I think it's more hollywood. They can and will use much more excessive force though than say a cop would. Being that you are on private property, and thats not for people counting cards, thats for people using systems or machines and s**t like that. They'll just ask you to leave, the asking being a courtesy on their part.
If you go to the older strip, the north side of Vegas, The Golden Nugget, The Lady Luck, those old ones all offer single deck blackjack so counting cards is easy. They have max bets of $3 or $5 at most though, so you cant win big. But you can grind out a few hundred dollars in a day if you stick with it.
A lot of money is very relative, you talking like a grand to keep from getting evicted, or like 25 grand to bail someone outta jail? =P
I'd have to back the craigslist/ebay thing.
There are 2 rules to making money.
1. You have to spend money to make money
2. Spend other peoples money.
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?It's a sad thing not to have friends, but it is even sadder not to have enemies.? - El Che