What Is Advantage Play, and How Does It Impact Casinos? Vegas Matt's Venetian Ejection Explains It

_{“Vegas Matt” Morrow is one of the world’s most famous slots vloggers, but he’s no longer welcome at The Venetian. (Screenshot: VegasMatt / YouTube)}

LAS VEGAS – Matt “Vegas Matt” Morrow, one of the most-watched slots content creators on YouTube, says he was escorted off the Venetian's property in Las Vegas soon after hitting a big win.

In a post on X, the FanDuel ambassador described the incident himself: “Security escorted me off property a few days after we won $400k. Maybe they just didn’t like me winning.”

Morrow, who has more than 1.6 million subscribers on his “Vegas Matt” YouTube channel, didn’t say outright that he’d been formally banned, but framed the walk-off as retaliation for winning at slots rather than for any rule violation.

Vegas Matt replied on X to a suggestion that advantage play was the reason for his ejection, but he was quick to deny that, insisting: “We played a Phoenix Link but left the counter higher than we started it which is hardly advantage play.”

Chuh! Security escorted me off property a few days after we won $400k. We played a Phoenix link but left the counter higher than we started it which is hardly advantage play. Maybe they just didn't like me winning.
Their loss I prefer giving my business to properties that are… https://t.co/FTgpJmewnr

— Vegas Matt (@itsvegasmatt) August 26, 2026

In this regard, Morrow is entirely right. Although Phoenix Link does have a ‘must hit by’ feature, which can be used for advantage play, the fact the counter was higher when he left the machine than it was when he arrived makes a mockery of the accusation.

“Their loss,” he continued, adding that he prefers “giving my business to properties that are happy when I win.”

By his own account, the win streak didn’t stop there. Morrow says he then won $260,000 at the nearby Fontainebleau Las Vegas, and posted that he was back playing at that property again the same day.

News of the incident spread quickly among Morrow’s followers, with some saying they canceled upcoming Venetian reservations in response.

The Venetian has not publicly commented on the incident.

What Is Advantage Play?

Advantage play on slot machines is not illegal, but Nevada casinos, like most private businesses, retain broad discretion over who they serve, including the ability to bar big winners without citing a specific rule violation. That discretion has long been a friction point between advantage players and casino operators.

Advantage play refers to legal techniques skilled gamblers use to gain a mathematical edge over a casino on a specific game or machine, rather than relying purely on luck. On slots specifically, it typically targets machines with a “banking” or “accumulator” feature – games that build up progress toward a bonus over time as players feed in money, rather than paying out on pure random chance each spin.

Because that accumulated progress stays on the machine, a player who knows what to look for can walk up to a machine that a previous player left in a favorable state, that is to say close to triggering its bonus, and finish the job with real odds tilted in their favor for that session.

Spotting these opportunities usually just takes knowledge of how a specific machine’s bonus mechanics work, not hacking, chips, or any device, which is why it’s generally considered legal.

Why It’s Frowned Upon: The 'Slot Vulture' Problem

Beyond the direct hit to the house edge, a lot of the industry’s hostility toward advantage play traces back to how some of its practitioners behave on the casino floor, not just the fact that they’re doing it.

Because a banked machine’s bonus progress is visible to anyone walking by, advantage players, sometimes called “slot vultures”, will stake out machines that other, unaware guests have built up toward a bonus, then wait for that player to cash out or move on so they can swoop in and collect it.

The problem casinos and other players describe isn’t just the waiting; it’s that some vultures actively try to speed the process along. Tactics reported on casino floors include hovering uncomfortably close to a machine, staring down the player currently sitting at it, or otherwise being deliberately unpleasant and using behavior meant to unnerve or annoy a guest into cashing out and walking away sooner than they otherwise would.

MGM Resorts in particular has become a focal point for casino pushback. There’s been significant chatter within the Las Vegas gambling community describing MGM properties pulling elite loyalty perks, including Noir tier status and freeplay offers, from guests believed to be advantage players. Some have even reported offers dropping to zero shortly after they were spotted playing significantly on known advantage-play machines.

It’s worth noting, though, that MGM has not issued a public statement confirming a formal policy change, so this remains community-reported rather than officially acknowledged.