gambling. Me, I am playing Poker”.

Happy holidays, David

1 Like
132

I just came across your posts and never expected to see anything of the kind on a “play money” site!
Thanks for your stories! “Amazing” as Louis C.K. would say.
Out of curiosity do you know of a casino host by the name of Ron Nicoletti?

133

Sorry, I do not recognize the name.

Ask a few more questions, maybe we can connect.

Happy holidays, David

134

By the way, I am 74 years old, about to turn 75.

Why not tell you the real stories while I still can.

You ask, if I have an honest answer, I will tell it exactly like it happened.

It would help if I had more questions to answer.

Happy Holidays, David

135

Who do you know from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters ?

136

About as many as you know in the Israeli Knesset.

i guessed I should have added the word “relevant”.

1 Like
137

If it weren’t for the Teamsters pension money there would be no casinos built in the 1970s in Las Vegas. That’s pertinent information you should have known. No book worth its salt would be published without it.

138

Come on, Craig, please learn the proper use of the English language.

You asked me,
“Who do I know from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters?”

My answer was none, no one, nada.

If you had asked me if I knew about the relationship between the Teamsters and the Mob, I believe that my answer would have been much more forthcoming, but not much. We all watched the movie, “Casino”, where they talked about the deal between the Teamsters and the Mob being made. Do I know more than what was shown in the movie?
My answer is yes, hell yes, a lot more.
Please remember that the teamsters involved in the deal did not live in Las Vegas.
Even the Mob higher ups did not live in Las Vegas.
Vegas was considered an open city, like the Switzerland of the Mob world.
But as far as I know, I have never met a teamster in my life who was involved in that deal, let alone know what their names were. If you think teamsters related to that behind the curtains deal walked around Las Vegas with big signs on them that said, “I helped the Mob buy Las Vegas”, you are going to be sadly disappointed.

If you have some kind of grudge with me, please say what it is so that everyone, including myself, will understand.

Thank you and Happy Holidays, David

2 Likes
139

Tell us about that then. You said ask questions. I’m a third generation Teamster so let’s hear those Teamster stories related to Las Vegas.

One would imagine you met some Teamster Union Officials at the high roller tables in your time working there since the Teamsters held their international convention in Las Vegas every year then you would have more stories then a priest taking confessions but you have never addressed that part yet.

Merry Christmas and a Happy, healthy New Year.

140

Craig, I answered your question.
With that, you will have to remain satisfied, you had your turn.

Sorry, the teamsters have a longer reach than the IRS.

By the way, once again, where did I say that I knew Teamster stories relating to Las Vegas? I never brought up the subject.
Once again, what is your problem?
I am just writing stories and having fun reminiscing about the past. Why have you suddenly turned so belligerent? Is this your normal personality or are you just getting a head start on the New Year Festivities.

Teamsters did Party Harty in Las Vegas, just like the rest of us do. That does not mean that they talked in front of the general public about things best left unsaid. They often drank too much, but not that much. Lake Meade was much too deep. If you were indeed affiliated, you would know that. I, myself, was never affiliated with the teamsters, or any other union, and never would be, but that is a Las Vegas thing. Some of us in Las Vegas were pro unions, like the culinary and electricians’ unions. And some of us were anti-union, like most of the casino dealers in Las Vegas. Guess which side I was on? The overall union track record back then, and before, was almost as bad as the Mob.
I was just an honest, casino employee trying to make a living.

We will just have to agree to disagree.
About what, I have no idea.

Please leave me alone.

Happy Holidays, everyone, David

4 Likes
141

I have really been enjoying reading your stories David, and wonder if you have any about people like me, who have only once tried playing live poker after 5 years on line at Replay, and the whole experience left me feeling totally confused, I did not even understand how to use my chips! Do you know of anyone who started off as a total rookie and ended up in the big time?

142

Sorry, Grapevine,

A total rookie, no. Not saying that it never happened.
I knew a lot of players who had been playing in home games before coming to Vegas and made it into a very profitable living. You obviously have access to a computer, so go online at google and type in something worded differently each week. There are too many sites too count, on how to play poker in a casino or online. There are also several other websites besides “Replay” to learn from.
I have a house here in Phoenix and another one in Las Vegas. In Phoenix, I cannot play live poker online, legally.
In Vegas, I can play live action online for real cash.

If you live near a real casino, go and watch the players in action. Find the shift manager, or floor person running the room and explain your situation. Different rooms have different rules for watching the action at the tables. If it is allowed, he will show you a good place to stand where you can follow the action. On the way out, stop by the cage and buy a stack of 20 $1 chips to play with, to handle, at home. The good part is that when you get tired of playing with them, you can take them back and get a full refund. Don’t worry about playing in a live game in a casino yet. You have way too much to learn before that, and you can do it at home in your underwear. “Replay” is a good learning school. because they give you free chips to play with every day, no charge. Don’t skip a day logging in to replay. You do not have to play, just log in. You get less free chips to play with if you forget to log in for a day.
Sometimes people ask me what kind of poker I play when I sit down at a live table, like in a Las Vegas casino, or online. My answer is always the same. If I am feeling intellectual (read smart), I play seven card stud, straight high. If I am feeling aggressive, I play Texas Hold’em. If I am playing for fun, I play Omaha High Low Split and call for cocktails. Somehow the game all seems to make more sense when I have been drinking. It’s a wacky game to begin with so what the hell, “COCKTAILS”. On line, whether it is playing for free or playing for cash, I play on multiple tables at the same time. On replay, they have a very short time for you to make a decision, so I usually play on just three tables at once. 20 years ago, when live cash games were legal online all over the US, I used two monitors and played 6 or 8 live games at one time. I had friends who were playing on 12 or more tables all at once. When the laws in the US changed, quite a few friends moved out of the country where they could still play live action legally. Vancouver in Canada was a popular place to move to. Belize was another. Some opted for Caribbean Islands that spoke English. Still others moved to Europe. I gave it serious consideration, but I decided that I would miss the US too much.

Please, don’t you give much thought to playing at a live poker table right now. Baby steps. You may ask me new questions every day.
We will make it a fun thing. I live in Phoenix most of the year and am usually available from 6 pm until 2 am in the morning.
Don’t worry, dumb questions are my specialty.

Happy Holidays, David