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Thread: Disgusted with video poker floor people

  1. #1
    I am disgusted with video poker floor people and some of the floor people at Caesars are the worst.

    If there is one thing I cannot stand it's to have a floor person come up from behind me and start talking to me as I am playing. These distractions have led to errors.

    Even worse is when a floor person from the end of a row of machines, perhaps ten feet away calls my name, which causes me to look up from the play and again opens up the possibility of errors.

    But even worse than that -- if you can believe -- is that Sunday night while playing at Caesars a SUPERVISOR not only came over to me while I was playing and started to talk to me, but also TOOK THE SEAT NEXT TO ME and continued to pepper me with questions and making the usual small talk of "hit a royal," "get a royal now," "a royal is coming." Meanwhile I kept playing... but when the remarks continued I hit the cash out button and walked away.

    It also happens at Rincon. I never had it happen at Pechanga, nor at Morongo. In Vegas it never happened at Bellagio or Mandalay Bay or MGM or NYNY.

    Granted I play a lot at Caesars but that doesn't give floor people carte blanche to get in my face.

    I've discussed this several times with my hosts and even wrote about it in the post-trip surveys that I get from Rincon and Caesars. We have also discussed it here, and I know I am not alone.

    Here's part of an email I just sent my host at Caesars:

    Late Sunday night I left the video poker area when a supervisor sat down next to me to strike up a conversation. First she made the usual small talk and then she actually sat down in the chair next to me to have a conversation and that's when I hit the cash out button and walked away.

    I might never play video poker there again. And I would be more than happy to tell every one of your executives to tell the floor people to stop their "happy talk."

    There were two other floor people who from ten feet away called my name to say hello. No more.


    There are all sorts of problems when video poker players are distracted including losing concentration, making errors in holds, even errors in watching the meters (I carefully check for hands played and credits remaining). There is also the problem of distractions used by crooks who want to steal from players -- either handbags or phones or even cash-out tickets.

    This is where the famous "customer service of Harrah's and Caesars" becomes a liability and an inconvenience and even dangerous.

    The floor people should be patrolling for problems, not creating small talk with players who are concentrating on their game. I know where the "call button" is.

  2. #2
    While I don't feel as strongly as you do on this topic, I agree with everything you wrote.

    I also hate being bothered while playing, and like you, have found myself startled when deep in concentration while fast-playing VP.
    Check out my poker forum, and weekly internet radio show at http://pokerfraudalert.com

  3. #3
    My host sent me this via email:

    I’m going to see if your account can be flagged somehow, so you won’t be bothered when you are playing.


    I've had several discussions with my host before about this. Even she knows not to talk to me while playing but she is still able to have face-to-face contact which is what Caesars wants their hosts to have.

  4. #4
    It's all a direct result of you having no problem doing all the things that keep you well within their radar. These people think you want to be like a member of their "family" at your "home away from home". They don't do it to distract you and they don't even realize anything about what vp "errors" might mean. Yes, the same thing has happened to me in the past when I was a loyal AP, but I reacted differently. Those things annoy me and I always immediately just told them they were annoying and bothersome. It always worked, and I would have never wasted my time writing messages as a defeated and irritated customer.

  5. #5
    Just to be fair to the other side: is there any video poker player who wants a floor person to come over to them and strike up a conversation during play?

  6. #6
    Just to add some fuel to the fire here since Alan & Rob have discussed addiction issues in the past.

    An excerpt from Natasha Dow Schull's Addiction By Design:

    The tuning out of out worldly choices, contingencies, and consequences in the zone of machine gambling depends on the exclusion of other people. “I don’t want to have a human interface” says Julie, a psychology student at the University of Nevada. “I can’t stand to have anybody within my zone.” Machine gamblers go to great lengths to ensure their isolation. Some select machines in corners or at the end of a row, while others place coin cups upside-down on adjacent machines to prevent people from sitting beside them. “I resent someone breaking my trance” says Randall, who cashes out and moves to another machine if someone talks to him while he is playing. Sharon has learned to buy a liter of Pepsi and two packs of cigarettes before sitting at the machines, so that cocktail waitresses will not interrupt her. “I put my foot up on one side and that’s the final barrier: Leave me alone. I want to hang a DO NOT DISTURB sign on my back.”

    Sound familiar? It seems very easy to fall into that "zone"...

    LINK

  7. #7
    There is no zone only distractions that can lead to errors.

    I think it is also worthwhile to point out just how dangerous it is when a supervisor decides to talk with you about your play.

    1. Incident#1 at Rincon the double double bonus progressive was relatively high but I was playing Aces and Faces which is a game with a better return and a game I am more comfortable playing. Yet, there was supervisor standing over my shoulder telling me to try for the DDB progressive before someone else gets it.

    2. Incident #2 at Caesars this past weekend, a supervisor kept pushing me to keep playing saying things like "a royal is coming," "next hand is the royal," "get the royal."

  8. #8
    Originally Posted by Alan Mendelson View Post
    Just to be fair to the other side: is there any video poker player who wants a floor person to come over to them and strike up a conversation during play?
    I can't say I've ever heard anyone claim that. But some players give off the "vibe" that they wouldn't'really have a problem chatting with an employee. These players not only fall into the trap of feeling like a particular casino or casinos as being their "home away from home"....they at times (such as when receiving those glorious hand pays and believe handing out foolish tips adds to the jovial atmosphere) turn into social butterflies, thereby setting themselves up for future irritation. But worrying about "errors" is the least of the issues. Lots of people who have no clue win on the most unlikely of holds. Even so-called "flawless AP's".

  9. #9
    Count,

    Quite a coincidence. As I read your post, I was ordering Addiction By Design. It's supposed to be a great summary of research over the last decade or so. It looks fabulous.

    May I suggest, for all posters, a tandem dose of "Addiction By Design" and "Whale Hunt in the Desert" to cure you of the misguided notion that casinos are your friends who provide recreation.

    Rob, why don't you order a copy of "Addiction By Design," too, and we can do book reviews together.

    Count, let us know how good a read it is.

  10. #10
    Originally Posted by redietz View Post
    Count,

    Quite a coincidence. As I read your post, I was ordering Addiction By Design. It's supposed to be a great summary of research over the last decade or so. It looks fabulous.

    May I suggest, for all posters, a tandem dose of "Addiction By Design" and "Whale Hunt in the Desert" to cure you of the misguided notion that casinos are your friends who provide recreation.

    Rob, why don't you order a copy of "Addiction By Design," too, and we can do book reviews together.

    Count, let us know how good a read it is.

    Red:
    The book is an excellent read and I have had it on my bookshelf since last year (I think I discussed this book a long while back here on the forums once..).

    I admit I have fallen into that VP "zone" on quite a few occasions to where I want to "tune everything out" and focus dead center on the electronic cards. This was the kind of hypnosis I am weary of and I can see why the casinos want to take you to that zone.

    Do I believe that falling into a zone is a sign of gambling addiction? Yes and no. No, because of the powerful tricks being used to lure any unwary VP player into that zone (isn't that exactly where the casinos want you to be?). And...yes because gambling addicts use that zone to avoid everyday reality and all its uncertainties & complexities & uncontrollable difficulties.

    It depends on each player's circumstance, but kudos to Natasha Schull's work, though. She had a guest spot on "60 Minutes" for a good reason and I do have to take the word of a PhD in cultural anthropology very seriously (especially someone who has studied the Vegas culture for as long as she did).

    EDIT: I think Rob should meet with Ms. Schull and talk about VP game discipline with her, haha!
    Last edited by Count Room; 06-06-2014 at 01:03 PM. Reason: Forgot something...

  11. #11
    Originally Posted by Alan Mendelson View Post
    There is no zone only distractions that can lead to errors.

    I think it is also worthwhile to point out just how dangerous it is when a supervisor decides to talk with you about your play.

    1. Incident#1 at Rincon the double double bonus progressive was relatively high but I was playing Aces and Faces which is a game with a better return and a game I am more comfortable playing. Yet, there was supervisor standing over my shoulder telling me to try for the DDB progressive before someone else gets it.

    2. Incident #2 at Caesars this past weekend, a supervisor kept pushing me to keep playing saying things like "a royal is coming," "next hand is the royal," "get the royal."
    Alan: Yes, I can see where that would be annoying and it could interrupt "the flow of play" for me. My only question is whether this is normal behavior or not.

    It could be normal in the sense that VP is a solitary game designed to exclude everybody else, and you were simply following the protocols of the game itself (unlike, say, craps which is more of a social extrovert's game).

    Personally I do take your word for it that you just didn't like the distractions that potentially lead to errors, but my point in my previous post is that there is a dangerously addictive "zone" lurking not far from there that most sensible VP players should be wary of.

    I actually think falling into a "zone" of VP play is OK even when it happens. It's only when it adversely affects other areas of life does it truly start to become a concern.

  12. #12
    It has nothing to do with a "flow of play." It has to do with distractions that cause errors. It also has nothing to do with addiction -- but it has everything to do with etiquette. It also has a lot to do with floor people egging you on to keep playing when you don't want to play.

    I didn't tell you about the floor person at one of the casinos who has absolutely no second thought about coming over to me while I am playing to discuss "stock tips" and the stock market. Finally I told him "I am not here to talk about Wall Street."

    I think the floor people are trained to promote additional play and to make plays you don't want to make.

    Do you know that there is a security guard at one of the casinos who literally will stand next to me for ten minutes or longer watching me play? It got to be such a pain that I finally asked him not to.

    My own host at Caesars KNOWS never to talk to a player on the casino floor -- she always talks to them either before or after or makes an appointment to say hello. She has heard enough of the complaints.

  13. #13
    Maybe you should design your own t-shirt so the back looks something like the one below. And if that doesn't work a little squirt bottle filled with water would.
    Attached Images Attached Images  

  14. #14
    Maybe a Rob Singer bobblehead strategically placed on top of the machine cabinet could warn off the hosts and tip-seeking sycophants.

  15. #15
    Dr. Spock,

    That shirt gives me a great idea! Thanks for the posting. With a little art work that could look really cool!

    Happy Playing,

    Quad AAAA's

  16. #16
    I just used a custom T-shirt site to do that. There are lots of them out there and you can play around and add whatever graphics and text you want.

  17. #17
    Employees purposely talking to players to keep you playing longer or to cause errors? Coming up with tee shirts and other paraphernalia to help ward them off? Where's Dan's input on this?

    Do you see how not being in control of what you are trying to accomplish at the casino is affecting you yet?? All I see is people conjuring up excuses on why they can't seem to win, and using that as some sort of twisted rationale as to why they must keep torturing themselves to keep going back to the same place to play. Abuse has no equal.

  18. #18
    Originally Posted by Quad AAAA's View Post
    Dr. Spock,
    Just for the record, "Dr Spock" was the baby expert,



    and "Mr Spock" was the guy with the green skin and pointed ears.


  19. #19
    Mr. Spock's blood was green. His skin was --hell, I don't know. But his blood was definitely green as it was copper-based or something.

    Now ask me about the X-Men.

  20. #20
    Over the decades Spock's skin had various tinges of green. Never consistent and I don't know why.

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