Any good Casinos in or near Denver, CO?
- Thread starter bj4life
- Start date
blackriver
Well-Known Member
Lots of low stakes games in black hawk. I think they used to have flat bet only blackjack and poker years ago when I was there
noharmnofoul
Active Member
I would like to know this as well, as I'll be in Denver all of next week.
Found a place called Fortune Valley Hotel and Casino. I'm considering checking that out in the next couple of days. I'll report back if it was any good.
(Dead link: http://www.fortunevalleycasino.com/index.php/location)
Might check out black hawk but it says it only has 9 table games. Might be a little small to try to play.
(Dead link: http://www.fortunevalleycasino.com/index.php/location)
Might check out black hawk but it says it only has 9 table games. Might be a little small to try to play.
The CBJN lists a side bet there called streak. It pays on consecutive wins usually:
2 wins pays 3:1
3 wins pays 8:1
4 wins pays 18:1
5 wins pays 38:1
Anyone familiar with the side bet?
suicyco maniac
Well-Known Member
Fortune Valley is in Blackhawk/Central City. There are several small casinos there that offer BJ with $100 maximum bets and a free bus that runs between them all.
http://www.blackhawkcolorado.com/
FLASH1296
Well-Known Member
F R O M …
http://wizardofodds.com/blackjack/appendix8.html#streak
Streak is an optional blackjack side bet I noticed at Caesars in Atlantic City in April of 2000. Since that time I have seen it displayed at the Global Gaming Expo, where I have been given rule updates. Streak is a simple bet on winning a specified number of consecutive bets. If the player splits then it is the net win that counts toward whether the hand as a whole won or lost. For example if the player split and won one hand and pushed the other the hand would count as a net win. In the event of a push or breaking even after a split the hand would not count for purposes of the side bet, neither advancing the number of consecutive wins nor breaking the winning streak. The player may bet on a winning streak from 2 to 5, or as many of these as desired.
My blackjack appendix 4 addresses the probability of a net win or loss. However that table includes surrender, which is usually not offered, and a player may decline to take anyway, if a Streak bet were on the line. So I reran my simulation with the following rules: six decks, dealer stands on soft 17, no surrender, player may split up to four hands, double on any two cards, double after split allowed, resplit aces not allowed, cut card used. Here are the results of the simulation.
Net Win in Blackjack
Net win Simulation
Total Probability Return
8 1400 0.000001 0.000006
7 12763 0.000007 0.000048
6 76258 0.000041 0.000245
5 284607 0.000152 0.000762
4 1435913 0.000769 0.003077
3 4584941 0.002456 0.007368
2 114511009 0.061343 0.122686
1.5 84495618 0.045264 0.067896
1 603601989 0.323348 0.323348
0 163884660 0.087793 0
-1 805017526 0.431246 -0.431246
-2 83647458 0.04481 -0.089619
-3 3984819 0.002135 -0.006404
-4 963035 0.000516 -0.002064
-5 180925 0.000097 -0.000485
-6 37217 0.00002 -0.00012
-7 5072 0.000003 -0.000019
-8 417 0 -0.000002
Total 1866725627 1 -0.004521
The lower right cell shows a house edge of 0.4521%. This may look a bit high for the rules, especially against my blackjack calculator. Most house edge figures, including those of my calculator are based on a continuously shuffled game. The use of a cut card, as was the case in this simulation, adds 0.02% to the house edge with six decks. For more information on the cut card effect please see my blackjack appendix 10.
Adding up the wins and losses we get the following.
Net Win in Blackjack
Event Probability
Win 43.34%
Loss 47.88%
Tie 8.78%
Win given no tie 47.51%
Loss given no tie 52.49%
The probability of winning n hands in a row is simply 0.4751n. The following return tables show the pay table, probability of winning, and return for all four streak bets, under both the new and old rules.
Streak Bet Return Table - New Rules
Streak
Bet Pays Probability
Win Return
2 3 0.225712 -0.097154
3 8 0.107234 -0.034898
4 18 0.050946 -0.032032
5 38 0.024204 -0.05605
The table above shows that under the new, more liberal, rules the best bet is on a streak of 4, with a house edge of 3.20%.
Streak Bet Return Table - Old Rules
Streak
Bet Pays Probability
Win Return
2 3 0.225712 -0.097154
3 7 0.107234 -0.142132
4 17 0.050946 -0.082978
5 37 0.024204 -0.080254
http://wizardofodds.com/blackjack/appendix8.html#streak
Streak is an optional blackjack side bet I noticed at Caesars in Atlantic City in April of 2000. Since that time I have seen it displayed at the Global Gaming Expo, where I have been given rule updates. Streak is a simple bet on winning a specified number of consecutive bets. If the player splits then it is the net win that counts toward whether the hand as a whole won or lost. For example if the player split and won one hand and pushed the other the hand would count as a net win. In the event of a push or breaking even after a split the hand would not count for purposes of the side bet, neither advancing the number of consecutive wins nor breaking the winning streak. The player may bet on a winning streak from 2 to 5, or as many of these as desired.
My blackjack appendix 4 addresses the probability of a net win or loss. However that table includes surrender, which is usually not offered, and a player may decline to take anyway, if a Streak bet were on the line. So I reran my simulation with the following rules: six decks, dealer stands on soft 17, no surrender, player may split up to four hands, double on any two cards, double after split allowed, resplit aces not allowed, cut card used. Here are the results of the simulation.
Net Win in Blackjack
Net win Simulation
Total Probability Return
8 1400 0.000001 0.000006
7 12763 0.000007 0.000048
6 76258 0.000041 0.000245
5 284607 0.000152 0.000762
4 1435913 0.000769 0.003077
3 4584941 0.002456 0.007368
2 114511009 0.061343 0.122686
1.5 84495618 0.045264 0.067896
1 603601989 0.323348 0.323348
0 163884660 0.087793 0
-1 805017526 0.431246 -0.431246
-2 83647458 0.04481 -0.089619
-3 3984819 0.002135 -0.006404
-4 963035 0.000516 -0.002064
-5 180925 0.000097 -0.000485
-6 37217 0.00002 -0.00012
-7 5072 0.000003 -0.000019
-8 417 0 -0.000002
Total 1866725627 1 -0.004521
The lower right cell shows a house edge of 0.4521%. This may look a bit high for the rules, especially against my blackjack calculator. Most house edge figures, including those of my calculator are based on a continuously shuffled game. The use of a cut card, as was the case in this simulation, adds 0.02% to the house edge with six decks. For more information on the cut card effect please see my blackjack appendix 10.
Adding up the wins and losses we get the following.
Net Win in Blackjack
Event Probability
Win 43.34%
Loss 47.88%
Tie 8.78%
Win given no tie 47.51%
Loss given no tie 52.49%
The probability of winning n hands in a row is simply 0.4751n. The following return tables show the pay table, probability of winning, and return for all four streak bets, under both the new and old rules.
Streak Bet Return Table - New Rules
Streak
Bet Pays Probability
Win Return
2 3 0.225712 -0.097154
3 8 0.107234 -0.034898
4 18 0.050946 -0.032032
5 38 0.024204 -0.05605
The table above shows that under the new, more liberal, rules the best bet is on a streak of 4, with a house edge of 3.20%.
Streak Bet Return Table - Old Rules
Streak
Bet Pays Probability
Win Return
2 3 0.225712 -0.097154
3 7 0.107234 -0.142132
4 17 0.050946 -0.082978
5 37 0.024204 -0.080254
Friendo
Well-Known Member
Do your due diligence
Give Fortune Valley a pass: it has the worst penetration in the Black Hawk & Central City areas.
Black Hawk is H17, while Central City is S17. But Central City tends toward worse penetration and less tolerance for action above $50. The quality of the games and dealers in Black Hawk is better, although there are dealers all over town who are arithmetically challenged.
Scouting pays off. If you're only in town during a business trip, you won't have the time to find the best opportunities, but CBJN has good enough data to point you in the right direction.
Be nice to the voodoo-worshipping ploppies next to you: sometimes they're dealers in other stores.
No need to hang around any one place, because there's always another one waiting up the road.
Surprisingly for a place at 8500 feet and 45 minutes from Denver, the weeknights are busy. You'll get more play while the sun is up.
I doubt that there are more than a tiny number of advantage players around Black Hawk or Central City. The effect of counters on the bottom line must be effectively nil, seeing as the betting limits are so low and the regular customers are so eager to double their hard 16s instead of their 11s.
Give Fortune Valley a pass: it has the worst penetration in the Black Hawk & Central City areas.
Black Hawk is H17, while Central City is S17. But Central City tends toward worse penetration and less tolerance for action above $50. The quality of the games and dealers in Black Hawk is better, although there are dealers all over town who are arithmetically challenged.
Scouting pays off. If you're only in town during a business trip, you won't have the time to find the best opportunities, but CBJN has good enough data to point you in the right direction.
Be nice to the voodoo-worshipping ploppies next to you: sometimes they're dealers in other stores.
No need to hang around any one place, because there's always another one waiting up the road.
Surprisingly for a place at 8500 feet and 45 minutes from Denver, the weeknights are busy. You'll get more play while the sun is up.
I doubt that there are more than a tiny number of advantage players around Black Hawk or Central City. The effect of counters on the bottom line must be effectively nil, seeing as the betting limits are so low and the regular customers are so eager to double their hard 16s instead of their 11s.
noharmnofoul
Active Member
Thank you for the input! I'll have one day free to play, doubtful I can fit in a second. I'm only in town for a week and have a pretty busy schedule.
Black Hawk Player
New Member
Any good Casino0s in or near Denver, CO
Hope you haven't left yet. The best blackjack in Colorado is at a small casino in Central City - Johnny Zs. It has double deck with great penetration, double on anything and stand on soft 17. Minimum is $10, max $100. The next best place is also in Central City - Famous Bonanza. It has double deck, same rules except double on 9 and 10 only, minimum $5.
Hope you haven't left yet. The best blackjack in Colorado is at a small casino in Central City - Johnny Zs. It has double deck with great penetration, double on anything and stand on soft 17. Minimum is $10, max $100. The next best place is also in Central City - Famous Bonanza. It has double deck, same rules except double on 9 and 10 only, minimum $5.
Zach Black
Active Member
Don't expect much in central city..good rules.... not enough tables to wong effectively. The table max is 100 which will get check play.
The dealers for the double deck will move the cut card soon as you start spreading and winning to less than .50 pen. Can't camp out long. Mostly poor players, but I've seen a couple CC's at work.
Blackhawk has some bigger joints, not great rules but in the late afternoon can be good for a little hit and run.
The dealers for the double deck will move the cut card soon as you start spreading and winning to less than .50 pen. Can't camp out long. Mostly poor players, but I've seen a couple CC's at work.
Blackhawk has some bigger joints, not great rules but in the late afternoon can be good for a little hit and run.
Friendo
Well-Known Member
I would add that, yes, you can be sweated for a $5-$40 spread in double deck: and I mean high-noon, dog-barking-in-the-distance type sweat. The type of sweat where the pit guy's breath whistles through your inner ear, and you can hear the pounding of his heart as he leans over you and his head swivels to watch every card.
The adage that red-chip players need not be concerned about heat does not apply when the betting limit is $100. Pit bosses, looking to justify their existence, may hawk your play just to look busy.
I wouldn't say "sweat shop" applies in most cases, but when two hands of $20 is a big bet in a joint, well ...
I suspect that the business model for the smaller places in Central City & Black Hawk is built on dip___ clientele flat-betting $10 and doubling hard 16s. Based on the abysmal play of many a Colorado resident, this is a sound business strategy.
noharmnofoul
Active Member
I enjoyed Johnny's very much 
Most dealers where quite personable. Shelly, however, not so much. I NEVER want to play a shoe game again! I enjoyed DD much more.
Most dealers where quite personable. Shelly, however, not so much. I NEVER want to play a shoe game again! I enjoyed DD much more.
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