Whale Sighting - Some neat info

Just returned from a trip to the Mirage and played baccarat with of the casinos whales. I had been playing on the table for about an hour when a huge entourage headed towards our table and one gentlemen sat down.

His bet spreads while I was there were between 60K and 120K per hand. He was making all of his bets with Watermelons(25K) and Flags He got to our table about 3/4 through the shoe and once the shoe ended and the player left I talked to the dealer a bit about it.

He told me that the players max bet was 150K. He said they had only one other player that could bet bigger.(300K per hand and he comes during chinese new year. He said when he dealt to that player he took out a marker for 5 million)

This player had his own floormen that went to each table that the player went to and was watching and recording all bets placed. Right before he got to our table the floormen came over to our dealer and let him know about the maximum bet that could be made. He also had the dealer pull out of the rack and count down all 25K and 5K chips. The gentlemen did take a marker for 500K while at our table in which they lammered up at the top of the table but all paperwork was handled after the shoe ended at the cage in the back. When he asked for the marker it was immediately granted and chips were counted out and handed to him. After the shoe the floormen once again had the dealer count all the 25K and 5K chips in the rack.

The dealer also told me that they had 2 private tables for this guy in one of the back rooms that were ready for his play. Apparently the guy didn't like playing back there and was bouncing around to all of the tables in the Baccarat room. It was somewhat chaotic as wherever this guy would go they were rushing to make sure all chips were counted and ready.

There was a huge group that traveled with this guy wherever he went in the room. He had his floormen, and about 2-3 other suits that were standing in the pit and watching. There were also 3 individuals that were standing back and watching from the general floor area. My assumption were that these were part of the marketing team. He also had about 4-5 other people in his party that he was talking with when not playing. I believe one lady was his wife and a few other friends and family.

Pretty cool experience but totally killed the vibe at our table. We all had been playing together for about an hour and had some good comraderie. As soon as he sat down everyone stopped talking and nobody would make a move without him acting first.

 

Would have flat bet table minimum against him since he killed your vibe

 

I wouldn't let that kill your vibe. I've played with some big players before and you can chat them up like anyone else and try to get a vibe going with them. There's also nothing wrong with betting the other side as long as you're courteous about it. I played with a guy betting 40k but he was fighting the streak and I was riding it and I kept turning over natural after natural, but I was quiet and quick about it. He lost 150k trying to fight the streak but he didn't blame me and I didn't rub it in his face.

 

That is such a very cool story. You made me feel I was there.

 

I will look for the Whales next time I go to Vegas. It will be fun to see all of
the suits.lol.

 

Read this great trip report,I bet you'd like to play with this guy..

https://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=77188

 

That is wild. I wonder if they ever do that at craps tables?

Last time I was in Tunica, at the Horseshoe , there was a 1000 min table, roped off, right next to the $5 min table I was playing. 2 Security guards were standing buy and were practically telling people they couldnt even LOOK at the table -- even though no one was there lol. Ok not really, but almost.

When I cashed in at the cashier this older couple was talking about it too. We all figured a whale was due at any time.

Anyway, thanks for posting.

 

Question-- why is the game of Baccarat so popular amongst high rollers? (I know Shifter can answer this) I've never played it myself, but I've watched and played for fun online. It seems like a total game of chance -- a 50/50 shot of winning. It would just seem more logical to me that one would choose BJ over Baccarat but Bacc seems so popular.

I'm wondering if I should try to find a Bacc table for low rollers like me and give it a try next time.

 

why would it make sense to choose any one game over another game? people find different games fun for different reasons and that's why they offer them all.

as far as the number of high rollers playing Bac, the main reason for that is the Asians. Bac is the game of choice in Asia and there's a ton of people in Asia. not only that, there are a large number of very wealthy individuals from Asia. that's the only reason, really.

 

I saw the same thing at the MGM craps table a few years ago. A whale had a table to himself. there were 2 MGM guys in suits and a security guard watching over the table. They wouldn't let anyone get closer than 8 feet from the table. when someone approached the table, a suit would say that the table was private and please move along. A young kid tried to get closer even though the suit said to stay away. the guard then came and grabbed the guy, I think he escorted the guy off the premesis because I saw the guard walking the guy toward the door.

years ago a decent spender came up to the BJ table I was playing on at MB. he was playing 2 or 3 5k chips (yeah, weird colors, guess they have to distinguish the chip color from the regular chips). He was moving around tables, guess he wanted to find a hot table so didn't want his own private table. He was pretty cool, talking story every so often. I think us commoners on the table were more uptight, especially when he pressed his bets or doubled down. It was more of a side show for us to watch the big chips being played. That day taught me something, whether a person plays $5 chips or $25k in chips, they win or lose the same way, all the same game, just the denominations were different. When he left, he tipped the dealer a $1k chip. Wish he was passing out chips to us players lol.

I wondered if a whale on the craps table would tip a hot shooter, that would be cool. I had a hot roll a couple of years ago at MSS. a guy was playing black ($100) chips and I think he made at least $15k off my rolls. At the end he tipped me three black chips for my trouble. I never saw black chips on the hard ways before and was neat when I hit a couple for the guy.

It's always a side show when a big gambler plays in your area. Like you see on tv everybody wants to see how the big money gambler plays. Always impressive to see someone making a bet equal to what I make in a year.

 

My son's first time to Vegas, as we we're upstairs packing our bag's for our flight home, he was down at the craps table.
When we came down he showed us a $1,000.00 chip.
I said "great, you had a nice roll?" He said "ya, I had a nice roll, but the guy at the end of my table was playing purple & yellow & that was my tip!"

I told him not to get used to it.

It was a nice way for him to end the trip.

 

Shifter after reading your latest trip report and a couple of others, I have decided to add Bacc to Craps for games that i'd like to give a shot at. Seems like it is an inverted BJ game. I be there is a ton of stats involved in playing it properly and that really intrigues me.

If you are out there July 4th week it would be fun to watch you do your thing, plus I have been told my wife is a good luck charm.

 

No decisions to make in Bac other than bet banker or player. No "stats" involved other than the house edge is 1.06% on the banker bet, 1.24% on the player bet, and 14.36% on the tie.

The way some prefer to play Bac is to ride the streaks, if you bet and win 2 or 3 in a row on player, keep playing player and raising and pushing your bet. If you happen to hit 10 in a row, you will make a ton of money. Flat betting isnt as exciting and doesnt give you the opportunity to make a big score.

 

we'll definitely be there for that weekend. probably July 5-8, probably staying at MGM, but all of that is yet to be determined. feel free to PM me the week before and we can try to figure out a time to meet for some Bac.

 

Hi, I'm stupid.
What is minimum bet at a regular bac table (typically) and what's the difference between it and a "mini-bac" table?

I think some people (least know I do) have a belief that table limits for regular bac is quite high, true?

 

Cool. You'll by no means confuse me with someone who plays at your level, but I get as much of a rush watching that level as I believe I would playing it.

We are going there 6/30-7/5 and staying at the MC. I'll get up with you in a bit.

 

depends on the casino. at the top casinos, regular Bac starts at $100 min and mini-Bac can be anywhere from $25-100. but at smaller or lesser casinos, they can have $5 mini-Bac and $25 regular Bac.

 

Where would you suggest Bacc "newbies" go to get their feet wet and try it out? I'd be willing to try with a $10-$25 minimum starting out...

 

What is difference between mini-bac and regular bac?

 

mini the table is usually smaller and you don't touch the cards.