I’ve been reading about how to play craps recently and I ran into this interesting news article about a New Jersey woman setting a record for winning streak at craps. She was rolling for a little over 4 hours.
Archive for May, 2009
Woman sets record at Craps table in Atlantic City.
May 25th, 2009Making the switch to TD Bank.
May 13th, 2009I don’t know why I never opened up an account at TD Bank (or Commerce Bank before the buyout). The hours are convenient and I realized today what a hassle it is that I need to get all my banking needs done before 3pm.
There’s only 2 TD Banks near me and I’ll have to drive to them but there are no fees to maintain an account and it’ll be nice to know I can get my banking needs met even as late as 8pm.
$2 bill experiment follow-up.
May 12th, 2009In a previous post I talked about how I obtained a bunch of $2 bills and will go around spending them at various places.
The results were a bit mixed and it was somewhat interesting.
I’ve come to realize that I don’t spend much cash in general. I don’t mean I don’t spend money but rather most of my transactions are credit card based and cash transactions were few and far in between. This led to me taking a lot longer than I expected to spend the $200 worth of $2 bills I had obtained.
Most of my $2 bills were spent at mom & pop shops that didn’t accept credit and bars where opening a tab for a credit transaction is sometimes more trouble than it’s worth when it’s crowded.
At a bar I frequent they would have $3 specials for drinks on certain nights and two $2 bills easily covered the cost of the drink and a $1 tip for the bartender. One bartender in particular would eye every $2 bill I handed him and I understand as it is suspicious to have somebody pay in $2 bills all night.
Probably due to the myth that $2 bills are rare at one bar the bartender exchanged my $2 bills for singles from her purse probably because she wanted to hold onto them.
At another bar, the very attractive waitress flat out asked if they were real.
At one of my favorite sandwich shops the cashier gave me the wrong change. The total was $6.50 or so and I handed her 4 $2 bills and she gave me back 50 cents (I did get the correct change after pointing it out).
Numerous friends, cashiers, etc. have all said something along the lines of “$2 bills! You shouldn’t spend those, they’re rare!”.
A good number of my $2 bills went to friends who wanted to exchange them with me since they didn’t have any $2 bills.
All in all my personal $2 bill experiment was an interesting experience. I got to see firsthand how many people believed that $2 bills were rare and couple more of my friends realized I’m a bit eccentric. I have exactly one $2 bill left and I think I’ll keep it in my desk drawer. You know… cause they’re rare. 
The $5 Blackjack table.
May 11th, 2009$5 Blackjack tables are a rare sight in Atlantic City these days. Generally they’re only to be found on weekdays and off-peak hours at the casinos. You’d think with a recession they’d make a comeback. I think the $5 tables are great for beginners and people who are new to the game of blackjack.
I love and hate the $5 blackjack table. Generally you’ll get a lot of people who make tons of bad moves at the $5 table because they’re beginners or idiots who can’t grasp the concept of the game. Since $5 tables are relatively scarce you might have to wait a bit to get a seat also. On the other hand the $5 table will provide you with hours of entertainment at very little cost (or perhaps even a gain).
So I realized I had 14 credit cards.
May 11th, 2009My wallet got damaged and warped recently do to me running around in the pouring rain. I looked in my wallet and realized I’ve accumulated quite a number of cards over the years. I have a bit of a obsessive compulsive issue when it comes to receiving the maximum amount of rewards for every credit card transaction. This post will go into most of my active credit cards and how they are part of my financial life.
There are a total of 14 credit cards in that picture and I’ll start at the top left and move down.
Chase Professional Rewards – This card gets 3% cashback at gas stations, restaurants, office supply stores, hardware and home improvement centers. I got this card because back in the day I use to purchase a lot at office supply stores. I would easily rack up a couple thousand in charges a year and redeem the reward checks $50 at time.
New York Jets Extra Points – This card gets 1 point for every dollar spent. The rewards aren’t really worth much so I don’t use the card often. I got this card because they were offering a iPod nano with the Jets logo lasered on the back. Yes, I am a Jets fan. This is also one of my oldest cards and I make a small purchase on it from time to time to keep it active.
Chase Freedom – This card gets me 3% cashback on fast food purchases. It also gets 3% cashback on other categories but I forget what they are. I probably buy fast food 4-7 times a week and this is what gets used. It does take longer to reach the rewards threshold of $50 but it gets 1% back on all other purchases and sometimes I’ll throw a large charge on this card. The sign up bonus for this card was a whopping $250 which was the main reason I opened it.
Wamu ESPN Total Rewards – I opened this card because they had a 0% apr offer. The rewards program is now defunct after Chase bought out Wamu. The card has converted to some type of generic Chase rewards card. I believe I should get a re-branded replacement card before the expiration date.
Chase Visa (generic) – I do not remember how I got this credit card. I think I applied for a card and got rejected for it and they sent me this card with a $500 limit. I called to have the card closed and it still shows up on my online account with a $100 limit and still accepts charges (I tested with a $1 charge a couple weeks ago).
United Mileage Plus – I opened this card to get 25,000 bonus miles on United airlines. I downgraded this card to a no annual fee card that gets 1 mile for ever $2 spent as it’s a great way to pad my mileage account at United and reset the expiration timer every now and then. The card is also one of my oldest.
Chase Cash Rewards – This card gets me 5% cashback at supermarkets, drug stores and gas stations. I got this card to replace the Citi Dividend as Citi was ending the 5% rewards for those categories on that card.
Discover More Card – This card gets 5% on various and changing categories depending on the season. Until the end of June I get 5% cashback at home improvement, clothing, department stores. I did make a couple clothing store purchases recently. The card also had a $100 sign-up bonus.
American Express Platinum – The card offers tons of benefits. However the ones I use are access to airport lounges (you and up to two guests) and roadside assistance(hopefully I’ll never have to). Generally when I’m traveling with a friend the airport lounge access is a great perk as you get to kick back before a flight and indulge in the open bar. I’ve taken a shower at the lounge after a flight was delayed once in Chicago so it’s a nice perk to have.
American Express Starwood Preferred Guest – You get 1 starwood point for every dollar spent with this one. This is one of my more recent cards. I discovered that if you transfer 20,000 points to an airline miles program you get a 5,000 miles bonus. So essentially every dollar spent equals 1.25 miles earned. You generally get more value for redemptions at hotels but it’s not a bad deal for airline redemptions either.
American Express Business Platinum – When I was younger my sister (who runs a business) gave me this card for whenever I needed to charge anything because I didn’t have a credit card. I sock drawer this card now but I’ve used it in the past to book vacations and other high dollar purchases for myself and friends (who also didn’t have access to a credit card or a high line of credit).
Citi AAdvantage – I opened this card because I wanted to get started on a million miles on American Airlines (and get the gold status for life). I charge roughly 3,000-7,000 through this card monthly so in a given year I’ll earn enough miles for at least two roundtrip tickets anywhere in the continental US.
Citi Cashreturns – I signed up for this card because Citi was offering 5% cashback on EVERYTHING for 3 months of account opening. Needless to say, I charged everything on this card for 3 months. These days the card offers 1% cashback on everything and the credit line is pretty big so I run charges through here and there to keep it active.
Citi Dividend – This is my first credit card. It originally gave me 5% cashback at supermarkets, drug stores, and gas stations. However Citi changed the rewards structure to 2-3% cashback on utitilities and various other categories which I am unsure of because I don’t use the card actively. I do run charges through from time to time to keep the card from being closed because of it is my oldest card.
Please put the exact address on your website.
May 8th, 2009There have been many times I’ve been to a bar/lounge/restaurant’s website to get their location and they have vague directions on how to get there and what intersection or streets they are between but not their exact address!
In this day and age most people use their GPS or Google maps to figure out how to get to their destination. Not putting your exact address just makes it a little bit more inconvenient for people to figure out how to get there!
Do companies only go green if it improves their bottom line?
May 5th, 2009It seems all the credit card companies are pushing for paperless statements which would cut down on the amount of paper that gets sent out monthly. Most try to persuade you to do this because it’s better for the environment and they get to save money too in postage, paper, etc. However for every paperless statement I’ve signed up for I still get 10 times the amount in junk mail from the same company. How are they really going green?
