Florida Casinos

southAP

Well-Known Member
#22
Well i have to rebuild my BR so my stakes are going to be pretty small again. But i plan on hitting most of the casinos down here by the new year, i dont like to be reconizable in the casino.
 

FLASH1296

Well-Known Member
#23
Playing BJ on one of these silly boats is an experience that everyone needs to enjoy (endure is more like it); once, for no other reason than the experience, noxious as it may be to some of us.

You will spend what amounts to the entire day to get about 3 hrs. of play at the few crowded tables. You will be scanned a la airport style. You will be charged an atrocious admission. The food will be poor to fair. Your patience will be severely tried as you wait and wait to play against (typically) very slow dealers. This is so because the games are played in “International Waters”, beyond the three mile coastal limit.

There is nobody monitoring the games for honesty.
You have been forewarned and, like my Dad used to quip
~Forewarned is forearmed.~
 

southAP

Well-Known Member
#24
I keep hearing not so great things about the boats, but this particular session is more of a half session, because originally it started out as a date night with my wife. Then I heard about that boat so its date night with a little bit of play. I'm not expecting much out of it but it will be an experience nontheless. Thanks for the forewarning though, at least i wont be disappointed.
 

Sharky

Well-Known Member
#25
SEVERAL years ago I played the Port Richey (nice Hooters restaurant there) and Tarpoon Springs boats and both were weak.

In southern FL I played Sun Cruz out of Daina which also sucked.

The only one that was worth playing was the large cruise ship that went out of Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale) it left at 7:45p and returned at 12:45a and had 5-6 8 deck tables. This was a full sized cruise ship with a pool, rooms, etc.
The food was decent and I was comped free admin and a room.

This was b4 the Hard Rock so it may no longer be in bidness.
 

southAP

Well-Known Member
#26
I've notice a lot of casinos went out of business once the Hard Rock properties moved in, if people were smart enought to keep playing the other ones, then maybe the HR games wouldnt be so bad from the competition.

In regards to the Suncruz, i printed the online matchplay, can i use that and the one i get when i pay admission or do they only allow you to use one?
 

FLASH1296

Well-Known Member
#27
Sharky,

It is worth clarifying, when you say: " … it left at 7:45p and returned at 12:45 am."

That 5 hr. span provides no more than 3 hrs. of play.
The enervating boring 3 mile crawl each way consumes the other hrs.

Also, that particular ship was known for poor pen', but I never was on that ship.

Incidentally, what I have seen, is the operator NOT costing himself money by offering poor pen'
as the floorman shuffles the next shoe while the current shoe is being dealt, so there is NO down time.
 

sagefr0g

Well-Known Member
#28
FLASH1296 said:
Sharky,

It is worth clarifying, when you say: " … it left at 7:45p and returned at 12:45 am."

That 5 hr. span provides no more than 3 hrs. of play.
The enervating boring 3 mile crawl each way consumes the other hrs.

Also, that particular ship was known for poor pen', but I never was on that ship.

Incidentally, what I have seen, is the operator NOT costing himself money by offering poor pen'
as the floorman shuffles the next shoe while the current shoe is being dealt, so there is NO down time.
no, no, no Flash. that ship, the SeaEscape was a gold mine!!!!!
it breaks my heart that outfit went under.
i cut my teeth in that joint, lol.
loved it, loved it i tell you.
great promos' too.
ahh, how i miss it.
so you was there Sharkey?
remember me?
by the way it often went out twice a day, morning and evening.........
 
#29
Flash, you're not 100% correct in your statements. Just to clarify for anyone that's interested: the two main ships still operating in FL both charge a boarding fee, but they also offer MP and slot freeplay slightly less than equal to or even exceeding the value of the boarding fee. One of the ships has food that could be classified as good (don't ask me, I'm vegan and have to make do with their less-than-accomodating fare), and the other provides their food free, although it is clearly awful. One boat offers more than 3 hours of play in that it's an anchored ship in the Gulf that has passengers ferried to and from the dock 3 times a day. If you really felt the need to play more than 3 hours in a session, you could potentially put in 9 hours by taking the early ferry and coming back on the late one. Again, this doesn't make the ships any more than marginally playable due to the overall low-quality of game selection, they're hardly as bad as implied by other posts here.
 

Sharky

Well-Known Member
#30
sagefr0g said:
no, no, no Flash. that ship, the SeaEscape was a gold mine!!!!!
it breaks my heart that outfit went under.
i cut my teeth in that joint, lol.
loved it, loved it i tell you.
great promos' too.
ahh, how i miss it.
so you was there Sharkey?
remember me?
by the way it often went out twice a day, morning and evening.........
Yes, that was it the Sea Escape...forgot the name it was so long ago.

Even though I lived in FL for about 4 yrs, I wouldn't go out of my way to play any of the boats.

When I played the Sea Escape I was there on a consulting project and it was just a way to spend an evening. I often went out twice a week though and I was only there 3 nights.

Do you remember the hot blonde lady that greeted you before you went up the escalator to board? :cool:

Sage, were you the one in green, that'd leap up when you got a BJ? :laugh:
 

sagefr0g

Well-Known Member
#31
Sharky said:
Yes, that was it the Sea Escape...forgot the name it was so long ago.

Even though I lived in FL for about 4 yrs, I wouldn't go out of my way to play any of the boats.

When I played the Sea Escape I was there on a consulting project and it was just a way to spend an evening. I often went out twice a week though and I was only there 3 nights.

Do you remember the hot blonde lady that greeted you before you went up the escalator to board? :cool:

Sage, were you the one in green, that'd leap up when you got a BJ? :laugh:
well of course it was me, lol.
darn, i don't remember the blonde and trust me i'd of remembered her, lol.
so you might have been on there before my time.
but yeah, far as i know the other boats in Fla. weren't so hot.

southAP's problem for now is he needs some bank if he's gonna mess with Fla casinos nowadays. friggers are off the hook for table min's from what i've heard.
 

Sharky

Well-Known Member
#32
sagefr0g said:
well of course it was me, lol.
darn, i don't remember the blonde and trust me i'd of remembered her, lol.
so you might have been on there before my time.
but yeah, far as i know the other boats in Fla. weren't so hot.

southAP's problem for now is he needs some bank if he's gonna mess with Fla casinos nowadays. friggers are off the hook for table min's from what i've heard.
I was a regular on the Sea Escape in the mid 90's. The food was above average and the desserts were excellent. Game was decent and it didn't cost me anything playing $25 min...even gave me room a few times...never did get that blonde to join me though. :(:whip:
 

sagefr0g

Well-Known Member
#33
Sharky said:
I was a regular on the Sea Escape in the mid 90's. The food was above average and the desserts were excellent. Game was decent and it didn't cost me anything playing $25 min...even gave me room a few times...never did get that blonde to join me though. :(:whip:
ahh ok i was mainly there from 2005 on till their demise.
 

SWFL Blackjack

Well-Known Member
#34
Worst Blackjack Game in Florida

southAP said:
I have recently moved to Tampa area Florida and was wondering if anyone had the most up-to-date information on the casinos down here. I have to start with a limited BR of $500 i know its not much but long story short it was stolen along with the safe it was in. I know that there arent any beatable Blackjack low limit games in places like Hard Rock Tampa and Hollywood. Any info on the casinos down here would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

-SouthAP
Just to prove what a hold the Seminoles have on Florida's gaming, The Seminole Casino Immokalee now features the "Zig Zag Girls" dealing on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. This is pretty much a party pit filled with girls with their breasts pushed up to their chins. Free drinks are served in this section as well, and it features Table Mins. starting at $10. The catch? BJ pays6:5/6D/CSM/H17/DAS/NoRSA/NoSur. The house edge on this game is 1.97532% per http://wizardofodds.com/blackjack/house-edge-calculator.html, and of course you know those poor saps don't know a thing about BS so they are losing much more.

You can walk 20 feet to another table and at least get 3:2/6D/CSM/H17/DAS/NoRSA/NoSur. This game at least features a house edge of 0.61563%

If you want to play for quarters, they offer an 8D/ASM/S17/DAS/RSA/NoSur with an average of 6 decks delt. This game features a house edge of approximately 0.44686%

It makes me die a little inside to watch these people throw away their money on these terrible games. I suppose at least the free drinks in the party pit help ease the pain of giving all of their money to the Seminoles.
 

southAP

Well-Known Member
#35
SWFL Blackjack said:
Just to prove what a hold the Seminoles have on Florida's gaming, The Seminole Casino Immokalee now features the "Zig Zag Girls" dealing on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. This is pretty much a party pit filled with girls with their breasts pushed up to their chins. Free drinks are served in this section as well, and it features Table Mins. starting at $10. The catch? BJ pays6:5/6D/CSM/H17/DAS/NoRSA/NoSur. The house edge on this game is 1.97532% per http://wizardofodds.com/blackjack/house-edge-calculator.html, and of course you know those poor saps don't know a thing about BS so they are losing much more.

You can walk 20 feet to another table and at least get 3:2/6D/CSM/H17/DAS/NoRSA/NoSur. This game at least features a house edge of 0.61563%

If you want to play for quarters, they offer an 8D/ASM/S17/DAS/RSA/NoSur with an average of 6 decks delt. This game features a house edge of approximately 0.44686%

It makes me die a little inside to watch these people throw away their money on these terrible games. I suppose at least the free drinks in the party pit help ease the pain of giving all of their money to the Seminoles.
I've never played a party pit before so i dont really know what its like, I've been staying away from the smaller Seminole casinos because of there addiction to CSMs. I played one time on a csm in a casino in southern california and i will never play it again. I finally got to the suncruz in port richey and honestly it wasnt that bad, maybe it was just the dealers i had but they were playing 5 full decks out of the 6 deck shoe, made some good counts in there too, got to bet my max that night.
 

southAP

Well-Known Member
#37
Lonesome Gambler said:
What was the occasion?
For the reason i played? its cause i drove around for about 3 hours looking for a casino without one, and one did have a double deck but for $50 min. By the end i said the hell with it and put down like $25 for sh**s and giggles. Oh and those CSM games had a $1 house ante. It was some wierd stuff. So i wont be playing there anymore.
 

SWFL Blackjack

Well-Known Member
#38
southAP said:
I've never played a party pit before so i dont really know what its like, I've been staying away from the smaller Seminole casinos because of there addiction to CSMs. I played one time on a csm in a casino in southern california and i will never play it again. I finally got to the suncruz in port richey and honestly it wasnt that bad, maybe it was just the dealers i had but they were playing 5 full decks out of the 6 deck shoe, made some good counts in there too, got to bet my max that night.
That's great. SunCruz lacks class and manners, however the free cheap booze makes up for it. SunCruz has a certain "redneck" appeal to it. If you have a day to kill and don't live too far away, it can be an entertaining day. I remember the last time I was on it I hit the early cruise, and as soon as the shuttle docked with the Casino ship, all the old people rushed to the craps table, which only half of which was opened. Other players tried to squeeze in, but SunCruz's excellent staff suggested they squeeze in the side because the one side of the table was closed and not accepting bets. I laughed when the civilian responded with "You just lost yourself a whole lot of money" to which the Pit Boss rolled his eyes, and muttered something under his breath about how they didn't need his pathetic 20s (the civilian was holding 3-$20 bills).

I think I will go again soon just for the free drinks and the laughs. Amazing how casino employees forget they are in the hospitality business.
 

SWFL Blackjack

Well-Known Member
#39
southAP said:
I've never played a party pit before so i dont really know what its like, I've been staying away from the smaller Seminole casinos because of there addiction to CSMs. I played one time on a csm in a casino in southern california and i will never play it again. I finally got to the suncruz in port richey and honestly it wasnt that bad, maybe it was just the dealers i had but they were playing 5 full decks out of the 6 deck shoe, made some good counts in there too, got to bet my max that night.
At Immokalee, it is just a group of tables with sexy cocktail waitress turned into dealers. Everything is the same as regular blackjack except there is eye candy and they deal Crapjack with the conditions I posted in the previous post. The only benefit is the free drinks, however with such bad rules, they may be the most expensive drinks you have ever had at a BJ table. If you have any interest in this type of game, I recommend you grease up before you go so you are prepared to take it up the rear.
 

SWFL Blackjack

Well-Known Member
#40
southAP said:
For the reason i played? its cause i drove around for about 3 hours looking for a casino without one, and one did have a double deck but for $50 min. By the end i said the hell with it and put down like $25 for sh**s and giggles. Oh and those CSM games had a $1 house ante. It was some wierd stuff. So i wont be playing there anymore.
I have never heard anything good about Cali BJ.
 
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