Disappointed...

[Tom007]

I received my 1st. copy of Current BJ news and I have I have to say I'm a little disappointed. It seems that all casinos in Vegas are going to H17 and all are showing nothing better than average- less than average pen. It's really not even worth it for me to go, as my home casino is 6d h17 with no heat and 75-80 pen. But my trip is booked and I'm looking forward to the experience of 40 hours of play in 4 days will give me, ( I usually only play at the most 2 hours at a time 2 or 3 days a week at my home casino). Looks like Cortez and Slots of Fun are the best places for me to play my 6K br. I do have a few Q's though, before I received my copy of CBJN my plan was to use a hit and run style, wonging in and out of a lot of joints each day. Would this be recommended? Oh, I would be spreading $5-$60 on 6d games on the strip. Or would I be better off to stick with Cortez spreading say $3-$25 and hope not to get heat, as I don't have much of an act because I don't need one at home. What would be more profitable and which would have the most variance? Also any other tips on where to play or anything at all would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Tom

 

[EasyRhino]

You're right about rules generally being not too hot, especially if you can't afford the primo tables.

The main advantage of Vegas is proximity, it's fun (for a while) to just bounce between random casinos like a pinball.

Also, you're going to find surrender offered at a lot of places, don't know if you have it locally.

Since you're red-chipping, I'd recommend checking out Boulder highway also, assuming you have a car. There are probably other good casinos on the outskirts for low-rolling, but I haven't been to them (the "Station" locals' casinos are generally just average, with passable doubledeck if not full.)

 

[Sonny]

It seems that all casinos in Vegas are going to H17 and all are showing nothing better than average- less than average pen.

You should take the penetration listings in CBJN with a grain of salt. The actual penetration at the casinos will vary by the dealer and sometimes by the shift. It is impossible to give accurate penetration ratings in a newsletter so CBJN often just has “average” listings for everywhere. With a little scouting you will be able to find some good penetration. And even if a casino had great penetration at every table, it probably wouldn’t get publicly published.

…my plan was to use a hit and run style, wonging in and out of a lot of joints each day. Would this be recommended?

That is a good plan. You can Wong around the strip all day with a $60 max bet and never get any heat. You can even play some of the downtown games without too much heat if you keep your sessions short (30-60 minutes).

-Sonny-

 

[shadroch]

Spreading $3-25 on the DD at El Cotez,you could camp out for a week and not draw much heat,unless you are winning big.And as they serve food at the tables,you literally can play all day.
You want cover? Print a BS sheet and stick it on the tablewhen the PB is around,ask him if they have casino war or triple shot? They don't but he'll think you are a ploppy.

 

[Thunder]

Does this mean that there are going to be no S 17 6 deck games in Vegas??? I hope not!!

 

[Sonny]

Does this mean that there are going to be no S 17 6 deck games in Vegas??? I hope not!!

There are still plenty but the minimums are higher.

-Sonny-

 

[21forme]

You mean 6D games are better in AC than LV?

 

[Thunder]

I know when I went to Vegas in March I was able to find 6 deck games with S17 doa surrender and split aces to 4 hands with minimums at $15 during the day for a house edge of .26% vs AC's six deck games not including Trump Marina which have a house edge of .40%

 

[sagefr0g]

I received my 1st. copy of Current BJ news and I have I have to say I'm a little disappointed. It seems that all casinos in Vegas are going to H17 and all are showing nothing better than average- less than average pen. It's really not even worth it for me to go, as my home casino is 6d h17 with no heat and 75-80 pen. ......

Tom

hmmph yeah if thats true it's definately disappointing. i've never been to Vegas and always thought of it as the great 'Mecca' for card counters. from the sound of it even Vegas is out to destroy the game. :flame:
hopefully there will always be joints that realize real blackjack is a marketable game.

 

[ChefJJ]

hmmph yeah if thats true it's definately disappointing. i've never been to Vegas and always thought of it as the great 'Mecca' for card counters. from the sound of it even Vegas is out to destroy the game. :flame:
hopefully there will always be joints that realize real blackjack is a marketable game.

As long as Vegas is Vegas, there will always be people there...maybe just not APs. But strictly from a vacation standpoint, it is a friggin' sweet place--and a great jump-off for some great scenery in Utah, Arizona, Cali, etc.

You have to admit though, there have been small changes to the game over time to counter APs...but some places still resist all of those countermeasures so they can have a competitive advantage of their own. Imagine being the only house in town that can advertise "We Stay on Soft 17s"...it would attract a lot of people, not just APs.

good luck

 

[Kaiser]

The sad thing is, people don't care. I mean people like *us* care, but the general public doesn't even know this stuff. They sit down with their buddies and find out the rules as the game is starting.

They ask "why do blackjacks only pay 6-5?" and don't give it another thought when the dealer says "that makes up for only having a single deck of cards".

People drop their $200-400 gambling budget and go looking for a cheap buffet (which they can't find nowadays either).

*sigh*

 

[ihate17]

Little to do with AP's much to do with greed

First off, the best double deck and 6 deck shoes in the country are still in Vegas. You can get an excellent double deck game for as low as $25, and the 6 deck as low as $10, when these casinos are not busy.
The problem is that the amount of good games have been decreasing over time, not that they do not exist anymore.
The funny thing about the thing is that the casinos that offer those better games are not the ones that continually keep making their games worse. The ones who continue to destroy the games, have a recent history of bad games, and a dislike for table games in general. The exceptions here is a buyout or casino suicide. Where a place with a history of decent games is bought by Harrah's and over a short period of time their games become Harrah games. Or the suicide of the Hilton.

Also, add to this that several casinos that have marginal to poor games, have better games at high limits.

So, what I see is that they will offer a better game for more money. Is this AP paranoia? I do not think so, because the AP's who could dent their bottom line are being offered a game they could play. Why should they fear red chip counters?
I think the whole thing is public acceptance and the beancounter goal of raising blackjack percentage profits closer to slots. If the public will play 6/5, the public will not notice H-17. Furthermore, the public never notices pen, they have no reason too.

So every few months someone in some casino figures that if they make this or that change to blackjack rules, the house will take in more money.
In other words, it is not always about us.

ihate17

 

[Thunder]

it's pure greed plain and simple. They could just raise the table minimums but they won't do that because they want to attract as many people as possible and as ih17 said, most people don't know the difference to the fullness of their wallets with a h17 6 deck game vs a s 17 6 deck game.

 

[Tom007]

I know when I went to Vegas in March I was able to find 6 deck games with S17 doa surrender and split aces to 4 hands with minimums at $15 during the day for a house edge of .26% vs AC's six deck games not including Trump Marina which have a house edge of .40%

Hey Thunder, Care to mention what joint this is?

 

[Thunder]

there's several of them that I know of. Golden Nugget, Hard Rock, MGM, Mirage, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, NY, NY, Palms, Treasure Island, and the Venetian. Some have higher betting minimums than others.

 

[ihate17]

For $10-$15 minimums.

there's several of them that I know of. Golden Nugget, Hard Rock, MGM, Mirage, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, NY, NY, Palms, Treasure Island, and the Venetian. Some have higher betting minimums than others.

Right now, only MGM, Mandalay Bay, and Monte Carlo have the .26% 6 deck shoe at these low minimums. Once you go up to $25 you can add several more casinos such as Wynn, Mirage, Tropicana, GN, Venetian and several others.
At $100 the list gets higher.

For the $5 guy on the strip, there is one place that has both a 6 decker and a DD game where the dealer stays on S-17, Slots-A-Fun. Not much of a counter game because pen is generally sub par, but nice for the BS player.

ihate17

 

[zengrifter]

For the $5 guy on the strip, there is one place that has both a 6 decker and a DD game where the dealer stays on S-17, Slots-A-Fun. Not much of a counter game because pen is generally sub par, but nice for the BS player.

I continue to find excellent pene at 2D there with certain dealers (mostly on swing), making the LLs especially viable. zg

 

[ihate17]

Can I get a percentage?

On different blackjack boards or just Vegas boards, someone will always pop up and say there is nothing but 6/5 garbage on the strip, or there is no good blackjack on the strip for the lowroller.
So now for years I have been telling these people that what they were saying, just was not true and that Slots_A-Fun gives their $5 player a better game than Harrah's offers their $100 players.

So I must have upped the number of folks walking into the place by a few and would like to get compensated.

ihate17