Card counting team article

[JoeV]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/30/fa...95600&emc=eta1

Pretty cool article in the NY Times this weekend about some regular guys making some money.

[Brutus]

Mr. S and his friends agreed to let a reporter observe two of their outings on the condition that they be identified only by an initial.

i dont think they should have stated their ages, where they play, or their cover habits. that could come back to bite them.

[rookie789]

Maybe their ages, where they play and cover habits are purposely incorrect in the article which is great cover.

[Kasi]

Originally Posted by rookie789

Maybe their ages, where they play and cover habits are purposely incorrect in the article which is great cover.

I'd guess they're toast unless maybe quoting the President of Foxwoods was a red herring.

I got a kick out of his concern for the patrons "Our position is that card counters disrupt the fun and excitement of other people playing the game,” said John A. O’Brien, the president of Foxwoods. Apparently losing money doesn't bother him lol.

Interesting the reporter first met them at Aponte's school and pinpointed the time? They paid $5K or more?

Anyway, that same reporter has quoted O'Brien in other articles. Apparently they have a relationship. They're probably looking for the reporter on facial-recognition video as we speak lol. You know, so the other patrons' fun isn't disrupted.

You think the players were paid for the article or was it just an ego-thing do u think? What did they think the upside could possibly be to end up in the NY Times?

Maybe it just started out as an article on Blackjack Institute since that's where the reporter met them and then he stumbled across a bunch of possibly not-so-swift guys??

Anybody actually think they are not toast?

[mdlbj]

Need I say more? Nice piece. That was a great read.

[mjbballar23]

unless these guys mentioned in the article were paid thousands to do an article about them, id say they must be out of there god damn mind. Especially since they are still playing and to even mention the casino you play at it is crazy. If these guys were lying about which casino they play at them they should be alright but i dont get the feeling that they were making it up about playing at Foxwoods since they were smart enough to covered up their identities. And with some of the scandals about lying in newspapers and other media, i highly doubt this story bends the truth much. If everything from the article is true, this team is as good as gone. All Foxwoods has to do is look for a guy jumping into shoes and betting 200-600 per hand, or the pit boss that made that lady move over might remember who these guys were.

The President of Foxwoods did have a hilarious comment about his stance on counters. "It disrupts the fun for everyone else." Hahahaha trying not to sound greedy. Im surprised he didnt mention something about counters screwing up the flow of the cards haha.

[Bojack1]

I have met these guys, as far as I know, I think the dog and pony show they gave the press might have worked well for their true cover. They seem a bit smarter then first glance might tell.

[Automatic Monkey]

Originally Posted by Kasi

Anybody actually think they are not toast?

I think they're idiots. Legitimate players would neither play like that nor spew to the New York Times about their activities. If anybody who played with me discussed it openly like that, it would be the last time they ever played with me.

Last time somebody shot off their mouths to the Hartford Courant about counting and Mohegan had a purge of suspected AP's, we lost comps, and pen cut back to 2.5 decks, all so somebody could feel like a big shot in front of a reporter. A casino exec sees the article, screws the game over so he can tell his boss "Look what we did, we got rid of these counters." He gets a pat on the back from a fake Indian and we get one less good game to play.

[mjbballar23]

it will be interesting to see if any changes are made at Foxwoods as a result of this article...

[Brutus]

who benefits from this kind of publicity?

the community of advantage players? no

the egos of those interviewed? yes

the blackjack institute? yes

My opinion is that any publicity, (unless it claims that no advantage is available given the lousy playing conditions, or similar) only hurts the rest who want to play. and fellas, its only gonna get worse once that movie comes out.
so, applaud all ya want. will you still approve once the standard of pen is reduced to 50%?

its like Ken Uston all over again. too much attention and glamorizing of the game.