Frank Rosenthal's betting system.

part history lesson, part practical lesson from a guy who ran Vegas casinos.
short, but very interesting.

his website gives even more info.
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Casinos do not win money. They earn it. With the exception of free odds playing craps, every bet made on a casino table game has a built in cost. Roulette layouts have one or two zeros giving the house an edge. Crap tables BAR-two sixes, Baccarat takes a 5% commission on winning bank bets. For many years the "edge" for Black Jack was considered to be over 5%. The "experts" including John Scarne would quote these figures. Up to the 1960s there was little reason to dispute these "21" figures. The casino hold was commonly 25% of the casino drop. Players would play to hunches when they had a decision to make. The games popularity was luke warm at best. A few players seemed to "know something". they won so consistently they had to wear a disguise in order to play.

http://www.frankleftyrosenthal.com/tips_and_tricks/tablegames.php

Wow, he's old school. And I like how he doesn't explicitly promise a winning system.

He's the basis for DeNiros character in Casino,no?

Yes.

Would anyone be interested if I invite him to comment once in a while?

This thread belonged in GenBJ not Voodoo. I went to high school with his late wife - the one played by Sharon Stone. zg

Sure, Lefty would make an interesting addition to our mix here.

Was she a babe in high school too?

I liked the story on his site about cleaning up the poker room at the Stardust. It also backs up what I read in Ian Anderson's first book, that poker room's in the 70's were terrifying, terrifying places.

Absolutely.Be very interested in how he'd solve the Cypher situation.

maybe the rubber hammer treatment?

are you kidding?

Having Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal on this site would be very very cool.

I'd rather have Sam "Aces" Rothstein. zg

How about Billy Sherbert?

I like the statement at the bottom of craps play...

http://www.frankleftyrosenthal.com/tips_and_tricks/tablegames.php

Who needs fingers to play cards anyways? Oh wait...

That would be one hell of an addition to hear from "The Man". Do you know if he is still responsible for setting the lines in some of the books out in Vegas?

I wanted much more.

Dick Odesky (spelling?) was an ex news reporter in Vegas and also a publicity man for the Stardust during some of the period when Frank ran the place. I met Dick around 1980 and when I noticed that he had a book out recently with the tittle "Fly on the Wall", I rushed out to get it, hoping it was full of stories about the Stardust in those days. Well it touched on it and that was about it. Perhaps there was a loyalty there, or perhaps too many players are still around and the stories will come out later.

ihate17

Question

Do you think you could actually get him to come to this site?

ya know, I was excited at first.
but he may still see us as the enemy.
I encourage everyone interested to write him from his website, and ask a specific question that could be answered in one of our forums. ( with a proper link, or a general description at least.)
I will write back, and ask his opinion about tipping the dealer, and other casino employees. who wouldnt want to have info about that?

avoid questions about advantage play, because we could be viewed as "human termites" trying to "turn the lights off" (could be viewed as a conflict of interest.) Do not ask about mafia related subjects especially Tony Spilotro. that may turn him right off.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Spilotro

questions about old Las Vegas, how he shaped the town, especially sports books, and what he is doing now would probably be great. questions about the movie "Casino" might get answered.

But guys, he may be too busy to mess with the likes of AP's.

I dont know for sure, but after reviewing his site, he seems to be connected to the Costa Rican online and possibly land based casinos. If any of you have noticed, the one site that is most prominent, "BETCRIS" is where they claim that those sports lines originate. if he has anything to do with that, then las vegas could be purchasing the info from him. scary thought. that would mean he is still connected and have no reason to want to talk with us. he may be bigger now than ever before.(Dead link: http://www.betcris.com/?affid=MY1078)

If you write, treat him with the upmost of respect. he deserves it