Turning Stone removed hole card mirrors

[Scorcho]

In a bit of interesting news that makes the game at TS slightly more playable. I was there and saw that they pulled out the hole card mirrors, so now all the dealers pull up the corners to peek at the hole card. This is leading to some fairly warped cards. Something to keep in mind when picking a seat at the tables. Not nearly enough to make the game really playable but if you're up for a challenge this'll give you a little bit of an added edge.

[zengrifter]

Do they check under 10s, or just play out the round without checking? zg

[shadroch]

There was a thread about this on another site. A poster who claims to have been trained by some MIT guys wrote about it several months ago,saying the game was very beatable.

[Mikeaber]

I'm curious. The peeking mirrors: Are they available to purchase? I've looked and haven't been able to find them for sale. The reason I ask is that one Pit Boss once told me that they didn't use them because they couldn't buy them outright...they had to pay a monthly fee to use them on their tables.

[Scorcho]

Originally Posted by zengrifter

Do they check under 10s, or just play out the round without checking? zg

They check under 10s, and when I was at the tournament there yesterday there was a considerable amount of warping on the cards, it was mainly in the middle but if you got an inexperienced dealer there you could probably catch a decent amount of cards, the sheer bend in them surprised me very much.

As far as TS being very beatable, it's 8 decks, and pretty standard rules, DAS, stand on S17, nothing fancy, so if it's beatable then I'm missing out on something.

[shadroch]

Okay,Answering two posts in this.
Mike A.-According to the thread in the Hit and Stand forum,these mirrors are leased for $5 a day per table.
Scorcho-Read Bojack1s posts about TS( on the Hit or Stand forums). According to him,the game is quite winnable.He takes advantage of the warped cards and also uses a cut card technique.
I'm just repeating what I've read there,but he comes off as pretty believable,unlike many.

[ScottH]

I'm not completely clear on how you take advantage of the bent cards. I would think that all cards, low and high would be bent, so you wouldn't be able to tell if the bent card is a 10 or ace, or low card. I am just thinking this since all cards are checked(and bent), not just tens.

[Scorcho]

Originally Posted by ScottH

I'm not completely clear on how you take advantage of the bent cards. I would think that all cards, low and high would be bent, so you wouldn't be able to tell if the bent card is a 10 or ace, or low card. I am just thinking this since all cards are checked(and bent), not just tens.

It's more about physically seeing what the cards are by the warped corners, from what I understand.

Shad - It's quite possible he's right, This was the first time I've been there since they've pulled the mirrors and if someone's found a way to beat TS then that's great news for me. I'll check it out.

[ScottH]

Originally Posted by Scorcho

It's more about physically seeing what the cards are by the warped corners, from what I understand.

To actually see the card would require a pretty decent bend. I thought casinos changed their cards often enough to keep them "newish".

[Scorcho]

The idea is to look for a new or sloppy dealer who isn't as good at handling the cards, maybe they'll bend them up further. There's also the ace for 4 mistake, where a dealer will give a player a "tell" by checking a card twice or doing a little double take, if they do that there's usually a good chance that the down card is a 4, as it looks similar to an ace, and at times the dealer will flip the 4 thinking it's an ace and then you have a big advantage because now you know what the dealer has.

I checked out Bo's post at H or S, it's a good post, and if you're extremely good at shuffle tracking and cutting to the back then maybe it's worth it. I don't have the bankroll to currently test the theory myself but maybe I'll start tracking just to have the knowledge under my belt.

Another upside to TS is that the play tends to go slow. I was practicing backcounting while waiting for the tourney I was in to start and found I was able to keep up solidly, and that's with being out of practice for eight months. So maybe I'm too harsh on the game based on the rules alone, it's something I'll definitly be keeping my eye on.