Introduction

Hey guys. I'm a hardcore paladin main who's hit legend multiple times with off meta pally lists, which I've posted some past guides for. Unfortunately, I've hit a bit of a problem recently - Paladin kind of sucks right now. More so than usual! Pure Paladin is the only viable deck the class has right now, but its lack of card draw makes the losses feel really bad.
Around a month ago, after a break from the game, I was looking for some cheapish midrange alternatives when Secret Stealth Rogue caught my eye. An archetype that was briefly explored at the start of the expansion but quickly lost popularity, I somehow became absolutely convinced that I had found the secret dark horse of the expansion. There was one problem though - the number of rogue wins I had at the time was in the single digits.
It took a long time to get used to playing rogue, as well as refining the pretty terrible decklist I had started off with, and I spent the entirety of the previous season getting to grips with the deck. After settling on a definitive version at the start of the current season, and over the course of over a hundred games, I have finally reached Legend. The purpose of this post will both be a guide and a hopefully compelling case for you to give this deck a try.
Legend proof 1
Legend proof 2
Deck overall stats (from Bronze 10 to Legend, W-L of 76-49, 61% winrate)
Deck matchup stats (final version starting from around Diamond 10, W-L of 49-29, 63% winrate)
 

Decklist

Secret Stealth Rogue
2x (0) Backstab
1x (0) Shadowstep
2x (1) Blackjack Stunner
2x (1) Pharaoh Cat
2x (1) Spymistress
1x (1) Worgen Infiltrator
2x (2) Ambush
1x (2) Ashtongue Slayer
2x (2) Dirty Tricks
2x (2) Eviscerate
1x (2) Shadowjeweler Hanar
2x (2) Skyvateer
1x (3) Edwin VanCleef
2x (3) EVIL Miscreant
2x (3) Greyheart Sage
2x (3) Hooked Scimitar
2x (4) Burrowing Scorpid
1x (7) Cursed Vagrant
Deck code: AAECAaIHBrIC7QLiB7q4A7u4A/vEAwy0AYgHj5cD/6UD9acDm7YDubgDzLkDzrkDz7kD0LkD2b4DAA==
 

Deck Discussion

The Stealth Package
Spymistress: A staple of the stealth package, Spymistress is a very generously statted card, able to contest the earlygame against other aggressive decks such as Demon Hunter, and also able to dish out big amounts of damage against enemy heroes for just 1 mana. Knowing when and when not to attack with a stealthed minion is one of the most important things to learn when playing this deck. Keeping the minion stealthed can have many advantages, such as denying enemy plays (Satyr Overseer for example), and keeping an activator for your stealth combo cards.
Worgen Infiltrator: Strictly worse than Spymistress, and originally wasn't run in the deck. So why did I decide to include it? First of all, I found that I wasn't activating Greyheart Sage (the best card in the deck) often enough. Secondly, I wasn't getting my 1-drops in my starting hand as much as I'd liked. Still though, I didn't like the idea of running what I thought was a sub-optimal minion. But then, u/FunkiMonkiTwitch came with his Stealth Rogue list, and this card's HSReplay stats on it were surprisingly decent. This is what pushed me to add one copy to the list.
Ashtongue Slayer: I originally ran two copies, since on paper this card seems pretty busted, right? Maybe for a pure aggro list, but I soon came to find that not only was I unable to actually use their battlecries very often, but its effect also seemed kind of underwhelming, effectively being "deal 3 damage to face or have your stealthed minion make a very awkward trade, and make the Greyheart Sage in your hand useless". However, the card does work well with Skyvateer, with the attack boost and immunity allowing for some nice trades. In the end, one copy seemed like the best option.
Skyvateer: Another staple, it doesn't have the most aggressive statline but this deck seriously needs card draw, and having a card that does both that and has stealth is too good of a deal to pass up on.
Greyheart Sage: The best card in the deck, a 3 mana 3/3 that draws 2 cards is just absurd. As mentioned earlier, in many situations you'll probably want to refrain attacking with a stealthed Skyvateer so you can get this card's effect off.
Burrowing Scorpid: While this is technically part of the stealth package, it's also just all-around a great card. Its battlecry of dealing the magic 2 damage helps immensely against DH, and its attack stat of 5 damage trades well into many things, most notably Shield of Galakrond and Glaivebound Adept.
Cursed Vagrant: Again, technically part of the stealth package, but its real use lies in its potent finishing power. The amount of pressure this card exerts is insane, clearing it doesn't help as it just summons an unstoppable deal 7 damage next turn. Used to run two copies, but as good as the card is, it's just too expensive. Due to the amount of draw in the deck, the likelihood of getting this in the midgame is pretty high anyway.
 
The Secret Package
Blackjack Stunner: A completely nutty card even after the nerf, the tempo swing it provides is insane. Due to the amount of draw in the deck, you will usually have a secret at your disposal.
Shadowjeweler Hanar: Still absurdly strong, a useful source of refill and can win games on its own if your opponent can't clear it.
Ambush: You should generally treat this card as a 2-drop. A 2 mana 2/3 poisonous is pretty strong, and very necessary too since your only other 2-drop is Skyvateer.
Dirty Tricks: An important card source of card draw, but at times you should aim to only play this if absolutely necessary, since keeping a secret in your hand to activate Blackjack Stunner and Shadowjeweler Hanar can be very important.
 
Notable Misc
Shadowstep: Synergizes with various cards in the deck. However, when running two copies it became a dead card more often than I liked.
Pharaoh Cat: One of the best 1-drops in the game, it provides a reasonable body and gives you a whole card for just 1 mana. Reborn minions are generally decent, and the card generation is seriously welcomed in this deck.
EVIL Miscreant: Interestingly, FunkiMonki's list does not run this card. I can understand why, since it's not the most aggressive resource, but EVIL Miscreant has many uses. Lackeys are just insanely powerful for starters, but they also make for great combo activators, making your Edwin significantly stronger. Both useful against aggro and a great value generator, and all in one package.
Hooked Scimitar: Kind of forgot this card existed, I decided to give it a try after seeing FunkiMonki's list and it worked surprisingly well. A very potent source of burst.
 
Notable Exclusions
Blazing Battlemage: Seems like a pretty good inclusion. However, due to the lack of space in the deck, and the decent number of existing 1-drops in the deck already, I ended up leaving it out. Although this card has the extra attack, it is just a horrible topdeck and is only useful if it ends up in your starting hand, which doesn't happen enough unfortunately.
Bamboozle: I used to run two copies of this, but not only was its effect often underwhelming, but it was just too reactive in nature. In most cases you should be ahead of your opponent on board, which goes against the point of this card. I was worried that without it, I wouldn't be able to draw secrets reliably enough to activate the Stunner and Hanar, but that ended up not being the case.
Akama: This card just isn't good enough. I haven't actually played with the card since I really did not want to craft it due to dust shortages, but I guessed that it wouldn't be much good in the first place since a 3 mana 3/4 with stealth just isn't strong enough, and drawing the prime would be such a rare occurrence due to the aggressive nature of this deck. And turns out, in the current Stealth Rogue list on HSReplay, it's one of the worst cards in the deck.
Flik Skyshiv: A solid card, but too slow in this deck, and too reactive. Plus, with two Blackjack Stunners, it's a bit unnecessary too. Could maybe be tech against Glowfly Swarm?
 
General gameplan
Each matchup is played quite differently, so it's hard to generalize this deck's gameplan. One thing is for sure though: this is not pure aggro like Aggro Stealth Rogue, and you should refrain from dumping everything from your hand. In a way, this is a classic Tempo Rogue deck. More detailed gameplans are included in the section below.
 

Matchups

 
Good Matchups
Demon Hunter: 27-6
This deck completely shreds Demon Hunter. I went 27-6 against them, a winrate of 82%. Your early stealth minions do great with controlling the board, and very often your opponent will think they're facing a Galakrond Rogue that hasn't drawn any of their invokes, which means that they'll face tank A LOT. You can easily take advantage of this, maintain board control and burst them down before they do anything too crazy. The only time you'll lose if they have the absolute nuts opening (something like Battlefiend into Umberwing into Satyr) and you don't have a Backstab or any 1-drops.
Sample Win: Here, I start off with a pretty mediocre opening hand. An EVIL Miscreant helps me to stabilize, and I eventually gain board dominance. The DH has then proceeds to face tank like crazy, dropping his health from 23 to 12, which allows me to pull off a surprise lethal.
Sample Loss: DH has the nuts opening, but I somehow manage to stabilize, again with the help of EVIL Miscreant. I'm in a good position, threatening lethal with a taunted up Cursed Vagrant, but he freezes it to prevent lethal and kills me next turn due to having Kayn to ignore the taunt.
 
Hunter: 8-1
A very good matchup, you completely dominate the earlygame and midgame and can usually kill your opponent before they can do crazy stuff with their higher costed stuff. Play should come very naturally - you have more cards to play early on, and you just play them to win the board.
Sample Win: Despite a solid opener from my opponent, an EVIL Miscreant allows me to build up a huge board, which gets very sticky later thanks to Hanar shenanigans.
Sample Loss: I have a horrible start here, unable to do anything for 6 turns, and my opponent puts me out of my misery with a turn 7 Brann. The downside of Shadowstep is displayed pretty well in this replay.
 
Paladin: 0-2
Okay, I know what this looks like. But a Pure Paladin that draws the nuts opening is hard to stop. I don't know how this managed to happen twice, but it did. In theory, this should be a great matchup, mostly due to your Blackjack Stunners which completely destroy them. I've played plenty of Pure Paladin, and Galakrond Secret Rogue was always my least favorite matchup.
If you don't trust me, here's the replay. Not much I could have done there.
 
Shaman: 2-1
I ran into three Highlander Shamans. This is a really easy matchup, treat it as a typical control deck, which means applying constant aggression but not overextending. Because of all your draw, you can steadily build up burst in your hand and finish your opponent off before they do anything crazy. Except that in Shaman's case, they don't really have any crazy plays to begin with. The one game I lost was due to some really bad draws.
 
Priest: 9-4
People love to whine about Priest, and rightly so - Priests are annoying as hell. But annoying doesn't mean good, and playing this deck has helped me realize that. You need to keep in mind that Priest has horrible draw, so probability wise they should not have many clears at their disposal. Sure, there will be some games where they draw all the answers and you can't really do anything the whole game, but most of the time they'll just sputter, cough and die. The key takeaway is: test for their clears, and don't be afraid to go all in.
Your Blackjack Stunners are one of your most important cards in this matchup, always keep a secret in hand so you can play them when you need to.
Sample Win: In this game, I carefully maintain a steady stream of aggression. My opponent has the occasional clear but I can always reload, while simultaneously building up burst in my hand, eventually leading towards the final attack.
Sample Loss: I'm in a pretty comfortable position throughout the game. The first thing to go wrong is my Cursed Vagrant not sticking around due to a discovered Shadow Word: Ruin. Then I get completely destroyed with an Amet + Soul Mirror combo, with both cards being randomly generated. Nasty stuff.
 
Meh Matchups
Druid: 9-7
Not much to say about this matchup. If your opponent draws their ramp stuff, they win. If they don't, you win. Play as aggressively as possible and hope for the best.
This does not make for very interesting replays, unfortunately.
Sample Win: Here, I decide to shadowstep the Ashtongue Slayer for maximum damage output. I build up a board which manages to clear the enemy's Glowfly Swarm. The stealthed Burrowing Scorpid really comes alive here, which becomes a very annoying threat for my opponent. His Emerald Explorer activates the Ambush, which leads to lethal.
Sample Loss: Opponent has double overgrowth, completely steamrolls me. Typical druid highroll stuff.
 
Mage: 3-6
In theory, a good matchup. Your opponent doesn't have too many good ways of dealing with all your threats. You have plenty of burst to counter Mage's lack of heal, and if you make sure to restrain from throwing everything in and maintain an even stream of aggression, everything should be fine, right?
Yeah, no. When you play against Mage, you enter a casino. And casinos tend to be pretty rigged. Your best hope is to cross your fingers and hope RNG doesn't screw you over. Unfortunately, this doesn't happen very often.
Sample Loss 1: Probably the biggest robbery of my whole climb. This was not pleasant to go through. The Khartut from Power of Creation was bad enough, but whiffing the burst from my deck even after shadowstepping the Greyheart Sage was enough to force me into a small break from the game.
Sample Loss 2: Scratch that, THIS was the biggest robbery. The early box that summoned Khartut Defenders, the Reno, the Conjurers Calling into two taunts, the other Reno, and the Hoggers. I had so much burst in my hand and still somehow lost.
 
Rogue: 9-9
Galakrond Rogue performs significantly worse without the Coin than with it.. As a result, whoever goes second in this matchup will have the advantage. You should aim to play this matchup fairly aggressively, since Gala Rogue doesn't have too many good early plays. Especially if they don't have the Coin, which can make things very awkward for them.
Sample Win: In this game, I just play my cards naturally, gaining a gradual advantage and finishing the opponent off quickly before he could do any of his power plays.
Sample Loss: Here, I had gotten off to a strong start, building up an advantage before it came to a screeching halt due to my Cursed Vagrant getting sapped. This wasn't the end of the world, but the Wand into Galakrond was.
 
Bad Matchups
Warlock: 2-3
Quest Warlock feels like a very strong deck to me. It has the tools to fend off aggro and once the quest is completed, which usually happens just before turn 10, it's pretty much game over. Play this one aggressively, since you're aiming to close off the game before quest completion. However, their access to AOEs and heal make things difficult.
Sample Win: Here, I barely squeeze out a win after having my board cleared multiple times.
Sample Loss: In this game, my opponent is completely unfazed by everything I throw at him. From big stealthed minions to a 14/14 Edwin to a hail mary Deathwing, nothing works.
 
Warrior: 7-10
This is going to be your worst matchup. Your stealthed minions can get cleared easily by Risky Skippers and Bladestorms, and if they have an Armorsmith at the ready no amount of burst will get through them. Once again, the only time you'll win is if your opponent does not have the answers, so treat it as if they don't and who knows - sometimes you'll get lucky. Your main win condition in this matchup is to build a big Edwin. Usually they don't have a way to clear it, and you just need to be careful of Bladestorm.
Sample Win: My opponent doesn't draw any of their weapons and gets destroyed by a huge Edwin.
Sample Loss: After barely getting through a wall of taunted up Warmaul Challengers, my board gets wiped by a Risky Skipper and I get finished off shortly afterwards with an inner raged Grommash.
 

Mulligan

Always keep: Pharaoh Cat, Spymistress, Skyvateer, Greyheart Sage
Sometimes keep:

• Worgen Infiltrator against aggro. If not against aggro, keep if no other 1-drops.
  
• Backstab against aggro.
  
• Ambush if going second and have a 1-drop and no Skyvateer.
  
• Dirty Tricks if going first and have a 1-drop (will most likely get activated early by Coin).
  
• Hanar if you have a 1-drop and secret against a class that can't clear well (e.g. Mage).
  
• EVIL Miscreant if going second.
  

 

Conclusion

Thanks for reading. Despite the occasional bad luck, I've had a blast playing this deck to legend this season. Keep in mind that I've barely been playing Rogue for more than a month and still managed to do pretty well with this deck. In the right hands, this deck has some serious potential to do some damage in the meta. Feel free to leave any questions and criticisms in the comments below, and I hope you'll give this deck a shot.

40. Go Down Gamblin’ - Blood Sweat and Tears

Released in 1971, Go Down Gamblin’ by Blood Sweat and Tears is a song describing a gambler who is “born a natural loser.” He never wins, no matter what game he plays, but, he doesn’t feel like a loser. As the song goes – “Cause I've been called a natural lover by that lady over there, Honey, I'm just a natural gambler but I try to do my share.”

39. Gambler - Madonna

Gambler is a song written and played by Madonna, made for the film Vision Quest. Although the song reached the top 10 in the charts of the UK, Australia, Belgium, Ireland, Netherlands, and Norway, Madonna performed it only once on her 1985 The Virgin Tour. It’s a catchy song, we suggest you play it as you spin the reels of some of your favourite retro online slots.

38. The House of the Rising Sun - The Animals

Our list wouldn’t be complete without the 1964 hit song - The House of the Rising Sun by The Animals. Everybody knows the famous lines ”My mother, she was a tailor, sewed these new blue jeans, my father was a gamblin' man way down in New Orleans.” This single had a major success and made it to the top 10 songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the USA. Likewise, the hit was featured in the video game Guitar Hero Live.

37. The Winner Takes It All - ABBA

Whether we admit it or not, we all love at least some songs played by the very well-known Swedish pop group, ABBA. According to some sources, Bjorn Ulvaeus wrote the 1980 hit song The Winner Takes It All which was inspired by his divorce to his fellow band member, Agnetha Fältskog. The winner takes it all is a sort of a comparison to a divorce (especially the part ”I've played all my cards and that's what you've done too, nothing more to say, no more ace to play”), where one of them is the winner and the other one is left with nothing. And things are just the same when it comes to gambling, so we’ve decided to put the song on our list.

36. Shape of my Heart - Sting

We’re all aware of the fact that our gambling behaviour can be influenced by certain types of music and that's because online gambling and music go hand in hand. So, we suggest you start playing your preferred games with one of everyone’s favourite songs by Sting called The Shape of my Heart. It was released in 1993 and used for the end credits of the film Léon. In one of his interviews, Sting explained that the lyrics of the song tell the story of a card player who places bets not in order to win but to figure out something that’s been bothering him - “some kind of scientific, almost religious law.”

35. All I Wanna Do Is Play Cards - Corb Lund

“Well, I guess I really oughta be makin up songs but all I wanna do is play cards. I know it's dumb and sick and wrong but all I wanna do is play cards. Got the studio booked in Tennessee, and my record producer's callin me, the tape will roll in just three weeks and all I wanna do is play cards.” Does it sound familiar? It’s a 2005 hit by Corb Lund called All I Wanna Do Is Play Cards, once you hear it you’ll be playing it on repeat.

34. Gambling Man - The Overtones

When you’re falling in love, it’s perfectly normal to feel like you want to gamble everything just to attract that person’s attention to notice you and love you back. Well, Gambling Man is a lively 2010 song that tells a story of a guy fascinated with his love, so he places all his bets on her, as the song goes - “I played my hand, I rolled the dice, now I'm paying for my sins, I got some bad addiction.” This time, he feels that this love affair is different from any other – “Baby, it's you, yeah, yeah, that's right.” The song was released in 2010 and has been popular ever since.

33. Poker Face - Lady Gaga

Although the Poker Face song is more about the game of romance rather than the game of poker, the catchy refrain that starts with “Can't read my, no he can't read my poker face” kinda reminds us of winning at the tables, so we couldn’t skip it this time. Released in 2008, the song achieved worldwide success, topping the charts in the USA, the UK, Australia, Canada and several European countries.

32. Little Queen of Spades - Robert Johnson

Moving on to the Little Queen of Spades, a song title by the American blues musician Robert Johnson who recorded the song in 1937 and first released it in 1938. The first version of this gambling-themed song has a playing time of 2:11, whereas the second one lasts 4s longer (2:15), and is considered an alternate take and first appeared on Johnson's album The Complete Recordings, in 1990.

31. Train of Consequences - Megadeth

Another great song Train of Consequences is the title created by Megadeth, released as the first single from their sixth studio album Youthanasia in 1994. The song was later included on their compilation albums and its music video was the 26th most played video on MTV. There’s this part of the song “No horse ever ran as fast as the money that you bet, I'm blowing on my cards and I play them to my chest” – which is about a person’s gambling problem, who realises something’s wrong with this lifestyle, but it still hunts him down. Could be just the thrill, but he just can’t stop playing.
​

30. Gambler - Whitesnake

Released on the album Slide It In (1984) and appearing on the compilation album Gold (2006), Gambler is the song by the British hard rock band Whitesnake. These words may sound familiar - “No fame or fortune, no luck of the draw, when I dance with the Queen of Hearts, a jack of all trades, a loser in love, it's tearing my soul apart”. And in case you’ve never heard it, we think you should give it a shot, the chances are you’re going to love it!

29. Gambling Man - Woody Guthrie

Now here’s one single from 1957 - Gamblin' Man. The song was taped live at the London Palladium and published as a double A side, with Puttin' On the Style. Reaching #1 in the UK Singles Chart in the summer 1957, it was “the last UK number 1 to be released on 78 rpm format only, as 7' vinyl had become the norm by this time.” Written by Woody Guthrie and Donegan, this gambling themed song was produced by Alan Freeman and Michael Barclay.

28. Roll of the Dice - Bruce Springsteen

According to Songfacts, Roll of the Dice was the first Springsteen’s song he didn’t write by himself. In fact, E Street Band’s pianist Roy Bittan helped with the music, while Springsteen was in charge of the lyrics, starting with – “Well I've been a losin' gambler, just throwin' snake eyes, Love ain't got me downhearted. I know up around the corner lies, My fool's paradise in just another roll of the dice.” After he broke up the E Street Band in October 1989, Springsteen wrote lyrics for the Roll of the Dice (with two other songs) and liked them to the point where he began writing and recording more songs.

27. Queen of Diamonds - Tom Odell

Here’s one song about a gambling fanatic who’s trying to satisfy his own addiction but also someone else, hoping it’s going to save him. Released in 2018, Queen of Diamonds is Tom Odell’s song from the album Jubilee Road, based on the local characters that inspired this British songwriter to include the whisky-soaked gamblers who regularly visited one betting shop.

26. The Angel and the Gambler - Iron Maiden

Now, this song may divide Iron Maiden fans and it’s most probably because of its repetitive lyrics that can be a bit annoying. The release we’re talking about is The Angel and the Gambler. Truth be told, the melody in general is very catchy and, even a bit similar to The Who in some moments. As the song was released in 1998 while Blaze Bayley was its frontmen, it’s missing the well-known high-pitch vocals from Bruce Dickinson.

25. Ramblin' Gamblin Man - Bob Seger

We’re moving on to a rock single from 1978 - Ramblin' Gamblin Man by Bob Seger. The author meets an old acquaintance, a professional gambler who happens to be a swagger. As such, he attracts people’s attention whenever he bets. Putting so much of his faith in the cards (rather than in people), he walks away every time, just before avoiding loss. Along the way, the narrator realises that, if you scratch beneath the surface, you’ll find he’s a very cynical man, who will never change.
Another gambling-themed song worth mentioning by Bob Seger is Still The Same.

24. Blow Up The Pokies - The Whitlams

Blow up the Pokies is the next song on our list, played by The Whitlams. It is the second single by the group from their 4th studio album, Love This City. Released in the year 2000, the song became a hit and made it to number 21 on the ARIA Singles Chart. According to several resources, the lyrics written by singer Tim Freedman were inspired by the destruction he saw in original Whitlams bassist Andy Lewis's life, due to his gambling addiction.

23. A Good Run of Bad Luck - Clint Black

Now here’s one 1994-song packed with gambling-related terms. As you listen to A Good Run of Bad Luck, recorded by American music artist Clint Black, you'll have a bit of fun as you try identifying what all these gambling terms mean. The song is a bit fast and is about falling in love by using gambling metaphors. The main character is willing to spend a lot of money to win his special lady over and, although he has had a period of bad luck, he is not giving up – “I've been to the table, and I've lost it all before, I'm willin' and able, always comin' back for more.”

22. When You’re Hot, You’re Hot - Jerry Reed

Jerry Reed won a Grammy for the song When You’re Hot, You’re Hot which was released in 1971. Most people remember it as it was a major hit, ranked as number 1 in the country charts, also making its way up the Pop Top 40. It’s an enjoyable novelty song about the ups and downs of the gambling life, about one’s winning streak caught in an illegal game of Crap.
Country star Jerry Reed also came up with a version The Uptown Poker Club in 1973.

21. Lawyers, Guns and Money - Warren Zevon

Next one up - Lawyers, Guns and Money is a song by Warren Zevon, the closing track on his album Excitable Boy, released in 1978. An edited version of this song was distributed as a single and found itself on the A Quiet Normal Life best of compilation on the CD and LP. The song goes like this - “I went home with a waitress the way I always do, how was I to know she was with the russians, too? I was gambling in Havana, I took a little risk Send lawyers, guns, and money Dad, get me out of this, hiyah!”
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20. The Lottery Song - Harry Nilsson

According to the man in the 1972 pop-rock song The Lottery Song by Harry Nilsson, there's more than one way to get to Vegas. Addressing his lover, the narrator mentions a few different options for buying a ticket and going to Sin City – “We could win the lottery we could go to Vegas,” and “We could wait till summer, we could save our money” as well as “We could make a record, sell a lot of copies, we could play Las Vegas.”

19. Casino Queen - Wilco

Now here’s one black-humoured gambling-themed song, released in 1995 and titled after a casino. Featuring a dirty electric guitar, Casino Queen was composed by an American songwriter, Jeff Tweedy, who wrote this song after playing a game in a riverboat casino accompanied by his dad. Inspired by the event, the author wrote: “Casino Queen my lord you're mean, I've been gambling like a fiend on your tables so green.”

18. Have a Lucky Day - Morphine

Another song on our list that you simply must check out starts like this: “I feel lucky, I just feel that way, I'm on a bus to Atlantic City later on today. Now I'm sitting at a blackjack table and swear to God the dealer has a tag says, "Mabel." Hit me, hit me! I smile at Mabel, soon they're bringing complimentary drinks to the table.” Check it out yourself - it’s called Have a Lucky Day by Morphine.

17. Kentucky Gambler - Merle Haggard

Written by Dolly Parton and released in 1974, Merle Haggard’s Kentucky Gambler is another song on our ultimate gambling playlist that you should pay attention to. It’s about a miner from Kentucky who leaves his family to gamble, under the bright lights of Reno. Unsurprisingly, his winning streak comes to an end, and he loses all his winnings. All broke, he decided to return back home only when he arrived, he found out his wife was involved with someone else.

16. The Jack - AC/DC

The next song on our list will give you some adrenaline boost, for sure. It goes like this - “She gave me the queen, she gave me the king, she was wheelin' and dealin', just doin' her thing, she was holdin' a pair, but I had to try…” Sounds familiar? This song from the 1975s is called The Jack and is played by AC/DC and there’s no way you can skip it.

15. Blackjack - Ray Charles

Moving on to something a bit different - a melody that blackjack lovers can listen to as they play is Ray Charles’ Blackjack. Apart from being a good quality song from 1955, it carries an important message with an emphasis on how brutal the game of blackjack can be. Some sources say that Ray Charles wrote it after beating T-Bone Walker at a blackjack game session.
Yet another Ray Charles’ famous song about gambling is called a Losing Hand.

14. Ooh Las Vegas - Gram Parson

“Ooh, Las Vegas, ain't no place for a poor boy like me”... is a song-into for Ooh Las Vegas which was written by Gram Parsons and Ric Grech. It was first released by Gram Parsons with Emmylou Harris in 1974. Playing this song would be perfect for the beginning of the road trip (i.e. to Las Vegas), especially if you have the energy to sing along.

13. The Stranger - Leonard Cohen

Published in 1968 and performed by Leonard Cohen, The Stranger appears in the The Ernie Game movie about a man released from a mental asylum. More appropriately, it is the perfect opening song in the 1971 Western McCabe & Mrs Miller, in which Warren Beatty plays a gambler. As you listen to this song (without watching the movie), it makes you see fascinating images of card games, smoky dreams, and concepts of risk versus safety.

12. Desperado - Eagles

Written by Glen Frey and Don Henley, Desperado song is one of The Eagles’ greatest hits from their 1973 album of the same name. The song features a classic tune while the ballad tells the story of a lone wolf imprisoned by his loneliness. As for the lyrics, they have loads of card references mentioning the queen of diamonds, the queen of hearts, and so on.

11. Huck's Tune - Bob Dylan

The next song on our list is about the risks of poker, money, and relationships, which are precisely what the movie Lucky You is all about. Does it ring a bell? That’s right, this 2007 song is called Huck’s Tune and is performed by Bob Dylan. Each of us can all relate to lines "You push it all in, and you've no chance to win, you play 'em on down to the end." Play the song and you’ll enjoy more than 4 amazing minutes of Bob Dylan.
Likewise, Bob Dylan recorded Rambling, Gambling Willie and Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts, both excellent and both inspired by gambling.
​

10. Four Little Diamonds - Electric Light Orchestra

A song by the British rock band Electric Light Orchestra Four Little Diamonds was released in 1983 and found itself on the album Secret Messages. The single wasn’t so popular in the US, being only 2 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, at number 86, and number 84 in the UK. This song refers to the singer’s cheating lover who tricked him out of a ring which had 'four little diamonds' on it.

9. You Can't Beat The House - Mark Knopfler

Moving on to our next choice for the day, You Can’t Beat the House. It’s the third song on the Get Lucky studio album released in 2009 by British singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Knopfler. The album and the songs received favorable reviews with the album reaching the top three positions on album charts in Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, and Poland. The singer’s divine voice combined with beautiful music and lyrics goes like this – “You can't bear the house, you can't bear the house, tell the man somebody, you can't beat the house.”

8. Deck of Cards - Don Williams

Deck of Cards is a recitation song that tells the story of a soldier who gets caught while playing cards in church and then faces a sentence from a superior officer. The soldier defends his case, explaining he wasn't about to deal a hand of poker, but was rather confirming his faith with the cards. Performed by T. Texas Tyler, the song managed to become a major hit in the 1940s and 1950s. Also, Wink Martindale had an even bigger hit with his 1959 cover, with a successful version by Don Williams featuring Tex Ritter and Buddy Cole.

7. Gambler’s Blues - B.B. King

First recording of the song Gambler’s Blues by B.B. King was in 1966, and it was released in 1967. The song appears on the album Back in the Alley (1970). Some say gambling and blues go hand in hand, so if you (gambling fans) haven’t heard it, listen and see for yourself.

6. Tumbling Dice - Rolling Stones

One of our favourite songs on the list is Tumbling Dice, written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. It tells the story of a gambler who can’t remain faithful to any woman. Being released in the 1970s and featuring a blues boogie-woogie rhythm, the song was and still is one of the greatest singles of all time.
Rolling Stones also recorded Casino Boogie, and it’s from their 1972 album, Exile on Main St.

5. Luck Be A Lady - Frank Sinatra

The next song on our list is about a gambler who hopes that he will win a bet, the outcome of which will decide whether he is able to save his relationship with the girl of his dreams. You probably know what song we’re talking about; it’s called Luck be a Lady released in 1965 and performed by one of the most popular musical artists - Frank Sinatra.

4. Deal - Grateful Dead

Next one up is the song Deal. It was first performed by the Grateful Dead in 1971, as a regular part of the repertoire through their 1970's tour. Although being less common to the fans during the 1990s, the band continued to perform it. The singer opens with the message: “Since it cost a lot to win and even more to lose you and me bound to spend some time wondering what to choose,” that later kicks off with a chorus: “Don't let your deal go down...”
Loser is another song first performed by the Grateful Dead in 1971 as well, heavily played during 1971 and 1972.

3. Ace of Spades - Motörhead

Ok, the next song is loaded with some great gambling verses like "The pleasure is to play, makes no difference what you say, I don't share your greed, the only card I need is the Ace of Spades" will definitely set you in the right mood for hitting some winning combinations. Released in 1980, the song was inspired by slot machines that the lead singer Ian Fraser “Lemmy” Kilmister played in London pubs.

2. Viva Las Vegas - Elvis

As soon as you start playing the second song from our playlist “Viva Las Vegas,” you’ll probably picture a huge casino and a great gaming atmosphere. Performed by the legendary Elvis Presley, the 1964-released song brings the glamour of the city, and its beat will get you in the mood for some serious gameplay. This song was written for the movie of the same name starring Elvis Presley, in which he plays a race car driver waiting tables at a hotel to pay off a debt. There’s this famous scene when he performs this song at the talent competition alongside many showgirls.

1. The Gambler - Kenny Rogers

Performed by the legendary country singer Kenny Rogers, The Gambler song is our number 1 - it's full of some betting advice that are relevant today, even though it was released more than 40 years ago, in 1978. Here’s how it goes… “If you're gonna play the game, boy you gotta learn to play it right, you've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, and know when to run.” These classic chorus lines were told from the first-person perspective inspired by a conversation the author had with an experienced poker player on a train. Written in the form of poker metaphors, Schlitz wrote the tune in honor of his late father.
Johnny Cash is also among other musicians who recorded The Gambler in 1978, on Gone Girl.

What do you think? Which one is your favourite?

This is an email recently sent to journalists, attorneys and others.
The two people addressed briefly at the beginning of this Email are a Paralegal at the Connecticut law firm of Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder https://www.koskoff.com who are suing gun manufacturers as part of their overall lawsuit strategy and doing the same in relation to Sandy Hook and independent journalist Mike Turber, one of the producers of the upcoming documentary Vegas Wrong, along with Ramsey Denison https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1774444/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1 , producer of the award winning documentary What Happened in Vegas https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6615426/?ref_=nm_knf_i2
Hi Lorena,
The following is a very good overview of what I know of what happened in Las Vegas on October 1, 2017 - and I venture to say I know way more valid information than 99% plus of the population about this subject.
It was originally sent to Mike Turber months ago. I have added comments where needed, but for the most part it was already very complete and well documented.
Please let me know you received this, there are many links and a few images so not all email systems will treat this as serious correspondence.
Thanks,
Rodney Peterson
​
Hi Mike,
A week before you posted the videos with Eric (Paddock, Stephen Paddock's brother), I posted roughly 120 to 130 posts on Twitter in succession with links to back up everything I say. These are the original writings I culled those posts from.
Eric Paddock interviews for Vegas Wrong:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPEmD5KKvb0
(Long)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diofrf4nwaE&t=9s
(Short)
On his last day on Earth, just hours before committing the Las Vegas Mandalay Bay Route 91 Harvest Festival mass shootings in which he killed 59 people, including himself, Stephen Paddock won $860,000 playing video poker. Independent Journalist and Investigator Mike Turber has seen the official records. (while this is true, he LOST even more than that. This gives you an idea of just how fast paced and pressure filled becoming an addicted gambler playing video poker for up to 14 hours a day year-round can be).
There is more about that specifically and about Mike Turber later in this email.
Rodney Peterson
​
You can also find an extended interview with the shooters brother Eric Paddock, who is speaking through Mike Turber on this video, and myself on the You Tube page of Weg Oag, who has posted many videos about the Las Vegas shootings here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zR1rBjtwHI&t=5s
All of that is true. If you read my comments beneath, and there are many of them, you'll see that I've answered all the inconsistencies and reasonable objections anyone brought up.
All of the interview and all of my writing is first and foremost based on the following. Without this, it's very unlikely I would have remembered meeting Stephen Paddock, let alone what he said with regards to wishing to extract revenge on the casinos through extreme violence.
I did not remember it right away, it took several days after I read the comment below and it was not very clear at first. It took probably right around a week to actually remember everything accurately. Here it is copied and pasted from the Los Angeles Times website at which it was published on October 17, 2017 - two and a half weeks after the shootings where it was posted after an article about Jesus Campos appearing on the Ellen DeGeneres Show:
robert.roberts0361
1 year (s) ago
Quite a while back talked to that guy in an Edmonton casino about how the casinos cheat their patrons. Not a Muslim terrorist thing at all. Same guy Filipino girlfriend. Lived in a hotel in Vegas. Asked him why he came to an out of the way place like Edmonton. He said just to gamble. He mentioned he was a retired accountant. Talked about nothing you can do about the casinos cheating if you tried to sue they would bury you with their lawyers. He said he tried that once. He said he was going to do something about it. He mentioned something about a AR 15. I said I didn't know what that was (at the time) I'm retired military what would that be in military talk? He said M16. When I left I thought that guy is an American so he can't get guns in Canada. Can anyone figure out the dates he was up here. I recall he said he drove in from British Columbia and was on a 2 day stopover from a 19 day cruise when I met him. Maybe 30th September 2016???
Compare that with my conversation with him, which started as just being at the same Blackjack table where he and Marilou Danley were in the Excalibur, staring at me for half an hour or so while I played, then complimenting me on winning money as he noticed the mathematical progressions of my betting patterns, then his bizarre rant about the casinos cheating, and finally this exchange when talk of cheating became talk of revenge:
"How? How are you going to get revenge on the casinos? They'll have you before you get ten feet on the floor!"
"LOOK ALL AROUND YOU! WHADDAYA SEE?! WINDOWS!"
Couple that with having nearly the same set of mental issues as Paddock. The major difference is I became obsessed with music and movies, not guns and not gambling 14 hours a day. I'm sure there are other differences as well, my contact with him was limited, but in retrospect, there was a ton of common ground. The types of personalities he and I have are not in the slightest bit desirable or advantageous. Especially when every effort is made to deny a problem even exists, as is the case with him. Anyone with these same issues and real introspection abilities would never have carried this out, they would look inside themselves first. He couldn't even blame himself for his own gambling issues, let alone anything else.
How he even thought for a minute he would survive such a heinous act uncaught, unpunished and with impunity is probably pretty good proof he couldn't ever accept the reality of his predicament and mental disabilities. The reality is from what I know of him he didn't attempt to deal with problems in any constructive way and just let the anger keep building, it's toxic. Lots of people with these same issues snap violently and always will. Largely because of the introspection he apparently lacked, I know I would never get away with such an act, even if I wanted to, even on a much smaller scale, no matter how much I tried or wanted to.
I knew immediately that comment was very important, it literally checked many of the boxes of what I instinctively believed, as well as had been originally reported, and urged the writer to contact the FBI. I had no idea when I read it I would have a similar story to tell, to say that was shocking when I began to remember my own encounter with Stephen Paddock is a huge understatement.
You can find it at the comments posted underneath the linked Los Angeles Times article here. To find it click where it says Be the first to comment (I don't know why it's set up like that, but it is) when you do comments will open. Keep clicking until the comment above appears.
Here is the link to the article:
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-jesus-campos-20171017-story.html
It's extremely detailed as you can see, plus EVERYTHING FITS. A couple of important points - a retired military person would not have to know what an AR15 is, maybe they didn't have a huge interest in guns. And maybe they knew what it was but didn't know what it was called exactly. And the part about the two day stopover from Vancouver is irrelevant. ALL 19 day cruises to Alaska end with a two day stopover in Vancouver. That means Stephen Paddock had already disembarked, and did not have to go back to the ship at all.
EXTREMELY IMPORTANT AND SOMETHING THE FBI COULD EASILY DO IF THEY WANTED TO GET TO THE TRUTH OF THE MOTIVE
>>>>This would be easy to prove by checking passenger manifests for 19 day Alaska cruises that began in early to mid-September 2016 from the port of Vancouver.
My experience with Stephen Paddock was very similar and is written in detail, particularly at Instagram. Telephone, text or Twitter are the best ways to contact me directly.
I suspect he has aspergers as I do. That explains his obsession with numbers and math. That was why he wanted to talk to me - he saw I was using a mathematical system to win money. No one, before or since, has ever wanted to speak to me about using progressive math to win money, and that’s counting hundreds and hundreds of Casino Blackjack games. Very few people ever even notice it.
Being obsessed with activities and collecting stuff is part of the aspbergers, I believe, another part is the math. He collected guns and gambled 14 hours a day at times. My obsession is not about those things, it’s about collecting music, movies and television series, on every conceivable format at one time or another. But it’s part of the same pattern of aspbegers.
He’s unfriendly, he was annoyed I sat down at the same table he was playing at. He stared at me for a good half hour while we played, hardly saying a word. So he was both annoyed and studying the math I was using to place bets, which I didn’t know until after the game had ended for me, and he started talking about how I using math to win money. He thought that was smart.
He is incapable of blaming himself for his problems. He lacks introspection. Losing money at gambling is not his fault, the casinos are cheating him. That’s what he told me and I disagreed. The casinos don’t need to cheat.
He flies off the handle quickly. Disagreeing with him sent him into more of a rant about the casinos cheating, getting revenge, and finally when I asked how he was going to do that, yelling about shooting out of windows onto the Las Vegas Strip. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense, and even though he mentioned he lived at Mandalay Bay, which sounded like bullshit and I pretty much didn’t believe him, we were at The Excalibur which I’ve never thought of as a place with large windows, so it sounded even more ridiculous.
All in all, it sounded like a fantasy of revenge that would never happen. Yet, clearly, 15 months before he did it, he already had a clear plan of how to proceed. I believe that over the next 15 months it gelled from an insane idea to a workable plan.
But he still made a ton of mistakes. Otherwise, if he knew what he was doing when he shot at the jet fuel tanks, it could have been way, way worse. Just as an example of how inefficient the entire plan was.
It is extremely frustrating not to get real traction on this part of the story being reported, and it seems to be a deliberate decision possibly made by people in power at various institutions that have an interest in not divulging these details. These include MGM Resorts and other casinos, for certain, which in turn have a large degree of influence over the FBI and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, as well as media outlets, especially the Las Vegas Review Journal which is owned by casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.
There are new stories being investigated and confirmed that concern other angles of this story that are not being disclosed by MGM Resorts. This includes MGM gifting security guard Jesus Campos with Real Estate in the form of Las Vegas condos to sign an NDA and not talk about the events, including that management knew there was a huge quantity of guns in the room but chose to ignore them because of Stephen Paddock's High Roller Status. This is according to his former brother-in-law, Luis Castro, and is partially documented in the article mentioned below.
See this article, one of many written by Doug Poppa. It’s important to note his background is in casino security, while my story revolves around my experience with Stephen Paddock, and examines both psychology and a very strong case of explaining the motive as revenge against the casinos, which is what he told me in person.
http://baltimorepostexaminer.com/exclusive-mgm-resorts-international-buys-mandalay-bay-security-officer-jesus-campos-silence-with-all-expenses-paid-trips-condos-in-exchange-for-nda/2018/12/09
Here are a couple of newer posts I’ve written at You Tube with relevant information about what Stephen Paddock told me:
Regarding what Paddock shouted “LOOK ALL AROUND YOU! WHADDAYA SEE?! WINDOWS!!” and Doug Poppa saying he’s never seen windows in the Excalibur, he wasn’t talking about that casino. He was talking about the entire strip. It was pretty obvious.
In fact, when he said it the image that came to mind was that he would shoot out of the windows of a central location, like Aria, not Mandalay Bay and certainly not Excalibur. Although he did tell me he lived at Mandalay Bay, which just added to how nuts I thought he was. People do not live at Mandalay Bay, and yet, he actually was very close to that, but I didn’t believe him.
Naturally, when I remembered all this I felt horribly guilty I never reported it. But now I know thanks to the efforts of Doug Poppa interviewing Luis Castro it wouldn’t have made any difference at all. Mandalay Bay knew about the guns in the room and ignored them. They weren’t about to take my word over his no matter what I told them on July 6, 2016. He was a high roller, I was not. I didn’t know he was a high roller, of course, I just thought he was a disheveled angry nut.
The interview also includes comments by Eric Paddock, who tries to negate my testimony in two ways. First, he claims Stephen Paddock didn’t play table games. Second, he tries to negate my memory of Stephen Paddock with a beard and mustache by saying he’s clean shaven. In both cases in the comments section I link to articles and photos that prove he did play Blackjack - for up to $2500 a hand. Photos of Stephen Paddock with a beard and mustache are easily found searching Google for images.
All reasonable objections and any time I misspoke during the interview are addressed in my comments - there are a lot of them. A lot of people asked questions, but some were redundant and others just will not accept that this tragedy was not a conspiracy, or that it didn’t happen. Of course, it happened. And it wasn’t a conspiracy.
Here is an early article from October 7, 2017 printed in the Las Vegas Sun confirming Stephen Paddock did indeed play Blackjack:
https://lasvegassun.com/news/2017/oct/07/dealers-lv-gunman-paddock-would-spend-long-hours-p/
Excerpts from that article specifically about Blackjack:
When one blackjack table dealer at the D Las Vegas first saw Stephen Paddock’s picture on television last week, she thought it was Paddock that had been shot — not the other way around.
Upon later finding out Paddock was responsible for the deaths of 58 attendees and the injuries of nearly 500 more at last Sunday’s Route 91 Harvest Festival on the Las Vegas Strip, the dealer said she was surprised that a man she knew to be calm yet reclusive was responsible for the largest mass shooting in modern United States history.
“He wasn’t the nicest guy, but he never came across as threatening,” said the dealer, who asked not to be identified. “Unpleasant in general, but he didn’t go out of his way to be rude or go after other people.” “I never would have thought he was capable of something like this, not him,” she added.
The dealer was one of several to speak with the Sun about Paddock, who owned homes in Mesquite and Reno but spent his retirement years and the final weeks of life frequenting the tables and machines of downtown and Strip casinos.
An avid blackjack player, Paddock also played video poker, interviewed dealers said. His girlfriend, Marilou Danley, enjoyed playing video slots when the two came to the casino together.
Another female dealer at the D Las Vegas, who requested anonymity, said Paddock had been a regular at the casino for “many years,” gambling as many as four days a week and sometimes spending an entire afternoon shift between gaming tables and the upstairs video poker room.
Despite betting up to $2,500 per hand on high-limit blackjack tables, Paddock was a poor tipper at first, she said. But he eventually came around when she gave him a hard time for “being cheap.” “I told him, ‘Steve, it would be nice if you started tipping me,’” she said. “From there on, he always left a fair tip.”
Three other dealers at the D Las Vegas said they last remembered Paddock at the casino on Sept. 26, just five days before he opened fire from his 32nd floor hotel room onto the 22,000 attendees of the country music festival.
SOME OF THE FOLLOWING IS REPEATED. THERE ARE OTHER AS YET NEW TO THIS EMAIL ANGLES OF THE STORY FOLLOWING THE REPEATED BACKGROUND INFORMATION.
Independent Investigator and Journalist Mike Turber has seen official records confirming Stephen Paddock won $860,000 on September 30, 2017, just hours before he committed the Las Vegas shootings. However, that figure doesn’t include losses for the day, which are right around $890,000.
Mike Turber, along with Ramsey Denison, who produced the documentary What Happened In Vegas, have interviewed me extensively on camera and in person. Mike Turber has stated that he observed my body language and other factors as a sort of lie detector test to determine if I was telling the truth without my knowledge which he states in that You Tube video. His conclusion is that either I am telling the truth or I believe I’m telling the truth.
Mike Turber can be contacted here:
[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
I believe, based on behavior, both Stephen Paddock and I have similar mental illnesses and Asperger’s syndrome. I believe that’s why he instinctively talked to me and noticed I was using the same type of mathematical formulas he did and was familiar with. (It works too 98% of the time the problem is it doesn’t work 100% of the time and that’s what you need). So was he crazy? Of course he was crazy! So am I. But instead of guns, my obsessions are artistic – movies, music, media production, and the like. There’s nothing I can do about the Asperger’s or High Functioning Autism that’s part of this. Like him I’ve had it all my life. You cannot fake this.
I would never have even remembered meeting Stephen Paddock, let alone what he said to me about wanting revenge against the casinos if I hadn’t come across this post written after an article about Mandalay Bay security guard Jesus Campos appearing on the Ellen show. Everything here fits:
robert.roberts0361
1 year(s) ago
Quite a while back talked to that guy in an Edmonton casino about how the casinos cheat their patrons. Not a Muslim terrorist thing at all. Same guy Filipino girlfriend. Lived in a hotel in Vegas. Asked him why he came to an out of the way place like Edmonton. He said just to gamble. He mentioned he was a retired accountant. Talked about nothing you can do about the casinos cheating if you tried to sue they would bury you with their lawyers. He said he tried that once. He said he was going to do something about it. He mentioned something about a AR 15. I said I didn't know what that was (at the time) I'm retired military what would that be in military talk? He said M16. When I left I thought that guy is an American so he can't get guns in Canada. Can anyone figure out the dates he was up here. I recall he said he drove in from British Columbia and was on a 2 day stopover from a 19 day cruise when I met him. Maybe 30th September 2016???
You can find the original at the comments posted underneath the linked Los Angeles Times article here. To find it click where it says Be the first to comment (I don't know why it's set up like that, but it is) when you do the comments will open. Keep clicking until the comment above appears.
Here is the link to the article:
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-jesus-campos-20171017-story.html
It's extremely detailed as you can see, plus EVERYTHING FITS. A couple of important points - a retired military person would not have to know what an AR15 is, maybe they didn't have a huge interest in guns. Or maybe he knew what it was but didn't know what it was called exactly. And the part about the two day stopover from Vancouver is irrelevant. ALL 19 day cruises to Alaska end with a two day stopover in Vancouver. That means Stephen Paddock and Marilou Danley had already disembarked, and did not have to go back to the cruise ship at all.
AND HOW TO PROVE THE EDMONTON STORY IS TRUE:
Any FBI investigator or private investigator could prove if what Stephen Paddock told that commenter is true by checking passenger manifests for 19 day Alaska cruises that began in early to mid-September 2016. Unless Stephen Paddock and Marilou Danley were on that cruise, this person couldn’t have possibly known about it unless he was directly told by Stephen Paddock, as he says.
THE FOLLOWING IS ALSO VERY IMPORTANT TO MOTIVE. THIS IS WHAT STEPHEN PADDOCK MEANT WITH REGARDS TO THE CASINOS CHEATING, NOT TRADITIONAL CHEATING. I don’t play Video Poker, so I had no idea what he meant by his talking about the casinos cheating that morning unless he had explained it to me, which he didn’t do.
Here is another recent You Tube post I’ve written which details more about Stephen Paddock and Video Poker with links to yet more relevant information. There are several posts by myself near the bottom of the thread. Just like on my Instagram page, Rodney4K, you can see how the details of the memory of meeting Stephen Paddock was not at that time completely clear and changed as I remembered more and more of what happened.
There are very rare video poker machines known as 9 over 6 Jacks or Better. If played perfectly they give the player 100.8% payout. But that's no guarantee. Someone figured out that in order to have a 90% chance of winning $140,000 you need at least a six million dollar bankroll.
There is a whole thread about this and Paddock in one of Anthony Curtis columns on the Las Vegas Advisor website. Of course, beating the house long term is close to impossible. Even the Sheriffs department admits Paddock had lost a considerable amount of wealth prior to the shootings.
There's also a report that he won $860,000 on the day of the shootings. But that figure doesn't include losses, which are reported to be some $890,000. Mike Turber knows the details of this.
I have several comments in that article. Just like on my Instagram page, if you read them, you'll see how they change more and more as I start to remember meeting Stephen Paddock and what he said about getting revenge on the casinos. It was a very bizarre few days as that memory returned:
https://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/gambling-with-an-edge/the-shooter-gambler-steven-paddock/
Because that blog is about gambling, many of the posts are about how much Stephen Paddock did gamble, his odds of winning and related subjects. It is this post from the above thread that appears to be the most accurate about the level of Video Poker Stephen Paddock played nearly every day:
What everyone is forgetting is what kind of bankroll is required when playing 9/6 Jacks or Better at $125 a hand. According to Video Poker for Winners if you bet $125 a hand and you get 0.5% slot club return, which I think is generous for a strip club casino in 2015, you need over $6 million bankroll. And that is for a chance of going broke 10% of the time! If the average gambler can make this calculation so can a casino. There’s no way a casino is going to give you free rooms, food, shows, etc and at the same time let you win $5 million over the year!
You can see how complicated it gets. Did he win the $5 million? Sure, probably several times. But at a cost that probably was more in the neighborhood of after 6 million dollars of losses.
Another insightful commenter provided this information about changes in tax law under Donald Trump which would be something that could very much upset Stephen Paddock to the point of taking these drastic actions:
I am surprised nobody has commented on an obvious angle to the Shooter’s profile. He had millions in Royal Fushes each year. At Tax Time those wins were undoubtedly counter balanced by his losses. Anthony Curtis related in the latest issue of LVA that the last 2 books purchased were about Taxes and Gambling Law.
Under the Trump tax plan guess how much will be allowed to be written off as losses?? ZERO!!!!! That deduction dies and so with it will any AP (Advantage Play) play on VP. The Shooter was an accountant, he had to have knowledge of that reality. Anyone who plays VP, at any level above a $1200 Royal, would have to be an idiot to be in action under those conditions.
The winning sum of $5,000,000 has been used in previous posts, Can you imagine having won $5,000,000 and subsequently losing that back plus an additional $500,000? You would not only be stuck the $500,000 but also owe the IRS another $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 in taxes on your non deductible winnings.
How come nobody in the casinos is screaming about this? It will kill destroy $1 and up Slot and VP play.
According to Mike Turber, who says he has seen the records, Stephen Paddock won $860,000 on September 30, 2017, just before the shootings. But, he also very likely lost $890,000 that very same day, according to the full accounting.
This is also very important, in that besides my testimony of what happened when I met Stephen Paddock and when Robert Roberts met Stephen Paddock, here is a CNN article quoting his Caesars Palace host that says that when they switched out the high payoff machines, he stopped coming altogether.
This helps give credence to the motive of being angry at the casinos, wanting revenge, and his belief the casinos were cheating. They don't cheat in the traditional sense - they don't have to, and that's why I disagreed with him and why he became angry. But, in his mind, switching out the higher payoff Video Poker machines for the ones that gave the house a better edge after years and years of playing them-I can see how he would equate that with cheating:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/16/us/las-vegas-shooting-documents/index.html
This is an excerpt from that CNN article:
A man who worked for Caesars Entertainment who had known Paddock for years said Paddock was a regular guest for several years but Caesars took out his favorite video poker machines.
Paddock was a skilled gambler, the casino host said, and he stopped coming once those games were taken out.
The host said Paddock was an odd guy who either came to one of the Caesars properties alone or with his girlfriend, Marilou Danley. Danley was in the Philippines at the time of the shooting, and police said they don't think she was involved. Paddock, who killed himself, acted alone, police have said.
The host said there was one incident years ago in which Paddock yelled at him over late luggage, something the host thought peculiar. When asked to specify why he thought Paddock was odd, the host said: "He was just weird."
I'm also on Instagram where you can find more information. The Instagram account is not active, I can’t respond to it or anything anyone else chooses to write there, or edit or remove comments from others, but there are several posts there that are relevant. The top of the page explains which posts to look for by date that are relevant.
www.Instagram.com/Rodney4K/
I also have a Twitter page, which is active, with brief tweets and through which I can be contacted for communication or chat:
www.twitter.com/Rodney4KBluRay
Rodney Peterson

The two people addressed briefly at the beginning of this Email are a Paralegal at the Connecticut law firm of Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder https://www.koskoff.com/
who are suing gun manufacturers as part of their overall lawsuit strategy and doing the same in relation to Sandy Hook and independent journalist Mike Turber, one of the producers of the upcoming documentary Vegas Wrong, along with Ramsey Denison https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1774444/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1 , producer of the award winning documentary What Happened in Vegas https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6615426/?ref_=nm_knf_i2
Hi Lorena,
The following is a very good overview of what I know of what happened in Las Vegas on October 1, 2017 - and I venture to say I know way more valid information than 99% plus of the population about this subject.
It was originally sent to Mike Turber months ago. I have added comments where needed, but for the most part it was already very complete and well documented.
Please let me know you received this, there are many links and a few images so not all email systems will treat this as serious correspondence.
Thanks,
Rodney Peterson
​
Hi Mike,
A week before you posted the videos with Eric (Paddock, Stephen Paddock's brother), I posted roughly 120 to 130 posts on Twitter in succession with links to back up everything I say. These are the original writings I culled those posts from.
Eric Paddock interviews for Vegas Wrong:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPEmD5KKvb0
(Long)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diofrf4nwaE&t=9s
(Short)
On his last day on Earth, just hours before committing the Las Vegas Mandalay Bay Route 91 Harvest Festival mass shootings in which he killed 59 people, including himself, Stephen Paddock won $860,000 playing video poker. Independent Journalist and Investigator Mike Turber has seen the official records. (while this is true, he LOST even more than that. This gives you an idea of just how fast paced and pressure filled becoming an addicted gambler playing video poker for up to 14 hours a day year-round can be).
There is more about that specifically and about Mike Turber later in this email.
Rodney Peterson
​
You can also find an extended interview with the shooters brother Eric Paddock, who is speaking through Mike Turber on this video, and myself on the You Tube page of Weg Oag, who has posted many videos about the Las Vegas shootings here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zR1rBjtwHI&t=5s
All of that is true. If you read my comments beneath, and there are many of them, you'll see that I've answered all the inconsistencies and reasonable objections anyone brought up.
All of the interview and all of my writing is first and foremost based on the following. Without this, it's very unlikely I would have remembered meeting Stephen Paddock, let alone what he said with regards to wishing to extract revenge on the casinos through extreme violence.
I did not remember it right away, it took several days after I read the comment below and it was not very clear at first. It took probably right around a week to actually remember everything accurately. Here it is copied and pasted from the Los Angeles Times website at which it was published on October 17, 2017 - two and a half weeks after the shootings where it was posted after an article about Jesus Campos appearing on the Ellen DeGeneres Show:
robert.roberts0361
1 year (s) ago
Quite a while back talked to that guy in an Edmonton casino about how the casinos cheat their patrons. Not a Muslim terrorist thing at all. Same guy Filipino girlfriend. Lived in a hotel in Vegas. Asked him why he came to an out of the way place like Edmonton. He said just to gamble. He mentioned he was a retired accountant. Talked about nothing you can do about the casinos cheating if you tried to sue they would bury you with their lawyers. He said he tried that once. He said he was going to do something about it. He mentioned something about a AR 15. I said I didn't know what that was (at the time) I'm retired military what would that be in military talk? He said M16. When I left I thought that guy is an American so he can't get guns in Canada. Can anyone figure out the dates he was up here. I recall he said he drove in from British Columbia and was on a 2 day stopover from a 19 day cruise when I met him. Maybe 30th September 2016???
Compare that with my conversation with him, which started as just being at the same Blackjack table where he and Marilou Danley were in the Excalibur, staring at me for half an hour or so while I played, Then complimenting me on winning money as he noticed the mathematical progressions of my betting patterns, then his bizarre rant about the casinos cheating, and finally this exchange when talk of cheating became talk of revenge:
"How? How are you going to get revenge on the casinos? They'll have you before you get ten feet on the floor!"
"LOOK ALL AROUND YOU! WHADDAYA SEE?! WINDOWS!"
Couple that with having nearly the same set of mental issues as Paddock. The major difference is I became obsessed with music and movies, not guns and not gambling 14 hours a day. I'm sure there are other differences as well, my contact with him was limited, but in retrospect, there was a ton of common ground. The types of personalities he and I have are not in the slightest bit desirable or advantageous. Especially when every effort is made to deny a problem even exists, as is the case with him. Anyone with these same issues and real introspection abilities would never have carried this out, they would look inside themselves first. He couldn't even blame himself for his own gambling issues, let alone anything else.
How he even thought for a minute he would survive such a heinous act uncaught, unpunished and with impunity is probably pretty good proof he couldn't ever accept the reality of his predicament and mental disabilities. The reality is from what I know of him he didn't attempt to deal with problems in any constructive way and just let the anger keep building, it's toxic. Lots of people with these same issues snap violently and always will. Largely because of the introspection he apparently lacked, I know I would never get away with such an act, even if I wanted to, even on a much smaller scale, no matter how much I tried or wanted to.
I knew immediately that comment was very important, it literally checked many of the boxes of what I instinctively believed, as well as had been originally reported, and urged the writer to contact the FBI. I had no idea when I read it I would have a similar story to tell, to say that was shocking when I began to remember my own encounter with Stephen Paddock is a huge understatement.
You can find it at the comments posted underneath the linked Los Angeles Times article here. To find it click where it says Be the first to comment (I don't know why it's set up like that, but it is) when you do comments will open. Keep clicking until the comment above appears.
Here is the link to the article:
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-jesus-campos-20171017-story.html
It's extremely detailed as you can see, plus EVERYTHING FITS. A couple of important points - a retired military person would not have to know what an AR15 is, maybe they didn't have a huge interest in guns. And maybe they knew what it was but didn't know what it was called exactly. And the part about the two day stopover from Vancouver is irrelevant. ALL 19 day cruises to Alaska end with a two day stopover in Vancouver. That means Stephen Paddock had already disembarked, and did not have to go back to the ship at all.
EXTREMELY IMPORTANT AND SOMETHING THE FBI COULD EASILY DO IF THEY WANTED TO GET TO THE TRUTH OF THE MOTIVE
>>>>This would be easy to prove by checking passenger manifests for 19 day Alaska cruises that began in early to mid-September 2016 from the port of Vancouver.
My experience with Stephen Paddock was very similar and is written in detail, particularly at Instagram. Telephone, text or Twitter are the best ways to contact me directly.
I suspect he has aspergers as I do. That explains his obsession with numbers and math. That was why he wanted to talk to me - he saw I was using a mathematical system to win money. No one, before or since, has ever wanted to speak to me about using progressive math to win money, and that’s counting hundreds and hundreds of Casino Blackjack games. Very few people ever even notice it.
Being obsessed with activities and collecting stuff is part of the aspbergers, I believe, another part is the math. He collected guns and gambled 14 hours a day at times. My obsession is not about those things, it’s about collecting music, movies and television series, on every conceivable format at one time or another. But it’s part of the same pattern of aspbegers.
He’s unfriendly, he was annoyed I sat down at the same table he was playing at. He stared at me for a good half hour while we played, hardly saying a word. So he was both annoyed and studying the math I was using to place bets, which I didn’t know until after the game had ended for me, and he started talking about how I using math to win money. He thought that was smart.
He is incapable of blaming himself for his problems. He lacks introspection. Losing money at gambling is not his fault, the casinos are cheating him. That’s what he told me and I disagreed. The casinos don’t need to cheat.
He flies off the handle quickly. Disagreeing with him sent him into more of a rant about the casinos cheating, getting revenge, and finally when I asked how he was going to do that, yelling about shooting out of windows onto the Las Vegas Strip. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense, and even though he mentioned he lived at Mandalay Bay, which sounded like bullshit and I pretty much didn’t believe him, we were at The Excalibur which I’ve never thought of as a place with large windows, so it sounded even more ridiculous.
All in all, it sounded like a fantasy of revenge that would never happen. Yet, clearly, 15 months before he did it, he already had a clear plan of how to proceed. I believe that over the next 15 months it gelled from an insane idea to a workable plan.
But he still made a ton of mistakes. Otherwise, if he knew what he was doing when he shot at the jet fuel tanks, it could have been way, way worse. Just as an example of how inefficient the entire plan was.
It is extremely frustrating not to get real traction on this part of the story being reported, and it seems to be a deliberate decision possibly made by people in power at various institutions that have an interest in not divulging these details. These include MGM Resorts and other casinos, for certain, which in turn have a large degree of influence over the FBI and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, as well as media outlets, especially the Las Vegas Review Journal which is owned by casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.
There are new stories being investigated and confirmed that concern other angles of this story that are not being disclosed by MGM Resorts. This includes MGM gifting security guard Jesus Campos with Real Estate in the form of Las Vegas condos to sign an NDA and not talk about the events, including that management knew there was a huge quantity of guns in the room but chose to ignore them because of Stephen Paddock's High Roller Status.
See this article, one of many written by Doug Poppa. It’s important to note his background is in casino security, while my story revolves around my experience with Stephen Paddock, and examines both psychology and a very strong case of explaining the motive as revenge against the casinos, which is what he told me in person.
http://baltimorepostexaminer.com/exclusive-mgm-resorts-international-buys-mandalay-bay-security-officer-jesus-campos-silence-with-all-expenses-paid-trips-condos-in-exchange-for-nda/2018/12/09
Here are a couple of newer posts I’ve written at You Tube with relevant information about what Stephen Paddock told me:
Regarding what Paddock shouted “LOOK ALL AROUND YOU! WHADDAYA SEE?! WINDOWS!!” and Doug Poppa saying he’s never seen windows in the Excalibur, he wasn’t talking about that casino. He was talking about the entire strip. It was pretty obvious.
In fact, when he said it the image that came to mind was that he would shoot out of the windows of a central location, like Aria, not Mandalay Bay and certainly not Excalibur. Although he did tell me he lived at Mandalay Bay, which just added to how nuts I thought he was. People do not live at Mandalay Bay, and yet, he actually was very close to that, but I didn’t believe him.
Naturally, when I remembered all this I felt horribly guilty I never reported it. But now I know thanks to the efforts of Doug Poppa interviewing Luis Castro it wouldn’t have made any difference at all. Mandalay Bay knew about the guns in the room and ignored them. They weren’t about to take my word over his no matter what I told them on July 6, 2016. He was a high roller, I was not. I didn’t know he was a high roller, of course, I just thought he was a disheveled angry nut.
The interview also includes comments by Eric Paddock, who tries to negate my testimony in two ways. First, he claims Stephen Paddock didn’t play table games. Second, he tries to negate my memory of Stephen Paddock with a beard and mustache by saying he’s clean shaven. In both cases in the comments section I link to articles and photos that prove he did play Blackjack - for up to $2500 a hand. Photos of Stephen Paddock with a beard and mustache are easily found searching Google for images.
All reasonable objections and any time I misspoke during the interview are addressed in my comments - there are a lot of them. A lot of people asked questions, but some were redundant and others just will not accept that this tragedy was not a conspiracy, or that it didn’t happen. Of course, it happened. And it wasn’t a conspiracy.
Here is an early article from October 7, 2017 printed in the Las Vegas Sun confirming Stephen Paddock did indeed play Blackjack:
https://lasvegassun.com/news/2017/oct/07/dealers-lv-gunman-paddock-would-spend-long-hours-p/
Excerpts from that article specifically about Blackjack:
When one blackjack table dealer at the D Las Vegas first saw Stephen Paddock’s picture on television last week, she thought it was Paddock that had been shot — not the other way around.
Upon later finding out Paddock was responsible for the deaths of 58 attendees and the injuries of nearly 500 more at last Sunday’s Route 91 Harvest Festival on the Las Vegas Strip, the dealer said she was surprised that a man she knew to be calm yet reclusive was responsible for the largest mass shooting in modern United States history.
“He wasn’t the nicest guy, but he never came across as threatening,” said the dealer, who asked not to be identified. “Unpleasant in general, but he didn’t go out of his way to be rude or go after other people.” “I never would have thought he was capable of something like this, not him,” she added.
The dealer was one of several to speak with the Sun about Paddock, who owned homes in Mesquite and Reno but spent his retirement years and the final weeks of life frequenting the tables and machines of downtown and Strip casinos.
An avid blackjack player, Paddock also played video poker, interviewed dealers said. His girlfriend, Marilou Danley, enjoyed playing video slots when the two came to the casino together.
Another female dealer at the D Las Vegas, who requested anonymity, said Paddock had been a regular at the casino for “many years,” gambling as many as four days a week and sometimes spending an entire afternoon shift between gaming tables and the upstairs video poker room.
Despite betting up to $2,500 per hand on high-limit blackjack tables, Paddock was a poor tipper at first, she said. But he eventually came around when she gave him a hard time for “being cheap.” “I told him, ‘Steve, it would be nice if you started tipping me,’” she said. “From there on, he always left a fair tip.”
Three other dealers at the D Las Vegas said they last remembered Paddock at the casino on Sept. 26, just five days before he opened fire from his 32nd floor hotel room onto the 22,000 attendees of the country music festival.
SOME OF THE FOLLOWING IS REPEATED. THERE ARE OTHER AS YET NEW TO THIS EMAIL ANGLES OF THE STORY FOLLOWING THE REPEATED BACKGROUND INFORMATION.
Independent Investigator and Journalist Mike Turber has seen official records confirming Stephen Paddock won $860,000 on September 30, 2017, just hours before he committed the Las Vegas shootings. However, that figure doesn’t include losses for the day, which are right around $890,000.
Mike Turber, along with Ramsey Denison, who produced the documentary What Happened In Vegas, have interviewed me extensively on camera and in person. Mike Turber has stated that he observed my body language and other factors as a sort of lie detector test to determine if I was telling the truth without my knowledge which he states in that You Tube video. His conclusion is that either I am telling the truth or I believe I’m telling the truth.
Mike Turber can be contacted here:
[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
I believe, based on behavior, both Stephen Paddock and I have similar mental illnesses and Asperger’s syndrome. I believe that’s why he instinctively talked to me and noticed I was using the same type of mathematical formulas he did and was familiar with. (It works too 98% of the time the problem is it doesn’t work 100% of the time and that’s what you need). So was he crazy? Of course he was crazy! So am I. But instead of guns, my obsessions are artistic – movies, music, media production, and the like. There’s nothing I can do about the Asperger’s or High Functioning Autism that’s part of this. Like him I’ve had it all my life. You cannot fake this.
I would never have even remembered meeting Stephen Paddock, let alone what he said to me about wanting revenge against the casinos if I hadn’t come across this post written after an article about Mandalay Bay security guard Jesus Campos appearing on the Ellen show. Everything here fits:
robert.roberts0361
1 year(s) ago
Quite a while back talked to that guy in an Edmonton casino about how the casinos cheat their patrons. Not a Muslim terrorist thing at all. Same guy Filipino girlfriend. Lived in a hotel in Vegas. Asked him why he came to an out of the way place like Edmonton. He said just to gamble. He mentioned he was a retired accountant. Talked about nothing you can do about the casinos cheating if you tried to sue they would bury you with their lawyers. He said he tried that once. He said he was going to do something about it. He mentioned something about a AR 15. I said I didn't know what that was (at the time) I'm retired military what would that be in military talk? He said M16. When I left I thought that guy is an American so he can't get guns in Canada. Can anyone figure out the dates he was up here. I recall he said he drove in from British Columbia and was on a 2 day stopover from a 19 day cruise when I met him. Maybe 30th September 2016???
You can find the original at the comments posted underneath the linked Los Angeles Times article here. To find it click where it says Be the first to comment (I don't know why it's set up like that, but it is) when you do the comments will open. Keep clicking until the comment above appears.
Here is the link to the article:
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-jesus-campos-20171017-story.html
It's extremely detailed as you can see, plus EVERYTHING FITS. A couple of important points - a retired military person would not have to know what an AR15 is, maybe they didn't have a huge interest in guns. Or maybe he knew what it was but didn't know what it was called exactly. And the part about the two day stopover from Vancouver is irrelevant. ALL 19 day cruises to Alaska end with a two day stopover in Vancouver. That means Stephen Paddock and Marilou Danley had already disembarked, and did not have to go back to the cruise ship at all.
AND HOW TO PROVE THE EDMONTON STORY IS TRUE:
Any FBI investigator or private investigator could prove if what Stephen Paddock told that commenter is true by checking passenger manifests for 19 day Alaska cruises that began in early to mid-September 2016. Unless Stephen Paddock and Marilou Danley were on that cruise, this person couldn’t have possibly known about it unless he was directly told by Stephen Paddock, as he says.
THE FOLLOWING IS ALSO VERY IMPORTANT TO MOTIVE. THIS IS WHAT STEPHEN PADDOCK MEANT WITH REGARDS TO THE CASINOS CHEATING, NOT TRADITIONAL CHEATING. I don’t play Video Poker, so I had no idea what he meant by his talking about the casinos cheating that morning unless he had explained it to me, which he didn’t do.
Here is another recent You Tube post I’ve written which details more about Stephen Paddock and Video Poker with links to yet more relevant information. There are several posts by myself near the bottom of the thread. Just like on my Instagram page, Rodney4K, you can see how the details of the memory of meeting Stephen Paddock was not at that time completely clear and changed as I remembered more and more of what happened.
There are very rare video poker machines known as 9 over 6 Jacks or Better. If played perfectly they give the player 100.8% payout. But that's no guarantee. Someone figured out that in order to have a 90% chance of winning $140,000 you need at least a six million dollar bankroll.
There is a whole thread about this and Paddock in one of Anthony Curtis columns on the Las Vegas Advisor website. Of course, beating the house long term is close to impossible. Even the Sheriffs department admits Paddock had lost a considerable amount of wealth prior to the shootings.
There's also a report that he won $860,000 on the day of the shootings. But that figure doesn't include losses, which are reported to be some $890,000. Mike Turber knows the details of this.
I have several comments in that article. Just like on my Instagram page, if you read them, you'll see how they change more and more as I start to remember meeting Stephen Paddock and what he said about getting revenge on the casinos. It was a very bizarre few days as that memory returned:
https://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/gambling-with-an-edge/the-shooter-gambler-steven-paddock/
Because that blog is about gambling, many of the posts are about how much Stephen Paddock did gamble, his odds of winning and related subjects. It is this post from the above thread that appears to be the most accurate about the level of Video Poker Stephen Paddock played nearly every day:
What everyone is forgetting is what kind of bankroll is required when playing 9/6 Jacks or Better at $125 a hand. According to Video Poker for Winners if you bet $125 a hand and you get 0.5% slot club return, which I think is generous for a strip club casino in 2015, you need over $6 million bankroll. And that is for a chance of going broke 10% of the time! If the average gambler can make this calculation so can a casino. There’s no way a casino is going to give you free rooms, food, shows, etc and at the same time let you win $5 million over the year!
You can see how complicated it gets. Did he win the $5 million? Sure, probably several times. But at a cost that probably was more in the neighborhood of after 6 million dollars of losses.
Another insightful commenter provided this information about changes in tax law under Donald Trump which would be something that could very much upset Stephen Paddock to the point of taking these drastic actions:
I am surprised nobody has commented on an obvious angle to the Shooter’s profile. He had millions in Royal Fushes each year. At Tax Time those wins were undoubtedly counter balanced by his losses. Anthony Curtis related in the latest issue of LVA that the last 2 books purchased were about Taxes and Gambling Law.
Under the Trump tax plan guess how much will be allowed to be written off as losses?? ZERO!!!!! That deduction dies and so with it will any AP (Advantage Play) play on VP. The Shooter was an accountant, he had to have knowledge of that reality. Anyone who plays VP, at any level above a $1200 Royal, would have to be an idiot to be in action under those conditions.
The winning sum of $5.000,000 has been used in previous posts, Can you imagine having won $5.000.000 and subsequently losing that back plus an additional $500,000? You would not only be stuck the $500,000 but also owe the IRS another $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 in taxes on your non deductible winnings.
How come nobody in the casinos is screaming about this? It will kill destroy $1 and up Slot and VP play.
According to Mike Turber, who says he has seen the records, Stephen Paddock won $860,000 on September 30, 2017, just before the shootings. But, he also very likely lost $890,000 that very same day, according to the full accounting.
This is also very important, in that besides my testimony of what happened when I met Stephen Paddock and when Robert Roberts met Stephen Paddock, here is a CNN article quoting his Caesars Palace host that says that when they switched out the high payoff machines, he stopped coming altogether.
This helps give credence to the motive of being angry at the casinos, wanting revenge, and his belief the casinos were cheating. They don't cheat in the traditional sense - they don't have to, and that's why I disagreed with him and why he became angry. But, in his mind, switching out the higher payoff Video Poker machines for the ones that gave the house a better edge after years and years of playing them-I can see how he would equate that with cheating:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/16/us/las-vegas-shooting-documents/index.html
This is an excerpt from that CNN article:
A man who worked for Caesars Entertainment who had known Paddock for years said Paddock was a regular guest for several years but Caesars took out his favorite video poker machines.
Paddock was a skilled gambler, the casino host said, and he stopped coming once those games were taken out.
The host said Paddock was an odd guy who either came to one of the Caesars properties alone or with his girlfriend, Marilou Danley. Danley was in the Philippines at the time of the shooting, and police said they don't think she was involved. Paddock, who killed himself, acted alone, police have said.
The host said there was one incident years ago in which Paddock yelled at him over late luggage, something the host thought peculiar. When asked to specify why he thought Paddock was odd, the host said: "He was just weird."
I'm also on Instagram where you can find more information. The Instagram account is not active, I can’t respond to it or anything anyone else chooses to write there, or edit or remove comments from others, but there are several posts there that are relevant. The top of the page explains which posts to look for by date that are relevant.
www.Instagram.com/Rodney4K/
I also have a Twitter page, which is active, with brief tweets and through which I can be contacted for communication or chat:
www.twitter.com/Rodney4KBluRay
Rodney Peterson
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📷

A couple years ago, I worked with one of the members of the 90s MIT Blackjack Team (Strategic Investments). After hearing his story, my roommate and I decided we'd give it a shot ourselves. We spent ~200 hours preparing, with the help of members of the old MIT team, and made over a dozen trips in the next two years, hitting casinos, avoiding heat, and sometimes getting caught (and banned, which is not scary at all). It was a ton of fun, and we got a lot of good stories out of it. We even briefly formed another MIT team up in Boston.
We took a break as we relocated and got different jobs, but we're at the point where we'd like to pick up where we left off. A two person team is fine, but getting more people opens up a ton of team play options, and gets us to the statistical 'long run' faster. So, we're looking for people that would be interested in learning and joining our team.
A couple things about card counting in blackjack:

• Games in 2017 are still very much beatable, and we know where many of the best lie from our scouting a few years back. That said, this is not going to be insanely profitable, and you should not expect it to be.
• It will probably take at least ~100-150 hours of practice to get good enough. We're happy to teach you every step of the way, but we're looking for people to put in the time.
• We are not funded by any investors; we use our own money. We have a very high bar for training because we use our own money. As a new member, we'll want you to contribute to the bankroll, as having your own money at stake makes you care more about playing perfectly.
• You should be 21+. Most casinos require you to be 21, and it doesn't really make sense to train someone younger.
• Counting is the simplest form of 'advantage play', but we're exploring other, more lucrative options. Happy to talk about that as well.
• Because people will say this, card counting is not illegal. Card counting is playing correctly, and using your brain.

I live in Manhattan, and my buddy lives in California. Trips we've taken include Vegas, Reno, San Diego, Seattle, and some northeast casinos.
If this sounds interesting, shoot me a PM and let's chat!

A couple years ago, my friend worked with one of the members of the 90s MIT Blackjack Team (Strategic Investments). After hearing his story, my roommate and I decided we'd give it a shot ourselves. We spent ~200 hours preparing, with the help of members of the old MIT team, and made dozens trips in the next two years, hitting casinos, avoiding heat, and sometimes getting caught. It was a ton of fun, and we got a lot of good stories out of it. We even briefly formed another MIT team up in Boston.
We took a break as we relocated and got different jobs, but we're at the point where we'd like to pick up where we left off. A two person team is fine, but getting more people opens up a ton of team play options, and gets us to the statistical 'long run' faster. So, we're looking for people that would be interested in learning and joining our team.
A couple things about card counting in blackjack:

• Games in 2017 are still very much beatable, and we know where many of the best lie from our scouting a few years back. That said, this is not going to be insanely profitable, and you should not expect it to be (Expected value is ~$50 an hour betting $25-$300 a hand)
  
• It will probably take at least ~100-150 hours of practice to get good enough. We're happy to teach you every step of the way, but we're looking for people to put in the time.
  
• We are not funded by any investors; we use our own money. Because of this, we have a high bar for training and play quality. As a new member, we'll want you to contribute to the bankroll, as having your own money at stake makes you care more about playing perfectly. Everyone controls their own portion of the bankroll, but all wins/losses are split evenly.
  
• You should be 21+. Most casinos require you to be 21, and it doesn't really make sense to train someone younger.
  
• Counting is the simplest form of 'advantage play', but we're exploring other, more lucrative options. Happy to talk about that as well.
  
• Because people will say this, card counting is not illegal. Card counting is playing correctly, and using your brain.
  

I live in the Bay Area, and my buddy lives in New York. Trips we've taken include Vegas, Reno, San Diego, Seattle, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and other miscellaneous places along the way.
If this sounds interesting, shoot me a PM and let's chat!

Hello all, I just stumbled upon this sub-reddit last night and found out some rather knowledgeable and reputable advantage players are commenting on here. I really don't have an ultimate purpose to posting on here besides maybe some constructive criticism or possibly interacting with people who share the same dream of being a proficient counter one day. Here is my story thus far. I have been playing cards with my family all my life, I started playing poker in the military during deployment (Navy) and have always just been a lucky gambler, until of coarse I press my luck with arrogance. Currently studying accounting and it's rather simple to me, the equations, how the numbers work to generate certain figures, etc. I recently figured counting could be a realistic profit to me as I have always been a natural with math and my father is an engineer which sort of makes sense as to where I got it from. Now, I understand counting does have variance which is practically synonymous to luck, and my experience with the basic Hi-Low was such, perhaps. I began counting about 8 months ago after I read Beat The Dealer by the father of counting : Edward Thorpe and tested it out at a local card room out here in the Monterey, CA area. I did alright until the pit boss figured me out and dealt to me incredibly fast while keeping me distracted on an 8 deck shoe. (I couldn't imagine it being uncommon for them to do that to novice counters at these small cardrooms, which are undeniably obvious to them). I lost a couple hundred doing that, oh well. The next time I had been a little more prepared and decided to go to Palm Springs with 200$ and played single deck during swing shift (late night) which I ended up making 800$ over an 8 hour period using high low and using the logic of the count to assume the dealers hole card, didn't use to much indices or fab 4, practically used an improvisational basic strategy deviation. This was a 6:5 pay out with at BEST 60-65% deck penetration, I was proud of myself. Anyways, fast forward to now and I have been religiously reading and studying a book titled Dynamic Blackjack by Maverick Sharp, great book which I recommend to anybody that has any serious interest in counting as an advantage player, it is even recommended on wizardofodds.com. So as of now I am practicing to be proficient in counting 6 and 8 deck shoes with a level 3 count system (DMPro Strategy) a long with indices. I am practicing 6 and 8 deck because it seems to be the most favorable in rule variations, penetration and not to mention the least conspicuous for counters as I assume most go after single and double deck due to its more simplistic nature. So far I've told a few friends who I play poker with every week and they took it as a joke, which I understand, but as soon as I had told them I actually won money doing it they sort of just backed off me and the delusional get rich quick scheme I introduced a long with the obvious time and dedication that would have to accompany to generate such an outcome as that. I've tried getting the friends of mine I figure to be capable of attaining a decent counting level but they have no passion and wouldn't be able to have the discipline necessary for such an endeavor without said passion. Anyway, a few questions to those said advantage players out there..
When you started this endeavor was it you who made yourself a made man or did you get support (tips, lessons, maybe even a buy in) from fellow advantage players?
What is a feasible outcome for a single advantage player like myself? - I understand variance, I'm more looking for a story of your experience to be honest.
What kind of trip would you recommend for someone looking to casino hop as a single counting entrepreneur? I was thinking Tahoe > Reno > Vegas > So Cal? I was hoping to be proficient enough in 6 months to do said trip.
Feel free to PM me, or just share a story of your counting endeavor thus far.
Thanks for reading!

A couple years ago, I worked with one of the members of the 90s MIT Blackjack Team (Strategic Investments). After hearing his story, my roommate and I decided we'd give it a shot ourselves. We spent ~200 hours preparing, with the help of members of the old MIT team, and made over a dozen trips in the next two years, hitting casinos, avoiding heat, and sometimes getting caught (and banned, which is not scary at all). It was a ton of fun, and we got a lot of good stories out of it. We even briefly formed another MIT team up in Boston.
We took a break as we relocated and got different jobs, but we're at the point where we'd like to pick up where we left off. A two person team is fine, but getting more people opens up a ton of team play options, and gets us to the statistical 'long run' faster. So, we're looking for people that would be interested in learning and joining our team.
A couple things about card counting in blackjack:

• Games in 2017 are still very much beatable, and we know where many of the best lie from our scouting a few years back. That said, this is not going to be insanely profitable, and you should not expect it to be.
• It will probably take at least ~100-150 hours of practice to get good enough. We're happy to teach you every step of the way, but we're looking for people to put in the time.
• We are not funded by any investors; we use our own money. We have a very high bar for training because we use our own money. As a new member, we'll want you to contribute to the bankroll, as having your own money at stake makes you care more about playing perfectly.
• You should be 21+. Most casinos require you to be 21, and it doesn't really make sense to train someone younger.
• Counting is the simplest form of 'advantage play', but we're exploring other, more lucrative options. Happy to talk about that as well.
• Because people will say this, card counting is not illegal. Card counting is playing correctly, and using your brain.

I live in Manhattan, and my buddy lives in California. Trips we've taken include Vegas, Reno, San Diego, Seattle, and some northeast casinos.
If this sounds interesting, shoot me a PM and let's chat!

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Date: 2014-05-07
Link to submission (Has self-text)

Questions	Answers
So if he was making more than 500k it would be okay in your book? That's pretty messed up.	Seems like I'd be even more of a piece of shit if I was that successful.
Are you involved much with the general goings on of the casino? If so, what goes through your head when you see huge amounts of money being gambled away by someone who doesnt know when to walk away?	Yes, I'm an executive so I'm in touch with most everything that goes on. Most of the time when I see something like that, I just say "good for us" and try not to think about whether or not the person can afford it or not.
How much do you make a year? Unless you are making like $500,000+, then you are a piece of shit. you are destroying thousands of people's lives so that you can make a living and afford your bmw and other status symbols.	I don't make $500K a year so I guess that makes me a piece of shit.
What is the worst most tasteless thing you or the casino in general did to make money?	I, obviously, like to think I'm uber classy. But in general I think paycheck cashing promotions are pretty tasteless. E.g., Cash your paycheck and get 5% of the total value in free slot play.
Can you ELi5? Sorry, to me that just sounds like you hand over your $1000 you earned, and get back $50? Which seems wrong...? Or do you get an extra $50? Hmmm... Thoroughly confused myself.	Let's say your check is $1,000. The casino will cash your check and then also give you $50 in promotional credits to be used on the slot machines. The idea is that since we've given you some "free" money to begin playing the machines you will also dip into the $1,000 cash that we also handed you.
Are there any clauses that prevent you from just spending the $50 in free bets and cashing out the $1k without actually playing with it?	No, you get the $1K in cash and the $50 can only be used in the slot machine. I've done this once when I started my new job and my direct deposit wasn't set up yet so they issued me a live check.
How many people just walk directly out of the casino after cashing the check with their 5% bonus?	I don't know, I've never run this promotion but generally speaking when we give away promotional credits, the "walk rate" is in the 25% range.
How often do you go to the strip clubs in vegas? If you go how much do you spend? Do you get treated better if they know what your job is?	I really don't like them so not often unless someone is in town that wants to go. I don't have a moral objection, just think it's a waste. "Hey do you like to eat steak? Give me $20 to smell this delicious steak! No, you can't try it!!!".
	So that having been said, I might spend $20 to give to the girls on the stage and maybe a lap dance.
	No, I don't get treated better because of my title really. They usually just care about how much money you spend and that's it.
What are some sneaky strategies that you use to get people to spend more money? I don't mean obvious things like having ATMs...but things related specifically to gambling..	Ummm... Off the top of my head I think the sneakiest thing is probably side bets on table games (e.g., play an extra $5 and if your two cards are a pair then you win $25) because the odds are terrible or things like advertising low table game limits but modifying the rules (e.g., blackjack pays 6:5 vs 3:2) to increase the house advantage.
Some casino customers are super cheap and only play $1 Blackjack. Others are whales and the casino spends a lot of money to attract them, but they are rare. Somewhere in between, I imagine, there are customers who spend a significant amount and exist in numbers to make most of the casino's profits.	First, we quantify most everything by "theoretical worth". That is, how much we can expect to win from you based on the house advantage of the game you play and how long you play. The general formula is decisions per hour X house advantage X hours played X average bet. So, $25/hand at blackjack X 1.5% house advantage X 2 hours played X 60 decisions per hour = $45 in theoretical worth.
Is that true? How much does a "bread and butter" customer gamble in a day?	Second, It really depends on the particular property. The number is a lot higher for Wynn then it would be at Joker's Wild (a really, really dumpy casino on the outskirts of Vegas). That having been said, most places will be very happy to have you if you are in the $150-300 a day in theoretical worth range.
That sounds pretty affordable. Assuming a 30% comp return I guess that comes out to $50-90 in comps a day.	30% includes the stuff we send you in the mail generally too so at the $300 range you could expect a room and a meal a day.
What kind of awful rules are you using to have a 1.5% house advantage, or is that number based on the average player being really terrible? How much in comps would I actually generate for two hours of $25 a hand Blackjack?	I just threw the 1.5 number out there. We also factor in skill into house advantage so as to be more favorable to the player, comp wise. comp wise we'd probably give you 15% of the $45, or $6.75. That's just in what we call discretionary comps that the pit supervisor or host can give you. Then you could expect another 30% in the mail via free bets, hotel, food, etc.
I guess you need to register with the casino loyalty club so you know what we are spending.	Correct.
I currently reside in Arizona, where you can't swing a dead cat without hitting an Indian reservation and - as a result - a casino.	Well I've worked all over the country and, yes, of course we always keep an eye out on new competition that would impact our existing customer base, especially as the business has seen much more legalization in new jurisdictions in the past 20 years.
The casino/resorts are getting increasingly sophisticated. Better facilities, better entertainment, and better marketing.	For Vegas, I think most strip properties have dealt with this by investing in properties in regional markets so as to send their customers to their Vegas properties so it is pretty accretive. Someone from Harrah's Ak-Chin in the Phoenix area gets offers from Harrah's Las Vegas quite often.
Is this something the Vegas casinos consider a rising threat, welcome competition, or something else? How do you - as a marketing guy - react to the fact that a trip to a casino no longer necessarily means a trip to Nevada or New Jersey?	The bigger problem really is for the markets where they were a monopoly for some time and really rested on their laurels. Reno and Atlantic City come to mind. Those markets are dying fast and there really isn't much upside. In Atlantic City, for example, you have casinos buying competitors just to close them so as to reduce the inventory.
What really happens when somebody wins on a slot machine? Like, what is the behind the scenes stuff that we don't see? Are they checking out the cameras to make sure it was that specific person before they payout? What if you switch seats? What if an underage gambler wins?... What if they switch seats with an of-age gambler?? Honestly, I've never done that, but I've always wondered the underage stuff because I've never ever got carded on slots! I've won hand-pays before (nothing really exciting) and they always hit me with the tax form. What do you guys do with the tax form? Does it get sent out from you guys or does it remain my responsibility from thereon?	I worked as a slot analyst (analyzing machine performance) years ago and never on the floor so I don't know/remember the exact steps. Essentially, though, it's verifying that the machine is functioning properly and recording the details of the jackpot for audit/regulators. If it is a taxable jackpot ( >= $1,200) then we are required to fill out the IRS W2G form to report it to them for tax purposes so at that point we have to get your ID, etc. to facilitate that. Then of course, there is the matter of actually paying you the money, verifying that it is the correct amount, etc. The tax form does get sent to the IRS. You can request the taxes not be taken out of your jackpot as you are only taxed on the net win at the end of the year.
How did you get involved in the casino bussiness?	1/2.) Just needed a job and applied to a very entry level job and worked my way up.
Did you set out to work at one or did it come about another way?	3.) It can be fun and exciting.
What do you enjoy most about your job? Least?	4.) There's a lot of pressure to make money/meet your budget so all of the bullshit that goes along with that. Dealing with politics, having to adjust staffing, etc. And I don't like that at my level the usual tenure is 2-3 years so you move around a lot. I'd like to be more settled, especially in a place I'd really want to live for a long time and I don't feel like I have much control of that in this business.
1) When you talk about being moved around a lot, is that relating to being moved around in what you do at a particular casino? or more like which casino your working at? 2) Do you feel that your skills at this current job gives you fallback options should your tenure run out? ( Such as in other service based industries?)	1.) I mean there is only one of me at every casino so if something happens whether I don't like where I work or what something different (e.g., more money) or they don't like me (shocking, it happens!) then the likelihood that I have to move is high, especially if I'm in a city that only has a handful of casinos. 2.) I obviously feel like my skills could take me anywhere! But in reality, it has been tough to change industries when I've tried. Usually places like hotels don't pay as much as casinos and look for more sales-related skills and restaurants don't really have marketing people except at the corporate office whereas my skills are more analytics-oriented. And both usually pay less than casinos.
time I went to Vegas (around 30 years ago) it still had that "mob" vibe. When I got married there in the 90s (I joke now that I gambled on marriage in Vegas and lost half my stuff) it was much more "corporate" and "family friendly." The "What Happens in Vegas" campaign seemed to try and change that perception. Do you think there's value in returning Vegas to a more "wise guy" kind of feel...playing up the classic vibe, or is it just a big collection of theme parks with gambling?	The problem with returning to that type of vibe is that it's difficult/impossible given how big the casinos are. Sure it was easy for Benny Binion to control everything and not be "corporate" when the old Horseshoe was literally 1/10th the size of MGM Grand.
What was UNLV like? Did you live in the dorms? It seems like a strange school where everyone commutes and there's no college life around the campus. What are the pros and cons of going there?	I went there for grad school so was older and had a wife and a house. It is definitely a commuter school so there's not a lot of school spirit. I went to undergrad a school with a huge, huge, huge, football program so it was a bit of a change for me. I also didn't find the students to be terribly bright (with exceptions, of course). On the upside, a lot of people like living in Vegas and the Hotel Administration College (where I went) has very, very good brand recognition.
Do you find people have lots of misconceptions about the casino industry?	That the games are rigged and that we love giving away a lot for nothing/little in return are probably the two biggest.
So what's up with prostitutes and the casinos? I understand that prostitution is illegal in Vegas, but that they're still there. Is it like the movies, where they're just hanging out in the casino bars waiting to be picked up?	Yes, they hang out at the bars and then there are services you can call and have them sent to your room. If it's overt, casino security will clear them out of the bar area but the vice cops generally focus on human trafficking kind of stuff.
As an insider, what do you think the job prospects are in the industry for someone with a similar education background, but no casino experience?	1.) The industry relies heavily on industry experience so job prospects are good if you're willing to start in a low position and work you're way up. If you go to UNLV and get the degree I got and expect for some casino to make you a Director of VP with no experience then you're going to be very disappointed.
Is that just bizarre luck?	2.) Bizarre luck.
What does the industry think about states with Indian reservations that prohibit casinos like Texas?	3.) Definitely potential opportunity. I've read about that small tribe in Texas. It'll happen eventually in Texas. The people in Louisiana will not be happy, though.
Is it viewed as a potential opportunity for growth with a small tribe, more competition, or a wedge to open the state to gambling?	4.) No problem!
For every average person out there, would you suggest not playing? I mean, in the sense that, it's just not a viable option?	Viable for what? Making consistent money? Then definitely not. If you are entertained by thrill of gambling and have the discretionary funds to do it, then by all means.
Aw okay! cool. Any idea why people do it? Is it just a thrill? Would being a "whale", make more of a difference?	For the people that do it for entertainment, it's the thrill of anticipation.
Was it hard getting a job with such a detailed degree?	My undergrad degree is pretty bland, political science, so it wasn't hard at first. I did my grad degree in casino management because I was living in Vegas, wanted to get an MBA, didn't want to take 2 years off from work to get a full-time degree, didn't have the support of my job to get an executive MBA, and didn't like UNLV's MBA program.
EDIT: Thanks for answering my first AMA question! Really good answer too!	NP! Keep asking away!
What's your favorite aspect of your job? And do you like to gamble yourself?	1.) It can be exciting. Picking new acts to play in your showroom seems more exciting to me than selling propane. 2.) Yes...
What is the best way for tourist to get the best bang for buck in your casino for entertainment, food, gambling etc to have a good time and not go broke?	I'm currently working at a Vegas strip property.
If you can answer in terms of Vegas, that would be great also.	Unless you have something more specific in mind, the first place I'd direct you to is the Las Vegas Advisor Top 10 Deals List.
With legal online poker gaining momentum which might mean eventual legal online gambling for other house games online; are the casinos doing what they can to kill this before it starts or your thoughts on this?	Las Vegas Sands / Venetian is actively trying to kill it (which I don't really understand) but everyone just sees it as a means to make more money so are ready to pounce when it's legal.
I don't know if you're still answering questions, but what are the qualifications for being, say, a Texas Hold'em Dealer in Vegas, specifically your casino, and are the dealers specific to just one game? I.e. omaha, hold 'em, pai gow, stud... Also, without being too specific, what is the average annual income for said occupation? Are the dealers payed solely by tips/do they get to keep all tips?	1.) Generally there are poker dealers and table games (e.g., blackjack) dealers. Few do both. Among the table games dealers, most know multiple games as the more you know the more hirable you are. In terms of the qualifications it's just that you've gone to some sort of dealer school (there are commercial ones and some casinos do it in-house), experience, and a live audition. 2.) Really depends on the market and the casino. At the high end like Wynn or Venetian they will do close to $100K/year but at an entry-level place it could be more like $25K/year. It's base salary plus pooled tips (aka tokes).
	3.) You've never thought of dealing the WSOP? They need as many dealers as they can find.
Do Casino's design their decor for different target groups?	Of course. Hard Rock and Cosmo are designed for younger demographics and Wynn and Venetian for older affluent ones.
I find all Casino's to be outright horrible to my senses due to the noise/flashing lights.	Encore and the new Barrymore are definitely designed for the Asian gambler. And you'd, obviously, have to assume the casinos in Macau are, too, although I've never been.
Could you describe your typical work day? also I've had some great times a Joker's Wild!	Ha! I honed my dice skills at JW!
	Typical work day is get to work and look at the previous day's financial results and react accordingly. I.e., ask the analysts to pull numbers, talk to the head of a certain department about their opinion on something, etc.
	Emails emails emails.
	Then it's usually a lot of meetings about upcoming things whether it be planning an event, approving new advertising, doing the strategic planning for the property for 2015, meeting with vendors, etc.
	Emails emails emails.
	By this time the numbers or reports I've asked to be run are ready so I sit down and look at them and act accordingly (e.g., hey, looks like we're spending too much on postage to mail to customers too far away, let's change the way we do this for next time), etc.
	Emails emails emails.
	Then it's usually time to go home but 2-3 times a week I'll have a dinner or event to go to with a vendor or colleague or someone from the press.
	Emails emails emails.
	Probably 2-3 Saturdays a month I'll go in and work for a few hours just to catch up on stuff or if there's an event to meet and greet players, make sure everything is going well, etc.
	Emails emails emails.
Has the rise of 6:5 blackjack been hurting the game's popularity, or are there enough people who don't "get" the odds change (or don't care) that it all works out in the end? Is the odds change enough to swing the game back in the casino's favor in the long run even if players count cards? And what about continuous shuffling machines: have any of the casinos you've been with used them, and how did the players react?	The masses don't care about either especially if you're able to offer low limits. The limit and the number of decks is what attracts people to a bj game. Still never going to allow counting.
Is is harder to get jobs in the background or management functions of the casino?	Well certainly there are more what we call "front of house" positions (dealers, porters, servers, bartenders, etc.) than "back of house" positions (accountants, IT, warehouse, etc.) so in terms of pure numbers, yes it's easier to get -any- FOH than -any- BOH position.
I'm an IT grad looking to move back to Vegas and wondered if there were more "non-floor" jobs than actually functional jobs.	That having been said, if you're wanting an IT position shouldn't be too hard if you're willing to work anywhere and have a little experience. If you're wanting to just jump into the CIO job at Bellagio, more difficult.
Great! thank you. I've got about 8 years under my belt, but dear god...no CIO for me. This really eased my worry about options. thanks.	You should be OK as long as you're not too picky.
Just how rigged are the automatic roulette machines?	They aren't. The games have to go through pretty rigorous testing by the state or an agency of the state to be allowed to be sold. Gaming Labs International is one such company.
I would think that SEO campaigns and similar web based marketing would be ineffective techniques for a casino in a place like Las Vegas. Is this the case? I know I'm quite late but I would love to know if you have time.	We definitely do SEO/SEM campaigns but primarily for hotel related keywords for people looking for hotel rooms. I worked at a place a little outside of the main city in the south one time and we'd buy broader search terms for people looking for "entertainment in main city" in case they didn't know there was a casino nearby.
Thanks for the response. I was just curious about engaging people in person in public? Do you operate campaigns on the street such as call to action flyers or similar? Are there laws specific to this type of promotion in Las Vegas?	Not a typical marketing channel most casinos explore, but it's not entirely unheard of. Sorry I'm not entirely sure of the laws.
Who owns the casino you work at? Is it one guy or a publicly traded company?	I'd rather not say as I don't want to be outted but I have worked for large publicly traded companies, privately held companies (e.g., owned by hedge funds), and publicly traded companies where one individual owns the majority of the shares. I've never worked at a privately owned casino owned by one individual, though.
How do I get over 65 year olds excited about my product?	Without knowing what said product is, the best thing I can say is to figure out how to make it relevant to them.
What does a marketing exec. at a casino make a year?	Depends on the size of the property. 75 at a small riverboat casino to 250 at a large place like Bellagio.
To succeed in marketing, what is the first step to landing a successful job? and what should be the over arching goal in mind to maintain a competitive advantage over fellow competition as well as new shifts in market trends?	1.) be tenacious. take any job you can get. be a sponge and learn everything you can.
	2a.) don't be afraid to fail, but be smart (and profitable) about it.
	2b.) don't rest on your laurels. stay in touch with your customers.
Go on ... What does a casino do in that regard?	From a gambling standpoint, people in that age range like penny slots so we offer a lot of penny slots. We put on shows that would appeal to them. We would make the decor more classic vs hip. Etc.
I've always wanted to work in the gaming industry. I have a strong sales background and a B.S. degree... which department would you recommend to get my feet wet?	Probably player development which is the department that deals with VIP guests or maybe special events/promotions.
What's the best movie you've seen this year? You did say we could talk about life in general...	Absolutely! 12 Years a Slave.
	Edit: Also, Dallas Buyer's Club.
Dang, haven't seen it yet...will have to wait for it on DVD or streaming. Edit: Haven't seen that one either. I'm starting look like a Philistine.	It's pretty heavy but sometimes that's good.
Do you prefer to market for families or adults? Casinos are adult fun, but I've noticed a shift in the past decade.	Definitely adults.
Your AMA was one of the best, you answered almost every question, so if you're still answering here's one: If a young person comes in and wins more than 100k and then just leaves, would you suspect him/her of anything?	It really depends more on the manner in which you win and how you behave. We're required by law to fill out a Currency Transaction Report for transactions over $10,000. So if you got to that point you would have already given us your ID, etc. We'd obviously make sure that surveillance is watching you to make sure you're not cheating but if you're on a random hot streak and betting $10K/hand then it wouldn't be a huge deal at most strip properties.
How about a free load just this once? lol. But hypothetically what would 10 grand get you :(	At my place, (which is not an uber classy place like Wynn or Venetian), you'd get pretty much whatever you'd want. Suite, dinners, limo from the airport, show tickets, etc. We'd generally reinvest in you 30% of your loss so just figure out what $3,000 in comps would get you.
What advice can you give to new grads who want to get into marketing, but can get work due to lack of experience?	As I mentioned in a previous post, I believe you really just need to be tenacious and take anything to get your foot in the door. It's a very crowded field, especially on the what I call "pretty picture" side of marketing. I wish I had a more specific answer to give you.
What does being a marketing executive involve?	I usually say I'm in charge of driving profitable revenue. The departments that report up to me are charge of advertising, promotions, entertainment, public relations, direct mail/database marketing, and VIP marketing.
I'm coming to Vegas in December from Australia, can you PM me your email address?	Just PM me. Happy to see if I can help
Do casinos hire interns? I'm currently a student at a public university.	Absolutely. I think most of the major companies have management training/internship programs. Go to their careers websites. Caesars Entertainment, MGM International, Pinnacle Entertainment, Penn National Gaming, etc.
Would you recommend a job in marketing? what skill sets would be helpful for marketing? i'm interested in it but not entirely sure what it's about.	I think the best combination in today's world is to be more right brained with a creative bent as more and more the question asked of marketing folks is "quantify how your idea makes me money?" and less and less "what's the most most creative idea you have?"
	It's a crowded field especially on the left brained side (e.g., advertising and public relations) because people think it's "cool". So if that's you're interest, I'd say being tenacious and creative is what is going to get you far in that world because it's tough to get your foot in the door and you have to have thick skin and then when you do get your foot in the door you are going to have a very short leash to prove yourself.
Any specific company you recommend?	If you're at the intern stage, apply liberally.
Do you have the sides backwards, or do I?	Um, well I think of left brained as creative and right brain analytical?
How selective is the casino management program at UNLV?	The hotel management program in general is not selective but the casino management program is difficult because it's pretty quantitatively-focused so there's a lot of attrition.
What do you do for family entertainment in Vegas?	I'm single so that having been said, there's all your typical family stuff to do here: parks, camping, hiking, movies, bowling, etc.
You don't have any family in Vegas? What's something that you go do with your friends, then?	I'm not from here and my ex-wife hated living here thus why she's my ex. My friends and I go and see concerts, go to bars, we like guns so go shooting sometimes, and most Sundays cook for each other.
Sounds like a nice life!	It's OK. City is kind of soulless and superficial.
One of my favorite aspects of Vegas is that if you want your experience to improve, it's usually a strategic $20 tip away... whether that be a tip to upgrade your room when you check in, to skip the long line at a club, to get a table with a great view at dinner... What potential 'Experience' improvements would you recommend in Vegas?	Link to thetwentydollartrick.com
Vegas or Macau. Which is better?	Better for what?
Have you read The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester?	I haven't.
So basically I should just buy from the half off kiosks?	Yes.
How do you feel about those who are addicted to gambling and those who have lost everything because of it?	Bad, obviously.
Late to this ama, are you still taking questions?	Sure!
Sure buddy.	Do you mean to say that you don't believe me?
I just got started in hospitality marketing, any advice?	Doing what, exactly? Just be willing to make not a lot of money for awhile and be willing to relocate frequently if you want to move up the ladder. I guess those are the first things that come to mind.
Have you had any good marketing ideas that you couldn't do due to marketing regulation.	Not necessarily due to regulation but a lot of times you're gun-shy to do a promotion because well, what happens if no one shows up?
Bastard.	Danka.

Last updated: 2014-05-11 03:39 UTC
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