Downtown Grand / AAPEX trip report Nov 4-6

I have never been known for my brevity, but I hope you enjoy anyway!

This time in Vegas, it was all business

 

Hi Michael, enjoyed your blog! Had me giggling...

That business with the Pai Gow is just scary and wrong. So you are saying they can see which spot will win depending on how the set their hand? The details evade me but it seems like they can use inside knowledge of the deck in conjunction with seeing which spot is betting how much to improve the hold for the casino beyond what would be random. Is that the point here?

 

Royal Flusher,

My wife and I have played a fair amount of Pai Gow at the Downtown Grand in October because they often have the lowest limit downtown. BUT - I never considered that the game could be rigged. I'm familiar with their computer scanner, seeing them use it to help set hands several times. And it also does determine the order in which positions receive their hands. The possibility for cheating would be that since the computer knows both what each hand contains and also sets the hand order it just might give the dealer the winning hand a bit more than chance would dictate. Got to watch more closely when we go again in a couple of weeks. Like Mr. James says, even the appearance of impropriety is an issue. May be a reason they can keep their limit low!

By the way, you're a very talented writer. Your blog is always an enjoyable read. Same to you Mr. James (and I agree, a solo trip is hard to hype).

 

Most pai gow in Vegas now has those "random number, show me the hands" screens. My wife and I were at the Golden Nugget last year with a short table. Right after dealing one hand, a notification went off saying that a jackpot was dealt to seat 2, where no one was sitting, perhaps conveniently. They didn't show the cards, but I assume it was a Royal Flush or better. I like my Calgary casino that shakes dice to determine who gets what hands. The shufflemaster still reads the cards and knows the hands but it doesn't also determine who gets those hands.

All of that seems very, very wrong.

 

Thanks, and thanks for the explanation. I'm avoiding this game.

 

Thankyou,very nice read!

 

Enjoyed your trip report very much! Your time frame detail is awesome. I would never be able to do that! Sorry you didn't enjoy your solo/business trip as much. I enjoy going solo but would rather go with my Wife. But she's not a Vegas fanatic like me so she lets me go with her blessings.

 

Thanks for the kind words.

I didn't not enjoy solo Vegas, its just that I'm kind of used to having someone with me. I know too much about the town (like how to get match plays from places like Jerry's Nugget) that I had too many options of things to do.

 

Nicely done.