News and notes from around the interweb:
- Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador thrown in jail after reporting rape threat against his wife at the Ritz-Carlton in Doha. The hotel first claimed to have the suspect guests on surveillance video and promised to have the guests removed.
The guests stayed, the hotel denied any evidence of the interaction, and then the property pressed criminal charges when he wrote about the experience in a Tripadvisor review. (Tripadisor took down the review, even though it appears to confrom to their standards.) Marriott shrugged their shoulders.I was Marriott’s Ambassador Elite — their highest rewards tier.
My wife was sexually harassed at their hotel in Doha.
When I complained, the hotel had me prosecuted. I was jailed, deported, banned for five years. I lost my job.
Marriott now say the claims were “not… pic.twitter.com/qqavRumnd7
— barrattino (@barrattino) April 24, 2026
- Woman who was caught bringing pot with her into Indonesia is running a GoFundMe. Do want you want at home, but if you bring drugs with you to a government checkpoint you almost deserve what you get?
- Window seat decides.
Keep the shades open! #airplane #airplanewindows #airplanewindowshades @CNN pic.twitter.com/4xfSRcM72A
— Gretchen Carlson (@GretchenCarlson) April 25, 2026
- United Airlines’ Q4 2017 earnings call:
One of my favorite investor days. https://t.co/i109Tt2doC pic.twitter.com/rFvUj20L9u
— Byrne Hobart (@ByrneHobart) April 25, 2026
- Japan’s trains are so good its rules allowed rail to be profitable, cities dense, and driving less artificially cheap. That’s replicable policy.
- Cosplay Kid Rock and the most Frontier Airlines gate agent ever on Denver’s A concourse.
That feels a bit more than just good-ole Bonvoy’d… Welp, as if we needed another reason to not visit Doha (or Dubai, or the Middle East, in-general) these days… sheesh!
In the era of ShuffleMasters, is “card counting” really a thing?
And even when it was “a thing,” it’s spectacularly difficult to do for a sustained period of time, and casinos liked to perpetuate the myth as far more would-be counters wound up losing badly.
The tweet headline is a bit inaccurate – Kirby isn’t banned from Vegas casinos, he is banned from playing blackjack at Vegas casinos.
Some people are able to consistently count cards in blackjack which changes the edge from in the house’s favor to the player’s favor, so *on average* the player will win money instead of losing money. Casinos don’t like this – they want the deck stacked in their favor, not the player’s.
But Kirby is welcome to play other casino games, such as poker.
@Jason Wong–Wong is right.
@1990 – I’m looking forward to my trip to Doha, Dubai and Abu Dhabi next February. Can’t wait! Don’t understand the reluctance. BTW, if you read about this incident on other sites you will see he was jailed for unproven allegations he posted. People seem to think US law and freedom of speech follows them worldwide but it doesn’t. Many countries will jail you for posting false (or even just negative) reviews. If you don’t like it don’t travel but i love seeing all places on earth and make sure I understand the customs and laws before I travel.
@Jason Wong – Also, as you likely know, Nevada is unique in that they can ban players for practically any reason or limit their action (no blackjack, cap on sports betting amount, etc). New Jersey specifically states their casinos can not ban someone for counting cards. However, they are free to use constant shufflers in multi deck games, prohibit mid-deck entry in single/double deck games, reshuffle with up to 1/2 the deck (including multi-deck games) remaining, etc which basically negate any advantage you get from counting. BTW counting is very difficult and to do it profitably you really need a team like the old MIT blackjack teams.
@Retired Gambler – And let’s not forget the change from 3:2 to 6:5 blackjack, further negating any potential player edge.
These days, the professionals don’t go to Las Vegas, they go to Kalshi or Polymarket.
@Retired Gambler — Next February? As-in 2027? Like, 10-months away? What if your trip was in March 2026? You’d’ve still gone?
@Denver Refugee — Did you mean “professionals,” or did you mean ‘insiders’?
@1990 – Unsure if would go right now but probably would. Frankly not as worried about the plane being shot down or the airport bombed (Iran seems to have backed off attacking their Arab neighbors) but regarding connections. That being said, I don’t plan to connect there since I’ll be spending a week in the Middle East before traveling on to Delhi so I could handle some disruptions. Guess you saw in the middle of all this Etihad not only started their flights from my home airport (CLT) on schedule but have already moved from 4 day a week to daily.
@Denver Refugee – There are no “professional” casino players. The only way even blackjack counting made real money was back in the day of more favorable rules (as you noted), single/double deck games and counting teams (Read “Bringing Down the House” about the MIT team if you haven’t already). Even then it was a risky option between being black listed or, even worse, taken in a back room and beat up (it did happen).
The only true professional gamblers are poker players, sports bettors and horse bettors. Those are the only games where your skill or knowledge can give you an edge. Also, you really aren’t playing against the house but against all the other gamblers so those that are better at it will win in the long run. Personally I gamble enough in the casino to keep my status (free rooms, junkets, Super Bowl/New Years Eve invites, etc) but I focus more on poker (heading to WSOP next month) and sports. Don’t bother with horses since that requires way too much research and data due to constantly changing variables.
BTW @1990 – you mentioned “my previous occupation” in a previous post. I am not a “retired gambler” as in former gambler, but a retired long time senior executive who now spends my time gambling, traveling the world and playing golf. Rough life but someone has to do it.
@Retired Gambler — I’m glad to see the CLT is finally getting rubbed the right way!
The US railroads in the west (west of the Mississippi) were awarded 1 square mile of land for every 2 miles of rail line. They mostly sold of the parts not needed for railroad purposes (railyards, stations, and maintenance facilities). If they could afford to keep the land (there were some shady financial activities), the railroads may have been able to do something like was done in Japan.
@John H — Ever watched the AMC series ‘Hell on Wheels’? If you’re into choo-choos and the development of the trans-continental railroad, highly recommend.
Interesting piece on the Japanese railways. It would be something near impossible to duplicate those circumstances in the USA these days and we have enough zaibatsu problems in the USA as is.
@Christian — Yeah! Down with Mitsubishi! Bah!
I am amazed by how gullible people are when listening to “influencers” who portrait UAE, Indonesia, or other hardcore Muslim countries as paradise on earth.
I have dealt with Muslim people & countries all my life at work and know the reality is NOT what is portrayed online. Those countries are run on strict muslim rules and try to bring drugs, get drunk or be a human rights or gay activist, to see what happens to you.
Also, for US citizens, the local embassy is not going to lift a finger to help you unless you are a special pet project of the president.