Depending on where you play in AC you will certainly meet some characters. One of the popular casinos on the boardwalk that has its share of them will be in full regalia on a Saturday night into a Sunday morning.
Here is a short list of a few:
The most feared:
The Grim Reaper (also known as Skeletor): this guy is a mainstay and is, by far the most intriguing of an interesting lot of characters.
He is very well known by both the casino personnel and the players. He is despised by most and there is a good reason. He seems to have a knack for changing a table. If you are at a table and feel a cool wind blow by your back, it is probably him, scanning the tables for his next victim. Here is his M.O. He walks the table area like a hawk scanning for his prey. He is lean and very tall. Usually scruff and casually dressed. He holds a bunch of black and green chips in his palms, cupped as if he is carrying something precious. He is looking for weakness. Not in the player, but in the game. He is scanning for a 4 or 10 point that a shooter has established. When his sharp eyes see a 4 or 10 established….whooosh, he dives down and hits the table and makes a don’t bet, throwing his chips in with a flair. This is the only bet he makes. And only on the 4 and 10. I have watched in horror as he scoops in, places his don’t and often times wins. He is well known so his mere presence on the scene sets the usual players into a frenzy. Even if the shooter doesn’t know this guy, his flair for the DONT and his bet will get even the greenest rookies attention. That and the moan from the other players when the Grim Reaper comes to harvest his crop.
As a controlled shooter, he is never welcome, as he disrupts the routine and rhythm of the table. People will shoo him away. Groan when he shows up. Call off their bets, angrily berate him…..all while you are starting your throw. He can discombobulate even the most veteran of shooters.
Despised by all, he seems to thrive on the negativity. When the crap out comes, he will give a yell….something like Marv Albert…..going Yeeeeesssssss!. And make his collection of course.
It gets to the point when he is in the casino, that if you establish a 4 or 10, you are looking over your shoulder.
I have had first hand experience dealing with this most unnerving of players. I have seen him time and time again, blow up a good shoot. I have seen him yelled at, shoooed away and berated. I have also seen how with each insult he seems to grow stronger, more confident, more disruptive to a smooth flow at the table.
Admittedly he has caused me to lose focus. You can’t help but notice him if he sticks his nose onto your table and onto your shoot. After observing him for a while and seeing his M.O. I decided I needed to disarm him so if he showed up during one of my shoots and I had a 4 or 10 to make. So I did the opposite of what everyone else was doing. At the first opportunity, I befriended him. (Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer). Nobody ever says anything nice or even decent to this guy. So when he ponies up to a table next to me when I am not shooting, I look at him and say a simple "Hi", with a smile. He didn’t know how to react. It looked like he was waiting for the boom to drop on his head. It was funny and comical. The words hi stumbled out of his mouth. (I had him at hello). This simple act was one of the best moves I have made in AC. We chatted while the shoot was going on. He told me his life story. He is a retired cop. He bets this way because he wins. He can’t help but give a Yeeeesssss, when the 7 comes because he knows that the table hates him. (I say: I don’t hate you). He tells me his name. Yada, Yada, Yada.
I tell you I am the only person in the casino that has ever talked to him and gotten a response.
Now when Skeletor shows up, I secretly smile. I know him. I know my enemy. He cannot make me lose my focus. Instead now he is no different than the next guy. No mystique. No maddness.
Keep an eye out for him if you visit that casino. If he comes up to your table, say Hi, Ed. How you doing. And let the dice fly. Don’t let him get you into a negative game of trying to avoid the 7. Just continue to throw the numbers.
The Yeller
This is a small guy with the biggest yell I have ever heard. Should you find yourself at a table with him. Pack up and leave immediately. In fact, I recommend you leave the casino and go elsewhere to play. He is that loud and that disruptive. If you are shooting he will yell as you are about to release the dice. And he does this all the time. Every roll, every shooter. By far the most annoying person I have ever met at a casino. He even shouts as he himself releases the dice. Like one of those tennis stars as they hit the ball. There is absolutely no way to focus if this guy shows up. As I said…leave immediately. I have never been at a table when he was there that anyone, random or not, ever had a good shoot.
See me at the class if you want to know more about these characters. The Grim Reaper can be disarmed and beaten at his own game. The Yeller is impossible to play near, cannot be beaten…it is best to avoid him altogether.
Replies:
Posted by: Guest on February 26, 2013, 12:54 pm
The Yeller is like an armor piercing missile and always scared the craps out of me…. The only thing more frightening is the look in the eyes of the pit boss that looks like "nasferatu" at the same place. I befriended him like you did the Grim Reaper.
Posted by: Dominator on February 26, 2013, 1:17 pm
Dominator
Posted by: Scan on February 26, 2013, 6:52 pm
Another person of note is someone I mentioned on the board on prior occasions, I call her "BIG RED" she is a Older woman with red hair and she is always at the Borgota Pai Gow Poker tables. She resembles George’s mother on Seinfeld. I have seen her for years. There has not been one time when I am there In The daytime when I did not see her. I saw an older guy speaking with her on occasssion. I think he is the husband, he must play other games. She is like Lou Gehrig the way she never misses. 😀