1. Liberty Bell

Invented and designed by a San Francisco mechanic named Charles Fey in 1895, the Liberty Bell is the first slot machine. The main symbols here include horseshoes, stars, spades, diamonds, hearts, and Liberty Bells. Once three bells are aligned, the machine pays 50 cents.
Having a coin slot at the top, it features small reels in the middle and a paytable at the bottom. It works like this - players insert a Nickel and pull a lever on the right-hand side to spin the reels. Although the Operator Bell and Liberty Bell have been removed from casinos, the original Liberty Bell on display can be seen in the Liberty Belle saloon in Reno, Nevada.

2. Lion's Share

One of the most famous slot machines, Microgaming’s classic slot Lion's Share, gained a lot of success back in 2014, due to news channels that discussed the topic on how Lion's Share's progressive jackpot hasn’t been hit for two decades. Thousands of people have tried but no one was lucky enough to pull it off.
Although the machine only featured 3 reels and only 1 payline, Lion’s Share has managed to become one of the most popular releases in Vegas, so popular that people waited in line just to put a coin into it and try spinning those reels.
Eventually, a New Hampshire couple hit the $2.4 million progressive jackpot in MGM’s Grand’s Lion’s Share. Soon after, MGM Grand made a decision to retire the Lion's Share machine since it required a lot of maintenance. Still, the game became part of slot history with a jackpot that took 20 years to win.

3. Megabucks

Created by IGT, Megabucks has managed to become one of the world's best progressive slot machines. The game is also responsible for numerous big wins throughout the entire jackpots’ history. Also known as the biggest money jackpots of all time, Megabucks slot machines are described as simple games with a massive progressive jackpot. One of the biggest wins was when an anonymous engineer won a staggering $39.7 million at Las Vegas' Excalibur, back in 2003.
As for the other big wins hit on this machine, there was a cocktail waitress Cynthia Jay Brennan who snagged an incredible $34.9 million at Vegas' Desert Inn, as well as a retired flight attendant hitting $27.5 million at Vegas' Palace Statio­n. J­ohanna Huendl won $22.6 million whereas an Illinois businessman hit $21.3 million on the very first spin.
However, after winning the prize, one of the winner's family members had a tragic accident, which (as some believe) only supported the theory of a Megabucks curse. Other unfortunate stories are just believed to be urban legends, including anecdotes about underage players, as well as casino employees, being big winners but not being able to claim their jackpots because of specific state laws and regulation.

4. Wheel of Fortune

IGT’s Wheel of Fortune has proven to be the second most famous slot machine of all time. Featuring a bonus feature just like the real show, the slot machine is usually played by many slot fans and can be found in numerous casinos all over the globe. Although the game comes in more variations, probably the most popular one is still its 3-reel version, with a colourful wheel at the top.
The Wheel of Fortune multiplayer game features a bank of machines where every player gets their own screen. What makes the game even more exciting is the multiplayer edition where people can play the bonus round together, which really intensifies the game show aspect.
In a 5-reel Wheel of Fortune slot, however, Wild symbols will help players land winning combos and, if you’re lucky enough, you may get a Super Wild that will boost your win up to 5x! Last but not least, the Triple Action Bonus is activated by getting at least 3 Triple Action Bonus symbols anywhere on the reels. But still, none of the newer Wheel of Fortune slots measure up to the original one because of the large progressive jackpot involved.
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5. Mega Fortune

Featuring 5 reels and 25 paylines, NetEnt’s Mega Fortune slot became very popular among players as it usually grows into a multimillion-euro amount before being hit. The main symbols here include luxury cars, yachts, and expensive jewellery, Mega Fortune is an online slot machine game which justifies its theme that comes with the largest ever online slot jackpots.
The game offers a few different features that make the entire gameplay more fascinating, however, by far the most interesting ones are the 3 different progressive jackpots: Mega Jackpot, Major Jackpot and Rapid Jackpot. There are counters for all 3 of these that are displayed above the reels. Champagne is the Scatter and if you land at least 3 of them simultaneously, you will trigger Free Spins bonus round. Likewise, Wheel of Luck is the Bonus symbol, and if you land 3 or more symbols in succession from left to right on an active payline, you will activate the Bonus game.
What’s interesting about this slot is the fact that a Finnish man won a huge jackpot worth €17.8 million while spinning the reels of Mega Fortune. This record from 2013, has been passed by Mega Moolah, but the game is still proof how rich players can get after playing Mega Fortune.
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6. Mega Moolah

Powered by Microgaming and being among most popular slot games, Mega Moolah is a 25-payline progressive slot which has served as a competitor to Mega Fortune's big jackpots. Followed by African safari music, the game features antelopes, elephants, giraffes, lions, monkeys and zebras as the main symbols.
Landing at least 3 Scatters at the same time will trigger 15 Free Spins. What’s more, all wins hit during Free Spins are tripled, whereas Free Spins can also be retriggered. Players can win one of the 4 Progressive Jackpots within the randomly triggered Bonus round.
The game paid some of the largest slot machine jackpots that have ever been triggered. In 2015,for example, Mega Moolah gained international recognition when a British soldier Jon Heywood won a massive €17,879,645.
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7. Cleopatra

Inspired by the famous Egyptian theme and Developed by IGT, Cleopatra is a 20-payline classic game that managed to stand out above similar releases. Featuring ancient Egyptian music, the main symbols here include Cleopatra, the Eye of Horus, scarabs, and pyramids. Landing at least 3 Sphinx symbols will trigger the Cleopatra Bonus, which awards 15 Free Spins. All prizes, except for the 5 Cleopatra symbols, are tripled in the Free Spins round.
The game has been so successful that it inspired its creators to make a sequel, Cleopatra II, with richer graphics and engaging sound effects. But even if you choose the original game, you'll be playing a classic that's still enjoyed by various players today. And, in case you land 5 Cleopatra symbols you’ll get a jackpot of 10,000 coins.

8. Book of Ra

Having a popular Ancient-Egypt theme, Book of Ra has always been one of the best choices to play in land based and online casinos. Powered by Novomatic, Book of Ra is a 9 payline video slot that offers plenty of bonus features and big payouts. With entertaining narrative and energising gameplay, there are numerous ways to win here.
In case you land 5 archaeologists simultaneously, you’ll get an impressive 5,000x your line bet. Earning big bucks, however, comes from the Free Spins feature. What players need to do is land at least 3 Scatter books to trigger the Free Spins feature. Pages of the book will flip and randomly determine which symbol will expand during the 10 Free Spins.
Although hitting the jackpot may not be easy, with only a few one in between, when big wins come, they can be big.

9. Starburst

There’s no denying NetEnt’s Starburst slot became kinda legendary in the iGaming universe. With its dark background and shiny space looking gemstones, Starburst slot features 5 reels and 10 paylines. The well-known futuristic music in this release is also easily noticeable, as is the game’s expanding Wild.
More precisely, the Wilds may only occur on the reels 2, 3 and 4, and, once 1 or more wilds appear on those reels, the Starburst Wild feature will be activated. During this feature, Starburst wilds expand to cover the entire reel and remain while the other reels re-spin. Should a new wild land during a re-spin, it expands and stays along with any previously expanded Starbursts for another re-spin.
Another cool feature is that Starburst pays both ways, instead of only paying you for landing at least 3 identical symbols on adjacent reels starting with the reel furthest to the left. The maximum single spin payout for a person (betting the $200 maximum) is $100,000. But, in order for that to happen, you must land five bars on consecutive reels on an active payline. Players love this slot, probably because it’s suitable for both newbies and experienced players.

10. Immortal Romance

Powered by Microgaming, Immortal Romance is based on sci-fi and the cult of Vampires which has become one of the popular casino slot machines in the last couple of years. Apart from superb graphics and great audio and visual effects, the slot features 5 reels and 243 paylines, and the theoretical RTP rate of 96.86%. The four main characters are Amber, Troy, Michael and Sarah.
When it comes to features and bonus games, Immortal Romance offers different variants. Wild Desire feature can occur randomly, and as soon as it does, it can turn 1 to 5 reels completely Wild. Likewise, landing 3 or more Scatters anywhere on the reels in this game, activates the Chamber of Spins feature which cannot be triggered during Wild Desire.
The game is still among the most popular slots, as many players still try their luck in this slot in the hope to get the highest multiplier possible.

11. Gonzo’s Quest

Beautifully designed video slot powered by NetEnt, Gonzo Quest features 5 reels and 20 paylines. The story is based on the famous conquistador Gonzalo Pizzaro who is on his way to the Peruvian ruins and just about to experience the unique quest.
Now, Gonzo’s Quest has become one of the most popular slot games of all time, probably because it comes with a few interesting features, Avalanche Multipliers feature being the most interesting one of all. In Essence, the reels in the slot move in a cascading manner which resemble an Avalanche. As you activate each new Avalanche, you will win a multiplier. Multipliers are displayed above the reels, and go up to 5x, that is if you land 4 or more avalanches simultaneously.

12. Age of the Gods

Being among famous slot machines and inspired by Ancient Greek mythology, Age of the Gods is a 5-reel, 20-payline progressive slot powered by Playtech. The main characters are Athena, Zeus, Hercules, and Poseidon power up 4 free game modes that offer extra wilds and win multipliers! Once you start spinning, you’ll come across a series of bonus features, such as Athena Free Games, Zeus Free Games, Poseidon Free Games and Hercules Free Games.
Wild logo is the game’s wild card and it substitutes for all symbols, with the exception of the Scatter. Landing at least 3 Scatters anywhere on the reels simultaneously triggers the Bonus game. Moreover, landing 5 God symbols in any order on an active payline will get you 200x your line bet!
During the main game, any spin can activate the Age of the Gods Mystery Jackpot. This mini game guarantees a win of up to 4 progressive jackpots. All you gotta do is click on the coins to reveal jackpot symbols, and if you match 3 identical ones, you will win that jackpot.

13. Money Honey

Having a cute theme, Money Honey is a 5-reel and a 243 payline slot themed around honey. With Wilds, Free Spins, Scatters and multipliers, it is a fast-paced exciting creation featuring vibrant colours. Likewise, it is a mobile-optimized slot which may be an excellent choice if you’re new to online gambling or if you’ve been playing for years.
Just like in other games, Wilds will help you win payouts as they are able to replicate most other symbols on the reels once a winning combination has been made. Another symbol you may want to keep your eyes on is a Money Wheel card. Once you manage to land at least 3 of them on your reels after a spin, the bonus game begins, and you spin a big wheel to choose a prize.

14. Quick Hit

And our selection wouldn’t be complete without Bally's Quick Hit slot. Featuring traditional Las Vegas symbols with sharp graphics and relaxed music, the video slot has 5 reels, 3 rows, and 30 paylines. Once you decide how many paylines you want to bet on, your gaming adventure can begin. There are Scatters symbols and three bonus games to benefit from.
The biggest payout here comes from landing the triple seven symbol. Should you land 5 of these lucky numbers on the reels at the same time, you will win 5,000 coins, whereas if you land five wild symbols, you’ll get 12,500 coins.
Those looking for hitting a jackpot should pay attention to Quick Hit Platinum symbols as 5 of these contribute to 5,000x players’ original bet amount – and even more, with the max bet activated. The second-highest jackpot can be hit by landing 9 Quick Hit Slot symbols. Both the Quick Hit Platinum and regular Quick Hit symbols must occur on or within one position of the first payline to be eligible for a jackpot win.

15. SlotZilla Zip Line

And now something completely different. We’re finishing our selection of famous slots in style, with the world’s largest slot machine - StotZilla Zip Line - 128 feet tall which has two take-off levels. This $12 million SlotZilla zip line took more than a year to build and opened its doors in 2014 and has already had more than 2 million riders so far.
The 11-story slot machine is decorated with over-sized dice, a glass of martini, a pink flamingo, video reels, coins, and two showgirls - Jennifer and Porsha. SlotZilla offers two different rider experiences - the upper Zoomline and a lower Zipline. This unique machine has a huge video screen with reels and a gigantic arm, replicating a true slot machine experience.

If you want to learn about gaining the biggest slot machine win, Auto-Lotto Processor Review then read this. You will learn how to beat Las Vegas slot machines to bring home more profits than expected. To the many casino enthusiasts, having the biggest slots win can be life changing. Yes, when people hit the jackpot in slot machines, the profits they will gain can be thousands or sometimes millions of dollars. This is probably the reason why slots have become extremely popular in the world today.
It is a fact that slot machine games are very popular in most of the casinos around the world. We can all probably say that the popularity of this game is on the same level with blackjack and poker. Slots can provide people with the pleasure and the amusement that they need in order to recreate themselves. And, most importantly, these games allow people to earn loads of money when they win especially when they hit the jackpot. When players win the progressive jackpot in Las Vegas, they can sometimes bring home millions of dollars because these types of machines are interconnected with other machines in other casinos.
Before you sit down in front of the machine to play, you need to make sure that the machine is a hot slot or the machines that give the best payout. Here are some tips on how you can choose the right machine to play with so that you can maximize your winnings. To gain the biggest slot machine win, choose a hot slot in a hot spot. Inside the casinos you can find the best slots usually near the winning claims booth. Casino operators usually place the best machines in this area to attract more people to play. We all know that when gamblers win, it is normal for them to be cheering and yelling. Most often, they also talk about their winnings with their friends. When people and passerby hear about this, they will surely be tempted to play so that they can win and earn more easy money too. Even those who are already playing but who are always losing will be encouraged to play more in the hope that they too might have the chance of winning.
Other hot slots are also located near coffee shops and snack bars. Las Vegas casinos do this because it has been a trend that when people hear slot machine players yelling in excitement, those who are eating will often rush and finish their food or drink immediately so that they can play. The attractive game sounds and the colorful, bright lights coming out from the slots are also very tempting. Avoid the ones placed near casino entrances because most likely these are bad machines. Casinos do not usually place slots near entrances because this will immobilize people from going around the casino and play other games such as poker, blackjack, roulettes, and others. You can also tip a casino employee and ask which machine gives the best payout and which one allows more chances of winning. If you want to have the biggest slot machine win, then you should learn how to identify which one provides more chances of winning and the one which gives the best payout.
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(With apologies to Uncle Steve)
Jay Everett stared up at the towering Twin Pines Hotel, one of the largest buildings this side of the Las Vegas gambling strip. It was a jutting structure built entirely out of steel beams and black glass. The Hotel was surrounded on all sides by the flashing neon lights of Casino Row, which danced across its glossy surface like the ghostly imprints of colored flames. Apparently this place offered some of the swankiest penthouses in the entire city, but Jay wasn’t here for a room. He’d only come here to gamble.
He pushed through the front doors and entered the lobby, a spacious room with potted plants crawling up the walls like ivy. The place was packed with men in tuxedos and women in loose evening dresses. Jay felt smothered in his own suit, and he tried easing up the collar with one finger. It didn’t help much. He still felt like he was being throttled by his tie.
Most of the crowd was moving toward the check-in desk, but Jay snuck his way through until he could see the flashing lights of the casino. A large metal beam stretched across the entrance. Beneath it was a sign that proclaimed TWIN PINES CASINO in bold, electric blue letters. A bear and a turtle and various other forest animals gamboled across either side.
He managed to slip through the bustle without being too pushy, and then he was in. Light background jazz swept across him as he stepped into a world lit up by colored bulbs and strips of eerie black light. The casino actually wasn’t too crowded this early in the night. He almost had the entire place to himself.
He stopped before a large, circular game machine emblazoned with the words GOLD KING. The game itself was nothing more than a large spinning disc divided into colored slices. Most of the sections were given small monetary values, but there was one tiny sliver that had been painted a solid gold.
The game itself didn’t get too much activity, but the large statue perched above it could be seen from anywhere in the casino. It was a cartoony sculpture of a king wearing red robes and a golden crown. In his hand he held a royal scepter, which would flash brightly and let off a chorus of clanging bells whenever anyone hit the jackpot. Right now he was silent. His blank eyes stared out at the crowd, his mouth open in a creepy cartoon smile.
You have until the Gold King goes off to make $19,000. Otherwise…
Jay shivered. He couldn’t get Farrow’s threat out of his head; it echoed in his ears like the growl of a distant animal. Farrow himself was nowhere to be found, but Jay knew he’d stationed his cronies in every corner of this place. Some were probably disguised as security guards, others as bartenders or casino patrons. He couldn’t trust anybody. Any one of these people could be waiting to turn him in to Farrow the moment he backed out of this job.
So he did what he was told to do. He took a deep breath, let his eyes sweep over the casino, and strode over to the game that stood out to him the most. He had a lot of money to win and not much time to do it. This was a world ruled by chance, where the simple roll of a die could decide a person’s fate, and any ordinary man would have been sweating in his suit by now.
But Jay Everett was no ordinary man.
Jay had always known how different he was, even as a kid. It wasn’t that he looked or acted stranger than other people. He was just perceptive. He knew the answers in class before his teacher even finished speaking, although he quickly learned to keep this to himself. He could find things too. When little things went missing around the house, Jay always knew just where to look. He couldn’t explain how. He just did.
He also had an uncanny skill with numbers. He’d never used a calculator in his entire life and he couldn’t understand why his classmates were so helpless without it. By the time he’d reached 9th grade, he was already taking the highest level math courses his high school could offer. It wasn’t long before he caught the eye of several prestigious business schools, which practically tripped over themselves getting him to apply. He never had to worry about his future. Jay ended up leaving high school early and heading to Stanford, where he started down the fast track to a career in finance.
He was snatched up by Tony Salvatore right after graduation. Salvatore was a business tycoon who’d left his footprint in every major city across the country, and he was eager to take Jay on board as his new head of finance. “I’ve been waiting for a kid like you,” he’d said, clapping Jay on the shoulder. “Someone who knows how to crunch the numbers and keep his mouth shut.”
It was true that Jay hardly ever talked; it was a habit from his youth that he hadn’t yet outgrown. He just didn’t trust himself to speak. He knew things about Salvatore, things he couldn’t possibly know – like how he came in late on Mondays because he’d spent the night before drinking and hitting his wife, or how he’d gotten bite marks under his collar from a violent fling with his receptionist. Tony would walk into the room and the knowledge would hit Jay in the face like a foul stench. He valued his job, so he kept quiet.
He discovered Salvatore’s biggest scandal completely by accident. Jay had stayed late at the office that night to finish up one of his revenue forms, which kept coming up $100 short. It was baffling to him. He’d never had an issue with numbers before, not even a minor issue like this, and he didn’t understand why he kept finding the same inconsistency. So he pulled up some other forms to see if he could trace the cause of the missing hundred.
It would have been a cold trail for anyone else, but Jay was good at finding things, and he managed to dig up an encrypted file with a bunch of forms that had never made it into the system. He set up a program to decode the files and discovered that they were all bank deposits – deposits of exactly $100. The missing money was being funneled into an account under the name “Enrico Balazar.”
At first Jay didn’t know what to do with the info he’d dug up. This was fraud, fraud of the highest degree, and Salvatore had to be turned in. Jay had no desire to defend the crooked son of a bitch. But he wasn’t stupid – he knew Salvatore had connections in low places, and if Jay made this information public, he’d have a target on his head. He sat in the dark for a while and cycled through his options.
When Salvatore showed up for work the next day, Jay intercepted him right outside his office. “Sorry to bother you, sir,” he said. “I was just about to send the tax forms to our Boston division when my computer crashed. Is there any way you could send them out for me?” The bit about the computer was true; he’d just neglected to mention that he’d crashed it himself.
Salvatore stared at the papers in Jay’s hand with bleary, reddened eyes. He just had a shot of whiskey in his car. As usual, the thought hit Jay completely out of the blue. Salvatore eventually reached out and took the papers, crumpling them a bit in his fist.
“Hold on a sec,” he grunted. He took the papers into his office and set them on the desk, then leaned over to type his password on the computer. Jay’s eyes followed him carefully. Then Salvatore placed the forms in his scanner and began the uploading process.
Jay stayed late again, waiting until the last of the workers had left the office before typing a quick command on his keyboard. There was a brief popping sound. The power in his part of the building flickered for a moment, and Jay knew the cameras were disabled. He had a good hour or so before they came back on again.
He’d kept a pair of gloves in his briefcase all day, and he slipped them on now as he headed to Salvatore’s office. The tycoon’s personal computer sat in the corner, its screen flashing with an insistent message: PASSWORD?
Jay leaned forward and typed it in, his fingers copying the same pattern Salvatore had used this morning. A quiet beep, a loading bar, and he was in. He got to work immediately.
When Jay arrived at work the next day, a police car was parked outside the building, lights flashing and everything. He arrived just in time to watch the cops shoving a handcuffed Salvatore into the backseat. Jay made sure to keep his face hidden, just in case, but Salvatore had his eyes turned to the ground.
“What happened?” Jay asked one of his coworkers.
“You’ll never believe it, man. Some kind of virus got into Salvatore’s computer and made all of his private files go public. It turns he was channeling a big chunk of his clients’ cash to this mob boss in New York. Balthazar or something.”
“No kidding,” Jay replied. He watched as the car carrying Tony Salvatore turned the corner and disappeared down 5th Avenue.
It was then that he noticed a figure who was standing at the edge of the crowd, his face hidden by the brim of a dark baseball cap. Everyone else was staring down the street, but this man was facing Jay instead. He had his hands tucked into the pockets of a black leather jacket and a thin layer of dark stubble on his face. As soon as Jay noticed him, he lifted a hand from his pocket and gestured for Jay to come over.
Jay was hesitant, but it was broad daylight and he was surrounded on all sides by people. It was safe. He circled around the crowd and approached the dark stranger.
“Do I know you?” he asked.
The man didn’t answer right away. Instead, he reached out and slapped something small and square into the palm of Jay’s hand. Then Jay finally got a glimpse of his eyes beneath the cap. They were shrewd and calculating, a glassy blue that made Jay think of the surface of a frozen pond.
“I saw,” he said. “And if you’re interested, I could use your kind of expertise.”
Jay glanced at the object in his hand. It was a business card, nothing but a name and a set of digits. He frowned. “I’m sorry, I don’t –” But when he looked up, the man had already disappeared.
That was the first time Jay met Rick Farrow.
Jay sipped from his wine glass and watched as people tried their luck on the Twin Pines slot machines. In theory, the outcome of these games was completely random. But Jay knew that most of these machines cycled through a random number sequence, and unless it had been rigged to prevent this issue, one could theoretically spot a pattern. The casino owners needed to make sure that some people walked away winners, after all. Not everyone. Just enough to keep people playing.
There was a pattern, but it was so subtle that the average person would never have noticed it. 19 pulls got you three cherries and a decent amount of cash. 95 pulls got you a row of three gold coins. And after 171 pulls of the lever, three 7s would plunk into place, bells would go off, and the ring of bulbs around the game would burst into life. Jay watched the colored lights dance across the face of each excited winner.
So he sat at the bar, ordered another wine, and waited. He made a mental check mark every time someone new stepped up to play the game. And when the 170th person walked away, he set down his glass, strode over to the machine, and played.
The wheels whirled for a good few seconds before settling on the jackpot. The lights flashed, the bells rang, and a flood of coins spilled out of the machine.
He collected his winnings without a smile.
Now that Tony Salvatore had been removed from his position as CEO, his offices in New York got shuttered. Jay suddenly found himself jobless and in desperate need of cash, as Salvatore had been paying for him to live in a nice apartment on the east side of town. Despite his impressive work history, he seemed to carry with him a kind of stigma for being even somewhat associated with the Salvatore name.
So, with no other options, Jay contacted Rick Farrow. The mysterious man arranged to meet with him at once. He conducted Jay’s interview in a rented office space not too far from the old Salvatore building. Farrow asked most of the questions, and he nodded along pleasantly as Jay talked about his passion for numbers and his experiences studying at Stanford.
Farrow was a curious character. He never seemed to take off his black leather jacket, which looked slightly too big for his slender frame. His cheeks were sharp and bony and his facial hair was carefully trimmed. It was a fairly imposing look, but when he smiled it completely transformed his character. He was a charismatic individual. One way or another, he seemed capable of winning anybody over.
Farrow was impressed by Jay’s experiences, especially by the way he had so cleverly exposed Salvatore, although he refused to tell Jay how he’d seen that particular bit of espionage. In any case, Farrow thought Jay’s skills were perfect for the job, and he told Jay he would take him on immediately. Housing would be provided in one of the apartment complexes near their base of operations. Payment was substantial and would come in on a monthly basis. Jay hardly heard any of this; he was just excited to be welcomed into such a secretive underworld.
The weeks passed by quickly as Jay got initiated into his new life. Farrow explained to him that Salvatore had just been the tip of a very large and very dangerous iceberg. CEOs all over the state were funneling illicit cash to various crime bosses in the city, and Farrow had made it his goal to cut off the head of the snake. Multiple snakes, in this case. That was where Jay and the rest of the tech specialists came in. They had an eye for the little details that could bring a corrupt CEO down from the inside.
To accomplish this, Farrow and several of his associates went around the city and placed cameras in strategic locations. Sometimes they even hacked into company networks so the tech-heads back at the base could break through any encrypted files. It was tireless work, but Jay loved it. He had never felt more in his element. It gave him a thrill to think that he was doing something with his life, that he was using his knowledge to make the world a slightly better place.
Most of the time they operated out of an abandoned warehouse in one of the emptier sections of the city. Farrow had the whole place rigged up with state of the art security systems and a few dozen computers. Jay and the other tech-heads spent most of the time cracking codes and analyzing the footage from Farrow’s secret cameras. If they found any incriminating evidence, they were to report it right away. Then Farrow would take some of his cronies and disappear into the city for a few days.
In very rare cases, Farrow would ask one of the tech-heads to come with him on an assignment. This only ever happened if the job required hacking skills that Farrow himself didn’t possess. Jay was fairly new to the whole game, so Farrow usually passed him up for one of the more experienced techies. He didn’t mind; in fact, he was nervous about returning the field. The Salvatore affair seemed like it had happened ages ago. He wasn’t quite sure he was ready to sneak around in gloves and a ski-mask again.
Jay was busy scanning footage one evening when he heard the slam of a door and the sound of muffled shouting from below. He frowned and took off his headphones. It was definitely Farrow shouting – Jay would have recognized that gravelly voice anywhere. He just couldn’t make out any of the words. Placing the headphones gingerly on the monitor, he got out of his seat and tiptoed over to the door.
The main operations room was on the second floor, so Jay peered over the railing on the catwalk to see what was happening below. Farrow and a few of his masked associates were gathered around one of the other tech-heads. Jay thought it looked like Bruno, the guy who worked with him on Tuesdays. He had his back against a drainage pipe and was holding his hands up helplessly.
“You took off your fucking mask! Do you know how serious this is?” Farrow was yelling. Even from this high up, Jay could see the angry crease in his eyebrows. “They’ve got your face now. It’ll be all over their security cameras. Your stupid slip-up could have put our entire operation at risk!”
“I-I-I’m sorry,” Bruno stammered. “It won’t happen again, I promise!”
“You’re damn right it won’t,” Farrow growled. Then he drew a gun from inside his jacket and shot Bruno in the head.
Jay clapped a hand to his mouth to stifle a scream. Half of the techie’s face was missing, bits of his skin and brain tissue spraying out onto the warehouse floor. His blood splattered across the drainage pipe and trickled to the ground. Jay could hear the steady drip all the way from the catwalk.
He ducked back inside the operations room before Farrow could look up and see him there. His heart was pounding out an erratic beat on his ribcage. As quickly as he could, he slid into his seat and stuck the headphones back over his ears. He hummed a senseless little tune under his breath, trying to make himself look as carefree and oblivious as possible. If Farrow knew what he had just seen… he held back a shudder.
Farrow appeared in the doorway a few minutes later, the specks of blood completely wiped from his face. He’d changed into a cleaner jacket too. As Farrow walked past the row of flashing computer screens, Jay tried to calm his racing pulse.
“Any good news?” Farrow asked. He placed a hand on Jay’s shoulder, peering down at the monitor.
They shoved his body in the wood chipper. The knowledge hit him like a jolt of lightning, clear and strong. It took every ounce of his willpower to force a smile.
“Nothing so far,” he said. “It’s pretty quiet tonight.” He was amazed he could keep his voice from trembling.
Farrow stared at the screen for a few painfully long moments, then coughed. “Keep up the good work,” he said. He let go of Jay’s shoulder and drifted toward the exit. The masked associates followed him like obedient dogs.
When Jay was finally sure he could breathe easy again, he wiped a line of sweat from his brow. He was badly shaken, and not just because he’d seen his coworker shot in cold blood. He was questioning himself now, questioning the whole purpose of this assignment. If Farrow could do something so cruel and violent in the walls of his own compound, what was he doing out in the real world?
After making sure the coast was clear, Jay opened up a web browser and began searching for names. He’d been so busy working this job that he’d never bothered to check the papers, to see what was really going on outside the compound. All the news about the crooks they’d toppled had come through Farrow himself. But the search results Jay found online painted a very different story.
Farrow had said that the elderly Mitch Cullum had been arrested for siphoning funds to a New York crime syndicate, but Jay managed to dig up the old man’s obituary. Cause of death: gunshot wound. Nancy Deepneau, a leading member of a dental corporation in New York City, had gone missing three months ago. And David Tassenbaum, a prominent figure in the computer business, had been mugged to death in an alley, his body so beaten it had been almost impossible to identify. Jay found a dozen more examples of the “corrupt CEOs” Farrow had supposedly brought to justice. The only thing they had in common was that they’d all been very rich, and there had been discrepancies in their corporate funding following each death or disappearance. The police were unable to track down any leads.
His fingers trembling, Jay shut down the browser. For a moment he could only stare at the screen in front of him. What the hell could he do? It wasn’t like he could play dumb forever. He was an expert at staying strategically silent, but a secret this huge would find its way out eventually. His body language would betray him first. The moment he started fidgeting too much, Farrow would know the truth.
So he did the only thing he could think of. He disappeared.
Erasing yourself from existence is next to impossible. You would have to delete every record of your birth, your social security, your education, your medical insurance, your credit card accounts – any and all places where your name could be found in writing. But Jay was persistent, and he knew things. He accessed every database he possibly could and systematically wiped himself off the map. There were some records he knew he could never touch, but if they were out of his reach, the chances of Farrow finding them were slim to none. He was an invisible man now.
Once he was done, he put down the headphones, shut off the monitor, and strode out the front door of the warehouse. It was only a matter of time until Farrow noticed his absence, but he planned to put a few thousand miles between them before that happened.
He was free. He’d been shaken to his core, but he was free, and that was all that mattered. He’d have plenty of time later to think about the horrors he’d seen. And who knows? Maybe this was it. Maybe this whole affair was behind him, and one day it would just become a ghastly dream, a nightmare from someone else’s reality.
But deep down, he knew it wouldn’t be that easy.
“Red 38,” Jay stated. He handed his chips to the croupier, who stacked them on the side of the table with the bets from the other players. Then he gave the roulette wheel a spin. Jay watched as the colors bled together, streaking in an ugly smear of crimson gray. After a few seconds, the croupier tossed the ball down the spinning track. It bounced and rolled every which way before coming to rest in one of the 38 slots. Red 38 exactly.
“Damn, you’re on a roll,” the croupier said. He handed Jay his original chips plus the payout. “Sure you want to keep going? This luck of yours can’t last forever.”
“I’m sure,” Jay answered. He took a deep breath, waiting for the answer to wash over him like it always did. Then he placed his chips back down on the table and stated, “Black 13. Last bet.”
The croupier shrugged and took the chips. They went through the same routine. The roulette wheel spun in its blurry circle, and the ball bounced around for a while before plunking into its final slot. Black 13.
Jay ignored the astonished remarks of the croupier and accepted his winnings silently. He couldn’t stay at this table forever, so he turned away from the Rose Bowl Roulette and cast his eyes across the casino. The night was lengthening and the room was filling up with players, most of them clutching thin glasses of cognac and laughing with their friends. He searched for any sign of Farrow’s men, but it was useless – he’d never find them in this crowd.
He didn’t want to look, but he couldn’t help glancing at the Gold King’s looming statue. It was still dark and silent. Now that the place was getting busy, though, the chances of someone winning the jackpot had risen significantly. Time was running out.
Jay hated using what he knew to win games. It was one thing to find the pattern of outcomes for a slot machine; anyone with half a brain and enough time on their hands could do the same. But what he could do was cheating. No one could ever catch him at it, which somehow made it worse. He’d decided a long time ago that he’d never do exactly what he was doing now.
But he didn’t have a choice. He was over halfway to his goal, closer to three-fourths, really, and he couldn’t afford to waste time now. If he had to cheat, then so be it. Too much was at stake tonight.
The years following Jay’s escape passed in a dreamlike sort of blur. He moved out west, hopping briefly from town to town and spending his nights in cheap hotel rooms. He had to pay in cash, of course, since his credit card account had recently ceased to exist. Luckily he had plenty to go around. He had a natural talent for hustling, and he won most of his money by playing pool games or dealing hands of poker in the back of shady bars.
He never stayed with the same car for too long. He always knew when some idiot driver had left their keys in the ignition, and he took every opportunity to hop in a new vehicle and continue the journey west. He felt a little guilty about hijacking so many rides, but it never bothered him for long. He was far more afraid of Farrow catching up to him.
Occasionally he would seek out some underground sources who had a reputation for forging documents. He needed a new identity, which meant a new birth certificate and social security card and everything. He eventually settled on the name Jay Everett – “Jay” after the first letter of his old name, and “Everett” after a small saloon he’d passed through in Denver. He didn’t get all his documents forged in one location. He staggered them, picking up a new one every few stops to try and throw Farrow off his trail.
By the time he reached Nevada, he figured he’d placed enough distance between himself and Farrow to finally settle down. He got a low-level office job and rented out a tiny apartment at the edge of Boulder City. As the years passed and his stint with Farrow faded from his memory, he finally began to live a normal life again.
He fell in love. He married a beautiful girl named Marcia Thorne who knew nothing about his past, and they had a son together. Trace Everett. He grew up like any ordinary boy, kicking soccer balls around the yard and playing hide-and-seek with the other kids in the neighborhood. When he turned seven they even bought him a small black-and-white dachshund that he affectionately dubbed “Billy.” From that point on the boy and the dog were inseparable; they often went on walks together before his parents called them in for dinner.
Jay was happy. He’d gotten away from his past; he’d moved on from a life he thought would haunt him forever. He made love to his beautiful wife and watched cartoons with Trace on Saturdays. It was a perfect routine, and he never wanted it to end.
Then one night, ten years after Jay had made his escape from Farrow’s compound, a power surge went through their entire house. The Everetts had been enjoying their Sunday dinner when it happened. The bulb above the kitchen table gave a loud sputter before dying out completely. Billy gave a loud bark and began running in circles around the table.
“Calm down boy, it’s just a blackout,” Trace said. He got out of his chair and restrained the dog before he could knock into any of the table legs.
“That’s funny,” Marcy said, peering out the window. “The neighbors’ houses still have power.” Jay joined her by the window, frowning.
“Hmm. Must be something wrong with our circuit breaker,” he said. “You two go look for some flashlights. I’ll see if I can fix the problem.”
The three of them wandered off, stumbling their way through the dark. Jay found the door to the basement and began climbing downward, clinging carefully to the railing. He knew the breaker was located at the bottom of the steps, right next to the garage. He reached the end of the stairs and fumbled in the gloom for the circuit box.
To his surprise, the door to the box was already wide open. As Jay’s eyes adjusted somewhat to the darkness, he saw that every single wire in the box had been snipped cleanly in half. Shit, he thought, oh shit, I should have known. But it was too late now. He felt the muzzle of a gun dig into his shoulder blades.
“I’ve been looking a long time for you,” Farrow said. His voice floated through the darkness in a soft, amused sort of growl. “You’re the one that got away. Isn’t that cute? You wouldn’t believe how many goddamn hoops I had to jump through just to track you down. But now I’ve got you.”
“It’s been ten years,” Jay hissed. “Ten fucking years. What could you possibly want?”
Farrow made a disapproving sound with his tongue. “We’ll get to that in a moment,” he said. “First, we have some introductions to make.”
Right on cue, Billy began barking furiously in the kitchen. Jay could hear Trace’s high-pitched voice trying to shout over him. “No, no, what are you doing, stop, he’s just a dog HE’S JUST A DOG STOP IT –”
Then a gunshot, a muffled whimper, and a shriek that could only have been Marcy. “Jay!” she screamed. “Oh god, oh god, there’s men in the house, they’ve got guns! They shot Billy!”
“Time for our big entrance,” Farrow laughed. He shoved Jay in the back with his pistol, forcing him up the basement steps. Jay plodded forward, hardly able to feel his feet. This must be a nightmare, he thought. I’m going to wake up any second now. But he knew that wasn’t true, the same way he knew so many other impossible things.
When Farrow pushed him into the kitchen, four dark shapes were waiting for him there. Two of them were Trace and Marcy, their hands behind their heads, their entire upper bodies trembling. The other two were some of Farrow’s masked associates. Each one held a pistol to the head of the prisoner beside them.
Marcy let out a sob when she saw Jay climbing up the steps. “Oh god, Jay, not you too?”
“Quiet,” one of the masked figures ordered. His voice sounded strangely distorted, like he was speaking through a filter. Marcy drew in a shuddery breath but stayed quiet.
“So, the gang’s all here!” Farrow exclaimed. “Wonderful.” He performed an exaggerated bow, his gun still nestled in the small of Jay’s back. “I’m Rick Farrow, a man of many trades. Right now I’m a man with a gun. Funny how that gives you so much power, doesn’t it?”
Jay said nothing. In his mind’s eye he could see the gun Farrow was holding, a thin barreled pistol that looked like something out of a Western. A Colt Paterson revolver, his brain spat out uselessly. As if it mattered. It would put a large hole in his chest no matter what type of gun it was.
“It appears you folks have already met my men,” Farrow went on. “They’re pretty low on the corporate ladder, but they do what they’re told, and what more could a man ask for?” He lifted the gun from Jay’s back to do a mock sort of clap with both hands. Jay wasn’t fooled; he didn’t move an inch. He was still Farrow’s prisoner, even if he was no longer at gunpoint.
“What do you want with us?” Marcy asked. Her face was damp with tears, but she’d managed to steady her breathing. Trace leaned against his mother’s legs with a scrunched up expression of anger in his eyes. He was trying so hard not to cry. Jay did his best to look away from the furry mass on the floor that used to be Trace’s beloved dog.
“What do I want?” Farrow said. “Ah, therein lies the question.” He turned his attention back to Jay, his eyes still bright and glassy blue in the darkness.
“So, you go by ‘Jay’ now, do you?” He said it again, slowly this time, as if to savor its taste. “Jay. I like it. Nice and low-key. It suits you well.” He gave Jay a casual tap on the shoulder with his pistol. A toothless smile appeared on his face when he saw Jay wince.
“You were good, Jay,” Farrow said quietly. “You were one of my best, actually. When you took off like that, I knew it wouldn’t be easy to find you. But I kept trying. The other tech-heads made stupid mistakes, botched their missions; they were disposable. But you. You were the grand prize, the golden fleece. I needed you back. You did stuff with numbers that could make a fella’s heart sing.”
Here Farrow paused. His glassy eyes were staring more intently at Jay this time, a careful sort of scrutiny that made his skin grow cold.
“But it’s not just numbers, is it? You see things. Patterns, clues, tiny details other people would miss. That’s what makes you so special. That’s why I need you.”
“Just tell me,” Jay spat through clenched teeth. “Tell me what you want to do. I’ll do anything.”
This time the smile that creased Farrow’s bony cheeks was wide and toothy. “Now that’s more like it,” he said. “Have I got a job for you, big boy. This one’ll be right up your alley.”
Jay said nothing, waiting for Farrow to break the silence first.
“Here’s the thing,” Farrow said at last. “There’s a man out in Las Vegas by the name of Jonas Carver. He runs a big casino in the heart of the city called Twin Pines. My men and I have been eyeing the place for years and we’re just about ready to strike him where it hurts.” He pointed an enthusiastic finger at Jay. “What I want you to do is take a hefty chunk out of this man’s wallet. Let’s say… $19,000. Enough to make him question the security in his casino. Afterwards, when he’s checking for cracks, we’ll sneak in and do our part.”
“Are you going to kill him?” Jay said. His voice came out hoarse and weak.
Farrow grinned. “Don’t worry about Mr. Jonas Carver. He’ll be in good hands. You just focus on playing the right games and making the most moolah.”
Jay’s neck felt stiff as a board, but he nodded. “I’ll do it,” he insisted. “Just let them go.”
“Ah,” Farrow said. “We’ve reached that little snag.” He began pacing the kitchen floor in front of Jay, swinging his revolver like a baseball bat. “See, the thing is, I can’t do that. I need a little insurance here. If I let them go, what’s stopping you from running off to the West Indies for another ten years or so?”
“I won’t,” Jay managed to choke out. “Listen to me, goddammit. I won’t run. Just let them go.”
Farrow pretended to think about it for a second. “Nah,” he decided. “Tell you what. Let’s play a game instead. Inside the Twin Pines Casino, there’s a wheel-of-fortune type game called Gold King. You can’t miss it. It’s got this ugly fucking statue of a cartoon king on top. Every night, without fail, someone wins the jackpot and bells go off and that statue waves its flashing staff at everyone. But only once. For the rest of the night it’s just a statue.”
When Farrow turned to Jay again, his eyes were icy. “Tomorrow night,” he said. “You have until the Gold King goes off to make $19,000. Otherwise your family gets it.” He made a careless gesture at them with his pistol. “One shot each, right in the head. Boom. Boom. And you have to watch.”
“I’ll do it,” Jay repeated. “I’ll play your goddamn game the way you want. But unless I fail, you’d better not lay a finger on them.”
Farrow was examining something under one of his fingernails. “Done,” he stated. He waved his hand absently toward the door. “Take them away, men. You know where to go.”
The two masked men dragged Marcy and Trace out the back door, both of them crying out and struggling to get free. “Be quiet,” the first masked figure said in his distorted voice. “If you don’t shut up, we’ll make you shut up.”
Both of them immediately quieted down, but they couldn’t hide the expressions of pure fear that were plastered across their faces. Jay felt blood pumping furiously through his veins as he watched his family getting dragged away. Farrow lifted his hand and gave them a pleasant wave as they disappeared out the back door.
In the side window of the kitchen, Jay managed to catch a glimpse of Marcy’s face for what he hoped wasn’t the last time ever. He blew her a kiss with trembling lips, but the masked men shoved her and Trace into a waiting van before she could see it. Then the two of them were gone.
Jay was in the middle of a poker game when the Gold King bells went off.
He’d managed to keep his cool throughout the entire night, but the blood drained from his face when he heard the loud clanging noise echoing through the casino. He turned to see the cartoon statue gamboling in place, flashing its toothy smile at the surrounding players. The scepter in its hand was dancing with flecks of neon light.
No, he thought in disbelief. No, not yet! I was almost there!
He’d been so close to the $19,000 mark that this poker game would probably have pushed him over the edge. The Gold King had gone off just as he was about to play his final hand. Now he watched the statue spin in lazy circles, its hideous bells still ringing in his eardrums.
“Hey,” a voice said suddenly. It was the dealer, trying to get Jay’s attention. “Hey buddy, this is the last hand. Are you calling or folding?”
Jay looked at him in surprise, then down at the cards in his shaky fingers. He hadn’t even bothered to look at them yet. What was even stranger, his usual powers of perception were failing him. He knew what all the other hands looked like, he knew who was bluffing through their teeth and who posed a legitimate threat, but he didn’t even know what cards he was holding.
He wondered how long it would take for Farrow’s men to cut through the crowd and take him away. He figured he had about thirty seconds, a minute at most. Was it possible? Could he make enough off this hand to complete Farrow’s sick challenge? The Gold King hadn’t finished its death knoll yet when the final hand was dealt. It was a technicality, but he was banking on it. It might just save Marcy and Trace’s lives. Now it was up to these last five cards to decide if they saw the light of another day.
He offered a quick prayer to a God he never believed in. Then he turned the cards over and stared down at the hand he’d been dealt.

Verified? (This bot cannot verify AMAs just yet)
Date: 2014-05-07
Link to submission (Has self-text)

Questions	Answers
So if he was making more than 500k it would be okay in your book? That's pretty messed up.	Seems like I'd be even more of a piece of shit if I was that successful.
Are you involved much with the general goings on of the casino? If so, what goes through your head when you see huge amounts of money being gambled away by someone who doesnt know when to walk away?	Yes, I'm an executive so I'm in touch with most everything that goes on. Most of the time when I see something like that, I just say "good for us" and try not to think about whether or not the person can afford it or not.
How much do you make a year? Unless you are making like $500,000+, then you are a piece of shit. you are destroying thousands of people's lives so that you can make a living and afford your bmw and other status symbols.	I don't make $500K a year so I guess that makes me a piece of shit.
What is the worst most tasteless thing you or the casino in general did to make money?	I, obviously, like to think I'm uber classy. But in general I think paycheck cashing promotions are pretty tasteless. E.g., Cash your paycheck and get 5% of the total value in free slot play.
Can you ELi5? Sorry, to me that just sounds like you hand over your $1000 you earned, and get back $50? Which seems wrong...? Or do you get an extra $50? Hmmm... Thoroughly confused myself.	Let's say your check is $1,000. The casino will cash your check and then also give you $50 in promotional credits to be used on the slot machines. The idea is that since we've given you some "free" money to begin playing the machines you will also dip into the $1,000 cash that we also handed you.
Are there any clauses that prevent you from just spending the $50 in free bets and cashing out the $1k without actually playing with it?	No, you get the $1K in cash and the $50 can only be used in the slot machine. I've done this once when I started my new job and my direct deposit wasn't set up yet so they issued me a live check.
How many people just walk directly out of the casino after cashing the check with their 5% bonus?	I don't know, I've never run this promotion but generally speaking when we give away promotional credits, the "walk rate" is in the 25% range.
How often do you go to the strip clubs in vegas? If you go how much do you spend? Do you get treated better if they know what your job is?	I really don't like them so not often unless someone is in town that wants to go. I don't have a moral objection, just think it's a waste. "Hey do you like to eat steak? Give me $20 to smell this delicious steak! No, you can't try it!!!".
	So that having been said, I might spend $20 to give to the girls on the stage and maybe a lap dance.
	No, I don't get treated better because of my title really. They usually just care about how much money you spend and that's it.
What are some sneaky strategies that you use to get people to spend more money? I don't mean obvious things like having ATMs...but things related specifically to gambling..	Ummm... Off the top of my head I think the sneakiest thing is probably side bets on table games (e.g., play an extra $5 and if your two cards are a pair then you win $25) because the odds are terrible or things like advertising low table game limits but modifying the rules (e.g., blackjack pays 6:5 vs 3:2) to increase the house advantage.
Some casino customers are super cheap and only play $1 Blackjack. Others are whales and the casino spends a lot of money to attract them, but they are rare. Somewhere in between, I imagine, there are customers who spend a significant amount and exist in numbers to make most of the casino's profits.	First, we quantify most everything by "theoretical worth". That is, how much we can expect to win from you based on the house advantage of the game you play and how long you play. The general formula is decisions per hour X house advantage X hours played X average bet. So, $25/hand at blackjack X 1.5% house advantage X 2 hours played X 60 decisions per hour = $45 in theoretical worth.
Is that true? How much does a "bread and butter" customer gamble in a day?	Second, It really depends on the particular property. The number is a lot higher for Wynn then it would be at Joker's Wild (a really, really dumpy casino on the outskirts of Vegas). That having been said, most places will be very happy to have you if you are in the $150-300 a day in theoretical worth range.
That sounds pretty affordable. Assuming a 30% comp return I guess that comes out to $50-90 in comps a day.	30% includes the stuff we send you in the mail generally too so at the $300 range you could expect a room and a meal a day.
What kind of awful rules are you using to have a 1.5% house advantage, or is that number based on the average player being really terrible? How much in comps would I actually generate for two hours of $25 a hand Blackjack?	I just threw the 1.5 number out there. We also factor in skill into house advantage so as to be more favorable to the player, comp wise. comp wise we'd probably give you 15% of the $45, or $6.75. That's just in what we call discretionary comps that the pit supervisor or host can give you. Then you could expect another 30% in the mail via free bets, hotel, food, etc.
I guess you need to register with the casino loyalty club so you know what we are spending.	Correct.
I currently reside in Arizona, where you can't swing a dead cat without hitting an Indian reservation and - as a result - a casino.	Well I've worked all over the country and, yes, of course we always keep an eye out on new competition that would impact our existing customer base, especially as the business has seen much more legalization in new jurisdictions in the past 20 years.
The casino/resorts are getting increasingly sophisticated. Better facilities, better entertainment, and better marketing.	For Vegas, I think most strip properties have dealt with this by investing in properties in regional markets so as to send their customers to their Vegas properties so it is pretty accretive. Someone from Harrah's Ak-Chin in the Phoenix area gets offers from Harrah's Las Vegas quite often.
Is this something the Vegas casinos consider a rising threat, welcome competition, or something else? How do you - as a marketing guy - react to the fact that a trip to a casino no longer necessarily means a trip to Nevada or New Jersey?	The bigger problem really is for the markets where they were a monopoly for some time and really rested on their laurels. Reno and Atlantic City come to mind. Those markets are dying fast and there really isn't much upside. In Atlantic City, for example, you have casinos buying competitors just to close them so as to reduce the inventory.
What really happens when somebody wins on a slot machine? Like, what is the behind the scenes stuff that we don't see? Are they checking out the cameras to make sure it was that specific person before they payout? What if you switch seats? What if an underage gambler wins?... What if they switch seats with an of-age gambler?? Honestly, I've never done that, but I've always wondered the underage stuff because I've never ever got carded on slots! I've won hand-pays before (nothing really exciting) and they always hit me with the tax form. What do you guys do with the tax form? Does it get sent out from you guys or does it remain my responsibility from thereon?	I worked as a slot analyst (analyzing machine performance) years ago and never on the floor so I don't know/remember the exact steps. Essentially, though, it's verifying that the machine is functioning properly and recording the details of the jackpot for audit/regulators. If it is a taxable jackpot ( >= $1,200) then we are required to fill out the IRS W2G form to report it to them for tax purposes so at that point we have to get your ID, etc. to facilitate that. Then of course, there is the matter of actually paying you the money, verifying that it is the correct amount, etc. The tax form does get sent to the IRS. You can request the taxes not be taken out of your jackpot as you are only taxed on the net win at the end of the year.
How did you get involved in the casino bussiness?	1/2.) Just needed a job and applied to a very entry level job and worked my way up.
Did you set out to work at one or did it come about another way?	3.) It can be fun and exciting.
What do you enjoy most about your job? Least?	4.) There's a lot of pressure to make money/meet your budget so all of the bullshit that goes along with that. Dealing with politics, having to adjust staffing, etc. And I don't like that at my level the usual tenure is 2-3 years so you move around a lot. I'd like to be more settled, especially in a place I'd really want to live for a long time and I don't feel like I have much control of that in this business.
1) When you talk about being moved around a lot, is that relating to being moved around in what you do at a particular casino? or more like which casino your working at? 2) Do you feel that your skills at this current job gives you fallback options should your tenure run out? ( Such as in other service based industries?)	1.) I mean there is only one of me at every casino so if something happens whether I don't like where I work or what something different (e.g., more money) or they don't like me (shocking, it happens!) then the likelihood that I have to move is high, especially if I'm in a city that only has a handful of casinos. 2.) I obviously feel like my skills could take me anywhere! But in reality, it has been tough to change industries when I've tried. Usually places like hotels don't pay as much as casinos and look for more sales-related skills and restaurants don't really have marketing people except at the corporate office whereas my skills are more analytics-oriented. And both usually pay less than casinos.
time I went to Vegas (around 30 years ago) it still had that "mob" vibe. When I got married there in the 90s (I joke now that I gambled on marriage in Vegas and lost half my stuff) it was much more "corporate" and "family friendly." The "What Happens in Vegas" campaign seemed to try and change that perception. Do you think there's value in returning Vegas to a more "wise guy" kind of feel...playing up the classic vibe, or is it just a big collection of theme parks with gambling?	The problem with returning to that type of vibe is that it's difficult/impossible given how big the casinos are. Sure it was easy for Benny Binion to control everything and not be "corporate" when the old Horseshoe was literally 1/10th the size of MGM Grand.
What was UNLV like? Did you live in the dorms? It seems like a strange school where everyone commutes and there's no college life around the campus. What are the pros and cons of going there?	I went there for grad school so was older and had a wife and a house. It is definitely a commuter school so there's not a lot of school spirit. I went to undergrad a school with a huge, huge, huge, football program so it was a bit of a change for me. I also didn't find the students to be terribly bright (with exceptions, of course). On the upside, a lot of people like living in Vegas and the Hotel Administration College (where I went) has very, very good brand recognition.
Do you find people have lots of misconceptions about the casino industry?	That the games are rigged and that we love giving away a lot for nothing/little in return are probably the two biggest.
So what's up with prostitutes and the casinos? I understand that prostitution is illegal in Vegas, but that they're still there. Is it like the movies, where they're just hanging out in the casino bars waiting to be picked up?	Yes, they hang out at the bars and then there are services you can call and have them sent to your room. If it's overt, casino security will clear them out of the bar area but the vice cops generally focus on human trafficking kind of stuff.
As an insider, what do you think the job prospects are in the industry for someone with a similar education background, but no casino experience?	1.) The industry relies heavily on industry experience so job prospects are good if you're willing to start in a low position and work you're way up. If you go to UNLV and get the degree I got and expect for some casino to make you a Director of VP with no experience then you're going to be very disappointed.
Is that just bizarre luck?	2.) Bizarre luck.
What does the industry think about states with Indian reservations that prohibit casinos like Texas?	3.) Definitely potential opportunity. I've read about that small tribe in Texas. It'll happen eventually in Texas. The people in Louisiana will not be happy, though.
Is it viewed as a potential opportunity for growth with a small tribe, more competition, or a wedge to open the state to gambling?	4.) No problem!
For every average person out there, would you suggest not playing? I mean, in the sense that, it's just not a viable option?	Viable for what? Making consistent money? Then definitely not. If you are entertained by thrill of gambling and have the discretionary funds to do it, then by all means.
Aw okay! cool. Any idea why people do it? Is it just a thrill? Would being a "whale", make more of a difference?	For the people that do it for entertainment, it's the thrill of anticipation.
Was it hard getting a job with such a detailed degree?	My undergrad degree is pretty bland, political science, so it wasn't hard at first. I did my grad degree in casino management because I was living in Vegas, wanted to get an MBA, didn't want to take 2 years off from work to get a full-time degree, didn't have the support of my job to get an executive MBA, and didn't like UNLV's MBA program.
EDIT: Thanks for answering my first AMA question! Really good answer too!	NP! Keep asking away!
What's your favorite aspect of your job? And do you like to gamble yourself?	1.) It can be exciting. Picking new acts to play in your showroom seems more exciting to me than selling propane. 2.) Yes...
What is the best way for tourist to get the best bang for buck in your casino for entertainment, food, gambling etc to have a good time and not go broke?	I'm currently working at a Vegas strip property.
If you can answer in terms of Vegas, that would be great also.	Unless you have something more specific in mind, the first place I'd direct you to is the Las Vegas Advisor Top 10 Deals List.
With legal online poker gaining momentum which might mean eventual legal online gambling for other house games online; are the casinos doing what they can to kill this before it starts or your thoughts on this?	Las Vegas Sands / Venetian is actively trying to kill it (which I don't really understand) but everyone just sees it as a means to make more money so are ready to pounce when it's legal.
I don't know if you're still answering questions, but what are the qualifications for being, say, a Texas Hold'em Dealer in Vegas, specifically your casino, and are the dealers specific to just one game? I.e. omaha, hold 'em, pai gow, stud... Also, without being too specific, what is the average annual income for said occupation? Are the dealers payed solely by tips/do they get to keep all tips?	1.) Generally there are poker dealers and table games (e.g., blackjack) dealers. Few do both. Among the table games dealers, most know multiple games as the more you know the more hirable you are. In terms of the qualifications it's just that you've gone to some sort of dealer school (there are commercial ones and some casinos do it in-house), experience, and a live audition. 2.) Really depends on the market and the casino. At the high end like Wynn or Venetian they will do close to $100K/year but at an entry-level place it could be more like $25K/year. It's base salary plus pooled tips (aka tokes).
	3.) You've never thought of dealing the WSOP? They need as many dealers as they can find.
Do Casino's design their decor for different target groups?	Of course. Hard Rock and Cosmo are designed for younger demographics and Wynn and Venetian for older affluent ones.
I find all Casino's to be outright horrible to my senses due to the noise/flashing lights.	Encore and the new Barrymore are definitely designed for the Asian gambler. And you'd, obviously, have to assume the casinos in Macau are, too, although I've never been.
Could you describe your typical work day? also I've had some great times a Joker's Wild!	Ha! I honed my dice skills at JW!
	Typical work day is get to work and look at the previous day's financial results and react accordingly. I.e., ask the analysts to pull numbers, talk to the head of a certain department about their opinion on something, etc.
	Emails emails emails.
	Then it's usually a lot of meetings about upcoming things whether it be planning an event, approving new advertising, doing the strategic planning for the property for 2015, meeting with vendors, etc.
	Emails emails emails.
	By this time the numbers or reports I've asked to be run are ready so I sit down and look at them and act accordingly (e.g., hey, looks like we're spending too much on postage to mail to customers too far away, let's change the way we do this for next time), etc.
	Emails emails emails.
	Then it's usually time to go home but 2-3 times a week I'll have a dinner or event to go to with a vendor or colleague or someone from the press.
	Emails emails emails.
	Probably 2-3 Saturdays a month I'll go in and work for a few hours just to catch up on stuff or if there's an event to meet and greet players, make sure everything is going well, etc.
	Emails emails emails.
Has the rise of 6:5 blackjack been hurting the game's popularity, or are there enough people who don't "get" the odds change (or don't care) that it all works out in the end? Is the odds change enough to swing the game back in the casino's favor in the long run even if players count cards? And what about continuous shuffling machines: have any of the casinos you've been with used them, and how did the players react?	The masses don't care about either especially if you're able to offer low limits. The limit and the number of decks is what attracts people to a bj game. Still never going to allow counting.
Is is harder to get jobs in the background or management functions of the casino?	Well certainly there are more what we call "front of house" positions (dealers, porters, servers, bartenders, etc.) than "back of house" positions (accountants, IT, warehouse, etc.) so in terms of pure numbers, yes it's easier to get -any- FOH than -any- BOH position.
I'm an IT grad looking to move back to Vegas and wondered if there were more "non-floor" jobs than actually functional jobs.	That having been said, if you're wanting an IT position shouldn't be too hard if you're willing to work anywhere and have a little experience. If you're wanting to just jump into the CIO job at Bellagio, more difficult.
Great! thank you. I've got about 8 years under my belt, but dear god...no CIO for me. This really eased my worry about options. thanks.	You should be OK as long as you're not too picky.
Just how rigged are the automatic roulette machines?	They aren't. The games have to go through pretty rigorous testing by the state or an agency of the state to be allowed to be sold. Gaming Labs International is one such company.
I would think that SEO campaigns and similar web based marketing would be ineffective techniques for a casino in a place like Las Vegas. Is this the case? I know I'm quite late but I would love to know if you have time.	We definitely do SEO/SEM campaigns but primarily for hotel related keywords for people looking for hotel rooms. I worked at a place a little outside of the main city in the south one time and we'd buy broader search terms for people looking for "entertainment in main city" in case they didn't know there was a casino nearby.
Thanks for the response. I was just curious about engaging people in person in public? Do you operate campaigns on the street such as call to action flyers or similar? Are there laws specific to this type of promotion in Las Vegas?	Not a typical marketing channel most casinos explore, but it's not entirely unheard of. Sorry I'm not entirely sure of the laws.
Who owns the casino you work at? Is it one guy or a publicly traded company?	I'd rather not say as I don't want to be outted but I have worked for large publicly traded companies, privately held companies (e.g., owned by hedge funds), and publicly traded companies where one individual owns the majority of the shares. I've never worked at a privately owned casino owned by one individual, though.
How do I get over 65 year olds excited about my product?	Without knowing what said product is, the best thing I can say is to figure out how to make it relevant to them.
What does a marketing exec. at a casino make a year?	Depends on the size of the property. 75 at a small riverboat casino to 250 at a large place like Bellagio.
To succeed in marketing, what is the first step to landing a successful job? and what should be the over arching goal in mind to maintain a competitive advantage over fellow competition as well as new shifts in market trends?	1.) be tenacious. take any job you can get. be a sponge and learn everything you can.
	2a.) don't be afraid to fail, but be smart (and profitable) about it.
	2b.) don't rest on your laurels. stay in touch with your customers.
Go on ... What does a casino do in that regard?	From a gambling standpoint, people in that age range like penny slots so we offer a lot of penny slots. We put on shows that would appeal to them. We would make the decor more classic vs hip. Etc.
I've always wanted to work in the gaming industry. I have a strong sales background and a B.S. degree... which department would you recommend to get my feet wet?	Probably player development which is the department that deals with VIP guests or maybe special events/promotions.
What's the best movie you've seen this year? You did say we could talk about life in general...	Absolutely! 12 Years a Slave.
	Edit: Also, Dallas Buyer's Club.
Dang, haven't seen it yet...will have to wait for it on DVD or streaming. Edit: Haven't seen that one either. I'm starting look like a Philistine.	It's pretty heavy but sometimes that's good.
Do you prefer to market for families or adults? Casinos are adult fun, but I've noticed a shift in the past decade.	Definitely adults.
Your AMA was one of the best, you answered almost every question, so if you're still answering here's one: If a young person comes in and wins more than 100k and then just leaves, would you suspect him/her of anything?	It really depends more on the manner in which you win and how you behave. We're required by law to fill out a Currency Transaction Report for transactions over $10,000. So if you got to that point you would have already given us your ID, etc. We'd obviously make sure that surveillance is watching you to make sure you're not cheating but if you're on a random hot streak and betting $10K/hand then it wouldn't be a huge deal at most strip properties.
How about a free load just this once? lol. But hypothetically what would 10 grand get you :(	At my place, (which is not an uber classy place like Wynn or Venetian), you'd get pretty much whatever you'd want. Suite, dinners, limo from the airport, show tickets, etc. We'd generally reinvest in you 30% of your loss so just figure out what $3,000 in comps would get you.
What advice can you give to new grads who want to get into marketing, but can get work due to lack of experience?	As I mentioned in a previous post, I believe you really just need to be tenacious and take anything to get your foot in the door. It's a very crowded field, especially on the what I call "pretty picture" side of marketing. I wish I had a more specific answer to give you.
What does being a marketing executive involve?	I usually say I'm in charge of driving profitable revenue. The departments that report up to me are charge of advertising, promotions, entertainment, public relations, direct mail/database marketing, and VIP marketing.
I'm coming to Vegas in December from Australia, can you PM me your email address?	Just PM me. Happy to see if I can help
Do casinos hire interns? I'm currently a student at a public university.	Absolutely. I think most of the major companies have management training/internship programs. Go to their careers websites. Caesars Entertainment, MGM International, Pinnacle Entertainment, Penn National Gaming, etc.
Would you recommend a job in marketing? what skill sets would be helpful for marketing? i'm interested in it but not entirely sure what it's about.	I think the best combination in today's world is to be more right brained with a creative bent as more and more the question asked of marketing folks is "quantify how your idea makes me money?" and less and less "what's the most most creative idea you have?"
	It's a crowded field especially on the left brained side (e.g., advertising and public relations) because people think it's "cool". So if that's you're interest, I'd say being tenacious and creative is what is going to get you far in that world because it's tough to get your foot in the door and you have to have thick skin and then when you do get your foot in the door you are going to have a very short leash to prove yourself.
Any specific company you recommend?	If you're at the intern stage, apply liberally.
Do you have the sides backwards, or do I?	Um, well I think of left brained as creative and right brain analytical?
How selective is the casino management program at UNLV?	The hotel management program in general is not selective but the casino management program is difficult because it's pretty quantitatively-focused so there's a lot of attrition.
What do you do for family entertainment in Vegas?	I'm single so that having been said, there's all your typical family stuff to do here: parks, camping, hiking, movies, bowling, etc.
You don't have any family in Vegas? What's something that you go do with your friends, then?	I'm not from here and my ex-wife hated living here thus why she's my ex. My friends and I go and see concerts, go to bars, we like guns so go shooting sometimes, and most Sundays cook for each other.
Sounds like a nice life!	It's OK. City is kind of soulless and superficial.
One of my favorite aspects of Vegas is that if you want your experience to improve, it's usually a strategic $20 tip away... whether that be a tip to upgrade your room when you check in, to skip the long line at a club, to get a table with a great view at dinner... What potential 'Experience' improvements would you recommend in Vegas?	Link to thetwentydollartrick.com
Vegas or Macau. Which is better?	Better for what?
Have you read The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester?	I haven't.
So basically I should just buy from the half off kiosks?	Yes.
How do you feel about those who are addicted to gambling and those who have lost everything because of it?	Bad, obviously.
Late to this ama, are you still taking questions?	Sure!
Sure buddy.	Do you mean to say that you don't believe me?
I just got started in hospitality marketing, any advice?	Doing what, exactly? Just be willing to make not a lot of money for awhile and be willing to relocate frequently if you want to move up the ladder. I guess those are the first things that come to mind.
Have you had any good marketing ideas that you couldn't do due to marketing regulation.	Not necessarily due to regulation but a lot of times you're gun-shy to do a promotion because well, what happens if no one shows up?
Bastard.	Danka.

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Questions	Answers
Have you ever caught anyone cheating? Ever see someone cheating and not report it?	I have caught people cheating before yes. The most common are card counters and people stealing chips from other players. I highly recommend to not get completely trashed while gambling especially if you're a male and gambling by yourself as there are certain females who'd be more than happy to steal your chips while you're not paying attention.
	The only time I won't report cheating is when they're tipping. If they're a douchebag or stiff, I'll let my Pit Boss know immediately.
	Here's an interesting article on cheating in Vegas by the way.
How can you call card counting cheating?	Vegas has very liberal rules to their blackjack games compared to other cities that have casinos. Vegas offers double deck, stand on all 17s, moving down shuffle points, etc.
	I don't consider card counting cheating, but the casinos do. They are a private business. They can kick anyone off of the property for any reason unless it's illegal discrimination. The casinos don't want players to have an advantage over them.
	To be honest Vegas casinos don't care about card counting unless you're playing on a double deck. You want to play a six or eight deck shoe? It's all yours. But they want no advantage players on a double deck.
You won't report cheating if you are getting tipped, but you will report it if you don't?	I'm talking about card counting. Most card counters are douchebags because they already think they're smartemore arrogant than everyone else though so it's very rare that I'll keep my mouth shut.
We don't consider card counters cheating. We just refuse service to those who can count.	I think you're mixing up "card counting" with actually counting cards.
Who sets the specific rules of the game for say Blackjack, such as how many decks, what the little pre bet rules are, etc? Is there like a standard across Vegas? When would they ever be using a double deck?	It depends on the casino and what type of clientele they cater to.
	Certain higher end casinos will have better rules for the player while the lower end casinos will have terrible house rules.
I am not a professional card counter just good at math, what are the specific rules that you keep the deck even?	Link to en.wikipedia.org.
	The most basic system is the Hi-Lo card counting system.
	10, J, Q, K, & A = -1.
	2, 3, 4, 5, 6 = +1.
	7, 8, 9 = 0.
	With enough practice, you'll be able to figure out the count in real time.
My casino doesn't consider card counting cheating 1) because it's next to impossible to prove & 2) because with a 6 deck shoe it gives negligible advantage. i'm relatively sure that very few casinos if any consider card counting cheating.	Casinos (should) only care if you're card counting on double deck.
It seems like being able to call the odds is just part of the game and what it means to be skilled at it. I don't see how that can be called cheating.	Card counting is a dying art now anyways. With the technology casinos have their disposal, card counters can't get away with it anymore.
Can a card counter win while playing single deck?	You could, but it would be more luck than skill. Most casinos only allow 6 hands to be dealt on a single deck. Not a lot of hands to make a move imo.
I work in a casino in Melbourne Australia. . 6 deck automatic shuffler where the cards are fed back in whenever there is roughly a deck out. . and people have still tried. . its quite funny.	Seems legit.
	It's such a waste of time to try and count cards. I never gamble, but this is what I do...go with friends, get completely smashed, expect to lose the money, and have a good time.
What was the biggest tip you have ever gotten from someone?	The biggest tip I received was $250,000 from a customer. He won $10 million playing baccarat.
What is the usual tips you get from the players?	The usual tips? Most of the time I've dealt on a $100-$500 blackjack game. I'll usually make a couple hundred from each player give or take. I'll usually make 1-5 units of whatever they're playing with whether it'd be $5 chips, $25 chips, $100 chips or $500.
Do you get to keep all that?	I wish. We pool our tips every 24 hours and everyone gets a share of it. I ended up making $1000 that night. We never make money like that so don't think this is a normal occurrence for us.
	I did meet up with the customer at the strip club when I got off of work. One of the most amazing nights I've ever had.
Should have told him to keep it and tip you later that night at the club. Rookie mistake.	My regular customers do when I go to dinner or go out with them.
Are you allowed to keep all of that tip, or do they take a cut/something else?	We pool all of our tips every 24 hours so I did split it with everyone else.
How was your reaction at the table when recieving a $250,000 tip?	It threw me off. I thought he wanted change at first, but then again it was 10 $25,000 chips.
Let me get the details.	Customer paid for everything. Ended up spending about $50,000 that night mainly on alcohol. Never drank so much champagne in my life.
Could you theoretically tell the big winner to tip you when you're off the clock and keep the $250k for yourself?	I wouldn't because I would lose my job as it would be considered "hard hustling".
You had to share that with over 250 people?	The big casinos on the Strip have a lot of dealers in a 24 hour shift.
	At Cosmo, on the weekdays there are about 150 dealers in a 24 hour shift. On the weekends, it can be close to 250-300 dealers and Cosmo is a small casino compared to the rest.
Does this violate any policy the casino might have about interacting with customers?	Technically no. The only thing the casino reminds you is to not be seen gambling with the customer at other casinos and that you're still responsible for your own actions.
You must have been real popular that night.	Bitches love money especially strippers.
Yeah I notice whenever I tip a dealer he/she puts in a slot, so I was thinking how would they know how much each dealer got,	Regardless, it's still the right thing to do if they're providing you a service. Thanks for tipping :)
I'm curious. Since on a night where you received an exorbitant tip and only made $1,000, what is your average tip out per day/week/weekend? Also, what is the largest amount that you yourself have walked out with in a single night? Are you tipped out daily, or is it added to your paycheck? If it is done by paycheck; largest tip out at the end of a paycheck?	At the big casinos (Wynn/Encore, Cosmopolitan, Aria, Caesars) the dealers usually make $150-$200 a night during the weekdays. On the weekends, they'll make around $200-$300+.
	The medium casinos (Bellagio, Planet Hollywood, Paris, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand) will make around $120-$150 during the weekdays, $150-$200 on the weekends.
	I personally can't accept tips while at work. Outside of work, regular customers would throw me some extra cash on the side on top of whatever they gave me at the table while they were playing. The most someone gave me outside of work was $1000. It was a regular customer.
Of all the celebrity players you've dealt to, which one seemed the most genuine and cool person to interact with.	Coolest would easily be Matt Schaub. 99% of athletes are douchebags, but he's super nice and super cool. Awesome tipper too. Down to earth and extremely humble. Runners up goes to Chris Evans. Captain America can't handle his alcohol and is an arrogant prick too. "Do you know who the fuck I am?" was probably his most overheard line while I was dealing to him. 2nd runners up goes to Chef Tim Love. He's a stiff and a cry baby. Constantly boasts about all the $10,000 bottles of wine he drinks.
Who was the worst and why?	Ironically the worst would be Will Farrell. The guy is a huge asshole when he's gambling and the camera's off. Huge prick.
As a huge Redskins fan, I notice DeAngelo Hall has some attitude issues on the field. Was he any nicer when you dealt to him?	Really nice guy. From my experience, he plays by himself and doesn't have a huge entourage like most athletes do. Even when he loses, he doesn't have an attitude problem.
That's pretty disappointing. Will Farrell is one of my favorite actors and I always assumed he'd be a cool, down to earth guy off-camera. Oh well, it's not like I'll ever see him in real life anyway. But if I do, I'll know to punch him in the balls.	You know who is also a cool guy that surprised me? Rush Limbaugh.
	The guy is an awesome tipper and kind of cool to talk to even though he's an extreme right-winger.
If a celebrity ever said "Do you know who the fuck I am?", I would instantly say something along the lines "Why should I give a fuck who you are?"	I pretty much said that to Chris Evans every time he said that.
Maybe in public but go have dinner with his family in Springfield, MO-- Racial slurs everywhere!	Any stories you'd like to tell me?
What was your impression of D Rose?	Derrick Rose is a cool guy. Played a little bit of blackjack and roulette with Durant.
	Hope is ACL is good to go now :(
Doesn't Tebow know gambling is a sin???	I wasn't going to ask him that especially with the Broncos offensive line surrounding him.
How many times have you heard someone say 'Vegas baby!' or 'you're so money' when Vince Vaughn was at the tables?	Never.
	You know what I hear the most and is like nails on a chalkboard for casino employees?
	"WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!"
I am going to go to every single casino and scream winner winner chicken dinner. When I finally get punched in the face I'll know it's you. Then we can go party with some celebs at the strip club. Deal?	Seems legit.
Do you get the asians who yell monkey who want a 10 in blackjack? It seems like 90% of asians in the casino I frequent do this.	Gamblers scream out monkey regardless of their race. White, black, asian, spanish, etc.
Whats the most money you've seen lost by one person in a day?	Craps - $5 million.
	Blackjack - $5 million.
	Baccarat - $10 million.
	European Roulette - $2 million.
Just out of my own curiousity, was it an asian person that lost $10 million on baccarat?	You are correct. A Chinese businessman to be exact.
Holy shit that's crazy! How often do you see someone lose money in the millions?	I deal to million dollar players quite often. But getting their ass handed to them? Not that often. I want to say like every 3-4 weeks.
	Players win often and players do lose often, but it's rare to see them tap their line.
What's the usual reaction when someone loses money > million?	I've seen customers smash glasses, break things, punch the wall, punch the roulette readerboard, etc. They usually keep their cool most of the time, but once in a while...
	"OMG WTF ARE YOU KIDDING? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING DUDEITSPANDA! THIS IS SOME FUCKING BULLSHIT. I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS JUST HAPPENED TO ME. YOU ARE THE WORST DEALER EVER. YOU GIVE ME THE WORST FUCKING HANDS ON BLACKJACK. WHY DO I EVEN PLAY THIS STUPID FUCKING GAME!!!"
WHY DO I EVEN PLAY THIS STUPID FUCKING GAME!!!	Most players like to play Captain Obvious or Captain Hindsight.
Maybe the only important thought the person should be considering. Hah.	"DAMN IT I SHOULDN'T HAVE BET THAT MUCH. DAMN IT I SHOULD HAVE BET MORE!"
Heh, I've seen that happen at the $5 tables in Indian casinos in Michigan while waiting for a seat in the poker room.	I usually just giggle whenever a $5-$10 players loses $100-$200 bucks.
	"Is it really the end of the world losing $200?" is typically what I tell them.
How are high-limit dealers paid? Salaried? Benefits? Would you be willing to say how much (ballpark) high-stakes dealers make in a year? what about low-stakes? Are dealers allowed to gamble in the casino they work for? Thanks, this is a sweet AmA.	Dealers are paid the same regardless of what games they play and it's minimum wage. Yes you heard it...casinos only pay us minimum wage. We rely completely on tips.
	Casinos are normally run businesses so full time employees are offered insurance, 401k, vacation time, etc.
	Dealers are NOT allowed to gamble in the casino they work for. It's mainly to prevent collusion. Dealers are allowed to play slots in the casino they work for, but cannot play anything with a progressive jackpot (Megabucks, Wheel of Fortune, etc.). Dealers are allowed to play whatever they want in any other casino.
I think it's pretty awesome that dealers get a 401k and insurance. That plus the decent money you mentioned below make dealing sound like a pretty awesome job.	It isn't that bad of a job, but dealing to douchebags and degenerates wears on you after a while.
What are the best casinos and hotels in Las Vegas? As in the top 5 casino/hotels? What is your favorite and why?	Wynn Las Vegas/Encore
Oh and why are there hundreds of Mexican people handing out those cards for prostitutes on the street and allowed to just litter the whole strip with them?	The loiters have first amendment rights basically. They changed the law this year so now whenever cards they pass out fall to the ground, they're supposed to pick them up. I was never too happy with the escort ads on the Strip. 1. The girls don't actually provide the service most of the time. They're just there to rip off guys. 2. It puts a negative light on the city.
Thanks for the answer. I was in vegas for about 3 days staying at circus circus (don't laugh) and the first night we walked the whole strip (i had no idea it would take that long) and it really annoyed me to see the streets just littered with the prostitute cards.	We Vegas locals don't like it either trust me. We also don't like those stupid street performers that are on the Strip. The only one that's cool in my book is the guy that will let you kick him in the nuts for $20.
How much do you think the avg "street performer" say for example, the dudes wearing Mario and Luigi costumes r the Tranformer guys would make in a night?	No clue. Maybe get one of them to do an AMA?
This might be a longshot, but one time I was there, there was this older black guy in a motorized chair that had this little speakemic/beatbox thing and would freestyle about you and your group (for a tip) and he was phenominal. It was a hightlight of the trip. I've been back a couple of times and always look for him but never find him. Do you know if he's still around/popular?	Nope. Never seen the guy.
What's your flexibility on game pacing, in Blackjack for example?	There is plenty of flexibility on game pace. Casinos instruct dealers to deal at a moderate pace. Not too fast where you seem like a robot and not slow enough where players will fall asleep at the table.
Tl;dr: does the house allow you to deal fewer hands-per-hour in high-limit? If so, why are some dealers doucheclowns about it?	The best scenario for you if you want to play slightly high limit blackjack are blackjack pits that are outside of high limit. It's basically high limit without the title. They're usually $100 6-deck shoe games that stand on all 17s.
Baccarat, on the other hand... shit, I need a book to pass the time. Whoever installs video poker machines into Baccarat tables is going to make a killing.	Dealers are going to be douchebags no matter what. From my personal experience, if I deal fast...I'm trying to get rid of you.
Though my restaurant right now doesn't have it, we do have tip outs to runner ,bussers and bar. Do any casinos impliment this policy? Do you see yourself making a career out of this?	Casinos have tried to implied a tip out policy as a way to subsidize other wages with dealers tips, but it has failed. Wynn Las Vegas/Encore is in court with the dealers right now over it. Wynn won initially, but it got overturned and looks to stay that way. I don't see myself making a career out of it. Casinos are now run by corporations. The way they treat their employees is ridiculous. They show no dedication to us.
In your opinion - what's the best strategy for Craps?	Pass line with full odds. Come bets with full odds as well.
Pass line bets and taking odds on it after the come out? Boxcars, Snake Eyes, Big 6's, Horn High Yo's?	You can place bet, but the edge is still high for the house.
I'm curious too hear what a dealer thinks about this.	Stay away from the prop box at all times. The only time I'll mess around with the prop box is if I throw let's say $1 hardways and ask to parlay at least once if it hits.
Do you know of other dealers who have ever completely lost their cool at a high risk table when either a large amount of money has come into play, or some big time celebrity has come to their table?	Happens all the time. I've seen dealers sweat profusely like they just finished doing cardio on the treadmill, seen dealers completely freeze up or seen dealers crack under the pressure.
	I've seen a couple get in trouble because they tried to take a picture with them after they go on break. That's a huge no-no.
Are the high limit tables the most desirable tables to work? Are dealers sometimes reprimanded by removing them from a high limit table and placing them at a low limit table? (similar to getting a shitty section in a restaurant/bar)	Physically yes. You'll most likely be on a reserved game. The customer doesn't play the majority of the time while you're on shift. So instead of dealing for 8 hours straight, in high limit you might deal one or two hours. The rest of the time you're just hanging out and watching whatever they have on the TV.
Are you a gambler yourself? If so, has working as a dealer improved your game any?	Dealers do get reprimanded and sometimes even get kicked out of high limit for a extended period of time. It has never happened to me, but one day you'll see a dealer dealing to a BIG player. They make a huge mistake and the next day they're on casino war or the Big 6 wheel.
They make a huge mistake.	In the business we call it a jackpot. Jackpot is basically a small mistake that turns into a big mistake.
Like what?	Dealer make mistakes all the time. Wrong payout, messed on the procedure, etc.
What route would you recommend for anyone wanting to get into working as a dealer? Can you give us a brief outline of your rise to the high stakes table?	Go to a dealers school. Learn the basics of dealing, handling chips and game protection. I learned blackjack and craps. It takes about four-eight weeks depending on how fast of a learner you are and how often you show up to school to practice. It took me about five weeks.
	Once you're sufficient enough, you can apply to audition at a low end casino also known as a "break in house." Historically, casinos Downtown such as the El Cortez are well known break in houses for new dealers. Shitty local casinos are also considered break in houses as well. You don't make any money, but it doesn't matter. The whole point is to get experience dealing on a real live game.
	While you're dealing at the break in house, you can learn how to deal all the other games. That's how I learned baccarat and roulette. Once you get enough experience, you start trying to move to better casinos until eventually you get a good, full time job on the Strip.
How long did it take you to move up from a "break in house" to the limelight on the Strip? What's the average?	For most dealers it takes forever. They don't have the skill set or have the connections...aka "juice" as we call it in the business.
	It only took me about two-three years, but for most it can take from five-ten years.
I love playing blackjack at the El Cortez! $5, single deck, 3:2 games.	El Cortez is fun. I love hanging out at the bars next to it.
"You don't make any money"... can you give us a ballpark on what you made at the break-in and how much you make now, including tips?	Break-in dealers barely make $30,000 a year.
Wow, that's a long time to work your way up to a (relatively) low paying job. You said in an earlier reply that high end dealers only make $200-$300 on a weekend night, right? I made close to that in my first bartending gig when I was still in college.	You're probably right. But like I told you, the best dealer jobs pay around $85k a year. It's about $325 a day give or take.
What would you say set you apart from the other dealers? Are you more talented (by which I mean you're just naturally smartebetter) or is it a difference in work ethic or what? If it's a work ethic thing, do you think that had you applied yourself to something else with the same level of dedication you could have succeeded, or have you just been in the right place at the right time consistently?	Glad that you enjoyed the AMA.
Also, as someone who generally does not like AMAs in the last ~2 years, yours has been both informative and interesting. Cheers.	What sets me apart from most dealers is that I have the skill to deal the games properly while being quick on my feet with calculations and knowing what the players feelings are like at the time. Sometimes dealers can talk to the players while sometimes players just want you to shut up and deal. Just got to know when the situation is right for certain things.
Ever seen a grown man cry?	Yes. It's pathetic that a guy can guy from gambling, but yes I have.
Ever hear about someone killing themselves after walking away from your table?	Yes. I tell them they're full of shit which they are 99.9% of the time. They're desperate for attention after they lose.
How funny was Will Ferrel?	Not funny. I was expecting Elf or Stepbrothers, but got Casa de Mi Padre.
Could you tell us how the upper management of the casino works? I guess start with the dealers. I know you guys have pit bosses, but then who is above them? Who reports to who? Who is in contact with the surveillance room? I don't care about the hotel management.	Dealers report to Floor Supervisors. Floor supervisors report to Pit Boss. Pit Boss reports to Shift Manager. Shift Manager reports to Table Games Director.
Did you ever get beat up by joey porter at applebees?	For those that don't know, here's my interaction with Joey Porter.
	I haven't got jumped by Joey Porter...yet. He liked me and other dealers on his game that night. I think he still wants to beat the shit out of my shift boss and pit boss. My shift boss still hasn't eaten at a Applebee's or even a Chili's yet since then.
Yo, man. I been looking for you!	DO YOU EVEN LIFT BRO?
How was Joe Flacco?	He was cool. Not a big player. Kept asking me where he can find a $15 blackjack game haha.
NBA fan here. Did you have any memorable interactions with either James, Wade, or Durant? How was Derrick Rose?	No real memorable interactions. I just loved busting LeBron's balls before he got his first ring.
	I remember before Derrick Rose got serious media attention, I remember telling him two years ago "I like how you're an amazing basketball player, but no one recognizes you right now". Not the case now.
	Kevin Durant is a nice guy.
Have you seen or heard of any casinos that actually rig games?	Nope. Even though most casino managers are idiots in my opinion, they wouldn't be stupid enough to rig a game. Not only would they would lose their gaming license, the casino would get a huge fine and could possibly lose their license as well.
	One thing I tell players if they're gambling...gamble only if there's a gaming commission. You don't even know how many times I've heard stories of players getting screwed over by Indian casinos or cruise ships because there are no gaming commissions overseeing them.
UK here - what's the deal with Indian casinos? clearly they're less regulated - are native Americans known for running 'shady' joints?	I'm not saying that Indian casinos are completely shady...they just do shady things once in a while when the players aren't noticing it.
I always wondered how casino workers were able to handle working in a smoking environment all day. Is there a high rate of respiratory problems with casino workers? Tips for dealing with the smoke?	I don't smoke personally. It's brutal. I try to do more cardio than weightlifting to make up for it.
	My allergies have gotten worse since I started dealing. Whenever I'm on a game, I just try to move the ashtrays in a certain position so I don't get hit with all the smoke.
Obvious question--what kind of experience do casinos require before you're given the keys to a high stakes table?	It's mainly just being able to handle the high action. Dealers tend to freeze up a lot when they see big numbers in front of them. It's also being able to control your game regardless of who is playing on it and regardless of how much they're betting.
Do they make you do a whole back ground check and a lie detector test like they show in movies? i know.. stupid question. just curious.	We get background checked when we apply for our gaming card and when we apply for a new job. We also get hair drug tested and have a credit check done as well.
	Casinos only hire employees with good credit. It shows that the employees are responsible with their money and less susceptible to collusion.
I have a strong interest in playing and dealing cards. Have since I was a kid. How much does dealing become a grind as opposed to something you don't mind doing? I haven't hit that point yet dealing in home games.	It honestly becomes a grind the second you start working. It's exciting the first couple of years because you're seeing new bets or action you haven't dealt with yet on the game, but after a while it becomes the same.
Which of the soccer players that you dealt with won the most?	Probably Rooney. I think he won like $300k. Soccer players aren't big gamblers generally. They just like to hang out at the pool, go clubbing once in a while and do a little bit of gambling.
What was Wayne Rooney like in person? He always seems like a dick to me. Also, how much do you earn?	He's a nice guy. Takes pictures with fans and socializes with everyone.
	Dealers at the most popular casinos (Aria, Wynn/Encore, Cosmopolitan, Caesars) can make $80,000+ a year.
	Dealers that work at the medium properties (MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, Bellagio, Paris, Planet Hollywood) make around $60,000-$80,000 a year.
What is the most you have seen a person win?	$10 million on baccarat. The customer was playing $175,000 a hand on baccarat.
Baccarat didn't seem to big when I was in Vegas a few years ago, has it picked up?	Baccarat has picked up a lot in Vegas. All the big casinos have baccarat now.
I was a dealer in Australia, high stakes as well and the average for some customers was $2000+. Not bragging or anything, just wondering if Vegas is working on getting the Asian baccarat junkets a bit harder these says.	The problem with baccarat junkets is that the players just rotate between casino to casino. They take advantage of baccarat tournaments and whatever promos they have. The junkets technically don't bring in any new business and they get paid a huge chunk of whatever the player's theoretical is.

Last updated: 2013-01-27 19:42 UTC
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