Penny Investment Pays Off
9 February 2007
By Mark Pilarski
Dear Mark: I heard on the radio about a man who
had just won 18 million dollars playing penny
slots. Which machine pays that kind of money?
Does he get all that money paid up front? Cindy
G
In for $44, and out with $18,799,414 was an
anonymous gentleman's reward for playing Penny
Megabucks. The penny Megabucks progressive
jackpot builds from a base amount of $10 million
and is paid in annual installments. And how
popular are they? Try getting on one.
Dear Mark: I was just curious to what happens to
the cards after the "pit boss" takes the cards
away from the table? I know you already answered
this question on your website but my questions
has a little twist to it. Let's say six of my
friends are playing black jack at a casino and
every time they are dealt a 10 or higher they
mark the card with "juice" that's on their
finger. Eventually when the cards are
re-shuffled and re-dealt the second time around
everyone is aware of which cards are 10 or
higher because of the imprint left on the deck.
Do the casinos check for marked cards after they
are taken from the table? Flyboy
What's that saying; "Give a man a marked deck;
he can use it for a day. Teach a man to make his
own marked cards, and he can use them for a
lifetime." Here is mine: "County jail will
happily swallow the ignoramus found juicing a
deck of cards in a casino."
I'm very leery, Flyboy, on how far down this
road I want to travel in regard to juicing a
deck, especially in providing a "How-to" guide.
For the curious though, here's an explanation of
what our future felon is talking about.
To the untrained eye, a juiced deck looks
normal, but for the knowing eye, it's as though
the cards are being dealt face up, and legible
from as far as 15 feet away. No special
gimmicked sunglasses or contact lenses are
needed, as would be required for luminous marked
cards, no black-light or satellite spy-rays, but
some practice is needed to read the marks.
The juice marking system has been in use by both
magicians and card cheats for many years. Do an
EBay search of "juice" and "cards" and here's
what you will find: Professional Marked JUICED
BEE Cards - Brand New. Buy it Now: $24.95.
I've even seen one offer that states that
juicing a deck is totally legal in casinos. That
individual has wrongly interpreted what the
courts have said. For example, the Nevada
Supreme Court, as well as courts in other
gambling states, has ruled that "advantage
gambling," (techniques like shuffle tracking),
is legal. You can use normal intelligence much
as would a poker player use thoughtful
observation in watching other players. BUT
manipulating cards, in any shape or form, is NOT
a protected form of innocent fun.
Suspicious play, Flyboy, (and that does include
winning), can warrant a deck being pulled off
the game and inspected. I was trained to look
for bends, crimps, bumps, scratches, inks,
pigments, the latest in shade technologies,
etc., and I suspect most pit bosses worth their
salt have been as well.
Once thoroughly inspected, the used decks have
holes punched through the middle, corners cut
off, or large black spots applied, so they can
be sold to tourists in a casino gift shop. By
thus castrating the used deck, the casino
prevents its return to the tables as a newly
bought, casino-provided crowbar for prying open
the casino's safe.
Hey, Flyboy, I've heard from a reliable source
that the clink in the county where you plan on
playing serves up a mean omelet, made with real
eggs, on alternate Sundays. Tempted?
Gambling Wisdom of the Week:
"They say poker is a zero-sum game. It must be,
because every time I play my sum ends up zero."
-Max Shapiro
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