Smut peddlers on the strip

Solo player

Well-Known Member
#1
Just wondering. Since anyone who walks the strip must have ran into the smut flippers or snappers, on what seems to be every corner of the strip(But mostly on Harrah's side) How are they paid for this "service"? Since they are so prevalent I assumed someone knows the scoop on this.:eek:
 

aslan

Well-Known Member
#2
Solo player said:
Just wondering. Since anyone who walks the strip must have ran into the smut flippers or snappers, on what seems to be every corner of the strip(But mostly on Harrah's side) How are they paid for this "service"? Since they are so prevalent I assumed someone knows the scoop on this.:eek:
That's one of the things I hate about the strip. Don't have a clue how they get paid.

But did you ever see those guys all over Vegas who carry and wave signs, and sometimes wear costumes, on street corners advertising local businesses? They make $10 an hour. So if you go bust at the tables, there's one way to pick up a few hundred pretty quick.
 

BJgenius007

Well-Known Member
#3
aslan said:
That's one of the things I hate about the strip. Don't have a clue how they get paid.

But did you ever see those guys all over Vegas who carry and wave signs, and sometimes wear costumes, on street corners advertising local businesses? They make $10 an hour. So if you go bust at the tables, there's one way to pick up a few hundred pretty quick.
They only hire Mexicans.
 

Thunder

Well-Known Member
#5
True story...
Last time I went to vegas, my friends saw these smut peddlers and decided they'd have some fun with them at my expense. When the smut peddlers approached them, they started waving their fingers at me and nodding, saying in spanish, "mucho dinero." Well next thing I know, I have a ton of peddlers surrounding me trying to give me all of their flyers. Quite embarrassing to say the least especially when some women walked by and started laughing.
 

ChefJJ

Well-Known Member
#6
Porn Slappers $$$

Solo player said:
Just wondering. Since anyone who walks the strip must have ran into the smut flippers or snappers, on what seems to be every corner of the strip(But mostly on Harrah's side) How are they paid for this "service"? Since they are so prevalent I assumed someone knows the scoop on this.:eek:
This is what I've heard on a couple occasions via Vegas-related podcasts: The porn slappers' cards have some sort of code on them associated with the person handing them out. Paid by number of "referrals" is what I understand.

So, unfortunately, those guys (and gals) don't get paid when you collect them and take them back to give as Christmas gifts for the family :(
 

kewljason

Well-Known Member
#7
ChefJJ said:
This is what I've heard on a couple occasions via Vegas-related podcasts: The porn slappers' cards have some sort of code on them associated with the person handing them out. Paid by number of "referrals" is what I understand.

So, unfortunately, those guys (and gals) don't get paid when you collect them and take them back to give as Christmas gifts for the family :(
I wonder who makes more. The porn snapper people. The people selling water for $1 on the overpasses. The homeless guys with signs that read "Why lie, I need a beer". Or the folks that dress in custome and charge $1 to have a picture taken with them. My personal favorite is the statue people that paint themselves silver. :laugh:
 

ChefJJ

Well-Known Member
#8
kewljason said:
I wonder who makes more. The porn snapper people. The people selling water for $1 on the overpasses. The homeless guys with signs that read "Why lie, I need a beer". Or the folks that dress in custome and charge $1 to have a picture taken with them. My personal favorite is the statue people that paint themselves silver. :laugh:
:laugh: Let's open a poll and see what the crowd says :laugh:

My money is on the water people. Think about it...it's a desert, a lot of people are walking around, and finding a drinking fountain is like looking for a needle in a haystack (although I found one in the Venetian last time out). A buck ain't bad when you're hoofing it around thirsty as hell.
 

prankster

Well-Known Member
#9
I've noticed that the folks who snap out those flyers always look very very poor. The fact that they are there year after year (not the same folks)must mean that someone (probably not them) is profiting from the enterprise. Do they still have the large van-bus type vehicle that goes up and down the strip with printing on the side saying something like "YOUNG BEAUTIFUL COLLEGE GIRLS WANT TO MEET YOU-CALL 000-6969)?
And prostitution is illegal in Las Vegas-what a freakin' joke!!!:joker::laugh::confused:
 
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#10
Water sellers are providing a legit service and product...

...I frequently purchase their ice cold H20 and am glad they are there when its 110 degrees in the shade. I also appreciate the entertainers, take a photo with Elvis and statue people. It adds to the Vegas experience.

The card snappers selling "escorts" are really selling prostitution. They are working on public property, so there is little that can be done, considering first amendment rights, I suppose. If Clark County were to deed the sidewalks over to the casinos fronting them, my guess is the "snappers" would disappear. It is surely one of the things that diminish the vacation experience for visitors, especially couples and families with children.

Also, are these people licensed in any way? It's just my not-so-politically correct guess, but I would suspect the majority are illegals. Somehow, there has always been something wrong with the entire picture when it comes to these people.

Cobbson
 

aslan

Well-Known Member
#11
kewljason said:
I wonder who makes more. The porn snapper people. The people selling water for $1 on the overpasses. The homeless guys with signs that read "Why lie, I need a beer". Or the folks that dress in custome and charge $1 to have a picture taken with them. My personal favorite is the statue people that paint themselves silver. :laugh:
From a bit done by John Stossel on Fox, I think its the homeless guys with the signs. He found that they made about $50 an hour, if I recall accurately.

Hey, that's better EV than I'm currently getting, you don't have to dress up (in fact, dressing down is preferable), and you decide your own working hours. Look for me a Harmon and Paradise near the Hard Rock around Memorial day. I'll be reclining in a beach chair under an umbrella with a cooler full of beer. My sign will read,
"Please enable me to continue being lazy, lacking initiative and jobless. Thank you. God bless!"
 

ChefJJ

Well-Known Member
#12
No shame + the ability to take advantage of weak marks...interesting, Aslan. :grin:

Funny thing about John Stossel and his bum assessment...don't I remember him doing that same "investigative report" a couple decades ago on 20/20? Funny obsession the guy must have :joker:
 

kewljason

Well-Known Member
#13
I don't think you will do to well at harmon and paradise, Aslan. Hard Rock draws very little foot traffic. The few folks walking around are locals heading to the nearby stores.

And if we are going to do some not-so-politically-correct guessing, Mr Cobb, most of those water selling business folks look like they could be just as illegal. :laugh:
 
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prankster

Well-Known Member
#14
Just remembering a Cheech & Chong bit they did on record-anybody remember records? You hear a voice-"got any spare change friend"? "get a job 'ya bum"! Repeat a couple times.
Then:

"Any spare change for The Lord"? The sound of change clanking in a metal cup is clearly heard!:joker::laugh::devil:
 
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aslan

Well-Known Member
#15
kewljason said:
I don't think you will do to well at harmon and paradise, Aslan. Hard Rock draws very little foot traffic. The few folks walking around are locals heading to the nearby stores.

And if we are going to do some not-so-politically-correct guessing, Mr Cobb, most of those water selling business folks look like they could be just as illegal. :laugh:
I thought I might be able to catch some of the locals returning from the blackjack wars with pockets filled with filthy lucre. But you may be right.

Heeding your advice, I have decided to relocate to the sidewalk in front of the Bellagio fountains. I will also have a couple femmes fatales beside me on beach chairs. Because of the added personnel, I will need more than the typical $50 an hour, but I feel the new location with its voluminous foot traffic, and automobile traffic, as well, will prove more than adequate. Since I will have more overhead, in terms of added employees and a personnel department, I am wondering if I will have to file a Schedule C, or will I be able to continue treating this as a hobby, not a business?

Looking forward to seeing all my BJINFO friends in front of the Bellagio. Stop and chat a while. But remember, time is money, and speaking of money, please throw some loose change in the sand pail in front of my chair. Thanks, and God bless. :cool:
 

prankster

Well-Known Member
#16
aslan said:
I thought I might be able to catch some of the locals returning from the blackjack wars with pockets filled with filthy lucre. But you may be right.

Heeding your advice, I have decided to relocate to the sidewalk in front of the Bellagio fountains. I will also have a couple femmes fatales beside me on beach chairs. Because of the added personnel, I will need more than the typical $50 an hour, but I feel the new location with its voluminous foot traffic, and automobile traffic, as well, will prove more than adequate. Since I will have more overhead, in terms of added employees and a personnel department, I am wondering if I will have to file a Schedule C, or will I be able to continue treating this as a hobby, not a business?

Looking forward to seeing all my BJINFO friends in front of the Bellagio. Stop and chat a while. But remember, time is money, and speaking of money, please throw some loose change in the sand pail in front of my chair. Thanks, and God bless. :cool:
Aslan-
Use the Cheech & Chong idea-put out a big sign reading something like "Give A Love Offering For Brother Aslans' Pediatric Leper Colony"! Hey-you collect like crazy and NO TAXES!
 
#17
When I was in Vegas I saw an attractive female collecting donations like a homeless person. Didn't look like the typical homeless woman.

If those water salesmen make $50 an hour, I might just find it worth it to go to Vegas and sell water bottles all day. I make about half that in EV playing blackjack. There are so many people doing ingenious things to make money. There was someone claiming to be a professional photographer charging $5 to take pictures of people at the Las Vegas sign. I saw someone selling a worthless roulette system booklet on the street. And there are taxi drivers who hustled me to go to a strip club, saying that the fare would be free. Me, I'll just stick to card counting, and it's nice to know that my Vegas vacations pay for themselves.

I wonder why we don't see porn slappers in other cities, if they're supposedly allowed to do that by the first amendment. I'm sure they would make a killing in New York City too. Those people hand out their smut to everyone, including women and children (who would be the least likely to use that "service")

The "Hot Babes" trucks still drive up and down the strip all day, promising a girl to your hotel room within 20 minutes if you just press 69 on your phone repeatedly. I'm sure those trucks are also used to deliver the girls. Only in Vegas can you get a girl faster than you can get a pizza.
 

kewljason

Well-Known Member
#18
I don't think anyone finds these 'snapper' people pleasant, but I guess they have a legal right to be there and it seems to be a part of the vegas culture now. It wouldn't be so bad to encounter one or two of these people at each corner, but when you have column of 20 to 30 of them it is obnoxious. Especially when they convene at an already narrow walking location like the area between harrah's and flamingo where the walkway is narrow and turns a couple times. These people form a human gauntlet which brings pedestrian traffic to a halt. :(
 
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Albee

Well-Known Member
#20
I would rather not see the porn slappers out in such numbers, however......all the people doing that, selling water, taking pictures etc are trying to make a few bucks. Or even a living. I love that they are doing that instead of hawking drugs or stealing from people....or involved in gang crap. I snag a water from them every chance I get, shake hands with them and wish them the best of luck. Most remember you when you see them again.
 
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