Do you mind my asking, but what do you mean by "gave up" strong players to maintain his SP access? He told management who they were?
Geez, I'd have to bushwhack him for that, if I were one of them.
Let me preface this by saying that this is my take on it and I have no concrete evidence that supports it but here's my experience and you can draw your own conclusion.
Dancer was holding vp classes at SP. These are no charge but you are required to sign in. That process simply consists of supplying your players card which has your name and card number. There is no request for email address, physical address, phone number, etc. I, as did I assume all attendees, supply this information.
One of the classes spoke about how to maximize the overall package....how to be a winning overall player. In this environment, it includes not only game return but cash back, bounce back, tournaments, mailers, promo's, etc. Since the class was taught at SP, he used them as an example. Take NSUD which returns 99.72%, add .3% cash back, and give them $60K coin in per month and you'll get their top mailer. This was $50 x 4 free play and generally another random day that had anywhere from $50-100 in additional free play. This came along with some food and show tickets as well. In addition, he explained that SP usually has a 2X points day once a month that typically coincided with a holdiay. He encouraged the audience to play on that day which would yield them a theo positive return on the game along with the mailer. Having your cake and eating it too!
It wasn't too long thereafter that people were told that while they were welcome to come and play any games in the casino, their players card privilges were being lifted. Without a players card, there's no reason to play there. The primary reason stated was that all/most of the persons play was on multiple point days. Exactly the same strategy that Dancer was encouraging right in their casino a few weeks earlier.
I started thinking about the registration process for the classes. What was the purpose? It wasn't a way for Bob to market his products to the audience....no email or physical address required. Who would benefit from this information and how?
There was a previous story on I believe vpFree where a player in MI I believe claims he was given up by Dancer. There was also one where there was a promo at the Trop in LV where he eventually got tossed but stated something like "why are you tossing me but allowing these other pro's (pointing at them on the floor) to continue to play?". Once again, the latter two stories are just that....stories that I've read about. The SP example is real....I was a personal victim of that.
I did just read the article and he states "Another factor is that the rules at South Point allow players to play on their spouses cards. Some casinos do this, some don't. When the rules permit it, I take advantage of it." I'm not more than mildly curious about this as my experience once again differs. We were playing at a bartop; taking turns on one machine with my card in. We hit a jackpot that requires a hand pay. Floor people come over and ask who pushed the button. I said I did. They gave us a look and a bit of a lecture saying that you can't play on another person's card. I told them to screw off...call upstairs and look at the film and get back to me. They backed off and that was the end of it. On another occassion, I was playing with a friend who is Canadian. Her card was in the machine but we put an equal amount of cash in and took turns pushing buttoms. Once again, we get a hand pay and I tell the floor person that it was my hand. They pull the card and say it was her name. I told them that we put an equal amout in the machine and were taking turns. Shy of literally swapping players cards after every hand, what would they prefer us to do? In the end, they gave me the W2G as requested but not without a conversation. So, for Bob to say that the "rules" allow this, I'm not totally convinced....in our case, both of us were physically there and taking turns playing....not a situation where one was at home. Doesn't pass the stink test with me but I can be wrong on this.
Just so no one thinks that this is unique, I was talking to a host from Barona the other night in a social setting away from the casino. He was talking about Max Rubin and said that he's now consulting for Barona to assist them in catching "cheaters". When I probed as to what kind of cheating activity he was referring to he said "you know, the normal stuff....peeking at the hole card (due to a sloppy dealer) or counting". I didn't want to get into an argument about their convoluted interpretation of cheating but you get the drift.
Another very well known author is no longer allowed to play at SP with a players card and yet Bob, perhaps the most recognized vp player in LV, gets a pass. If my interpretation of this is incorrect, I'd be curious to know how people can rationalize and explain it.
I have nothing personal against Bob and we are always cordial to each other when we pass. I always respected what he has achieved and owe a lot of my knowledge on vp to him. However, Vegas and gambling is a dog eat dog world and Bob doesn't owe me (or any other player that I'm aware of) anything so if it's me or him, in his mind it's going to be him. I can understand that but I don't have to agree with it.
Dan
