Notes:

• Pechanga: Barring followed an all-night losing session, something close to 20K or even worse than that. I note this only because journalists have been asking, “So, you win money, and then they throw you out?” and the truth is annoyingly different. Casinos (should) consider the expected value of your play, not just the result. (They don’t always act as they should. Generally, the less sophisticated the toilet, the less likely you are to get barred while you’re stuck.) Losing can frequently accelerate heat, rather than diminish it, because flamboyant buy-ins for large cash amounts can look really abnormal, even more so than just a big win.  A winner may be simply getting lucky. A loser buying in for 30K is a serious gambler and they have to wonder why he’s there, why he has so much cash, what he wants. Please note the absence of the key signature: “Refused to Sign/Verbally Advised.” Though the guards be emotional, heroes hold fast. Also note that the document was hand-modified, the barring custom-extended to include the gas station and RV park, to the predictable dismay of the recipient.
• Prairie Band: Prior to the preparation of this document, I was detained against my will in a back room for about 40 minutes. This was, probably, unlawful detention, a criminal act on the part of the casino. (Counting cards is not illegal. When you detain someone for doing it, you are detaining them for playing the correct strategy on a game you offer voluntarily. This is arbitrary, at best.) I alerted the head goon to it twice: he ignored me the first time; the second time, when I said, “You are holding me against my will, you realize,” it registered instantly (the head goon was a former Actual Cop and had some vague ability to use reason in matters of law), and, turning slightly pale, he shook his head, looked surprised, and said, “What? No, no. You’ve been free to leave any time you wanted.You didn’t know that?” No. When a posse of apes forces you through a back door under threat of force, then holds you under guard in a locked room and says you cannot leave, you experience an impression of unfreedom. “Did you want to leave?” he added. Note, in this example, the presence of the key signature. (Heroes who are spooked may cave on occasion.)
• Shooting Star Casino: You can imagine the surprise when this showed up in the mail one morning in Brooklyn. Note the Exclusion Start Date. Compare it to the date of the incident. Consider that I played only briefly on the Incident Date and experienced no heat at the time. Try to reconstruct in your mind the surveillance procedure that triggered this form. Perhaps it will now become clearer why blackjack professionals are able, here and there, to slip through cracks in casino defenses. Also note the language, which is touching: “It is determined that your presence… is not in the best interest of the White Earth Band of Chippewa.” Reminiscent of a break-up letter I got long ago. Boys, one more chance! Can’t we please try to make this thing work?