Dear
Mark,
I was asked to leave a casino because a pit boss believed
I was adding
more chips to my bet on a roulette table after the
dealer "supposedly"
called no more bets. I told him I didn't hear the
dealer say it, and
that I was just adding chips to my favorite number,
which I believe he
was upset at because it just happened to be a winner.
Does the casino
have the right to toss me out? Nick B.
Let's
just say you were lucky, Nick, that you weren't treated
to
powdered eggs for breakfast compliments of the county.
It's
obvious from your letter that the pit boss felt, right
or wrong (I
wasn't there) that you were capping your bets, meaning,
you were piling
extra chips on top of your initial bet after the ball
had dropped.
Casinos consider this a serious form of cheating,
and it's a good way
to get 86'ed from the casino and/or to spend some
time in the slammer.
The
primary function of a pit boss is to protect the
company's assets.
It's their job to be on the lookout for charlatans
who "past-post" an
unsuspecting croupier by adding chips to a winning
number, or removing
chips from a losing number after the ball has
already dropped into the
wheel. One time Yours Truly had such a hustler
on a game that was
graced with the hands of a magician. He could
get chips on or off a
table without me, a patsy break-in roulette dealer,
even noticing.
Luckily, an alert pit boss did, the 'eye in the
sky' confirmed, and the
casino ended up pressing charges to the fullest
extent of the law.
Regarding
the dealer calling "no more bets," every
casino, Nick, has
its own set of guidelines on when they want the
dealer to call it. Some
before the spin, others will allow an experienced
roulette dealer to
halt wagering at his or her discretion. Since
the casino holds a hefty
5.26% advantage over the player on all but one
bet on the layout,
obviously they want to wave in as many wagers
per spin as possible
within reason. To avoid a future fracas with casino
pit personnel, I
suggest you get your bets in early, well before
the dealer voices "no
more bets."
Good
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