Hey guys, I have a bit of a long DD on ACAC / Playstudios. You can read the text below. If you want to see the full post with all the nice pictures, you can check it out here. I was too lazy to upload each picture individually to Imgur. Apologies in advance.
I've seen numerous people on Reddit compare the ACAC / Playstudios SPAC to Skillz, and some even to Draftkings. I think this is mainly because they're all in the online gaming / gambling industry, but aside from that, the companies themselves are quite different.
I think a more apt comparison should be between Playstudios and Playtika (Ticker: PLTK), since they operate in the same vertical, compete against one another in mobile slots games, and Playtika has publicly available financial data in which I will be making comparisons against.
Playtika Analysis
You can find Playtika's prospectus here
First and foremost, Playtika is one of the leaders in the mobile casino space. They have an assortment of games, and they themselves are diversifying into more casual games (similar to what Playstudios says they are trying to do), but their bread and butter are casino games, and the ones that make the most money for them are slots.
Slotomania, House of Fun, and Caesars Slots are all mobile slots games, and as you can see from the above, they generate a significant portion of Playtika's revenues (roughly 50% of their 2020 revenues).
OK, so why do I keep bringing up Playtika? Well, they had a very interesting graph that shows how much of their revenues come from different segments of their user base, based on when they acquired those users.
What this chart is saying is that 45% of their revenues came from users acquired from 2013 and earlier!
This is insane! They have such high user retention and user LTVs, that they're still monetizing a portion of their users that they acquired from 7 years ago.
If we go up to 2017, then roughly 75% of their revenues come from users acquired 2017 and earlier!
This is important because Playtika's oldest games are all slots games. So this is telling us that users that play mobile slots games, they tend to stay with those games for extremely long periods of time, and if they do stick with them, they spend a lot of money! This is great news since the vast majority of Playstudio's revenues come from mobile slots games.
If you look at Playtika's financials, you'll notice pretty nice revenue growth. However, a lot of that is non-organic, and was accomplished through M&A. This was because in 2016, Playtika was acquired by a consortium of Chinese game companies for $4.4 billion (including Giant Network, a well known gaming company in China), and they need to make revenue numbers higher to have a better story to sell for the IPO.
And part of their strategy was to diversify into casual games, and they did so by acquiring about 15 companies since 2016, including Wooga (developer of June's Journey, a very profitable find hidden objects mobile game) and Supertreat (developer of Solitaire Grand Harvest, a profitable card game).
However, one of the caveats of casual games is that the ARPPU (average revenue per paying user) is lower, and retention is lower than casino games. I did my own calculations on Playtika's ARPPU for 2018, 2019, and 2020, and you can see the noticeable downtrend. This was obviously not disclosed in the prospectus. Only ARPDAU (average revenue per daily active user) was disclosed.
My belief is that even though ARPPU and retention are lower, maybe the market is giving a higher multiple to casual games. I believe that even though online gambling is beginning to see legalization in many states, and more and more people are starting to be open to it, there is still a bit of a social stigma associated with it, and certain investors may be wary to investing in a pure "casino" play. That's why Playtika is making such a concerted effort to move away from purely casino games, and positioning itself as an mobile entertainment company. Another reason is also the immense competition and high user acquisition costs, but Playtika has shown that they are more than able to execute on a long term strategy here.
Playstudios Analysis
Before jumping into anything else, I want to go straight to Playstudio's financials.
The reason is because I think there's a lot of fluff here, and I want people to know the bullshit. But even when you see through the bullshit, the downside is still mitigated enough to warrant this play.
So first off, take any numbers you see from 2022 with a grain of salt. No one knows what's going to happen this year, let alone two years in the future, and in my eyes, those 2022 numbers look extremely unrealistic. Revenue growth will probably not be that high, unless they make some big acquisitions, and EBITDA margin expansion probably won't be that fast.
Revenue Growth
Playstudios is planning on launching a Bingo and an RPG game, and their plan is to aggressively spend on UA (User Acqusition) in 2021. Their hope is that revenues will scale up with their UA, and by 2022, they can lower their UA spend a bit, and continue to monetize the new games exceptionally well, maybe at an even better rate than 2021.
I think this is a bit farfetched, especially in such a competitive space as Bingo. I've done analysis on Bingo games before, and some of those games have also been around for 8 to 10 years, and they can't expect to just launch a game and have it ramped up to their expected revenue in a year's time. Development for those games requires game designers, people who are very good at math, product designers, and a many other people, which can make the development timeline quite long (at least a few months, for a more finished product, I think at least half a year for these guys). I think a more plausible scenario is that they acquire a smaller Bingo player, and then begin optimizing that game, and add in their own loyalty rewards, as that's the quickest way to ramp up revenues post IPO.
My guess is revenues are not going to ramp up as quickly as they expect, and they'll see limited revenue growth here, and still mainly see some growth from better monetizing their slots players. I think by 2022, somewhere between $350 million to $400 million in revenues is more reasonable, and I'd probably lean towards the lower end of that range.
Margin Expansion
In terms of margin expansion, I think the decrease in cost of sales is doable. It seems like there is some extra fat there that they can trim as they scale. The cost of sales is mainly the tax that Apple and Google charges when users make a purchase through their respective stores, and this is a flat 30%. I doubt they'll get it less than 30% any time soon, but that will probably be through getting their whales to make purchases outside of the Google Play Store or App Store, and using a much cheaper payment processor.
I think a long term goal of 20 - 25% for UA spend is reasonable. I'm OK with these numbers, though they may need to spend more initially to ramp up new games. One of the benefits of their loyalty rewards program is that they can have higher retention, and this might be a way for them to lower their UA spend, since people may be more willing to tell their friends about a free trip or prize they won through a mobile game.
Another reason I'm OK with the UA spend is because it seems like they have a pretty knowledgeable UA team. I have access to App Annie, a data analytics company that tracks mobile apps, and I checked out the download history for POP! Slots, one of Playstudio's mobile games.
You'll notice that US downloads spiked quite a bit in March. This is right when COVID-19 was beginning to spike in the US, and people began working from home. In the mobile app world, many apps had spikes in downloads in March and April 2020 because there was a much larger pool of users looking to download apps. CPAs came down, and companies that had strong UA teams were able to capture a lot of these new users. Thus, this tells me that Playstudios UA team was at least aware of ongoing trends in the mobile app space, and they were able to capitalize by gaining more users during that period of time.
The biggest issue I have is with the "All Other Expenses." I don't know why it's this high (R&D and G&A shouldn't be that high), and Playstudios definitely needs to do some expense cutting here. While this has the most room to cut, it may be the hardest since I'm guessing a lot of that cost is from legacy employees. But if they can get this to around 30% by 2022, I'll be happy.
Playstudios Has No Daily Active Users (DAU) Growth
This is a common issue I see raised on Reddit and I want to address it here. Below is another chart from App Annie, which has DAU estimates.
As you can see, DAU has remained pretty flat for the past 2 years, roughly between 150K and 200K users.
But have you considered that revenues were actually increasing during this time? This means that Playstudios is becoming more efficient at monetizing their current users (getting more money out of older players), or their user acquisition team is targeting more profitable users.
And this is just how the game is played in the mobile apps world.
Users will eventually get sick of a game and stop playing. Not many games can count on users organically finding their game, and continuing to play indefinitely. To maintain a certain DAU, companies generally have to spend money on UA to maintain that user base. It becomes a business where you are calculating how much you are spending on UA, and whether the LTV and retention are good enough that you can make money in the long run from those users. You can think of it as an ROI on your marketing spend.
And this is especially true for mobile game apps. If it were a social app, then yes, something like the network effect can come into play, and UA spend would be much lower. But for Playstudios, maintaining a steady DAU is actually a sign that their UA team knows what they're doing, and they're able to maintain a profitable and highly efficient business. It's actually a positive that they can maintain their DAU, and even INCREASE their revenues during that period.
End Game?
I don't actually know how this will end up. I don't give price targets cause I have no idea how the markets will value this company. But I can provide a few data points so that you can make your own decisions.
From a multiples standpoint, Playstudios is cheap on a revenue multiple basis compared to Playtika, and is about the same from an EBITDA multiple basis.
I personally don't think that Playstudios is a play that's going to 5X. Hell, even 3X I think will be a stretch. But, they do have a loyalty program that will help lower their UA costs, and extend the lifespan of their users. And they are moving into more types of games to diversify their revenue source.
The reason I like this play is because I think the downside is heavily limited. The lifespan of casino slots players are so long, and the revenues are pretty stable (even growing), that there isn't an immediate risk that revenues will all of a sudden drop 30%, as is the case with lots of other mobile game companies. Add on top of this the potential for new revenue growth drivers from Bingo and RPG games, and the potential for margin expansion, that this is an easy 30-50% upside from current prices with almost minimal downside.
One last minor bit, is that I'm sure lots of people missed out on the hype surrounding Draftkings and Skillz, and I'm sure there are some retail investors that will look for any type of casino / mobile gaming / gambling deals, and may jump on this as well. My feeling is that there is also a potential upside from the hype or FOMO factor.
Anyway, this is my analysis on Playstudios / ACAC, hope you guys enjoy.
Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor. These are my personal views and analysis on Playstudios. Please do your own due diligence.
Disclosure: I own 400 shares of ACAC.

How Iceland, France, Switzerland and the Netherlands became a haven for cyber-criminals.
We are a group of Russian-speaking independent writers living in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and the United States, writing in the genres of LitRPG, RealRPG, fantasy and science fiction.
We are united by a rejection of piracy and infringement of intellectual property rights. Each of us is an ordinary person who devotes all his free time to his favorite pastime. We are not millionaires or published writers swimming in money. Each of us started from scratch and made our own way by publishing on the Internet.
We are currently publishing our books on Russian literary portals https://author.today, https://litnet.com and https://www.litres.ru. Thanks to these sites, we got the opportunity to sell books without going through publishing houses. This is the main difference between us and Western authors, who have the opportunity to go Indie and successfully sell Kindle/Amazon to a multi-million audience.
Thanks to the readers who support us by purchasing our books. Thanks to them, some of our books have become known not only among Russian-speaking readers, but also in Western countries. Our books have been translated and are being translated into English and German, due to which fans of the LitRPG and RealRPG genres are familiar with our work all over the world.
Nevertheless, for many of us, selling books to Russian-speaking readers remains the only source of income. Book translations can cost up to $10,000-$12,000, and the costs do not always pay off.
None of us make huge amounts of money. On average, our monthly income does not exceed $700.
One of the key problems for Russian-speaking authors is the theft of their books and their illegal publication on pirated resources. Books are stolen at the stage of writing, often depriving us of the opportunity to work fully. Criminals deprive us of the opportunity to receive normal wages for our work. At the same time, the “pirates” themselves earn on advertising posted on their sites. Often this is illegal advertising - on such sites you can find advertising banners of illegal online casinos, services of prostitutes, pornographic services and a lot of other advertising prohibited by law. Some of the criminal resources use Google Adsense at all.
The largest of these sites is https://flibusta.is, with its main mirror https://flibusta.site. On the first, there is no advertisement, but the second is completely filled with advertising banners.
This is a well-known criminal resource, which publishes not only books by Russian-speaking writers, but also books by famous Western authors in different languages. For example:

• Stephen King (translation and original): http://flibusta.is/a/19343
• J. K. Rowling (translation and original): http://flibusta.is/a/10536
• George Martin (translation and original): http://flibusta.is/a/7910
• Cosimo Yap (translation): http://flibusta.is/a/229993
• Michael R. Miller (translation and original): http://flibusta.is/a/223665

In addition, there you can find books by almost any famous writer in his native language. No countermeasures from hosting companies should be followed.
Imagine that Andrzej Sapkowski’s books were stolen at the dawn of his writing career and that they were publicly available. They would refuse to delete them, due to the fact that the writer lives in Poland. Sapkowski himself, in order to feed his family, got a job as a sales manager. The world would lose the famous writer and the world of The Witcher. Because of the greed of the owners of pirate sites and the devil-may-care attitude of hosting companies that refuse to comply with the same laws for everyone.
The “pirate” site https://flibusta.is uses the services of the hosting company Orange Website (https://www.orangewebsite.com) from Iceland, and its “advertising mirror” https://flibusta.site uses the services of the French hosting company Scaleway (https://www.scaleway.com).
The site https://flibusta.is is the base of stolen books and a kind of center around which a huge number of sites of smaller criminal gangs revolve, which automatically download books to themselves.
We have sent complaints to both hosting companies. Scaleway reacted absolutely formally. We had to send several complaints to get our books blocked on https://flibusta.site. And so for each individual book. On average, four requests were required, since after the first, all illegally published books remained in their places.
Orange Website responded that the company does not obey the laws of the European Union or the US DMCA and will ignore any complaints until the Icelandic court is ordered. They know very well that we are not in a position to provide financial support for lawyers and the legal process in Iceland. Therefore, such an answer sounded like a mockery.
Both hosting companies are calmly working with cyber-criminals who caused colossal damage to Russian-language LitRPG-authors. We believe that if it was a violation of the rights of writers from France or Iceland, they would certainly react as required by law. But they don't give a damn about the rights of Russian-speaking authors. These companies seem to care more about money from digital criminal gangs.
Among other hosting companies that support piracy and completely ignore complaints under the DMCA or EU Directives, three can be distinguished:

1. Private Layer (https://privatelayer.com). A Swiss company that did not respond to any of our requests.
2. Zomro (https://zomro.com). A hosting company with an office in Lithuania. Several dozen pirate sites have chosen this hoster's servers as a haven for illegal content. In response to complaints, the company redirects to [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]), but there is no response from there.
3. NovoServe (https://www.novoserve.com). The company from the Netherlands hosts a total of at least forty criminal sites. As an example, we can give a small list of similar websites:

• https://fantasy-worlds.org
• https://bukvaved.faith
• https://akniga.info
• https://audiobook-mp3.com
• http://booksonline.com.ua
• https://audioboo.ru
• https://vse-knigi.org

Some of these sites simply publish our books, while others sell them illegally, taking advantage of their complete impunity.
The well-known criminal site https://librusec.pro, which openly sells stolen books, uses Wholesale Internet hosting, hosted in the USA (https://www.wholesaleinternet.net), which also does not respond to our complaints, despite the criminal nature of their clients' work. obvious.
We should also mention the messenger https://telegram.org, the support of which does not even consider it necessary to respond to our complaints. There are hundreds of channels out there where people discuss the best ways to steal books and coordinate their activities there. An excellent messenger has turned into a den of criminals who feel great as the support team takes no action. At the same time, the messenger is registered in the USA and must comply with the DMCA law, but does not respond to complaints. Unfortunately, criminals are more important to them than Russian-speaking writers.
We have exhausted all available methods of influence. Now there is a situation where cyber criminals are destroying modern Russian-language literature and at the same time feel completely protected from any consequences. Hosting companies from the European Union work with them in flagrant violation of DMCA law and EU copyright directives.
The only thing that remains for us is to make this situation public, in the hope of a public reaction and possible interest from the police of the countries in which these hosting companies operate. These types of criminals require more public scrutiny than legal claims. We are asking you to post this open letter, or material based on it, wherever possible.
Our main task is to attract public attention and, if possible, the attention of law enforcement agencies to the activities of hosting companies that condone piracy.
To clarify any information, you can contact us through the writers' profiles on Facebook or by Email.
If you have read to the end and are wondering why all this. We are confident that the LitRPG community is full of smart people with competencies in a variety of areas, including copyright laws. If you can advise which intellectual property protection agency or lawyer we can turn to, that will help us a lot.
In addition, perhaps this case will be of interest to someone from the media who will help us.
The authors who signed this open letter:

1. Vasily Mahanenko (https://www.amazon.com/Vasily-Mahanenko/e/B00VRJS5VY)https://www.facebook.com/vasiliy.mahanenko/ [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
2. Michael Atamanov (https://www.amazon.com/Michael-Atamanov/e/B015JOWILA) https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008056425459, [ataman_[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
3. Dan Sugralinov (https://www.amazon.com/Dan-Sugralinov/e/B07BK7PLSN)https://www.facebook.com/dan.sugralinov, [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
4. Alexey Osadchuk (https://www.amazon.com/Alexey-Osadchuk/e/B01AFCEV5W)https://www.facebook.com/a.osadchuk.a
5. Pavel Kornev (https://www.amazon.com/Pavel-Kornev/e/B01J1ZBNIM)https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100007182854693, [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
6. Dem Mikhailov (https://www.amazon.com/Dem-Mikhailov/e/B082KJ56BD)https://www.facebook.com/demmius
7. Roman Prokofiev (https://www.amazon.com/Roman-Prokofiev/e/B081J6C67Z) https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100049146454801, [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
8. Max Lagno (https://www.amazon.com/Max-Lagno/e/B07JGVWQ5R) https://www.facebook.com/lagno.maxim, [lagno_[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
9. Eugenia Dmitrieva (https://www.amazon.com/Eugenia-Dmitrieva/e/B07BK7RDJ1)
10. Dmitry Bilik (https://www.amazon.com/Dmitry-Bilik/e/B07QXQ5WP2), https://www.facebook.com/dima.bilik.52
11. Petr Zhgulyov (https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B087YTZGFZ)https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100015070037569, [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
12. Paul Kite (https://www.amazon.com/Paul-Kite/e/B07L4GXS8N)https://www.facebook.com/paul.kite.pk, [email protected]
13. Mstislav Kogan (https://author.todayid192064964)https://www.facebook.com/mstislavkog, [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
14. Dmitry Raspopov (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WHLG29M)https://www.facebook.com/dmitriyr2008
15. Pavel Chasovskiy (https://www.facebook.com/pavel.chasovskiy)[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
16. Igor Pol (https://www.facebook.com/josselin333)[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
17. Evgenii Berger (https://author.todayzelcber2016)[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
18. Mikhail Ignatov (https://author.todayid54937541)[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
19. Alexander Kronos (https://author.todaykronos)https://www.facebook.com/alexandr.kronos
20. Sergey Plotnikov (https://author.todaysergeyplotnikov)https://www.facebook.com/plotnikovbooks, [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
21. Koscheev Vladimir (https://author.todayepetuk1727)[eric_[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]), https://vk.com/v_koscheev
22. Dmitriy Mazurov (https://author.todaydimm)[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
23. Vladimir Vasilenko (https://www.amazon.com/Vladimir-Vasilenko/e/B07MTMLPLF)https://www.facebook.com/vladimir.vasilenko.71, [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
24. Alexis Opsokopolos (https://author.todayopsokopolos)[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]), https://vk.com/opsokopolos
25. Andrey Krasnikov (https://author.todaya_krasnikov)https://vk.com/a_krasnikov [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
26. Ivan Magazinnikov (https://author.todaymagazinnikov) https://www.facebook.com/ivan.magazinnikov,[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]), https://vk.com/fabervisum

После ликвидации наземных азартных заведений все игроки перешли на онлайн площадки. Информационные технологии предоставили невероятные возможности для гемблинга, некоторые из которых практически невозможно получить в наземных заведениях. Все необходимые сведения об онлайн гемблинге читайте вот здесь, тут можно найти массу реально полезной информации
Казино Украины предлагают просто гигантский ассортимент игровых автоматов от ведущих разработчиков азартного софта. Чтобы оценить все богатство выбора, в табличной форме показаны провайдеры игровых приложений в популярных азартных заведениях:

Название заведения	Компании-разработчики, с которыми сотрудничает площадка	Общее число доступных приложений
СлотоКинг	Blueprint Gaming, Yggdrasil, Lightning box, Quickspin	2714
Нетгейм Казино	Novomatic, Igrosoft, IGT,Ezugi, Net Entertainment	2944
Джой Казино	NetEnt, Playson, NextGen Gaming, Genesis Gaming	2692
Казино Х	Microgaming, Novomatic, Rabcat, Elk Studios	2896
Рокс Казино	1x2 Gaming, Betsoft, Ainsworth, Isoftbet	2434

Кроме этого, своим клиентам азартные порталы предлагают принять участие в турнирах и лотерейных розыгрышах с крупным призовым фондам, что приносит игрокам существенную дополнительную прибыль.

На что обратить внимание для выбора казино Украины

При выборе площадки для активного отдыха нужно обращать внимание на такие факторы:

• уровень защиты персональных данных на портале. Хакеры легко могут использовать данные личного характера, которые игрок оставляет в казино, с мошенническими целями. Поэтому правильный выбор – это площадка, где передача информации идет в защищенном режиме с использованием протокола SSL;
• наличие лицензии на игровой софт. Если есть непонятные вопросы с лицензированием на площадке, то лучше отказаться от игры в этом заведении и перейти на другое казино;
• широкий выбор финансовых инструментов, количество доступных платежных систем должно быть не меньше 5;
• наличие выполнимых условий вейджера. Не стоит тратить усилия на площадках, где отыграть бонусы очень сложно.

Рекомендации для игроков с небольшим опытом

Новички сначала должны овладеть терминологией гемблинга. Расшифровка значений всех терминов находится в справочном разделе официального сайта заведения.
Не стоит сразу начинать игру на реальные деньги, игровой опыт нужно получать на бесплатной игре в демонстрационном режиме. Так можно сохранить свой игровой бюджет и без риска для кошелька повысит уровень квалификации в гемблинге.
При выборе площадки для гемблинга нужно отдавать предпочтение тем заведениям, у которых активна обратная связь с представителями казино в формате чата или интернет-мессенджера. Это позволяет оперативно получать помощь в случае затруднений в процессе игры.
Особое внимание нужно уделять условиям получения бонусных поощрений. Новички часто поддаются влиянию яркой рекламы и берут бонусы. Решение о принятии бонусного поощрения должно быть взвешенным, нужно предварительно изучить все условия отыгрыша бонусов. Нередко параметры вейджера превышают текущие финансовые возможности новичка. Если сомнения в своих силах, от бонусов лучше временно отказаться.

The Case of the Missing 40,000 Jerry Nugget Decks: A Detective Story
NB: I first published this article (with pictures) at PlayingCardDecks here.
Jerry's Nugget Playing Cards. The story of the original Jerry's Nugget decks is a fascinating one, and there are many interesting side-stories to explore about along the way. You can read the main story about the Jerry's Nugget decks in my previous article here: The Legendary Jerry's Nugget Playing Cards.
But the full truth still remains somewhat hidden, and there are aspects about the Jerry's Nugget story that even today we can't totally be sure about. And with the passage of time, several juicy tidbits of lore have become attached to this famous deck.
In this article I invite you to join me in a quest to explore another juicy story that has become part of the Jerry's Nugget legend. Is it true that the final stock of 40,000 Jerry's Nugget decks was bought up from the casino by a mysterious overseas buyer? Because this is an oft-repeated part of the story, that you'll hear whispered rumours about across the landscape of the internet. But this a statement of fact or fiction, and is it truth or myth? It could mean that right now someone is potentially sitting on a small fortune of Jerry's Nugget decks worth around $500 a piece. If it's true.
So please put on your Sherlock Holmes trench-coat and deerstalker hat, arm yourself with a good amount of deductive logic and persistence, and join me as we see if we can really get to the bottom of this mystery, and dredge up the truth behind this famed haul of 40,000 decks!

A Secret Stash of 40,000 Decks?

If you are curious - like I am - and do some digging about the story and history of the Jerry's Nugget decks, it won't take you long to stumble across mention of the claim that a stash of the final 40,000 decks of Jerry's Nuggets was bought up in a single swoop, cleaning out the casino's remaining inventory of these prized decks.
The story about some lucky buyer nabbing a final stash of 40,000 decks is circulated quite widely around the internet. Do a Google search for "40,000 Jerry's Nugget" and look at how many hits this gets! Some places that sell the decks even include this in their ad copy. For example, here's the ad copy over at one online retailer, which was selling authentic decks for $525 before they sold out:
Another online retailer says the same. Many reviewers have parroted this information as well, such as this example. So do various sites dedicated to information about playing cards, such as this example.
As far as many people are concerned, this information is more along the lines of "fact" than fiction, and it's become part of the story that everyone accepts. Little wonder that it is often repeated by collectors in discussion forums about playing cards, and that it has given more than just one person a tinge of envy.

Who is the mysterious buyer?

So who is the lucky guy with 40,000 decks of precious Jerry's Nugget decks hidden in his basement or garage? And is the story even true?
Some of the sources for this story seem quite credible. And they also reveal the buyer's name: French magician Dominique Duvivier. One person quotes Jordan Lapping, apparently among the first cardists to get Jerry's Nugget decks and use them for flourishing.
Dominique Duvivier is a French magician who performs and works with his daughter Alexandra, and together they have a high profile in the world of French magic. They are even well known in the circles of international magic, and were featured on the cover of the June 2013 issue of Genii Magazine.
Norwegian magician Allan Hagen has a long-time interest in the Jerry's Nugget decks, and he also mentions Duvivier's purchase of 40,000 Jerry's Nugget decks as apparent fact in something he posted on Reddit in 2015, where he describes his perspective on their rarity and value.
You'll read similar reports in an article published by Ukrainian cardists Alexander and Nikolay about Jerry's Nugget decks in June 2017. Two things are common to all these accounts: the number 40,000 for the haul of decks purchased by the mysterious overseas buyer. And now his name: Dominique Duvivier.
I contacted a number of different sources, including people who had personal connections with some of the key players who were closely involved when Jerry's Nuggets decks first became a fad among magicians and cardists in the late 1990s. One source told me: "Interesting, the name of the European magician - it was a big secret back then. Someone actually told me his name back then, but it was on the proviso that I never publish it. Well, I see it's out of the bag now."

Was Dominique Duvivier the buyer?

But is there any evidence that Dominique Duvivier was really the mystery buyer whose name had been a carefully kept secret for some time at least? It was time for some more detective work. Google brought me to Duvivier's personal website.
It didn't take long to discover that Duvivier does indeed have a real fondness for Jerry's Nuggets Playing Cards. They are everywhere - in his photos, his videos, and his instagram.
Judging by the many French-language comments on his site, it also becomes apparent that Duvivier is highly respected and appreciated in his home country for his magic. It's also evident from reading some of the comments that his Jerry's Nuggets decks are a signature of his performance. Some even consider them to be the equivalent of a Stradivarius that Duvivier uses to perform with as a master magician.
But it was when I checked Duvivier's youtube channel that I found some real gold: Dominique himself performing with Jerry's Nugget cards in this clip. In fact, if you check out his other videos there, you'll find quite a few where he performs magic with Jerry's Nugget playing cards, like this performance from 2014, this more recent ace cutting routine, and this false shuffle. Duvivier has even contributed a Jerry's Nugget themed trick to the magic industry, entitled Jerry's Nuggets Cards in Bag.
You can watch the promo video for this trick in French or English. His daughter Alexandra Duvivier successfully used it to fool Penn and Teller on their show Fool Us. Here's the episode, and some unseen footage.
But just because Dominique Duvivier happens to really, really like Jerry's Nugget playing cards doesn't prove that he bought out a massive stash of the last 40,000 decks from the casino. So this still begs this question: Did any of this even happen? And is there really someone on this planet with a hoard of 40,000 decks, whether it is Dominique Duvivier or anybody else?
One of my favourite photos on Duvivier's site is this one here, with his haul. If that's any indication, surely the legendary haul was starting to seem somewhat plausible. It was time to ask around, and check in with some of the people who were around when the Jerry's Nugget decks first became the rage.
Of the sources I consulted, few could be considered more reliable than Lee Asher. For many people Lee is synonymous with the Jerry's Nugget phenomenon. He also had close connections with the events of the time, and was instrumental in bringing the Jerry's Nuggets into the limelight in the first place, by singing their paises. He was kind enough to respond when I contacted him for comment about Duvivier's alleged haul of 40,000 Jerry's Nugget decks, and Lee bluntly told me the following:
"This is misinformation. There weren't 40k decks left in 1999. We don't even know if Jerry's even printed 40k decks."
Really? Apparently Lee Asher knew Duvivier personally, and he was the very person who first told Duvivier that the casino even had the cards for sale. He also visited his home and shop in Paris many times throughout this period of time. In Lee's words:
"Without a doubt, I NEVER saw 40k of ANY deck there. That's basically nine pallets worth. The house, their magic shop and night club weren't big enough to house these decks. It also seems Duvivier isn't the last one to buy the remaining decks. Jerry's Nugget Casino believes they sold the last case of cards to someone in Japan in 1999."
Well, it seems that the story had to be put to rest. Was this entire story perhaps just a magnificent urban legend after all? And if it was, where does the number of 40,000 decks come from, and how did this story get so much traction that it spread all around the internet, and is accepted unquestionably by so many people? My task had just become a bit harder, but I wasn't going to give up yet. It was time to try to track down where the many websites that quoted this story got the figure of 40,000 from in the first place.

Where does the figure of 40,000 come from?

With some more digging, the oldest article I could find on the subject was by a card collector who has a collection of fine articles on his site, White Knuckle Cards. This particular article dates back to 2009, and is one of the earliest references to the legendary stash of 40,000 decks that I could find.
This particular article seems to be the first time the figure of 40,000 pops up, pre-dating all the more recent mentions of it. And it's not hard to figure out how it spread from there. On 6 August 2015, someone called "Doctor Papa Jones" added these details to Wikipedia's article on Jerry's Nuggets, evidently relying on the White Knuckle Cards article. As a result the Wikipedia article now read as follows: "In 2000, a private collector purchased the remaining stock of 40,000 decks".
So now this "fact" is on Wikipedia and has some real "credibility". In fact, the number 40,000 stays up on Wikipedia for the next five years unchallenged! And that allows it to spread around the internet and go wild. Because where does everyone go when they're looking for reliable, authoritative, and trustworthy information about something? Wikipedia!
Despite the mention of the magical stash of 40,000 decks, Duvivier's name remained out of the spotlight for a further four years. It was simply a mysterious "private collector" who had purchased the big haul. But in 2019, someone connected the dots to Duvivier, and so the Wikipedia article was changed to include his name.
So how did that happen? Well the supporting reference that Doctor Papa Jones included in his 2015 edit was a link to an article by Dan and Dave Buck, dating back to 7 Dec 2011. This article is also no longer available, but can be tracked down with the help of the Internet Archive here. It doesn't give the figure of 40,000 but does drop Duvivier's name.
So the evidence seems to suggest this development: Apparently relying on the White Knuckle Cards article from 2009 as a source, the number 40,000 first embedded itself in the WIkipedia article on Jerry's Nugget Playing Cards in 2015. Slowly the story grew, until somebody finally connected the dots that were hidden in plain sight elsewhere on the internet, and as a result Duvivier's name gets added four years later. Now things are set up for a great story: Mr Duvivier is sitting on a massive stash of 40,000 Jerry's Nuggets in France.
The story gained even more traction as a result of the revived interest in Jerry's Nuggets that inevitably happened when a tribute deck was printed in 2019. It was inevitable that many would rely on Wikipedia as a source, and so the details even ended up being quoted in ad copy for the reprinted decks. What had previously just been a matter of quiet rumour or speculation, was now considered as fact. Oh, the joy of Wikipedia - it has certainly helped promote quite the legend here!
And it doesn't take a genius to see that if this is true, Duvivier could be sitting on a small fortune. At $500 each, 14,000 decks would be worth around $700,000. Naturally a market flooded with them would drop their value. But even if the going price dropped to $100 a piece, that would still value his holdings at over $100,000. Even if he just sold the occasional decks at $500 a pop, this windfall could generate a nice little secondary income. That is, if the legend is true, a fact yet to be proven....

Revising the figure

Because this year, the Wikipedia article was changed. By now of course the (mis)information about Duvivier's haul had gone far and wide, and a lot of potential damage has already been done. But on 25 March 2020 someone called "TheCongressGuy" changed it to read that Duvivier "purchased the remaining stock of 1,500-2000 decks".
Suddenly the number of Duvivier's legendary purchase had been reduced from 40,000 to something around 5% of the size. A figure of 1,500-2000 seems much more likely. So who made the change and what was their source?
I did some more digging and managed to track down TheCongressGuy. He is Kevan Seaney, who describes himself as an "antique playing cards collector, specializing in the Congress 606 brand" and posts here. In February 2020 he wrote here that he'd learned that Duvivier had not purchased 40,000 decks. I was curious, and eventually found the following video that he posted about this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2pctAEuiZA
And who was his source that Kevan credits for correcting the previous (mis)information about the number 40,000? If you watch that video, you'll find out that it is none other than the great Lee Asher. Lee Asher isn't just "anyone". He's a playing card expert, and the current president of 52 Plus Joker The American Playing Card Collectors Club. He's the guy who first generated public interest in Jerry's Nugget decks, brought them to the attention of cardists like the Buck twins and Chris Kenner, and was later a purveyor of these icon decks via his website. He's also had personal connections with Duvivier, was the person who informed Duvivier that they were available from the casino, and has personally spent a lot of time with him in Paris.
And Lee Asher is a key person that has helped get real Jerry's Nugget decks into the hands of a new generation today. He's the guy who was instrumental in making a collaboration happen between Jerry's Nugget Casino and Expert Playing Card Company, by suggesting that EPCC get the exclusive licence needed to reprint these iconic decks in 2019, as announced in an official press release here.
It's plain that along with EPCC's Bill Kalush, Lee Asher (pictured below) was singularly responsible for getting an officially licensed Jerry's Nugget deck back into the hands of a new generation and into the collections of those who couldn't afford the massive sticker price of the originals. So if anyone has a passion for the original Jerry's Nuggets, it is Lee Asher. Of anyone in this picture, Lee is the person with the most credibility, and his opinion and perspective should carry a lot of weight.
With Asher as his source, Kevan Seaney points out that 40,000 decks of Jerry's Nugget playing cards is the equivalent of around 8 pallets. That's a massive amount, and would weigh around four tons. And it would take up a tremendous amount of space! Kevan cites Lee Asher as saying (via voice messages in Instagram) that in 1999 Asher told Duvivier that he could get the decks from the casino, and that Duvivier bought around 1,500-2000 decks at the time. Lee subsequently visited his home and store - France's oldest magic shop - in France many times. And according to Asher, there was no way Duvivier had room for 40,000 decks. Kevin also says that Lee Asher pointed out to him that these were technically not the final lot of decks sold by the casino anyway, and that the last decks (a "case" of unknown size) probably went to Japan.
Wow. That really changes things! So based on this apparent "new information" from Lee Asher - who to his credit has apparently been saying this all along - Wikipedia gets a new edit by TheCongressGuy aka Kevin Seaney. The impressive figure of 40,000 is reduced to a much more modest 1500-2000, which is paltry by comparison to the much larger figures circulating the internet, and not nearly as impressive a story. But this is only after Wikipedia has been singing a different tune for five years, so the `damage' has been done, and the story of Duvivier's windfall of 40,000 Jerry's Nuggets is already accepted by most people as a true story.

Duvivier's own story

Suddenly it occurred to me to investigate Duvivier himself. Was this perhaps a line of inquiry that might produce some solid leads and definitive facts? Has the man himself ever commented on all these stories about his legendary haul? Could I find anything directly from the man himself that would shed some light on these legends? In fact, why hadn't I thought of this earlier? Just because nobody else seems to have dug up or reported anything from the man's own mouth, doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. I slapped myself for my own foolishness, and headed back to Google.
As it turns out, Duvivier has written about this! But because it's an article in French, it's escaped notice from most people. Since he's popular as a professional magician in France, he not only has his own website, but he also writes his own blog. And sure enough, he's addressed this very topic in a blog article that he wrote in April 2011 under the title "Magiphageuh No 14: Les Jerry's Nugget".
With the help of an online translation tool, we learn this:

"As most of you already know, I only use real "Jerry's Nugget" cards to work with and have been doing so for many years. As these cards happen to be extremely rare to find on the market (I am obviously talking about the original Jerry's Nugget cards and not the recently reprinted ones) and they excite the magical world a lot, I am therefore constantly asked how many I own, how long have I owned them, what deal I made to get them and with whom, why do I have so many cards, why did I choose these specifically, why don't I want to sell them, why, why, eh?! And I hear such amazing stories about myself on these famous "Jerry's Nugget" cards that I decided to speak on the subject myself today."

This sounds very promising! Duvivier then goes on to tell the story about how the Jerry's Nuggets gained their legendary reputation, and the unique qualities they have. In France in the 1970s, American playing cards were quite rarely seen, and Duvivier knew a French pilot commandant called Reyno who loved magic, who would occasionally bring back cards from the US to a small circle of French magicians. At this time even standard Bicycle and Tally Ho decks were prized by these French conjurers, so besides them a Jerry's Nugget deck was considered a real crown jewel.
Over the years Duvivier occasionally got more of the Jerry's Nugget decks, sometimes even an entire case of them at once, especially via his friend Michael Weber, who was his main supplier. We fast forward to 1999, when he finds himself heading to Las Vegas to perform at The Magic Castle. Here's the story in his words, courtesy of an online translation tool:

"In 1999 (if I'm not mistaken) my daughter Alexandra and I were hired to perform for a whole week at Magic Castle and then for a few contracts in Las Vegas. You may think that I had only one idea in mind at the time: a trip to the original casino where my favourite cards were from, Jerry's Nugget! Michael Weber had told me that there were still a few decks for sale there, so as soon as we arrived I immediately asked Philip Varricchio, who had come to pick us up in a limousine, to take us there. He was rather surprised, as we hadn't even put our bags down at the hotel (yes, I'm a fool) and the old Jerry's casino wasn't really known for being a must-see place! So I told him that I wanted to go there to buy Jerry's Nugget cards. According to him it was impossible to get them for the simple reason that they hadn't been around for a long time, but I was so insistent that he finally complied (hey, hey, hey!). When we arrived there, we went to the gift shop of the casino and I asked the salesman if he was selling their decks.
- Yes," he told me, "I have a few.
He shows me a small piece of wall in the back of the store where a hundred decks were on display. I ask about the price. Not even expensive!
- Well, I'll take them," I say (laughs).
And of course I ask if he has more in reserve! Yes, there were about a hundred boxes left (each box containing a large number of cards, 144 decks!). After a little negotiation, the unit price was even lowered to less than $1.
That's it, that's how it happened and that's it. In fact, in all this story, the most difficult, the longest and the most expensive was to get the stock back to France.
Since then, I've been seeing, little by little, the bids going up on these cards in a rather hallucinating way, whereas, of course, that wasn't my initial motivation at all. From the moment I bought the remaining stock, it's as if everyone wanted to own even more! But I just wanted to have enough stock of Jerry's Nugget decks because I'm a card fanatic and these in particular. I use these cards because they're the best cards I know and I've fought like a big man to own enough of them for me (I should mention that I never had a middleman or a partner to buy these cards). Anyone could have done as I did and I don't understand why no one did: you just had to take the trouble to go to this casino, because the cards were available! In any case, now they are all warm and cosy in different safes, which I won't tell you about. They say I'm the person with the most cards in the world, but I have to say I don't care. I know Chris Kenner is the one who planned it, he has a lot of them too. I've been offered golden bridges to sell a few packages, or even my entire stock. I've had some incredible offers over the years. I never intended to create a buzz with these cards: I just use them for my own personal consumption, that's all...because they're my favorite cards."

Probably the key sentence in that account is this, and the best translation seems to be something like this:
"Yes, there were about a hundred boxes left (each box containing a large number of cards, that's 144 decks!)."
The formula is simple: around 100 boxes with 144 decks each. If true, that would mean 100 x 144 = 14,400 decks. Given that this is directly from the horse's mouth, suddenly the story becomes slightly more plausible. So too is his additional statement:
"In all this story, the most difficult, the longest and the most expensive was to get the stock back to France."
That suggests he didn't bring the whole stash to France in one go, which might explain why visitors like Lee Asher and others who saw his home and magic shop never saw any evidence of them. I'm not a French speaker, so I'm happy to be corrected if I'm misunderstanding anything Duvivier has written - by all means check the article for yourself in the original French, to see if I've got it right. But the long and short of it seems to be that Duvivier is saying that what he bought from Las Vegas around 1999 was not a stash of 40,000 Jerry's Nuggets decks, but 14,000 decks.
14,000 is not nearly as impressive a figure. But even though it's only a third of the size of what the legend floating around the internet says, 14,000 decks is still an incredibly impressive haul. Certainly the amount of pictures and videos that show Duvivier performing with Jerry's Nugget cards, seems to suggest that they are very much part of his regular repertoire. It could just be possible, and maybe I've finally found the truth!
Perhaps the most defining photo of all is this one (credited to Zakary Belamy), which shows Duvivier enjoying a bath with his Jerry's Nugget playing cards! Given the value of these playing cards on the market today, some might consider this sacrilege, but it sure suggests he has a large enough supply of Jerry's Nugget cards. At any rate, his collection of them seems large enough that he can even afford to take them to the bath for a photo op along with his favourite yellow rubber ducky.

But is it true?

Was the mystery solved at last? It was time to get back in contact with Lee Asher, and share my findings. But despite the claims of Duvivier in his 2011 article, Lee is not convinced that Duvivier is a credible source. To be fair, this is what Lee Asher has been saying all along, and for years he's been saying that the story about the legendary haul of 40,000 decks wasn't supported by the facts.
Ultimately what this comes down to is: are we going to believe what Duvivier says? For the most part, Duvivier has appeared to have had little interest in setting the record straight, despite the fact that the rumour of him nabbing 40,000 decks persisted as long as it did. And if he does have a large stash, why has he shown little interest in selling any of the decks that he does have, instead being happy to hoard them or use them only for himself? Would he really have spent all the time, energy, and money necessary to ship even 14,000 decks of playing cards across the ocean from the United States to Europe, just for his personal usage, at a time when the street value of these was only a dollar or two a piece? And if he did, where did he put them, and why has nobody ever seen his stash, including those who visited his home?
There are other details about Duvivier's record of events that call aspects of his narrative into question, such as his complete omission of any mention of Lee Asher, who was the one who made him aware of where he could get them. And in those days, the casino gift shop was very small, so is it really reasonable for them to display 100 decks on their back wall, as Duvivier claims in his 2011 article, when they had such little space to work with?
I had some private correspondence with another magician/cardist who has also stayed at Duvivier's house, and that individual expressed similar sentiments. He agreed that there was no evidence of Duvivier ever owning that many decks. Just do the math: 40,000 decks would mean Duvivier could use a brand new deck every single day for more than 100 years before he chewed through a collection of decks that size. Again: very unlikely. If he really did have that many, it would be way more than he could ever use, and surely he would have sold some by now - which he hasn't. This person remains somewhat skeptical, but acknowledges that the figure of 14,000 is a more realistic number that is not beyond the realms of possibility, especially if Duvivier has them locked up in a storage facility in Paris somewhere.
As an educated guess, it seems that there is good reason to cast some suspicion on this story, and there are some aspects about it that seem rather unlikely. Shipping that many decks, at the time only worth a buck or two each at most, all the way from Las Vegas to Paris would be crazy. But a man willing to jump into a bath with a yellow rubber duck and destroy $1000 worth of playing cards in the process strikes me as crazy enough to do it. Perhaps Duvivier's story is true after all.

A final twist

I was now several weeks into my adventures as an investigative journalist, and I was getting ready to wrap up my story and publish it. But there was one final lead that I had not yet explored. If I was really going to try every possible avenue of information, I had to try contacting Dominique Duvivier himself. Why not? Admittedly, the odds of getting a response from someone about his apparent stash of precious Jerry's Nuggets wasn't likely. If there was any truth to the story about his legendary haul, even to some degree, then he's undoubtedly had hundreds of inquiries over the years. Just imagine the long lines of people asking him about his stash, trying to convince him to part with some of it. If yet another email comes in on this subject, he'd probably roll his eyes and press `delete'. He is working full time as a professional magician after all, and has a career to worry about. I couldn't blame him if he was tired of responding to what undoubtedly would be countless messages from prospective buyers.
But I had no intention to buy anything, so as a good amateur journalist, I had to try. It was a long shot, but to my surprise, I got a response from Duvivier the very same day! It wasn't much, but it included one unexpected bombshell - especially after the journey I'd been on so far: "You'll be glad to know that a special article is going to appear in next Genii Magazine. It's called Dominique Duvivier and Jerry's Nugget cards."
I was stunned. Was someone else working on exactly the same story as me, and had they beat me to the punch? Maybe even Duvivier himself? Could it really be true that in little more than two weeks time, the next issue of Genii was scheduled to come out, and would potentially reveal all? Suddenly I knew that I had to wait with publishing my story. In further emails, Dominique was tight-lipped about any more details. At the very least, surely I would have to wait until that issue of Genii was available, and fork out my cash and purchase a subscription in order to read it. I owed it to my readers to explore every last clue, and give them a story that included all the evidence.
So that is what I did. I waited for the July issue to appear online. Digital editions of Genii are released online each month on the 20th of the month. Finally 20th of June rolled around, and I eagerly perused the contents of the latest issue. Nothing. Nothing remotely Duvivier related. Nothing Jerry's Nugget related. Was Duvivier for real? An inquiry with the editor of Genii produced this response: "Not this issue. Coming up." Would it be August or September maybe? Further inquiries produced only silence.
In follow up correspondence with the Frenchman himself, Duvivier told me "I wrote the article myself. It?s quite long." That sounded promising, but it could just be about his love affair with Jerry's Nugget Playing Cards, rather than a "tell all" story about his haul. There still was no guarantee that it would even be published. And I couldn't be sure that it would offer any more information than his blog article from 2011 which already gave his side of the story, or that it would be any more reliable than the version of events he'd provided there. Was it really worth waiting any longer? It was time to share my findings with the world anyway, and I could always provide an addendum to my story if any credible new information appeared.

Final Thoughts

Is this the final word on this subject? No. I've tried to do the best I could based on information available to me, and shared as much as I could with my readers, so that you can form your own conclusions based on the evidence so far. Undoubtedly there are still some missing puzzle pieces, and in future years some new information could come to light that shows that some of my conclusions were misplaced or that puts aspects of this story a slightly different perspective.
Today we are two full decades removed from the time when the original decks first sold out at the Jerry's Nugget casino. And the further removed in time that we come, the harder it becomes to uncover the truth. Memories become murky. As it is nobody at the casino seems to remember the specific details of what happened. At the time they were probably only too glad to get the remaining stock out of their hands, and nobody could have anticipated how these decks would become the famous icons that they are today. Even their chief evangelist Lee Asher has to be somewhat surprised at the turn of events he's produced since first singing their praises some twenty years ago!
So what can we conclude from all of this? Here's some final thoughts that I'll leave you with:
1. Don't believe everything you read on the internet.
Unfortunately, it's a fact of modern life that not everything on the internet is true. And as we've seen, this also applies to sites like Wikipedia. For topics that have a large number of experts or people interested in a particular subject, changing the facts on a Wikipedia article will quickly see the changes being reverted. But with a more niche subject, like Jerry's Nugget Playing Cards, and especially when it concerns circumstantial material that nobody is quite sure about, it's easy for misinformation to enter Wikipedia. And once it's embedded there, eventually the lore spreads and becomes considered as "fact". So it's important to check your sources, and don't take everything you see online as gospel truth - even if it's on Wikipedia.
2. The legend about the stash of 40,000 decks should be put to rest once and for all.
It's a myth, and there simply is no evidence for this claim anywhere. At most, there is the claim from Duvivier himself that he bought up about 14,000 decks. That might be true, but again, we only have his word for this. As a counter-point, there are those like Lee Asher who know Duvivier and have visited him many times, and insist that they never saw any evidence of this. The enormous cost of shipping a large stash like this to Europe already makes it somewhat hard to believe.
There's no doubt that Duvivier is a huge fan of Jerry's Nugget decks, and he appears to own and use them more than most. But in the end, how credible is he? How seriously are you going to take someone who is happy to post a picture of himself in a bath with a rubber duck and playing cards from a Jerry's Nugget deck? Either that means he has far more decks than he knows what to do with, or he is a little loopy. Or perhaps it's a bit of both. You've had an opportunity to read all the evidence for yourself, so you decide.
Either way, we can safely say that there has never been a stash of 40,000 decks, and the jury is out on whether there was even ever a stash one third of this size. But even if the size of the legendary stash turns out to be smaller than first thought, the reputation and magnetism of the Jerry's Nugget decks has only increased in size, and these now iconic decks will remain firmly embedded in playing card lore.
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Update from the writer: After the original publication of this article, Dominique Duvivier personally phoned me on 24 July 2020 to discuss it, and to share his side of this story. He remembers events slightly differently than Lee Asher does. As Duvivier recalls it, his own interest in the Jerry's Nugget decks dates back to the 1970s and 1980s. At that time he was sourcing them from his friend Michael Weber, who along with magicians like Chris Kenner was also interested in these decks. According to Dominique, he only met Lee Asher during his USA tour in 1999, after he had already bought out the remaining stock from the Jerry's Nugget casino. Duvivier confirmed that the figure of 14,000 accurately reflects the approximate number of decks he purchased from the casino at this time. He shipped the majority of these to France by boat, and stored them in a warehouse, intending them to serve as a life-time supply for himself and his family. Look for his story in an upcoming issue of Genii magazine.

BLUF: Is there a "statute of limitations" for charging someone leave?
Is there a time limit for S1 to file my leave paperwork to get me charged for leave? I took HBL and a few other short instances of leave, but haven't been charged at all so far. I am trying to figure out how many I still have to burn for use/lose this year.
If I don't get charged, I'll hit use/lose and then my unit has to answer for it. If I use too many, then I'll be burning days I don't really need to just to not come to work, when I may want them for something fun.
I'm still not sure if S1 shredded it as a favor, lost it by accident and it ended up shredded, or if is sitting in some folder waiting to hit me when I don't want it to (like after the fiscal year changeover, when I have to fight with DFAS to get the days back since they were used before the FY use/lose cutoff).
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I'm a stupid private that sucks at putting the carbine bar on the qualification badge. What's the best way of doing this?
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Reservist at the end of my first contract. I'm currently an E-4 and am finishing BLC at the end of the summer, with my ETS being early next year and my two years of IRR time beginning. My two options I'm considering is reclassing to a 35 series MOS or just cutting loose and being done with the army. My question is should I reenlist before my ETS date so I can reclass or should I just slip into the IRR and reclass/reenlist from the IRR. I still do not know which choice I'm going to make, but I'd like some advice on which is a safer option that would avoid me getting stuck somewhere without an MOS.
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I also don't know if I should avoid a board since I've heard that getting AIT dates for E-5+ is much harder than E-4 and below.
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If I enlist with a bachelors degree what rank pay will I enter as?
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How do I break it to my mom that I want to enlist?
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I'm out of AIT and Ive seen on here previously and have been told that echo 551 at Fort Gordon is the worst company ever. I didn't think it was the worst thing Ive been through but yeah it was kinda bad. Does Echo's reputation precede it everywhere and or has it changed?
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My recruiter missed a deadline to put my packet in for OCS. Anybody else have this happen? I guess I technically didn't submit one so I can try again next month.
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If I go as a 68W, am I qualified as a civilian paramedic after my contract? or am I just a basic civilian EMT?
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I just went to a recruiting office today. I am interested in joining the reserves. I meet all qualifications and even have a bachelor's degree and finished with a 3.5 GPA. I feel like I was getting pushed to be enlisted instead of officer. The benefits of being an officer plus my friend currently enlisted in the Army says it is probably best to try and get in as Officer so I feel like that makes the most sense. Any insight you all could provide or questions you have would greatly help!
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Hey guys. I have a question regarding a pre-RASP training program. I am currently 15, hope to make it into West Point, and then try for the regiment. Any tips?
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Which days do you guys go to the gym? Mon Wed and Fri are the days most people take, and they’re run days for me, but I really don’t feel like doing muscle failures at PT the day after the gym. At the same time, if I do even days, my unit will pull a fuck you and decide to go to the gym for PT.
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I'm interesting in joining the National Guard in the next few years but need to get a waiver for a JFY separation code + 2C reentry code. I was ELS-ed for adjustment disorder from the Air Force, but never sought treatment and was never suicidal.
I spoke to a recruiter and explained my situation and they were willing to work with me, but I need to get a note from a doctor saying that I'm in good mental health and I'm fit for service. This is the issue I've run into. I initially spoke with a mental health team but they were unable to give me a bill of clean health as they only do treatment and medication management, which is exactly what I'm trying to avoid. I'm going to speak to my GP next, but I doubt they will feel comfortable writing that letter.
What are my options for a medical note for this waiver? Do I have to pay a few thousand out of pocket for a mental health evaluation from an independent doctor? I would prefer not to but if it's my only option I will. What exactly are recruiters/MEPS medical staff looking for document-wise for the waiver I need?
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People who are in for long periods of time, how do you prevent the Army from consuming your life?
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I am in the Delayed Entry Program on an 09S contract. Can I cancel this contract and if so, how long would it take?
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Good afternoon folks... I had a question in regards to re-enlisting as prior service while using the gi bill... what happens if you’re in class and you go back in the army? Does that count as you dropping the classes and having to pay back?
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Can you get out of your reenlistment before it starts?
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When I go to a recruiter and I am dead-set on what I want to do (31D CID Special Agent), what are the best on-topic questions to get the most information?
And also (this is a very dumb question) when you go to MEPS and get medically checked is there time between then and when you sign your contract, or is that all done in the same day/weekend?
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Could I take online classes during AIT? I’m planning to take some time off of school to join army NG as a 68W. I’m already somewhat behind on my graduation and so I was wondering if would be stupid to sign up for online classes then. Has anyone had experience with taking online classes during AIT? Thanks!
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Going to talk to recruiter about joining this week, really will only consider if I can get job in medical (not medic). Preferably ultrasound, X-ray, phys therapy etc. I know they’re good at hustling you into other things etc. going with my brother who is pretty high rank and has been in for 10+ year
My question is, does anyone have any experience in these jobs who are willing to share that experience, or if anyone has any suggestions on other medical jobs.
Also to be honest I am willing, but would prefer to not see combat, what are the chances in theses types of positions? Thank you
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So I'm 23 and might end up finishing my contract by the time I'm 27. Haven't finished college and my MOS is 68W.
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what kind of jobs will be available for me when I get out of service? So far I have:
-EMT
-Police Officer
-Park Ranger (Not that great but I love the outdoors)
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I'm thinking of going back to college and getting my degree after I get out, but I don't how likely it'll be for me to get hired since I'll be 31 when I graduate.
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Howdy folks, I'm leaving for basic in 2 days and I had a few questions concerning what to bring and if the Army changed their phone policy. My recruiter told me to bring my social security card, my license, and my debit card which I all have but I've been seeing everywhere to bring a paper for my bank info. I asked my recruiter and he said I didnt need it and I'm confused whether I need that document or not, I'm going in as a reserve soldier and I've gone through my in-processing and I'm on the "payroll" for my unit but I dont know if it applies to my situation or not. Also regarding the phone policy at basic, my gf kept telling me that she googled it and apparently recruits can get their phones for a brief period of time on Sunday nights with my father saying the same as well. My recruiter said he doesnt know for certain because he doesnt know details like that, I'll be fine without it but I was curious if this was true or not. Thanks in advance for any and all replies.
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What is a normal/common day in an Afghanistan-deployment as a 68W like? Assuming I'm assigned to a combat/infantry unit
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Hello reddit, I’m a civilian who is currently trying to make tape so to go to MEPS, take asvab, etc. I have done extensive research on this site as well as others, but would like direct opinions about what my options/routes. A little background info:
Age: 26
Wt: 230 lbs (need 197 lbs or 3 in. Off waist)
Criminal History: DUI-2014-21 years old.
Vision: maybe correctable to 20/20, maybe not will find out at MEPS.
AFQT: 79 (walked in off the street no studying) asvab should be in 90’s range after studying a bit.
Employer: I deal cards in a casino in CA. Make pretty good money, have no job satisfaction.
I am currently doing everything I can to make a great decision as to what my MOS will be. When I was younger (19-20) I scored really high on afqt and recruiter wanted to push intel on me. Ended up not enlisting because I thought (why enlist when I can finish school and commission duh), but life doesn’t always pan out how we expect. I have enough units to enter as a PFC, which is nice since I’m older. I always wanted to join the military, and now that I’m getting older I’m trying to make the leap before it’s too late. My main questions are:
What MOS would you recommend for someone in my position? I’ll need waivers for my DUI, and actually can’t do most of the cool MOS because I can’t get a TS clearance and possible vision requirements. Secret maybe, but also maybe not.
I’m very interested in an opt 40 contract, but I have worries I won’t be able to get in the shape I’ll need in BCT or OSUT to hack it, any opinions in regard to this?
My mind is telling me to go support or look at an MOS that translates to civ world, but my hearts wants to go infantry. I am 26 and worried I’ll be too old to be able to do the grunt life. Is this true or am I overthinking it? Also will having high ASVAB scores do anything for me in infantry? Does it make a difference?
Other MOS I think are pretty cool that I QUALIFY for are: 12D, 12M, 19D, 68W, 88K.....these are pretty much what I can qualify for out the gate. Can’t do anything cool such as: 31K, 35series, 37series, 38series. Those would be my top, but I can’t because of DUI.
Basically what are the best options for me based on my pros/cons?
Lastly at 26 possibly 27 would you recommend 3 or 4 year commitment?
P.S. was also planning on trying to go tacp with AF but for some reason the army appeals to me more. Can’t tell you why.
Thank you in advance for you time
P.P.S. Day 1 reddit user, posting is incredibly more difficult than anticipated. Idek if I’m able to post since I’m so new, so if I double post I apologize.
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My husband is considering joining the army reserves and I’ve heard of some really violent things happening during basic training (please hold the machine gun beating jokes) such as hazing and stuff like that. Is this an actual problem?
Not sure why I’m getting down voted for being worried about my husband :(
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I passed my Asvab, and I'm trying to get into 36B Army Active Duty, but we have been trying for weeks now, and such MOS does not ever seem to populate, is that normal?
Apart from bugging my recruiter, is there anything i can do?
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Anyone read more in depth on the new changes for 600-8-19 (beyond the summary of changes on page 1) ?
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Can a SPC pin another SPC his SGT? When I get promoted I want my best friend to pin me and because I’m probably gonna end up getting mine before him just due to points somewhere down the road, I was curious is this was okay, I know to a degree it’s considered bad juju but I’m curious
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Couldn't find a straight answer, would going on accutane make me non-deployable or otherwise affect my deployability?
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I'm switching my contract to active. I'm deciding between 35M option 40, or 11X. I got a 96 on the ASVAB, and I'm a recent college graduate.
I hated college mainly because everyone there was so depressed and anxious all the time, had 0 adventure in them unless it meant sitting, drinking in the dorms. I also hated being chained to a desk desk for up to 48 hours some semesters. I hated the ineffectiveness of everything, and I'm looking for a change.
I really just want to be part of an effective team with high spirits and make my living with sunlight and nature around me. My heart says 11/18X, but I'm very interested in HumInt stuff, as well as the Special Operations groups. I also found a 35M contract that I have on reserve for me that has airborne, RASP, a good bonus, & DLI; almost too good to pass up.
I've been reading around, and the general consensus seems to be:
Infintry = proud, love their jobs, deployments are actually more boring than garrison life.
SF = Love their job, get the best of everything, good luck getting in.
HumInt = garrison life is absolute hell, deployment is amazing and you do the absolute coolest stuff.
If you were either 11X or 35M, please verify these pros and cons, maybe explain some others, and give an overall review of a guy trying to avoid desk work.
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I want to commission and work with UAS.
Which branch will offer me more of this opportunity?
I was MI before and we had MI PLs for a UAS platoon in our MICO, but I’ve heard that aviation officers mainly oversee UAS.
Any insight?
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Currently a Poole in the marine corps. I’ve been in the DEP for 3 months, I have supposedly had 3 ship dates the last 2 months and everything keeps changing, haven’t been offered a job contract, etc. When I finally thought I was getting a job, I went to meps and they said I failed the depth perception test... I am ready to go and the marines seem to be fooling around. At this point I want to join the army and get a job that I actually want... How long would this take and is this possible? Also I really want 31E and I don’t qualify for the MOS in the marines, is it different for the army?
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Having dug through:AR 40-501 and having spent 2-3 weeks researching these questions I want to ask a question to a larder audience. Not using you guys as an easy tool. Any advice or tools would be greatly appreciated.
Long story short I want to go Airborne like my father-Grand-and Great Grandfather. Annoyingly I am partially colorblind. A lot of what i’m about to say comes as advice from my Father who was career guy/ also a recruiter at one point. Simply, I can tell the difference between Red/Green stop lights easily (vivid Reds and Greens), but I fail horribly at Pip.
For people who fail colorblind tests I know I know the Falant exists but saying I fail that aswell, MEPs (according to AR 40-501) is supposed to offer a Vivid G test. As with my cousin who was not offered this, I hear they just like to fail someone and push then along. My father’s advice was to raise hell until allowed to take the G vivid test, he said in the 90s it was the only way to get Meps to actually do anything.
My question is: is this the correct way to go about Meps? Is it really the only way to secure a vivid G test if not offered, is there anyway to ask for the test beforehand? If possible I would like not to make the days/lives of the Meps personnel any harder.
I understand if I was black/white colorblind not being allowed into jump school, but I can see G and being disqualified because I wasn’t given a chance to prove what I can see seems wrong.
I grew up listening to stories of Paratroopers from Korea-Iraq from family and it is all I have ever wanted to do, it means the world to me. If it seems I am entitled I do not mean to come off that way, it is only that i’ve had the last 9 years fixated on this goal.
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Is there an MOS thats related to computer engineering, computer Science or cyber Security where you don't need a TS Security Clearance?
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I am 27 years old. I exercise in the mornings. I have a bachelor's degree and a juris doctorate degree and over $150,000 in student loans. I feel like I need a reset on my financial and professional life. I feel like I need to grow more as a person before practicing law, if that's even what I want to do. I feel like I don't know who I am or what I really want to do. I feel like a clean slate and think the army could mold me into a proper and good man. I've grown complacent in my daily life and have never really traveled. I want to work with teams and to be a part of something bigger than myself or some law practice. Is the army a good fit for me? Will I be able to put my JD to use, perhaps as a paralegal? (I am aware of JAG but do not want to do that - I really wasn't the best student in law school) Additionally, I believe I will find and develop a far greater sense of honor and professionalism in the army than what I've seen among the legal community.
Thank you for your time to whoever may answer.
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Do 15E’s get trained on all platforms in AIT or are they split up and trained specifically on either the gray eagle or shadows?
Team leader here with a soldier who is trying to reclassify to 15E and he couldn’t find any good info online and he asked me if I knew the answer to the above question. As an 11B I have no clue. I searched older reddit posts on the aviation world and 15E’s but haven’t found much up to date information.
Any info is appreciated. Thanks
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In MEPS, do they do blood and urine drug test or is it just urine and blood is for hiv and std? Just wondering because I work out on a daily and do take supplements from gnc.
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To go in as a E3 in the army you need 48 college credits or more right?
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Q: Anyone know when the OCS Slot dates are for 2019 / 2020?
Direct Commissioning, so I still have to do Basic/OCS back-to-back.
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Alright guys I’m still a civilian but I’m starting the process of enlightenment, I’m 25 bout to be 26 im pretty much hitting the restart button on my life and so I went to the recruiters took a pre-qualifier or that’s what they told me, got a 35 but my GT was a 90 so we are going over job and apparently I’m able to enlist as a 35P I don’t understand how my recruiter said not everyone gets offered it but idk if he was just trying to get me to sign up, and I’m also 4 College credits away from going in as a E-2 and he informed me once I pass basic I’ll be a E-3 or E-4 can’t remember at the moment, but what he told me was to take the job do my 2yr enlistment the re-enlist go into the Green to Gold program and come out as a warrant officer, so basically what I’m asking is, is he lying to me or is he actually looking out for me?
Sorry if it sounds confusing I’m a kinda of a idiot...
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Note: I initially posted this but it got removed. Sorry Im still kinda new to reddit oof. But please read below! I hope this time I corrected my mistake...
I just wanted advice for Basic Training. I leave tomorrow to Fort Jackson. A little bit about myself, I'm a 17 year old female and love to make art and play video games. I joined the Army because Im the oldest in my family and I want to set the path for the young females in my family. I especially want to chip away this idea that, females don't belong in the Army especially Muslims (my family including me are Muslim). In addition, I want to better myself and get away from my toxic academic life.
Junior year of high school was extremely rough for me academically and yet I somehow survived. I go to one of the most academically vigorous high schools in the nation and you can ask any student, our lives are all academics, academics, academics. How does this correlate with basic training? Well I am not even close to being physically active because of the academics and standardized tests (SAT, ACT). Yes, I take full responsibility for not prioritizing my well being and excersise which is why I'm hoping the army will help set me straight.
I can't do a single push up, sit ups I'm decent at, running is a no go (I've just been jogging after school to home which is approx 2 miles, I have to get some practice in there somehow). The last thing I want to do is give up, I'm fully determined to get through with this no matter what.
Do you lovely people have any tips or advice? I know the army is meant for athletic people and I'm probably going to be the odd one out and be behind everyone else in terms of physical characteristics. but I will honor anything from you guys from experiences, tips, advice and especially motivation. Quite honestly, I just want to escape from academics and build myself up. I don't want to be just book smart I want to be street smart. I would rather push my self hard the Army way not through academics.
Thank you for reading!
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I’m a 27 almost 28 and always wanted to join the military. I always envied people who had the courage to fight and kind of felt guilty I never joined. I’ve been lost with my life and career for a few years now. I work in a family business that I have no desire to join as of now due to family issues and am also in college for a BA in psychology. I hope to one day become a clinical mental health counselor. I can continue down the path I am and get my BA and a shitty psych job full time while pursuing a masters in my 30s living with my parents. Or I was considering joining, I know the military is having low recruitment numbers and I would be able to be psychically in shape, ran a business so understand the need for teamwork, and am willing to be bottom rung and earn my way.
More so I’m just overwhelmed with the idea of a commitment or not sure what type of job I could theoretically receive. I’m just seeking advice on how to approach the situation. Should I speak to a recruiter and ask them and take the test to see where I stand, should I just keep doing my research. I always dreamed of working in some sort of intelligence work or analysis of some sort.
Thank you, hope to hear some constructive criticism and advice. Thank you for your service also.
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Quick question, long explanation. Is there an AR or FM that covers soldiers who have been on PT profiles for a period of time?
I've been on profile since the late February. I had a surgery shortly after and have been on a profile for that since. (Pilonidal Sinus I&D). I've been on a no sit up profile since then. My profile ended and I've been told I have to take the record APFT first thing Monday morning. Now I'm on leave currently and I haven't had a chance to see my doctor. Before I left I was still getting it packed and cleaned on a daily basis and will continue when I get back. I'll get the profile extension however the question burned in my mind.
My first line told me the AR saying you give double the amount of time that was on the profile is no longer a requirement and/or thing. Is that true? If I wasn't getting the extension I'd be royally fucked so I was just curious. Thanks.
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I know it’s a recruiters job to get people to sign up. Can they lie to you or stretch the truth?
My brother wants to sign up for the reserve and has a meeting on Thursday but the whole “basic training then only one weekend a month two weeks a year” sounds too good to be true. Is he at a high risk of being sent away more than that?
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