Best games in AC now?
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ATLANTIC CITY BLACKJACK REPORT
Excerpted from BJ Insider #33
(Dead link: http://www.casino.com/newsletter/blackjack/archive/volume33.asp)
ATLANTIC CITY BLACKJACK REPORT
BY ALENE PAONE & FRANK SCOBLETE
(Editor's Note: We welcome Frank Scoblete's contribution to the Blackjack
Insider. Scoblete is the #1 best-selling gaming author in America and the
author of "Best Blackjack").
The Most Successful AC Casinos Offer the Best Blackjack Games
Last issue we mentioned those games that are good for card counters, that
is, games with good penetration, are also games that are good for casinos.
The reason is obvious -- the deeper the house goes into the decks, the more
hands are played; the more hands that are played, the more basic strategy
and bad players lose, but the more card counters can win. Since the
overwhelming majority of AC (and Vegas, and Mississippi, etc.) players are
not even playing basic strategy properly, the legions of the long-run losers
overwhelmingly outnumber the long-term winners and they are playing against
edges of one or more percent. As we stated last issue, savvy casino
executives are aware of this and are rather tolerant of card counters at
their good games because they know the losers more than compensate them for
the few pennies per dollar the counter can come away with.
With the latest AC statistics in our hands, we have noticed a curious
thing - the gaming revenue in AC directly reflects the type of blackjack
games given at many casinos. While this should come as no surprise to the
astute readers of this newsletter, the numbers are stunning, especially for
casinos that have tinkered with their blackjack games in the last few
months, and every casino executive should look closely at the stats and
consider making their blackjack games "more beatable" so that their casinos
can make more money!
We have been touting the Resorts BJ game for several issues now - ever since
they went to fairly deep cuts in the spring. Have these relatively new deep
cuts helped the bottom line? We think they have. A look at the July, 2002 AC
statistics sees Resorts showing a whopping 13% increase in revenue over July
of 2001. Let's check the flip side; the very worst AC blackjack is now found
at the Sands, where they have few tables (maybe six to eight), all of them
eight deck with shallow cuts. Sands has become a slot casino, like Sassy
Sally's. And what has happened? Their revenues are down an incredible 23.9%.
Another awful game is found at Tropicana, shallow cuts, overreacting pit
personnel, and revenues down by almost 9%.
Of the casinos that we rated three stars or more for August, only two, Bally
's and Hilton, have seen a decline in revenue, a mere 0.7% for Bally's -
probably due to the fact that they reduced the number of blackjack tables
recently - and 3.3% for Hilton, whose cuts in July were not as deep in 2002
as they were in 2001 when it had the best game in all of AC!
Of the other AC casinos, those whose games have remained consistently
mediocre or bad, some have seen increases in their revenues due to slot
holds, etc. Obviously, revenue percentages take into account more than just
blackjack. Yet, the casinos that have seriously fiddled with their blackjack
games have seen an immediate impact on the bottom line - awful in the case
of Sands; excellent in the case of Resorts.
Here are our ratings for September, 2002.
Rating system:
***** = Excellent
**** = Very Good
*** = Good
** = Fair
* = Poor.
BALLY'S PARK PLACE: Penetration is excellent on the six-deck games in the
high-roller pit with standard one-deck cutoffs. The paranoia level is not
great here and the pit is friendly. The rest of the casino is the standard
AC eight-deck games with penetration that varies but is consistently more
than 75-80 percent. Some tables have been changed to Let It Ride and Three
Card Poker. You can resplit for a total of three hands, but aces can only be
split once. You will be hard pressed to find many $10 games lately, much
less $5 games. Weekends are $15 and up. Multiple Action and Spanish 21 are
also available for minimums of $10. Always crowded. ****
continued - (Dead link: http://www.casino.com/newsletter/blackjack/archive/volume33.asp)
Excerpted from BJ Insider #33
(Dead link: http://www.casino.com/newsletter/blackjack/archive/volume33.asp)
ATLANTIC CITY BLACKJACK REPORT
BY ALENE PAONE & FRANK SCOBLETE
(Editor's Note: We welcome Frank Scoblete's contribution to the Blackjack
Insider. Scoblete is the #1 best-selling gaming author in America and the
author of "Best Blackjack").
The Most Successful AC Casinos Offer the Best Blackjack Games
Last issue we mentioned those games that are good for card counters, that
is, games with good penetration, are also games that are good for casinos.
The reason is obvious -- the deeper the house goes into the decks, the more
hands are played; the more hands that are played, the more basic strategy
and bad players lose, but the more card counters can win. Since the
overwhelming majority of AC (and Vegas, and Mississippi, etc.) players are
not even playing basic strategy properly, the legions of the long-run losers
overwhelmingly outnumber the long-term winners and they are playing against
edges of one or more percent. As we stated last issue, savvy casino
executives are aware of this and are rather tolerant of card counters at
their good games because they know the losers more than compensate them for
the few pennies per dollar the counter can come away with.
With the latest AC statistics in our hands, we have noticed a curious
thing - the gaming revenue in AC directly reflects the type of blackjack
games given at many casinos. While this should come as no surprise to the
astute readers of this newsletter, the numbers are stunning, especially for
casinos that have tinkered with their blackjack games in the last few
months, and every casino executive should look closely at the stats and
consider making their blackjack games "more beatable" so that their casinos
can make more money!
We have been touting the Resorts BJ game for several issues now - ever since
they went to fairly deep cuts in the spring. Have these relatively new deep
cuts helped the bottom line? We think they have. A look at the July, 2002 AC
statistics sees Resorts showing a whopping 13% increase in revenue over July
of 2001. Let's check the flip side; the very worst AC blackjack is now found
at the Sands, where they have few tables (maybe six to eight), all of them
eight deck with shallow cuts. Sands has become a slot casino, like Sassy
Sally's. And what has happened? Their revenues are down an incredible 23.9%.
Another awful game is found at Tropicana, shallow cuts, overreacting pit
personnel, and revenues down by almost 9%.
Of the casinos that we rated three stars or more for August, only two, Bally
's and Hilton, have seen a decline in revenue, a mere 0.7% for Bally's -
probably due to the fact that they reduced the number of blackjack tables
recently - and 3.3% for Hilton, whose cuts in July were not as deep in 2002
as they were in 2001 when it had the best game in all of AC!
Of the other AC casinos, those whose games have remained consistently
mediocre or bad, some have seen increases in their revenues due to slot
holds, etc. Obviously, revenue percentages take into account more than just
blackjack. Yet, the casinos that have seriously fiddled with their blackjack
games have seen an immediate impact on the bottom line - awful in the case
of Sands; excellent in the case of Resorts.
Here are our ratings for September, 2002.
Rating system:
***** = Excellent
**** = Very Good
*** = Good
** = Fair
* = Poor.
BALLY'S PARK PLACE: Penetration is excellent on the six-deck games in the
high-roller pit with standard one-deck cutoffs. The paranoia level is not
great here and the pit is friendly. The rest of the casino is the standard
AC eight-deck games with penetration that varies but is consistently more
than 75-80 percent. Some tables have been changed to Let It Ride and Three
Card Poker. You can resplit for a total of three hands, but aces can only be
split once. You will be hard pressed to find many $10 games lately, much
less $5 games. Weekends are $15 and up. Multiple Action and Spanish 21 are
also available for minimums of $10. Always crowded. ****
continued - (Dead link: http://www.casino.com/newsletter/blackjack/archive/volume33.asp)
Re: ATLANTIC CITY BLACKJACK REPORT
There is also a volume 34 that has slightly newer info. Like I said before, Resorts has a terrible cut when I was there. I have't checked it out yet, but there is a $5 game that is open until 4am or so at Bally's (I thought I overheard it was on a different floor than the regular casino but I can't confirm this). I will be able to give you better info next week and you can email me at [email protected]
There is also a volume 34 that has slightly newer info. Like I said before, Resorts has a terrible cut when I was there. I have't checked it out yet, but there is a $5 game that is open until 4am or so at Bally's (I thought I overheard it was on a different floor than the regular casino but I can't confirm this). I will be able to give you better info next week and you can email me at [email protected]