http://www.casinotop10.net/blog.shtml http://www.casinotop10.net/biggest-losers-in-gambling <p><p><strong>When you put down a wager on the blackjack table or insert a coin in a slot machine you’re always up against the house advantage.</strong></p><br /><p>Whatever game you play, the casino is expected to win a percentage of your bet.</p><br /><p>But where is the casino the biggest favorite?</p><br /><p>Let’s compare the most popular games. (Click on infographic to enlarge)</p><br /><p><a href="http://media.casinotop10.net/infographics/gambling_losers.jpg"><img class="left" src="content-media/_resampled/resizedimage5343953-infographic-losers-in-gambling.jpg" width="534" height="3953"/></a></p><br /><p>Feel free to share it on your blog by <strong>copying the code below</strong> and pasting it (don't make changes, or it could break) in your article</p><br /><table border="1" align="center"><tbody><tr><td><span><<span>a</span><span> <span>href</span>="</span></span><a href="http://www.casinotop10.net/biggest-losers-in-gambling<span><span>"</span><span>></span></span&gt">http://www.casinotop10.net/biggest-losers-in-gambling<span><span>"</span><span>></span></span&gt</a>;<br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><span><<span>img</span><span> <span>width</span>="<span>450</span>"</span><span> <span>height</span>="<span>1500</span>"</span><span> <span>src</span>="<span><a href="http://media.casinotop10.net/infographics/gambling_losers.jpg</span>"</span><span>></span></<span>a</span>></span><br">http://media.casinotop10.net/infographics/gambling_losers.jpg</span>"</span><span>></span></<span>a</span>></span><br</a> />Via: <a href="http://www.casinotop10.net/">CasinoTop10</a></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /></td><br /></tr></tbody></table></p> Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:00:57 -0500 http://www.casinotop10.net/biggest-losers-in-gambling http://www.casinotop10.net/vegas-goes-to-the-dogs.shtml <p><p>Four months ago, I would not have given a damn about this story.<br /><br /><em>Caesars Palace, Imperial Palace and Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino now allow guests to bring along their canine companions for a nightly fee of $20 to $25, depending on the hotel.<br /><br />The fees cover in-room amenities such as food and water dishes and doggie treats. Up to two dogs, each weighing 50 pounds or less, are allowed per room. When unattended, the dogs must be “crated.”  (Cages are available for an additional charge.) Designated outdoor areas for exercise and urinating/crapping are provided.</em><br /><br />Instead of reading this article and nodding in approval, just a few short months ago, I would have turned my nose up in blind self-interest (I am an American after all) and declared "Who in the HELL would be so stupid as to take their dogs to a hotel with them?".<br /><br />"Gee Rex, what changed?  Did you and my mother have a hard time getting a room the last time she was in town?"<br /><br />Well, yes, but that wasn't the turning point.<br /><br />When I set off on my relocation endeavor at the end of July, I had an extremely difficult time finding a place to stay because I had my black bitch with me ... a 20lb female mutt that I rescued from the side of a North Las Vegas street last winter.</p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/245.jpg" alt="Dog and Las Vegas Sign" /></p><br /><p><br />Honestly, I didn't think the dog thing would be a problem.  I figured that we would just stay in motels instead of hotels (Holiday Inn, etc), and everything would be cool.  After all, how picky could a Holiday Inn near an I-84 off-ramp in Twin Falls, Idaho be?<br /><br />As it turns out ... very picky.<br /><br />For the entire duration of my move, I was turned away from inn after inn after inn ... even the crappy ones.  I finally knew <strong>EXACTLY</strong> how Mary and Joseph felt when they were toting Jesus around the desert.<br /><br />There was one place in particular that absolutely astonished me.  A half-boarded up place in Vancouver, Washington for $29/night.  I went into the office, walked up to the clerk who was sitting behind <strong>bulletproof glass</strong>, and asked her how much extra it would cost if I checked in with a small dog.   <br /><br />Her reply was swift and firm:<br /><br />"No dogs allowed!"<br /><br />This place was clearly the domicile of hoes, johns, and meth heads, and the clerks feared enough for their lives that they had to sit behind bullet-barriers -- but the one, <strong>ONE</strong> policy they adhered to was a banishment of canines.  They must have had one hell of a bad experience with dogs at one point.<br /><br />Unfortunately, this scenario was repeated time, and time, and time again.  I spent an inordinate amount of the day finding a place that would accept my canine, and when I did find them, they often wanted ridiculous sums of money (up to double the price of the room), just so my dog could sleep in a cage at the foot of the bed for 7 hours.  Note that I said "cage" and not "crate".  "Crate" is a word dog-lovers like to use to make themselves feel better about sticking their dogs in cages, but I choose not to participate in this little delusion.  The Clark County Detention Center by any other name is still a goddamn jail.<br /><br />Anyway ... one day my luck ran out and I knew conclusively that I could no longer continue travelling with my pet.<br /><br />After spending the day in Seattle, I drove back to Portland at about 1am, and could not find a hotel.  The ones that had accepted my dog before were full, and the only ones that were left had a strict no-dog policy.  Being so late on a weeknight, I didn't want to call any people I knew to crash at their place, so I did the only thing I could do ... I booked a room for the other humans in my party while I slept in a minivan in the hotel parking lot with a black bitch who woke me up periodically to lick my face.<br /><br />On the bright side, what used to cost me $150/hour was now free, but I knew that something had to give.<br /><br />The next day, I took my dog to a friend's house on a hill in Northwest Portland, and asked if she could dogsit for a month or so.  Fortunately, my friend was ecstatic, and she was still quite happy even after I withdrew.  Since my dog is cool (how could she not be, she's my dog?), my freind agreed to the arrangement without hesitation, and we've more or less shared joint custody ever since.  When I know I'm going to be home a lot, the dog stays with me, if I know that I'm going to be busy, the dog stays in Stumptown.<br /><br />Once I relieved myself of the dog, my travels became oh-so-much easier, and I now have a great deal of empathy for you dog travelers out there.  I was astounded at the level of discrimination I encountered toward these pets.  Even small pets that sleep in a cage and which really don't bother anyone are not welcome.  I understand that the animals can be a nuisance, but honestly, I'd rather be in a room next to dogs than a room with 4 kids in it.<br /><br />As such, I for one welcome this policy.  I'm still not exactly sure <strong>why</strong> someone would want to bring their dog on a Las Vegas vacation, but I don't have to understand something to support it.  Perhaps people cannot find a dogsitter, perhaps people don't trust a dogsitter, perhaps people don't want a minimum-wage dog walker to plunder through and possibly rob their house when they are gone ... whatever.  Choice is always good.<br /><br />Also, I am glad to see that the added cost is quite reasonable.  I've had fleabag motels quote me up to $75/night for my dog, so in my opinion, $25 at a four star place is a steal.  Especially when you factor in the doggie treats and designated exercise areas ... which is more than most motels will give you.</p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/239.jpg" alt="Dogs in Las Vegas" /></p><br /><p><br />And so it is.  Dog lovers rejoice.  For an extra $40-$50 per weekend, your pet can now accompany you as you indulge in all the 6:5 Blackjack Harrah's has to offer.<br /><br />Kudos to Harrah's for initiating this program.<br /><br />Now if you will excuse me, I need to go pick up a black bitch on the northwest side of Portland so that we can have a little fun this weekend.<br /><br />While there, I may drop by and see my dog, too.</p></p> Sun, 31 Oct 2010 00:09:37 -0500 http://www.casinotop10.net/vegas-goes-to-the-dogs.shtml http://www.casinotop10.net/10-reasons-i-want-online-gambling-legalized.shtml <p><p>My experience in Indian local casinos over the past couple of weeks have left me pining for the day when online gambling is legalized not only in Washington State, but in the entire United States.  I'm not talking about the psuedo-legalization we have today where you can play as long as it's not funded through certain routes, rather, I am talking about real, regulated, full scale legalization where people can gamble out in the open from any computer or bank account they choose without fear or risk.<br /><br />Why?<br /><br />Because in my opinion, gambling online is simply the better option, and this time I offer a full 10 reasons to support my hypothesis.<br /><br /><br /><strong>1) No Tipping </strong><br /><br />Far and away the biggest reason.  <br /><br />Even though I look like a bum, I have always erred on the side of over-tipping when I visit a casino.  I'm not sure why, but I think it's part social-awkawrdness, and part feeling badly for someone who actually has to work in a casino.<br /><br />I tip Blackjack dealers on nearly every natural, and I tend to roll a couple of chips to the Poker dealer even when I only win a small pot pre-flop.<br /><br />When it comes to gaming, not having to tip will be a huge boon to my bottom line.<br /><br /><br /><strong>2) No Security Guards</strong><br /><br />This almost made the #1 spot, but missed by a hair.<br /><br />In my opinion, cop-wannabes are destroying the in-casino experience.  Be it a fear of cameras, <a href="indians-2-rex-0-part-1.shtml/">bottled water</a>, or some other trivial problem ... good god, these people have more issues than Time magazine.  At this point, I am just sick of the power trips, and sick of being harassed.  I'm sick of security guards, and if I never see another one it will be too soon.<br /><br />When you play online, the house doesn't care what's in your cup, what's in your back pocket, or what's in your hand.<br /><br />This is a good thing, because what's in my hand is usually covered below.</p><br /><p><br /><strong>3) No Dress Code</strong><br /><br />I don't like wearing pants.<br /><br />There, I said it.<br /><br />I like to rock out with my cock out, and hang out with my wang out.<br /><br />Most casinos have relaxed dress-codes, but one thing all of them share is a requirement to cover your wiener.  <br /><br />Like feminists and bras, I find this draconian, oppressive, and sexist.  <br /><br />Online casinos do not discriminate based on what one wears, or even if they wear anything at all, and I find this to be liberating.<br /><br /><br /><strong>4) All The Goddamn Profanity You Want</strong><br /><br />It's always amused me that places which offer gambling and booze have such strict "foul language" rules.  I mean, who defines this "foul language" anyway?<br /><br />Jesus?  A pack of nuns somewhere in the bowels of the vatican?  Sherman Frederick?  How bad can these words be anyway?  I mean, not a single one has ever been shown to cause cancer, or even anal warts.<br /><br />The whole thing is a mystery to me and  I've been warned about such language in casinos so many times that I've lost count.  Frankly, "bad" words are a part of my vocabulary.  They always have been and they probably always will be, and when I am gaming online, I can shout them as often as I wish.<br /><br /><br /><strong>5) Lower Limits/Better Odds</strong><br /><br />While this can vary from place to place, from what I've seen so far ... online casinos offer better gaming odds and lower limits overall.  For a low-roller like myself, this is very attractive.  Take my favorite online machine, for example, <a href="reel-gangsters.shtml/">Reel Gansters</a> ... I can play as little as a penny or as much as $5 per spin.  Most casino machines are hardcoded to a specific price.<br /><br />With 6:5 Blackjack and shortpay Video Poker becoming commonplace on The Strip, online gaming is often a better bang for my buck.<br /><br /><br /><strong>6) Ambiance</strong></p><br /><p>When I am in a brick-and-mortar casino, everything is out of my control.  The sounds, the sights, the smells, you pretty much have to take what you are given.<br /><br />With online casinos, however, the sky is the limit.<br /><br />Gamble from a public park on a nice day?  Yes we can.<br /><br />Sit beachside at Alki while playing a game of $1/$2 NL?  Yes we can.<br /><br />Play slots during Family Guy commercial breaks?  Yes we can.<br /><br />I like having my choice of atmosphere when I gamble, and internet gaming is the only real place where I have that choice.</p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/241.jpg" alt="Online Gaming" /></p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/243.jpg" alt="Online Gaming" /></p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/244.jpg" alt="Online Gaming" /></p><br /><p><br /><strong>7) No Waiting Lists</strong><br /><br />I hate getting on the waiting list and standing on the rail like I am desperate to get picked for dodgeball.  Even when the poker room gives me a pager, it's still a hassle because I never know how much time I will have to do something else.  Will I have time to order a slice of pizza?  Will I have time to take a whiz ... who knows.<br /><br />When I'm ready to play, I'm ready to play, and time on the waiting list can quickly get me out of the mood.<br /><br />Online, the amount of tables is limited only by software and bandwidth.<br /><br /><br /><strong>8) No Commute</strong><br /><br />Everyone has their own image of what they think hell looks like, and in my opinion, it looks remarkably similar to the Circus Circus parking garage.  Actually, if you ask me, all casino parking garages are just awful, awful places.<br /><br />Factor in drunken street traffic and long trudges through casino interiors and I often get out of the mood to gamble before I even hit the tables.<br /><br />Online, however, it's flip open the laptop, take care of business, and close it when I'm done.  No fuss, no muss.<br /><br />When you add the cost and time of airfare and hotel rooms to the equation for those who live in remote locales, online gaming is the more practical choice by far.<br /><br /><br /><strong>9)  No "Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner"</strong><br /><br />"A chip and a chair", "I'm gonna pay you off just to keep you honest", "I had to play those cards even though I knew they were losers" ... has anyone come up with a unique poker saying in the last 20 years?  If so, I haven't heard it.<br /><br />Online gambling remedies this situation.  It prevents social interaction between you and the guy who dedicates his life to watching ESPN Poker.<br /><br />If you've spent as much time in poker rooms as I have, this benefit is huge.<br /><br /><br /><strong>10)  Choice</strong><br /><br />Two companies own pretty much all of the Las Vegas Strip, and they both are fairly evil.  Even the few alternatives that exist to the main corporate casinos are evil (such as The Wynn).  The problem is, the ability to go elsewhere is fading, and fading fast.<br /><br />It's a different world online, however, where literally scores of casinos compete over your gaming dollar.<br /><br />I'm a fan of competition, and as casinos continue to consolidate in brick-and-mortar locations, the only true competition that will remain is online.</p></p> Sat, 30 Oct 2010 23:14:54 -0500 http://www.casinotop10.net/10-reasons-i-want-online-gambling-legalized.shtml http://www.casinotop10.net/indians-2-rex-0-part-2.shtml <p><p>I was fed up.  I feel like everytime I go to a casino here there is always <strong>SOME</strong> problem and it's always completely stupid and petty.  I'm so over it and so sick of it.<br /><br />The security guard seemed very surprised by my reaction, and he seemed a little hesitant and nervous when he replied "Is that water?".<br /><br />What is it with me and security guards?  Am I so handsome that they become intimidated at the very sight of me?  Are they afraid that I'm going to take all the bitches and leave none for them to ogle via hidden camera?  I mean, I could almost understand that as a reason for why they are <strong>always</strong> on my nutsack.</p><br /><p>Anyway, Ninja and I had the following conversation (give or take a few syllables and pissed off facial expressions):</p><br /><p><strong>Me</strong>: "You are following me because you want to know if the bottle of water I am holding in my hand is really a bottle of water?  Really?  Yes, it's my own personal bottle of water.  It's mine, mine, all mine, and you can't have any."</p><br /><p><strong>Guard</strong>: "You are not allowed to have that in here."</p><br /><p><strong>Me</strong>: "I'm not allowed to have a bottle of water in a casino?"</p><br /><p><strong>Guard</strong>: "How do we know it's water?"</p><br /><p><strong>Me</strong>: "What does that even mean?  I don't know how you know.  How does anyone know anything?  I guess we know things because of the scientific method.  Do you have any evidence or cause to believe that what I have in this bottle is <strong>NOT</strong> water?"</p><br /><p><strong>Guard</strong>: "I don't know."</p><br /><p><strong>Me</strong>: "Well, what do you think is in this bottle?</p><br /><p><strong>Guard</strong>: "I don't know ... that's the point.  We don't allow bottles in the casino because we have no way of knowing what is in them ... that is why I am going to need to ask you to take the bottle back to your car or throw it away."</p><br /><p><strong>Me</strong>: "Put my bottle of liquid plutonium in a casino trashcan?  Isn't that a little bit dangerous?"</p><br /><p><strong>Guard</strong>: "Sir ..."</p><br /><p><strong>Me</strong>: "Fine, fine, I'll return the bottle to my car and I'll return myself out of here.  I don't understand you people, I really don't."</p><br /><p>And with that, I made my way back out to the parking lot (with an escort, of course) ... and left.</p><br /><p>On the drive home, I was confused.  I really was ... and I have a question.</p><br /><p>What <strong>IS WRONG</strong> with the people who run these casinos?  I ask this question in all seriousness.  I thought Las Vegas casinos were paranoid, but you Chief Sitting Bull mofos take the dunce cap.  Seriously guys, lay off the goddamn peyote and mescaline.  It's making you paranoid ... too paranoid.</p><br /><p>I mean ... a bottle of water that a poker player brings in ... really?  When did that become a threat too?</p><br /><p>When it comes to casinos, it's amateur hour up here. </p><br /><p>Now ... <strong>NOW</strong> I see why <a href="i-fought-the-law-and-the-law-won.shtml/">Washington State does not want online gambling legalized</a>.  If it were made legal, nobody under the age of 90 would darken the doorstep of an Indian gaming hall.</p><br /><p>Why would they?</p><br /><p>So Geronimo could follow them around demanding ID scans and complaining about the fact that they stay hydrated?</p><br /><p>Is that the kind of casino regulation that the Washington State Legislature thinks we need?</p><br /><p>If so, fuck them.</p><br /><p>Right in the ear.</p><br /><p>Just ... right in the middle of their ear hole with John Holmes' pecker.</p><br /><p>These silly, paranoid, amateur, poorly-run local casinos have absolutely no idea how to treat customers, and I've no idea why anyone goes to these places.</p><br /><p>I can't wait until Washington State legalizes online gambling ... or at least online poker, because brick and mortar casinos are so played out.  They're so 20th century.  They're almost completely obsolete.</p><br /><p>With that being said, I have a confession to make.  For the first time in awhile, I actually missed Las Vegas.  It may be the worst place in the world to live, but I'll be damned if they don't have the best casinos in the USA.  By far.  Really, there is just no comparison.  The difference between a place like Planet Hollywood or Bellagio and a place like the Little Creek Casino is like night and day.  They shouldn't even both be called "casinos".  This is like calling both Janet Reno and Jessica Alba "women".  There simply has to be an additional category.</p><br /><p>I was so used to living in the shadow of Vegas casinos for years, that I really forgot just how good I had it on the gaming front, and for that, I need to man up and say:</p><br /><p>Las Vegas, you have my apologies.</p><br /><p>As for you Indian (feather not dot) folks, you may have had the last laugh yesterday, but don't get too full of yourselves.</p><br /><p>My people still own 99.9% of your land, and remember that bottle of water that you made me take outside?</p><br /><p>It's not biodegradable.</p><br /><p><br /><object width="480" height="385" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/m4ozVMxzNAA?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><br /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><br /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><br /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/m4ozVMxzNAA?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" /><br /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><br /></object><br /></p><br /><p>Read: <a href="indians-2-rex-0-part-1.shtml/">Indians-2 : Rex-0 Part 1</a></p></p> Fri, 29 Oct 2010 17:35:28 -0500 http://www.casinotop10.net/indians-2-rex-0-part-2.shtml http://www.casinotop10.net/indians-2-rex-0-part-1.shtml <p><p>Sometimes things just weren't meant to be.<br /><br />Like pow-wows, for instance.<br /><br /><a href="flattery-got-me-nowhere.shtml/">After deciding to opt-out of the ID-scan at Hawk's Prairie Casino last week</a>, I decided to give my "other" local casino a try.<br /><br />Little Creek is a large-ish casino on Route 101 in Mason County, Washington.  This is the same Route 101 that begins in Los Angeles, carves up the entire length of the West Coast, and ends in Olympia.  One day, I am going to travel this route from beginning to end just to say that I've done it<br /><br />Yesterday, however, my goals were more modest.  I endeavored to eat at a casino buffet for the first time since I left Las Vegas, and also to get some more Indian (feather not dot) casino gaming under my belt.<br /><br />And so I went ... I drove 20 minutes northwest to the middle of nowhere, parked my car, and walked toward the front doors.</p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/235.jpg" alt="Little Creek Casino" /></p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/228.jpg" alt="Little Creek Casino" /></p><br /><p>Now, I have to admit that I was a little bit impressed by the external size of Little Creek.  The combined size of the hotel/casino was larger than I had imagined.  Were it not for the evergreen trees on the horizon and the clouds overhead, I might have mistaken the place for The Silverton or Sam's Town.  It had a multi-level parking garage, several sprawling parking lots, a valet, and half a dozen entrances.  Finally, I had found a new gambling hall that would rival the busy-ness of a Vegas locals joint.<br /><br />When I got inside, however, I soon realized that I was probably not the target demographic of this particular casino because I was, by far, the youngest person in the place.  If I had to guess, I would estimate that the age of the average patron was 65 years old, if not older.  While this is not necessarily a bad thing (I'll take cottonheads over douchenuggets any day of the week), I knew that my chances of actually being able to eat in the buffet were slim.  Not only do old people love buffets, but since their kids are grown and they receive monthly income checks courtesy of whippersnsppers like me... old folks also tend to have an over-abundance of time.  They have an infinite amount of time to wait in line, and they are in no hurry to finish up and leave once they get inside.<br /><br />It's funny how keen my 'sense of casino' is, because when I finally found the entrance to the buffet, it was clear that my fears were completely founded:</p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/233.jpg" alt="Little Creek Casino Buffet Line" /></p><br /><p><br />Needless to say, the buffet was out of the question, but this didn't mean that I couldn't get my Hold 'em on.  Before spending a couple of hours sitting at a table with old men, though, I wanted to explore.  I wanted to walk around to see if any of the old Vegas excitement struck me.<br /><br />Now, before I go any further, I should probably explain that, when I go to play a session of Hold 'em, I always carry the elephant suppository with me.<br /><br />What is the elephant suppository?</p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/237.jpg" alt="Bottle of Water" /></p><br /><p>It's the nickname for my 33.8 ounce Smart Water bottle.  I like the shape and size of this bottle.  It is large (only slightly smaller than my dick), yet it fits in my bicycle water bottle holder, fits in my backpack, and also fits in my minivan drink holder.  Whenever I need to buy bottled water when I am out, I usually buy this bottle so that I can re-fill it from my own faucet.  One bottle usually lasts me for two weeks of refills at which point I buy a new, clean one.  We all have our quirks, and my insistence on only carrying the elephant suppository for my hydration needs is one of mine. <br /><br />Anyway ...</p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/230.jpg" alt="Little Creek Casino" /></p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/234.jpg" alt="Little Creek Casino" /></p><br /><p>I walked from the main casino floor to the Non-Smoking casino.  This was the first non-smoking casino that I have seen, and interestingly enough, it was more populated than the druggie casino.  I've always maintained that a non-smoking casino would do decent business, and I maintain that position to this day.  To their credit, Little Creek has created two seperate floors serving both demographics, and they enjoy the best of both worlds.  Pretty smart.<br /><br />As I wound my way through the various areas of the casino, I could not help but notice that I was being shadowed.  It was subtle at first, but with every passing moment I noticed an older (about 60) male security guard tailing me a little closer and a little closer.  He tried to make it look as though he was just on routine patrol, but this wasn't my first goatfuck and I know when I'm being followed. <br /><br />Now, I've got to tell you straight up, the paranoid casino guard routine is getting soooooo old.  They are killing the experience for me.  I'm just not down with it anymore.  Casinos have so many petty hangups these days that I'm <strong>this close</strong> to avoiding them altogether.  This is why it has taken me so long to get to the casinos up here in the first place, and it was why my mood went straight to shit when I noticed Geriatric Ninja Guard stalking me.</p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/232.jpg" alt="Little Creek Casino" /></p><br /><p>By the time I got to the poker room, he was on my ass and I could no longer ignore him.  Just before entering the poker room doorway, I turned around and very irritatedly said "What? What? What? What is it? What now? Why are you following me? What's the the problem now?"</p><br /><p>Read: <a href="indians-2-rex-0-part-2.shtml/">Indians-2 : Rex-0 Part 2</a></p></p> Fri, 29 Oct 2010 17:30:55 -0500 http://www.casinotop10.net/indians-2-rex-0-part-1.shtml http://www.casinotop10.net/vindication-is-mine-2.shtml <p><p>Education and intelligence are not one and the same.</p><br /><p>I've been to college.  I know thousands upon thousands of college graduates.  Many (most?) of them are not what I would consider smart.</p><br /><p>As a matter of fact, what do you call an upper-middle-class person with an IQ of 60?</p><br /><p>A Liberal Arts Major.</p><br /><p>I would even go so far as to take it a step further and tell you that any degree with the word "Arts" in the title is nothing more than an overpriced Certificate of Participation.  If you aren't going to college to become a doctor, nuclear physicist, or other scientific/engineering major ... then you are just pissing your money away at a summer camp for adults who are too immature to grow up and live their own lives.  You are paying for Spring Breaks and a mastery of beer bongs, and there is little you will learn in school that you could not learn on your own with just a little bit of self-directed motivation.</p><br /><p>Have you any idea the number of businesses you could start on your own for the cost of a four-year "education"?  Colleges don't teach people how to be smart, they teach people how to be good workers for other people.  They teach people how to be good wage slaves, and they teach political correctness as a litmus test for intellectual superiority.</p><br /><p>No matter how much money you give to an institution, be it $10,000 or $10,000,000 ... no matter what degree they bestow upon you ... be it an Associates Degree or a Doctorate ... the fact is that no school can make you more intelligent.</p><br /><p>IQ is something you are born with and (within some minor parameters) cannot be changed.  You can take all the college credits you want, read all the books you want, amass all the degrees you can earn ... but your IQ will be the same as it was before you started.  If you are less intelligent than I am now, you will still be less intelligent than I, even after you obtain four doctorate degrees.  You will be better <strong>educated</strong>, but you would have to live with the fact that, armed with the same opportunities, I could surpass you at any time I wanted.</p><br /><p>If a college degree were all that it took to be intelligent, then the NBA would be the single largest repository of smart people in the world.</p><br /><p>By the Daily Beast's own formula, people like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs would be considered "dumb".  This is ridiculous.  They may be narcissistic.  They may be evil.  They may be greedy.  They are not, however, dumb.</p><br /><p>Instead of the DB's flawed methodology, I prefer my own intelligence benchmarks which involve the simple observation of things such as: Problem solving ability, language proficiency, amount of illegitimate children,  commission of violent crimes, Jerry Springer viewership, desire to learn new things, ability to withstand peer pressure, familiarity with idols (celebrities, etc), desire to socialize, and religious affiliation.  In my opinion, there is no better predictor of high IQ than religion.  I am of the staunch belief that the IQ of Atheists are probably 50%-100% higher than that of those who believe in a "god". </p><br /><p>In addition, I take into account relative levels of contentment in unstimulating environments.</p><br /><p>Remember the intelligent Vegas friends of which I spoke above?</p><br /><p>They all have one thing in common:  They are miserable in Las Vegas and they have a desire to move elsewhere as soon as they can. </p><br /><p>Vegas had potential at one point, but an intelligent person just can't be happy with the overheated, Mexico-lite, strip-mall culture of the town.  If someone is truly content and satisfied in Las Vegas 2010, then it probably means that they are not terribly bright.  There is a reason that the Desert Southwest has so few tech industries.  You just can't thrive mentally in an always-sunny environment.</p><br /><p>If you look closely at a world globe, you will quickly realize that the intellectual elite of the planet have always gravitated away from the equator.  This is not a fluke or an anomaly.  Spin the globe, and you will find that the equator more or less serves as an "intelligence line".  Almost every country it touches is either a third world shithole or a Banana Republic, and the countries with the highest life expectancies, lowest infant mortality rates, and highest qualities of life generally skew toward the 40th parallel and above.</p><br /><p>The same goes for states and cities.  You can easily code an app in Boston, but when you take your laptop to Miami, the sun and heat will make you want to go outside and lust after women's barely-covered boobs and asses.  Warmer, sunnier areas bring out the more primitive instincts within us.  This is reflected in higher illegitimate birth rates in more tropical areas.</p><br /><p>Damn, I just killed my own buzz.</p><br /><p>Even after saying all that I did above, I suppose that I really have to take what I can get.  It's such a rare day that someone in the mainstream actually agrees with me that I should probably stop analyzing it and just enjoy the moment.</p><br /><p>And so I will.</p><br /><p>The results are in, and as it turns out, I was right all along.  Las Vegas really is the dumbest city in the USA.  </p><br /><p>I finally get to sit back and watch someone else eat shit for stating the obvious.</p><br /><p>For those of you in Las Vegas with your finger on the 'enter' key, ready to fire off another angry "I is too smart!" missive from an anonymized email address with a fake name ... for once ... I am going to encourage you.</p><br /><p>Go ahead, go nuts.  Let it all out.</p><br /><p>Just make sure you get the recipient email address correct:  editorial [at] thedailybeast.com</p><br /><p>Read: <a href="vindication-is-mine-1.shtml/">Vindication is Mine 1</a></p></p> Wed, 27 Oct 2010 04:59:47 -0500 http://www.casinotop10.net/vindication-is-mine-2.shtml http://www.casinotop10.net/vindication-is-mine-1.shtml <p><p>I've been known to be sarcastic every now and then. </p><br /><p>Sometimes, this leads to people not being 100% sure when I am serious.  A good example of this would be my verbal attacks against Canada.  I don't really hate Canada, to the contrary, I think it's possibly the best nation on the planet.  My ridicule of that country is purely a case of sour grapes.  Bashing hosers up north provides intellectual comfort to me when I am holding my nose and writing a $180 check for a three minute doctor visit.<br /><br />Then, of course, there is my oft-repeated claim that Las Vegas is populated by the least intelligent people on the planet.<br /><br />Since I clearly bash other places in jest, am I being sarcastic about this as well?<br /><br />No, I am not.  When I opine that Las Vegas is the dumbest city in the USA, I assure you that I could not be more serious.  <em>(The photo in this article is actual graffiti in a Las Vegas McDonald's.)</em><br /><br />"Gee Rex, I live in Las Vegas, does this mean that you think I'm stupid?"<br /><br />Not necessarily.  Common sense should tell you that I do not think that everyone in Vegas is stupid.  This would be statistically impossible.  Not all Canadians have small wieners, and not all Las Vegans are dumb ... it's just that the majority of them do and are.  <br /><br />I had, and still have quite a few friends in Vegas, and most of them are pretty bright.   Then there are the old-timers.  Back on my old block in Beverly Green, I was surrounded by very smart (and very eccentric) people.  Most of these folks had lived in Vegas since the 1970's and before, and they were quite sharp.<br /><br />When I think back to it, it seems to me that the dim bulbs didn't begin moving to Las Vegas en-masse until sometime in the 1990's, and the really, really stupid ones arrived between 2005 and 2008 ... at which point they quickly bought houses.  These are the poor souls that didn't know what hit them as they were preyed upon ad-nausum by armies of heartless Vegas real estate agents.  Enticing people to buy real estate in Vegas in 2007 was akin to kicking a retarded kid and stealing his lunch money.  Just because it's easy to do, doesn't mean that you should do it.  I've no idea how those greedy, evil assholes sleep at night. <br /><br />Then, of course, there was the great illegal alien invasion of the 1990's & 2000's fueled by the construction boom.  This is when Vegas' collective IQ really began to crater.  I'm sorry, but anyone that moves to a new country and doesn't learn how to speak the language within two months is mentally slow at best, and mentally retarded at worst.  I am not being facetious. <br /><br />Think about it.<br /><br />If you can't use your wits to make it in a place like Mexico, and can't be bothered to learn a new language when you cross the border to "make a better life for yourself" (it would take a $20 book and 80 hours of your time to become reasonably fluent), then you are pretty much the intellectual inferior to a houseplant.  There's just no other explanation.  What intelligent person would not be motivated enough to educate themselves in the language of their domicile?  Clearly they are just not able to learn.<br /><br />During the last decade, these two groups of people came together in the perfect place at the perfect time to create the perfect cerebral shitstorm.  I've always called it like I see it, and this is what I believe to be the truth.</p><br /><p>Still, there are people out there who are completely convinced that my attacks against the intelligence of Las Vegans are simply the misguided rants of an angry misanthrope.  They think I am exaggerating.  They think that I cannot possibly be correct.<br /><br />If you are one of those people, allow me to cordially invite you to read 'em and weep:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/oct/26/americas-dumbest-city-annual-report-says-its-las-v/ " target="_blank"><a href="http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/oct/26/americas-dumbest-city-annual-report-says-its-las-v/">http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/oct/26/americas-dumbest-city-annual-report-says-its-las-v/</a> </a><br /><br /><em>Las Vegas once again is on a list it would rather not be associated with. The city was ranked the “dumbest” by the Daily Beast website this week.<br /><br />The Las Vegas metropolitan area took the last spot on the website’s list of America’s smartest cities, ranking 55 out of 55 metropolitan areas with a population of more than 1 million.<br /><br />The website gave each metro area an IQ score. Las Vegas scored 3.33. The No. 1 city on the list, Boston, scored 176.68. A perfect score was 200 and the average was 100 ...<br /><br />The score was calculated using education and “intellectual environment” indicators, the Daily Beast said. The education portion was based on the number of residents over the age of 25 who had bachelor’s or graduate degrees compared to the total population over 25. The intellectual score considered the area’s sales of nonfiction books, the ratio of institutions of higher education and the number of libraries per capita.<br /><br />The Las Vegas area’s 1.9 million residents bought 1,069,000 nonfiction books so far this year, the website said, while 14 percent of residents have bachelor’s degrees and 7 percent have graduate degrees.</em><br /><br />Wow, on a scale of 1 to 200, with the average being 100 ... Las Vegas scored a 3.  <strong>A THREE!</strong><br /><br />This is hardly surprising to me, but wait ... <br /><br />While I suppose it feels good to be backed up on some level, I'll be honest, I have problems with this study's methodology.  Instead of taking random, representative IQ samples, it instead used a completely arbitrary formula calculated as follows:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-10-24/ranking-americas-smartest-and-dumbest-cities/?cid=hp:beastoriginalsR3" target="_blank"><a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-10-24/ranking-americas-smartest-and-dumbest-cities/?cid=hp:beastoriginalsR3</a><br">http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-10-24/ranking-americas-smartest-and-dumbest-cities/?cid=hp:beastoriginalsR3</a><br</a> /><br /><em>Overall, we divided the criteria into two parts: Half for education, and half for intellectual environment. The education half encompassed the percentage of residents over age 25 that had bachelor’s degrees (25 percent weighting) and graduate degrees (25 percent), compared to the overall population over age 25. The intellectual environmental half had three subparts. First, we looked at year-to-date nonfiction book sales (16.7 percent), as tracked by Nielsen BookScan, the nation’s leading provider of accurate point-of-sale data, which tracks roughly 300,000 titles each week. We also measured the ratio of institutions of higher education (16.7 percent), as defined by the federal government—different than just measuring college degrees, this acknowledges that universities as driver of intellectual vigor of cities and rewards cities with college populations. Finally, libraries per capita (16.7 percent) measures how willing and able a city is to educate the general public, as well as the no-cost opportunities for the public to educate itself.</em><br /><br />Basically, the Daily Beast ranked municipal intelligence almost wholly by college credentials, number of libraries, and the number of non-fiction books purchased.<br /><br />In my opinion, this makes the Daily Beast editors ... somewhat dumb.<br /><br />Why?<br /><br />Because these factors don't have anything to do with intelligence -- they have to do with education.</p><br /><p>Read: <a href="vindication-is-mine-2.shtml/" target="_blank">Vindication is Mine 2</a></p></p> Wed, 27 Oct 2010 04:12:12 -0500 http://www.casinotop10.net/vindication-is-mine-1.shtml http://www.casinotop10.net/a-geography-lesson.shtml <p><p>I've taken a lot of flak over the years, but trust me, there will come a time when everyone, even my detractors, will come to realize that everything I have said about Las Vegas is completely true. </p><br /><p>Look, since you are already here reading this post ... indulge me for a moment if you will ...</p><br /><p>I would like for you to print out this map below of the USA, grab a pen, and then come back to this article.<em><br /></em></p><br /><p>Go ahead, I'll wait.</p><br /><p>Got it?</p><br /><p>Good.</p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/usa_map.gif" alt="Map of USA" /></p><br /><p>Now look at the map.  I want you to use your abstract imagination a little bit.  Picture Maine being the head of the country, Florida being the legs, and the eastern seaboard making up the rest of the torso.</p><br /><p>It gets a little bit trickier from here, but remember, use your imagination.  </p><br /><p>Now, picture everything west of the Mississippi River being the elephantised posterior of the country.  You've no doubt seen those women on Jerry Springer with normal sized bodies and improbable, humongous rear ends.  Well, that's what we're going for here.</p><br /><p>Now, I want you to concentrate specifically on the states of California, Utah, Arizona, and Nevada.  See them?</p><br /><p>At this point, I want you to zoom in a little more and draw a circle that encompasses Southern California, Southern Utah, Southern Nevada, and Northern Arizona.  It can even be elliptical if you would prefer so long as you get the above areas inside of the circle.</p><br /><p>Are you with me?</p><br /><p>Great.</p><br /><p>Now, in the very center of that circle, just beside where the State of Arizona indents into the State of Nevada, I want you to put a little dot.  Right there ... a small dot right in the center of the circle.</p><br /><p>Did you find it?</p><br /><p>I knew that you would.</p><br /><p>Now, look again at the little dot that you just made.</p><br /><p>Do you know what that is?  </p><br /><p>No?</p><br /><p>Well, I'll tell you.  </p><br /><p>That exact, precise point on the map is the asshole of the USA.</p><br /><p>While the larger circle is the smelly, dingleberry-laden brown eye of the country ... that dot you made is the exact point where this nation's shit ends up.  It's where the least competent, the least intelligent, the most violent, and the most greedy come together to bake and simmer in a dirt encapsulated cesspool.  It's the only place in America where the owner of a major newspaper would entertain the notion of shaking down and extorting its readers, and in many cases ... its sources ... as a primary business model.  It is stupid personified.  It is greed personified.  It is ignorance personified.  It is worse than Canada.</p><br /><p>As the Righthaven-Journal continues their extortion campaign against people who actively drive traffic to their site, I believe that more and more of the public will begin waking up to this fact.</p><br /><p>As for Sherm Sherm the Super Sperm, disgrace to the human race ... what can you say about the guy?  This is the man that turned over his own readers to the Feds while hiding behind the First Ammendment.  <a href="http://www.casinoguide.com/blogs/current-events/dear-sherman/" target="_blank">This is the guy that compares cut-and-pasting text to stealing a Corvette.</a>  The guy is nuttier than a rat in a tin shithouse.  He's an evil guy with a low IQ and he's not afraid to use it.  He's the perfect publisher for a Las Vegas newspaper, the city for people who can't make it anywhere else.</p><br /><p>Over the past 6 months, I think I've done a pretty good job of boycotting the R-J.  Unless it was to ridicule them, I've steered clear of linking to them at all. Since almost all newspapers cover the same stories, it's been incredibly easy to do so.  Even easier than I expected. </p><br /><p>For every article the R-J prints, there are usually 3-4 other news sites that do the same.  When it comes to facts, pretty much everyone obtains the same ones.  If the RJ doesn't want positive blogger attention, then I really don't see any reason to give it to them.</p><br /><p>For the sake of their own employees, however, some of them good people ... I can only hope that the Righthaven-Journal loses every suit.  If the R-J wins a single lawsuit at trial, I think it will be the end of the paper.  Their eyes will light up and they will see too many dollar signs to be able to hold back.  They will wield that judgement like a bat and they will shake down every webpage that has ever excerpted or linked to even two lines of their text.  If it isn't already, news will become secondary to the extortion racket, and more people will have no choice but to ignore the paper simply in self-defense.</p><br /><p>While I would like to see the people of Las Vegas actively boycott the newspaper's advertisers, I am acutely aware that this will never happen.  The average Las Vegan has no clue as to what is going on.  They aren't familiar with concepts such as fair use or abuse of process.  They thought $400,000 McMansions in the desert were a can't-lose proposition.  Explaining the merits of a boycott to these people would be like teaching algebra to chimpanzees.  It can't be done.</p><br /><p>Everyone else, however, those of you in slightly less dim parts of the country, I would like you to give it some thought.  Don't feed Sherman Stix more and more money.  Let him know that what he is doing is wrong.  Let the advertisers know that it's wrong.  </p><br /><p>Visit places like <a href="http://www.8NewsNow.com" target="_blank"><a href="http://www.8NewsNow.com</a&gt">http://www.8NewsNow.com</a&gt</a>; and <a href="http://www.LasVegasSun.com" target="_blank"><a href="http://www.LasVegasSun.com</a&gt">http://www.LasVegasSun.com</a&gt</a>; for your Vegas news.  They carry most of the same stories.  Go to <a href="http://www.lasvegasweekly.com" target="_blank"><a href="http://www.lasvegasweekly.com</a&gt">http://www.lasvegasweekly.com</a&gt</a>; and <a href="http://weeklyseven.com/" target="_blank"><a href="http://weeklyseven.com/</a&gt">http://weeklyseven.com/</a&gt</a>; for the entertainment-oriented stiff.  It's not like you're going to miss anything by reading/watching these guys instead of the R-J and from what I've seen, they've always been fairly tolerant and even outright supportive of the blogging community.  Book your hotel or airfare through one of those sites. </p><br /><p>Believe it or not, where you do/don't read can make a difference, and it requires such little effort on your part ... why not do it?</p><br /><p>If you read the R-J, and especially if you click ads on the R-J ... then you're one of them.  Part of the problem.  Part of the greed.  Part of the insanity.  Part of the destruction of what used to be an okay town.</p><br /><p>Don't be one of them.</p><br /><p>In any event, as of right now the count is Common Sense: 1, The Righthaven-Journal: 0.</p><br /><p>For my own sake, and for the sake of Fair Use proponents everywhere, I certainly hope that Common Sense not only continues to prevail, but that it's a shutout.</p><br /><p>Read: <a href="a-rude-awakening.shtml/">A Rude Awakening</a></p></p> Tue, 26 Oct 2010 02:56:12 -0500 http://www.casinotop10.net/a-geography-lesson.shtml http://www.casinotop10.net/a-rude-awakening.shtml <p><p>Recently, I was abruptly awakened in the middle of a cold and rainy night.<br /><br />I don't remember what it was exactly that woke me up, but I've narrowed it down to two things:<br /><br />1) A car alarm;<br />2) A poke in the back from yet another one of Steve Wynn's nocturnal erections;<br /><br />It could have been either, and like I said ... I don't remember which.<br /><br />Unfortunately on this night, I was not able to go back to sleep.  It was about 1am, so I did what I usually do in these circumstances.  I got up quietly so as not to wake your mother, went to my nerd cave in the next room, and surfed over to my forums to see if anyone had added new photos to the scantily-clad women thread.  In my experience, nothing cures insomnia like rubbing out a quick one.<br /><br />When I arrived at the forums, I noticed that they were running slow, and when I looked at the bottom of the page I realized why this was.  I had literally scores of "Guests" surfing the site simultaneously.  From one thread to another to another to another, they were hammering the forums hard in rapid-fire succession.<br /><br />Naturally, I thought we were on the receiving end of a Denial-of-Service attack so I made a couple of late night calls and chopped off access to all incoming ports at the firewall level.  This immediately brought the server load back under control, but when we opened the firewall backup up, we were once again flooded with httpd requests from a myriad of IP addresses with the same headers.  I was confused.  We were all confused.<br /><br />I will cut to the technical chase, so after a solid day of tracking things down, we finally uncovered the culprit.  From all available evidence at our disposal, it appeared that Sherman Frederick and the Righthaven hit squad had hired an aggressive web spider to attack our servers in order to look for any posts that might contain "copyright-infringing" material.  This spider was pouring through every page, every post, every link on the site, and they were using and abusing our bandwidth and our CPU cycles to do it.<br /><br />Very nice, Sherman, very nice.<br /><br />This is what has become of the largest newspaper in the State of Nevada.  DOS attacks for cash.  Another clear sign that the mighty have fallen and that Las Vegas is little more than a desperate town full of desperate people.  The trouble that Las Vegas is in has been <strong>seriously</strong>, and I mean seriously understated by the national media.  We are witnessing a town implode before our very eyes.  A town that, let's face it, is never going to "recover". <br /><br />How could it?<br /><br />The people who remain are determined to take it down with them.  They are determined to squeeze every last penny out of the city while making sure there's absolutely nothing left for anyone else.  It's a fire sale and everything must go, including the goodwill and trust which took the town decades to earn.<br /><br />Honestly, can you imagine a major newspaper in any other city hammering the websites of its users in the middle of the night in a desperate attempt to make some spare change?  What kind of Mickey Mouse, chickenshit operation is this?<br /><br />It is the Las Vegas Review-Journal, that's what it is.  <a href="http://www.vegasrex.com/2008/07/10/the-las-vegas-review-journal-finally-sinks-to-my-level/" target="_blank">The only place that I have ever in my life seen the shaved clam of an 80 year old woman.</a><br /><br />Now, while I was annoyed with Spermin' Sherman's blatant, certainly immoral and possibly illegal hired attack on our server, I was not afraid of what he would find.  I mean, when the lawsuits first started I was, but these days I could not care less what the Righthaven crooks find at my site.<br /><br />Why?<br /><br />Because I have spoken with an attorney at length and I have become acquainted with the Communications Decency Act of 1996.  This act protects me against what Sherman FreDerICK and his attorney are looking for.<br /><br />Section 230 of the Act States that:<br /><br /><em>"No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider." </em><br /><br />This section immunizes both ISPs and website owners from liability for torts committed by others using their website or online forum.  The CDA is the very reason that I cannot sue the R-J for subjecting me to geriatric pornography.  The CDA is the reason why sites such as the Ripoff Report have never had to remove any of their reports, even when they were found to be libelous, slanderous, or defamatory.  The offended party can subpoena the information of the person who posted the content, but they cannot sue the website operator directly.<br /><br />What this means is that, even if someone comes to my forums and copy-pastes an entire Righthaven-Journal article, the R-J can sue that person, but they cannot sue us. Well, I suppose they could sue us, but it would be thrown out unless Righthaven can prove that it was my intent to have the material placed there or I refused to delete it.<br /><br />The CDA is what prevents the R-J from registering an account on my forums, posting a bunch of their own articles, and then turn around and suing me for it.<br /><br />Now, don't take this as legal advice. When discussing these issues in a blog post, it has to be simplified and there are all kinds of clauses, arguments, and counter-arguements.  Websites that openly promote and encourage piracy and copyright infringement can and are shut down and sanctioned. <br /><br />However, after spending a great deal of time hashing out the issue in advance, I can sleep a little bit easier content with the knowledge that if a user tries to get me into trouble by posting R-J articles in the forums, it will not work since I am not requesting or advocating anyone to do such a thing. To be forwarned is to be forearmed and all that.   <br /><br />Fortunately for you are me, there are also people out there eager to fight for what is right.<br /><br />Not only are the fighting, they are winning:<br /><br />Last week, the first Righthaven suit made it before a judge, and the judge ruled in favor of the defendant and against Righthaven.<br /><br />Why?<br /><br />Fair Use, of course.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/oct/20/righthaven-defendant-wins-first-lawsuit-dismissal-/" target="_blank"><a href="http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/oct/20/righthaven-defendant-wins-first-lawsuit-dismissal-/</a><br">http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/oct/20/righthaven-defendant-wins-first-lawsuit-dismissal-/</a><br</a> /><br /><em>The Las Vegas Review-Journal online copyright infringement lawsuit campaign sustained a setback Tuesday when a judge granted a real estate agent's motion for dismissal, ruling his posting of part of a Review-Journal story on his website amounted to fair use under copyright law.<br /><br />(snip)<br /><br />Righthaven, in its June 25 lawsuit, alleged Nelson and codefendants "copied, on an unauthorized basis, a significant and substantial portion" of an April 30 Review-Journal story called "Program may level housing sale odds" as well as two other Review-Journal stories about real estate.<br /><br />The "housing sale odds" story that Righthaven obtained a copyright for and sued over consisted of 30 sentences, but Nelson reproduced "only" the first eight sentences, Hicks wrote in his ruling that was filed Tuesday.<br /><br />"The court finds that this use weighs in favor of a fair use of the copyrighted material," Hicks wrote in his ruling, citing case law stating "copying only as much as necessary in a greater work (story) to provide relevant factual information weighs in favor of fair use."</em><br /><br />Not all that glitters is gold, though:<br /><br />But in another case involving a Review-Journal story on Wednesday, copyright enforcement company Righthaven LLC received a boost when a second judge denied a motion to dismiss and authorized the parties to engage in evidence-gathering through discovery.<br /><br />While it looks like a mixed bag, I would say that the R-J was definitely on the losing end last week.  They got one suit thrown out (ie. they lost), and the other one was simply allowed to continue.  They've yet to actually win anything before a judge.<br /><br />In addition, they further chipped away at what little legitimacy they have left as an actual newspaper.<br /><br />In my opinion, Sherman Frederick is the epitome of Las Vegas.  He is, in essence, a walking microcosm of the town.  Greedy, misguided, corrupt, and painfully stupid.</p><br /><p>Had I never even heard about the Righthaven debacle, and someone just walked up to me on the street and said "Hey, a newspaper has resorted to shaking down its readers in order to make ends meet!", I would have immediately responded "That has to be a Las Vegas newspaper".  There just would have been no doubt in my mind.  None at all.  It's such a Las Vegas thing to do.  When it comes to shooting itself in the foot over a dime, this town just doesn't know how to restrain itself.  It's run by a bunch of greedy people who just froth at the mouth over the prospect of an unearned dollar.</p><br /><p>Read: <a href="a-geography-lesson.shtml/">A Geography Lesson</a></p></p> Tue, 26 Oct 2010 02:38:27 -0500 http://www.casinotop10.net/a-rude-awakening.shtml http://www.casinotop10.net/anti-social-media.shtml <p><p>After a marathon session of Angry Birds last week, I decided to fire up the Android Marketplace to see if there were any other new mobile apps that might be worth trying.<br /><br />The first thing to catch my eye was an app called 'Foursquare' and it had 4 stars which indicates an application of decent quality.  I downloaded the program and opened it, but wasn't completely sure what to make of it at first.  The gist of the whole thing is that you use your smartphone and GPS to map a city and 'check-in' with various businesses in a region.  This in turn lets other people discover those locations or businesses, and the whole thing is supposed to make a world a better place.<br /><br />From what I understand, Foursquare is trying to be the next ©Big Thing in social media.  I am skeptical of its success, but this doesn't mean much.  After all, I'm the same person who shat upon Twitter when it first hit the scene, and to be honest ... I never completely warmed up to that service.  I have an account (two accounts now), but I've never used either of them to truly "socialize".  I use them to post links and photos, and every now and then I get into a back-and-forth with someone, but in general the noise-to-signal ratio is way too high for me.<br /><br />RT LOL! @dildojones RT Thanks for the #FF: @peckerhead #FF @dildojones @numbnutsmcgee @stevewynnblowsgoats #shermanfrederickisagreedyasshole @yomamaissougly LOL! #TwitterTuesday Where b all my tweeps at? RT @stevewynnblowsgoats Thanks for the follow! RT @someprperson Re-tweet this for a chance to eat pig feces RT @ineedalife I like food! #nom #somestupidhashtag LOL RT @someonekillmeandputmeoutofmymisery LOL!  RT @lolgirl LOL!<br /><br />That's not information.  It's noise.  It's digital junk and it accounts for probably a good 50% of Twitter's bandwidth, especially on Fridays.<br /><br />I digress.<br /><br />I fired up the Foursquare app, browsed through their local listings, and realized that Olympia was terribly under-represented on the service.   Now, as Las Vegas soon learned, I can be a pretty big asset to a municipality.  I don't spend a ton of time sitting at home on my ass, rather, I am always out finding stuff.  If I like a city, I explore every crevice of the town and end up indirectly promoting things that might fly under the radar.<br /><br />This familiar local-pride thing crept into my brain while I was perusing Foursquare.  I scrolled through and said "Hey, they are missing some key attractions.  The new West Bay Park, our famous artesian well, a few popular hiking trails ... let me try to be a good netizen and help these entrepreneurial dickheads out.  Sure, it's a little out of my way, but so was <a href="http://www.casinoguide.com/blogs/gambling/the-other-nugget/" target="_blank">Jerry's Nugget</a> and <a href="http://www.casinoguide.com/blogs/attractions-entertainment/tuscany-in-the-mojave/" target="_blank">Lake Las Vegas</a>.  A little extra effort never killed anyone."<br /><br />And so I went.  On Sunday, I began carving a path through Olympia that would allow me to add new places while quickly checking in with a few of my own favorites.<br /><br />After about the third update, however, things took a turn for the insulting.  I submitted a new piece of information and the application returned an error message that said something along the lines of "Slow down and relax, in order to be fair, rapid-fire updates are not accepted."<br /><br />Slow down and relax?<br /><br />I am providing you with 100% free content on my own time, I am updating your woefully incomplete feature map of a city, and you admonish me to slow down and relax?<br /><br />Blow me.<br /><br />I live life at my own pace you one-eyed fuck weasels, not at your pace.  If you want a bunch of lackadaisical short bus riders updating your site then just say so.  If you can't keep up, get off your ass, go outside, travel the country, and update your own goddamn service.  Don't tell me to slow down and relax when I'm fully ready to go.  You're not paying me for my time.<br /><br />No good deed.<br /><br />Apparently, this particular app is geared toward iPhone-toting hipsters that sit around coffee shops for 3 hours at a time waiting to be spotted by other iPhone-toting hipsters.  They have no use for people who actually get out and, you know, actually do stuff with their phones.  <br /><br />In the end, however, I have nobody to blame but myself for this misguided attempt to help.  After all, I did violate my new "my content, my site" rule.<br /><br />You see, contrary to popular belief, I haven't always been an anti-social asshole who is hostile to every other citizen of the network of globally interconnected computers.  It's just that every, and I mean <strong>EVERY</strong> time I've tried to help other netizens, it's always ended up being to my own detriment.<br /><br />Allow me to give you another recent example.<br /><br />When I covered the City Center opening, I took some pictures of the Mandarin Oriental that another business spotted and wanted to use on their own commercial website.  When the company emailed me and asked if they could use the photos, I said (as I usually do) "Sure, go ahead, enjoy".  <br /><br />But I didn't stop there.  I also said "If you would prefer to have the photos without my watermark to use as your own, I would be happy to provide those to you".  The company quickly took me up on my offer, and I was happy to help.  I set up an FTP account for them so that they could download the full 8-10 Megapixel files, and I figured all was well with the world.<br /><br />Now, keep in mind that I did not know anyone that worked at this company, nor did I ask for compensation.  The fact of that matter is that I have always been a hidden asset to the promotion of Las Vegas since many photos you saw on your favorite "legitimate" news sources originated from my own camera.  Sure, everyone thinks that I am a self-centered, narcissistic, attention-whore, but the fact is that I have actually given away a lot of uncompensated, uncredited content over the years.  <a href="http://www.casinoguide.com/blogs/current-events/when-newspapers-attack/" target="_blank">Sherman Frederick I am not.</a><br /><br />It doesn't always work out, though.<br /><br />Later that day, after the company had downloaded the files from my server, I received an email from them.  It was from the company's legal department.  In order to fully express their gratitude, they had sent me a form as an email attachment.  This form asked for my full name, contact information, and it contained a paragraph which basically required me to transfer all of the rights to my own photographs perpetually and irrevocably to their company.  I was supposed to print out this form, sign it, and fax it back to them.  Not only that, but they wanted me to do it 'ASAP'.  Apparently, spending 30 minutes to remove watermarks and setting up an FTP account was taken to mean that I had no life and that I was so eager to please that I would do just about anything, including signing a document that allowed them to sue me for using my own photos.<br /><br />Again, no good deed.<br /><br />I (politely) told them to go shit in their hat and that was that.<br /><br />Unfortunately, this has been the usual outcome when I have tried to play nicely or participate in other people's endeavors.  It never works out, because it's never appreciated.  I always end up being treated like an indentured servant to the site owner.<br /><br />When I first moved to Las Vegas, I really had no desire to start my own blog.  Instead, I spent a great amount of time trying to enrich the websites of others.  I tried participating on the Righthaven-Journal site, yet when I had the audacity to correct an error by one of their writers, my account was quickly banished to the seventh circle of hell.<br /><br />Another time I went to the MGM Grand Poker Room, had a less-than-steller experience, and wrote an in-depth review and trip report for someone else's poker site.  When all was said and done, the review was rejected and not published.<br /><br />Why?<br /><br />I don't know.  <br /><br />It was way more complete and detailed than almost all of the other reviews.  Someone later told me that it was because the site was an MGM/Mirage advertising affiliate, but I can neither confirm or deny the accuracy of that.<br /><br />I do know that I really resented working as a volunteer for a for-profit endeavor.  Had they published my report, other people would have read it and the site would have gotten 100% of the ad revenue for the views.  If I owned a publication and my writers were willing to work for free, I would bend over backwards to treat them really well.  <br /><br />Not so, with most other websites.  Most web services "moderate" the users that bring valuable content to them free of charge.  It's just accepted practice on the Internet because, let's face it, the average IQ of the typical Internet user is 98 (48 if you factor in Canadians).<br /><br />The final straw for me came when I was having car trouble.  I went to a "Vegas" message board and asked if anyone could recommend a good, local mechanic.  The next time I logged into that board I had a scolding message from the Webbastard telling me that my post had been deleted because it was 'off-topic' and that if I posted another off-topic message my account would be deleted.  To add insult to injury, I later found out that the guy who ran the Vegas board didn't even live in Las Vegas.  He had never lived in Las Vegas.  It was like realizing that the "authentic" picante sauce I had been eating for the past month was made in NEW YORK CITY!<br /><br />Get a rope.<br /><br />On the back of the above events, VegasRex was born, and this was a large part of why the site had a hostile, us-against-them vibe.  It pretty much was us against all of those other cocksmokers.  We didn't want the jizz of PR folks running down our chin day in and day out, and we wanted to be able to ask for mechanic recommendations without some little peckersniff moderator getting his tampon bent out of shape.<br /><br />Anyway, instead of adding places to the Foursquare database, I went about my day in Olympia and sent up my own live shots.</p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/216.jpg" alt="Olympia Artesian Well" /></p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/217.jpg" alt="Big Tom Prawns and Chips" /></p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/218.jpg" alt="Olympia Capitol" /></p><br /><p>I filled up my water bottles at the artesian well in Downtown, stopped by Big Tom for some prawns and clam chowder, weathered a rain storm on the Capitol grounds, and added to my already growing stash of local photos.<br /><br />This was the first time I had gotten prawns at Big Tom, and they were good (they are dipped in coconut batter), but at ten bucks for four they were slightly overpriced.  I used to eat these things by the dozen at Vegas buffets.  I usually get my fried prawns from an Aberdeen drive-thru and will probably continue doing so.  That noted, Tom's hamburgers are second only to Van's when it comes to taste.</p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/219.jpg" alt="Van's Cheese Burger" /></p><br /><p>Olympia is the vegetarian capital of the world, but for some reason they have the best tasting cow in the nation.  Irony.  I've eaten hamburgers from coast-to-coast, and western Washington has the best burger joints on the planet.  I've no idea why this is.<br /><br />During my outing, I passed at least a dozen notable spots that were not in the Foursquare database ... and which still aren't in their database.  Perhaps they will get there eventually, but if the rest of social media is any indicator, they will get there in a shitty and half-assed manner.<br /><br />For the most part, social media itself is a cancer upon the Internet.  People used to craft elaborate homepages that they made themselves, and they used to work hours upon hours to create content for those pages.  They used to write complete articles outlining their opinions and hypotheses.  Now ... they tweet.  One line of text, an obligatory 'LOL', and maybe a single cellphone picture if you are really lucky.  It's all a part of the dumbing down of society.  Social media penalizes effort and rewards mediocrity.<br /><br />When I got home, I deleted my Foursquare account, and I once again endeavored that ... if I want the Internet to know about something ... I'll tell them myself, on my own website.  Note the 'smell ya later' toward the bottom of the delete account confirmation page.  They couldn't even man up enough to tell me to fuck off.</p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/215.jpg" alt="Foursquare" /></p><br /><p><br />And thus ends arguably my final attempt to ever use my own resources solely to better someone else's site or service.  Life already has too many arbitrary rules, and I'm not going to jump through hoops and work as a volunteer for a company which will likely go on to make billions of dollars.  Aside from insanely low levels of self-esteem, I don't know why anyone would.<br /><br />My content will go on my own sites, and as far as I'm concerned, every other site owner out there can nuzzle the nut cleft on my hairy hacky sack.<br /><br />And that's all I have to say about that.<br /><br />I sure hope I didn't exceed 140 characters.</p></p> Mon, 25 Oct 2010 17:54:58 -0500 http://www.casinotop10.net/anti-social-media.shtml http://www.casinotop10.net/vegas-three-point-no.shtml <p><p>In December, I am scheduled to make a trip to Las Vegas for the Cosmo opening, and I was somewhat looking forward to it.<br /><br />I was looking forward to it because this will be the first 100% Vegas "vacation" I have taken in about six years.  By the end of November I will no longer have a home in the city, which means that I will no longer receive any mail there.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, never receive your bills at your vacation destination of choice.  I learned the hard way that you cannot move to a resort city and expect it to retain its shine once real life kicks in.  <br /><br />It is imperative that you always keep your "happy place" separate and special, and no matter how tempting and exciting it may seem to spend all of your days there ... trust me, don't do it.  Don't mix your real life with your leisure life.  Don't destroy the mystery by becoming too familiar.<br /><br />Frankly, I'm glad that I finally took my own advice.  I hate Dumbtown a little less each day that I am not in it.  I can actually foresee the day when I fly in for two days, have a decent time, fly out, and actually want to return.  <br /><br />The problem is, every time I start feeling even slight pangs of affection for Las Vegas, I run across something like this:<br /><br /> <br /><object width="560" height="340" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/REdE-YyVmdQ?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><br /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><br /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><br /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/REdE-YyVmdQ?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" /><br /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><br /></object><br /><br /><br />What was that?  What did I just watch?<br /><br />Videos like the one above disappoint me, because they simply reinforce what I have for years suspected; That myself and "New Vegas" have had an almost complete parting of the ways.  Videos like the one above show me without a doubt that I am clearly not in the target demographic of Vegas 3.0.<br /><br />Ads like the one above don't interest me.  They don't inspire me.  They certainly don't make me want to go to Las Vegas.  Quite the opposite really.  The first thing I thought when I saw the ad was "I'm not sure I want to stay in 3.0.  I'd rather stay Downtown".  The avant-garde douchey stuff doesn't appeal to me on any level.  Hipness and coolness be damned, I just want to have a little fun.  Good odds, low-limits, cheap rooms, big breasts, happy endings, live bands ... that's just how I roll. <br /><br />After seeing the Cosmo ad, I'm second guessing the wisdom of plunking down $300 bones to stay in a place that clearly does not cater to me.  They don't want me as a customer, and the feeling is mutual.  <br /><br />Alas, all is not completely lost.<br /><br />When I return to Vegas, homeless and solely for recreation, there will be two new attractions awaiting my arrival.  Thankfully, these two attractions are geared 100% toward people like me.<br /><br />The first one is not so much a new one as it is a reborn one.  A couple of weeks ago I received an email from the folks at Cloud 9 informing me that the world's largest helium balloon was once again ready to go.  In my opinion, this is a great thing.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.casinoguide.com/blogs/attractions-entertainment/on-cloud-9/">I took a flight on Cloud Nine about eight months ago, and I enjoyed it.</a>  Hell, I was even scared at times.  It made for an almost perfect view/adrenaline combination which could only be described as "fun".  Something Vegas is in short supply of these days.<br /><br />Now that the balloon is back, I will probably take an hour out of my trip to take another flight, get some more photos, and panic just a little more.  I can stand around and drink beer while posing anywhere, but Cloud Nine is one of those "only in Vegas" things that the town so desperately needs.<br /><br />The second thing that I am looking forward to is another ride-type attraction.  On October 15th, something called the "Fremont Street Flightline" opened under the Fremont Street Canopy downtown.   <br /><br />The Flightline entails climbing a 60' high platform, grabbing a handlebar affixed to a wire, and then gliding down 800' of cable at speeds of up to 30 miles per hour.  It's sort of like the <a href="http://www.casinoguide.com/blogs/attractions-entertainment/sky-jumping/">Stratosphere SkyJump</a>-lite.  The attraction's website explains it in a little more detail: <a href="http://fremontstreetflightline.com/"><a href="http://fremontstreetflightline.com/</a></p&gt">http://fremontstreetflightline.com/</a></p&gt</a>;<br /><p>The Cloud Nine flights are in the $25 range and the Flightline is $15-$20 per ride.<br /><br />Per FTC regulations, I feel that it is probably prudent to say that I don't receive anything from these people to pimp their stuff.  I'm just genuinely excited about these kinds of attractions and I intend to ride them on my own dime.<br /><br />I feel that it is important to support these endeavors because it encourages people to bring fresh ideas to Las Vegas.  <br /><br />Ideas which <strong>don't</strong> involve pants-less bellboys, poultry, and horny old women.<br /><br />Jesus, what have I gotten myself into.</p></p> Sat, 23 Oct 2010 18:39:21 -0500 http://www.casinotop10.net/vegas-three-point-no.shtml http://www.casinotop10.net/flattery-got-me-nowhere.shtml <p><p>There are two "Vegas-style" casinos within a 20 minute drive of my home.<br /><br />Located in a semi-secluded area by itself, Little Creek Casino is the larger of the two.  The smaller gambling hall is called 'Hawk's Prairie',and it is located in a typical sprawl area near such enticing places as Walmart and Home Depot.<br /><br />Feeling a little actiony today, I decided to drop by Hawk's Prarie for the first time ever.  I didn't pick this casino for any particular reason, it was just the first one that came to mind.<br /><br />And so I went.<br /><br />Now, this is the point in the post where I am supposed to tell about how great and interesting Hawk's Prarie was, and how many cocktail waitresses threw drinks at me.  I'm supposed to tell you what the table game limits were, how many tables were in the poker room, etc, etc.<br /><br />The problem is, even though I hopped on the I-5 and took the 15 minute-ish drive to Hawk's Prairie, I still have no idea what it looks like inside.<br /><br />"What happened Rex, did you finally get put in the nationwide black book for brazenly taking pictures inside of casinos?"<br /><br />No.  Although had I stayed in Vegas any longer, I probably would have.<br /><br />The truth is far more dull, but it is what it is.</p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/213.jpg" alt="Hawk's Prairie Casino" /></p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/212.jpg" alt="Hawk's Prairie Casino" /></p><br /><p>When I got to the casino I parked my car, walked through the front doors, and began proceeding to the gaming floor when two guys standing at a podium near the entrance stopped me.  One of the guys had a handheld grocery scanner-looking device in his hand and the following conversation ensued:<br /><br /><strong>Employee</strong>: "Excuse me sir, we need to scan your driver's license before you can go inside."<br /><br /><strong>Me</strong>: "What?"<br /><br /><strong>Employee</strong>: "We need to scan your driver's license in order to verify your age."<br /><br /><strong>Me</strong>: "I'm 42 years old."<br /><br /><strong>Employee</strong>: "It's just our policy."<br /><br />At this point, I paused for awhile because I didn't know what to do.<br /><br />I've just come out of a 6 years stint in Las Vegas -- the identity theft capital of the world.  I was so paranoid in that town that I refused to give my social security number to anyone.  One time, my dog was very ill and the vet refused to see her unless I gave them my social security number(?!), so I gave them my "anti-scam number" .... 987-65-4320.  This number (and many others) is reserved by the Social Security Administration for advertisements and will never be issued to any person.  If it seems like something bad will happen lest I give someone my government tracking number, this is the number I give.  It satisfies the desk/phone monkeys while giving them absolutely no information of value whatsoever.<br /><br />Just because I moved doesn't mean that I have all of a sudden become a different person.  I still feel as though I am suffering from post-Vegas traumatic stress disorder.  I still assume that everyone I encounter is trying to scam me or do me harm.<br /><br />"Come on Rex, stop exaggerating."<br /><br />Sometimes I think the same thing, and then things like this scroll across my newsreader:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.mynews3.com/story.php?id=30138&n=5035" target="_blank"><a href="http://www.mynews3.com/story.php?id=30138&n=5035</a><br">http://www.mynews3.com/story.php?id=30138&n=5035</a><br</a> /><br />On the way to his teaching job, the above Las Vegas resident was beaten and robbed, and before he could reach help ... he was run over by a car.<br /><br />Only in Las Vegas.  You just can't make this stuff up.  It would almost be comical if it weren't so sad.  It's even far, far worse than being stopped by a Las Vegas hero cop on the way to the emergency room so he can yell at you while you are losing consciousness.  In retrospect, I got off incredibly easy.<br /><br />I digress.<br /><br />As I stood by the Hawk's Prairie podium, I mulled over scanner guy's request in my head, and it just didn't seem legitimate.  <br /><br />On one hand, I know I don't look 42.  As ridiculously self-complimentary as it sounds, many people do not believe my age when I tell it to them.  It's not uncommon for people to request to see my ID in a joking manner.  This happened as recently as three weeks ago during a routine doctor's appointment.  I have long-ish hair that shows no signs of receding, I have very few grey hairs, and I don't really have many wrinkles yet.  I've gained about 25lbs over the last decade, but I don't have the typical middle-age spread yet.  At least not that anyone could see.  Instead of wearing coats and jackets, I tend to wear layers of clothing that keep me covered even indoors.<br /><br />Internally, my age has caught up with me, but externally I look like a homeless guy in his late 20's to mid-30's depending on how recently I shaved, how I am dressed, etc.  For a brief moment, I thought the Hawk's Prairie guys may be conducting a legitimate age check.<br /><br />Then reality creeped into my synapses.<br /><br />While I may not look 42 years old, I sure as hell do not look like I am under 21.  Not by any stretch of fantasy.  There is simply no way that any reasonable person with even basal levels of perception could mistake me for a 20 year old.<br /><br />Also, for the sake of argument, if these guys really doubted my age ... why could they not just ask to see my license?  What's up with the goddamn scanner?<br /><br />The whole thing smelled wrong to me.  <br /><br />After giving it some thought, I figured that the real reason they wanted my ID was so that they could harvest my address and send me advertising material.  If this were the case, however, I'd prefer to voluntarily join a player's club so that I could at least get free shit in exchange for the invasion of my privacy.<br /><br />In addition, I've heard some dicey things about Indian casinos.  From not getting paid to getting backroomed -- I've heard stories, man.  While the argument could be made that Vegas casinos might do the same thing, at least I am familiar with those casinos.  I've spent so much time in them that I can kind of feel when things are out-of-sorts.   Indian casinos are still an unknown entity.  They are out of my comfort zone.  I don't know what those whacky feather-wearing, rain-dancing, teepee-living guys do.  I mean, what happens if I take a picture and security sees me?  Do I get scalped?<br /><br />I'll admit it, when it comes to Indians, I have trust issues simply because I am completely unfamiliar with their culture.  I also hear that they give you stuff and then take it back.  I'm sure that I will come to find out in time that they are great guys, but I'm not quite ready to allow them to scan me simply to play a few hands of Hold'em.<br /><br />I'm getting kind of sick of being a prick, though.  Everywhere I go I feel like I am always arguing with someone over this or that bullshit policy, and I just wasn't in the mood to discuss the above issues with a couple of minimum-wage employees who could not possibly care if I stayed or left.<br /><br />"I left it in the car", I said, and then I went back to my car, got in, and drove away.<br /><br />And so it was.  Hold'em denied.<br /><br />All is not lost, though.<br /><br />Wayne Newton is coming to Little Creek Casino in November, and I am actually considering plunking down the thirty something bucks to see him.  The world's greatest Vegas entertainer and the world's greatest Vegas blogger under one roof in Washington State.  It would be quite a reunion.  While there, maybe I can also finally get some Indian Hold'em under my belt.<br /><br />Maybe. <br /><br />I still don't plan on submitting to a scan, and I'm not sure why anyone would.  Consider me an opponent of Hawk's Prairie's scanning policy, and suffice to say that I will not go back until it is terminated.<br /><br />Now if you will excuse me, I'm going to go stand outside 7-11 and see if I can bribe an adult to buy me a six pack.<br /><br />Wish me luck.</p></p> Fri, 22 Oct 2010 06:38:57 -0500 http://www.casinotop10.net/flattery-got-me-nowhere.shtml http://www.casinotop10.net/whats-in-a-name.shtml <p><p>What's in a name?<br /><br />When it comes to VegasRex ... quite a bit.<br /><br />VegasRex is six years of an online life and six years of content.  Hundreds of videos, thousands of articles, tens of thousands of photos ... it was a lot of stuff for just one guy.  Honestly, I've seen huge corporate Vegas websites (Vegas.com, etc) with way more money, way more marketing, way more employees ... somehow have way less <strong>original</strong> content.  Sure, they've got all the swinging deals to help you save money and all the pre-packaged PR material to look good while doing it, but when it comes to finding their own angle or showing you something new, there's never been much there.<br /><br />As the creator of arguably the largest single repository of self-made Vegas content anywhere on the Internet, I'm kind of proud of my VegasRex catalog.  I put countless hours of my own time into the endeavor and millions of unique visitors (not hits, but separate individual people) viewed my content.  I also spawned a new genre of VegasXxx usernames across the Internet.  Imitation being the best form of flattery I suppose.<br /><br />Had I been willing to play ball with marketing firms, I could have had a great deal of access to Las Vegas.  I could have gotten the VIP treatment.  In exchange for toning things down a bit, most of what I paid for over the years, I could have gotten for free.  It would have been dead simple for me to be a scenester.  The doors were open.  I could have easily spent my days and nights blowing air-kisses and exchanging phony and insincere pleasantries at PR events.  Las Vegas welcomes ass-kissing wannabes with open arms, and this is a lure and a temptation that most bloggers simply cannot resist.  Say what you will about VegasRex, but I never let the Las Vegas machine corrupt the content.  Whether I was right or wrong, popular or unpopular, I took a position and I was always sincere.<br /><br />When all was said and done, and I was able to look back at it all, I think I served the town and its visitors quite well.  It was an era of my life which I will look back on both fondly and unfondly.  My relationship with the town was complicated.<br /><br />Time marches on, though.<br /><br />Now that I am in a different area, I'm certainly not going to remove all of my content.  VegasRex is still a good resource.  It's part of the historical record.  The same goes for all of the material I put on CasinoGuide.  The Internet would be a more interesting place if every incarnation of Las Vegas had a 'VegasRex' to document it.  It would give us something to refer to.  Something with which to compare and contrast.  Hopefully someone will come along for the 2010-2015 stretch to document it in detail from a non-rah rah perspective.<br /><br />I think there are possibilities for that happening.  I've surfed a bit over the past month and there are a few locals that are turning out fresh, non-press release content on a daily basis.  Abowitz has his own site now and Poker Grump is still going strong, so I think the Vegas blogosphere is in good hands.  As a matter of fact, if I get around to voting for the Trippie Awards this year (which I am obviously no longer eligible to receive), I will pull the lever for those two.  Consider this my endorsement. <br /><br />Anyway, even though I am going to keep the VegasRex archive online, and I will continue posting pictures when I visit, it would be somewhat misleading for me to continue blogging, tweeting, and emailing under that name since I will only be there as a tourist.  <br /><br />Since I am somewhat of a stickler for authenticity, when I moved to the Northwest, I decided to change my personal blog title so as not to confuse people who were looking for a blogger who actually lived in Las Vegas.  Without giving it much thought, I chose "The REX Report" off the top of my head, but I never bonded with the name because:<br /></p><br /><ol><br /><li>That blog is my personal website, but I don't really "report" anything;</li><br /><li>A bunch of dumbasses already squatted on the 'Rex Report' names and I don't want to be associated with those people because they are not nearly as beautiful as I am;</li><br /></ol><br /><p>I wanted to go simply by "Rex", but it is just too ubiquitous a name for a blog.  It would cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars to snag 'Rex.com' or 'Rex.net'.<br /><br />Don't get me wrong, I'm still the only 'Rex' that matters online.  'Rex' has been my pseudonym since 1983.  I'm the original.  I'm THE Rex.  I'm kind of like Cher and Madonna.  I really don't need any other descriptors.<br /><br />Domain names and service pseudonyms are different though.  Everyone wants to be me, including some guy on Twitter who is using @rex to wage a war against cheese.  I am not kidding.<br /><br />Hundreds of squatting, rarely-updating dillwipes have simply usurped my name for evil.<br /><br />What to do?<br /><br />Fortunately, CasinoTop10 already refers to me simply as 'Rex', but my other blog was kind of stuck somewhere in-between.  For the first time in a long time, I've been a blogger with no clear title for my personal blog.<br /><br />Since I spend most of my days in Seattle, I thought about 'SeattleRex', and since I spend my evenings in Olympia, I considered 'OlympiaRex', but those titles are just too hyper-specific.  I go shopping in Tacoma, and spend generous amounts of time in places such as Portland, Ocean Shores, and Aberdeen.  In addition, I am psyched to go a few places that I have never been to before ... such as Forks, Port Angeles, Sequim, and the Hoh Rain Forest <- a place which I really hope lives up to its name.<br /><br />As I was mulling all of this over, a Seattle-area native named 'Sprunt' (which I'm pretty sure is not his legal name) twatted me and suggested 'Pacific North Rex'.<br /><br />I had briefly hit on this name a few weeks before and had written it off as far too long, but I didn't hate it as much when Sprunt reminded me of it.  Perhaps this secretly means that I want to have homosexual sex with Sprunt (and who doesn't?), or perhaps new names just take awhile to grow on me.<br /><br />Either way, it's very accurate.  Same person, same blog, different place.<br /><br />Also, even though it's long, Pacific Northwest is a common term that people are used to.  It's so common that Godaddy wants thousands of dollars for 'PacificNorthwest.com'.   <br /><br />VegasRex will continue to live on the Internet, but it will live as a website, not as a person.  VegasRex will now be our entire community.  Finally, my forums won't sound nearly as narcissistic as they do now.<br /><br />I'm changing my Twitter names, my email names, and even adding a domain name.  Going forward, my personal blog URL will resolve to both VegasRex.com and PacificNorthRex.com.  I'm never going to relinquish the VegasRex account names, because we know what will happen if I do.  Some posebag, parasitic piece of shit will scoop up the brand name and use the name recognition to SPAM everyone with GREAT DEALS SO CLICK HERE TO BOOK NOW!<br /><br />Few people in this world want to make their own way.  The majority of them are perfectly content to hop a bandwagon and exploit it.  Since I created VegasRex, I will always keep VegasRex.com and the associated accounts.  This won't stop greedy, opportunistic imposters from trying to use it too, of course.  Honesty, creativity and individuality are scarce in 2010.  Especially in Las Vegas.<br /><br />As for as the 'VegasRex' pseudonym, however, that is going to be slowly retired.  I made the name, I earned the name, I still like the name, and I will still answer to the name ... but it just doesn't ring authentic for new content or as a blog name.  There will always be a great deal Vegas in Rex, but I cannot deny the fact that Rex is no longer in Vegas.<br /><br />And so it is.<br /><br />Rex is still Rex on CasinoTop10, but ...<br /><br />VegasRex is now Pacific North Rex.</p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/pacificnorthrex1.jpg" alt="Pacific North Rex" /></p><br /><p>Meet the new dumbass, same as the old dumbass.</p></p> Wed, 20 Oct 2010 18:03:28 -0500 http://www.casinotop10.net/whats-in-a-name.shtml http://www.casinotop10.net/i-fought-the-law-and-the-law-won.shtml <p><p>As a U.S. resident for 42 years, and a resident of the Nation's Capital for 20 of those years, I'm used to seeing sausage being made.  </p><br /><p>When you live in DC, school field trips consist mostly of observing and interacting with the psychopaths who make our country's laws.  Over the years I became acquainted with more than a few players in the federal government, and during that time I became utterly convinced that only people with real, diagnosable psychopathy could do what these people did.</p><br /><p>To be a legislator, you really do have to put your own personal interests above and beyond millions of other human beings, and you have to be fully willing to watch them all suffer (and die in many cases) to further those interests.  It is simply not possible to be a politician and to not be evil.</p><br /><p>Then, of course, there is the blatant hypocrisy.</p><br /><p>It probably comes as no great shock to learn that, once upon a time, I had friends who were into some -- how shall I say this diplomatically -- alternative endavors.  I might have known a drug dealer here or a prostitute there, but I swear I never inhaled.  </p><br /><p>There are many stories I could tell about the proclivities of certain lawmakers and respected members of the national media.  My favorite guy in town was a certain talk show host who used to have weekly dates with a friend of mine who went by the name 'Abigail'.  He would insist that Abby bring marijuana and cocaine with her to every appointment, and he had a particular fetish where he would nurse on her breasts and call her "mommy".  Publicly, this particular guy was religious and he was also rabidly anti-drug.  If I have learned anything, it's that the biggest moral crusaders are always into the weirdest shit. </p><br /><p>I obviously cannot get too detailed about my own experiences both first-hand and through hearsay because a) I can't prove anything and thus it would be slander and libel and b) I don't want to get Erik Scotted.  It really wouldn't be that hard to pull it off.</p><br /><p>"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, Rex was known to talk about suicide often in his blog posts, and the Clark County Medical Examiner testified that he had lethal levels of xanax and morphine in his system while typing his angry missives, so he clearly had to be shot 5 times in the back to protect society at large."</p><br /><p>"Justified, your honor, just because we support violent murderers by electing mob lawyers as our mayor doesn't mean that we will tolerate people who have taken prescription drugs."</p><br /><p>I digress ...</p><br /><p>Even though I've watched psychopaths abuse the stupid from a very early age, some laws still surprise me.  </p><br /><p>The Washington State Poker Ban of 2006 is one of these laws.</p><br /><p>Why?</p><br /><p>Because it is such blatant bullshit and so hypocritically gratuitous that I honestly couldn't believe that anyone would stand for it.  Especially the people of the Pacific Northwest who tend to be slightly more intelligent and slightly less politically apathetic than the people of say, the southwestern United States.</p><br /><p>Not only is the law itself a bad one, but the punishment for violating it is also draconian.  The law bumps online poker in Washington from a misdemeanor to a Class C felony.  This is the same category as child molestation, arson, and kidnapping.  Clearly the law was a mistake.  A clerical error.  A temporary lapse in judgement brought on by lethal levels of xanax.</p><br /><p>Fortunately, last month, there was hope that this travesty would be rectified.</p><br /><p>For the past few years, The Poker Player's Alliance worked tirelessly to challenge the law to the Washington State Supreme Court, and honestly, I thought they would win when it got there.  Why wouldn't I?  After all, they had a very strong case.  Since Washington did not even seek to regulate online poker, the ban seemed to fly in the face of the Commerce Clause which ensures equal protection for both in-state and out-of-state companies.</p><br /><p>As it turns out, the court ruled, and they too sided with legislative idiocy.</p><br /><p>On September 23, 2010, while ruling not to overturn the ban, the Washington State Supreme Court stated:</p><br /><p><em>“It is not the role of the judiciary to second-guess the wisdom of the legislature, which enacted this ban. The court has no authority to conduct its own balancing of the pros and cons stemming from banning, regulating, or openly permitting internet gambling.” </em></p><br /><p><em>After evaluating the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) and Wire Act of 1961, the Washington State Supreme Court asserted, “The statute prohibits internet gambling evenhandedly, regardless of whether the company running the website is located in or outside the state of Washington. The effects imposed on in-state and out-of-state entities engaging or that would engage in internet gambling are the same… The dormant Commerce Clause only prevents a state from discriminating based on whether the business is in-state or out-of-state.” Therefore, the Washington law does not discriminate against foreign and out-of-state online gambling interests.</em></p><br /><p><em>“... Internet gambling introduces new ways to exacerbate these same threats to health, welfare, safety, and morals [as offline gambling]. Gambling addicts and underage gamblers have greater accessibility to online gambling – able to gamble from their homes immediately and on demand, at any time, on any day, unhindered by in-person regulatory measures. Concerns over ties to organized crime and money laundering are exacerbated where online gambling operations are not physically present in-state to be inspected for regulatory compliance.”</em></p><br /><p>So much for that.</p><br /><p>According to the court, disallowing online businesses that compete with local brick-and-mortar businesses is not a violation of the Commerce Clause, although I think it clearly is.  It would be like outlawing mail order companies from delivering products to Washington State residents.  Products that, when purchased locally are legal.</p><br /><p>Also, the court ruled that gambling itself posed a threat to the health, welfare, safety, and morals of Washington residents ... but did not call for the prohibition of the state lottery or the proliferation of brick -and-mortar casinos in the state.</p><br /><p>Why?</p><br /><p>Because threats to your health, welfare, safety, and morals are acceptable when the government gets a cut.</p><br /><p>When you consider what I told you at the beginning of this article, this part of the ruling really does make perfect sense.  The logic of the court is extraordinarily consistent with psychopathy.  "I will allow you to hurt yourself to benefit me, but I will not allow you to hurt yourself to benefit yourself or someone else."</p><br /><p>Remember, the Washington State government heavily advertises its own lottery, and this is the same government which argues that such gambling is a threat to the health, welfare, safety, and morals of Washington residents.</p><br /><p>Pure, unadulterated psychopathy.  There is no other explanation.</p><br /><p>So here I sit; in a state which could theoretically imprison me for playing a <strong>single hand</strong> of .50/1.00 No Limit, and a State Supreme Court that will cheer them on for doing so.  After all, that single hand could exacerbate threats to my health, welfare, safety, and morals ... but contracting AIDS in a prison shower as penance would ostensibly boost character.  </p><br /><p>The one real chance at having that law overturned surprisingly failed, and it appears that the ban will remain in effect forever.</p><br /><p>This is a shame.</p><br /><p>For the most part, I like Washington State.  It's not Utopia but it certainly beats the Mexico-lite, car rim-obsessed, "math is for fags" culture of the southwest USA.</p><br /><p>With that being noted, it's extraordinarily disappointing that the legislature here is just as corrupt as elsewhere.  I had never really paid close attention to Washington State politics until recently, but since the Pacific Northwest has always been somewhat of a nation unto itself, I had always ass/u/med that the government was held to a higher standard.  As the geek and nerd capital of the world (and I say that in a good way), I figured that lawmakers here might have a slightly harder time bending the people of the state over and forking them in the brown eye.</p><br /><p>I was wrong.</p><br /><p>Getting screwed by the government and legislature is clearly a universal experience in the USA.  You can run, but you cannot hide.</p><br /><p>Of course, the question is: What now?</p><br /><p>Should residents just give up the game?  Risk it anyway?  Cross state lines?  Just suck it up and go to local casinos?</p><br /><p>One guy who lives a couple of blocks away from me told me that he refuses to play in Washington casinos because of the online poker ban.  When I asked him why, he said "They're the ones that are responsible for the state taking such a hard line against online poker, and I'm not going to support them with my dollars."</p><br /><p>It's sound reasoning, and frankly, I don't know what to do.</p><br /><p>There are a couple of cheap Holdem tournaments at the nearby Hawk's Prarie and Little Creek Casinos that I've been wanting to try, and I was even contemplating going to see Wayne Newton at Little Creek next month.  My neighbor's words made sense, though.  Since the Washington State legislature is doing the bidding of these brick-and-mortar joints, maybe the right thing to do is to make it backfire.  Perhaps the gamblers of Washington should stop playing the lottery as well.  If residents of Washington can put the hurt on the protected interests, then maybe, just maybe the legislature will see the downside to their ban.  After all, money (or lack thereof) talks.</p><br /><p>In the end, my guess is that typical voter apathy will reign supreme and gaming fans state-wide will simply reward the local casinos (and by proxy state coffers) with more revenue.  If there is anything Americans are good it, it's feeding the mouth that bites them.</p><br /><p>While the Poker Player's Alliance will continue to fight to have the law overturned, I can't help but be somewhat pessimistic about their chances.  They are fighting a good fight, but sometimes you're just outmatched.</p><br /><p>In the meantime, when it comes to poker, I think I'm going to take the "cross state lines" option.  Sure, I could try and flaunt the Washington law like so many others by just going ahead and playing online anyway, but I'm not going to.  The chances of getting caught are slim, but the risk/reward is just not worth it.  All things considered, the company of hipsters is slightly better than sitting in a locked cage with some guy's dick up my ass.  </p><br /><p>Barring that, I may play a little bit here and there at the local joints, but this may be counter-productive to my own interests.  I have to give the situation more thought.</p></p> Tue, 19 Oct 2010 05:35:54 -0500 http://www.casinotop10.net/i-fought-the-law-and-the-law-won.shtml http://www.casinotop10.net/kick-your-assus-interruptus.shtml <p><p>I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I don't really have a choice:<br /><br />The poker tournament scheduled for tomorrow has been postponed, and has been tentatively rescheduled for November 16th, 2010.<br /><br />I'm sure that I am going to personally eat an extra-large bowl of shit stew for this, but I assure you that I have no control over it.  I was sort of looking forward to tomorrow's tournament so that I could prove my poker prowess to non-believers on a world stage.<br /><br />I apologize to those who were ready to play, but apparently a few things have to be worked out before it can proceed.<br /><br />I will keep you updated here as to the next time, date, details, etc.<br /><br />Please accept my apologies.</p><br /><p><strong>Update:</strong>  I hate to be the bearer of even more bad news, but I am afraid that the tournament has been cancelled altogether.  There are a couple of reasons for this, but a lot of it has to do with the legislative climate of online poker in the USA in general, and in Washington State in particular.  There is still a lot of confusion, paranoia, and conflicting information out there, but suffice to say that what seemed like a good idea at the time, it probably would not have worked out.<br /><br />Hell, even having an account where I am these days.  For instance, just before my own tournament was set to go off, the following news broke:<br /><br /><em>PokerStars today announced that it would cease providing real-money poker to residents of Washington State. To date, PokerStars has operated in Washington on the basis of legal opinions where the central advice was that the state could not constitutionally regulate Internet poker, or at least could not discriminate in favor of local cardrooms and against online sites. Last week, however, the Washington Supreme Court for the first time rejected that position and upheld the state's Internet gaming prohibition.<br /><br />In light of this decision, following extensive consultation with our legal advisors, we believe that the right course of action is to now block real money play by Washington residents on the PokerStars.com site. This policy will remain in effect until the law changes or subsequent legal challenges succeed. Our decision to block real money play in Washington does not affect the balance of funds in customer accounts, which remain completely safe. Our payment services team continues to be available to Washington State residents to assist with cashout requests.<br /><br />We regret this decision, which will no doubt disappoint our customers in Washington State. However, in all of the jurisdictions where we operate, we are committed to making responsible decisions that are based on a full and considered understanding of the most up-to-date legal advice.</em><br /><br />It's a weird time all-around, and hopefully the entire mess that is online poker in the USA will be rectified at some point.  I honestly cannot believe that things have gotten to such a point in a supposedly-free country that we now lag behind the rest of the industrialized world when it comes to what we can and cannot do with our own time and our own money.  What has happened to all of us here in the USA is really frightening, and it will only get worse until people put down the "America is #1" foam fingers and realize that our soldiers overseas are not fighting for "our freedoms".  The men and women in uniform did not sign up to protect our freedoms, they signed up because risking their lives to protect corporate profits is the only job that pays for unskilled workers in this current economy.  It's a job.  A job that is glamorized by the corporate media so that other people might decide to also put their lives on the line to protect the interests of the mega-corporations.<br /><br />The only freedoms we have left in the USA are the freedoms to do as we are told, and by that definition, slaves in the south were always free.<br /><br />We need to get rid of all of the propaganda and nonsense shoveled to us by the public schools and corporate media, and we need to own the fact that we are in dire shape.  We are a police state in the budding stages of fascism, yet it's just too painful to admit it.  It's easier to live in denial, and this is the reason that, barring something truly dramatic, America's freedoms are most likely gone for good. <br /><br />Democrats, Republicans, Tea Partiers, you are all equally screwed.  You support slightly different agendas of the status-quo while those in power sit back and laugh their ass off as you talk about "voting for change".  The central bank owns everything in this country, and we've been working for them for the last 100 years.<br /><br />Remember:<br /><br />"Give me control of a nation's money and I care not who makes its laws" - Mayer Amschel Bauer Rothschild <br /><br />Your vote means nothing until you demand the freedom to use your own wealth as you see fit.  <br /><br />As for those of you who signed up for the tournament, please accept my appreciation and my apologies.  I will try to organize something in the future, but I'll need more time to get it all together. <br /><br />If you signed up on Bodog just for the tournament, we may be able to get you credit for another tournament.  Email me through the regular channels and I'll see what can be done.<br /><br />Thanks again, and once again ... I'm sorry.</p></p> Fri, 15 Oct 2010 19:49:04 -0500 http://www.casinotop10.net/kick-your-assus-interruptus.shtml http://www.casinotop10.net/die-hipsters-die-2.shtml <p><p>I've traveled throughout this great land of ours, and the truly "alternative" people I have met are very few and far between.  </p><br /><p>Of those that I would consider "alternative", they all had one thing in common, and that one thing is that they were all loners.  Every, single, solitary one of them.  They had few friends, did almost everything by themselves, and had absolutely no discernible social group.  Because of this, they were obscure.  Nobody knew that they were "alternative", and that is exactly why they were.</p><br /><p>The friendless guy that stays home on Saturday night, writing a GPS app for Android and then giving it away under a pseudonym before returning to his day job on Monday selling corn dogs at Walmart ... <strong>THAT</strong> guy is alternative.  That's the guy who really doesn't care what other people think.</p><br /><p>The people with pierced tongues and purposefully messed-up hair standing outside of a music club at 2am are anything but alternative.  That scene has played itself out for decades.  I've been through the whole thing myself, and believe me when I tell you ... punk/alternative rock is the largest conformist clusterfuck I have ever experienced.  Listen to the right music, hold the right ideals, worship the right people, have the correct political views ... or else.  Being a punk rocker is not all that different from being a Baptist.  Same pressures, different gods.</p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/161.jpg" alt="Hipsters" /></p><br /><p>The fact of the matter is that you cannot be alternative in a group.  It's simply not possible.  You cannot be alternative <strong>and</strong> social, you have to pick one or the other.   All groups demand conformity, and once you identify with <strong>ANY</strong> of them, you have ceded your individuality and have simply become a member of a different mainstream.  </p><br /><p>Sure, you hipsters like to roll your eyes and consider yourselves somehow more out-of-the-mainstream than the obese family eating fried chicken on the couch while watching American Idol, but the fact is that you are far more of a conformist than they are.  They are not trying to impress anyone.  They are not going out of their way to be different or ironic.  They are simply doing their own thing without regard for the perceptions of others.  They are being exactly who they are.</p><br /><p>In the USA, that, my friend, is alternative.</p><br /><p>Everywhere I look lately, all I see is posers.  I see honkies sipping Pabst Blue Ribbon beer while sporting keffiyehs around their necks.  Keffiyehs are what the Palestinian people wear over their faces while they are flinging rocks at Israeli soldiers to avoid being singled out for retribution later.  Apparently, hipsters wear keffiyehs to show solidarity with the Palestinian people.  They think they are being revolutionary, but they are anything but.</p><br /><p>My friend lives next to a hipster house in Seattle's U District, and one of his neighbors who I call "I'm so apathetic I don't even comb my hair and I want the world to see that I am so apathetic that I don't comb my hair guy" drives this:</p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/199.jpg" alt="Subaru Outback" /></p><br /><p>This guy is about 25 years old; lives in a house; in a great neighborhood; attends a great school; owns a decent automobile; is clearly well-fed ... yet he is angry, young, and poor.</p><br /><p>Why?</p><br /><p>What, what, what, what is he so fucking "angry" about?</p><br /><p>When I was young and poor, I would have killed to have a Subaru Outback.  I would have loved to have lived in the U District, drinking Pabst with all of my buddies between classes.  Not only that, but on some days the guy has a kayak strapped to his car.  A KAYAK!</p><br /><p>Do you know how many young, poor folks from the ghetto drive Subaru Outbacks and go kayaking on the weekend?</p><br /><p>None.</p><br /><p>Come on guys, what in the fuck are you so angry about?  Was daddy late with the rent check again?  Did he get you the 2.4Ghz MacBook Pro when you clearly asked for the 2.66Ghz?  What is it with you guys and your Apple computers anyway?  Do you have any idea how many young, poor, and angry people own 2010 model MacBook Pros?</p><br /><p>Again, none.</p><br /><p>Apple computers are made in Chinese sweatshops.  Sweatshops which have seen repeated suicides over the years due to deplorable working conditions.  Steve Jobs is an evil motherfucker who happens to be far less philanthropic than Bill Gates.  You're not fighting the power by using MacBooks, you are the goddamn power. </p><br /><p>Now that I am in slightly whiter environs for the first time in ... ever ... hipsters are my new arch-nemesis and I hate them with a passion formally reserved for Steve Wynn and Spermin' Sherman Frederick.</p><br /><p>"Hey Rex, don't hate hipsters ... they may be dingleberries on the asscrack of life, but there's no harm in what they do."</p><br /><p>This used to be my position, but over time I have grown to have a real, true hatred for this demographic.  At least in its current incarnation.</p><br /><p>You see, even though they seem like nothing more than benign, submoronic posebags, if you think a little more deeply about what these people are doing ... it's pretty messed up.</p><br /><p>Hipsters drive up the cost of inner-city housing, drive up the cost of cheap, durable goods, and make a mockery of the true suffering of millions of people worldwide.</p><br /><p>And for what?</p><br /><p>To conform to some silly working-class fantasy.  To escape from their unglamorous strip mall suburban upbringings.</p><br /><p>What next -- privileged white kids from Evergreen University walking around in blackface, shackled like slaves, waiting in line to hear some guy play "Go Down Moses" on his acoustic guitar?</p><br /><p>At what point does the irony just become offensive?</p><br /><p>When is the point at which we say "Okay, this is getting ridiculous, we need to get the Las Vegas Police Department to go Costco on these motherfuckers and thin their ranks"?</p><br /><p>In my opinion, that point is now, and it is exactly why I say ... Die Hipsters, Die.</p><br /><p>Dear Hipsters,</p><br /><p>I sincerely hope that you all get your wish and are forced to live lives of abject poverty and oppression.  I hope that one day you are all forced to live on the street, unsure of where your next meal will come.  I'm not talking the voluntary "I'm going to tough this out on my own and not call daddy for a plane ticket back to Reseda" homeless -- I'm talking "I have no money, no friends, no family, nobody to call, and I'm pretty sure the guy walking toward me is going to rape me" homeless.</p><br /><p>Voluntary poverty is edgy ... involuntary poverty is terrifying.  If you have an "out"; if you have a reset button; if you can drop the lifestyle like yesterday's fad, then you're just shitting in the face of all of those out there who are really, truly ... angry, young, and poor.</p><br /><p>Barring that, for those of you out there who are so entrenched in your alt-life fantasy that you can't wake up, I hope that one day you really do find yourself on the receiving end of an M-16, and I hope the Israeli Army uses that piece of cloth around your neck as a bullseye. </p><br /><p>I hope your only method of escape is a fixed-gear bicycle, and I hope the nearest friendly village is 80 miles distant, and uphill all the way.</p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/201.jpg" alt="Family Outing" /></p><br /><p>Assuming you survived, I've no doubt that you would quickly come to realize that the suburbs weren't so bad after all.  You would soon discover that gears on bikes are a good thing; that you are not, never were, and never will be oppressed; that living in the inner-city without access to money sucks; that irony is only ironic when it is unexpected; that you could never cut it as a real bicycle messenger; that sprockets on bikes are a sign of intellectual superiority; that Pabst Blue Ribbon beer is overrated; that even Soundgarden's worst songs are better than what is currently on your iPod, and that minivans are the most practical motor vehicles ever invented.</p><br /><p><br /><p>I should know about that last item.  I have one myself, and it's the only thing I love more than my bicycle and the bus stop at my door.</p><br /><p>You can fit a lot of used furniture and second-hand clothing inside of a minivan, and up to 7 unbathed humans can ride in blissful comfort as Top 40 radio wafts through the bass-less factory sound system.</p><br /><p>For 90%+ of my life I lived a car-less existence.  I paid my dues and did my part to save the planet.  Now, with busted knees and an aging scrotum, I've decided to indulge in creature comforts such as driving.  After all, I've earned it.  Also, try as I might, I just can't fit my entire family on the handlebars of my mountain bike.</p><br /><p>Once you cast off the shackles of faux-oppression and conformo-alternativism, a wonderful world of practical, modern, completely non-ironic tools will become available to truly improve the quality of your own life as you, and only you, see fit.</p><br /><p>When you avail yourself of these tools despite their coolness; despite the sneers, snickers, and ridicule of your peers ... maybe, just maybe, you will have a shot at being what you have always dreamed of being: Alternative.</p><br /><p>Take it from me, the original hipster.</p><br /></p><br /><p>Read: <a href="die-hipsters-die-1.shtml/">Die Hipsters, Die 1</a></p></p> Thu, 14 Oct 2010 23:26:29 -0500 http://www.casinotop10.net/die-hipsters-die-2.shtml http://www.casinotop10.net/die-hipsters-die-1.shtml <p><p>On a purely urban level, Portland, Oregon is probably my favorite city in the USA ... if not the world.<br /><br />Portland is a city designed with human beings in mind, not the almighty automobile.  Portland's city blocks are limited to 200' in length to keep them walkable, bicyclists typically have their own lanes and parking areas, suburban-sprawl is discouraged by ordinance, and their public transit system makes cars much more of a luxury than a necessity.  I don't think that one could argue against it being the most well-planned large(ish) city in the USA.  <br /><br />Not only that, but it is the city in which the Simpsons animated series is set.  Seriously, look it up.</p><br /><p><em>Chapman School is the real school upon which Springfield Elementary is based:</em></p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/204.jpg" alt="Chapman School in Portland" /></p><br /><p><br />When I am sitting on the I-5 just south of Seattle at 8am in the morning, it always fascinates me how two such closely-related cities can vary so wildly in the urban planning department.  While Seattle is making strides, it's still pretty much a mess as far as transit is concerned.  There are 4 million people in the Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia CSA, and there is a single light rail line that serves the entire area.  For statistics fans, this breaks down to one light rail line per 4,000,000 people.  Don't ask me how I got this result as the formula I used was very complex.</p><br /><p>While I have a great affinity for the city of Portland in general, I do have some issues with the authenticity of some of the people who call the town home.<br /><br />You see, there is a campaign in the city called "Keep Portland Weird", but I have found the place to be more "faux-weird" than anything.</p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/202.jpg" alt="Keep Portland Weird" /></p><br /><p><br />Allow me to give you an example:</p><br /><p>I was in the Lloyd District yesterday, and I sat down with my computer in a park besides two "punks".  One guy had a mohawk, and the other guy was pierced to the point that he looked like Hellraiser.  When I initially sat beside them, I assumed that they were going to be talking about the new Bleeding Dicks concert or something of that sort, but instead, Hellraiser was decrying the state of his credit score while Mohawk guy was giving him some tips.<br /><br />"When you pay off the cards, make sure you don't close the accounts.  That will hurt your score.  Instead, just charge a little each month and pay them off".<br /><br />I found this a little disheartening since conversations about improving ones debt-slavery score is not the sound of the revolution.<br /><br />On another occasion, I was walking down the sidewalk in the Overlook neighborhood when I saw a man and woman cross the street.  The couple looked as if they hadn't bathed in over three years.  The girl had thick dreads, and the guy had aggressively ripped jeans and a tattered knit cap.<br /><br />Assuming they were looking for a place to camp for the night, imagine my suprise when they strode over to an early 2000's Mercedes Benz ... and got in the front seats.<br /><br />Again, German engineering ... not exactly fighting the power.<br /><br />In the grand scheme of things, I would describe Portland not as weird, but as wannabe-weird.  It takes a high degree of normalcy to put so much effort into a carefully crafted image.</p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/206.jpg" alt="Portland" /></p><br /><p><br />All of this brings me to a point.<br /><br />I hate posers -- known colloquially as "hipsters".<br /><br />I really hate them.  I hate them so much that I wouldn't piss on any of them if they were on fire and all it would take to prevent them from being engulfed in flames was a drop of urine.<br /><br />Why?<br /><br />For a variety or reasons, but one of the things that pisses me off the most is that yours truly is very frequently mistaken for one of these assclowns.<br /><br />Since I carry a messenger bag, wear a knit cap, ride a bicycle, and wear old, inexpensive clothing, people commonly mistake me for a hipster.<br /><br />The problem is ... I've always done this.  I did not adopt the hipster aesthetic, they adopted mine.  I suppose on some level I should feel marginally flattered that I have been "hip" since I was about ten years old, but I don't feel flattered.  Rather, I feel annoyed and perplexed.  Now I understand how black people feel about wiggers in general, and Elvis in particular.<br /><br />I carry a bicycle messenger bag because I was ... get this ... <strong>a bicycle messenger</strong>.  A real one, not some pretendster on a fixed-gear bike.  For many years in the late 80's and early 90's I made my money riding 30-100 miles per day through the streets of Washington, DC and New York City.  This was my primary means of income.  I bought durable bags 15+ years ago, and the bags I use today are the exact same bags I used then.  In those days, messenger bags were not cool nor were they fashion statements.  They were simply tools of the trade.</p><br /><p>Speaking of biking, I do not understand why hipsters ride fixed-gear bikes.  In 2010, fixed gear bikes are like Ford Model T automobiles.  They're interesting antiques, but only the most pose-obsessed of posebags would consider using one as a daily rider ... especially in hilly Seattle.</p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/205.jpg" alt="Seattle" /></p><br /><p><br />I've been wearing knit hats for a long time because I don't like a) getting haircuts and b) washing my hair.  Hair products are a money pit which only go to further ones vanity.  It's much easier and cheaper to wake up, throw on a hat, and go about your day.<br /><br />My clothes are not banged up because I paid extra for someone to meticulously rip them -- each and every tear in my clothes was put there by me personally, quite unintentionally.  I have the same shirts and jeans now that I had 10+ years ago.  <br /><br />I had a few guitars, but I didn't carry one around with me.  The only time I held an instrument was when I was actually playing it.  Hipsters appear to have a penchant for lugging acoustics around with them when they are drinking coffee, reading books, or buying toilet paper from the corner store.  I do not know why this is, but if I had to guess, it's for the same reason that the Beach Boys were often photographed carrying surfboards.  It's yet another fashion statement.  Not a single member of the Beach Boys knew how to surf.<br /><br />I lived in Brooklyn way before living in Brooklyn was cool, and the cost of living was dirt cheap since I wasn't surrounded by (supposedly poor) hipsters driving rental prices through the roof.  I lived among life-long New York residents, not people who moved in once daddy's check cleared.<br /><br />Now that I think about it, I must be like Jesus to hipsters.  In a way, I was everything that they pretend to be ... and make no mistake about it, they are pretending.<br /><br />I have a friend in Los Angeles who has informed me that she can no longer shop at her favorite thrift store.  She said that used, beat-up clothing is so in demand by hipsters, that the price for these garments is often 2-3 times what it would cost to buy new.  This also means that people who used to depend on thrift stores for inexpensive clothing have now been priced out by these shitstain hipsters.<br /><br />Then there is, of course, the fucking awful hipster music.<br /><br />Contrary to the alt.hipster creed, just because a band is obscure, it does not necessarily mean that they are good.  Sometimes music is unpopular for a reason and the reason is that it sucks.  Twanging an out-of-tune guitar as some girl plays the xylophone is not compelling music, and the reason it is not mainstream is the same reason that listening to someone have a bowel movement is not mainstream.  It's simply unappealing to most humans.<br /><br />Honestly, I'm convinced that hipsters don't actually like 80% of the crap they listen to.  Much like the keffiyeh (which I will get to later), claiming to like shitty, obscure bands is just part of the whole "alternative" fantasy.<br /><br />Speaking of alternative ...</p><br /><p>Read: <a href="die-hipsters-die-2.shtml/">Die Hipsters, Die 2</a></p></p> Thu, 14 Oct 2010 22:19:25 -0500 http://www.casinotop10.net/die-hipsters-die-1.shtml http://www.casinotop10.net/sarcasm-lost.shtml <p><p>It's been said that sarcasm is the humor of the intelligent.<br /><br />The exception to this would be the British who really find it funny when men dress in women's clothing, although I've no idea why.  I dress in women's clothing all the time, and I can assure you that there is nothing funny about it whatsoever. <br /><br />Frankly, I don't know if the whole "sarcasm is the humor of the intelligent" thing is true or not, but I do know one thing ... many people who read these very pages do not get sarcasm.  At all.<br /><br />Take, for example, my upcoming poker tournament.<br /><br />I did not personally set up the tournament.  How could I?  I don't even have an online poker account yet.  Instead, I asked some folks to set one up for me and they are doing the best that they can under certain parameters.<br /><br />Of course, you cannot please everyone.<br /><br />Since the day the tournament was announced, people have been pissing in my ear because they are convinced that the tournament is really some kind of ruse set up to allow me to wipe the floor with noob players.  These folks are convinced that, since I have bragged about my prowess at poker, that I am soliciting the world's shittiest players to play against me so that I can maintain my bragging rights as ... the world's greatest poker player.<br /><br />The thing is, this is not my first goat fuck, and it's not the first time that I will have publicly played and lost in a tournament.<br /><br />I actually hosted an in-person poker tournament in February of 2009 at the Excalibur, and I came in something like 8th out of 20th when I got rivered by a guy named 'Shamu'.  If memory serves me, I was ahead on the flop, and we both went all-in, but the cards are the cards.</p><br /><p><br /><object width="480" height="385" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/R_2Sj2egwV4?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><br /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><br /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><br /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/R_2Sj2egwV4?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" /><br /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><br /></object><br /></p><br /><p><br />The same scenario has played out in countless other card rooms across Las Vegas.<br /><br />I remember the very first Texas Hold'em tournament in which I played.  It was at the Luxor, and I made the final table (out of 4 tables).  When I was one place out of the money, I made an all-in move, and I was called once.  I had Kings, my opponent had Queens, and there was a King on the flop with two rags.  The only way my opponent would have won was if both the turn and flop brought Queens ... a .1% statistical probability.<br /><br />Well, you can imagine what happened next.  Turn Q, River Q.<br /><br />In my first tournament ever, anywhere, I got bounced out as a 99.9% favorite.  For playing quite well, and making the right moves, I lost my buy-in and left with nothing while Donkey Kong cruised into the money.<br /><br />During my first several months of tournament play, I got bad-beaten so many times that I simply stopped playing in tournaments altogether.  <br /><br />What is my point?<br /><br />My point is that I am the shittiest/unluckiest/most rat bastardiest Hold'em player on this planet and every other inhabited planet in both the known and unknown universe.  I suck balls so badly that even Sherman Frederick removed me from his rolodex.  <br /><br />For years I have written about how badly I sucked at tournaments, and I ass/u/med that when I wrote a post about being the world's greatest tournament player, most everyone with 1/4 of a brain or more would be acutely aware that I was being sarcastic.<br /><br />That's what I get for assuming.<br /><br />In the past week, I've gotten email after email from people taking exception to my characterization of myself as "the world's greatest poker player", and these same people have complained that:</p><br /><p> </p><br /><ul><br /><li>"You only think you're great because you rig your own tournaments to win"; </li><br /><li>"Of course you are going to win your own tournament but that's because you're going to play against losers instead of pros like me who already have online poker accounts blah blah blah";</li><br /><li>"You want to brag about how good you are but you never play against good players so it doesn't count", etc, etc.</li><br /></ul><br /><p>At first, I thought these folks were being sarcastic too, but as time went on, it's occurred to me that some of these winguts are actually serious.<br /><br />Really guys?<br /><br />Do you <strong>REALLY</strong> think that my obviously-ridiculous trash talk and my attempts to host a poker tournament are really that nefarious?<br /><br />Do you really think that I am trying to fool the world by playing against sandbaggers?<br /><br />The fact is that I am a <strong>terrible</strong> tournament player and everyone knows it.  I don't think I've ever placed first in any tournament, and if I did, first prize was so small and unmemorable that I ... don't remember it.  When it comes to Hold'em, I am strictly a cash player.  I go into a room, try to take down one sizable pot, and if I do ... I walk.  I don't sit there and risk my winnings as one is required to do in a tournament.  I generally dislike tournaments because tournaments do not let me take profits.<br /><br />The last tournament I played in (Strip Poker at the Excalibur), a similar thing happened that usually happens.  I got up big early, and had to sit there as the blinds went up and my stack dwindled.  It irks me.  I'm a profit-taker, and I am a big advocate for taking profits.<br /><br />"Well Gee, Rex, why on earth are you holding a tournament, then?"<br /><br />For fun, you imbeciles.<br /><br />Jesus Christ I can't believe how goddamn seriously some of you motherfuckers take things.<br /><br />Get the button puck out of your assholes and lighten up.<br /><br />I'm not trying to rig the tournament so that only I get paid.  I'm not sure that I even want to win.  I mean, I'm going to try and play well, but I would feel quite guilty if I won.  It just doesn't seem right to win your own tournament.  I'd much rather a longtime reader who isn't a jerk get the loot.<br /><br />I can't believe that there are actually people in this world who are tardwitted enough to believe that:</p><br /><ol><br /><li>I really think I am the greatest poker player in the world;</li><br /><li>I derive self-esteem from beating hapless noobs at a silly game;</li><br /><li>I am conspiring with Al Queda, Darth Vader, and other forces of evil to tilt a $5 poker game in my favor;</li><br /><li>My dick is somehow less than 15" long;</li><br /></ol><br /><p> </p><br /><p>Seriously, guys, what the hell?  What's the matter with you?<br /><br />Has the Las Vegas methamphetamine supply run so low that you have become just this humorless?  Or, as is my suspicion, are you really just that dumb?<br /><br />Fortunately for all of you, I am not Steve Wynn or Sherman Frederick.  I'm really not a heartless twatsniff.<br /><br />Since some of you are disappointed or even outwardly hostile to the fact that the tournament is only open to new players, I've asked the folks who set it up to see if there is anything that I can do.<br /><br />They have responded by telling me that they will try to manually add those who already have an account, but you must respond no later than October 13th, 2010 (this Wednesday).  If you are an existing Bodog player, and you are absolutely determined to be publicly humiliated by yours truly, then email <a href="mailto:">rextournament@gmail.com</a> with:</p><br /><p> </p><br /><ol><br /><li>Your Bodog Username and Account ID</li><br /><li>Your Email Address (where we can contact you)</li><br /></ol><br /><p> </p><br /><p>They will attempt to add you "pro" players manually.</p><br /><p>Again, if you haven't already signed up, <a href="http://pokerlistingsmail.com/ct10/">click here to sign up</a>.<br /><br />Keep in mind, however, that if you do manage to get added to the tournament, your chances of winning or busting me out are still slim to none.<br /><br />After all, I am the greatest poker player alive.</p></p> Mon, 11 Oct 2010 20:37:59 -0500 http://www.casinotop10.net/sarcasm-lost.shtml http://www.casinotop10.net/the-m-national.shtml <p><p>On March 1, 2009, I left my home in Rexville, drove over to the brand-spanking-new M Resort, and took some video of the interior mere minutes after the property opened its doors to the filthy public.  As a matter of fact, the video still lives on YouTube:<br /><br /> <br /><object width="480" height="385" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/1hsO8hal4Rw?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><br /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><br /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><br /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1hsO8hal4Rw?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" /><br /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><br /></object><br /><br /><br />Even though I thought the property was visually attractive, I felt that the opening was horribly bungled.<br /><br />For instance, only "VIPs" were allowed to watch the opening fireworks from within the M property line.  Everyone else was forced to park on the side of public roads or watch the show from afar.  Non-VIPs were not even allowed to park in the M parking lot until after the fireworks ended.  In my opinion, this was a miscalculation as it left a terrible first impression amongst the unwashed rank-and-file customers ... people who comprise about 99% of the M's customer base.</p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/189.jpg" alt="M Resort Grand Opening" /></p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/196.jpg" alt="M Resort Grand Opening Fireworks" /></p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/197.jpg" alt="M Resort Grand Opening Fireworks" /></p><br /><p>Sure, all new Vegas businesses inexplicably launch by shitting on their target demographic, but for a year prior I had been assured that "The Marnells" were different.  I was told that they somehow possessed a special genius when it came to catering to the local customer base, and this is why I was quite surprised to see the exclusivity of the first day.  The pretentious "VIP-centric" opening was evidence to me that the Marnells were not all that different from their competition.<br /><br />The insulting opening and the ridiculous $25 "resort fee" (which has since been done away with) made it difficult for me to bond with the property at first, and those two things are also why I don't feel <strong>too</strong> bad about the following development:<br /><br /><em>Penn National Gaming, Inc has purchased the outstanding debt of the M Resort casino-hotel in Las Vegas for $230.5 million.<br /><br />"This should put [Penn National] in a position to eventually own the asset," Brian McGill, an analyst at Janney Capital Markets, said in a research note.<br /><br />The M Resort, developed by the Marnell family and located on 90 acres about 10 miles south of the Las Vegas Strip, was built at a cost of $1 billion and opened in March 2009, at the height of the financial crisis that continues to buffet Las Vegas, where foreclosures are rampant and unemployment is high.<br /><br />"While we don't view the acquisition as a major positive in the near term given the depressed Las Vegas locals market, we believe Penn purchased a nice asset for a fraction of the total project cost ($230.5 million for a $1 billion facility) that doesn't need any maintenance capex over the next several years," J.P. Morgan analyst Joseph Greff said in a research note.<br /><br />Penn came close earlier this year to acquiring the bankrupt and unfinished Fontainebleau resort, which sits at the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip, but in the end was outbid by financier Carl Icahn.</em><br /><br />Hey Marnell brothers, where are the VIPs now?<br /><br />Remember the folks you trotted around for hours pre-opening and treated to a fantastic fireworks show as Vegas locals sat and watched at stoplights?  The superficial fair-weather friends who never miss a chance to see and be seen.  The media, wannabe-media, celebrities, and wannabe celebrities.<br /> <br /><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/191.jpg" alt="M Resort on Grand Opening Night" /></p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/193.jpg" alt="M Resort on Grand Opening Night" /></p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/194.jpg" alt="M Resort on Grand Opening Night" /></p><br /><p>Yeah, those VIPs.  <br /><br />Couldn't they at least stick around and play long enough to help you make your interest payments?<br /><br />No?<br /><br />I'm shocked ... shocked I tell you!<br /><br />I digress.<br /><br />I'm probably being unfair since every property opens in this manner, but perhaps that's Vegas' problem.  It forgets the little guy at its own peril.<br /><br />Aside from my minor problems with the bullshit outlined above, I eventually came around and found the M Resort to be an attractive place.</p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/192.jpg" alt="M Resort on Grand Opening Night Cocktail Waitresses" /></p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/195.jpg" alt="M Resort Pool on Grand Opening Night" /></p><br /><p>I've been back over half a dozen times since the joint opened, and I've always enjoyed decent odds coupled with very good service.  In addition, I've found the M Resort Studio B Buffet to be of admirably high quality for an off-strip joint.  The M certainly gives the Red Rock a run for its money as the finest resort located more than 5 miles from the Bellagio.</p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/185.jpg" alt="M Resort - Studio B Buffet" /></p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/186.jpg" alt="M Resort - Studio B Buffet" /></p><br /><p><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/187.jpg" alt="M Resort - Studio B Buffet" /></p><br /><p>Reality is reality, however, and the Marnells financed their property under grossly unfavorable terms at a grossly unfavorable time.  The big banks got bailed out for their unwise risk taking, but everyone else has to pay up.  Because of this, it appears that the M Resort will have a new owner in the near future.<br /><br />Frankly, I don't expect a huge change at the M if/when this happens.  After all, besides a new name, what else is there to do?  The resort is already a pretty solid offering, and if it can weather the rest of the depression there is no reason that it wouldn't thrive as Green Valley Ranch did during the roaring 00's.  This all assumes that the Vegas Depression will end, of course, and I am not convinced that it will ... but August gaming win and visitation was up significantly ... so there are signs of hope.<br /><br />I'd like to think the depression has humbled some of the resort executives and has taught them not to spit in the eye of their core constituency, but I'm sure I'm giving them too much credit.  As 6:5 blackjack and resort fees continue unabated, I think the recovery will continue to be low, slow, and incognito.<br /><br />In any event, the "M" portion of the M Resort may someday be a thing of the past.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.vegasrex.com/allonrex/190.jpg" alt="M Resort on Grand Opening Night" /></p><br /><p>May its new benefactors treat it with kindness.</p></p> Sun, 10 Oct 2010 19:12:58 -0500 http://www.casinotop10.net/the-m-national.shtml http://www.casinotop10.net/t-minus-one-week.shtml <p><p> </p><br /><p>Let it be known that you have exactly one more week to register for the World Series of Rex.</p><br /><p>I'm not actually running the tournament, but in the most recent update, about 15 people have signed up for the game.</p><br /><p>If this number holds, it means that there will be a 15:1 shot for a 100:1 payoff .... a sixfold increase in the statistically expected return on your investment.  Try getting those odds in Vegas.  Hell, try getting any odds in Vegas that aren't patently insulting.</p><br /><p>Remember, the top two places get paid ... $400 for 1st and $100 for second.  An additional $100 will be awarded to the person that busts me out.  The entry fee is only $5.</p><br /><p>To participate in the tournament there are a couple of things that need to be done, outlined below:</p><br /><p> </p><br /><p><strong>Step 1</strong>:  You must sign up between <strong>October 6th</strong> and <strong>October 13th</strong>:</p><br /><p>If you haven't already signed up, <a href="http://pokerlistingsmail.com/ct10/" target="_blank">click here to sign up</a>.</p><br /><p>After signing up, you will receive 3 emails:</p><br /><p style="padding-left: 30px;">The 1st email will be sent out once you click on the “Sign up NOW” button which will contain some general information.</p><br /><p style="padding-left: 30px;">The 2nd email will contain more information regarding registration for the tournament: “Don’t forget to create an account at Bodog via this link, with this password” etc.</p><br /><p style="padding-left: 30px;">The 3rd email will be sent out 48 hours before the actual tournament (October 16, 2010 at 3pm Eastern Daylight Savings Time - New York Time) which will contain a final reminder: “Don’t forget to register for the tournament”.</p><br /><p><strong>Step 2</strong>:  Complete registration of the tournament and $5 buy in between the 15th and the 16th of October (you will receive an email with registration information and a reminder as stated above after sign up for tournament).  The tournament is only open to <strong>new</strong> players.</p><br /><p> </p><br /><p>I'll probably make one more update before the tournament actually begins, but due to the somewhat weird state of online gaming in the USA, the field will be relatively small.  Each player will have a statistically advantagous chance of making at least a 20-fold return on their buy-in, even if they suck.</p><br /><p>Think about it, for five bucks, you can pretty much play any two cards risk-free.  The most you can lose is 5 bones.</p><br /><p>So, sign-up, go all in with 7-3 offsuit against my pocket Kings, and watch the flop fall 7-7-3, just like in real life.  </p><br /><p>For those of you that have always assumed that I was exaggerating about my hideous luck against crappy players, well, now is your chance to see for yourself.  You can watch some dillwipe suck out against me, or you can be that dillwipe yourself.  It's completely up to you.</p><br /><p>Also, if you've ever wanted to call me an asshole to my virtual face, well, you can do that as well.  </p><br /><p>The possibilities are endless.</p><br /><p>Please rest assured that absolutely none of the proceeds from this tournament will go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.</p><br /><p> </p></p> Sat, 09 Oct 2010 22:49:42 -0500 http://www.casinotop10.net/t-minus-one-week.shtml