It is my custom to provide the results of actual games.But the practitioner of Oscar's Grind, when playing Blackjack, is generally too occupied to scribble down every move. This would attract the attention of the pit and of the cameras above. So I shall take actual results and reconstruct them as best I can, using Monopolisto Man's own recollections.
Sam's Town is not your hot Strip casino. It attracts a regular local clientele and people on the way in or out of Vegas on the route that takes you south toward the Dam. Monopolisto Man looks like what he is. A nondescript, somewhat handsome preppie sort who has over the years shed most if not all affectation and accepted his lot in life, that of being an inveterate gambler who has never managed to go broke and whose losses are punctuated by extended periods of reasonable success.
Thus introduced, accompany me to the table and we shall look over Monopolisto Man's shoulder as he tries his first game following his Boston practice session.
He buys in for an unthreatening, $100 twenty units. The game is double deck blackjack. He prefers woman dealers and accordingly finds himself sitting far right staring at an attractive Oriental woman of young middle age and crisp demeanor. She speaks not. But there is no threat in her manner. With twenty $5 chips neatly stacked he awaits the first hand.
Here's the reconstruction as best I can do it.
First Hand MM has a 15 against dealer's ten showing. He stands. Loses $5 to her 20.
Second Hand. Rebets $5. Gets two fours - hits and busts on the fifth card. Down two units.
Third Hand. MM has 20 stands. Dealer busts with 22. Our hero is one unit down.
Fourth Hand: MM bumps to two units - $10. He is dealt 6-5 against dealers 6 showing. MM doubles. Draws six. Dealer wins with 19. MM is now down five units.
Fifth Hand. $10 bet. Blackjack for MM. MM is now 2 units down.
Sixth Hand . He bets three units. Stands against 10 showing with 18. Dealer has 20 and wins. MM is five units down.
Seventh Hand. MM bets three again. MM gets another blackjack and, rounded down, is now just one unit down.
Eighth Hand. MM bets $10.. Busts. Down three units.
Ninth Hand. MM bets $10.Loses to dealer's 20. Down five units.
Tenth Hand. MM wins 20 over 17. Down three units.
Eleventh Hand: Bets three units following his win.. He stands on 19 and the dealer busts. He is even.
Twelfth Hand. MM bets one unit. Loses.
Thirteenth Hand: MM repeats one unit bet. and loses. Down two.
Fourteenth Hand: MM bets one unit. Loses.
Fifteenth Hand. MM repeats the one unit bet. and loses Down three now.
Sixteenth Hand. MM cops a 20 and dealer busts. Down two now.
Seventeenth Hand. MM bets two units. Loses. Down four units.
Eighteenth Hand. MM in for two units. Zaps dealer with a 21 on four cards. Down two units.
Nineteenth Hand. MM bets three units. Dealer has blackjack. Zap. Down five.
Twentieth Hand. MM bets three units.Doubles a ten and pushes at 19.
Twenty-first Hand: MM bets three. Still down five. Loses and is down eight units.
Twenty-second hand. The dealer changes. MM repeats bet of three units and wins with 21 over 20. Down five units.
Twenty-third hand. MM bets four units. Busts. Now down nine units.
Twenty-fourth hand. MM bets four units. Dealer busts. Down five.
Twenty-fifth hand. MM bets five units on the win. Loses down ten. Some might leave but MM stays.
Twenty-sixth Hand. MM bets five units.Ties.
Twenty-seventh hand. MM bets five units. Has ten versus dealer's exposeed 4, doubles LOSES Down fifteen units.
Twenty-eighth Hand. MM bets five units. Blackjack for MM. Rounds down. He is now 8 units down.
Twenty-ninth Hand. MM bets six units. Ties at 20.
Thirtieth Hand. Repeats six unit bet.Busts and is now 14 units down.
Thirty-First hand: Busts. Now 20 units down.
It was at this point that Monopolisto Man ceased to play. In fact he spent the next three days absorbing the fact that Oscar had failed him. He did not bother to analyze things because he knew that results differ with the same frequency that matter's behavior befuddles scientists.
He read, played some slots, meditated, wrote in his spiral notebook and wondered if there might be a better way to play Oscar than he had so far learned.
He began to think about allowing himself to interact with the workings of seeming fate.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
Monopolisto Man Explains Oscar's Grind
As the author it is my prerogative to jump ahead and provide the reader with the nub of a thing without a boring story attached. I shall naturally tell stories of Monopolisto Man's various successes with Oscar's Grind, but here I shall simply take up the theme of how Oscar's Grind does not work.
Oscar's Grind operates as follows. You bet one unit and your objective is always to win a unit. After a loss, you play at the level you are at until you win. On a win, you bet two units and maintain that bet until you have added a unit to your wins or until you have won. If you are still down from your initial bet, you add another unit on a win. You bet at that level until you are a unit ahead for the sequence.
Here are several ways to win one unit in which case you start all over again.
ONE UNIT BET L L L W -2
TWO UNIT BET W You are even so you start over with a one unit bet
*
ONE UNIT BET W you start over with a one unit bet.
*
ONE UNIT BET L L L L L W -4
TWO UNIT BET W -2
THREE UNIT BET L L W -5
FOUR UNIT BET L L L W -13
FIVE UNIT BET W -8
SIX UNIT BET W -2
THREE UNIT BET W +1
Needless to say Monopolisto Man would have been in the soup with any sustained losses at higher levels. He therefore established some limits to avoid massive wipe-outs.
He would play for twenty units a session. He would confine himself to blackjack and play the Ainslee version of Basic Strategy which enables a wider range when doubling bets. For example doubling on a total of ten rather than eleven. This was something of a superstition, but Monopolisto Man was well beyond the stage of card counting by this time. He recognized that such counting was possible but that the price in sheer nerves was more than was to his liking.
After his Boston practice he boarded a plane for Las Vegas and was soon ensconced at Sam's Town, heading south from downtown on Boulder Highway. Sam's Town at the time dealt double deck blackjack, which suited Monipolisto Man just fine.
.
Oscar's Grind operates as follows. You bet one unit and your objective is always to win a unit. After a loss, you play at the level you are at until you win. On a win, you bet two units and maintain that bet until you have added a unit to your wins or until you have won. If you are still down from your initial bet, you add another unit on a win. You bet at that level until you are a unit ahead for the sequence.
Here are several ways to win one unit in which case you start all over again.
ONE UNIT BET L L L W -2
TWO UNIT BET W You are even so you start over with a one unit bet
*
ONE UNIT BET W you start over with a one unit bet.
*
ONE UNIT BET L L L L L W -4
TWO UNIT BET W -2
THREE UNIT BET L L W -5
FOUR UNIT BET L L L W -13
FIVE UNIT BET W -8
SIX UNIT BET W -2
THREE UNIT BET W +1
Needless to say Monopolisto Man would have been in the soup with any sustained losses at higher levels. He therefore established some limits to avoid massive wipe-outs.
He would play for twenty units a session. He would confine himself to blackjack and play the Ainslee version of Basic Strategy which enables a wider range when doubling bets. For example doubling on a total of ten rather than eleven. This was something of a superstition, but Monopolisto Man was well beyond the stage of card counting by this time. He recognized that such counting was possible but that the price in sheer nerves was more than was to his liking.
After his Boston practice he boarded a plane for Las Vegas and was soon ensconced at Sam's Town, heading south from downtown on Boulder Highway. Sam's Town at the time dealt double deck blackjack, which suited Monipolisto Man just fine.
.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Monopolisto Man Learns Oscar's Grind
Monopolisto Man has what many gamblers have. A short attention span. He is too old to have been diagnosed. He thinks diagnoses are for the birds. Schmuck studies. Asinine headlines. Predictable prose.
It was thus that our protagonist left Divonne and encamped in Boston for some weeks, haunting the public library. He found Ainslie's book on gambling and turned as if by instinct to the pages that describe Oscar's Grind.
Since my readers are not after Ellroy prose or extended narrative, but merely the meat of actual gambling, I shall jump immediately to how Oscar's Grind works. In Ainslie it was used playing the Don't in Craps.
You make a one unit bet. As long as this bet loses you bet one unit. When you win after a loss or losses you bet two units. You bet after wins in ascending amounts until you are a unit ahead and then revert to one unit. You never Martingale. You never follow a loss with a bump.
Monopolisto Man maintained an apartment at the Fairfield Buiiding almost next to the library. He felt at home in the Copley Square neighborhood. There were decent places to eat and the library was wonderful. One could not ask for more.
He took Ainslie out and carried it back to his studio apartment. It was Friday. Later Boylston Street would reverberate with the drunken cries of short haired incipient alcoholics, most in their twenties. Only in Boston could could one detect a note of such utter despair. In Boston the game of life was big. Everyone played it with addictive flair. It was completely sealed off and personal to every soul. It was a penumbra thing no doubt.
Monopolisto Man did not go to bed. He had a computer that was happily not new. Something from the early 1990s with all the old games. His a blackjack was vastly superior to anything that had since been offered. He spent the next 48 hours straight -- with minimal sleep breaks and no change of clothes -- learning the conditions under which Oscar's Grind, like all other gambling systems, would not work.
It was thus that our protagonist left Divonne and encamped in Boston for some weeks, haunting the public library. He found Ainslie's book on gambling and turned as if by instinct to the pages that describe Oscar's Grind.
Since my readers are not after Ellroy prose or extended narrative, but merely the meat of actual gambling, I shall jump immediately to how Oscar's Grind works. In Ainslie it was used playing the Don't in Craps.
You make a one unit bet. As long as this bet loses you bet one unit. When you win after a loss or losses you bet two units. You bet after wins in ascending amounts until you are a unit ahead and then revert to one unit. You never Martingale. You never follow a loss with a bump.
Monopolisto Man maintained an apartment at the Fairfield Buiiding almost next to the library. He felt at home in the Copley Square neighborhood. There were decent places to eat and the library was wonderful. One could not ask for more.
He took Ainslie out and carried it back to his studio apartment. It was Friday. Later Boylston Street would reverberate with the drunken cries of short haired incipient alcoholics, most in their twenties. Only in Boston could could one detect a note of such utter despair. In Boston the game of life was big. Everyone played it with addictive flair. It was completely sealed off and personal to every soul. It was a penumbra thing no doubt.
Monopolisto Man did not go to bed. He had a computer that was happily not new. Something from the early 1990s with all the old games. His a blackjack was vastly superior to anything that had since been offered. He spent the next 48 hours straight -- with minimal sleep breaks and no change of clothes -- learning the conditions under which Oscar's Grind, like all other gambling systems, would not work.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Monopolisto Man Hits Divonne FOUR (Conclusion)
Appearances are just that. Appearances. Something appears to be the case but on inspection is the opposite. My opponent has millions and I am now the recipient of funds that have drained her and reduced her to mortgaging all her property. Twice she has had to pay four million because of bad luck in the draw of chance cards.
I have built up houses on Fenway and Boardwalk. She has only to hit once and it will be curtains. I consistently pay her when I land on Texas Station. It is a flea bite.
As do most of my opponents, she offers trades. She becomes irate when I shake my head and say I never trade. I do not tell her I am lying. I trade when I have already won in order to shorten the game.I am considering that as we speak.
We shall see.
I wonder if she has the money to pay me. She is well dressed, but you never know. I do not really care. I still have my current winnings on my person. I do not use banks.
Come, come, it is time to end this.
It takes a while but I finally win with about fifty million in cash plus property. She has been down to zero and back up enough to breathe for a whole but finally she simply has nothing left and is out on a $500 fine.
When she makes no motion to pay me I am halted in asking her to oblige by a rather odd looking gentleman dressed to the nines. He is too old to be anything but whatever a sugar daddy is called in these parts. He whispers something and she whispers something and he peels 1000 euros from a substantial roll.
She stands and leaves with a perfunctory yawn and no words whatsoever in response to my soft and amicable bon nuit.
I wonder where next. Monte Carlo. Maybe a vacation. Perhaps some private games. I am strangely relaxed and not at all tired. I suggest we have an early breakfast at Divonne. But the dining room is oddly closed. This is clearly not Vegas.
We return to Cointrin where I sleep like a log and contemplate what next.
I have built up houses on Fenway and Boardwalk. She has only to hit once and it will be curtains. I consistently pay her when I land on Texas Station. It is a flea bite.
As do most of my opponents, she offers trades. She becomes irate when I shake my head and say I never trade. I do not tell her I am lying. I trade when I have already won in order to shorten the game.I am considering that as we speak.
We shall see.
I wonder if she has the money to pay me. She is well dressed, but you never know. I do not really care. I still have my current winnings on my person. I do not use banks.
Come, come, it is time to end this.
It takes a while but I finally win with about fifty million in cash plus property. She has been down to zero and back up enough to breathe for a whole but finally she simply has nothing left and is out on a $500 fine.
When she makes no motion to pay me I am halted in asking her to oblige by a rather odd looking gentleman dressed to the nines. He is too old to be anything but whatever a sugar daddy is called in these parts. He whispers something and she whispers something and he peels 1000 euros from a substantial roll.
She stands and leaves with a perfunctory yawn and no words whatsoever in response to my soft and amicable bon nuit.
I wonder where next. Monte Carlo. Maybe a vacation. Perhaps some private games. I am strangely relaxed and not at all tired. I suggest we have an early breakfast at Divonne. But the dining room is oddly closed. This is clearly not Vegas.
We return to Cointrin where I sleep like a log and contemplate what next.
Monopolisto Man Hits Divonne THREE
The game has gotten exciting. She lands on Texas Stadium and she now owns the cheapest monopoly, but it has strategic advantages for both sides. She can harass if I land on it. But I can depend on her to buy houses and even hotels so quickly that she is again too cash poor to play with real care.
And so she does. Three houses on each of two spots. Which is good, as I encounter two monumental plays. She lands on the fourth airport and must auction it as she lacks the money to buy it outright and is apparently not smart enough to mortgage property to enable a purchase. I end up winning the auction for a monumental price. It makes no difference. I have a killer quad of airports that can repeat over time. As we shall see.
The second monumental play comes when she lands on Fenway Park, my key to the most expensive of monopolies. I already own Boardwalk, recall. To make a long story shor,t I pay almost double value for the Yawkey property and have the best monopoly of all. I am cash poor but well established. I whip by her pesky monopoly and unmortgage a railroad. I wait for her to land there.
I need to regain cash. She is at the end of her capacity to inflict killing damage. She can only win if I am terribly unlucky. We shall see.
The next round brings delicious results. Bear in mind that she cannot really do more than she has done already. This proves doubly the case as I chance to land on White House and buy it, closing off her only other monopoly. To rub it in, I land on her hotel at Texas Stadium and must mortgage White House to pay! There
is little chance that I will be done in many times by this small tariff. Unless she fails to land on my airports. She has landed three times on airports thus far, proving how valuable they are. I may be able to end things soon. Or not.
The gathering of observers is murmuring and I make eye contact with one man who clearly understands that, though she has more money than I just now, I will vanquish in the end.
My strategy now will be to unmortgage all my properties and then build my expensive property slowly until she expires. All this is dawning on her, but when I make my usual offer of half the stake for a concession she merely shakes her head and breaks eye contact.
I will close this installment with a little thing that I do all the time.
I am now in jail and as always - with few exceptions - rolling for doubles instead of spending $500,000 to exit immediately. We each own property nearby and she lands on the third piece. It is worthless from my point of view so I will only bid up to the mortgage value. She auctions it and I bid accordingly up to $1 million. But I suspect that she will bid well over that so I add a tiny bid and she comes back with a preemptive bid of $2 million. I naturally fold.
All this does is further disable her in any transaction to come. I have very little cash now but I don't need much at all because I am firmly in the driver's seat.
And so she does. Three houses on each of two spots. Which is good, as I encounter two monumental plays. She lands on the fourth airport and must auction it as she lacks the money to buy it outright and is apparently not smart enough to mortgage property to enable a purchase. I end up winning the auction for a monumental price. It makes no difference. I have a killer quad of airports that can repeat over time. As we shall see.
The second monumental play comes when she lands on Fenway Park, my key to the most expensive of monopolies. I already own Boardwalk, recall. To make a long story shor,t I pay almost double value for the Yawkey property and have the best monopoly of all. I am cash poor but well established. I whip by her pesky monopoly and unmortgage a railroad. I wait for her to land there.
I need to regain cash. She is at the end of her capacity to inflict killing damage. She can only win if I am terribly unlucky. We shall see.
The next round brings delicious results. Bear in mind that she cannot really do more than she has done already. This proves doubly the case as I chance to land on White House and buy it, closing off her only other monopoly. To rub it in, I land on her hotel at Texas Stadium and must mortgage White House to pay! There
is little chance that I will be done in many times by this small tariff. Unless she fails to land on my airports. She has landed three times on airports thus far, proving how valuable they are. I may be able to end things soon. Or not.
The gathering of observers is murmuring and I make eye contact with one man who clearly understands that, though she has more money than I just now, I will vanquish in the end.
My strategy now will be to unmortgage all my properties and then build my expensive property slowly until she expires. All this is dawning on her, but when I make my usual offer of half the stake for a concession she merely shakes her head and breaks eye contact.
I will close this installment with a little thing that I do all the time.
I am now in jail and as always - with few exceptions - rolling for doubles instead of spending $500,000 to exit immediately. We each own property nearby and she lands on the third piece. It is worthless from my point of view so I will only bid up to the mortgage value. She auctions it and I bid accordingly up to $1 million. But I suspect that she will bid well over that so I add a tiny bid and she comes back with a preemptive bid of $2 million. I naturally fold.
All this does is further disable her in any transaction to come. I have very little cash now but I don't need much at all because I am firmly in the driver's seat.
Monopolisto Man Hits Divonne TWO
We agreed to $1000 euros as a stake for this game. We started with identical tens (visiting the jail) and I rolled 7 and got a Get out of Jail card as she rolled another ten (just visiting). We made no purchases until she got Las Vegas Boulevard and I JFK Airport. This meant there was littlechance on this first round to deplete her of her capital.
But one never knows. Each roll can bring fortune or doom. She rolls another long shot and ends up buying Jacobs Field after passing GO and collecting two million.But I roll a mere four and land on Golden Gate Bridge and auction it as I do all expensive properties. She overpays and that amounts to the difference in our stakes as I too come around but sweep by chance all the way to a utility which I buy. I now have just this and the airport. She has twice the property.
We shall see if this round I can deplete her. I do but at a price. She has Camelback so I buy Disney World to ruin a Monopoly chance in the last of the cheaper clusters. She gets the more expensive Wrigley Field adjacent to Las Vegas Boulevard and also Hollywood next to Golden Gate Bridge. Shehas a chance for two monopolies.
I sense her confidence. I pick up two airports, one via auction because she did not have the am up in cash to buy it - my strategy always. But she is not yet destitute. At this point I have only around $6 million to her $4 million. I need to deplete more so that if she gets monopolies she will be too poor to to much with them.
Good fortune lands me on French Quarter which I buy to ruin her incipient monopoly.The only reason I buy expensive properties is to frustrate the creation of monopolies by the opposition.
I then go around and land on Boardwalk which I auction immediately. We both have around four million and would need to mortgage to win this most expensive of. She caves. I end up paying $3.5 million so it
is I who am cash poor now.
She appears to be enjoying her position. She has more money and more property. But I have three airports by now due ti good fortune and seek the fourth. And she must still complete her monopoly which will take all she has in cash. There are many pitfalls for both players.
All told, I am feeling as good as she - perhaps a shade better. I have moved from Absinthe to sipping Diet Coke. My friend comes back from Roulette a few hundred euros ahead. He smiles, recognizing my pattern. Utilities and Boardwalk below cost. The opponent is too poor to get it outright.
But one never knows. Each roll can bring fortune or doom. She rolls another long shot and ends up buying Jacobs Field after passing GO and collecting two million.But I roll a mere four and land on Golden Gate Bridge and auction it as I do all expensive properties. She overpays and that amounts to the difference in our stakes as I too come around but sweep by chance all the way to a utility which I buy. I now have just this and the airport. She has twice the property.
We shall see if this round I can deplete her. I do but at a price. She has Camelback so I buy Disney World to ruin a Monopoly chance in the last of the cheaper clusters. She gets the more expensive Wrigley Field adjacent to Las Vegas Boulevard and also Hollywood next to Golden Gate Bridge. Shehas a chance for two monopolies.
I sense her confidence. I pick up two airports, one via auction because she did not have the am up in cash to buy it - my strategy always. But she is not yet destitute. At this point I have only around $6 million to her $4 million. I need to deplete more so that if she gets monopolies she will be too poor to to much with them.
Good fortune lands me on French Quarter which I buy to ruin her incipient monopoly.The only reason I buy expensive properties is to frustrate the creation of monopolies by the opposition.
I then go around and land on Boardwalk which I auction immediately. We both have around four million and would need to mortgage to win this most expensive of. She caves. I end up paying $3.5 million so it
is I who am cash poor now.
She appears to be enjoying her position. She has more money and more property. But I have three airports by now due ti good fortune and seek the fourth. And she must still complete her monopoly which will take all she has in cash. There are many pitfalls for both players.
All told, I am feeling as good as she - perhaps a shade better. I have moved from Absinthe to sipping Diet Coke. My friend comes back from Roulette a few hundred euros ahead. He smiles, recognizing my pattern. Utilities and Boardwalk below cost. The opponent is too poor to get it outright.
Monopolisto Man Hits Divonne ONE
It took me longer to get to Divonne than I thought. I finally red-eyed to Newark and grabbed a Continental business seat and made Geneva by the next evening. I never went into the city.My Cointrin buddy saw that I was high on jet fumes and Monopoly jitters and acceded to my suggestion that we drive to the Relais de Chambezy for a liesurely dinner.
Over steak pomme frites and Chateauneuf du Pape, we discussed the evening ahead. Monopoly is not the most common side game, though there are those who love it. I would not play it at all except for the fact that I win with such general ease, taking a few losses along the way of course. I felt the way I did when I first tried Oscar's Grind on a tip from Ainslee playing double deck blackjack at Sam's Town. I would confine myself to c note wins. I am never greedy. I had so many successful trips that I thought I would support myself forever with Oscar. But all good things come to an end and now I cannot win consistently with Oscar to save myself.
But Monopoly is different. It is a game of personalities, of skill, of infinite nuance. Just the challenge that a stubborn system player like me loves. For I will not divert even if loss stares me in the face. I do not care. It is just a game. Just life. We folded up our napkins after demitasses and walked to my friend's Citroen and soon were at the French border. The casino at Divonne is presentable. I used to play roulette there. Single zero. Again for small stakes. We looked about for a floor man and soon determined that he would happily seek out a Monopoly prospect. We sat at a little table and toasted Simenon with Absinthes. Within minutes, we saw a statuesque brunette, a refined latter day Rita Hayworth, striding our way with the floor man making a subtle gesture behind her to indicate that he had done his job.
Soon we were at a Monopoly board on a low table, surrounded by a small crowd. I prided myself on my capacity to suppress the natural interest one might have in distractions that mere mortals would have fallen to with considerable relish. We rolled and were off.
Over steak pomme frites and Chateauneuf du Pape, we discussed the evening ahead. Monopoly is not the most common side game, though there are those who love it. I would not play it at all except for the fact that I win with such general ease, taking a few losses along the way of course. I felt the way I did when I first tried Oscar's Grind on a tip from Ainslee playing double deck blackjack at Sam's Town. I would confine myself to c note wins. I am never greedy. I had so many successful trips that I thought I would support myself forever with Oscar. But all good things come to an end and now I cannot win consistently with Oscar to save myself.
But Monopoly is different. It is a game of personalities, of skill, of infinite nuance. Just the challenge that a stubborn system player like me loves. For I will not divert even if loss stares me in the face. I do not care. It is just a game. Just life. We folded up our napkins after demitasses and walked to my friend's Citroen and soon were at the French border. The casino at Divonne is presentable. I used to play roulette there. Single zero. Again for small stakes. We looked about for a floor man and soon determined that he would happily seek out a Monopoly prospect. We sat at a little table and toasted Simenon with Absinthes. Within minutes, we saw a statuesque brunette, a refined latter day Rita Hayworth, striding our way with the floor man making a subtle gesture behind her to indicate that he had done his job.
Soon we were at a Monopoly board on a low table, surrounded by a small crowd. I prided myself on my capacity to suppress the natural interest one might have in distractions that mere mortals would have fallen to with considerable relish. We rolled and were off.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Monopolisto Man Cracks Vegas FOUR (Conclusion)
Short and sweetish.
It took as long to finish this foregone conclusion as to play it until now. I ended up building houses on my
three monopolies until the Mexican busted on my three Boardwalk houses.
Just as I was collecting my $10 K winnings I had a call on my cell from a friend in Cointrin. Amazing how these things work. Cointrin is a small suburb of Geneva, Switzerland, located right next to the airport.
Why not come over and take a jaunt out to Divonne, one of the casinos within easy driving distance of the city. We could have dinner at Chambezy and be there and back in the bargain.
I thought of going direct from McCarran tonight and rejected the idea. I begged off for a day to get my travel plans in order.
Vegas was rubbing me the wrong way even after one day. They were apparently charging people to drive through Red Rock Canyon. This was disgusting if true.
Steve Wynn was saying awful things about our President, which only underlined the greatness of his stature in my eyes. The funky ambience of Fremont Street had transmogrified into a tourist gawk.
And the city was becoming a veritable ruin because of the bad behavior of realtors, banks and people in general.
$10 K was chump change even now, but it was enough to get me away. I figured I would leave the Caddy in the long term lot at McCarran and see what I could do in the way of a plane to Geneva, but not until I had had a nice massage at a health place that was providentially still there after all the years.
Maybe Divonne would offer something harder to beat.
It took as long to finish this foregone conclusion as to play it until now. I ended up building houses on my
three monopolies until the Mexican busted on my three Boardwalk houses.
Just as I was collecting my $10 K winnings I had a call on my cell from a friend in Cointrin. Amazing how these things work. Cointrin is a small suburb of Geneva, Switzerland, located right next to the airport.
Why not come over and take a jaunt out to Divonne, one of the casinos within easy driving distance of the city. We could have dinner at Chambezy and be there and back in the bargain.
I thought of going direct from McCarran tonight and rejected the idea. I begged off for a day to get my travel plans in order.
Vegas was rubbing me the wrong way even after one day. They were apparently charging people to drive through Red Rock Canyon. This was disgusting if true.
Steve Wynn was saying awful things about our President, which only underlined the greatness of his stature in my eyes. The funky ambience of Fremont Street had transmogrified into a tourist gawk.
And the city was becoming a veritable ruin because of the bad behavior of realtors, banks and people in general.
$10 K was chump change even now, but it was enough to get me away. I figured I would leave the Caddy in the long term lot at McCarran and see what I could do in the way of a plane to Geneva, but not until I had had a nice massage at a health place that was providentially still there after all the years.
Maybe Divonne would offer something harder to beat.
Monopolisto Man Cracks Vegas THREE
Yes, we are at a possible tipping point. The Mexican has spent his stake and some of it has been an utter waste because MM has grabbed the third of the triad and prevented monopoly creation.
MM has also auctioned off expensive properties and purchased expensive properties at a discount owing to the straitened circumstances of the Mexican.
The Mexican is beginning to sweat. He reminds MM of a Mexican who once transfixed all of Binions by winning close to a million playing single deck blackjack. Using piles of hundreds and causing a run from the table to the cage to tun it all into chips. Binions was something back then.
Monopolisto Man rolls up his sleeves, body lingo for an incipient kill.
But first, the legend of the dice. Our Mexican manages to land on O'Hare Airport which would be his third such property. MM cannot allow this and so wins it at auction, causing the Mexican to mortgage several properties to elicit a high bid. But then our Mexican rolls ten and lands at the final airport and buys it outright.
So he has three airports and now both players are relatively poor. It remains to be seen whether there will be a kill and who might be the victim.
It doesn't take long. We dicker on properties until I have two of three on three consecutive cheap spots and he has no prospect of a monopoly anywhere. With only three airports that can exact only a million in rent, he is cooked. I offer him an out. I will take a mere half of his $10 k if he will concede. Nothing doing.
We shall see if there is any way he can get out of this.
It doesn't look like it. He actually lands on a spot that would give me a monopoly if I could own it. Instead of buying it he auctions it off! I naturally buy it for an inflated price. I now have a complete assurance of victory.
He is offering me trades a mile a minute and I am not even looking at his offers. He looks at e with curiosity and holds the look for at least a minute. I avoid it. The spectators whisper.
I then reprise my offer of a half price concession. Nothing doing. He is not mad, just stubborn. Or drunk. Or both.
He snags a little utility. If he had two, he could make some money, but not enough to do any real harm.
This a point at which the game gets boring. A fait accompli. But one needs to finish off the opponent.
I do not even need the Ten K. I will probably play slots or something and lose some of it. Maybe buy a good dinner. Or take a bus to Boulder City. I wonder if this is really what I want to be doing with my life.
I take a deep breath and play on. There is one faint chance for the Mexican. I did not notice that Mall move. The two spots with the Mall - Opry and Gateway - are open. Should he snag them, he would have a monopoly.
I make up my mind to hit one of these spots ASAP. We'll get to that part of it later.I mean the intuitive part where I influence results in my mind before the dice are rolled.
Turns out he hits Grand old Opry and threatens. It takes me three times around the layout to finally score Gateway Arch. Which is the game. To make matters worse, I gain my third (Centennial) monopoly on the very next roll. Three zip and nothing but an impotent triad of airports in my way.
It is almost, as I say, too easy.
MM has also auctioned off expensive properties and purchased expensive properties at a discount owing to the straitened circumstances of the Mexican.
The Mexican is beginning to sweat. He reminds MM of a Mexican who once transfixed all of Binions by winning close to a million playing single deck blackjack. Using piles of hundreds and causing a run from the table to the cage to tun it all into chips. Binions was something back then.
Monopolisto Man rolls up his sleeves, body lingo for an incipient kill.
But first, the legend of the dice. Our Mexican manages to land on O'Hare Airport which would be his third such property. MM cannot allow this and so wins it at auction, causing the Mexican to mortgage several properties to elicit a high bid. But then our Mexican rolls ten and lands at the final airport and buys it outright.
So he has three airports and now both players are relatively poor. It remains to be seen whether there will be a kill and who might be the victim.
It doesn't take long. We dicker on properties until I have two of three on three consecutive cheap spots and he has no prospect of a monopoly anywhere. With only three airports that can exact only a million in rent, he is cooked. I offer him an out. I will take a mere half of his $10 k if he will concede. Nothing doing.
We shall see if there is any way he can get out of this.
It doesn't look like it. He actually lands on a spot that would give me a monopoly if I could own it. Instead of buying it he auctions it off! I naturally buy it for an inflated price. I now have a complete assurance of victory.
He is offering me trades a mile a minute and I am not even looking at his offers. He looks at e with curiosity and holds the look for at least a minute. I avoid it. The spectators whisper.
I then reprise my offer of a half price concession. Nothing doing. He is not mad, just stubborn. Or drunk. Or both.
He snags a little utility. If he had two, he could make some money, but not enough to do any real harm.
This a point at which the game gets boring. A fait accompli. But one needs to finish off the opponent.
I do not even need the Ten K. I will probably play slots or something and lose some of it. Maybe buy a good dinner. Or take a bus to Boulder City. I wonder if this is really what I want to be doing with my life.
I take a deep breath and play on. There is one faint chance for the Mexican. I did not notice that Mall move. The two spots with the Mall - Opry and Gateway - are open. Should he snag them, he would have a monopoly.
I make up my mind to hit one of these spots ASAP. We'll get to that part of it later.I mean the intuitive part where I influence results in my mind before the dice are rolled.
Turns out he hits Grand old Opry and threatens. It takes me three times around the layout to finally score Gateway Arch. Which is the game. To make matters worse, I gain my third (Centennial) monopoly on the very next roll. Three zip and nothing but an impotent triad of airports in my way.
It is almost, as I say, too easy.
Monopolisto Man Cracks Vegas TWO
The Mexican is huge. He sits across from me and chews on a toothpick which he moves expertly from one side of his capacious mouth to the other. He smells of beer and tobacco. He laughs when I lead with CHANCE and am asked to pay rent for properties I don't yet own. He opens with a trip to the Mall, cheap seats. And naturally buys it.
My goal is to leave him with no stake at all ASAP. I am withdrawn, even morose.
"Say something!"
I smile weakly.
The next rolls are classic me. I catch a long ride to Johnson Space Center and buy it. My opponent lands on it and pays rent. We are even on money now.
I leap forward to Golden Gate Bridge at the start of the expensive properties. I auction it and he buys it for over the asking price. He moves to JFK Airport and and buys it. Almost half his $15 million stake is in the game now. Life is good.
There are whispers at my auction ploy.
On a capital day, I do not have to use the auction ploy too much. My opppnent comes around and manages to buy Las Vegas Boulevard (expensive) and another airport (expensive). Meanwhile I have come around the GO square and landed on Texas Stadium which he proceeds to visit when he comes around. He is close to broke cashwise. I have almost my beginning stake.
Hang in and you will see some fireworks.
I move to and buy Centennial Park and he lands there. I move to Pioneer Square and buy it. I then move to Hollywood adjacent to his Golden Gate property. I auction it and he pays a premium to gain two preferred spots, but he is now down to a shade over a million in cash. This paves the way for the next moves. He lands on Camelback Mountain and auctions it and I win it at a bargain price. He moves to the expensive Las Vegas Blvd and auctions it, mortgaging a property to up his cash stake, I overbid and win at a bargain price. I ruin his chances on that triad. I have gambled that he will be too cash poor to do much even if he ends up with a monopoly.
Meanwhile, I have landed in jail where I happily roll for doubles as the Mexican continues to give me properties on the cheap. Fortuitously he lands on the most expensive one - Boardwalk and I obtain it at auction for well under the asking price. I have been spending modestly. He hovers at the brink of insolvency.
Then a bit of luck. I land on French Quarter and buy it outright to ruin the Mexican's chances on that expensive triad. In turn, he comes around and lands on Jacobs field, ruining my prospects for a small monopoly there. But the result of all of this is that I have a commanding cash lead and he is nearly broke. Plus, I am gradually closing off his options.
What of my options? He has two airports so I cannot squeeze him on that front. I have only one present shot at a monopoly. But what I have even more is control.That would be synonymous with money.
My goal is to leave him with no stake at all ASAP. I am withdrawn, even morose.
"Say something!"
I smile weakly.
The next rolls are classic me. I catch a long ride to Johnson Space Center and buy it. My opponent lands on it and pays rent. We are even on money now.
I leap forward to Golden Gate Bridge at the start of the expensive properties. I auction it and he buys it for over the asking price. He moves to JFK Airport and and buys it. Almost half his $15 million stake is in the game now. Life is good.
There are whispers at my auction ploy.
On a capital day, I do not have to use the auction ploy too much. My opppnent comes around and manages to buy Las Vegas Boulevard (expensive) and another airport (expensive). Meanwhile I have come around the GO square and landed on Texas Stadium which he proceeds to visit when he comes around. He is close to broke cashwise. I have almost my beginning stake.
Hang in and you will see some fireworks.
I move to and buy Centennial Park and he lands there. I move to Pioneer Square and buy it. I then move to Hollywood adjacent to his Golden Gate property. I auction it and he pays a premium to gain two preferred spots, but he is now down to a shade over a million in cash. This paves the way for the next moves. He lands on Camelback Mountain and auctions it and I win it at a bargain price. He moves to the expensive Las Vegas Blvd and auctions it, mortgaging a property to up his cash stake, I overbid and win at a bargain price. I ruin his chances on that triad. I have gambled that he will be too cash poor to do much even if he ends up with a monopoly.
Meanwhile, I have landed in jail where I happily roll for doubles as the Mexican continues to give me properties on the cheap. Fortuitously he lands on the most expensive one - Boardwalk and I obtain it at auction for well under the asking price. I have been spending modestly. He hovers at the brink of insolvency.
Then a bit of luck. I land on French Quarter and buy it outright to ruin the Mexican's chances on that expensive triad. In turn, he comes around and lands on Jacobs field, ruining my prospects for a small monopoly there. But the result of all of this is that I have a commanding cash lead and he is nearly broke. Plus, I am gradually closing off his options.
What of my options? He has two airports so I cannot squeeze him on that front. I have only one present shot at a monopoly. But what I have even more is control.That would be synonymous with money.
Monopolisto Man Cracks Vegas ONE
Jesus. These second floor rooms are just like they were when I first came to Fremont Street. Same guys floating around trying to hawk flesh. Same sounds out there. Same smells.
I need to find a way to make money doing what I do best.
I am after all Monopolisto Man.
First I will go have breakfast in the same booth I used to sit in when Benny was alive. Binions was like Chicago then. Honest. Straight forward. Force ruled. just enough, never too much.
I am showing my age. Why do I feel so young. It must be my freedom from drugs and booze. I feel light as air. I have my MO down.
Spook your opponent. Never play more than one at a time. Always play the same way. Always suggest what you are doing. Let the fates rule.
Well time to get up. Time to find that game.
LATER
I have a game. The guy is huge. Mexican. He plays with big piles of C-notes.He likes an audience. They are setting up a board in a corner of the WSOP area. It has mostly gone out to the Strip and beyond. But it began here.
Shit. I feel good. Roll!
It is 3:00 and already there is a bunch of people around the table. We have agreed on a $10K winner take all game.
I feel a charge. Sublimate. Channel. Eyes on the board. Go.
I need to find a way to make money doing what I do best.
I am after all Monopolisto Man.
First I will go have breakfast in the same booth I used to sit in when Benny was alive. Binions was like Chicago then. Honest. Straight forward. Force ruled. just enough, never too much.
I am showing my age. Why do I feel so young. It must be my freedom from drugs and booze. I feel light as air. I have my MO down.
Spook your opponent. Never play more than one at a time. Always play the same way. Always suggest what you are doing. Let the fates rule.
Well time to get up. Time to find that game.
LATER
I have a game. The guy is huge. Mexican. He plays with big piles of C-notes.He likes an audience. They are setting up a board in a corner of the WSOP area. It has mostly gone out to the Strip and beyond. But it began here.
Shit. I feel good. Roll!
It is 3:00 and already there is a bunch of people around the table. We have agreed on a $10K winner take all game.
I feel a charge. Sublimate. Channel. Eyes on the board. Go.
Friday, October 21, 2011
One Seven (Conclusion) Monopolisto Man Makes A Small Mint and Heads for Vegas
All but one of the income bearing clusters are unavailable to Mr. Coffee. The available one is the cheapest cluster of two, should he fill it out. The cluster available to our hero is the most expensive pair, of which he now owns one.
Monopolisto Man now has more money than Mr. Coffee. As day four progresses we shall see what we shall see.
As the contest becomes more defined things happen quicker. Mr. Coffee soon had his pair of cheap spots and revved them up to income-bearing speed. But they were no match for the service spots that MM had in abundance and in due time our hero manages to obtain the most expensive pair of properties.
The contest continues but the end is clear. It is clean up from here.
Could Mr. Coffee had won. Only if there had been no payments made to our hero and if our hero had made substantial payments due to being detained and requiring several million time after time.
As things stand, with five services and the two most extensive properties in hand it is looking like time to turn the vise a bit to bring abut a quick and merciful to the contest.
The end has come. Mr. Coffee refused all of MM's trade offers. There was a truce offered and accepted. But Monopolisto Man had already determined that the valley was not for him. There were high stakes to be won in some of the world's prime gambling venues. He counted it good fortune to have had such games as these, streaks interrupted by an occasional loss. He realized that in a gambling venue the chances fell because of some inherent nudge within gambling itself. He could not explain it but it was real. Conceding it he purchased Mr. Coffee's Caddy with a portion of his profits and exulted in the cool evening Mojave air as he ducked Death Valley on the way to Searchlight and beyond. He would go back to Binions. Even with the new ownership it would always remain a home of sorts.
Monopolisto Man now has more money than Mr. Coffee. As day four progresses we shall see what we shall see.
As the contest becomes more defined things happen quicker. Mr. Coffee soon had his pair of cheap spots and revved them up to income-bearing speed. But they were no match for the service spots that MM had in abundance and in due time our hero manages to obtain the most expensive pair of properties.
The contest continues but the end is clear. It is clean up from here.
Could Mr. Coffee had won. Only if there had been no payments made to our hero and if our hero had made substantial payments due to being detained and requiring several million time after time.
As things stand, with five services and the two most extensive properties in hand it is looking like time to turn the vise a bit to bring abut a quick and merciful to the contest.
The end has come. Mr. Coffee refused all of MM's trade offers. There was a truce offered and accepted. But Monopolisto Man had already determined that the valley was not for him. There were high stakes to be won in some of the world's prime gambling venues. He counted it good fortune to have had such games as these, streaks interrupted by an occasional loss. He realized that in a gambling venue the chances fell because of some inherent nudge within gambling itself. He could not explain it but it was real. Conceding it he purchased Mr. Coffee's Caddy with a portion of his profits and exulted in the cool evening Mojave air as he ducked Death Valley on the way to Searchlight and beyond. He would go back to Binions. Even with the new ownership it would always remain a home of sorts.
One Six Monopolisto Man Completes Day Three
Our hero is still at a cash disadvantage because Mr. Coffee managed to gain a few million as an outright gift and then collected another two million when he reached the completion of his circuit.
But the most salient event was a stroke of luck for Monopolisto Man. After getting Mr. Coffee to bid high on the second of three expensive properties, our hero managed to get to the third and buy it at cost.
So as the third day drew to a close Mr. Coffee was reduced to hoping that a string of cheap properties would somehow materialize and he would have enough to purchase improvements and gain income thereby.
Our hero could confidently assume that his four major service stops would gain large payments whenever Mr. Coffee came to Call.
I should mention another rule of our hero. Never trade. Frequently already he has had feelers for exchanges. He refuses them without even considering what they might be. The only situation in which he offers trades is when he has essentially won. He then reduces his opponent to little no cash and then trades him a costly set of properties in exchange for some services or less expensive properties. The result is generally a quick capitulation.
Needless to say, our hero is not a popular fellow. It is the case in most games he plays He sees life as a game. To take anything seriously is for him an impossibility. Unfailingly polite, harboring no evident animosity, he strikes some as pathological some as exceedingly irritable and others as odd but lovable. Fortunately his best friends are generally women, providing him with endless wells of inspiration of various sorts.
The contest is now nearing a decisive phase. Keep your fingers crossed for your favorite.
But the most salient event was a stroke of luck for Monopolisto Man. After getting Mr. Coffee to bid high on the second of three expensive properties, our hero managed to get to the third and buy it at cost.
So as the third day drew to a close Mr. Coffee was reduced to hoping that a string of cheap properties would somehow materialize and he would have enough to purchase improvements and gain income thereby.
Our hero could confidently assume that his four major service stops would gain large payments whenever Mr. Coffee came to Call.
I should mention another rule of our hero. Never trade. Frequently already he has had feelers for exchanges. He refuses them without even considering what they might be. The only situation in which he offers trades is when he has essentially won. He then reduces his opponent to little no cash and then trades him a costly set of properties in exchange for some services or less expensive properties. The result is generally a quick capitulation.
Needless to say, our hero is not a popular fellow. It is the case in most games he plays He sees life as a game. To take anything seriously is for him an impossibility. Unfailingly polite, harboring no evident animosity, he strikes some as pathological some as exceedingly irritable and others as odd but lovable. Fortunately his best friends are generally women, providing him with endless wells of inspiration of various sorts.
The contest is now nearing a decisive phase. Keep your fingers crossed for your favorite.
One Five Monopolisto Man Overcomes Some Challenges
We left our hero near gloating over his good fortune. But nothing works as one who gloats surmises. As of now our, hero is property rich and capital poor and Mr. Coffee is moving along with enough capital to make yet more purchases.
How could this have come about? Actually by a stroke of fairly good luck. Mr. Coffee had the chance to buy one each of the three most expensive properties. He bought the first two but was a few hundred shy of the asking price for the most expensive property of all. He auctioned it and our hero followed his rule and purchased it for slightly less than the asking price.
Our hero also managed to land on his third major service, which set him up to make a good amount whenever anyone availed themselves of his good offices.
Meanwhile Mr. Coffee, managed to purchase two out of three of the lesser properties, creating the one situation that could mean curtains for our hero. Improvements and knock out rents should be forced to pay.
In short the strategem is working but there is no guarantee that it will bring victory. B8ut the the denouement is not yet.
For Coffee, luck is his only hope. For Monopolisto Man, inducing Coffee to go broke is the name of the game.
Mr Coffee purchases yet another lesser property. Monopolisto Man purchases the one next to block
loss of a whole cluster.. Our hero continues to have less cash than Coffee does. Monopolisto Man wonders if he can finish the day without going into hock. And, for that matter, how he is going to win.
But within a move the die seems cast, or so our hero senses. By a stroke of luck, he manages to acquire his fourth major service by mortgaging a lesser property. Having all four virtually guarantees a victory because of the high return on investment.
And MM's next moves feel like frosting on the cake. Mr. Coffee lands on his second expensive property in the first cluster. But he does not have the money to buy it so he auctions it. At which point Monopolisto Man mortgages every bit of property he has that is not a service. He has five services which he will only mortgage in extremis. But he frees up over $4 million in non-service property o pit against Coffee. And he forces Coffee to bid far over the asking price to create a pair of linked properties.
Our hero ends up with about five times the actual cash in the game. He does not care that all of his non-service properties are mortgaged, including the most expensive.The only way Coffee can win now is to own three in a property cluster and then to have the resources available to improve these properties until they can
exact enough payment to bankrupt our hero.
The contest is not over. But one set of actions has changed the tune. And the third day is not even complete.
How could this have come about? Actually by a stroke of fairly good luck. Mr. Coffee had the chance to buy one each of the three most expensive properties. He bought the first two but was a few hundred shy of the asking price for the most expensive property of all. He auctioned it and our hero followed his rule and purchased it for slightly less than the asking price.
Our hero also managed to land on his third major service, which set him up to make a good amount whenever anyone availed themselves of his good offices.
Meanwhile Mr. Coffee, managed to purchase two out of three of the lesser properties, creating the one situation that could mean curtains for our hero. Improvements and knock out rents should be forced to pay.
In short the strategem is working but there is no guarantee that it will bring victory. B8ut the the denouement is not yet.
For Coffee, luck is his only hope. For Monopolisto Man, inducing Coffee to go broke is the name of the game.
Mr Coffee purchases yet another lesser property. Monopolisto Man purchases the one next to block
loss of a whole cluster.. Our hero continues to have less cash than Coffee does. Monopolisto Man wonders if he can finish the day without going into hock. And, for that matter, how he is going to win.
But within a move the die seems cast, or so our hero senses. By a stroke of luck, he manages to acquire his fourth major service by mortgaging a lesser property. Having all four virtually guarantees a victory because of the high return on investment.
And MM's next moves feel like frosting on the cake. Mr. Coffee lands on his second expensive property in the first cluster. But he does not have the money to buy it so he auctions it. At which point Monopolisto Man mortgages every bit of property he has that is not a service. He has five services which he will only mortgage in extremis. But he frees up over $4 million in non-service property o pit against Coffee. And he forces Coffee to bid far over the asking price to create a pair of linked properties.
Our hero ends up with about five times the actual cash in the game. He does not care that all of his non-service properties are mortgaged, including the most expensive.The only way Coffee can win now is to own three in a property cluster and then to have the resources available to improve these properties until they can
exact enough payment to bankrupt our hero.
The contest is not over. But one set of actions has changed the tune. And the third day is not even complete.
One Four Monopolisto Man Strikes for The First Time
As of this minute Monoplisto Man has more than half his stake and Mr. Coffee has less than half, being a bit ahead of MM in the buying department.
Another negative surfaces. The best properties are services. There are six in all. Our hero has two of them. But now he is joined by Mr. Coffee who snags one of the lesser ones.
The only encouraging thing is what our hero knows already. He will confine his purchases to the least expensive properties and hope that Mr. Coffee is stone broke and mortgaging very soon.
We shall see.
It happens that our hero picks up a humble dwelling while our enemy picks up a place on the verge of arriving at the expensive triad I referred to. Our hero has four places. Mr. Coffee has six. If he can be induced to purchase two or three expensive ones, he will become cash poor and vulnerable to stage two of our hero's stratagem which is to buy expensive properties at cut rates.
It is not long in coming. Monopolisto Man likes to advance without the need to do business. There are places where one one can be given, for example, the right to avoid an onerous prison sentence. This right has a list price of $500. As it happens, this is just what takes place as our hero draws ever closer to Mister Coffee.
Even better than this recent good fortune is chance to directly deplete Coffee's coffers. Our hero has his first opportunity very soon. Both he and Coffee own of a property on either side of an available spot in the cluster just mentioned.
By a stroke of luck, our hero lands on this center property and immediately puts it up for auction. Why? Because to own two of three properties in a cluster is useless. Only by owning an entire cluster can one make improvements that enable income to grow on each piece of property far above the initial rent.
Coffee is flamboyant, Now Monopolisto Man. Coffee bids a few hundred over the actual mortgage value. Our hero bows in defeat. Coffee now owns two properties he can do nothing with. His capital is moving toward zero because very his next act is to purchase one of the first available expensive spots.
Monopolisto Man believes he has already delivered a patented blow that can mean a fortune in theoffing.
Another negative surfaces. The best properties are services. There are six in all. Our hero has two of them. But now he is joined by Mr. Coffee who snags one of the lesser ones.
The only encouraging thing is what our hero knows already. He will confine his purchases to the least expensive properties and hope that Mr. Coffee is stone broke and mortgaging very soon.
We shall see.
It happens that our hero picks up a humble dwelling while our enemy picks up a place on the verge of arriving at the expensive triad I referred to. Our hero has four places. Mr. Coffee has six. If he can be induced to purchase two or three expensive ones, he will become cash poor and vulnerable to stage two of our hero's stratagem which is to buy expensive properties at cut rates.
It is not long in coming. Monopolisto Man likes to advance without the need to do business. There are places where one one can be given, for example, the right to avoid an onerous prison sentence. This right has a list price of $500. As it happens, this is just what takes place as our hero draws ever closer to Mister Coffee.
Even better than this recent good fortune is chance to directly deplete Coffee's coffers. Our hero has his first opportunity very soon. Both he and Coffee own of a property on either side of an available spot in the cluster just mentioned.
By a stroke of luck, our hero lands on this center property and immediately puts it up for auction. Why? Because to own two of three properties in a cluster is useless. Only by owning an entire cluster can one make improvements that enable income to grow on each piece of property far above the initial rent.
Coffee is flamboyant, Now Monopolisto Man. Coffee bids a few hundred over the actual mortgage value. Our hero bows in defeat. Coffee now owns two properties he can do nothing with. His capital is moving toward zero because very his next act is to purchase one of the first available expensive spots.
Monopolisto Man believes he has already delivered a patented blow that can mean a fortune in theoffing.
One Three Monopolisto Man Has A Stratagem
He does not call it a strategy. It is a stratagem. It is gemlike. It is his gamble. His ace in the hole. It is already starting to work.
It is true that he has spent heavily on his very first day, first being waylaid and then stumbling on something valuable. To complete the triad, he has added another purchase, the most expensive yet. But he is happy, because he will soon reveal himself to be the consummate bottom feeder.
The properties increase in value as one progresses to the older parts of Windy Acres. This was settled early and built over once but the generations watch over at least nine parcels that are so in demand that even Mr. Coffee will exceed normal limits to win these spots.
Monopolisto Man knows this and wants nothing better than to seem the pathetic loser, goading the Organization to venture its entire stake early in the game.
Already Coffee has run ahead and outspent our hero. Lagging behind, Monopolisto Man is just on the verge of entering the Stratagem realm.
But something amazing takes place. Monopolisto Man had thought to settle here and there
and profess to be too broke to buy anything. He would put the expensive properties up to auction and watch
as Coffee bid them up, assuring that Coffee's mortgage values would always be less than normal, thus
assuring a gradual loss of capital. The stratagem was to keep Coffee as close to broke as possible. As soon as possible. Piranha play.
But it turns out that Coffee has already bought two of the choice places himself and completed a full day's
work. Meanwhile, our hero has managed to make a prodigious move. There is another major facility
around two corners of the Windy Acres road. He buys it at cost and thereby has good properties
but less cash than Coffee. Hardly what he envisioned.
In the meantime Coffee has left the high priced neighborhood and proves the most successful bottom feeder of all. He has the most money and the most real property.
And our hero is now cash poor, albeit with a handful of decent properties. He prepares to pack it in
for the day, wary of meeting Mr. Coffee and his gang of operators.
Whatever happens he knows it is not what he had planned or hoped for, though he had never once diverged from his essential plan.
It is true that he has spent heavily on his very first day, first being waylaid and then stumbling on something valuable. To complete the triad, he has added another purchase, the most expensive yet. But he is happy, because he will soon reveal himself to be the consummate bottom feeder.
The properties increase in value as one progresses to the older parts of Windy Acres. This was settled early and built over once but the generations watch over at least nine parcels that are so in demand that even Mr. Coffee will exceed normal limits to win these spots.
Monopolisto Man knows this and wants nothing better than to seem the pathetic loser, goading the Organization to venture its entire stake early in the game.
Already Coffee has run ahead and outspent our hero. Lagging behind, Monopolisto Man is just on the verge of entering the Stratagem realm.
But something amazing takes place. Monopolisto Man had thought to settle here and there
and profess to be too broke to buy anything. He would put the expensive properties up to auction and watch
as Coffee bid them up, assuring that Coffee's mortgage values would always be less than normal, thus
assuring a gradual loss of capital. The stratagem was to keep Coffee as close to broke as possible. As soon as possible. Piranha play.
But it turns out that Coffee has already bought two of the choice places himself and completed a full day's
work. Meanwhile, our hero has managed to make a prodigious move. There is another major facility
around two corners of the Windy Acres road. He buys it at cost and thereby has good properties
but less cash than Coffee. Hardly what he envisioned.
In the meantime Coffee has left the high priced neighborhood and proves the most successful bottom feeder of all. He has the most money and the most real property.
And our hero is now cash poor, albeit with a handful of decent properties. He prepares to pack it in
for the day, wary of meeting Mr. Coffee and his gang of operators.
Whatever happens he knows it is not what he had planned or hoped for, though he had never once diverged from his essential plan.
One Two Monopolisto Man Buys A Property
Tough. You want to know tough? Try getting up from an intial defeat and being made to eat crow the next time out. The first place I stumble on that looks halfway decent, who is behind the door but Mr. Coffee
himself.
My disguise proved useless. He did not even acknowledge it.
"I'm gonna be charitable with you this time," he said softly, Godfatherlike.
He motioned to my wallet which I handed to him out of sheer panic. The notion that life was worth anything here had long since vanished. He extracted a c note and within seconds was back in his air-conditioned
Caddy cruising far beyond where my tired feet had carried me.
I watched him disappear over a slight rise. His car was an affront. I made up my mind to have it. Yes. A Caddy with air. I would show him.
There was something interesting four lots up. I approached slowly on foot. It was a larger unit. It had heft. It held profit. It sat like a monument among slums.
It was occupied. I knocked. I couldn't believe it. I thought girls like the one who appeared were all back in Massachusetts, She had the straggly look of someone who used to being defeated and took no care to appear interested or expectant or anything but depressed. I asked her if the place was available. She called, "Frank!"
Central Casting must have beein in charge this morning. This was more like it Frank turned out to be crisp and upbeat and well-clothed, the polar opposite of Ms. Whatever. Within minutes we had sealed a deal for around ten percent of my remaining stake.This was a stand alone income property Coffee had managed
by pass. I later learned that Mr. Coffee had urgent business up ahead. An early morning golf match with
some of the boys.
It was my first good feeling of the day.
himself.
My disguise proved useless. He did not even acknowledge it.
"I'm gonna be charitable with you this time," he said softly, Godfatherlike.
He motioned to my wallet which I handed to him out of sheer panic. The notion that life was worth anything here had long since vanished. He extracted a c note and within seconds was back in his air-conditioned
Caddy cruising far beyond where my tired feet had carried me.
I watched him disappear over a slight rise. His car was an affront. I made up my mind to have it. Yes. A Caddy with air. I would show him.
There was something interesting four lots up. I approached slowly on foot. It was a larger unit. It had heft. It held profit. It sat like a monument among slums.
It was occupied. I knocked. I couldn't believe it. I thought girls like the one who appeared were all back in Massachusetts, She had the straggly look of someone who used to being defeated and took no care to appear interested or expectant or anything but depressed. I asked her if the place was available. She called, "Frank!"
Central Casting must have beein in charge this morning. This was more like it Frank turned out to be crisp and upbeat and well-clothed, the polar opposite of Ms. Whatever. Within minutes we had sealed a deal for around ten percent of my remaining stake.This was a stand alone income property Coffee had managed
by pass. I later learned that Mr. Coffee had urgent business up ahead. An early morning golf match with
some of the boys.
It was my first good feeling of the day.
One- One Monopolisto Man Commences
I started out losing. They say losing is best when you start. Worse later. Take it on the chin the first day out. Get toughened up. Get knocked down. Hard knocks heal. Tomorrow is another day.
Bullshit. That's why I left school. Too many goddamned cliches. That's why I moved here.
This is the great passive gulch of America. LfuckingLA. Quakeprone.Line prone. Mudslide prone.
Fire prone. Prone period
It's fall. There are no leaves. Leaves are New England. Around Pittsfield. Nowheresville.
I lost on the first day. In the first hour. Before I had taken a single step into the subdivision. Fifteen
percent of my stake. Gone.
The Organization appeared. They took me into an alley behond the 7/11.. They told me not to play
in their yard. I said its a free country. Wrong. They roughed me up. Nice this time they said. They said this
is our turf. We do the banks. We do the tenants. We add properties every day. If you play with us you will lose..
I am fifteen percent wiser. I am back. In disguise.
I scope out the scene. Some cheap property is already in the hands of Mr. Coffee. Phony front man.
Furtive eyes peer at me from the commuter lot. I look around. They are not used to seeing a pedestrian. There is no sidewalk.
Windy Acres.
Up ahead there are some older lots with better cars in front. My jaw still hurts. I determine to crush Mr. Coffee.I want to own LA.
Bullshit. That's why I left school. Too many goddamned cliches. That's why I moved here.
This is the great passive gulch of America. LfuckingLA. Quakeprone.Line prone. Mudslide prone.
Fire prone. Prone period
It's fall. There are no leaves. Leaves are New England. Around Pittsfield. Nowheresville.
I lost on the first day. In the first hour. Before I had taken a single step into the subdivision. Fifteen
percent of my stake. Gone.
The Organization appeared. They took me into an alley behond the 7/11.. They told me not to play
in their yard. I said its a free country. Wrong. They roughed me up. Nice this time they said. They said this
is our turf. We do the banks. We do the tenants. We add properties every day. If you play with us you will lose..
I am fifteen percent wiser. I am back. In disguise.
I scope out the scene. Some cheap property is already in the hands of Mr. Coffee. Phony front man.
Furtive eyes peer at me from the commuter lot. I look around. They are not used to seeing a pedestrian. There is no sidewalk.
Windy Acres.
Up ahead there are some older lots with better cars in front. My jaw still hurts. I determine to crush Mr. Coffee.I want to own LA.
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