I have two distinct lives. One in the trenches of low-budget film and television, the other in professional gambling. Because of the feast-or-famine nature of show business I need a reliable income... gambling. So here you will read about both worlds. Enjoy!
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Gambling With an Edge - Surveillance Agent Jay
Agent Jay has been working in Las Vegas surveillance rooms for over 20 years. He is our guest this week to tell us what surveillance people are looking for when watching for advantage players.
Thanks for the interview but, sadly, I found 'Agent Jay' not very helpful. Overall, his attitude reminded me of most cops I've cross-examined: arrogant, evasive and cock-sure even though he's slightly misinformed or stretching the truth.
The card counting checklist was obvious stuff that any serious counter already knows all about:
Baseball cap No alcohol Moving bet from Table Minimum to Table Maximum (Table MAX?!) Large buy-ins Talking about the count at the table!!
His claim he will track down what drink you ordered is borderline ridiculous and was just made to try to prove a point he had already lost. If you're at that level of concern about a player, you'd be smarter to play back the tape rather than hang your hat on whether the bartender thinks the player's last drink had alcohol in it.
Another great question about the % of refusals. His comment that "Almost every AP is a refusal" again is nonsense and he never answered the question. Is every refusal an AP? Back to the obvious checklist, I guess.
The Cowboy Rodeo exchange was almost laughable it was so inane.
The idea that you can't be charged with pinching or capping because the floor supervisor doesn't know your intention is wrong. I think he meant that floor supers don't even know what pinching and capping is, which is contrary to everything I've seen in 35+ years.
If you're capping, you can be damn sure someone will spot that.
Good question:"How often do you see arrests for cheating?" No answer except "3 out of 10 cheaters are arrested." How in the world does he know that? If you know there are 10 cheaters, why not arrest the other 7?
Finally, we learn that he doesn't even see 1 cheating arrest per YEAR! My guess is that he's NEVER seen a cheating arrest and that's the reason for the evasive answer.
Overall, the entire interview was a BIG disappointment with almost no useful information revealed by 'Agent Jay.' The questions were great but the answers just weren't there.
1 comment:
Thanks for the interview but, sadly, I found 'Agent Jay' not very helpful. Overall, his attitude reminded me of most cops I've cross-examined: arrogant, evasive and cock-sure even though he's slightly misinformed or stretching the truth.
The card counting checklist was obvious stuff that any serious counter already knows all about:
Baseball cap
No alcohol
Moving bet from Table Minimum to Table Maximum (Table MAX?!)
Large buy-ins
Talking about the count at the table!!
His claim he will track down what drink you ordered is borderline ridiculous and was just made to try to prove a point he had already lost. If you're at that level of concern about a player, you'd be smarter to play back the tape rather than hang your hat on whether the bartender thinks the player's last drink had alcohol in it.
Another great question about the % of refusals. His comment that "Almost every AP is a refusal" again is nonsense and he never answered the question. Is every refusal an AP? Back to the obvious checklist, I guess.
The Cowboy Rodeo exchange was almost laughable it was so inane.
The idea that you can't be charged with pinching or capping because the floor supervisor doesn't know your intention is wrong. I think he meant that floor supers don't even know what pinching and capping is, which is contrary to everything I've seen in 35+ years.
If you're capping, you can be damn sure someone will spot that.
Good question:"How often do you see arrests for cheating?" No answer except "3 out of 10 cheaters are arrested." How in the world does he know that? If you know there are 10 cheaters, why not arrest the other 7?
Finally, we learn that he doesn't even see 1 cheating arrest per YEAR! My guess is that he's NEVER seen a cheating arrest and that's the reason for the evasive answer.
Overall, the entire interview was a BIG disappointment with almost no useful information revealed by 'Agent Jay.' The questions were great but the answers just weren't there.
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