I’d been long awaiting a chance to try card counting at a particular casino in the midwest.
$2000 limits on a 6d game had been advertised. When I arrived they only had the typical $500 6d game, and suggested they rarely raise limits, and only for known players. Also–they closed at 2 AM. The first lesson was that the reports weren’t entirely accurate.
I got a comped room for the night. In the morning, I had been playing two hours when I was backed off.
“We’re going to need you to come to a back room and sign some papers,” said beefy security guard #1. “…and take a picture,” added beefy security guard #2.
“Back room? Can’t we just take care of business over by that planter and not in a back room?”
“Hmm… okay,” said #1. “Cash out those chips first.”
I cashed out. As I walked away from the cage, one of the sides of beef splits off to go get all the paperwork and the camera. Still walking, I turned to #2 and said, “Yeah, I don’t want to be here right now. I’m going to leave.”
“You Can’t!”
I just kept on a walking, out the door fast into my car and off, even as walkie talkies crackled behind me with cries of, “Subject is fleeing!”
The casinos can play all the spy games they want, but knowing your rights can offer you an easy exit in most circumstances. In this case I was not obligated to do anything, so I made my intentions very clear and without any signs of aggression. They don’t need paperwork or a photo to make a trespass order, and they can’t deny cashing you out unless they suspect you of committing a crime. When in doubt, and push comes to shove, you have the gaming commission and the local police available to protect your rights, but most of the time casinos know when their bluff has been called.
—Loudon Ofton
