Crowns latest challenge! RFID

[RingyDingy]

Crown to introduce RFID chips.

Seems to be focussed around the counterfeit issues they have, given they have been taken for more rides than Paris Hilton.

It will be curious to see if they begin to introduce this as a measure of rating play or not.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/cro...-1225771698292

Sounds like a challenge to me

Question for the insiders - was this forced upon them by insurers?

[Katweezel]

Originally Posted by RingyDingy

Crown to introduce RFID chips.

Seems to be focussed around the counterfeit issues they have, given they have been taken for more rides than Paris Hilton.

It will be curious to see if they begin to introduce this as a measure of rating play or not.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/cro...-1225771698292

Sounds like a challenge to me

Question for the insiders - was this forced upon them by insurers?

Yeah, right Ringy. Crown thinks these new RFID chips are 'uncopyable.' They are probably correct, for a while. But their faith fails to take into account the ingenuity of the criminal mind when it turns its considerable talent to counterfeiting stuff. Time moves on, crims evolve, and still we are stuck with Crown and... James.

I've avoided the joint for quite a while. Are they still throwing drunks and card counters in the river?

[johndoe]

RFID chips aren't very hard to duplicate, it's something many capable (engineering) college kids can do. You can be sure that criminals can do so to.

What makes them worse is that they give a false sense of security to the casino, and due to their reliance on "unbreakable" RFID's, they'll slack in other areas of security.

[Katweezel]

Originally Posted by johndoe

RFID chips aren't very hard to duplicate, it's something many capable (engineering) college kids can do. You can be sure that criminals can do so to.

What makes them worse is that they give a false sense of security to the casino, and due to their reliance on "unbreakable" RFID's, they'll slack in other areas of security.

OK, but when you have a monopoly casino in a big city and the nearest casino is in another time zone or so far North it's in another galaxy, you are your own boss, and hopefully your own worst enemy. (The executive branch of this particular casino has a history of being exactly that: their own worst enemy.)

Down under, in recent years there has been a trend to lessen the number of table games in favor of machines. For example, Jupiters on the Gold Coast used to have three long lines of table games on the main floor. They made that two lines; of mini baccarat, carnival games and CSM-only blackjack. The extra space is now taken up by more slots... (set on 14%HE.)

This country has a problem with gambling. Last year punters lost around $8Billion on slots alone. @ about $30 week for every man, woman and child, you could say from those figures that Aussies are close to the dumbest gamblers on the planet. If you think that would probably cause a lot of social dislocation and strife, you would be correct. The two parties that benefit are partners in the crime: casinos and state governments. Each party is addicted to the bulk flow of easy cash, and each compliment the other's greed... Meanwhile, the golden cash cow that is slots, keeps on keeping on.

But it's not all doom and gloom for blackjack players. Anyone can get in their HR (high limit) room if you turn up with ten grand cash, look reasonable, are well-dressed, don't slur your words and show ID with a photo that looks something like you. That gets you a ticket to play with 6 or 8-deck hand-shuffled shoes with ordinary rules and free booze. But if they decide you count cards, you are outta there quick smart pal, with your papers stamped IN RED: DON'T LET THIS CHEATING MOFU IN HERE EVER AGAIN... HE COUNTS CARDS! But not to worry, there is another casino across the street, right? Nope. This ain't Nevada. The next nearest one is only 4.5 million light years away.

I wonder if there is a world-wide trend away from table games, in favor of machines?

[newb99]

A sad state of affairs. I have a young relative down under who is currently learning to count the cards, but there doesn't seem to be too many opportunities to play a shoe game without having $000s in his pocket.

Look's like some countries are a bit of a no-no for APs. Germany is one - all of the casinos are run by one chain who use CSM on all of the BJ tables. Even the famous casino in Baden-Baden uses the bloody things. Same in Greece, where it's a regulatory requirement that CSMs are used on all table card games. We seem to be reasonably we off in the UK then?

[Katweezel]

Originally Posted by newb99

A sad state of affairs. I have a young relative down under who is currently learning to count the cards, but there doesn't seem to be too many opportunities to play a shoe game without having $000s in his pocket.

Look's like some countries are a bit of a no-no for APs. Germany is one - all of the casinos are run by one chain who use CSM on all of the BJ tables. Even the famous casino in Baden-Baden uses the bloody things. Same in Greece, where it's a regulatory requirement that CSMs are used on all table card games. We seem to be reasonably we off in the UK then?

You must be very BJ-well off in the UK Newb, seeing as so few of your countrymen (or countrywomen) seem to be interested in saying anything much about it here... BTW, have you heard if any Blackjack gets played in Ireland? Don't hear much about Eire, to be sure, to be sure. Maybe Shadroch knows something?

So the UK is doin OK BJ-wise... Could this have anything to do with England as a Royalist Democracy? God save the Queen!

[newb99]

No, not at all. It's down to two things:-

The proscribed ruleset as laid down by the UK Gambling Commission that all licenced operators are obliged to follow - no altering the payouts to 6:5 or playing H17 here mate . . . yet.

The largest casino chain (Gala) not using CSMs on their table games, which I suspect is simply a cost issue. At around £1K a month each to lease (so I'm told) switching over to them will take a significant chunk out of the profits for each outlet - on looking at Gala Corals accounts for last year I reckon the switch could hit them for up to 20% on a unit's profitability, dependent on the number of tables they have to cover of course. And that doesn't take into account any loss in revenue from those regular BJ players who just wouldn't play them for whatever reason. What would the cost/benefits be for spending all of that extra money?

And despite what some of the board's US contributors may say, I can't see that the "insure naturals only rule" we have in the UK is any more disadvantageous to someone who counts than H17, at an additiona 0.21% on the HE, is.

So, things could certainly be worse. Quantas anyone ?

[Katweezel]

Originally Posted by newb99

No, not at all. It's down to two things:-

The proscribed ruleset as laid down by the UK Gambling Commission that all licenced operators are obliged to follow - no altering the payouts to 6:5 or playing H17 here mate . . . yet.

The largest casino chain (Gala) not using CSMs on their table games, which I suspect is simply a cost issue. At around £1K a month each to lease (so I'm told) switching over to them will take a significant chunk out of the profits for each outlet - on looking at Gala Corals accounts for last year I reckon the switch could hit them for up to 20% on a unit's profitability, dependent on the number of tables they have to cover of course. And that doesn't take into account any loss in revenue from those regular BJ players who just wouldn't play them for whatever reason. What would the cost/benefits be for spending all of that extra money?

And despite what some of the board's US contributors may say, I can't see that the "insure naturals only rule" we have in the UK is any more disadvantageous to someone who counts than H17, at an additiona 0.21% on the HE, is.

So, things could certainly be worse. Quantas anyone ?

Look, I hate to nitpick Newb, but it's Qantas, which originally stood for Queensland And Northern Territory Air Service. (No 'U' there.) They eventually decided to paint kangaroos on them, to give them more, uh, furriness or something. Their only claim to fame is that they never had a major disaster... yet. So depending which direction your superstition leans, they are a very safe airline, or they are due. (Seeing as they now sub-let a fair bit of maintenance to third-world airports so as to cut costs, I'd stick with BA.)
Any news on Ireland?

[newb99]

Some nice casinos in Dublin I'm told. Haven't got there myself yet though. I believe there was some info on one in a previous post in the Europe section of the board.

[Bradley Peterson]

The last time being about 7 years ago. That trip was to the Crown. At that time, is was fashionable for a counter (as well as safer) to back count on the main floor and just into shoes. I was told that in order for one to be barred at the time, that the casino had to compile at least 3 tapes of ones play and have them submitted and approved by some board or comission before one could be barred from blackjack. Is that still the case?