Gambling With an Edge - guest Bob Nersesian #4

The guest this week is Bob Nersesian.  Bob is a frequent guest to the show, and always entertaining.  Bob is the lawyer who advocates for the players against the casinos, and has successfully sued many Vegas casinos on the behalf of players.  He is also the author of Beat the Players.

Bob Nersesian podcast

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Today's Advantage Play

Last week I went to Frys to buy a battery charger, and a new lens for my camera. They have an odd system at Frys, you select your item in the department, and they print out a slip for you to take to the cashiers. The cashier then gets the item and rings you up. While I was walking to the front of the store I remembered I had an app on my phone called Shop Savvy. I had never used the app before but figured I try it out. You open the app and it allows you to scan the bar code on any item, and it tells you how much the same item is selling for at local stores near you, and online. When I looked at the lens I was buying it showed that it was $50 cheaper at Amazon, and had free shipping. When I got to the cashier I told her I no longer wanted the lens because it was $50 cheaper at amazon, and showed her my phone. She said, "We'll match any price." Is this a great country or what?!

Benjamin Franklin said, "A penny saved is a penny earned." But Franklin was wrong. A penny saved is worth much more than a penny earned. When you earn money you have to pay taxes on it, and saved money you don't. So take advantage of this shop savvy app. It's in itunes, and the google play store, and you can't beat the price, FREE!

Now if you are shopping at Frys and want to take advantage of their matching price offer you do have to take that paper over to customer service where they will do the price matching. In my case there was a long line at customer service and I didn't have time to get my lens. So if you are looking for a Christmas present for your favorite blogger...

Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS II Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

Quote of the day

"All the evidence shows that God was actually quite a gambler, and the universe is a great casino, where dice are thrown, and roulette wheels spin on every occasion."

Stephen Hawking

Gambling in movies

Richard Roeper is a very good movie reviewer. He also considers himself a bit of a gambler. He wrote a really terrible book called,  Bet the House: How I Gambled Over a Grand a Day for 30 Days on Sports, Poker, and Games of Chance. To professional gamblers Roeper is what we call, a "ploppy." Now to be fair it would not surprise me if Richard thinks my movie reviews suck, and as a director he may call me... a ploppy. I don't really know since I was afraid to see if he ever reviewed one of my movies. But on one thing we agree. When it comes to gambling in movies they usually get it wrong. Here is an article of his about two upcoming movies that contain gambling.  Gambling movies not always a sure bet - Chicago Sun-Times.

Gambling With an Edge - guest Willy Allison

This week's guest is Willy Allison, surveillance expert, and CEO of World Game Protection Inc. I thought this was a really good episode with lots of good info on surveillance.

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Quote of the day

"Money won is twice as sweet as money earned." 

"Fast Eddie" Felson 

The Color of Money

The Color of Money

Gambling With an Edge - guest Arnold Snyder

This week's guest is Arnold Snyder talking about his new novel Risk of Ruin.

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Interview - Mike Patterson VP of Table Games at Barona Casino

When I walk through a casino it is with a critical eye. You still have a Caribbean Stud table? What a waste of space. CSMs that pay 6-5 on blackjack and you can only double on 10 or 11? You must be kidding. I'd get rid of two of those crap tables, and put in four more carnival games. All of these decisions are the purview of the Director of Table Games. I wanted to know more about how tables games directors think, and was fortunate to be able to interview Mike Patterson, VP of Table Games at Barona Casino near San Diego, CA. Barona is the most successful casino in California, so they must be doing something right.

RWM: Let's start with, how long have you been VP of Table Games, and what was your path in the casino business to get you here?  

MP: I started out in 1994 as a dealer for Barona.  I worked my way up as a floor supervisor, pit manager,casino manager, director of table games which was later changed to VP of table games.  I have been responsible for the table games department since 2001.

Gambling With an Edge - guests Staci Alonso & Chris Brune

The guests this week are Staci Columbo Alonso - IGT Vice President of Global Marketing and Chris Brune - IGT Distinguished Game Designer.

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