Columnist Susan Snyder: Betting it all on the Strip

Friday, Aug. 3, 2001 | 4:50 a.m.

Susan Snyder's column also appears Tuesdays and Fridays in the Las Vegas Sun. Reach her at snyder@lasvegassun.com or 259-4082.

The 45-year-old masseur came to Las Vegas looking for what lures so many.

"A certain spin of the machine could change your life," he said.

"Greg" moved from the West Coast a year ago to gamble for a living. Four or five days a week he seeks his fortune in slot-machine and sports bets on the Strip. He let me tag along if his name was withheld in print.

"I came here to hit it big," Greg said, relaxing with a cup of coffee at the San Remo before going to work. "You know, $5,000 isn't going to change your life. But $50,000 could."

Many locals say slots don't pay big on the Strip. But Greg says it's all in knowing which ones to play and when.

Plenty of tourists pump money into a machine and walk off without noticing they have free spins or are close to bonuses that pay no matter what. Luck is fashioned from the ignorance of others.

"We count on it," he said. "Sometimes I feel a little guilty about it."

Remembering certain game locations in a sea of machines cuts down on wasted time. Time is money. But Greg says casino workers move games or take them out completely, just to keep people like him from hanging around too much.

He tries to stick to eight-hour shifts, although he starts at irregular times.

"I consider it my profession," he said. "I come out early in the morning or late at night. But I try to have some sort of routine."

He doesn't own a car and lives within walking distance of the Strip in a place he rents by the week. The Strip, he says, provides a nicer working environment.

"I was staying downtown when I first moved here, but there were drugs and pickpockets," he said. "I don't like the trashy, seedy side of it."

On a recent weekday, Greg started at 9 a.m. inside Mandalay Bay. He walked fast, barely hesitating as he checked for leftover bonuses and sized up opportunities. He glanced at a row of machines about 50 feet away.

"That one over there has two credits on it," he said, swooping in for the kill.

In 30 minutes he cruised Mandalay Bay, Luxor and Excalibur, grabbed coffee and cigarettes from a convenience store and headed into the Tropicana. The walk alone will leave you begging for a desk job. Greg's daily rounds include walking to Circus Circus and back -- sometimes more than once.

He picked up $16 ("a good little start") at the Tropicana. By noon he had surfed Monte Carlo, Boardwalk, Aladdin, Paris and Bellagio. By 12:20 Casears was history. And by 2 p.m., he'd hit the Flamingo, O'Shea's, Harrah's, the Mirage, Venetian and Treasure Island.

"There are people with regular jobs who do this on weekends," he said. "I know a guy who comes out with his mother."

Greg still gives massages, but gambling accounts for about 75 percent of his income. He nets about $600 a week but pays his rent two weeks in advance, just in case.

"I'm conservative with my money," Greg said.

He cleared $60 the day I followed him. It took 12 hours. Gambling is hard work. Many people aren't willing to stick with it, he said.

"I think you have to think positive," he said. "But I think I'm luckier than a lot of people."