Casino's in North East England (Newcastle)

Today I decided to go and watch a couple of Blackjack tables and count just from a distance. I'm very much a beginner so wanted to try and understand what I'm trying to take on with all of this counting business.

My casino which I've used in the past has been in Newcastle - Aspers. I remembered very distinctively that they dealt from a shoe (from playing there a few months back) so I decided to go and check out and see if I could, count. Much to my horror I see a damn machine shuffling away at the cards They must have replaced the shoe for shuffling machines. Can anyone back this up? Maybe it was because I was there and they only had two tables on and it was very quiet, maybe later tonight or sat sat/sun when it's more busy they use more tables and don't have enough machines so use a shoe?

I can't think of any other casinos in Newcastle which use a shoe. Anyone with any suggestions? When I was at uni (graduated this month) I was in Leeds, Gala was so close and they use a shoe. No Gala near here Sunderland is closest.

Anyone with any info regarding this matter? Any recommendations? Looks like I'm going to have to start traveling further afield.


Si

Now you need to take a further look at this machines. You don't have to worry if it's a ASM, this speeds up the game and you can still count. This won't reduce your profits, but increase them since you can play more hands (unless you're a shuffle tracker). Look out for if they put the used cards straight back into the machine. If they do, then it's a CSM and impossible to count, so you'll have to find a shoe game.

Good luck

Thanks for that info Harman, hmmm thinking back to it..I'd say they played about one deck maybe a little more before putting them back into the machine. would that signal an CSM rather than a ASM? Or have I got that backwards? I've just been reading around and cant understand it properly. ASM they deal the lot then chuck them all in to shuffle up? CSM they continually put cards into the machine?

Thanks

Oh on the plus side, I decided to play. £20. Min bet £3, I walked away in 15mins with £50 was oh so happy. Best hand was when I had 'AA', split got and 'AK' and 'AA' re-split and got A9 and A8 and the dealer bust! Excellent.

Congrats with the win. Only dealing one deck makes this game unplayable, and I guess it means it's a CSM. To clear things up:

ASM (automatic shuffler) The dealer plays it like a normal shoe, putting the used cards in the discard tray until he had dealt as much as he usually would in a shoe. Then he just puts them all back into the machine after they have all been played. This saves him time because he doesn't have to shuffle

CSM (continuous shuffler) The dealer puts each hand of used cards back in the machine, so the count can never get very high. These are rare in the big casinos and unpopular because of their price and annoyance to High Rollers.

Unfortunately, it probably was a CSM you saw rather than an ASM (as Herman explained.)

However, how many tables does this casino have? Were you watching a low stakes game?

Many casinos use CSM's on their tables because without the need for any kind of stopping of play such as shuffling, the game is speeded up by 20% and therefore increases table profits by 20%.

However many people don't like CSM's so they aren't necessarily on every table, in fact they are less likely to be used on larger stakes tables. If you didn't look at all the games, I would suggest taking another look before dismissing this casino.

(By the way the card's can be returned to a CSM at any point, but usally between every other hand to about 1.5 decks depending on the casino and the dealer)

Thanks guys. CSM it was then

I've been there a few times in the past but that has mainly been late night when the place is really busy, then there has been I would say 3-4 tables. Today when very quiet, the place only had two tables £3 min and £5 min. Both had CSM machines. I'm going to have to go back tomorrow night, maybe 11/12pm check it out again and hopefully..they will have more tables and a shoe present.

I wouldn't try your look in this Casino. (Just a few hours journey over to Manchester where they don't use CSMs.)

They also play deep in, 90% penetration in some cases

The table doesn't need to be open to tell if they are using a CSM on not. Its a big bulky shuffler that sits where the card shoe would normally be.

The first thing I do when going to a casino is have a look around at all the casino games opened or closed and make a mental note of CSM or shoes and also table limits for BJ.

Also, don't be shy, ask the casino staff if they have a table that doesn't use CSM's. This is a normal question from a non-counter because people simply don't trust them. If they say they only use CSM's then tell you won't play in their casino for that reason. The more people that continue to do this, the less of them we will see.

But couldn't this also be a ASM?? Don't you need to see if the dealer keeps putting the cards back, or do you know the names written on the side?

Well when I went in yesterday It was really quiet and they only had two tables set up. Now I know for a fact that they have more than that as I've seen before.

Anyway, I didn't have to go last night as my brother called me and told me he was going to Aspers (after going to a beer festival...I was worried for him and his bank balance :laugh any way I managed to get a message through to his brain to check the BJ tables for me and to my relief...there were 3 tables dealing from a shoe and 2 others dealing from CSM's. Excellent. Back to intense practising I go. Trying to explain the difference in a shuffling machine as oposed to a shoe took some doing but I get there in the end!!

So, for anyone in the NE I can confirm for you that if you want to count in Newcastle - Aspers is the place to go, that said however it will have to be busy so they have more tables open.

Si

An ASM only shuffles the cards, once this is done they are placed in a normal shoe to be dealt from. So a shoe will be on the table (if they not using CSM's) regardless if the cards are shuffled manually or with an ASM.