Where'd everybody go?
So where should I begin? Should I begin with how prior to the event, it seemed as though most affiliate programs were bailing out of the conference? Or should I begin with the crappy Lufthansa flight that seated me smack in front of the bulkhead that cramped up my legs into a twisted pretzel for a nine and a half hour flight? Nope, I'll start in Vegas; my yearly pilgrimage to the city that never sleeps.
I was pretty much wiped out by the time I got there. I missed my connecting flight, and my luggage came in on the flight scheduled after mine. It was utterly ridiculous. If you fly into Vegas, be prepared to wait 45 minutes or more for your luggage to be offloaded. The same thing happened to me in Denver - thus the reason why I missed my connecting flight.
Sure I was late - and pissed, but I was happy to be back in the States, and in Vegas. Greedygirl picked me up in her convertible - dropped me off at The Wynn which is an amazing place to stay. Unfortunately, my stay was planned to be way too short. For the past few years, I've combined the Casino Affiliate Convention and the Global Gaming Expo into one week long (nearly) visit. I would fly in a day before the convention - chill with the jetlag - spend the following two days at the conference busy meeting casino operators, affiliate managers, and fellow webmasters. Most of them would then leave for home, and I would chill with the G2E for three days. It gave me time to relax, reflect, and actually spend some time checking out the shows and doing casino tours. This trip was cut short thanks to the Pope.
You see, the Pope is Bavarian - zum wohl! And I live in Bavaria. Bavaria is mostly Catholic and he was visiting the during the second week of September. This is the week that kids start school here, and the local government decided it would be a good idea to postpone the first day of school so that everyone could go see the Pope. So my boy's first day of first grade was rescheduled to when I should have been boarding the flight to Vegas. Obviously, I was going to the CAC a day late. The first day of first grade is a big deal, and things like this take precedence over any conference.
And no, I'm not Catholic.
So the first day of the CAC I was pretty wiped out, and I had a pretty full agenda. One day to take care of a number of things. The first thing I noticed coming into the conference center (hosted by the Stardust Hotel and Casino) was a huge conglomeration of old people participating in a slots tourney. It was absolutely priceless; gandmas and such hammering away at the spin buttons trying to get in as many spins as possible in the allotted time. There were two rows of slots cordoned off by a ribbon, and an MC stood and egged the players on via his wireless microphone. It was quite funny to watch - but I was on the way to the CAC.
Entering the conference area, I noticed a placard with the word GUTS in big bold letters. There has been a lot of talk lately whether or not employees of online casino companies are safe from the long arm of US law. Quite a few casino groups - to include a number of sponsors - cancelled at the last minute. The way the talk was going, I was wondering if anyone was going to show up at all.
GUTS. I was really wondering whether or not one needed "guts" to show up. There were a number of arguments before the show addressing the pros and cons of going during this time of legal ambiguity. I think that if the legal department of any corporation tells its management that a risk is involved, then fine - don't go. Guts has nothing to do with it. It's a corporate decision based on what is good for the company. For individuals like me, well if you're doing something wrong, then don't do it - and don't show. In fact, by not showing - it may indicate to interested parties that you are doing something wrong, and the legal crosshairs get pointed at you.
I sat in briefly at J. Todd's presentation on how screwed up the legislation in Washington state is. His website was shut down when state law was passed making playing online in Washington State a federal offense. Washington state has a lottery, Indian casinos, card rooms, and dog and horse track wagering. But if you place a link on your website that directs traffic to an online casino - you're committing a felony. It makes you want to just throw up.
I had people to meet, so I went out to the exhibition hall. There were a number of booths that were absent - such a shame because most of these people are really the main points of contacts for player issues etc. But there were a number of newbies - Get21.comHypepartners.com to name two. It was unfortunate that I didn't have the time to visit each booth fully, but I should have that opportunity in Barcelona next month.
One group that I did spend some time with was Jackpot Factory. Remember the fiasco last spring when they had SEO mess? They had hired an unscrupulous SEO agent who created hundreds of pages of "content" primed for about every subject (divorce, suicide, emphysema, dog catching, etc.) and how it relates to online gambling. Most of it is documented here. They were rogued a few months ago, which was a very unfortunate thing. They are an outstanding casino group with a excellent track record of effective customer service and great player relations. Most everyone in the gaming community was pretty much shocked on what happened. They made a big mistake - and paid dearly for it. They lost players, affiliates, reputation, and nearly had their eCOGRA certification pulled - and they were "rogued" here, and blacklisted there. They donated $25,000 to Gamcare in response to this incident.
So after much consideration, I'm considering this a "past issue" and bringing them back on board and reinstate their accreditation at Casinomeister. It's time to move on.
Well I moved on to lunch with Spearmaster. Sushi was the order of the day - and as usual - it was good. After lunch, we began a search for our favorite slots and video poker machines at the Stardust. They weren't there. Why? I'll tell you why - the Stardust is scheduled to be closed and raised. On the way out, I took a peek at their swimming pool and understood why. It was spartan and void of the tropical aesthetic touches we're so used to seeing at casino hotel pools. I guess Las Vegas casinos are a bit like our computers and TVs. After a few years they're obsolete, so you blow up the old one and get a new one.
That afternoon, I mingled with a number of casino operators and affiliate managers - no serious discussions were planned since there wasn't any real outstanding player issues that these people could have dealt with. There is one rather VERY serious issue - but the operator wasn't there. In fact, I've never met this guy face-to-face, but we've had our run-ins before. There should be more on this by the next newsletter. Stay tuned.
That afternoon, instead of making the "Beer Panel" discussion, I had a meeting with another operator wishing to come on board at Casinomeister. It was a shame to miss the beer panel - I've been at every one of them since their conception - but time was short. I met with the operator of Club World Casino for some time. And we came to understand that our philosophies towards the gaming community are pretty much the same: players should be dealt with fairly and with respect, promotions are clear, and the customer service should be effective and helpful and give the player the benefit of the doubt when there is doubt. I've been watching these guys for a few months now, and most players will admit that it's a well run operation. So let's welcome Club World Casino as an RTG Casinomeister Accredited Online Casino. http://casinomeister.com/cgi-bin/adcycle1.15/adclick.cgi?gid=5&cid=159&mid=669&id=652
We parted ways and Greedygirl joined me to scope out the casino floor. Favs are: Leading Edge Games - especially the multi-strike poker. Action Gaming's Spin Poker and Super Times Pay Poker
And a few of the slots - Texas Tea of course and and I gave Texas Tina a workout. But the best was yet to come. We had the Partnerlogic Playboy Party to look forward to. Was as it as scandalous as you might possibly imagine? Keep scrolling down to find out...
CASINOMEISTER CAUTIONS!
Neteller clients - watch out for the phishers
Neteller customers report that a phisher using US and London addresses to register a faux Neteller domain has been at work this week, attempting to obtain account information that would enable this cretin to plunder your hard earned cash.
Hundreds, perhaps thousands of honest Neteller clients have been receiving this sort of email - allegedly from the Isle of Man e-cash processing company:
Dear Valued NETELLER Member,
Thank you for initiating your first deposit with NETELLER. As a standard security procedure, your account has been placed on hold temporarily and will be activated once you speak with a NETELLER representative.
This security measure protects your personal information and identity, and is only required for your first deposit; subsequent deposits will not require telephone confirmation.
A NETELLER Customer Service Representative will call you between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. If you would like to be called at another time or have not received your confirmation call from a NETELLER representative, please email NETELLER Customer Service with your name, preferred contact number and a convenient time to contact you.
Or click on this link and confirm your account detailes:
Login Now
Thank you for choosing NETELLER.
The link is of course to a fraudulent site where the crooks hope you will give them the information they need to access your account. It's a criminal attempt and a false representation. We're not going to take the risk of re-publishing the link here, but it is from a Neteller-like domain registered by a criminal who gives probably false name and addresses in the UK and USA. These have been passed on to the authorities as a precaution.
Don't ever sign up at Neteller unless it's served from the neteller.com domain. Make sure that on the signup page the URL is : https://www.neteller.com/signup/step1.jsf and that the padlock at the bottom right of your browser is locked (not open).
And report any other attempts of this nature to Neteller, who would like to see international law enforcement run this would-be thief of your money to ground.
As reported in our forum by Jetset, Peter Dicks was free to go on home this afternoon after Louisiana attempted to have him extradited for the crime of "gambling on the Internet. This is what was posted in our forum:
Peter Dicks has been released by the New York court. According to his lawyer, New York governor George Pataki refused to sign his extradition warrant to Louisiana and he was released Friday.
Dicks's legal team is quoted as saying: “We gave the court sufficient reason to free him,” adding that Dicks will return to London tomorrow and he “will have a party in New York tonight”.
As far as is understood the Louisiana state authorities have kept their warrants active despite the refusal of New York to honour same.
Dicks’ legal team will presumably continue the fight in that state to lift the state warrant on grounds of no offence committed by the accused.
I certainly hope that this will be viewed by the courts as a frivolous attempt to harass the gaming industry. These companies ought to demand restitution for profits lost, and for punitive damages as well. You can read the comments from members here.
CASINOS YOU GOTTA JOIN!
If you haven't checked out Casino Treasure yet, why not? This was one of Casinomeister's original "Reputable" casinos back in 1998, and they are finally back after a four year hiatus (they were removed when I dropped all Costa Rican based casinos).
They are back on board, licensed in Kahnawake, and they offer many really cool games. They have about every form of Video Poker imaginable. Check out their sign up bonus (if you're into that sort of thing): For a limited time, get up to $100 in free bonus chips added to your player account!
After installing the software, simply register, make a deposit and they will match 100% of the amount of your first deposit with bonus chips up to $100. I play there often - really nice VP and pretty quick payouts. http://casinomeister.com/cgi-bin/adcycle1.15/adclick.cgi?gid=5&cid=160&mid=670&id=818
Sorry - no US based players.
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Well, I thought that the "Bunny" party would be a "dangerous" place for the unwary - but I was wary and was well prepared to enact the "tunnelvision" - to just talk to some webmasters and ignore the half naked women prancing around. Well, it was cool. Partnerlogic pulled off a great party. It was Playboy Hugh Hefners Sky Villa in the Fantasy Tower of the Palm Hotel. It was trippy, but it would have been trippier in 1985 or so. The decor just seemed a bit dated - it was very 80s. I felt as though I should be wearing a pork-pie hat and a skinny tie. But it was cool. And yes, there were many bunnies around, but thankfully they kept pretty much to themselves.
The best part of the evening was communicating with so many fellow webmasters; this is the meat and potatoes of these sort of conferences - the socialization. It was a shame that my presence at the conference was so short. I was really missing the G2E and it was hard to believe that the show was already over for me.
The evening was still young, but I was feeling wiped out. I never recovered from the jetlag, and the entire day seemed to have fast forwarded itself. It was time to leave, and a group of us went back to the Wynn. The Tryst was the next stop - the Wynn's disco with a 90 ft waterfall and huge dance floor. But it was pretty much packed and the music was absolutely pathetic. I just can't get into hip hop soul. Just can't. I dig the Beastie Boys and such, but soul? I just can't get into the ladies' chorus singing stuff - I'd prefer techno, or something of that nature. I guess I've been to too many European discos. What cracks me up are the girls who jump up on the tables and dry hump the air with their butts to the beat. C'mon, what's that supposed to be? What happened to gettin' down and boogiein'? So I left. I was pretty burnt out.
Plans for the morning - meeting with the operators of Giant Vegas for breakfast. We meet at the Wynn, and went over a few player issues and just talked about the industry as a whole. It was a constructive conversation, and it's these sort of meetings that benefit the players. I know who I'm dealing with, and he knows who he's dealing with.
It was Saturday, and the plan for the day was the Casinomeister moderator's casino tour. Spearmaster, Simmo! and I were going to tour the strip for the day, and what a trip. We started at the Venetian, cruising through the "Venetian" shopping area, we tripped out on how the painted clouds on the ceiling seemed to move as one walked below. Nice walk.
Check out the picts: http://www.casinomeister.com/images/photos/vegas2006/ (you can refer to this page periodically).
From there we headed further up the strip towards the Imperial Palace. And it was noticeable on how the clientele changed as we checked out some of the smaller dives. The waitresses looked older as well. I guess when you're young and hot, you work at the Wynn and Venetian. And when you hit middle-age, they move you on to the lesser establishments. Yeah, that might seem sexist, but it's merely an observance.
We took the monorail from the Imperial Palace to the MGM, Cruised through there and then went to the NY NY Hotel and Casino and enjoyed a nice Mexican lunch at Gonzalez Y Gonzalez. I had the Chicken Chimichanga. I hadn't had one in years.
From there we commenced to Mandalay Bay where we decided to take a break and rest our bones in front of some video poker or slots. Spearmaster and I found Leading Edge's Gems. We were absolutely getting slaughtered on this Hoover Vacuum cleaner of a game. But we were determined to get to the bonus round which is unavailable on the online version. It was worth it when we's hit it, but they didn't hit all that often.
Simmo! got a little discouraged and got up to look for some video poker games. After a few minutes, Spear and I got up to look for him, but then I decided to stay put until he came back. So I plopped myself down in front of my newest favorite game: Winning Times - and after about five minutes - wham, look at what happened. The funny thing was that since I didn't have my passport with me (only my German driver's licence), they gave me a receipt for my winnings and told me to come back as soon as I had my passport with me. I had to prove that I was an American citizen. No problem. I can handle that.
From there we met up with my good friends from BetonCharity, Simmo! and I checked out "Shark's Reef" and the hotel, and then we commenced to head back hitting Ceasar's Palace on the way to the Wynn. Note: Ceasar's Palace is set up so that there seems to be no exit. You merely get frustrated and they hope you head back to the casino. It sucks in my opinion. I like the occasional exit.
Finally, the night was over - we said our goodbyes and parted ways. What a memorable day - evening. I then met up with Greedygirl who wanted to hit some more slots. If you have a chance while in Vegas (or other land based casino land) check out IGT's "It's a Blast". The graphics are absolutely hilarious. Theme: some comic strip sheep getting blown up and being chased by rockets. Too hard to explain - it's a must see.
The next day, it was time to say goodbye to Vegas and hello to a road trip heading into the desert. California being my homeland, I had an agenda to visit friends near Lake Isabella, and to visit family in Monterey.
I checked out and headed to Mandalay Bay. I went to the cashier and picked up a check for the total amount. As I walked away I passed the machine I had won the cash at, and I thought "oh, what the hell," and I sat down just to play for a few minutes. My "goodbye" to Vegas. I was only about three minutes into the session when "wham" - it happened again! I hit another jackpot, but this time for $2250. I was a happy guy believably so. And I had to wait even longer this time to collect my winnings because they wanted to make sure that they had the paperwork "just right." I didn't care whatsoever. No screenshot for this one since my camera was in the car.
Leaving Las Vegas is always a trippy experience. The desert pulls you in with it's vastness and rocky mountains. My mind always wanders imagining what the pioneers dealt with as they crossed these parched, desolate lands. And I can now zip through these passes with my rent-a-car. Amazing how things have changed since then.
My trip into California was a bittersweet one. It was the first time coming back home since my grandma died last month. She had turned 100 in June, and I spoke about her here:
http://www.casinomeister.com/newsletter/2006/23june2006.html She'll be sorely missed.
Final thoughts: this was probably the last CAC in the states, no thanks to the way that the US government bullies itself around and harasses law abiding individuals. Sometimes I'm embarrassed admitting that I'm American to acquaintances in Europe. The general attitude here is that the American government is arrogant and thinks that the world revolves around itself. Can you please stop it?? It's really a shame because I'm trying to teach my young kids their American heritage, and there is a lot of pride there, but it's hard not being cynical when it seems as though the US government has forgotten they serve the public - they don't serve themselves.
This industry has some very tough times ahead. Players in the US are going to be tossed to the fly-by-night clip shot joint pit thanks to their representatives who don't have a clue about anything concerning the gaming community. How ironic, the US government thinks that they're protecting their citizens when they have just thrown them to the wolves. This should be interesting.
Dear Reader,
