June 03, 2007
Harrah's Bars Richard 'Quiet Lion' Brodie from Its Properties
Harrah's Entertainment has barred high-stakes poker and video poker player Richard "Quiet Lion" Brodie from all its properties in California, Nevada, and Arizona. This effectively 86es Brodie from the World Series of Poker as well.
On May 10, Harrah’s sent certified letters to several high rollers informing them that their business was no longer wanted at Caesars Palace or any of the other Harrah’s properties in Nevada, California, and Arizona. I was one of them. I called the office of Tom Jenkins, regional vice president, and got a call back from Terry Byrnes, the VP of customer service. He told me I was being 86ed because they couldn't figure out how to make a profit off me.
What happened is that Brodie got lucky: He hit two royal flushes on a $300-per-pull full-pay Deuces Wild video poker machine at Caesar's Palace last April. He also hit quad deuces twice on the same machine.
If you play video poker, you know that these things happen from time to time. You also know that you can go on long dry spells between hot streaks like this. Brodie adds:
I hit four huge royal flushes in the last year at three of the Las Vegas Harrah’s properties. Not surprisingly, I’m ahead, although I’ve put 80% of it back. This seems to rub them the wrong way. But I have trouble imagining the thought process that would cause someone to decide that kicking out one of your most loyal customers is an appropriate solution to the problem of him having extremely good luck. If they think the machines are too loose, make them tighter. If they think they are giving me too much in comps, give less. They control every aspect of the game. Except luck. And kicking out players who have been lucky makes about as much sense as banning people from playing the lottery because they win it.Reactions to lucky streaks in video poker are not unique to Harrah's, but the usual response is to cut down on the promotional offers to players who aren't losing as much as they hoped. Even that is potentially unsound business: lucky players get unlucky and you want them to be at your place when that happens.
If it weren’t for the WSOP, I’d laugh about this rather than cry. I don’t think they’re trying to punish me, I just think they don’t understand their business and are compounding one costly mistake – offering way too much in comps and incentives to video-poker players – with another.
Yes, that's right: Brodie is barred from all Harrah's properties, not just the casino floors; and Harrah's hosts the World Series of Poker. Brodie is being unjustly punished for honest play in the face of bad judgment by Harrah's casino hosts. It doesn't even compare to counting cards in blackjack!.
When I named Brodie the most hated player in poker, I was joking. He simply doesn't deserve this. Harrah's management is being idiotic. They certainly don't need bad publicity from dumb moves like this when the WSOP is off to such a rocky start.
(via Spencer Sun)
Posted by abostick at June 3, 2007 10:54 PMIt's not that you were joking, it's that you were talking about a different axis. He isn't hated for his poker, much less for his video poker. I spent much of last Thursday swearing indirectly at him, but I'd sit down across a table from him happily (except that he'd probably whup my butt).
He's right on the target: kicking out players for being lucky is just plain stupid. Don't they know that other players follow lucky players around?
Posted by: Debbie at June 4, 2007 07:06 AMIf they're going to ban people from casinos whom they can't make profits off of, maybe they should consider doing something about people like me, who are immune to gambling temptations, and only enter casinos to feast on the inexpensive loss-leader buffets.
On second thought, forget I said anything.
Posted by: DB at June 5, 2007 12:05 AMThere's no way of knowing whether we have the whole story here.
$300 a pull full pay deuces wild machines aren't something that "happens from time to time". A skilled player can average $1000/hour playing such a machine, and the existence of such a machine is either a collosal screwup, or part of a scheme to cheat the casino. This wasn't a machine that was just sitting there, but a machine that Brodie specifically asked for.
If I were Harrah's, I would be very concerned that the "accident" that caused this machine to be set this loose wasn't an accident at all, but a successful attempt by Richard Brodie and someone at Harrah's to rip off Harrah's. If they don't have enough evidence to prove anything in court, but they don't have that high an expectation against Brodie anyway, barring him from the property seems like a sensible precaution. It's what I would do in their shoes (along with firing the employee who made the mistake, of course; again, it could be an honest mistake, but why take chances?)
