L'Auberge du Lac, Lake Charles, LA Conditions

[KenSmith]

On Wednesday June 1st, I checked out the brand-new L'Auberge du Lac casino in Lake Charles Louisiana. The casino had been open less than a week when I was there, but everything went surprisingly smoothly.

First, a few notes about the property. It's elegant, comfortable, and huge. My wife described the style as "cowboy lodge chic", which is pretty accurate. Every room has a 32" flat-screen TV, high speed internet access, two phones, and AM/FM/CD alarm clocks.

Our room was quite comfortable including perhaps the most comfortable hotel bed I've ever slept on. FYI, Midweek Internet rates at the hotel are $79 plus tax. I hear they are sold out for weekends for months ahead. That's surprising, because the hotel tower is 26 floors, with over 700 rooms.

Their website is http://www.ldlcasino.com

The casino itself reminds me a lot of Barona Casino near San Diego.

Now, on to the blackjack:

First, they have a chip tracking system installed. Every playing chip has an embedded radio transmitting chip. Every table has a system that can read exactly how much you have bet. No more fooling the pit for extra comps by betting more when they're looking. The system automatically calculates your average bet.

The good news is that this is not the 'Mind Play' system which also tracks what cards are dealt. So, there's no automated counter catcher system. Still, I'm sure they have the ability to zero in on players who are varying their bets widely. If I had to guess, you might be safer with a bigger bet spread rather than a more traditional small bet spread. That way your action will look more like a wild gambler than a calculated minimum to maximum bet spread.

What games you will find:

All the games are S17 (Dealer stands on all 17s), RSA (Resplit Aces), DAS (Dbl after split).

On the main floor:
4 Two-decks, 50% - 60% dealt, $10/$15/$25 to $5000.
18 Six-decks, 66% - 70% dealt, $5/$10/$15/$25 to $5000.
5 Four-deck continuous shufflers, 12% - 15% dealt before reinserting cards into shuffler, $10 to $1000.
(Interesting that the limits are lower on the CSMs.)

In the high-limit room:
4 Two-decks, 50% - 60% dealt, $25/$50/$100 to $10,000.
8 Six-decks, 66% dealt, $50/$100 to $5000/$10,000.

There are lots of break-in dealers on the floor at the moment, so you can expect to see a lot of mistakes.

[tribute]

Just returned from my first trip to L'Auberge. I play often in Louisiana and this place is first class. It's big, quiet, and the games are decent. I wish I had asked about ratings and comps. I mostly played 2D, $10 mins. Not sure what it takes to get a comped room. The dealers and pit crew were very nice. I did see more dealer mistakes than usual. Many of the employees came over from the indian casino in Kinder where I also enjoy playing.

[lagavulin62]

ken,

yeah what timing. I just got back, took us about 2 hours to drive each way from houston. didn't take enough cash to get in for a decent play, was waiting for the 5 dollar chip tables. actually with the weekend and all I knew it would be packed and min 10-15 dollars tables but the main thing was to check out the place, watch and count some shoes and see if the games seemed to be fair. got to agree with you that it is a first class place. hopefully they will keep the csm's down to just a few. I was really surprised at how the dealers dealt. I mean was expecting a little more work counting, didn't think it would be that easy but yeah, many of the dealers were making mistakes and some were so slow it was impossible to lose the count. of course I was only backcounting and not playing. even the fastest dealers I had no problems keeping up with. hopefully this will not change. it sure looked like the penetration was good. I have been using KO and the count was many times ranging higher than it does when I practice using casino verite. in fact, after the first few times I had to ask the pit man to make sure they were using 6 decks, thought maybe I was counting an 8 deck.

I do have one big concern. just when I think I have it down something else comes up with this insurance thing. when the dealer peaks under the ace, if they have blackjack, does that beat or push another persons natural blackjack? several times the dealer had blackjack and immediately scooped up all the bets and I don't remember if anyone else had a blackjack. shouldn't they pay a natural to a player even before they peek at their hole card?

then one more question. I thought I saw a dealer peak at the whole card when he had a 10 up. he didn't have an ace under and continued on. what is this? was I seeing things?

I know my questions may sound silly but thanks for your input.

mike

[tribute]

Dealers always look under their 10's immediately to check for blackjacks. If an Ace is beneath, they go ahead and flip the blackjack over and collect player bets.

[lagavulin62]

ok thanks for the help but still a little unclear. when you say the dealer then collects the bets after the blackjack what do you mean? do the players still have an opportunity to draw to at least a push? if a player has a natural blackjack does that push the dealers or is it lost to the dealers blackjack?

[tribute]

Let's look at the scenarios:

1) Dealer has an ACE up. You have a blackjack. Dealer first asks if you want "even money" on your natural. You say yes. Dealer immediately pays you. Dealer then checks the hole card and finds a 10 giving her a blackjack.

2) Dealer has a 10 or face card up. You have a blackjack. Dealer checks the hole card and finds an Ace. You now have a tie or (push). In this case you do not have the option for getting paid "even money".

Note: If you are a basic strategy player, never take "even money" on your blackjacks. It is the same as insurance and you lose more in the long run. It is a bad side bet that favors the house.

[lagavulin62]

ok, we're just about there. one more twist to this continuing saga.

i'm counting cards and the count calls for me to take insurance. I draw a blackjack and the dealer has ace up. he then asks if I want to take even money for my blackjack and I say yes, he pays me. then I also put up half my original bet for the insurance wager? is the the way I need to play this?

[tribute]

When you said "yes" for even money, the dealer simply pays you and its over. You did not go through the mechanics of actually placing the half-bet side wager and collecting as a separate operation. It was simplified in one easy step and essentially accomplished the same thing. So, no, you do not physically place the side bet wager after accepting "even money".

[lagavulin62]

ok that makes it understandable. so in summary, regardless of what option or insurance deal they have set up I need to take it when the count calls for it? I understand what you mean about being a simplified version of the whole process. thanks again.

mike

[tribute]

lagavulin62,
How long have you played BJ? Do you play in Louisiana? Have you been to L'Auberge?