A recent G2E conference session in Las Vegas gave me a chance to hear industry insiders talk about the current usage of RFID (Radio Frequency ID) technology inside casinos.  This technology uses radio tags embedded in casino chips to authenticate the chips, and to enable more accurate data gathering on the casino floor.  The idea has been around for a number of years now, with Wynn Las Vegas using the system since 2005.  In the years since, the technology has slowly improved and more casinos have begun to use the chips.  An expert speaker at the conference indicated that perhaps 40 casinos in the US are currently utilizing radio-enabled chips.

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Blackjack has always offered a great value in the casino for anyone willing to learn basic strategy. Without card counting, a player that uses an accurate basic strategy at the table can play games at most casinos with substantially under half a percent house edge. Even the worst rules and conditions rarely exceed a house edge of 0.8%.

If you are a recreational player, you can consistently overcome that small edge with the value you receive from comps of free rooms and food. Why is it possible to get back more in comp value than your actual expected loss?

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If you are a skilled blackjack player, you are well aware that a surveillance operator could be watching your play at any time, using the network of cameras that dot the ceiling above every casino floor.  But, did you know that a computer could be watching you instead?

With technology already in use in the casino industry, your play can be analyzed automatically without human intervention.
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The James Grosjean and Michael Russo case against Caesars Palace and Griffin Investigations is done, and the jury ruled in favor of Grosjean and Russo, awarding $100,000 in actual damages. Caesars chose to settle with the plaintiffs before the punitive damage portion of the jury deliberations, but Griffin did not. The jury awarded an additional $25,000 to the plaintiffs from defendant Griffin for punitive damages.

For those unfamiliar with the case, Grosjean and Russo were legally hole-carding at the game of three card poker, and were detained by Caesars and accused of card-bending, based on their listings in Griffin Investigations subscription-based service for casinos. Griffin was found by the jury to have been guilty of libel and defamation for having listed the two as cheats with no evidence.

A Las Vegas Review Journal article about the case can be found here:
Caesars settles, Griffin Investigations owes punitive damages

An item in today’s Las Vegas Mercury discusses various casino advantage players and their tactics. It covers a broad spectrum including card counting, hole card play, sports betting, poker, and even craps.

The article starts with a few paragraphs about Eliot “The Mayor” Jacobson, whose new book The Blackjack Zone is available at the BlackjackInfo store.

Stanford Wong weighs in on his new passion, beating the game of craps, long thought by advantage gamblers to be unbeatable.

Bob Nersesian, the Las Vegas attorney who in recent years has taken on several high profile cases representing advantage players is quoted as well.

I’m excited about this addition to the site. Kevin Blackwood, author of The Counter and the upcoming Play Blackjack Like the Pros has agreed to bring his considerable talents aboard and help populate the new Card Counting section of the site.

Already available is an article entitled World’s Greatest Job. Check it out!

My recent post about a $99,999 judgement against Imperial Palace casino in Las Vegas included only the actual damages awarded in the case. Since then, the case has returned to the courtroom where the jury awarded an additional $500,000 in punitive damages. Law caps the punitive damages in this case to $300,000, so the plaintiff James Grosjean stands to collect $1 under $400K for the incident that occurred in Nov 2001.

James Grosjean is the author of ‘Beyond Counting’, an excellent book covering advantage play techniques that have never been published elsewhere. (It’s regrettably out of print now.) Grosjean was also one of the 25 players who competed in the the first season World Series of Blackjack on GSN.

Here’s a link to the Las Vegas Sun’s coverage of the Grosjean/IP case:

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/gaming/2004/nov/05/517780711.html

Speaking of World Series of Blackjack, I’m in Las Vegas this week for the filming of WSOB season 2. This time, 40 players compete for $500K in prize money. The thirteen shows will air beginning January 11th, 2005.

An article by John Grochowski in today’s Chicago Sun Times describes an interesting session at the recent Global Gaming Expo. The session was called “Game Protection: Advantage Players”, and one of the speakers was Max Rubin, an author, casino consultant, and expert on advantage players and their tactics.

His view was definitely in the minority from the sounds of the article, but he advocated that casinos spend a lot less time chasing card counters, and more time focusing on the basic business of offering blackjack.

Here’s the whole article:

http://www.suntimes.com/output/grochowski/wkp-news-bet29.html