Posted on 01/13/2019 5:27:13 PM PST by lowbridge
After a mix-up at MGM National Harbor, one jackpot winner had to leave without her cash.
Cynthia Obie won thousands on a slot machine at the Prince Georges County casino but when the casino took down her Social Security number incorrectly, she lost it all.
-snip
Following regulations, before handing her the cash, MGM staff took her ID and personal information.
But they misread her Social Security number by one digit.
The person whose number they plugged into the database apparently owed the state of Maryland a lot of child support, and Obies winnings were immediately confiscated.
Im like no all of my daughters are grown Ive never paid child support. Im like this cant be right, she said.
By the time they realized the Social Security number error, it was too late. MGM says its now out of their hands, citing Maryland law.
A spokesman told FOX 5 that its up to Obie to follow up with the Gaming Control Agency.
(Excerpt) Read more at fox5ny.com ...
I had a college roommate that was a professional card counter.
He “Worked” his way through college going to Vegas twice a semester. I asked him about it and he said card counting isn’t illegal and that as long as he didn’t abuse the knowledge the casinos didn’t care. He said there were 4 rules.
1. He didn’t take more than about 5K from any casino in one day.
2. He played a different casino every day.
3. He didn’t talk about what he he was doing to other players at the table.
4. He didn’t work with a team or group to skim more.
He’d go to Vegas or Atlantic City for a week and play stud or Black Jack at a different place every day for about 3 to 5 hours. After winning 2 to 5 thousand he cash in and leave.
He said probably 500,000 people in the US make a living that way. I don’t know where he got that number.
Good lord, calm down every everybody. Mistakenly taken; shes going to get it back. Shouldnt have happened but its going to get fixed. If you were a parent with a deadbeat other parent, youd probably have a different view of the child support laws automatic seizure of stuff like casino winnings. An honest mistake
Casinos rep made a mistake, costing her thousands of dollars. Sounds like a clear cut case for a personal injury shyster. How would the casino defend this before a jury?
The government should not be trusted with computers.
Before we jump to collusions we need to know if she’s a lowlife gutterwhore Democrat...or is she a decent person?
I head to Vegas at least 5x a year. There were occasions I saw high rollers win big (almost 50K at) and the casino (a really big one) try to delay paying out trying to review vids if he was cheating or he’s on the blacklist lol
She must've had the high ground.
I agree with you. Really poor PR and they will eat it anyway. Glad sometimes we agree.
“These aren’t the gambling winnings you are looking for” :waves hand:
Yeah...just a little too convenient eh? Now that they KNOW this was an error ANY reputable establishment would DO THE RIGHT THING!!
I dont know how anyone can have that kind of memory. Its amazing to me. I have a very poor memory for numbers.
I had a college roommate that was a professional card counter.
He Worked his way through college going to Vegas twice a semester. I asked him about it and he said card counting isnt illegal and that as long as he didnt abuse the knowledge the casinos didnt care. He said there were 4 rules.
Would you mind sharing idea of what years he was able to do this? I contemplated learning how to count cards but read the casinos added a few more decks to the shoe to thwart this.
They do it all the the time. A slot machine gives a big payout and the casino immediately “examines” it and ALWAYS find the machine “malfunctioned”. Sorry! Here’s a $25 dinner voucher.
A little insider info. It’s not just counting cards, it’s more about noticing a pattern. How many face cards vs how many non face cards are played and when. Takes time to notice, but each deck has a pattern. Watch a few games looking for this and you will see.
Let me guess -- she's from D.C., and it will turn out she's a furloughed federal employee.
“Good lord, calm down every everybody. Mistakenly taken; shes going to get it back. “
At issue here is that it was not her mistake, it was the casino’s. The Casino is saying TFB, get it back from the state.
No, the Casino should pay her and they get the money back from the state.
Reminds me of when I closed on a house the lawyer failed to keep property taxes from the seller, and then said it was up to me to get the money back from the seller.
He said it wasn’t that hard. Basic odds. for a pair = X two pair =X+N and so forth. You only had to know that the odds of another player having a higher hand than a Full-House 1 in 3. (But then the guy had degree in Statistics unlike History major me)
He didn’t win every hand playing poker, the trick was to limit losses on the hands you don’t win. In other words, he was, I think, saying card counters don’t bluff. He knew what the basic odds of beating three-of-a-kind were and would only push his bets accordingly. If he had a bad hand he try and call early or fold
Since in black Jack you can see all but one or the dealers cards the odds were pretty easy to figure. The casino rule was that if a dealer had a 15 or higher the dealer would hold. They would draw until they reached a 15.
The whole thing still seemed pretty hinky to me.
I asked him if he wasn’t cheating and the casino didn’t care he was doing it then what was he? He replied that he was the casino’s foil, the guy that the drunk idiot would point at and say, “If he can I can!”
Retirement Supplemental.
Yes!
A little insider info. Its not just counting cards, its more about noticing a pattern. How many face cards vs how many non face cards are played and when. Takes time to notice, but each deck has a pattern. Watch a few games looking for this and you will see.
” Would you mind sharing idea of what years he was able to do this? I contemplated learning how to count cards but read the casinos added a few more decks to the shoe to thwart this.”
This was in the late 1970’s early 1980’s.
He also said adding decks didn’t matter as much as you’d think because the ratio of cards remained the same. I am not a math guy.
Also he didn’t just play Black Jack He’d play poker which is, I think, always with one deck of cards
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