HOW WOULD YOU HAVE DONE IT?

There has been a LOT of talk about the Four Queens’ $200 strike program.
The main two areas of concern have been mintage and distribution.

Mintage is a given, Mark Karoll can do what he wants to. You can try to change his mind but if he chooses not to do what you request or recommend then that is it. Live with it.

Distribution, there has been a lot of complaints and even more misinformation about how the $200 have been handed out. Given the fact that the mintage has been set for each Four Queens $200 this is how it has worked to date

The first two $200s (Clubs and Diamonds) were minted at 50 each and given out as soon as people won the twenty traders and exchanged them. All 50 of each were gone in 48 to 72 hours. Once Mark found out that the demand was higher than expected he ordered 50 more each of the Clubs and Diamonds. The $200 Hearts and Spades were each ordered at 100 each. The second order of Clubs and Diamonds (50 each) plus the Hearts (100 each) and Spades (100 each) were dispensed at the same time during the Convention last year. The date and time were published and people started lining up about three hours prior to that published time. All of the $200s (300 total) were gone in about 72 hours.
For the next $200, the Joker (mintage 100), Mark published that it would be handed out at 1:00 PM and a line started forming 4 to 5 hours prior to distribution.
For the next $200, Elvira (mintage 100), Mark published that it would be handed out at 1:00 PM. However, late afternoon the day before Mark put out another email stating that certificates would be given out at 7 AM the next morning and the $200 would be given out at 1 PM the next afternoon. This is the only time that I know of where the distribution process was changed after the original announcement. The line started forming about 9 hour before (10 to 11 PM the night before) and was full, meaning that 100 people were in line at 6AM that morning.
For the next $200, I Love LV (mintage 200), Mark published that it would be given out at 7 AM. The line started forming at 7 PM the night before and at 7 AM there were approximately 97 people in line.
For the next and latest $200, the Vegas Christmas (mintage 100), Mark published that it would be released at 7 AM and the line started forming at 5 PM the afternoon before and had 100 people by 2:30 AM.

Please note that each time the Four Queens has given out a $200 strike the line has started forming earlier by two to three hours each time. Another interesting fact is that starting with the Joker number one has never gone to a dealer. That is, the dealers do not set what time the line starts to form it is the collectors.

After the first 50 of each of the Clubs and Diamond were given out, people started playing the machine ahead of time so they would have the traders ready when the next $200 came out. Starting with the Joker people were limited to one $200 per person each pass through the line. Each time the $200s were handed out the Four Queens tried to arrange it better so both the casino and the people in line benefited. Not everyone agrees that the changes worked for everyone.

ALL OF THE ABOVE IS FACT

When the Elvira $200 was handed out there were complaints of people cutting in line or people coming in late and being let in line. Now, if you’re number 100 in line two hours before the strikes are released and two or three people are allowed to cut in the line an hour before the release you will not get a strike because you are now above 100. You have reason the be mad because someone cut in ahead of you and with a limit of 100 you just missed out

For the Vegas Christmas $200 the line started forming so early that the Four Queens was not sure how to handle it. One of the things they came up with was having people get their name on a list and show an ID at that same time. Some people asked why the list, but soon realized that it would stop anyone from cutting in line or from anyone holding a space. The person whose name was going on the list had to be there in person and show ID at the time their name was placed on the list. This list had nothing to do with people coming early or late, the first 100 people to show up got on the list and once the list had 100 on it that was it. No one told the first 100 when to show up, there was no secret group telling each other and keeping the information from all the others. I personally believe that fewer of these $200s went to dealers than any of the other $200 because some of the dealers were caught off guard and did not have their people there in time. When the $200 was handed out you got the number that matched your place on the sign sheet plus you had to show your ID to prove that that name on the list was in fact you. If you and your number did not match to the list you were not given a $200. The Four Queens did not know when people would start showing up but they tried to work with what they had.

I’m not sure what the people who arrived late expected, anyone who followed the strike point, talked to other collectors and had the ability to learn from past experience would know that the people would start gathering early and up to this point each time the Four Queens has released a $200 the line has started forming earlier than before, two to three hours earlier than the previous time.

My observation is that more out of town collectors got the Vegas Christmas $200, more than any of the other Four Queens $200. For the most part the out of town collectors arrived earlier and beat the locals to the line.

Now that you have the facts and the given (100 - $200s) please post how Four Queens could have done it better. Remember you have to work with the given, only 100 - $200s. It was published that there would only be 100. A higher mintage opens up a whole new ball game but that is not a option here so you have to work with a mintage of 100 and the fact that everyone who read the strike point knew that the mintage was 100.

POST HOW YOU THINK IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE

Additionally

I’m truly sorry that Sharon Pamperin missed out and I can understand that she feels bad but I do not see where the Four Queens did anything wrong in her case. The Four Queen gave her the correct date and time. The Four Queens did not know when the first person nor when the one hundredth person would show up.

I’m not sure why Janice O’Neal feels the Four Queens jerked her around. I guess too many collectors and dealers showed up. Maybe if a lot less people had shown up it would have made it more pleasant for those who did. I agree that security could have been a whole lot more tactful but at the same time it would have been helpful had people in line assisted security rather than doing what security ask and than as soon as security left going back to doing what security had asked them not to do.

Larry Trostle, you say you were in the line for nine hours, what rules were changed? How did you know to get there nine hours early? If you were there for nine hours did you talk to anyone else and find out where they were from, how they are doing in the hobby, what they did, etc? As stated before I think there were fewer dealers in this line than any of the previous releases.

Warren, were you up set with the Four Queens on any of the previous releases? If I remember correctly on the previous releases you were there in time to get one and I do not remember any negative post following those releases. You said you were lied to, would you tell us more about that, in what way were you lied to?

Skip, you stated that you were not told of the new rule, what new rule? People started arriving really early and they started a list so they could try to keep a handle on things. It was still the first 100 people who were physically there that got on the list. No one cutting line, no one holding a spot while someone sleeps in and joins the line an hour or two before the distribution starts.

Dan Hanagriff, what did you want Mark to do? Put one aside so you could arrive when ever and pick it up.

Rog, three of the last four Four Queens $200s have gone as soon as they released them and people formed a line hours prior to the release why would this release have been any different?

John Vilsmeier, you stated that the Palms did the same thing to you last June and went on to say how the Palms changed the release time. That is not the case here with the Four Queens no dates or times were changed. Were you there? What information are you using to base your statement on?

Beach Bum (dabeachers@aol.com), you called it another bate and switch. There was no bate and switch, nothing was changed from the original published date and time. What are you talking about?

Dennis Berry and Pet Poreo, both of you have gone on and on bad mouthing the Four Queens, neither of you were there. Other than your statements concerning the mintage being too low, which I think most including myself agree with, your other statements about the Four Queens are simply not true.

I may have missed some others but it is late and I’m tired. Yes, I was in the line and I was there all night. I got number 13. I went over to the Four Queens about 5:30/6:00 PM Tuesday to see if anything was started and it was. If there had not been anyone in line I would have started a line with hopes of getting number one. I’m not a dealer, I do not live In Vegas, a friend and I drove up from San Diego that day just to get the new $200.

Just trying to set the record straight and stop the rumors

Bill Brooks
SS - 208