About Casinos by E. Clifton Davis

[Guest]

The vast majority of players think casinos are their friend - that they are upstanding corporations - that the friendly and hospitable front they portray to the public is genuine. I've even seen posts on other forums that casinos would never risk their license by cheating. Naive players even ask dealers what to do - should I hit or stand? Bet Bank or Player? Not realizing that the dealers are taught to give them the answer most favorable to the casino.

The false front portrayed by casinos fools even the most intelligent people. Virtuoid at ImSpirit for instance - always sticking up for casinos, explaining away exorbitant and impossible casino profits.

They are right about one thing - casinos are corporations. I know corporations. I was raised by them. I went from the very bottom - the drafting board at G.E., to the very top - 30 Rock - 30 Rockerfeller Plaza, Ave of Flags, NYC.

When you work for the corporations you are not your own man. You are their man. To get ahead in them you must think like them, dress like them, live like them, eat like them, drink like them, and share their politics and probably die of an early heart attack like them. Three of my bosses died of heart attacks leaving me their jobs - which I gladly took BTW.

But then they sent me to Europe to build factories. There, I learned a whole new outlook on life. Corporations are NOT the center of your life. Your family is. The corporation is just a job - a way to get money to enjoy with your family. Nothing more. I quit the corporations and went on my own.

Casinos are corporations. They are NOT your friend. They are out to beat you any and every way they can - to show no mercy. Casino employees are trained to put on that public front - that overly friendly front.

Every player should be required to spend some time in the dealer coffee break room or at dealer bars like I did. There, you will quickly learn the truth. They freaking hate you. You are the enemy - the sucker. They brag about how they beat you - the tricks they used right under your nose. They have their own hierarchy. At the top are the dealers who win the most, the dealers who know how to slip the 5 when you hit 16, who can hit the 0 00 one out of 7. These guys not only know every trick in the book - they wrote the book. I know, I was there - complete with my dealer shirt on. I learned the truth of it.

Blackjack was rigged from the beginning. The rules clump the cards. Clumping beats Basic Strategy. That is why the dealer is taught to always give you the BS play. Casinos sell Basic Strategy cards and books for a reason.

Preshuffled cards in Baccarat are never actually shuffled at all. They are placed in set orders favorable to the casino. Regular cards are prepped to favor OTB4L because most players lose to OTB4L. The proof of it all is that casino profits far outweigh the odds of the game, whether BJ or Bac or Roulette.

How can they get away with this? Because they've got the fox guarding the hen house. Casino control commissions are NOT on your side. They are on the side that pays them - ultimately, the casinos.

That is what you are really up against.

So how can we possibly beat them?

We need to know how the game is rigged and how to use their own rigging against them. I spent thousands of hours in casinos and dealer bars learning exactly that.

Ultimately, that is what I teach!

E. Clifton Davis

[Guest]

Ellis,

If you were the President of 3 large corporations, and went on to build factories, you should have made so much money that you could retire.

Why did you quit the corporations to switch to such a risky career as casino gambling? Were you forced to quit, or is casino gambling just a hobby?

Cheers,

Marlon Schmitt

Ha, I wasn't the President of any Corporation or even a Vice President. I was Plant Manager for 11 years at two different Corporations. Before that I ran Manufacturing Engineering. But I also had a degreee in Architecture. So I ended up at 30 Rock due to the rare combination of Manufacturing Engineering with an Architectural degree. I worked for the VP Architecture at Singer - the 6th floor of 30 Rock. The President of that international corporation, 41st largest in the world, was right down the hall. My job was to determine the best locations for European factories, negotiate with Governments, buy the land, design the factory, select the construction company and supervise construction. I once dined alone with the King of Belgium in his private dining room. I was almost never home in Skaneateles, NY and I hated NYC but I loved Europe. The time came when I was being forced to transfer my family, with a wife and two school age kids to Europe from Skaneateles, the most beautiful town in the U.S. They didn't want to go so I quit. But I had already been offered a Math Professorship at S.U.N.Y, which I took. But I was shortly (5 years) making more money playing BJ in A.C. than teaching and my first book NBJ was incredibly successful with $8 million + sales. So at the urging of my family, I went full time. For me, BJ was never risky. I never had a losing day in the 3 years I played AC full time, including Baccarat. But during the 5 years I was teaching, I was actually playing far more hours than I was teaching. Teachers are only allowed to teach 15 hours a week - state law and then of course we get the whole summer off. Ha, those guys have no idea of what a real work week is like, let alone commuting to Europe.

[Guest]

Guys, Dennis Foley, a very long time Las Vegas friend of mine, has agreed to be a speaker at our upcoming Las Vegas seminar. Here is his response to me:

"Ellis:

The topics I could talk about to the group would be anecdotal and based on my experiences living with a roulette dealer and a box man, and playing as much as 12 hrs/day while living in LV. If you want me to talk to the group I would suggest it be at the end of the seminar so I don't contradict anything you would be teaching the students...df"

Guys, this is big! The biggest reason for my own successes in gambling was fully knowing the other side of the table, who they are, what they do, what they think of us, how they rig the game but best of all - how they play!

We had a Roulette dealer couple from the Gulf Coast on here several years ago. We became fast friends and they gave me a place to stay on my many trips to the Gulf Coast. They confided everything, exactly how the other side of the table thinks and functions. Sure I try to teach this stuff to you. But I can tell that you take me with a grain of salt because what I tell you about the other side of the table sounds so preposterous to most people. But to beat them you have to know them. Before I started playing for real I read every BJ book on the market and believe me, that is a big library. But those books did me more harm than good. I learned the game by playing alongside dealers who are the most avid players in A.C. The way they played wasn't in any book. But you can't help but learn the game inside and out when you are dealing the game 8 hours a day 6 days a week. They learn from our mistakes. They know for sure the best way to play every hand. They know all the tricks like getting the pansies on the dealer by insuring and doubling an 11 against an Ace. Either the dealer has the ten and you get your double money back or he's very likely got a shitty hand and you doubled on 11. You win one way or the other nearly every time. They taught me hundreds of tricks like that, that aren't in any book. They showed me a whole new world of how to play that game. They made me the best player in AC. Them AND the professional AC street players. That is what NBJ is all about.

Dennis is an encyclopedia of who's who in gambling. He lived with the other side of the table. He knows how they operate. This is a chance of a lifetime to get a good glimpse of the other side of the table. Those guys know what they are doing.

I think Dennis has it backwards. I think HE should speak first so that I don't contradict anything HE says. I'm just as eager to hear him as you are. That will make for a very rare experience, possible only here at BTC.

[Guest]

Ellis,

That article you posted to start this thread was quite interesting.

I printed it out with my MFC (Multi-Function Centre).

I believe you like playing Baccarat, Blackjack and Roulette.

I enjoy playing Baccarat and Roulette because the rules are so simple, but not Blackjack.

With Blackjack, there are a lot of rules to consider, namely whether to stand, hit, double down, and whether it is a hard or soft total.

It's too hard for me to memorize, however I do have a small reference card that gives the optimal play depending on my hand and the dealer's hand. I would have to look at the reference card for every play, though.

I checked out a few of the other forums, and yours was the only forum that had a separate section for Baccarat and Roulette. I also think you have better content.

Cheers!

Right packrat, You have a Basic Strategy card. They are given out by casinos and card counting forums. They are the best way to play your cards WHEN the cards are random. But the game itself clumps the cards destroying Basic Strategy. That is why casinos want you to always play Basic Strategy which ignores what is running - the most important information in the game. It is a good game to stay away from until you know exactly what you are doing. Ignore the card counting movies like 21. They are strictly Hollywood BS.

[Guest]

Hmmm, "Marion"! That's as bad as going to grade school with a name like Ellis! Ha, "My name is Sue, how do you do." - Johnny Cash. That song has special meaning for us!

[Guest]

For instance:

You would think Caesars Las Vegas would never cheat being such a prestigious casino and all, right?

Wrong!

I personally caught our dealer performing "The Bahama Hole Card Trick" at our table in a very large Caesars BJ pit.

He readily admitted to it and blamed the pit boss.

The pit boss then bragged that he had taught his whole pit that neat trick and said it was perfectly legal. I said it was blatant cheating and increased the odds against us from 15% to 29% making it impossible to win. THe Pit Boss called the Casino Mgr out. The Casino Mgr quickly agreed with me, chewed out the Pit Boss and made him give us back our buy in money. Never said a word about the many other tables.

The rules state that the last card dealt is the dealer hole card. The Bahama hole card trick is when the dealer looks at both his cards, usually sneaks a peek, and turns up his highest card, displaying twice as many ten ups that you must hit against. Like I said - blatant cheating. You can't possibly win in such a game - yet several Island and boat casinos do it all the time. But Caesars? Shame, shame, shame on them! It is just one of hundreds of tricks dealers pull right under your nose W/O you ever even raising an eyebrow. If you've played much at all, YOU have been cheated. You just didn't know it. I've caught them red handed hundreds of times - but what about the times I didn't catch them???

[TrainerGriff]

Ellis,

My name is Marlon, not Marion. I usually got asked if I was related to Marlon Brando. Sometimes people would call me Merlin the magician.

Ellis is a nice name - I wouldn't try to hide it. I've never heard of that Johnny Cash song until now.

Cheers,

Marlon S.

Try my name, Shannon, on for size. I grew up in Dallas with 2 or 3 other guys in my area named Shannon, then my parents moved to Mississippi. Different story. Good thing I lift weights and have a deep voice hahaha. But I have grown to like my name as several male pro athletes share the same first name. BTW Ellis, Marion Barber is an NFL running back! I bet they NEVER called him Sue haha.

Blessings,

Shannon.

[Guest]

Whoops, sorry Marlon. My eyes are getting old among other things. No, I never tried to hide "Ellis" but I did have to learn to fight at an early age, just like Sue. "A Boy Named Sue" is one of Cash's major contributions to society. Very popular here in Arkansas. I think he was born here along with Earnest Hemingway and Robert Mitchum among others.