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If Honey
Attracts Bees, Then MONEY Attracts
Everything! Money attracts
all sorts of things and characters. Its
a powerful force that makes people do strange and sometimes wonderful things. Money can also make people act foolish and silly. This point was
reinforced a little while ago, when playing at Silver Legacy Casino Resort in Reno. I was producing some consistent hands that were
generating decent profit on every turn. The boxman
named Jason is a chap whom I have known for several years.
Every time it would be my turn to shoot, he would announce that This
is your chance to bet on a SURE THING, folks! This
shooter is going to have another monster roll, get your bets in now, or
dont cry that I didnt warn you ahead of time. Each time his
spiel would be somewhat different, but the effect was the same. There would be a betting frenzy. Many would plead for me to tell them what to bet
on. High-rollers were betting HUGE! Former low-rollers were digging in their pockets
to grab bigger wads of money in a feverish attempt to lay down more wagering ammo. Even people who were walking past the table, would
hear the fervor and excitement, then stop and try to squeeze into any available space. When the table
was filled, some of the outer ring of would-be players, were making side-deals with
patrons already at the table, so that their bets could get into delirious action too. It was a bit unnerving, not because of the
expectation that Jason was creating, nor in the performance anxiety that most shooters
would get from such a build-up. Rather, it
was my concern that the casino pit managers would get wind of my consistency, and bring heat
to bear. When the
Casino Manager came over after this happened for the eighth time, I reduced all of my
Place bets, and set up a $2000 No4. I set the
dice in my 5 & 2, 3 & 4 All Seven arrangement, and promptly threw a
seven-out. I felt that I had over-stayed my
welcome on that session. In most cases where
I feel that there could be heat, I usually hit and run or shoot
and scoot. In this case, we
were having a good time; the dealers were making tokes like pillaging pirates, and the
party mood was sweeping the entire casino. During
the final hand, there were close to two hundred people huddled deeply around the
fourteen-player table. Clearly, this
was not what I had in mind when I began play that evening. Later on, over
a beer, I admonished Jason in the kindest way possible, by saying that while I appreciated
his confidence in my shooting, it was throwing off my game due to the added
pressure. He apologized, and said that
he was doing it merely to create a little more excitement at the tables. I said that,
the excitement probably
isnt shared by your bosses, unless they enjoyed seeing the house lose money. I havent
been back to Silver Legacy since, but it reminded me of many other times when fellow
players get swept up in the excitement of my previous hands. They would tell anyone within shouting distance
that
this guy is the best shooter around
he knows how to throw the dice
so they dont seven-out
just watch him, its like perfection
bet on
him
its money in the bank
! Those type of
comments make me want to seek out sparsely populated or empty tables. Im not anti-social, just anti-groupie. I dont need people singing their praises of
my abilities to feed my ego. I certainly
dont go around talking about my skills other than in this forum. And there is a real concern that more casinos
will ban or severely curtail dice-setting in the future.
Several casinos do it now, although it is inconsistently policed. Some mini-dice or half tub
tables will exclude players who set the dice, while other casinos with the exact same
layouts actually encourage all shooters, even the lucky or apparently skillful
ones. It is the
specter of making money off of a good roll that gets people excited. I like that people can make money off of my rolls,
but I resent the additional attention that their loud and boisterous comments bring. That may sound selfish, and it may in fact be VERY
selfish, but Im trying to protect a lucrative lifestyle that I have created
for myself. The casinos have very big
and tasty pots of honey. They dont seem
to mind if
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