AC2LV » Blog

Sands is Watching You

Denver Gambler — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:59:37 +0000

I think it’s safe to say that a lot of people that are Vegas obsessed, like yours truly, are very well aware of Caesars’ Pulse of Vegascorporate blog. For a corporate blog, it’s fairly entertaining and does a good job of reporting on all things Vegas, albeit with a Caesars lens. Lesser known is that Las Vegas Sands also has their own corporate blog (ED: I had no idea), Sands Confidential. It’s not as interesting and has a very corporate focus. But yesterday’s post was different.

Yesterday’s post tells the story of a duo who were cheating at casino war. If you chose not to click the link, the summary is that one guy would sit down and mark all the high cards. Then the second guy would sit down and raise his bet every time he knew he was getting a high card. It didn’t take very long for the casino to be on to the game. The blog didn’t go on to say what ended up happening to these two, but it couldn’t be good.

Specifically, the dealer recognized that the guy was always winning when he raised his bet from $10 to $200. If that’s what this guy was doing, then he’s an idiot. Of course they will spot that, and especially if you win every time you raise. Casinos reserve the right to refuse play for anyone, regardless of if they can prove you cheated. So doing something as blatant as this is a sure fire way to get permanently banned if not prosecuted.

So take this as a friendly reminder if you were planning to cheat at casinos like these two. While card counting isn’t illegal in blackjack (because it’s not cheating, it’s just beating the game with your brain), cheating is illegal. And believe me, these casinos will make sure you are prosecuted. Enjoy the games in Vegas, know the strategy, give yourself the best chance to win, but don’t be an idiot.

Week In Review

Marc — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 16:09:25 +0000

I don’t really remember much from last week besides going out to write every day and having a lot to share! I’m finally getting caught up from being sick. Yay. I’m looking forward I have a visit from my parents and G2E next week. G2E is the Global Gaming Expo, which is the casino trade show. There will be lots of slots and other things you see at a casino on display. I went last year and it was a blast. I love seeing things first. If you want to keep up with G2E action follow me on twitter and Vegas Chatter.

One addition you’ll notice is the addition of a button for the coffee fund. As you (should) know, I write often at coffee shops and AC2LV and ECG aren’t really money makers for me, so I set up the coffee fund to cover the $3 expense of my addiction. It’s all in good fun, and I appreciate those of you that have supported the cause. Just be happy I don’t have a video poker fund.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that it’s awesome that the Red Sox choked their playoff spot away while the Yankees made it with the best record. Let’s look back at a busy week.

Haunted Vegas Tour

Does The Cosmo Promote Gambling? Nah.

Marc — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 17:58:54 +0000

I was catching up with my news this weekend and came across a quick and funny blog from Stiffs and Georges about Cosmopolitan promo videos on youtube not having any gambling. There are no surprises, but rather than re-wording the blog I’ll just share it here.

I’m Shocked, Shocked!

… to discover that there is gambling in this establishment. Of 38 video clips onCosmopolitan of Las Vegas‘ You Tube channel, not one is devoted to the casino floor. Geez, you think this “hide the gaming” marketing approach might have something to do with the Cosmo’s distinctly anemic (as in a dismal 22% of the gross) casino revenues?

P.S.: I’d suggest dropping the twee terminology “quirky mashup” from future PR materials. It makes the Cosmo sound like it’s trapped in a Wes Anderson film festival.

This should come as no surprise to anyone as the Cosmo hasn’t been branding itself as a destination with gambling since before it opened, but this is still fun to think about a casino that does not marketing gambling. Enjoy one of their lovely videos below.

Week In Review

Marc — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 17:32:04 +0000

It took a while to ease into the week after spending the weekend in San Francisco. San Fran immediately became one of my favorite cities in the country. I can’t wait to go back! Back in Vegas, I was looking at jury duty for the first time but that was cancelled and if you follow me on twitter or tumblr, you saw some fun pics of my night out at Brand Steakhouse, which is located at Monte Carlo where I’m visiting way more than I expected. More coming on Brand next week. If you want another perspective check swanky dietitian, who has a much nicer camera than me.

If you’re following twitter, tumblr or freepicksandfun.com you’ll notice a bunch of college football previews. I’m ready! I hope you’re enjoying that as much as I am. At some point I’ll get ahead on the previews and get back to Get Vegas Apps. Thankfully, there was a bunch going down for AC2LV & Vegas Chatter so there’s a bunch of stuff from the past couple of weeks (since I was away last week).

Free Picks and Fun

Over 50 Free Picks, NFL and NCAA Previews

AC2LV

Vegas Chatter

Queens of the Stoneage

Week In Review

Marc — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 17:15:19 +0000

It’s a beautiful Sunday and a fun day in sports with the British Open in the morning, baseball all day and the Women’s World Cup final in the middle. There’s also celebrity golf on NBC somewhere later in the day. I love baseball and days like this keep sports in the summer fun and different. Being out west, I’ve found that this makes for a fun morning. Shortly, I’ll be prepping for the week ahead, but for now let’s look at the week behind.

AC2LV

Free Picks and Fun

Vegas Chatter

Don Mattingly Hitman

Week In Review

Marc — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 19:25:22 +0000

It was a big week as ECG transitioned to AC2LV. The site isn’t totally done, but I’m getting there. My development time has been looking at another new site, which I hope to announce shortly. I’m pretty stoked that the transition went smoothly and ready to move forward with things for all of the sites. Speaking of all of the sites, check the fun from the week.

AC2LV

Free Picks and Fun

Vegas Chatter

Leaving Las Vegas

Welcome To AC2LV

Marc — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 14:01:50 +0000

As you can see this week I finally got around to changing from EastCoastGambler.net to what I’d like to call ECG 2.0. ECG will now be known as AC2LV. That’s short for Atlantic City to Las Vegas. That’s where my travels have taken me, but also the content of ECG.

East Coast Gambler, wasn’t a personal blog about Marc as much as it was my take on casino/hotel marketing and business, vacations and consumerism in those cities beginning in the east with Atlantic City and heading as far west as Las Vegas. I’ve had it in my head that I would make this change a while ago, but I didn’t want to mess around with the name that is EastCoastGambler. In fact, I think I’m going to keep that as a twitter persona and the name of the blogs (tumblr, posterous, etc.). At least for the time being.

I hope to add a little efficiency to the site but, in general, the site will be the same with news and info from Atlantic City to Las Vegas.. I’m still going to be writing for Vegas Chatter and much of my eyes on Vegas stuff will continue to go there. As I have been for a while, I’ll continue to tweet and tumble those stories and share them in the weekly wrap of AC2LV. In addition to Get Vegas Apps and Free Picks & Fun I’m also going to begin writing for another site shortly. I’ll share that when that starts rolling. The great thing is that all of this will compliment each other.

Yes, I’m stoked to be moving things to AC2LV even though very little will change. Stay in touch with me on twitter @eastcoastgamblr, Tumblr, Posterous, etc. Of course you can also email me at eastcoastgambler (@) gmail (dot) com. Onward and upward!

Gone Fishin

Marc — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 04:25:33 +0000

ECG is taking off for the July 4th holiday a little early. No big plans, but I have to do a major site update that I’ve been putting off for a while. Outside of a weekly wrap later on Sunday ECG won’t be touched. However, I’ll have another piece up on Vegas Chatter and Picks will be updated on Free Picks and Fun daily. If I’m lucky, I may even get to another app for Get Vegas Apps tomorrow.

I’m hoping to be back next Tuesday with a lot of cool updates. Fingers crossed – wish me luck!

ECG Welcomes @DenverGambler To The Fam!

Marc — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 17:13:39 +0000

I’m excited to announce that East Coast Gambler has another contributor! Hi will be going by his twitter handle (coincidentally or not) DenverGambler. We enjoy a lot of the same things – Vegas and sports to name a couple. We just have different passions. Being from New York City, I have a general east coast bias with sports and have a bit of a New York attitude.

Meanwhile, being a Denver Gambler he enjoys clean air and the Tebow things in life (even if he is in Chicago right now). Denver Gambler will share his take on a lot of the Vegas things for ECG as well as his own blog Neon Dice. If you haven’t been there or want to get feel for his writing check it out. In fact, check his thoughts on the Sahara sale. He’s one of about 4 people I know that genuinely enjoyed that place while it was open. As I’ve mentioned I have little history with that place beyond it being a filthy dump. He feels a much deeper connection, which is awesome. He may be a better fit for Mayor of Sahara, but I’m not giving up my crown.

Expect to learn a little more about Denver Gambler from the man himself in the next few days.

Note: I just realized that I used Denver Gambler for a story about his visit to Sahara last year, but I broke the damn search key and can’t find it. I’ll tweet it if I find it.

PS: JMP will return soon with his football insights too!

Week In Review

Marc — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 16:00:18 +0000

So ECG has been updated a bit. I’ve removed a bunch of clutter and hopefully made it easier to find and share things. One of the things I’m most excited about is the share bar on each story. It should be easier to share info than ever! This week I’ll continue the updates by going through each page to make sure I’m not missing anything and that the links are correct. Every now and again things get by me.

This is really just the beginning of the transformation. Hopefully you like and enjoy the changes. If you have any comments, please leave them here or just tweet me. I should be able to keep content as normal this week on ECG since the aesthetic changes are mostly done.

Here’s what I was able to get to last week on both ECG and Vegas Chatter.

ECG Changes
Ever Get Short Sticked? Me Neither
Atlantic City Airshow Set
Aria Commercial
Least Favorite Casino and Hotel in Atlantic City
Least Favorite Casino In Atlantic City
Least Favorite Restaurants in Atlantic City
Holly’s World Good Bad TV
Least Favorite Hotel Rooms in Atlantic City
Vegas Chatter: We Love Free Concerts!
Vegas Chatter: A Super Record? You Can Bet On It
Vegas Chatter: Almost Time to Shuffle Up and Deal
Vegas Chater: What Are Your Odds For Winning Megabucks, Too?
Vegas Chatter: When Too Much is Just Too Much

Take a look at Book and Stage at Cosmopolitan. Pretty sweet hang.