Rob Singer didn't beat video poker

[Rob.Singer]

Deep Thoughts from Rob Argentino.

It's a shame his mastery of the machines will die with him. And the secrets of how to get the IRS to agree that you're full-time when you do something four hours a week. It's sad that this knowledge will be lost to future generations.

But perhaps there's a secret cabal of trainees somewhere, waiting to keep the gnosis alive. One can only hope and pray.

There was a recent post about a presumption that those who are good at math have reading disabilities. I would not go that far but there are countless individuals that are good at math and have poor verbal scores (guilty).

I am getting better. If given a multiple choice, I had "cabal" nailed. There is no doubt that I am in the minority that pronounced "gnosis" correctly. Then again, why would I be in a room by myself trying to articulate words that I do not know?

Please give another play on a machine that I can research? This room is shrinking. I will be reviewing the analysis of the play posted two above me.

You're beginning to see the corn that guy writes in order to get things off his chest. Get too cozy though and you'll discover a private message asking if you need handicapper advice....for a small fee.

[redietz]

Brilliant trap, really...if casinos didn't have sports books. I didn't even respond to Mr. Mendelson on this, because it was so blatantly stupid, and I suspect Mr. Mendelson's suffering some cognitive issues. But Argentino stepped to the plate.

Of course he did. More Deep Thoughts and Gotchas from Rob Argentino.

Yeah right---sports better's are constantly under "duress" by casinos to keep them there. And we all know these gamblers are absolutely showered with comps, especially when they "hammer" the casino for them.

I'm glad you showed such abnormal strength in "ignoring Alan" on this.

Perhaps you've seen my late cousin, E.R.Dietz's, tickets from the Retro Road Trip thread. If not, there's a great story he used to tell. He cashed the first Mandalay tickets, I think they were for 36K or thereabouts (you can check the thread and get the precise figure), and he asked the sports book counter people for lunch. Well, they hemmed and hawed and didn't want to give him a free lunch to go with the 36K. He requested the manager. The manager told E.R. to go see a host. So they made E.R. cart the 36K in chips through the casino and go see a host. The host told him that he couldn't give him lunch, that it was up to the sports book manager. So E.R., still toting his chips, went back to the sports book. He said, "Look, I don't want anything fancy. No steakhouse. I just want lunch in the coffee shop." The manager said that he couldn't do it. E.R. then stood in front of the sports windows, and in his best Dan Druff voice said, "I can't believe you're making me walk out of here with thirty-six thousand of your money!" And he kept saying it, knowing the eyes in the sky were on him. Well, the sports book manager finally shrugged and said, "Okay, okay, where do you want to eat?"

So E.R. went and had a fine lunch. But as he was having lunch, he got more and more perturbed by the fact that they made him go see a host and be a loudmouth to simply get a free lunch. The more he thought about it, the more it bothered him.

When he was finished lunch, E.R. went back to the sports book. Not to complain, mind you. You see, he had another ticket. And he wanted dinner.


Dan, that story is for you. So whenever anyone gives you grief about being a comp hardliner, just tell them, "You should have seen that E.R.Dietz...."

[coach belly]

they made E.R. cart the 36K in chips through the casino and go see a host.

The sports books pay off winning bets with chips?

[redietz]

Since it's of general interest, yes, sometimes they did. The reasons are obvious.

[coach belly]

Since it's of general interest, yes, sometimes they did. The reasons are obvious.

Do they still offer chips as payment for sports bets?

[Alan Mendelson]

they made E.R. cart the 36K in chips through the casino and go see a host.

The sports books pay off winning bets with chips?

Never heard of such a thing. And I made a few calls after reading that.

[redietz]

they made E.R. cart the 36K in chips through the casino and go see a host.

The sports books pay off winning bets with chips?

Never heard of such a thing. And I made a few calls after reading that.

Mr. Mendelson, please, you make calls regarding the use of checks to pay sports bets, but never make a call to get a mathematician's take on Argentino's martingales or your win goal/loss limit nonsense?

You do realize that you are hanging yourself again? Why do you persist with this? What idiot would make up a story about getting checks as payment for a sports wager? What purpose would it serve to invent something like that?

Keep calling, Mr. Mendelson, that's my advice.

[Alan Mendelson]

I don't know why anyone would be stupid enough to make up a story about being paid in chips for a sports wager.

[redietz]

I don't know why anyone would be stupid enough to make up a story about being paid in chips for a sports wager.

Keep calling, Mr. Mendelson. I am amazed how someone with such limited knowledge strives to present themselves as an expert. Why don't you make a couple dozen calls, and then list by name and position everyone you called and precisely what they said. This should be fun.

[jbjb]

I don't know why anyone would be stupid enough to make up a story about being paid in chips for a sports wager.

I don't know about sports bets, but I got paid one of my $12,000 royal hits on spin poker in chips. Asked to be paid at the cage and not in front of everyone on the floor. They initially counted out the cash but then exchanged the cash for chips.

[Alan Mendelson]

I don't know why anyone would be stupid enough to make up a story about being paid in chips for a sports wager.

Keep calling, Mr. Mendelson. I am amazed how someone with such limited knowledge strives to present themselves as an expert. Why don't you make a couple dozen calls, and then list by name and position everyone you called and precisely what they said. This should be fun.

Why?

[RS__]

Using and getting paid in chips is "common" for sports bettors. At least for those who bet "big" amounts. It's much easier to deal with $20k in chips than $20k in cash....especially if you're making lots of bets and plan to make more bets. My buddy who bets fairly big (min ~$1k, max ~$15k) always uses chips.

[redietz]

Using and getting paid in chips is "common" for sports bettors. At least for those who bet "big" amounts. It's much easier to deal with $20k in chips than $20k in cash....especially if you're making lots of bets and plan to make more bets. My buddy who bets fairly big (min ~$1k, max ~$15k) always uses chips.

RS, don't contradict Mr. Mendelson. He's making some calls.

[coach belly]

What idiot would make up a story about getting checks as payment for a sports wager? What purpose would it serve to invent something like that?

RS's post sheds light on why you made it up. You did it to make it seem difficult to carry chips rather than cash.

But RS explained that it's easier to carry seven $5K chips than 350 C-notes.

[RS__]

Maybe Redeitz wasn't telling a story so he could make something up about being paid in chips (because that's real)....maybe, just maybe, the story was about getting a comped lunch/dinner and there was a comedic element to it, as well.

[Alan Mendelson]

At most casinos $36k in chips can be seven chocolate chips ($5000) and one canary chip ($1000). They would fit nicely in any pocket.

But RS has once again solved the problem earning his AP Club Card for another year... it was supposed to be a joke and we were to visualize someone carrying racks and racks of red ($500 to a rack) and green ($2500 to a rack) chips.

Haha. It would be a funny site: "So they made E.R. cart the 36K in chips through the casino...."

By the way and for the record, I also called the NGC and yes sports bets CAN be paid with chips.

[coach belly]

Maybe Redeitz wasn't telling a story so he could make something up about being paid in chips (because that's real)....maybe, just maybe, the story was about getting a comped lunch/dinner and there was a comedic element to it, as well.

The comedic element is a guy with $36K in his pocket grubbing lunch. He should be buying lunch.

The whole story sounds made up, as does the cousin E.R. Dietz.

[Alan Mendelson]

Coach the key comedic word is "cart."

Don't you visualize it as carrying racks and racks of chips? Mr RE Dietz, the self proclaimed Editor Dietz, chooses his words carefully.

Cart definition: "carry (a heavy or cumbersome object) somewhere with difficulty."

[redietz]

Maybe Redeitz wasn't telling a story so he could make something up about being paid in chips (because that's real)....maybe, just maybe, the story was about getting a comped lunch/dinner and there was a comedic element to it, as well.

The comedic element is a guy with $36K in his pocket grubbing lunch. He should be buying lunch.

The whole story sounds made up, as does the cousin E.R. Dietz.

Coach, you sound like my great aunt. She said E.R. and I looked so much alike, she couldn't tell us apart.

The entire story, of course, is true. There were no chocolate checks. Mr. Mendelson, as usual, misses the entire point of why a sports book would hand over a longshot future bet in 1K checks. But it's not surprising why he would miss the reason, when you think about it. Mr. Mendelson, after all, is the soul of gambling discipline. I'm somewhat surprised coach belly couldn't figure out the rationale, but perhaps I give him too much credit.

Once again, let's review. Mr. Mendleson calls the NGC to see if E.R.Dietz was fibbing about getting checks in a sports book. He thinks he has a gotcha moment, get this, because "he never heard of it." LOL. Then he gets snarky.

Now presumably, he would be just as enthused about verifying whether his friend, who's been pushing a video poker martingale for 25 years, has any math cred, or whether those pesky stop losses and win goals mathematically do anything. But he can't seem to dial the right numbers for that stuff. There simply must not be any math professors listed at UNLV or USC or UCLA or...well, you get the picture. This is a dishonest human being, and the sad thing is that he's been most dishonest with himself. Call the NGC in an hour's time to see if E.R. was lying. But research to see if his math beliefs and friend's voodoo systems work? He'll pass on that, because he must. He can't face reality. And he's had hour after hour, month after month, year after year, to make the proper calls and figure out the truth.

No kidding -- sports bets could be paid with chips. I think I said that.

In case anyone's wondering about the 1K checks, think about it. Could you see Mr. Mendelson making it across a casino floor twice with 1K chips in tow and not sitting down at a craps table at some point? Evidently his son can't.

[Alan Mendelson]

36 $1,000 needn't be carted. They also fit in a pocket.