i worked at Mandalay for four years... first at Rock Lobster, then at rumjungle... i'm in the service industry, so no real experience in gaming or the Book... but i probably spent as much time in the Book as i did at work... Papa Joe Chervaliet (or however you spell it) used to do his radio show from the Book, and i'd chat him up during commercials... i hung out with this dude Henry, who was a runner for some big time guy in Chicago... dude lived on the top floor of Mandalay, and all he did was bet on football... i remember one Monday night we were sitting there BSing, and he just said, "i don't like that line, i'm gonna change it." so up he goes and drops $25 Gs on the Raiders... then he came back, and we watched the line drop from 7 to 6.5 points... naturally, the Raiders won by 7... crazy... as for setting the lines specific to certain fan bases, i'm not sure, but it wouldn't surprise me... personally, i don't bet on my team... but when Ohio State played Miami in the Fiesta Bowl, the lines opened at Miami -13.5, and then after Christmas, once all the Buckeye fans started showing up, the lines dropped two or even three points in some places, which is just INSANE... i mean, it takes a TREMENDOUS amount of money on one side to get a line to drop three points...
as for tipping, Tiger is a shitty tipper... Jordan is a shitty tipper... Barkley tips like a maniac... Drew Carey tips like crazy too... i was there when he threw a cocktail waitress $10,000 one night... i got wasted with Dennis Rodman at the House of Blues one night... i drank a bottle of Patron with the Bare Naked Ladies, bought Cuba Gooding Junior so many shots he fell off his bar stool, talked hockey with Mike Myers, you name it...
i got a lot of stories...
i love Mandaly Bay...