Originally Posted by
kewlJ
Dude everything you just said as a rebuttal is pure speculation. it is opinion and nothing else. So stop with this crap that it is proof or something has been proven.
The keypad is actually on the outside or was with the models that I encountered both at El Cortez and East Cannery.
East cannery was actually more blatant about it that El Cortez. East cannery was also easier to spot because there was only one double deck game with an ASM. There was a second double deck game that was only open on Saturday night, but it did not have an ASM. So with one table and game, it doesn't take long to realize your results are not what they should be. At El Cortez there were 4 tables and two had this newer ASM while the first two did not. So it took a while to realize that results at the second two tables were off.
So at East Cannery, I started losing, regularly. Not every session, but results were just crap. Seemed to hover around break even while I was playing a very good, deeply dealt double deck game and often playing heads up, and getting many rounds in. After months of this, I felt like something was wrong. That probably isn't enough time to statistically prove anything, as you need millions of rounds for that kind of definitive proof. But as an experienced counter, you can just feel when something isn't right.
So I played many times before I even began to take notice of what was happening. These machines jam and a card gets stuck very frequently, so a pit guy is always doing something to the machine. I just never paid much attention. Then several times I noticed the pit guy, more often than not it was the same weekday afternoon pit guy named "Angel" that would punch in a code (I later learned the terminology they use for this is key although it is a code not a physical key). Usually I was playing heads up, although a few times there was another player. And each time I would lose and saw similar strange clumping.
So one day, the last time I played that table and machine, I sit down and am playing and Angel, comes over and punches in a code or key. The machine hadn't malfunctioned or anything, so I said to him "how come every time you punch in a code, I lose?" He just smiled and walked away. Didn't deny anything or make an excuse as I was sort of expecting. Just smiled and walked away.
I didn't really know what to do about it. I knew what was going on but didn't feel like I had proof enough to say anything, even an accusing post on a forum. So I just decided my days of playing Eastside Cannery were over. No big deal. Since I hadn't seem this or unusual results anywhere else, I figured it was just a one time, lone wolf sort of deal. And this was just the kind of casino you would figure for something like that, an independent smaller place. They were under the same umbrella as Cannery casino up North, but each casino really was independent.
We still went in there because my partner and I liked both the buffet and little coffee shop. And it was still on our rotation for video poker machine play that my partner was doing, but I never played blackjack again and within a year the casino was bought out by Boyd, and that double deck game, the shuffle machine and Angel, I never saw again.
I don't know when El Cortez happened without looking it up. It had to be a year or more later. But as soon as I realized what was going on, I said "I have seen this all before". This time I said, I need to prove this to myself and say or do something. I tracked over 100 shoes (double deck dealt from a shoe) seeing repeated clumping and false high counts where no high cards followed. 100 shoes! some by flat betting and watching. Some by standing or sitting at a machine nearby and watching. THAT is when I decided to say something. I was thinking well this is going to spread and keep happening.