Staying in the same casino where you are playing

I'm reading the book Bringing Down The House about the mit blackjack team. In a section of the book it says one of the players was woken up in the morning by 3 security guards, told to get dressed, and said the manager wanted to talk to him. They took him down in the basement in a cell like room and locked the door. 20 minutes later they came back, tried to get his photo and barred him. They took him to the exit where his bags were waiting roughly packed for him.
Is this true? Did the guy writing the book make up a bunch of stuff to make the book more interesting? Another section of the book says rumers about card counters dissapearing after long drives out in the desert.
Is this the standard way this is handled when staying at a casino when you get barred? What if he had a lot of cash hidden in the room? Would he not be able to retrive it? Reading this sounds like it's not worth staying in a casio where you are playing even if the room is comped.

Casino goons playing rough with skilled patrons is nothing new. More often than not, a casino will not evict a player in the middle of the night, but it happens enough so that it is a valid concern. Once in awhile, the casino creeps go overboard and are successfully sued.

Playing where you are staying is always a tradeoff -- better future comps vs. risk of hassles today.

I think I would quibble with the word �routinely�. I do agree with what you have said in the body of your post : More often than not, a casino will not evict a player in the middle of the night, but it happens enough so that it is a valid concern.

In my own experience, I have been Rejected 6 times at places where I was staying in the hotel as a comped guest. In all those cases, the comp was honored, and I continued to stay in the room without hassle. In three of the cases, I was backed off; in the other three cases I was subject to permanent counter-measures (flat-bet or half-shoed).

To gain some more perspective on this: Most casinos will not 86 a player for the �first offense�. I put that in quotes, because there is obviously nothing wrong with counting cards. But if they determine that you are skilled, they will typically take steps to prevent you from making money. Usually by back-off; sometimes by counter-measures. When that happens, you will usually be allowed to stay in the room. They may try to change your comp status. I have never had that happen to me, but it has happened to other players. They will say �You room is no longer comped. You either have to check out, or pay for the room.�

Most casinos will 86 �repeat offenders�. Some will do it for the �first offense�. Usually, if your 86ed from the property, you will also be kicked out of the room.

Midnight barrings usually occur to large teams and/or when the casino can't figure out what players are doing, but figure they are doing something. Maybe they suspect cheating or some imaginary ultra-powerful new technique.
Solo counters should be safe. Maybe some have stories which prove exceptions to the rule, but that seems to be the basic principle.

If you're staying at Bally's, Paris, or Harrah's on the LV Strip, getting 86'd from the hotel on first offense for counting cards is standard operating procedure. Elsewhere it might not be.