The best thing about his books are the phony Amazon reviews by fake Singer accounts.
The best thing about his books are the phony Amazon reviews by fake Singer accounts.
During the '90s, while doing the Gaming Today column, Rob was probably taken seriously by most tourists and civilians. On one hand, Gaming Today was clearly not The Mensa Guide to Gambling, but it was distributed in many of the biggest sports books in the city, so I'd guess it was reaching 10K people every week, and Rob often had a front page slot with his photo.
An AP video poker author was frequently in the same issue, so it made for some diverse reading. And there were business and entertainment columns. Anybody just coming in off a flight was likely to pick up a copy.
In the 90's I was working my way through Jr high and High school, so obviously before my time in the gambling community. So I have never understood this Gaming Today column part of the story. Can you help me out with this? I don't want to get the dates wrong and have mickey or coach belly call me a liar, so lets just say, by my understanding sometime in the mid 90's Rob attempted to play video poker for a living, supposedly using VP AP techniques, supported by math. He says he failed at this to the tune of several hundred thousand lost over 4 years. Apparently this failure is what turned him off to the math and the math based and proven ways of playing with an advantage in favor just general voodoo thinking.Originally Posted by redietz
So how exactly did that qualify him to write a column in a gambling newspaper? I get that this Gaming Today wasn't an AP publication, but even so, how does "I am a losing player, who lost several hundred thousand dollars over the past few years" translate into writing a column as a supposed expert.
That would be like hiring a chef, who's restaurant closed due to bad food reviews, to write an expert column on being a chef? Or a lifetime .196 hitter in baseball write a column on the art of hitting. I just don't get it.
Last edited by kewlJ; 06-13-2022 at 11:45 AM.
Dan Druff: "there's no question that MDawg has been an obnoxious braggart, and has rubbed a ton of people the wrong way. There's something missing from his stories. Either they're fabricated, grossly exaggerated, or largely incomplete".
It was three magi who brought him his plays.Originally Posted by kewlJ
'Til then he was just a mere mortal.
The Golden Child?
Just ask him.
Last edited by MisterV; 06-13-2022 at 11:54 AM.
What, Me Worry?
Okay, let me frame this for you as delicately as I can. Chuck Di Rocco and his wife Eileen get mentioned in the book, "We Were Wise Guys and Didn't Know it." Chuck Di Rocco was from the East Coast. He was old school. I think he established the Gaming Today predecessor in 1976 or thereabouts. He was also a big-time gambler.
In the 80's and very early 90's, being somewhat bright, Italian, and not being afraid of at least some hard work would get you a decent job in LV. And probably more than that. Rob's Italian. He can write. He knew his way around Las Vegas. Hiring him to do a column for no pay was probably a no-brainer. Once you're semi-connected, you were good to go for a while. You didn't have to be politically correct or a Harvard grad to do well in LV back then.
Off the top of my head, I'm not going to get into what years Rob claimed what because Rob changed that storyline so often, I'd be playing catchup. But let's be clear -- you have Chuck Di Rocco, a big-time gambler who might have dropped a few hundred K himself on this and that. Dropping a few bucks wasn't going to be any kind of disqualifier to writing a gambling column. Gaming Today had Keno Lil offering advice on how to play Keno. They had some guys writing poker columns who were undoubtedly not on the positive side of the lifetime ledger. Writing a column did not require winning. In fact, it may have been a disqualifier. Gaming Today is a tourist rag; it's trying to amp up tourists' gambling mojo. It's not there to actually help people win; it's there to get them lathered up to gamble.
So no mystery as to the Argentino hire. If I were Di Rocco, I would have hired him.
As to why he was fired, I'm sorry, relieved of duties, he became obnoxious regarding some people and Chuck Di Rocco died (in 2004, I think). Eileen Di Rocco took over and had little patience with Rob's antics.
While Rob was working for Chuck, I would never have bet against Rob being able to have x number of dollars available for escrow or having W2Gs for large amounts. It was too easy to do that. Chuck could have set anything up in an hour if necessary.
The semi-humorous kicker is that one of my very good friends and Di Rocco moved in many overlapping circles, so if digging into Argentino became a priority, I think I could likely come up with tidbits. But who cares? He's an Italian dude who did well in LV until he didn't. A very common storyline.
How do I know this stuff? I was in LV 90-100 days a year concurrent with Rob. Chuck Di Rocco's original columns in the Gaming Today predecessor were sports-oriented. Chuck was a sports guy. And a few other things that I'm saving for my autobiography. Some of us had quite a few dealings with people who were wise guys and didn't know it. Or did.
Last edited by redietz; 06-13-2022 at 12:15 PM.
Thank you redietz. That helps, but frankly it is still perplexing to me.
Dan Druff: "there's no question that MDawg has been an obnoxious braggart, and has rubbed a ton of people the wrong way. There's something missing from his stories. Either they're fabricated, grossly exaggerated, or largely incomplete".
Druff, did you give up on the reading?Originally Posted by Dan Druff
PV you are new here but you will find out, unlike PFA, other than some sports bet posts we are blessed with a Druff post once a month normally.Originally Posted by PositiveVarianceDruff, did you give up on the reading?Originally Posted by Dan Druff
By the way, glad to see you over here.
Thanks for the welcome. I see that Druff doesn't post very often on this forum. I thought since he was stuck laid up in the hotel that he may catch up on this thread and give us his opinion. He always has good insights on these type of things.Originally Posted by The BozPV you are new here but you will find out, unlike PFA, other than some sports bet posts we are blessed with a Druff post once a month normally.Originally Posted by PositiveVarianceDruff, did you give up on the reading?Originally Posted by Dan Druff
By the way, glad to see you over here.
I'm curious to where Singers IP shows him the day of the meetup. My guess is the same VPN service as he used before, that will let him pick a Vegas IP address.
The thread really won't take long to read start to finish. Most of it is quoted post that are replyed to, they take up a large amount of space.
All lies you were not working your way through jr high and high school. My god man WTF is wrong with youOriginally Posted by kewlJIn the 90's I was working my way through Jr high and High school, so obviously before my time in the gambling community. So I have never understood this Gaming Today column part of the story. Can you help me out with this? I don't want to get the dates wrong and have mickey or coach belly call me a liar, so lets just say, by my understanding sometime in the mid 90's Rob attempted to play video poker for a living, supposedly using VP AP techniques, supported by math. He says he failed at this to the tune of several hundred thousand lost over 4 years. Apparently this failure is what turned him off to the math and the math based and proven ways of playing with an advantage in favor just general voodoo thinking.Originally Posted by redietz
So how exactly did that qualify him to write a column in a gambling newspaper? I get that this Gaming Today wasn't an AP publication, but even so, how does "I am a losing player, who lost several hundred thousand dollars over the past few years" translate into writing a column as a supposed expert.
That would be like hiring a chef, who's restaurant closed due to bad food reviews, to write an expert column on being a chef? Or a lifetime .196 hitter in baseball write a column on the art of hitting. I just don't get it.
Why do you say that?Originally Posted by Seedvalue
I did the same as KJ claims, so it is obviously possible.
All the work was part time, after school and on weekends.
I was a newspaper delivery boy for years, then a helper at a medical supply store, then a janitor at a five and ten store, then clerk at a hardware store til graduation from high school then off to college.
While I am pretty sure he didn't work to support himself I see nothing to challenge about his claim, given my own experience.
Last edited by MisterV; 06-13-2022 at 02:11 PM.
What, Me Worry?
You have done a great job here, PositiveVariance. On another forum, Singer is vowing never to read or post here again.Originally Posted by PositiveVariance
Dan Druff: "there's no question that MDawg has been an obnoxious braggart, and has rubbed a ton of people the wrong way. There's something missing from his stories. Either they're fabricated, grossly exaggerated, or largely incomplete".
I would like to think I helped a little. It was definitely a group effort.Originally Posted by kewlJYou have done a great job here, PositiveVariance. On another forum, Singer is vowing never to read or post here again.Originally Posted by PositiveVariance
I’m sure outside of his fictional stories, he probably has stuff of value he can share. If he hasn’t cut out the fiction as a 70 year old man, it may never happen.
Ozzy, is Don Perignom still in contention for VCT Rookie of the Year or did PositiveVariance leave him in the dust ?Originally Posted by Ozzy
I think it would be great if the format on this forum could be set up like a Druffs other forum. I attached a picture below for those who have not been there.
The basic difference is it allows you to write “single words or short comments at the end of someone else’s post. This is great beacuse you don’t have to “quote and reply” if you want to write a single word or a short sentence.
It’s great for many reasons. A lot of the congestion in the forum is “quoted post”. It would eliminate much of that when the reply is short. It also allows the reader to see the comments right there after they read the users post. Overall a great feature.
Speaking of one word reply’s. These would be beneficial situations to write these vs. quoting the post.
I don’t remember what the majority of these even mean!
NO OFFENSE TO ANYONE who these were against or to who wrote them. There just a word or words I remember seeing within the forum:
HOBO
RIP
MAXIPAD
SCOOTER BOY
BROKEBACK BOYS
KJOCCHIO
POSER PRO
KEYSTONER
SMELLY BELLY
QUEENS REPORTER
Once again, no offense to anyone!
I have an idea what some of these mean, plus many more. I’m sure I will get called a few names if I stick around long enough.
Don't come over here with that PokerFraud Bullshit trying to change our format.Originally Posted by PositiveVariance
VegasCasinoTalk > PokerFraudAlert
Last edited by monet; 06-13-2022 at 04:56 PM.
Seedvalue for Rookie of the Year and MVP, by a wide margin.Originally Posted by tableplay
Whoever goes woke first... loses.Originally Posted by tableplay
You know that tableplay!
In the 90's Lenny Frome was the video poker writer for both Cardplayer Magazine and Gaming Today. He was a popular writer who exposed certain games to be very high payback and even positive payback. He was a retired NASA engineer who worked with the software of the day to analyze games and create strategies. It was his wife that liked to play VP so he studied the games to make her a better player.
It was Lenny that got me to looking at video poker. At the time I was a low limit poker player. I wound up playing video poker pretty much everyday for five years.
Lenny died in 1998. Gaming Today advertised for VP writers offering $75 per article. Paymar then Dancer were both there but didn't last long. Then DiRocco found Rob. Rob's contrarian views resonated with the masses. His views on randomness are the same as the masses. They don't believe in randomness worth a shit.
However, the pros took a dim view of Rob. Dancer, Paymar, Scott, Skip Hughes and others made many complaints to DiRocco about Rob. Why did DiRocco keep Rob around so long? Pretty simple. Circulation. DiRocco made money off the masses but not a dime off the pros.
But to diffuse the situation Eliot Frome, son of Lenny Frome, was hired to write about VP. He was a boring writer and not nearly as astute as his father.
While DiRocco thrived on the controversy, his wife didn't. So Rob's stint there ended not long after DiRocco's death.
Rob's obituary of Skip Hughes was not to flattering. But Hughes' complaints to DiRocco about Rob were not to flattering either.
"More importantly, mickey thought 8-4 was two games over .500. Argued about it. C'mon, man. Nothing can top that for math expertise. If GWAE ever has you on again, you can be sure I'll be calling in with that gem.'Nuff said." REDIETZ
Valid Point.Originally Posted by coach belly
But I don't give a shit.
No such thing as VCT Rookie of the Year.
This place is the Frying Pan and its very easy to get burnt.
Nothing but a bunch of sharks over here waiting for one drop of blood in the water.
Notice how that Rat Fink Boz had to defect over to PokerFraudAlert.
There are currently 1569 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1569 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote