The drive across southern Indiana was nice. Where southern Illinois is all unremarkable farmland southern Indiana is forested hill country. Fall colors were out in many places.
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The drive across southern Indiana was nice. Where southern Illinois is all unremarkable farmland southern Indiana is forested hill country. Fall colors were out in many places.
The screenshot is of the hotel. The casino is to the right which I forgot to get a picture of.Quote:
Originally Posted by kewlJ
It's the "Boat in a moat"Quote:
Originally Posted by kewlJ
I drove through French Lick maybe 30 years ago. Hey, isn't there a county or two in Indiana that don't adhere to Daylight Savings Time or something? I seem to remember getting messed up as to what time it was driving through portions of Indiana.Quote:
Originally Posted by jbjbIt's the "Boat in a moat"Quote:
Originally Posted by kewlJ
Larry Bird. The "Hick from French Lick".Quote:
Originally Posted by mickeycrimm
My all-time favorite basketball player.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dannyjLarry Bird. The "Hick from French Lick".Quote:
Originally Posted by mickeycrimm
My all-time favorite basketball player.
The first NBA all-star game with a three-point shootout competition, he walked into the locker room and asked the other competitors, "Okay, who's going to finish second?"
Spent a family vacation there once about 50 years ago. No casinos but had great golf course at that time.
Mickey you still haven't found any juicy promos yet? Where are you heading next?Quote:
Originally Posted by redietzQuote:
Originally Posted by dannyjLarry Bird. The "Hick from French Lick".Quote:
Originally Posted by mickeycrimm
My all-time favorite basketball player.
The first NBA all-star game with a three-point shootout competition, he walked into the locker room and asked the other competitors, "Okay, who's going to finish second?"
The Midwest sucks for promos. You might get $10 free play and a t-shirt at best.
The best white basketball player of all time, followed closely by Steve Nash.Quote:
Originally Posted by dannyjLarry Bird. The "Hick from French Lick".Quote:
Originally Posted by mickeycrimm
My all-time favorite basketball player.
Ya comparable to Michigan casinos right jbjb?Quote:
Originally Posted by jbjb
I can't tell if this is a joke or you are serious. :confused: Why would he post where he is going next? Maybe he should tattoo "mickeycrimm" on his forehead. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by AxelWolf
Why wouldn't he post where he's going next"
What, do you think that casino personnel in bumfuck USA monitor this board to protect against AP's?
Let's assume that someone there reads this board and knows he's coming to their casino: what can they do to interfere with his normal methods of play?
He plays slots, not BJ.
The state passed a law that they all had to do it 10 years ago or so. Before that, yeah it was a PITA.Quote:
Originally Posted by redietzI drove through French Lick maybe 30 years ago. Hey, isn't there a county or two in Indiana that don't adhere to Daylight Savings Time or something? I seem to remember getting messed up as to what time it was driving through portions of Indiana.Quote:
Originally Posted by jbjbIt's the "Boat in a moat"Quote:
Originally Posted by kewlJ
Do I think casino personnel at French Lick Casino monitor gambling/AP sites? NO. Do I think the database companies, who's sole business it is to identify AP's and provide that info to casinos monitor gambling/AP sites? I don't think so I know it for a fact! I don't know if vegas casino talk being rather small is on their radar, but by name alone it may well be.Quote:
Originally Posted by MisterV
OSN is the largest of these networks. They are very sophisticated and technology driven. Not only do they monitor websites that might attract AP's but they use social media accounts in linking and identifying AP's. They don't discriminate card counter, or machine player AP. Their job is to provide data on AP's to their clients, who are casinos. Where each casino, or casino chain ranks machine player AP's as opposed to card counters or hole-carders, is a variable. Differs by casinos' and chains. Some tolerate them, some don't.
So it is OSN (and other databases) that I would be concerned about. And guess what? OSN is an Native American founded organization. While they now have MOST casinos as clients, almost all Indian casinos are clients. And guess where mickey's tour takes him? All those out of the way Indian based and run casinos. :rolleyes:
And if you want proof of what I just said (which seems to be the thing with this site), at BJ21.com, where members pay a subscription, Stanford Wong admitted that members of the casino industry were paid members. His admission of that is why I no longer subscribe to that forum (NO, I was not banned). On a site like Wov, where their in no subscription, I suspect if you asked Mike Shackleford he will tell you he is aware of casino industry personnel that are members. A few of them (like Zcore) don't even hide that they are casino personnel. And you can bet that the online casinos that now own both those sites and other gambling related sites care even less.
People that aren't AP's don't seem to realize the war we fight everyday with the casino industry. This is precisely why I am so very, very extremely cautious with any kind of meet-up. Being a member of various sites for a decade now, I would have loved to meet up with some of the members that taught me so much, hit one of the green chip parties at BJ21 or even one of the oddball, contest gatherings at Wov. The risk vs reward is far too great for my tastes and my top priority of playing for a few more years (longevity).
KJ, that's all well and good but irrelevant to my point, which is that MC, who I understand typically plays without a player's card, will be off the casino's radar; they won't have his name and thus won't have a clue as to him being anything other than a ploppy.
If he is in the OSN database, I still don't see how a midwest casino would be able to spot / identify him before he is through playing unless he uses a player's card.
The only possible method I can see them identifying him with quickly would be via facial recognition technology, which is expensive and probably not in wide use, especially in smaller casinos outside of Las Vegas (just speculating).
Question for MC: assuming you post using your real name: have casinos ever barred you from play once they discover your identity?
"Holy Shit, it's Mickey Crimm! Don't let him play here!"
True story. Imagine that confidence. Oh, and he went on to win too.Quote:
Originally Posted by redietzQuote:
Originally Posted by dannyjLarry Bird. The "Hick from French Lick".Quote:
Originally Posted by mickeycrimm
My all-time favorite basketball player.
The first NBA all-star game with a three-point shootout competition, he walked into the locker room and asked the other competitors, "Okay, who's going to finish second?"
I assume this is why mickey plays unrated. I asked in the thread (maybe this one earlier), when he listed his expenses and hotels and restaurants were the top two.Quote:
Originally Posted by MisterV
I assume you have heard the pretty well known story involving one of the BJ teams that sprung up in the early 2000's after the MIT team's books/movie. I don't remember which team, maybe members of the church team?? So they were playing in the gulf coast region, got 86ed rom one of the casinos. Rather than head to a casino down the street in the same town, they moved on....drove 3 hours to the next area (I believe even the next state) and when they pulled in the parking lot, there was a team of security waiting there with pictures. Technology is a bitch. That's what we are up against.
If mickey gets IDed and gets the boot, I could easily see problems beating him to his next destination.
I've got a big stack of player's cards in the glove box from all the player's clubs I've signed up to this year. It's part of my strategy. Most of them give away around $10 in freeplay for signing up. I've caught absolutely no heat. While Crimm is my legal last name Mickey is not my legal first name. Per my father's wishes I was named after him but my mother never called me by that name. She called me Mickey from the time I came out of the womb. It's the name that all my family, even my father, calls me and so do my friends. So my ID has my real first name on it, not Mickey.
I haven't checked out the blackjack at any of the stops. All I know is compositional strategy for single deck. I think I could do a reasonable job counting but I really don't want to exercise all that brainpower. I get tired enough as it is at my age. I'm just sticking to what I know well which is machines.
I went as far east as southern Ohio. I decided to turn around and head back west at that point. It was easy enough for me to determine that others are working the vulturable line games there. I could continue on east to Pennsylvania but I think I would run into the same situation there. Or I could turn north to the Chicago/Detroit area. But I know I will run into other hustlers there too. I know greekland johnny is based out of Detroit. He and I trade information on machines. Or I could head south to Mississippi.
I hibernated in Montana for over nine years. I had no clue on what kind of new equipment was on the casinos floors in other jurisdictions. But I have a big clue now. Through my travels this year I discovered a whole new generation of vulturable line games. Very new games. I've worked these games on the casino floors from the west coast all the way to the midwest. I'm sure they are on the east coast too and down south.
I could continue on criss crossing the country just playing these new vulturable games if I wanted too. I'm way outrunning expenses on it. But there is always a trade off. I'm giving up the Montana money to do it. From what I've toured so far I know where the best stops are so will probably be dropping into those places in the future but I'm not going to give up Montana.
I'm still conflicted on turning around at this point. I have a brother that lives in Maine. There are genealogical sites in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, that I would like to visit someday. Maybe next spring.
I've gotten a little behind on posting up pictures of my stops but they will all get posted in due time.
When I viewed the little town of French Lick my first thought was "That Larry Bird is a real hillbilly."Quote:
Originally Posted by dannyjLarry Bird. The "Hick from French Lick".Quote:
Originally Posted by mickeycrimm
My all-time favorite basketball player.
Before going into Louisville I stopped at Horseshoe Southern Indiana located about 25 miles from Louisville. It was about 1 in the afternoon. I found some vulturables. The hotels of Louisville would be at least 25 miles away. I looked up their hotel rate on their website then checked it on Trivago. Trivago had the cheaper price, $79. I decided to stay at the Horseshoe instead of booking a cheaper room in Louisville. I could make regular laps from the hotel room to the casino playing off the vulturables and that would pay more than the extra cost. When making the reservation I got hit with a $15 resort fee, damn. So I would up paying $103 total for the room. Oh, well, it was still a better situation that having to commute 25 miles back and forth.
Hey Mickey, I heard your interview on Gambling With an Edge. Good show. I'm a blackjack player, but I'm at the point where I'm looking to exploit other games. Can you answer a quick question for me? This isn't a big play, if it's a play at all. Its just bugging me. At my local Racino they have a Whole Lotta Keno machine with six different Keno games on it. One Keno game is Frost N' Fire Keno. It offers progressive jackpots for 6/6, 6/7, 7/8, 7/9, and 8/10. Is this game exploitable? If so, at what point? I was thinking the 6/7 might be playable but I'm having trouble with the math. The part that gives me trouble is on the first 2 numbers you can catch a "frost" bonus, where I think the pay table is 4x for 11 free games. The last 3 numbers you can catch a "fire" bonus, where I think the pay table is 9x for 15 free games. I'm not 100% sure of these numbers, but I think they're right. Thank you for your reply.
The room. In the 2nd picture you can see I've already got my laptop set up.
The view to the west from my room
The view to the east. You can see the casino down below at the end of the long corridor. It's like a half mile walk to the casino but they have golf cart like shuttles you can take for a tip. If you look hard enough you can see the Louisville skyline.
I don't remember all the particulars but I analyzed the Montana version of the game several years ago and determined it was never playable at an advantage. But Montana is a 50 cent bet with an $800 cap on the progressive. The easiest one to hit is the 6 out of 7 but it's not straight up playing for that. I don't remember exactly but you have to hit something in order to qualify for the meter and it's only like a six game window you have to hit the 6 out of 7. The frequency of 6 out of 7 is 1326 and you only have that small window to hit it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg
The best thing you can do is take pics of the game including all the rules screens and send them to me. I'll be glad to analyze it for you.
Belterra
Florence, Indiana
My next stop was Rising Star Casino in Rising Star, Indiana. I forgot to get pictures. This casino already had Christmas decorations up for some reason. Then the next stop was Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. I got there at night. The outside pictures didn't take well. My camera doesn't do well with neon glow. It was a big casino with lots of machines and lots of room between the machines as the picture show:
Looks a lot like Buffalo Bill's out at Primm. Same kind of decor and ceiling/floor space. Travel safely, mickey.Quote:
Originally Posted by mickeycrimm
A view of the Cincinnati skyline from atop the Jack Casino parking garage:
aaa
Did you find any opportunities in Cincinnati?
There are some vulturable line games there but they are being worked by locals. I didn't get any plays.Quote:
Originally Posted by pkspins
I'm not surprised. I've never been to that casino because I never get stay trips to Cincinnati, just drive through sometimes and there's other non-gambling stuff I'd rather spend the time on. But the one in Cleveland, and this was when they were still TR, but whenever the VP progressive was playable or the $2 Quick Hits progressives were running high people were parked even if the rest of the place was empty.Quote:
Originally Posted by mickeycrimmThere are some vulturable line games there but they are being worked by locals. I didn't get any plays.Quote:
Originally Posted by pkspins
Lebanon, Ohio
Miami Valley is Ohio VLT, as opposed to Cincinnati which is one of the 4 Ohio casinos. Did you notice any differences?
The machines were class III which is the way some states like Oregon, Illinois, South Dakota are even though they are called VLT's.Quote:
Originally Posted by pkspins
Hey Mickey.
We are always looking to explore parts of the country we have never seen before. Throughout your travels this past year, which states /areas did you like the best, not necessarily just for the gaming?
I like the Black Hills where Deadwood is located, northern Idaho where Couer D'Alene Casino is located and the Oregon Coast.Quote:
Originally Posted by dannyj
Metropolis, Illinois
It's good to see that Batgirl has a job dealing in Metropolis. I hear Metropolis pays much better than Gotham City. But she really should keep a lower profile.Quote:
Originally Posted by mickeycrimm
St. Louis, Missouri
Another St. Louis casino
It is really neat to see what all these places look like.
I think you mentioned that you got cards at all of the places you visited. Your mailbox should be swimming in offers pretty soon.
I'd be interested to hear how they compare to your local offers and to each other. My greater interest would be the southern Ohio, Indiana and Illinois casinos specifically, but . My experience with play at out-of-area locals has been that the return offers are disproportionately high, since zip code I think factors into the calculation, but it really varies. This has worked to my advantage when I have repetitive travel to the same location to actually use them.
I also find it entertaining how long places will continue to send offers....the one off places not the CETs or other chain casino card groups. For most it's a few months and then nothing except for perhaps a periodic postcard. Others keep sending things for years.
Yes, it really is nice.
Mickey, you might want to consider posting a sticky-thread showing all the casinos you've photographed, state by state, in a searchable manner.
Downtown St. Louis
Mickey, these postings and pictures of the casinos you have visited around the Midwest are terrific. thanks for posting them.
The best offers I've received are from where I ran video poker action and this has only been in a few spots. It has to be a decent play or I won't run it. I found a dollar 9/6 Jacks triple meter at Choctaw Durant, Oklahoma in August and ran $20,000 in action. The card was worth .1% freeplay. They sent me $300 in freeplay for October broken down into weekly increments of $75, plus two buffet comps and a phone number to call for a "discounted or comped room." They sent me the same offer for November.Quote:
Originally Posted by pkspins
Maryland Heights. Outskirts of St. Louis
Ameristar, St. Charles, Missouri. I was there late night and the outside pictures didn't take well.
Hi Mickey:
I love that balcony shot of the craps table! Odd that the players are using chairs.
I got there about 4 in the morning. They were probably degenerate gamblers who had been at the table all night and got tired of standing.Quote:
Originally Posted by FABismonte
You saw Alan and Rob there?Quote:
Originally Posted by mickeycrimmI got there about 4 in the morning. They were probably degenerate gamblers who had been at the table all night and got tired of standing.Quote:
Originally Posted by FABismonte
Alton, Illinois
Mick--are these casinos located in desolate areas or bad neighborhoods or are they out in the boonies or in or near large cities. Or a little of everything.
I wouldn't want to go walking around late night in downtown Evansville, Cincinnati or St. Louis. I was a little concerned about my car in downtown St. Louis even though it was daytime when I was there. But other than these few examples I had no problem with the locations of the rest. The ones around the urban areas are located in the suburbs, nice areas. Then there are those in the rural areas surrounded by farmland or on rivers. So yes, they run the gamut from urban to suburb to rural areas.Quote:
Originally Posted by regnis
LaGrange, Missouri
Council Bluffs, Iowa
Nothing like feeding the hand that bites you.
Ameristar, Council Bluffs, Iowa
Being in here is like being in a sardine can.Quote:
Originally Posted by mickeycrimm
Harrah's Council Bluffs
I think I see an ace of hearts on that table.Quote:
Originally Posted by mickeycrimm
Winner!!!!! Quote of the year.Quote:
Originally Posted by quahaugI think I see an ace of hearts on that table.Quote:
Originally Posted by mickeycrimm
[QUOTE=regnis;55388]Does Rob have to pay for my chicken dinner?Quote:
Originally Posted by quahaugI think I see an ace of hearts on that table.Quote:
Originally Posted by mickeycrimm
The turkey dinner he invited you to last week wasn't enough??
Onawa, Iowa
Sloan, Iowa
Hard Rock, Sioux City, Iowa
Got back to Montana just in time for this. If you look hard enough you can see Our Lady Of The Rockies at the top of the mountain in the third picture. It's a 90 foot statue. You might have to blow the picture up to see it.
Crow Agency, Montana, Crow Indian Reservation. This casino is in eyesight of Little Bighorn National Battlefield.
Couer D'Alene Casino, Worley, Idaho on a hot and balmy day:
Since the Our Lady of the Rockies statue cannot be seen very well in the pic, even though its 90 feet tall, I thought I would show you what she looks like. The statue is a homage to the Virgin Mary. It sits 8500 feet above sea level on the continental divide at Butte, Montana:
Auburn, Washington. I was there in the early morning hours. The place was empty.
Just a few hours from where I was born and raised. I also lived near Olympia.
What class are they? I didn't think Washington had any class III machines. Did you find any machines that were APable in Washington? Will you be making your way rainbow valley? Lucky Eagle is only a few miles from there.
Lucky Eagle has expanded / grown.
It was my "first" casino, but I prefer the rng-based slots offered in the Oregon casinos to the ones in Washington, although from what I've read the end results / payouts are similar.
Between Muckelshoot and Lucky Eagle there are now two others nearby: Nisqually Red Winds in Yelm and Little Creek in Shelton, both of which I've chosen to ignore.
Thanks for the pics, MC, and if you get near Portland, wave.
From what I've read Class III was approved in 2006. All the penny line games appeared to be Class III to me except some machines with bingo cards I seen at a bingo hall operated by Tulalip. The video poker is still Class II. I've seen no AP'able games so far unless you count the Fortune 88 type machines I seen at both Muckleshoot and Tulalip.Quote:
Originally Posted by AxelWolf
Marysville, Washington
After visiting a few of the Washington casinos I flew out of Sea-Tac up to Juneau, Alaska to spend Christmas with my folks.
Take-off