The floor man was getting a little hot now, this guy only had a hundred bucks in front of him and a Bud and a fucking attitude and he wasn't about to face the next eight hours of this shit. "Look sir, I'll get you the casino host, but I'm sure he'll tell you the same thing." "Yah, get the host." The dapper looking older gray haired gentleman walked over holding a two-way radio and dressed in a gray pin-striped suit that looked like he stepped out of the pages of a Pierre Cardine add. The name on his tag said "Ricardo."

"Yes sir, can I help you?" "Yah, I'm stuck a thousand dollars and this asshole you call a floor man won't stake me to a lousy hamburger." "Yes sir, can I have your players card and we'll fix you up immediately." "He doesn't have a players card," said the dealer. "Is that true?" Ricardo asked the floor man "Yep, he's got NO card." "Sir, you have NO card?" "No, no one told me when I handed over my thousand dollars I needed a players card in order to breath in this place." "Well sir, without a players card our hands are tied."

"Well that's ridiculous" the player said, "Who can I talk to about this?" "Sir, I'm the casino host, and I'm sorry but I can't help you." "Well who's your boss, I'd like to talk to him." The chain of command in a casino is as complicated as any foreign government. "Well sir , there's always the casino manager, he's usually here during the days, I'm sure you could speak to him if he's not busy." Which in casino lingo means you has got a better shot calling the Pope for a round of golf and a few Tequila shooters afterwards."

The Shift bosses are fairly well insulated by their floor men who deflect most of the problems from the players. Even though they're present on the floor, they don't take on any problems that don't directly involve the losing or wining of large sums of money or the hiring or firing of large sums of dealers. When a problem crops up at a table the dealer involves the floor person first. From there if the problem persists with a difficult player, security is called in and when security takes over a problem there is nowhere to go from there except out of the casino door.

But when a player insists on speaking to the shift boss, as long as they're not drunk or out of line or particularly odd, if they have a legitimate complaint that they can convince the floor person will cost them their jobs, they are forced to call the boss. So what happens then?

"Sir, I am the shift manager, what can I do for you? " " Well sir, like I told the dealer and the floor man , I've been playing for hours and lost a couple thousand bucks and all I wanted was a simple breakfast comp, is that too much to ask for? " " No sir, let me take care of that for you, If I can just get your players card number and I'll... "BUT I DON'T HAVE A GODDAMN CARD, I DON'T WANT A GODDAMN CARD EITHER, I JUST WANT SOME GODDAMN FRIED EGGS AND HAM!!" " Yes sir, no problem I'm sure, let me get you the casino host and he'll take your name and we'll set you up with a players card." "SHIT, ARE YOU DEAF? I DON'T WANT A CARD, JUST GET ME THE DAMN HOST!"

Lorenzo was the quintessential casino host, impeccably dressed, Pierre Cardin suit , Pierre Cardin tie, Pierre Cardin Italian leather shoes , as well as a Pierre Cardin yellow and white gold watch . A goddamn walking tribute to the finest Italian taste (stitched and assembled in Taiwan) He had been in the casino business for 35 years, beginning as a bell hop at the Riviera then working his way up to Valet then taking a job at the newly opened Caesar's Palace which was an immediate hit with everyone in 1966.

"Back then Caesar's was really the beginnings of Vegas at it's most indulgent. Before then all we had was western ranch style hotels and casinos, the Rancho Vegas, the Thunderbird, even the Flamingo was that style, just the casino was updated, but Caesar's was another world altogether. The old-time gamblers hated it and stayed away, but then they just gambled downtown back then, but it was the tuxedo and dinner gown types that weren't there to gamble, but they were there to play."

"And they had money and didn't care what the odds on a hard eight paid, they just wanted to be seen having fun playing at the craps and blackjack and roulette tables, and Caesar's indulged them. They were flown in, given the best suites and the finest hookers, the best food and booze and they didn't ask for comps back then, it would have meant my job if someone had to ask for dinner or a show."

"Now even Caesar's uses the player card system to track all but their best players and you don't get comps even there if you don't have enough points on file. But I can tell you there is a backlash growing. I think it 's the paranoia of the computer age that people aren't comfortable being tracked with their names and birth dates and home addresses and other pertinent personal information."

"They don't know who's sharing what information with who, and this is your personal financial information too. How do you know that the Mirage doesn't share the exact amount you played over the weekend in Vegas with the IRS or even your own boss or who knows who."

I couldn't help but remember my local Albertson's that once asked for the same information to use to save a few cents on groceries in return for your home address which I found out they share with a number of other places who want to know where you live, how often you shop, how much you spend on your shopping, exactly what products you buy to target you for those products and how you compare with your neighbors shopping habits.

I opted to spend the difference on my privacy and refused the Albertson's savings card, and so I've done the same with any casino's player's cards. It's none of their business how much I spend playing quarter machines or when I move up to the dollar machines, which machines I take a short shot at and which machines I stayed glued to hours to. If you don't believe me, when you're a video poker junkie you'll get comps from your casino when they have a video poker tournament and the slot players only get comps to the slot tournaments. Even slot players who are stuck on the newest machines that are game-show knock-offs like Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune and machines from the old television shows like the Munster's machines and Betty Boop machines all throw their own slot tournaments, so how do you think they know to send you an invitation to the Elvis slot tournament? You play the Elvis machine with your player's card for at least 30 minutes at a time and you'll get the invitation, free room, buffet, et all.

This all may sound paranoid until two weeks ago when I got my confirmation for this article. I was picking up the mail on a Thursday, the mailman was putting the mail box stuffers into the apartment boxes, the stuffers were from the Sun Coast casino, a newly opened casino in a local Las Vegas neighborhood, but not all of us received the stuffers for free meals and casino play, so I asked why some of us were receiving the freebies and some weren't. He told me the neighbors that received it were probably registered with a local grocery store discount card, that's how they got their mailing lists according to the mailman.

According to him, the grocery stores make money from selling the lists of shopper's names and addresses. I know for sure the player's cards you use are subject to the same sell-out of your personal information. So perhaps this is being a little paranoid, or maybe I'm just a little tired of this "information age" having my information shared with the world, or at least let me sell my own information to whoever I want to have it.

Crazy? Next time you're sitting at a stop light somewhere in Las Vegas look up at the top of the light system, you'll see cameras up there at most of the major intersections now. Yes, big brother IS watching, and they're taking names, and addresses.

As we reflect back to the days that once existed in this town, we can't help but remember that casinos were once just plain old casinos. We did business with a certain understanding between the house and the players that you spend your money on us, and we'll gladly spend some of it back on you, now they just want the money, period, unless you're willing to jump through the hoops for those "free" food and shows. (When was the last time you heard of anyone getting comped to a show?)

So when you walk into the casino, try to spot the sucker in the first ten minutes, if you can't pick him out, well, check your wallet for your players card.

-Ken Pearlman