Discovery Channel's "Breaking Vegas"

[HelloHockeyFans]

Any one else been watching this show? Freaking awesome!

The first one I ever saw was the one where a team found a "biased" roulette wheel and were able to win millions before the casinos found out and eventually drove them out.

[BlackEleven]

Yeah, I've been watching it too. Cool show. I saw the biased wheel one you were talking about. I also saw one where some guys made a computer to predict where roulette ball would land.

I've also seen one about a poker player who'd never played in a tournament before and finished in the top 10 at the World Series; one about a blackjack card counting team; and one about a craps player that had a special way of throwing the dice to get the number he wanted.

All of the episodes were very cool.

[jam26]

My favourite was the one where a guy figured out how to pick the Top 6 at the Kentucky Derby...but he was found out when a huge upset occurred. Some of these schemes are so elaborate, I find myself rooting for them.

[NuclearFart]

Yeah this a great show, right up there with Mythbusters. I saw one about card counting, and then the one about the computer program for roulette. I thought that the roulette one ended in a rather disappointing way, as those poor students put all the work in to figure it out and build their contraption, only to walk away from millions in the end. Maybe that makes them more ethical than I, but I would have gone full tilt.
________
fat woman Cam

[J pold]

although I can understand the appeal in the shows, I have only seen the one where the guy figures out how to make a dice land in his favor when playing craps I myself find this hard to believe it didn't really explain how this feat could be accomplished but focused more on how much money he won what I really wanted to see was him throw the dice 10 or 15 times and just see how many times he can call the number that will come up, as he does in the show, maybe because I'm not much for gambling but I really can't believe this stuff

[FunkMasterFlame]

awesome show, but some of these actors they use are just atrocious..

like that white guy they dressed up like an awful 70s-era pimp in the blackjack episode, that awful beard and the way he swaggers around you would think he were 50 cent or something..

[metallicat]

Is this show related in any way to the Breaking Vegas book by Ben Mezrich?

[BlackEleven]

Originally Posted by oilers_fan

Is this show related in any way to the Breaking Vegas book by Ben Mezrich?

I think they did their first episode based on the book. I guess it was a success so they continued making other 'beat the casino' type stories from there.

[ericschand]

Originally Posted by BlackEleven

Yeah, I've been watching it too. Cool show. I saw the biased wheel one you were talking about. I also saw one where some guys made a computer to predict where roulette ball would land.

Was this the one out of Quebec some years ago? However, the guy
then told everyone how he managed to win a lot of money, so they
denied him the chip cash-in. So he sued. Never heard how it turned
out.

Originally Posted by BlackEleven

I've also seen one about a poker player who'd never played in a tournament before and finished in the top 10 at the World Series; one about a blackjack card counting team; and one about a craps player that had a special way of throwing the dice to get the number he wanted.

All of the episodes were very cool.

The poker player was an online poker player. His name was a pretty
good one, Chris Moneymaker. He not only finished in the top 10,
he finished FIRST! This feat was duplicated again by another
player. You can find info by googling for him.

The blackjack card counting team was probably the MIT team, someone
above mentions the book(s) written about it. Interesting read.

ers

[BlackEleven]

Originally Posted by ericschand

Was this the one out of Quebec some years ago? However, the guy
then told everyone how he managed to win a lot of money, so they
denied him the chip cash-in. So he sued. Never heard how it turned
out.

No, these were the first guys to build a computer to predict where the roulette ball would land. It was some hippie physics students in California. At that time casinos didn't even know it was possible to players to use computers.

Originally Posted by ericschand

The poker player was an online poker player. His name was a pretty
good one, Chris Moneymaker. He not only finished in the top 10,
he finished FIRST! This feat was duplicated again by another
player. You can find info by googling for him.

I'm not talking about Chris Moneymaker. I know who he is. This is a different story. The guy was a magazine writer and he decided to write an article on the World Series of Poker. He thought entering it would be the best way to write about it, so he entered without ever having played in a tournament before and finished in the top 10 (I don't remember exactly where). He took out TJ Cloutier (called his bluff) on his way to the final table. This was back in the 70s I believe, before poker was hugely popular.

Originally Posted by ericschand

The blackjack card counting team was probably the MIT team, someone
above mentions the book(s) written about it. Interesting read.

I know about the MIT team, and this was a different card counting team. Once again it was back in the 70s before the MIT team. What made them famous was a wealthy stock broker quit his job and left his family to play blackjack full time. When the casinos discovered him and his team and kicked them out, he sued claiming he was not cheating, had done nothing wrong and the casinos should continue to let him play. Technically he was right, because there is nothing illegal about counting cards.

[Coolsurfer79]

Originally Posted by BlackEleven

I know about the MIT team, and this was a different card counting team. Once again it was back in the 70s before the MIT team. What made them famous was a wealthy stock broker quit his job and left his family to play blackjack full time. When the casinos discovered him and his team and kicked them out, he sued claiming he was not cheating, had done nothing wrong and the casinos should continue to let him play. Technically he was right, because there is nothing illegal about counting cards.

I think it was Ken Uston.

[theJuice]

Man, I always love watching these things, find it extremely interesting, and as someone above mentioned, always find myself rooting for them, even though I know most of the times they won't actually suceed.

[Kjesse]

Originally Posted by BlackEleven

I'm not talking about Chris Moneymaker. I know who he is. This is a different story. The guy was a magazine writer and he decided to write an article on the World Series of Poker. He thought entering it would be the best way to write about it, so he entered without ever having played in a tournament before and finished in the top 10 (I don't remember exactly where). He took out TJ Cloutier (called his bluff) on his way to the final table. This was back in the 70s I believe, before poker was hugely popular.

I think you're referring to the autobiographical story told in Positively Fifth Street by James McManus... though his story is not about the WSOP in the 70's (there were fewer than 100 entrants in any year of the WSOP in the 70's), but was actually the year 2000, and he was hired to write an article about the WSOP. He used his advance money from Harpers to enter the tournament. He was an amateur who had not played formal tournament poker. His advance money from Harpers was only $4K (which included expenses), and he needed $10K, so he played some satellites and won entry into the tournament. In the satellites, he defeated Hasan Habib and Amir Vahedi - no small accompishment.

He came in 5th of about 600 entrants in the main event of the WSOP in the year 2000 (yes the tourney was that small then), and was at the final table with TJ Cloutier. However TJ came in 2nd that year, losing to Chris Ferguson (IIRC).

By the way, Cloutier tends not to bluff. If you have any example of a major hand at a final table lost by TJ Cloutier on a "bluff", please send me the reference. He's one of the sharpest players of all time and plays the odds extremely well. He might semi-bluff at a final table but I doubt he'd even try to pull a complete bluff.

Cloutier has been at the final table in the main event about 4 or 5 times, and has never been bested by an author, to my knowledge, so that's why I think you're referring to McManus, which is the closest to your story that I can recall.

Good book, by the way, though it rambles (like this post of mine) from time to time.

[evman150]

I enjoyed the book as well. It's very neat to see "inside" the WSOP, especially when the author and player actually is an author.

I do remember something about Jim calling TJ down with AK and taking down a very sizable pot at the final table or maybe the final two tables. It was more Jim's inexperience (fishiness) than a great call.

And Jesus was a suckout animal in that tournament. TJ deserved to win.

I always remember TJ's advice, from the book ("Championship Pot Limit and No Limit Holdem") described in Positively Fifth Street, "A lot of players will put their tournament lives at stake with the AQ. You are NOT one of those players."

And Delgar, I don't know if you're a CSI fan, but the murder trial from the book was also the inspiration for an episode of the show, which I thought was kind of cool.

[Antithesis]

The one yesterday was a bit disappointing to me. A guy finds machines to pull quarters out of slot machines. Whee!

[BlackEleven]

Originally Posted by Delgar

I think you're referring to the autobiographical story told in Positively Fifth Street by James McManus... though his story is not about the WSOP in the 70's (there were fewer than 100 entrants in any year of the WSOP in the 70's), but was actually the year 2000, and he was hired to write an article about the WSOP. He used his advance money from Harpers to enter the tournament. He was an amateur who had not played formal tournament poker. His advance money from Harpers was only $4K (which included expenses), and he needed $10K, so he played some satellites and won entry into the tournament. In the satellites, he defeated Hasan Habib and Amir Vahedi - no small accompishment.

He came in 5th of about 600 entrants in the main event of the WSOP in the year 2000 (yes the tourney was that small then), and was at the final table with TJ Cloutier. However TJ came in 2nd that year, losing to Chris Ferguson (IIRC).

By the way, Cloutier tends not to bluff. If you have any example of a major hand at a final table lost by TJ Cloutier on a "bluff", please send me the reference. He's one of the sharpest players of all time and plays the odds extremely well. He might semi-bluff at a final table but I doubt he'd even try to pull a complete bluff.

Cloutier has been at the final table in the main event about 4 or 5 times, and has never been bested by an author, to my knowledge, so that's why I think you're referring to McManus, which is the closest to your story that I can recall.

Good book, by the way, though it rambles (like this post of mine) from time to time.

Yup, that's the story I am referring to. I don't know why I thought it was in the 70s (I guess because most of the stories in the show older). I'm afraid I don't have references for you on the hands, its just what I recall from watching that one particular show. I could be way off, it was a while ago since I saw it.

[Ironhorse]

Originally Posted by Antithesis

The one yesterday was a bit disappointing to me. A guy finds machines to pull quarters out of slot machines. Whee!

Whee is right, but it was still a $250K/year "whee" for a number of years. Never did see how it ended though, I fell asleep...

[Antithesis]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

Whee is right, but it was still a $250K/year "whee" for a number of years. Never did see how it ended though, I fell asleep...

Yeah -- I dunno, I just seemed kind of bland compared to some of the stories related in this topic. And the acting!