HEADS UP: Multistate Federal Prostitution Sting In Progress

One of my sources informs me that the federal government is again conducting a series of sting operations aimed at shutting down the prostitution industry.

Those of you DUers who are sexworkers, be very careful!

The tip was not specific, you basically got all of it.

and only under certain conditions. Only counties with a population of 400,000 or less is allowed to have legal prostitution if that county so chooses (and many don't)... legal prostitution is in highly regulated legal brothels only (no street prostitution or incall/outcall service). Las Vegas has never had legal prostitution as Clark County already exceeded the population limit when the law was instituted.

As of January, 2004, there were only about 300 legal prostitutes working at any given time in the entire state of Nevada.

I'm appalled at how little they make for sex acts. There's no way on earth I'd have a half hour of any kind of oral/intercourse paid sex for as low as $100 (of which the house gets half and 20% of the prostitute's portion goes to the cab driver if the client arrives by cab). Horrifying.

For heaven's sake, as a stripper I'd make about 4 times as much in a half hour without even DOING anything! On top of that, a customer can't even LOOK at my crotch!

There are always miracles, but even the Men's Club in Dallas advertises as "make $150-$600 dollars a day" Mind you, you make no money at clubs for rich men (unless you hang around and wait for them to throw you meaty bones)

If you can make $800 an hour as a stripper, I'll go back in the biz.

once you account for the house cut.

But I've never worked in Vegas. That being said, I've known people who have and they always came back to where I worked. Most dancers I know who work full time make $1000 to $2000 a week, many made much less than that and few made more than that without prostitution. And I'm talking about in a major east coast city during the internet boom. I'm sure it's much worse now that the economy is in such terrible shape.

I just don't like all this false advertising about strippers making so much money they're made to look like the next Donald Trump. It's a good job, but it's unstable and has no benefits and you can only work it for awhile.

Many strippers lie about their income to boost their self-esteem (i.e.: I'm one of those girls who makes a bizillion dollars) or they only focus on the good times (there are clubs where you make $1000 one night, but $30 for the rest of the week).

I think that making dancing into a fairy tale occupation directly interferes with dancers being able to organize. If you exaggerate your earnings to such a ridiculous extent as to say that you make $5000 a week on average as a dancer, who sees you as working class anymore?

I know of clubs where girls are forced to have implants.
I know of clubs where girls are fined so heavily by the management ($250 late fee, $50 late-to-stage, $250 arguing with the DJ) that they left work with less money than they came with.
I've worked at TWO clubs were girls were forced to stay on the floor while miscarrying.
I watched a girl get fired for being diagnosed with breast cancer.
I watched a girl be forced to come to the club to 'prove' that she was beaten to a pulp by an ex-boyfriend.

I've seen a lot of things and I've worked a lot of clubs, but the only girl I've ever seen walk out of the club with $320 an hour (consistantly) was a straight-up hooker giving 'discounted' services.

Most sex workers are neither big-time capitalists, nor big-time victims of oppression. Most just want to work without interference and in a safe environment.

On all counts. I was just trying to sort out his math!

Unionization is the answer.

I have been in the biz for 11 years (off the last year or so b/c of having a kid) and I have never made more than $400 in one night.Now, that's not to say I didn't miss out or something of the sort(not agressive enough) but readmoreoften is right; most nights these days if I were to work (going off info of my best friend) I would walk out with between $30-$80 MAYBE. Alot of nights my tipout made sure I left with less than I came in with.
She's right-the only girls walking out with money now are the "extras" girls. So sad...this used to be a fun job. I genuinely loved it; as nuts as that may seem.

In many parts of the country, you're doing well if you make $150-400 a night. Other parts, it's about double. But people lie lie lie lie lie about what they make. I started in early 96 and moved to domination in late 99. I watched the industry go from almost no-touch to almost full all prostitution. I watched all the NYC clubs close down and all the girls flood as far as Philadelphia to make a buck.

The union busting that went on in my area was astounding. If you even mentioned 'union' the girls would threaten you. They published girls full names and humiliated them in the paper. This was all on the east coast. Very different than the west coast.

Only until I left, did I realize that there is a huge history of femme lesbians working as sex workers. I started dancing because in the early and mid-90s I was facing too much homophobia to deal with office jobs. I wasn't alone.

depends on the club, depends on the dancer. I know of girls that make 1 to 2k or so a night pretty much every night. Those are the exceptions, however. Do they make that off of a lot of regulars? Maybe, maybe not. Are they seeing those regulars outside the club? Maybe, maybe not.

As you well know, it's hit or miss for us middle of the road dancers. Certainly, the business has tanked, and those champagne courts aren't easy sells for the most part, and without a lot of very loyal regulars, you won't normally be sitting in the champagne room all night. But, when you ARE there, nobody is getting a half hour of sex for $50 or less for the dancer. That's pretty much my point, really. Nobody is getting a half hour of my intimate time for less then a few hundred, and if they dare to touch my naughty bits during that time, I reserve the right to smash my six-inchers through their ear and viciously twist. As long as I'm spending about 50% of my shift in the champagne court making the big bucks, I'm more than happy. Of course, not every night is going to be like that... some nights are worse, some are better. That's pretty much the nature of any sales biz.

Incidently, from what I hear, Texas just sucks all the way around anymore. Some parts of the north/mid-east are still pretty good.

I worked at the most lucrative club in a particular northeastern state and never saw anyone make that. I've seen girls make $1K a night, but usually rarely.

When we had no champagne courts a regular could come in and you could make $20 every three minutes 25% to the house. Then came the champagne courts and it was $100 a half an hour and 50% to the house. (You do the math.) They also had a 'no tipping rule' in the CC.

I left that industry and became a dominatrix. Now THAT is a great way to make $. I'm still considering a return.

Cheers.

"I worked at the most lucrative club in a particular northeastern state and never saw anyone make that. I've seen girls make $1K a night, but usually rarely."

$1k a night is usually a rarity for me, too, but I usually come pretty close. Like tonight I made about $850. Were there dancers that left with about $200 or even less? Absolutely... maybe a lot of them.

More and more this biz is going toward regulars rather then hit and miss with customers you just met. I have a guy that comes to see me every Thursday and spends most of my whole shift in the champagne court, and many other regulars that come in to see me anywhere from a couple times a week to once or twice a month, and when they come in they SPEND... between all of them, I usually have a regular in there almost every shift (of course, not always the really big spenders). Regulars tend to come and go, but so long as you're constantly working on making new customers into regulars, you can still replace the ones that leave you eventually and still make good pretty steady money. Come to think of it, without my regulars I'd probably only be making about half of what I do now... maybe even less. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, it may be that it's also easier for me to sell to those guys I just met because they see me being busy making money and therefore, believe that I'm the girl in demand. I know it's always better for your bottom line to at least LOOK busy even if you aren't, but I've never really thought about it that way before... something to ponder.

There's a treasure trove of stupid girls in the biz these days (my God, you have NO idea how many and how stupid!)... they drink too much, "hang out" too much, aren't comfortable interacting with customers even when they're faking it for all their worth (and it still shows), and haven't a clue that it's all about SALES (you have to hustle like a used-car salesman every minute of down time, and they have that Jerry Springer misguided notion that customers will just throw all kinds of cash at them just for being naked). They waste time fussing in the dressing room and chatting/bitching with the other dancers about how much money they aren't making and how much it sucks... they often bitch and moan right in front of customers (can you say BUZZKILL?). The good thing about that is more than half the competition knocks themselves right out of the running, and you can run circles around them. And yeah, most of these girls hate me (screw them... I'm not there to socialize with co-workers any more then I would with customers that aren't spending... I've got no time for either).

Most girls also don't use the bartenders, waitresses and champagne hosts to make money... tip them a reasonable amount and those people will stear business your way (tip them well and they'll bust their hump to make the sale for you). They also don't use other dancers to help make a sale. It isn't hard for a guy to say no to a dancer, but it is harder for them when there's another dancer there encouraging him to spend ("double teaming")... actually, tonight I made about half my money double teaming with another dancer (by helping each other out, we both did well). Most girls also waste too much time on one customer... if they haven't bought from you in a few minutes you need to move on to the next. I watch girls every night wasting a half hour to an hour or more on ONE customer trying to make a sale before finally giving up and walking away with nothing. I watch girls every night that ignore the fat/ugly/old guys when those guys are the ones more likely to spend and instead waste their time on the young hunky beefcakes (who usually have the attitude of "I don't need to pay for it"). Oddly enough I still often sell at least some $20 dances to some of those guys simply because their ego can't take the fact that they aren't even on my radar screen.

Another good thing is that in this area the number of dancers is controlled so the customer to dancer ratio is more condusive to making money then in clubs where whoever wants to work can. I'll probably never work in a club that floods the place with dancers just so they can suck up as much house fees as they can.

"When we had no champagne courts a regular could come in and you could make $20 every three minutes 25% to the house. Then came the champagne courts and it was $100 a half an hour and 50% to the house. (You do the math.) They also had a 'no tipping rule' in the CC."

Now that's a weirdo club! No tipping? That's just bizarre. $50 for a half hour is wack. The club I worked at tonight (I do bookings at 2 different ones right now) charges the least I know of for a half hour champagne court at $200... the house takes $70 of that and the dancer gets the rest plus whatever additional tip she negotiates with the customer. But that's also relative depending on what champagne you sell - Verdi doesn't up the price of that half hour but Cristal makes you a bundle (naturally I'll always try to upsell the champagne). In this area the most expensive half hour champagne court that I've heard of is $400 (dancer gets 50%). Guys do buy them, but I doubt they sell that many there at that price especially with an upsell to Dom or Cristal. At both of the clubs I work at it's also nice that the customer can chose to not get champagne at all and instead get X number of drinks of their choice... nice because a lot of people simply don't like champagne and may be inclined to pass up the champagne court just because of that dislike.

"I left that industry and became a dominatrix. Now THAT is a great way to make $. I'm still considering a return."

Now that's something I've considered myself for awhile. I might pm you about that. Isn't it amazing how many guys out there are into being abused in one way or another? And it always seems to be guys that you'd never expect in a million years were into that! You might want to look into that again... I've been noticing that there are a LOT more guys coming into the club that really have an itch for that. Seems like a lot more guys are shifting from the schoolgirl thing to the leather and chains thing.

I'm pooped and I just ate too much, too fast... so now my feet hurt but I feel too gross to go soak them. Ugh.

and they shuttle visitors to them. So don't fool yourself into thinking NOT ALL OF NEVADA.

There's still plenty of illegal prostitution IN Nevada in those parts where it's not legal. The point was that it's not legal all over Nevada and under any circumstances (like street prostitution and incall/outcall)... doesn't mean it's not happening - of course it's happening, it's just not happening legally. I already know that people in Las Vegas are shuttled to or driving themselves to legal brothels in the places where it's legal. That pretty much stands to reason anyway. Same thing happens with strip clubs too... people migrate to where they can see more/get more or they get it/try to get it illegally where it's not legal to avoid having to migrate.

ACK! Gotta run off to work... dammit, DU swallowed me up again. I'll have to look for this thread when I get home.

:sarcasm:

nt

And many more former ones.

any cuties out there? (grin) (joke)

The three branches. The MSM. Lobbyists.

This ought to be interesting.

I've seen it so many times. Undercover cops come into a strip club. They get a lap dance and then fine the girl $500 for lewd behavior (because all lap dances are technically illegal), then she gets fired or at least chewed out by the management.

The police grope you, use you, then rob you and destroy your finances. All in one fell swoop! Naughty girl tryin' to pay for college!

... unless these are escort services whose ladies/gentlemen are crossing state lines? (Wasn't that the deal with Ashcroft's little New Orleans obsession?)

If it's strictly local, it's not their jurisdiction, I would think.

I was actually more okay with the FBI than the cops busting local ordinances. They wanted to get at the owners of the clubs who, in the North East often own businesses across state lines (NJ/PA/NY) and they use the girls to work their way up.

If they have a website associated with their club then it's interstate as well.

One time, we had an FBI guy that busted no one when he was on duty and then came back to party later.

RICO can be abused to have you conspiring with somebody you never, ever met just because you are doing the same thing. So, anything can be a Fed matter...

I doubt it.

or the corporate ones in government.

aren't they cracking down on the Johns???

Leave the sex workers alone.

:(

In Dallas, one of the 'tactics' to judge lewd behavior was if a cop got a hard-on (I shit you not) then it was lewd behavior. This was in a Dallas Observer article in October (I believe) of 1999. It also contained the quote..."For sex workers and their patrons, it's all fun and games, but for the community around them..."

NO. For the sex workers, it's survival. Just because someone is smiling at work doesn't necessarily mean they're smiling on the inside. Not to say that ALL sex workers dislike their jobs, but it's WORK no matter whether you like it or not! It's like saying the Ferris Wheel is really having a great time at the carnival, just look at it whirl!

I stopped dancing in 1999 and I stopped working in the adult industry all together in 2002. Friends have told me it has gotten much worse since *.

They are ALSO under the impression that the industry is a scary place to be right now. I read that statement and actually saw a video of the Sheriff saying it on some cable channel just a few weeks ago. What a PIG that guy was.

I understand the reason prostitutes do what they do and those that ENJOY it usually enjoy belittling the johns that patronize them far more than they enjoy dancing for them or whatever else they choose to do for them! I was initially very appalled at what I often heard my friends say about their customers, but I finally realized it was the best way they knew to make themselves feel like they held all the power. and some of them continued to do it for THAT exact reason. They held the ultimate power over men that had also victimized them at some point in their past. They still have NO respect for men whatsoever. i disagree with that assessment of men but I understand why they feel that way.

Strip clubs are bizarre places where men go to publically perform their masculinity. I've never been a prostitute but I imagine the clientele to be far more diverse in their reasons for contacting a professional. I've never really had a problem with a domination customer. They were pretty much uniformly good guys or just blank slates in black leather. It's hard to be a dickhead when you're paying a girl to beat you.

I'll get Jimmy Jeff to cover it right away!

... his lungs out about all his DC-area clients and his clients' friends? Not on your life... that would empty out about a quarter of the WH and a goodly part of Congress. :)

So Shrub is making it seem like he is attacking this sort of stuff, so the people will never expect anyone at ShrubCo. to be on the receiving end of a male prostitute.

I understand the Feds aren't all that thrilled with BushCo! That last raid was NOT federally funded. It was them trying to show HIM they could do it. They said that repeatedly. Did he cough up some money in the past week or so?

I'll keep it on the down low for a while.;-)