Bet Size

Obviously, your bet size makes a large difference in heat. Of course, the casino is very important. Smaller casinos may sweat $5 players. High-end casinos have bigger fish to watch. Living large is a double-edged sword. They will pay more attention to you. However, they also do not want the mistake of throwing out the wrong large bettor. That is where your “act” comes into play — convincing them that you are not a threat even while you win. A book cannot help you with an act.

Surveillance Triggers

The main job of surveillance is watching the money flow and outright cheating. And, most cheating involves collusion with dealers. So, normally they will not pay much attention to you. In large casinos, they may analyze your play if requested by the pit. If you see the pit boss on the phone after observing you, alter your play or leave. However, in attempting to see if the pit boss is observing you, take care not to tip off the pit boss that you are observing her. People have an uncanny ability to detect someone looking at them. It is almost enough to make you believe in a sixth sense. If you are walking down a busy street and your eyes rest on another person’s face for a moment, his eyes will very often turn to yours. When you are looking at someone, keep your head moving. A solution is sunglasses. However, I have always thought that sunglasses are not only a huge tip-off, but make you look less honest and open. On that subject, hats will just piss off surveillance.

Cashing in

I was on my way to Florida for a meeting. As everyone knows, Las Vegas is on the way to Florida from New York. This was about 2003. While in the city, I had decided to take some close-up photos of chips to help me design new chip graphics for my software. I had decided on Caesars Palace as the source for the chips. Of course, I could have simply purchased various denominations of chips at a cashier’s window. But what fun is that? My betting was a bit unusual as I was trying to collect every denomination from $1 to $1,000 — betting odd bets hoping for Blackjacks. It was one of those days where nothing goes wrong.

 © 2009 Norman Wattenberger