Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
Okay, I am here in lovely Las Vegas and I've already won. The Mirage upgraded my room for no apparent reason, so now I'm on the 24th floor with a jacuzzi in my room. Go me. The plane ride sucked, as plane rides usually do. It's midnight local time, 2 am my time, and I'm starving so I'm gonna go hit BLT burger and maybe play a little poker.
I see my guest bloggers have already hit the ground running and I can't thank them enough. Great posts already. And by the way, those of you who were interested in a meetup while I'm in Vegas, please email me again. Thanks.
Comments
Don't forget to visit the pinball hall of fame. http://www.pinballmuseum.org/
Posted by: Phil | January 12, 2009 2:40 AM
Have fun.
But be careful. LV has the methods of separating the visitors from their money down pat. It is what they do. It is all they do.
Way back when a ex-college roommate went to LV. He had a MBA and a minor in accounting. He figured he had seen it all, knew about money and finance, and that getting out of there with his hide still on wouldn't be a problem.
He came back clearly rattled and finally admitted he had been played and despite his skepticism and lack of trust he ended up losing better than twice what he had planned. One of his defenses against overspending was that he only brought so much cash and only had so much in banking accounts. He had assumed that if it wasn't in a bank or on him he wouldn't be able to bet with it.
Not so. He explained that if you have any assets at all, anywhere in the world, the folks in LV have some way of converting it into chips in a few minutes. They are very good at making another bet easy and making quitting before your dead broke very hard. It is what they do. They are very good at it.
Posted by: Art | January 12, 2009 3:20 AM
If you're playing poker, go to the Venetian. It's the best hands down.
Posted by: Michael X | January 12, 2009 4:11 AM
Art, I'm sure that, at the very least, casinos can lend you money. What I mean is that they can just give you more chips at any given time, keep track of what they have given you, and claim that you owe them that much (plus your losses). Really, the only ability they need to have is to be able to check that you have some way of paying them, in order to minimize their risk while doing so.
On another note: Ed said that he is playing poker, and never mentioned playing roulette, or rolling dice. If this is the case, then Ed's ability to make money depends on his skill relative to the other players. Short of hiring a better player (who would want that job?), or charging a fee for playing (likely), there is little the casino can do to take money from him there.
Posted by: Valhar2000 | January 12, 2009 6:45 AM
Don't do anything I wouldn't (which luckily isn't much).
Posted by: Bachalon | January 12, 2009 6:52 AM
Close the laptop and Step AWAY from the PC Mr. Brayton.
Posted by: DarkSyde | January 12, 2009 8:25 AM
Bachalon:
I believe the correct quote is:
"Don't do anything I wouldn't do. And if you do, don't name it after me!!"
Have fun, Ed!
Cheers.
Posted by: FastLane | January 12, 2009 8:45 AM
Actually, it is possible to beat the house at blackjack if one is using a good card counting scheme. That's why most casinos frown on card counters and escort them to the door when they are found out, suggesting that a visit from Vito and Carmine is in the offing if they return.
Posted by: SLC | January 12, 2009 9:01 AM
I beleive the law in Nevada allows casinos to expel people at will, SLC. Thus, if a particular casino does not like hiring Vito and Carmine, they can call the police and prosecute banned card counters for tresspassing.
Posted by: Valhar2000 | January 12, 2009 9:22 AM
Rmember Ed, THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS. Wishing you a Royal Flush (Ace high)! :) -DJ
Posted by: DingoJack | January 12, 2009 9:53 AM
Re Valhar2000
I don't want to play lawyer here but wouldn't that state law violate the federal equal accommodations act? After all, most of the casinos are in hotels which are places of public accommodations.
Posted by: SLC | January 12, 2009 9:54 AM
Re Valhar2000
Now that I think about it, I seem to recall that, several years ago, there were a number of lawsuits filed claiming that hotel casinos had no right to exclude card counters, based on the fact that they were places of public accommodation.
Posted by: SLC | January 12, 2009 10:08 AM
Art, +5 Cool/Geek points for the Terminator reference.
SLC, you may be thinking of Uston v. Resorts International, where the court found that casino's could not legally exclude players for being skilled.
These days, with the number of decks the casinos use, the frequency with which they’re shuffled, table limits, and other safeguards, counting isn’t all that effective anymore.
Posted by: Abby Normal | January 12, 2009 10:59 AM
Ed, may you have the serenity to accept the cards you’re dealt, the courage to call their bluff, and the ability to suck out when you’re wrong.
Posted by: Abby Normal | January 12, 2009 11:14 AM
Re Abby Normal
These days, with the number of decks the casinos use, the frequency with which they’re shuffled, table limits, and other safeguards, counting isn’t all that effective anymore.
I don't want to play gambling expert here as all my information comes from a fellow I knew a million years ago who was a skilled card counter who had a number of schemes he could use. However, the effectiveness of the house counter measures depends on the house rules. For instance, if ties are played over, the advantage to the house is so small that even observing a few cards can sift the advantage to someone using a good card counting scheme. On the other hand, if tie goes to the house, the card counter would have to see a lot more cards in order to shift the odds in his/her favor. Thus, say, a card deck made up of 5 decks of 52 cards and a shuffle after every 2nd hand would, under the tie goes to the house rule obviate any card counting scheme.
Posted by: SLC | January 12, 2009 8:30 PM