From: 6500fly@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu (Carmen Mullenhoff)
Newsgroups: rec.gambling
Subject: Trip report 7/21 to 7/23 (Tropicana 4 hour deal)
Date: 30 Jul 92 00:06:05 GMT
Distribution: rec


I saw the Tropicana ad in the Los Angeles times for the four hours/two free
nights deal and decided to give it a go.  I figured that four hours would be
a breeze since I normally spend a lot more time in the casino.  WRONG!!!
I've heard it before, and it bears repeating:  

	Stay where you want to stay, and gamble where you want to gamble.

The Tropicana is still a nice hotel, the rooms are very nice, and the pool
is probably the best in town, but the management recently made some drastic
changes on the casino floor.  I was there from Tuesday 21 to Thursday 23 and
they only had 6 blackjack tables open the whole time.  $5 minimums, 8 deck shoesDAS, RSA, H17, and only one single deck game with $10 minimum, double 10 & 11
only, no resplitting allowed, no double after splitting, no doubling soft
hands, no fun!  Having recently graduated, I only had $300 to last the trip
and that's hard to do at $10 tables.  

Also, the three craps tables were $5 minimum, 3X odds, going up to $10 mins
at night.  I had lousy luck there, losing repeatedly with a 20 to the dealer's
5 card 21.  With the count at +7!  I really began to wonder if the game was 
legit after watching other tables and seeing the same thing happen a lot.  
My sister was there on the same deal the week before and she noticed the 
same thing happening.  If anyone has a chance to drop by Tropicana to take
a closer look at the dealer's hands, I'd be interested to know...

At one point on the single deck game with 4 people playing (including me),
the pit critter mumbled something to the dealer who began to shuffle after
*every* hand.  That's right, one round of 4 spots.  Even the dealer was 
disgusted with that.  Needless to say, I split quickly.

The only enjoyable blackjack experience at Trop was on the $1 learning table.
I turned $1 into $8 and had a very pleasant time.  The dealer was the only 
one who actually smiled and talked with us.  Everyone else looked like they
were involved in something underhanded.  Little eye contact, no chatting, 
hell, I couldn't even make a successful tip bet for them.

After a $300 loss, I finally figured out how to beat the 4 hour deal.  You
need to play for 4 hours over the course of two days to get the two free 
rooms.  You can play any of the table games, .25 slots and up and .25 video
poker and up.  You get a little credit card that you put into a card reader
by the machines that records your time while playing, or the table crews
slide the card to record your time.  According to the literature and the 
Island Winners Club staff, you only need 4 hours, no minimum amount of betting
is required.  So this is one cheap way to get around it:

	1)  Put your card in a quarter video poker machine somewhere in a
	    dark and out-of-the-way corner of the casino.

	2)  Put in one quarter and press "deal"

	3)  Wait for 4 hours.

	4)  Press "draw" to finish the hand.

Technically, this should credit 4 hours of time on your card, although they
may not be too happy about it.  Of course, you may want to just make $10
worth of quarters last the whole time, as it does get kinda boring just 
sitting there, but it's much better than losing at the tables.  I (stupidly)
thought that I could at least count at the single deck and survive the 4 hours
but they ate me for breakfast.  That was honestly the longest 4 hours I've 
ever spent in a casino.

You're much better off to go play at the Frontier or Circus^2 or any other
place in Vegas.  I made back about half of my bankroll at the Frontier on 
both the single deck BJ and craps tables.  $1 min 10X odds craps and $1 and 
$5 min table with great rules.  

One last quick story; at the Frontier I was next to this loud drunken idiot
who was complaining to the dealer and the pit critter that they shuffled
everytime he tripled his bet.  He blatently said that he was counting cards
and that's why they were picking on him.  I was able to play *real* stupid
while this geek drew all the attention.  I constantly asked the dealer and
this guy for advice and played real ignorant, all the while keeping a very
accurate count with a side ace count.  He had a basic strategy chart that 
he said he got for $35 bucks and explained the basics of BJ to me.  I think
he ended up losing about $500 while I made $125.  he he he he he.... :)

Well, I've spewed long enough.  Best of luck to Matt K/Gonzo and the rest
of the rec.gambling team on their August ventures.  Be sure to stop by 
the new Caesar's Palace shopping mall an check out the animated fountain
statues of Baccus and company.   Really neat.

Cheers,


--------------------------------------------------
   /\         |\   |         "My Brain Hurts!"
  /  \        | \  |
 /----\  LEX  |  \ | ATHANSON
/      \      |   \|
                            ualxn@mcl.ucsb.edu
                          University of California
                               Santa Barbara 
Newsgroups: rec.gambling