The drinks and hors d'oeuvres were free. The view, from the deck outside
the Ghost Bar on the 55th floor of the Palms in Las Vegas, was
spectacular. And Frank Scoblete was amazed.
"Can you believe this?" said Scoblete, the prolific gambling author
whose books include
Break the One-Armed Bandits,
Best Blackjack, and
Forever Craps. "Where else would you find gambling writers being
treated as if they were actually important?"
Scoblete and I often have met up in Las Vegas, and at the fall gaming
industry conventions--World Gaming Congress in the past, the Global
Gaming Expo for the last two years--I've made it a point to get together
with
Blackjack: Take the Money and Run author Henry Tamburin,
The Frugal Gambler author Jean Scott,
Las Vegas Advisor publisher Anthony Curtis and others.
But this was different. Scott had convinced Palms owner George Maloof to
close the Ghost Bar to the public for an hour and instead throw a party
for gambling writers. That attraction ranked right up there with the
single- and double-deck blackjack and full-pay video poker on Maloof's
casino floor below.
It gave me a chance not only to catch up with some old friends, but to
meet many others I knew only by their work, some of which I've reviewed
here. Let's catch up on what's going on with some names familiar to
regular readers of this column.
Jean Scott: Her follow-up to The Frugal Gambler, a perennial best seller
among gambling books, is still in the works, but she does have a new
project out. At the gathering, she was handing out copies of
"Frugal Video Poker" computer software, which at first glance
looks even more advanced than the
"Bob Dancer Presents WinPoker" software I've recommended the
last few years. I'll review it in a few weeks, after I've had a more
detailed look.
Henry Tamburin: A PhD chemist now in semi-retirement, Tamburin spends
about half his time in Las Vegas. He's slowly been making the transition
from focusing all his casino time on blackjack to devoting about 30
percent to video poker. Why? Because Las Vegas casinos have been
toughening rules and playing conditions at blackjack, and Scott has
shown him that some combinations of pay tables, slot club cash back and
promotions at video poker have more profit potential.
Frank Scoblete: We had a long discussion on the nasty turn games have
taken on the Las Vegas Strip, with not only blackjack card counters but
some craps shooters being barred from games. When Maloof turned up at
the party, Scoblete asked him what would happen if an advantage player
was found playing in his casino. Maloof's response: "Nothing."
Anthony Curtis: Global Gaming Expo week is hectic for everyone involved,
but it was truly a madhouse for Curtis because it fell during deadline
week for his monthly Las Vegas Advisor. He took time out to stop by the
party, and he backed up Maloof. The Palms, he said, has a reputation for
letting tough players play. A big-money card counter who was really
hurting the place might be stopped, but overall the Palms doesn't sweat
the good players.
Barney Vinson: Semi-retired as a dealer, pit supervisor and gaming
instructor at Caesars Palace, Vinson keeps turning out witty books full
of casino stories. The latest,
Ask Barney, is published by Chicago-based Bonus Books. I asked him
how he wound up with Bonus after writing books for two other publishers.
"It's because of that man right there," he said, pointing to Scoblete. I
understood perfectly. I also wound up writing for Bonus because of
Scoblete's recommendation, as have John Brokopp, John May, Fred Renzey
and other gambling authors.
Victor Royer:
Midwest Gaming and Travel magazine's slots columnist and I had
communicated via e-mail, and I'd just finished reading an advance copy
of his upcoming book on craps to double-check numbers for him, but we'd
never met. He'd never met the magazine's other columnists, either, but
at one time we had four at the same table--I write and
question-and-answer column, along with Royer on slots, Scoblete on craps
and Tamburin on blackjack. You'll hear more from Royer soon--he has a
series of books on casino games on the way.
Michael Shackleford: I'd never met Shackleford, but I have recommended
his Web site,
wizardofodds.com, in this column. Shackleford has caused quite a
fuss in Las Vegas because of a slot machine survey that was published in
the May Las Vegas Advisor. He got hold of the PAR sheets that contain
specifications for nickel video slots, and was able to rank theoretical
returns at 67 Las Vegas casinos. The Palms came out on top with a 93.4
percent theoretical payback on nickel games, while the Venetian trailed
the pack at 86.7 percent. Casinos that fared poorly have been furious.
That kind of information isn't released in Nevada, even though actual
payback percentages are published by gaming boards in other states. I
had to offer Shackleford a big congratulations for this service to the
betting public.
