[vpFREE] XVP: THE VOYAGER

 

On the return voyage they sailed into the Delaware River and down to Baltimore and the Chesapeake Bay. But now they were back in the Big Easy. Johnny was fixing to sign off from his first voyage. When the ship docked Johnny went up to the Captain's Mast and got in line to collect his pay. When his turn came up the Captain glared at him. He counted out $883 and slid it across the table, then told Johnny to sign the log. The Captain glared at Johnny again as he signed. "Go back to school, kid!" Then the Captain looked over at the First Mate. "They're pulling 16 year olds out of school and sending them to sea! That's a bunch of crap!" The First Mate nodded in agreement. "Thank you, Sir" Johnny said as he grabbed the money. Johnny had gotten the same unsolicited advice from the Firemen and Oiler's, and even the Chief Engineer. But $883 dollars in his pocket. Wow! Johnny had never seen so much money before. He went back to his stateroom and counted the money over and over again. Finally convinced he had it, he grabbed his duffle bag and headed for the gangway.

Down on the dock, he went to a pay phone and called a cab to go to the Union Hall. He walked in the front door and past the main hall where seamen were sitting and looking at the job board to see which ships were in port and what jobs were available. He found a table in the galley dining room and dropped off his duffle bag. Then he went through the line and got a plate of red beans and rice. He stopped by a vending machine, dropped a quarter in, and got a can of Dixie beer. Back at the table he loaded the beans and rice up with Tabasco Sauce. As he was eating he noticed a kid he was in "seamen's school" with sitting at another table drinking a can of Dixie. "Hey, Billy! C'mon over here!" Billy Cannon turned around to see Johnny. He shot up and walked to Johnny's table.

"Hey, Johnny!" he said as he sat down. "Good to see you. Where'd they send you?" Johnny smiled at Billy. "I was on freighter. We went to Europe. Where'd they send you?" Billy smiled back. "I was on an oil tanker. We went through the Meditereanean and the Suez to the Persian Gulf."

"Did you sign off?" Johnny asked.
"Yeah, there's lots of jobs. A guy can jump a ship anytime."
"Me too. I'm thinking about going and visiting my mother in Bossier City.
"Your mother lives in Bossier City? I grew up in Shreveport."
"I was born in Shreveport but we went back to Mississippi when I was real young. I don't remember anything about it."
"What does your mother do there?"
"She's a bartender."
"No kidding? On the Bossier Strip?"
"What's the Bossier Strip?"
"You never heard of the Bossier Strip?"
"No."
"Well, you're in for something, Johnny. It's a pretty wild place."
"How so?"
"It's a nightclub district along Highway 80 just east of Shreveport. There's like fifty or sixty joints there. Liquor stores. Hotels. Restaurants. The place is all lit up at night. Bright lights everywhere."
"You been there?" Johnny asked
"Yeah. My dad took me to a few of the joints. I played pinball while he sat at the bar and drank beer. It's a wild and crazy place. Booze, girls, music. Even gambling."
"I'm definitely goin' to see my mother now." Johnny wondered what the hell his mother was doing in a place like that.
"Say, Billy. Did those old sea dogs on that tanker tell you anything about a seamen's life not being a very good life?"
"Hell, yeah. That's all I heard all the way over and back."
"Well, I guess they have a reason for it. Hey! Billy! Look!" Johnny said as he pointed.

Two "seamen's school" kids, dressed in whites, were walking from the galley towards the beer room, one with keys in his hands. Johnny and Billy grinned at each other. Every day two kids were assigned to restock the beer machines. It was always done in the middle of the day when the dining room was busy. If any of the beer was gonna be stolen, it was gonna have to be done in front of a dining room full of seamen.

"C'mon. Let's move to that table over there to get a better view" Billy said. They both darted for the other table. They watched without looking like they were watching. The two kids unlocked and entered the beer room, came out with a cart full of Dixie beer, and wheeled it to the first vending machine. The one with the keys opened it up and they started restocking. It was the third machine Johnny and Billy were interested in. The two kids finished the first and second machines then opened up the third. Johnny and Billy watched as the two kids just about had the third machine restocked without making a move.

"What a couple of dufluses" Johnny said in disgust. "Do you think we should tell them?"
"I'll do the honors" Billy said. "I need another beer anyway."

Billy walked over to the fourth machine and dropped a quarter in. "Hey, guys. A couple of months ago I was in your shoes. Look down there where the motor is" he said as he pointed to the bottom of the machine. The two kids looked down. "You see that empty space next to the motor? About 3 six-packs will fit down there. There's no panel on the back of the machine down there where the motor is. If you hold the door just right you can block off the view from most of the dining room. At night, when the hall is closed, you sneak down here, pull the machine out from the wall, grab the beer, shove the machine back in, then haul ass back upstairs. You got it?"
"Hell, yeah!" one of them said. "Thanks!" Billy got his beer and walked back to the table.

"How you gonna get to Bossier City, Johnny?"
"I'm gonna take Greyhound."
__________________________

Note: Moon Landrieu was elected Mayor of New Orleans in 1969. Clay Shaw was found not guilty. In 1973 Jim Garrison was tried for taking bribes to protect the illegal pinball machine business. The same pinball machines I wrote about in the Two In The Blue thread. I never went to sea again. And....if I had known then what I know now about blackjack I would have fleeced every damn one of those kids.

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[vpFREE] XVP: THE VOYAGER

 

Forty two days into his New Orleans adventure Johnny was once again called into the Port Director's office. The Director handed Johnny a Union B Book and a job order. "You've got your Seamen's Card, Vance. You've got a job as a Wiper in the engine room of the John B. Warden. They're in port now and they're gonna sail in a couple of hours. So get upstairs, get your bags packed, and get your ass down there!" Johnny was ecstatic. "Thank you, Sir!" He walked out of the room and yelled at the other kids "I'm sailing out of the Port of New Orleans in two hours!" He ran upstairs.

Johnny walked up the gangway of the ship and asked for the Chief Engineer. The old engineer showed Johnny to his stateroom so he could store his gear. Then he took him back up ship to the door of the engine room. "Go on down and introduce yourself. They'll tell you what to do." the Engineer said as he walked away. Johnny felt the ship move. They were on their way down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. The Wiper's job turned out to be flunky work. The Firemen and Oiler's were his superiors. "Sweep that stuff up over there, kid! Wipe that crap up kid! Mop that floor, kid! Wipe that shaft off, kid!" The job paid $2.32 an hour, time and a half over eight. Johnny worked a lot of overtime.

Cars had been loaded in New Orleans. But not enough to fill the hold. Their first stop was the Port of Mobile, where they loaded more cars. Then they were under way again. They sailed down around the coast of Florida where, in the middle of the night, they ran into a storm and high seas. Johnny woke up puking his guts out from seasickness. The storm was gone by morning and they sailed up to Charleston, South Carolina to load more cars. With the ship now fully loaded they took off across the Atlantic Ocean. Nine days later they docked in Rotterdam, Holland to off-load cars. Then on to Bremerhaven, Germany to off-load the rest.

to be continued....

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[vpFREE] XVP: THE VOYAGER

 

Several days later all the kids got called into the Port Director's office. "We're going to have a benefit in the banquet room this Friday night" the Director said. "And you girls are going to be the cocktail waitress's. The Union is supporting Moon Landrieu for Mayor of New Orleans so we're throwing a party for him. There's going to be some other dignitaries here too. Any kid caught drinking the booze will be pitched out of this Hall on his ass."

The next morning Johnny delivered a big pot of freshly peeled potatoes to the Galley. He sat the pot on the table next to the Head Steward and looked out into the dining room. Six big men walked up to a table of seamen. One of them set a bucket on the table. Another threw a notepad and a couple of pens on the table. Some of the seamen reached in their pockets, pulled out some money and threw it in the bucket. Others grabbed a sheet from the notepad, scribbled something, then threw it in the bucket. Johnny looked at the Head Steward. "Sir" he said to the big black man. "What's going on out there?" The Steward looked up. "That's the goon squad, boy. They're soliciting donations for Moon Landrieu. The ones that can, pay on the spot. The ones that can't leave an I.O.U." Johnny was perplexed. "What if you don't donate?" he asked. The Steward looked down at Johnny. "You'll be in the same boat in a few months, boy. Don't rock it! If you do you could be blackballed or even earn a trip to the basement. You'll be makin' good money. You don't have to give 'em your life savings. Just give 'em a little money. Don't ever turn the goon squad down when they come around and life will be easy on you, boy."

That Friday night Johnny was serving drinks in his section of the banquet room. There was a big, slightly balding, dark haired man talking and bragging to the people at his table while sucking down brandy and waters faster than Johnny could get them to him. On one of his trips back to the bar Johnny was stopped by the Port Director. "Vance, do you know who that big guy on the dance floor is that you've been serving drinks to?" Johnny turned around to see the brandy and water man out on the floor dancing like a chicken with his head cut off. "No, Sir" Johnny said. "That's the District Attorney, Jim Garrison. He's the one that prosecuted Clay Shaw for the murder of John Kennedy." Johnny looked at the Port Director. "Sir, do you think Clay Shaw had John Kennedy killed?" The Director looked out at Garrison then back at Johnny. "Ain't you got it figured out yet, Vance? Garrison is a goofball idiot!" he said as he walked away.

to be continued....

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[vpFREE] XVP: THE VOYAGER

 

October 1969-The U.S. Ship John B. Warden steamed out of the Gulf of Mexico and into the Mississippi River headed for the port of New Orleans. It was a freighter contracted to carry American Servicemen's cars to Europe. In one of the staterooms to the rear of the ship, young John Harold Vance was packing his duffle bag. In just a few hours his first trip across the Atlantic would be over. Just a few months earlier, Johnny, as his friends called him, talked his step-mother into going to New Orleans and signing off to get him into seamen's school. They didn't get along anyway and were glad to get rid of each other. Johnny despised his father too.

Seamen's school turned out not to be a school at all. It was the Seamen's Union Hall down on Jackson Avenue, in the Irish Channel, just a few blocks from the Mississippi River and the Gretna Ferry. Johnny worked in the Union Hall for 42 days doing everything from janitorial work to helping in the galley. His stipend was $7 a week and a carton of cigarettes, which he had to pay back on his first payday as a seaman. He also got room and board. There was a 20 man dormitory upstairs where he and the other kids lived. The Hall had a galley and dining room where seamen waiting to get out on ships could eat for cheap. A plate of red beans and rice went for 40 cents. There were vending machines in the dining room that sold Dixie beer. A bar was just down the street that was very lax about checking I.D's. Johnny and the other kids would sneak down some nights for a beer or two. A ten ounce can of Schlitz went for twenty-five cents. Some nights they would go down to Bourbon Street. There were a couple of bars there where, if a kid had the money, there was no problem getting a beer. But most evenings they spent in the dormitory talking, reading, or playing blackjack for a nickel a hand. All the while drinking stolen Dixie beer.

One day the Port Director called Johnny into his office. "Look, Vance, you've probably heard we've got a hurricane blowin' in. The Irish Channel is nine feet below sea level. If the storm comes over the top of us we're going to be ass deep in water! But we've got a three-story secure building here. If anything happens this building will be used as a shelter." He handed Johnny some money and a shopping list. "Go down to the supermarket and pick up as much of this stuff as possible." When Johnny got to the supermarket the lines went down one aisle and up the other. "Damn" he muttered. "This is going to take awhile." Four hours later he got back to the Union Hall.

It was Camille, a small and compact, but super deadly hurricane. When it was finally determined that the eye would go over Gulfport/Biloxi, seamen and their families that lived on the Mississippi Coast flooded into New Orleans and into the Union Hall. The building was packed with families lounging and sleeping on the floors. The edge of the hurricane skated over New Orleans with winds topping out at ninety miles per hour. Johnny and another kid they called Tarzan ran down Jackson Avenue clinging to the sides of the buildings, then up onto the levee to get a look at the Mississippi River. there were three foot waves. A flying piece of plywood barely missed Johnny. "I'm outta here" he shouted. He and Tarzan ran down the levee and back along the sides of the buildings to the safety of the Union Hall.

to be continued....

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[vpFREE] Harrah's AC/Revel Trip Report

 

Hi gang:
Hedy and I have been playing video poker for 14 years and a lot of amazing
things have happened to us during that time. But, what happened to us this
weekend at Harrah's AC goes beyond amazing. To call it an Easter Miracle
really doesn't do it justice!
We also made a side trip to the Revel to check out Atlantic City's newest
resort/casino.
You can read all about it on my web site: _www.tomthebombpicks.com_
(http://www.tomthebombpicks.com) . Just click on the trip reports page ... and
enjoy!
Regards,
CoachVee & Hedy

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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RE: [vpFREE] New Ultimate X?

Funny that you mention heat for just looking at the screens for multipliers. The next day I was playing the same machine and walked away to go retrieve my HRH players card just down the floor below the Bell desk. By the time I returned a guy was scanning the machine going through EVERY game and denomination for multipliers. I patiently waited him out and asked him what he was doing. He said he just wanted to see if his four 2's he hit earlier were on the screen still. LOL.

james Thompson
Former HRH Casino Monitor

ps. I am now starting to get much better mailers. They are now courting me as a local. I'm being offered 50.00 and 25.00 in free play and food per week. Also, last time I was there for their free play and guitar give-away. All the old pro's were still there. In fact, the 5,000 grand prize winner was Winston Yamashita.

To: vpFREE@yahoogroups.com
From: tsai@cs.ucla.edu
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2012 12:56:29 -0700
Subject: Re: [vpFREE] New Ultimate X?






On the newer Ultimate X games, if real multipliers exist, they will

say "Next Hand" and be at the top left of each hand.

And you'll see the recently played multipliers on the lower left, so

you'll see two sets of multipliers.

> This is the game that a con man got me to play at the HRH below the

> sportsbook. He told me he had just hit it and he was on his

> honeymoon and wanted to share his good fortune. Even showed me a

> camera pic of dealt 4 2's.

> He started to tell me how to play, and started to touch the buttons

> before I told him to just hold himself.

> The con was for me to get something dealt, and then convince me to

> walk away and then he would play the next hand and get all the

> multipliers for each of the ten lines.

These "con" artists are called "creators".

The number of ultimate X creators has greatly increased since 2 years

ago, when I left Vegas.

For this reason, friends tell me there is an lot of "heat" just

looking at Ultimate X machines for multipliers.

In 2009, six security guys surrounded me at Red Rock, and a "suit"

warned me that looking for multipliers

on Ultimate X was called "fishing", that it was an "advantage play",

and I would not be allowed to do it.

They told me that I could play anything else in the casino, and that I

could play "Ultimate X" for 10 coins.

Mitchell




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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[vpFREE] fwd:

 
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[vpFREE] Re: Trump Plaza AC

 

Thanks Tony C...

I was afraid that was gonna happen.

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "tony c" <tonyclifton1964@...> wrote:
>
> all 9/6 job gone-confirmed
>
>
> --- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "ms069279" <m_savorelli@> wrote:
>
> > Can anyone confirm whether ALL 9/6 JoB is gone or perhaps update VPFree?
>

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[vpFREE] Jean Scott's Frugal Vegas LVA BLOG - 9 APR 2012

 

Jean Scott's Frugal Vegas LVA BLOG - 9 APR 2012

"A Positive Look at the Future"

http://jscott.lvablog.com/?p=1956

<a href="http://jscott.lvablog.com/?p=1956">
http://jscott.lvablog.com/?p=1956</a>

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This link is posted for informational purposes
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[vpFREE] Re: Trump Plaza AC

 

all 9/6 job gone-confirmed

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "ms069279" <m_savorelli@...> wrote:

> Can anyone confirm whether ALL 9/6 JoB is gone or perhaps update VPFree?

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[vpFREE] Re: New Ultimate X?

 

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, Mitchell Tsai <tsai@...> wrote:
>
> These "con" artists are called "creators".
>
>
Creators like Nick the Sick usually didn't have much shelf life in any one casino. But in passing they could sure mess things up for the honest pros. As a general rule their motivation for creating was their desire to get high-with crack being the drug of choice.

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Re: [vpFREE] New Ultimate X?

 

On the newer Ultimate X games, if real multipliers exist, they will
say "Next Hand" and be at the top left of each hand.
And you'll see the recently played multipliers on the lower left, so
you'll see two sets of multipliers.

> This is the game that a con man got me to play at the HRH below the
> sportsbook. He told me he had just hit it and he was on his
> honeymoon and wanted to share his good fortune. Even showed me a
> camera pic of dealt 4 2's.
> He started to tell me how to play, and started to touch the buttons
> before I told him to just hold himself.
> The con was for me to get something dealt, and then convince me to
> walk away and then he would play the next hand and get all the
> multipliers for each of the ten lines.

These "con" artists are called "creators".
The number of ultimate X creators has greatly increased since 2 years
ago, when I left Vegas.

For this reason, friends tell me there is an lot of "heat" just
looking at Ultimate X machines for multipliers.

In 2009, six security guys surrounded me at Red Rock, and a "suit"
warned me that looking for multipliers
on Ultimate X was called "fishing", that it was an "advantage play",
and I would not be allowed to do it.
They told me that I could play anything else in the casino, and that I
could play "Ultimate X" for 10 coins.

Mitchell

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[vpFREE] Re: Eating Las Vegas TR - XVP

 



Report as always was useful, humorous, and appreciated.

We were there from March 25th to April 1st and the weather was just about perfect everyday. So you were the guy in the Blue Altima, I kept seeing heading back and forth from Henderson ;).

Congrats on the four royals and the good eatin'.

ST

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "westie2f" <westie2f@...> wrote:
>
> Here is a link to my latest TR for those interested:
>
> http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=77599
>
> Note: there is minimal information about video poker though I did have an amazing streak of good luck.
>

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[vpFREE] Re: Updated VP and slot tracking diary app

 

Alan,
I tried the app as you suggest. It worked well. Very simple way to keep records.
Thanks,
Marvin

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "sandcroftalan" <awalstad@...> wrote:
>
> Our updated WinLoss app for helping track wins, losses, and W-2Gs is available. Thanks to those who have provided great feedback to improve the application!
>
> http://www.prlog.org/11774708-sandcroft-releases-version-12-of-winloss-slot-players-diary-iphone-app.html
>
> http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/winloss-slot-players-diary/id408765252?mt=8&ls=1
>
> Best,
> Alan
>

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[vpFREE] LVA Question of the Day - 9 APR 2012

 

LVA Question of the Day - 9 APR 2012

Q: Coming to Vegas this August with a friend's family. Can
you help us find activities for 5 days that are appropriate
for an 11-year-old girl?

Read the answer here:

http://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/qod.cfm

<a href="http://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/qod.cfm">
http://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/qod.cfm</a>

NOTE: vpFREE access to the Question of the Day link has
been approved by LVA and expires after the current day
for non-LVA members.

*************************************************
This link is posted for informational purposes
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discussion of the article must be done in
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