Posts from — October 2007

Scandal, but then, we’ve known it all along

Imagine this:

You’re finally at the final table, your entire online poker career has been building up to this exact place in time. You’ve done everything right, and now you’re reaping the rewards, it’s down to the final two. The difference between first and second a mere ten thousand dollars, $30k for first, $20k for second. This is how online poker is supposed to be. Or is it?

The player with the screen name ‘Marco’ was in this exact position while playing in a tournament on Absolute Poker. Now, being an online poker player since before Party Poker had an ad on television, and a member of the PPA(Poker Players Alliance) since 2002, I’ve called “hacks” my fair share of times, but never once had I truly thought it through.

Instead of collecting his twenty thousand dollars and heading for Cabo, Marco felt something was wrong and asked for his hand histories. Either an insider or a simple minded employee sent him a full Excel spreadsheet of every hand played in the tournament, showing every players hole cards, and a strange coincidence. Upon reaching the online community of 2+2 forums, the sleuths of the game picked up a user with the number of #363(an extremely low number registered from 1 up) following a player named ‘Potripper’, who just happened to win the tournament.

Sources of information:
http://www.absolutepokercheats.com/ – The full story

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=12523924&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1 – 2+2 Sleuths

Well then, the next time I call BS, someone better listen!

For players looking to get their money back from Absolute Poker call 1-800-GOT-FCKD

This blog is still hidden from search engines, so if you got here, please comment on how(lol).

I have been writing for the sake of writing, while we’ve been working on ideas as to what exactly we are about(exactly).

iSHOGUN is to become a completely random diary type place. OH! I forgot, I was implementing some Adsense ads and somehow – WE EARNED $0.59! I have no idea how, because the blog is noindex, nofollow and I’m semi new to how Adsense pays out. Anyway, I’m off subject, but that is the point now. A completely off subject blog ranging from Adsense, to free warez and everything in between and outside. Doesn’t make much sense does it.

I think sometime we will come to a sort of base point where we will have a steady overall path, but for now, just getting familiar with WordPress and plugins, and writing as a hobby.

This post says it all, iSHOGUN will become a diary of a first person perspective on daily life.

We will continue to give you stuff that we think is valuable on the web of course, but only if it’s interfering with our lives somehow.

Some topics we have written in stone so far include:

- Links, embedded free movies that are GOOD, mostly out in theaters only.
- How to get over in reality, making some easy money grifting and stuff.
- We have decided to allow others to write articles, anyone can write, admins must approve. So it will also be a free blog to get creative on, if it’s worthwhile, we might even pay you to become a full time intern/writer/friend/promoter.
- Drugs
- Stuff that is happening in Fort Myers and other areas of Flordia, which is where we stay currently.
- Ebay stuff, ways to make some cash on ebay – and soon, we will offer about 500mb of free ebooks, which will give everyone the chance to become sellers on Ebay.
- Web design and other tech related stuff
- Cool programs that you can get for free, and other ways to get over on the net.
- Conspiracys(broad)

This is basically a rough list, and since I’m semi high I wanted to write this down so I can remember tomorrow, my short term is probably one of the worst in the world, my long term is great though, it’s really odd.

Charlie the unicorn is a really cute movie if you’re a happy girl you should probably watch this. If not you should probably just skip it, but it’s semi funny, and it’s our first embedded movie since we’re testing Viper’s Tags.

Test for plugins.

iSHOGUN will be providing links to good FL Movies.

Here’s the situation:

You and your chick are shopping at your local Ross, money is tight, as always, but you need some sweaters for winter, and a decent coat. She’s dying for that Designer bag that costs twenty times what you two can afford. So you’re windows shopping, because you obviously can’t afford the stuff you want, or can you?

You can, because I’m about to put you on to, drum roll….. A SECRET.

Stores use tags, which consist of a piece of paper and a little plastic deal that connects it to the item. Have you ever thought, “That tag, should be on that jacket.” Let’s make it happen!

I’m sure you have an idea of how to get the job done already, but I’m writing an article here and I’m going to explain it to you. You shouldn’t worry about the physical changing of the tags, you should worry about the cashier, is she a label whore?

TOOLS NEEDED:
An exacto blade, or a sharp(pref. small) pocket knife
Balls

Ok, so now we know what we want, and we’re walking around the store checking stuff out. If you could find tags that are of the same brand, only cheaper – that would be nice. Also, if you’re shopping for profit, and you have a $400 item, you need a tag that is decent, like 23.99 not 4.99. If you’re shopping for yourself, you can put whatever price you want on there. I personally like my 15 dollar Dickies and my 3 for ten black Hanes shirts. I just get designer goodies for profit, or to get my girl some of the cooler things in life, things undeserving, spoiled, little label whores have, but she can’t afford.

Here are some of my recent Ebay auctions:

A nice ass Briggs & Riley Carry On – $33.00

Two Juicy Couture Jackets – bought for $18.99 each:
Juicy 1
Juicy 2
The second one was actually ended early for $250.00

Two Michael Kors Purses – around $12-15 Each
Kors 1
Kors 2

Note to Ebay: I bought all of these items at full price.

It’s pretty simple really, but there are a few tips I’ve learned over time. Get your items, you don’t need to hide anywhere or anything because nobody knows what you’re doing messing with tags, if you’re slow enough to have a bunch of people looking at you, you might not be cut out for this. In the beginning, look for some tags with prices you can afford, if they are the same brand, perfect. For example, a Juicy Couture wallet tag, to put on a Juicy Couture jacket, get it? I use the same style area, all purses are rang up as “Accessories”, while all sweaters would be, “Outer Wear”, see what I mean?

So gather up some tags, and find whatever you want to buy, I just do it right there wherever I find the item. Take your exacto blade(I wrap some electric tape around the bottom so I don’t cut my pretty hands)and make a small slice in the tag(s) you plan to put on your item(s), the other tag(tag you’re using) can just be ripped off because you don’t need to attach it. Tear the top of the tag on the item you’re buying, so you don’t bother the plastic that will attach your new tag. Now, you have a clean insert to put your new tag onto the piece of plastic, without making it look all fucked up, understand?

Now, you’ve marked down one or two items, or if you’re real stupid, three or four. I like to keep it around one or two because, for one item, you can say you found it like that, but if you have seven items all marked down to ridiculously low prices, well, you get the picture. Even if you do, the worst thing that has ever happened to us is an awkward, “Oh they’re THAT MUCH? Never mind then.”

You’ll be banned from the store forever.

Another thing is stickers, in places like Marshall’s, they have these red clearance stickers, the Briggs And Riley bag had one of those red stickers on it. There is an art form to grifting however, you can’t just be any tool off the street.

Some side notes: If you throw tags everywhere, you’re going to ruin the store, because they will realize what’s going on, and it will go out to all the stores, then you’ll be fucking me, and why would you want to do that?

It took 2 days to find the deals above, and 7 days to auction it off.

Conclusion:

A lot of cool stuff can be acquired this way, but you need to practice it as an art form, kind  of like that “Master Pick Up Artist” show. Grifting allows you freedom, but if you get caught doing stupid shit, you will lose that freedom. Don’t be a fool.

GOOD LUCK!

*** Update Note October 31 2009 – Thank you all for making this the most discussed article dealing with Wal Mart “shopping” on the web. If you have found this article / site has helped you in ANY WAY, please visit a random sponsor, it will take literally 2 minutes of your time, once again, thank you all***

TAOGO is short for – The Art Of Getting Over, and I just made it up, although I’m sure it’s been used(whatever). This article is going to cover a few little tricks we use at Wal-Mart pretty much every time we visit, and some other shit as always.

Side Note: I don’t condone buying from the man, in this case, Wally World, which has put numerous mom and pop stores out of business. On their behalf, they have also saved many illegal immigrants a TON of money.

Did you know? You can park a RV or car at Wally World and use it as sort of a rest stop?

It’s true, and if you happen to do so, this article may be very handy to you.

Let’s start with eating, because we all have to eat. In super WM and in some normal WM’s, there’s a little deli type of place, along side they have hot food. Well, at most super WM’s they also have a mcdonalds. If you’re lucky enough to have a McDonalds in your local Wal Mart, you can eat daily for free.

Here’s the deal: Go to the hot food joint next to the deli, and order whatever the hell you want. They will put it in a nice little Styrofoam plate type thing and mark it with a code, you don’t pay there. Now head over to the McDonalds, sit down, and eat your food. When you’re done, take the sticker they put on it, just in case. If anyone sweats you, you were using the sticker to pay so you didn’t have to carry the trash. There you go, a three course meal without a hassle, if you don’t have a McDonalds, there’s probably a nice little spot to relax and eat, a bench or whatever.

Now, on to getting over.

How to make $100 from Wal-Mart right away:

If you head over to the sports department and take a look at the fishing poles, you’ll notice that they all have stickers to ring up. Depending how hood your Wal-Mart is, they leave them above any plastic or any type of security. Now, grab a $150 dollar combo pole, and take a sticker from a $10 pole, remove and replace, but keep the sticker you took off. When you go to check out, look for the clerk who doesn’t know shit about fishing, there’s always one or two. Now, if you like to fish, you have the pole of your dreams, and you can do this daily – it never gets old. You will need to provide an ID card for the return without a receipt, but there’s a Wal-Mart on every corner now a days so just spread out. If you don’t fish, you can replace the sticker – use a bit of glue if you need to, and get a refund card. Groceries for the month for free. If you use one of the self check outs, it may look suspicious so try to look for the newb clerk.

Now, you have a full belly, a new fishing pole, or a gift card with $100-$140 on it.

Having a friend that worked for Wal Mart, I learned a few other tricks you may not know. It is a fact that if you literally steal less than five dollars worth of inventory from Wal Mart, THEY WILL NOT PRESS CHARGES, EVER. If you’re pretty enough, you can go back and forth and get whatever you’d like. I personally just open up anything I want while inside the store and eat it, or if it’s material, like say, BIC lighters, I just take it or put it in my girls’ purse. I haven’t been sweated for any of the above, and I have done this for years and years. BUT THERE’S MORE!

Through reading the comments below, you’ll find a few more ways to get over. Don’t be threatened by people claiming to be smart if they work for Wally World, they obviously aren’t. Wal Mart policy takes over 2 years to change NO MATTER what it is, so you’re fine, at worst, you’ll be kicked out of 1 of 10 stores in the city(oh no I have to drive a block further). Also, while I have been doing this for 5+ years, actually, before I was exchanging print cartridges for 40-50 credit, I HAVE NEVER BEEN IN ANY KIND OF TROUBLE, NOT EVEN SPOKEN TO.

I’ll be adding little Wal Mart updates as time goes by, if you have anything to add contact us or drop a comment. We’re always looking for street wise writers, and this is only the beginning.


Edit : June 22 2009 -

So many comments, so little time.

I have found a few new tricks, but it seems we are being watched by disgruntled Wallys, so for now, I am keeping them in beta testing for the sake of our loyal viewers.

UPDATE – Halloween 2009:

It is now the policy of Wal Mart to not arrest anyone who is:
a) Under the age of 18
b) A senior
c) Mentally handicapped in any way.
d) Not caught in THE ACT OF STEALING.

It is also the policy of Wal Mart to not arrest anyone who IS NOT:
a) Stealing any amount of product UNDER $10
b) Complying with their demand to be searched(a constitutional right right).

DO NOT STOP WHEN ASKED TO – THE BEEPING IS A SCARE TACTIC, YOU HAVE SEEN AND WILL SEE MANY PEOPLE IGNORE THE GREETER, IF THERE ARE 5 LARGE GREETERS – YOU HAVE AN ISSUE AND NEED TO RETURN ANOTHER DAY.

THERE ARE NO MORE UNDER COVER LOSS PREVENTION OFFICERS AT 99% OF STORES, THE TACTIC HAS BEEN SEEN AS BAD FOR THE IMAGE OF WAL MART. AS MENTIONED BELOW, IF THEIR IS AN LP AGENT AT YOUR STORE – HE/SHE WILL NOT HAVE A CART, AND HE/SHE WILL BE ON A CELL/BLUETOOTH AS ORDERED BY ALL WAL MART HIGHER UPS.

“Crunch N’ Munch, you simply open up the top and ull see the popcorn consealed in the bag, u can either take electronics and hide it in the empty box and just buy the “popcorn” for a dollar, or if you are paranoid you can tape it shut and BAM u got as much free stuff as you can fit in that popcorn box.”Can’t believe no one has mentioned Tin foil, if you wrap small expensive items in foil the alarm wont go off. I wont say what we used but if your creative you can find small expensive things.”

“A shopping cart with nothing more than a shirt can obstruct the view of a camera, and it is mobile.”

“The box knife is a great invention.”
(As well as exacto blades “sold” for a dollar in the art dept.)

Keep a close eye on the post for more info, it will be updated and edited as time goes by. If you have an interest in Wal Mart, it would be a good idea to REREAD the post each month for changes.

Last but not least, a BIG THANK YOU to all of those who become or will in the future become involved in this discussion, there is no registration needed, only an open mind and sticky fingers. :)

Also, visiting our sponsors is a great way to donate without actually donating, KARMA is real!

Chia

Well, here we are, the very first post at iSHOGUN. Since first posts are usually awkward, I decided I’d explain a bit about who we are, how we ended up here, and what iSHOGUN means to us.

My name is Blake, I am 26 years old and have lived all over this country, I’m not very international, I don’t think Tijuana 400x counts. Speaking of Tijuana, let me tell you a bit about my path. I was born on 3 Mile Drive in Detroit, my pops died when I was 8, in a car accident(the pain is long numb). Immediately following my mom, who had already divorced my dad a year or so before that, decided it would be a good idea to move, the only problem with that being she chose LAS VEGAS as the destination.

So at the age of 8-9 I went from the suburbs of Detroit to the sunny(yet dark and dismal) streets of Vegas. The first night at our new place our U-Haul got broken into, we found our broken four wheeler half a block down at the school – being pushed around by a bunch of hoods. Warm welcome eh, two days later there was a standoff two doors down, some guy shot himself in front of his kids, with a shotgun.

So that was the beginning of how I came to be me. We stayed in Vegas for 2 more years and it was off to Orange County, CA. I lived all over O.C., starting in El Toro(now Lake Forest), then on to Mission Viejo, Fountain Valley, San Clemente, and finally Laguna Hills right behind Irvine Meadows. I grew up there, from the age of 11 to the age of 20 we bounced all over California, Modesto, Temecula, and a few places in between. My friends and my heart are still in California, just not what it has become. I made and lost many friends in Cali., R.i.p. Algae, heads high, MASONS.

When I finally got out on my own at around 19, I went to Huntington beach to live with my friends, while there we formed Smashpop Recordings. I’m not much into Hip Hop anymore but since the age of 14 I’ve been painting semi pretty colors on walls from San Francisco to Tijuana and through the rest of the cities I named above. I left out Salt Lake City, and my bounce back to Detroit alone, where we formed Leather Jackets(graff crew). My graffiti career is semi extensive, and while growing up is part of life, I will paint trains and scribble until the day I die.

Excuse my babbling, if I tried to tell you some of the shit that went on during these times, a) you wouldn’t believe half of it, b) it may seem like I’m trying to impress you, or c) you will close this blog and say something insulting, and while I could give a shit about all of the above, I’d rather digress.

Throughout this crazy dream I call my life, I have come across my fair share of freaks, geeks, and crazy fucks. Some of then I call “brother”, some of them live fondly in my horrible long term memory, and while some of them fucked me over and some of them got fucked over, I learned valuable lessons from each and every person I came across. I’ll probably be referring to them often in my stories and how2s, so let’s go on.

I’m now in SW Florida, about 45 minutes from Miami, and I must say, it’s laid back. Sure, I’ve had my fair share of run ins with rednecks and wanna be thugs, but overall I don’t know of a better place to raise a family(plus there’s a decent train line).

So that’s me in a nutshell, now on to why this blog is here, and why the name iSHOGUN is on the top of this page.

I’ve been on the net since AOL first came out, and we were all hanging out in the private chat rooms(because that’s where the “cool” people used to hang o.k.). I did my fair share of blowing money, making money, and even became a script kiddie for a few years, defacing every site that gave me a chance for the cyber gang called Uberlamers.

iSHOGUN was created as an outlet for all of this pent up infogression(I just made that up). Along with our cohorts, we’re going to try to help you get over, and do all sorts of random shit that we’ve discovered along the way. I think you’ll find it a useful site, and if generic morphine stays +/- 7%, you’ll have a place to relax for a few minutes a day and possibly catch the perfect wave.

I almost forgot, my other half, and the source of 90% of my inspiration comes from co writer and fiance’ Stephenie M., a gorgeous 21 year old SW Florida girl who has lived in Fort Myers her whole life. She’s natural, and any of you nerds might have had a chance with her if I didn’t meet her outside Biology class and sweep her off her feetsies.

We will post a whole bunch of pictures and other iSHOGUN related shit soon, stay tuned for massive updates, if you’d like to help, drop us a line.