MGM National Harbor in Maryland

1

13Counter

Active Member
#1
#1
What a joke!

I finally decided to check out the new casino in PG county Maryland and first off, the casino is nice. It almost feels like you are in a Vegas casino--- until you try to play blackjack.

All the blackjack tables on the floor have continuous shuffling machines-- let me say that again-- all of the blackjack tables are like that on the floor. Sad part was that they were all packed and some minimums as high as $50!!!

The high limit room has hand shuffled decks with a couple of $100 and the rest $200 tables. Those tables, all 6 of them were packed and i couldn't play, but it was 6D, S17. The pit manager I talked to told me that the other half of the high limit room will be continuous shuffling machines also. She even said it was a joke that management was doing that.

For those outside of Maryland, PG county or Prince George's county isn't the best place to be so it does bring in a healthy dose of degenerate gamblers which explains why the blackjack tables were packed.

After, I left the HL room, I played Let It Ride-- just to play a game. Wow-- bad mistake. Bonus bet was $5 and you have to play the 3-card option at the table minimum just to play the bonus bet. What a rip!!! I still played a few hands and only won because the dealer mis-paid me $400 on a 3-card straight-- shhh don't tell MGM. I don't think they care considering they are going to make boat loads of cash on blackjack alone.

Outside of that--the distance to DC is nice since they do have some nice restaurants and lounges there-- but be prepared to pay for it.

I plan to go back in the early AM and check out the HL room and play some blackjack-- i'll update my thread if I spot anything that is advantageous.
 
C

c-dubs

New Member
#2
#2
What was the BJ payout, 6:5 or 3:2. I read this summer the MD gaming comish changed the regs to allow 6:5 payout and hit on Soft 17's, juat in time for the MGM to open.
Maryland Live had shoes CSM. It easy to find $25 6D shoes. Somtimes $15 shoes (non-prime hours).

They put in hybrid live video machines in December. They have the dealer at a table using an 8D shoe dealing to 3 "players". Yhere are 40+ machines scattered about the area. Each machine allows you to bet for 1 to 3 players hands. It tracks the cards played for each player and hand. So if you "STAY" and your friend "HITS" the same hand, the drawn card will only go to your friends "hand". Your hand is the first up cards, his is the first 2 and the hit card. For each round, all the cards delt out are shown on the bottom of the screen. When all nets are for.the next round the card listing clears out. You don't have to play to see all the cards delt, you don't have to use a card or enter cash into the mchine, either. You can sit at the bar and count the deck down until your count is.high.enough to jump in.

. The machines also play the same for craps, roulette and baccarat. They provide empty baccarat cards and pens to write on at these machines. Wonder if you could use those to do card count for 8F shoe w/o being noticed?
 
S

Spyros Acebos

Active Member
#3
#3
I suspect the computer inside those hybrid video games tracks ever card dealt, promptly notifying surveillance as to whether any given player's betting patterns closely match the count (likely programmed with Hi-Lo as the benchmark system), thereby rendering that player's longevity at card counting futile.
 
sagefr0g

sagefr0g

Well-Known Member
#5
#5
@c-dubs,
for these hybrid video games 8 deck, is it clear when they shuffle, or is that hidden? who is the maker of these machines? edit: are the # players unlimited or limited to seven? end edit

it would seem, wonging in and out would be less of a problem relative to play all, if surveillance is tracking the play characteristics.
 
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aslan

aslan

Well-Known Member
#6
#6
Spyros Acebos said:
I suspect the computer inside those hybrid video games tracks ever card dealt, promptly notifying surveillance as to whether any given player's betting patterns closely match the count (likely programmed with Hi-Lo as the benchmark system), thereby rendering that player's longevity at card counting futile.
Click to expand...
sagefr0g said:
@c-dubs,
for these hybrid video games 8 deck, is it clear when they shuffle, or is that hidden? who is the maker of these machines? edit: are the # players unlimited or limited to seven? end edit

it would seem, wonging in and out would be less of a problem relative to play all, if surveillance is tracking the play characteristics.
Click to expand...
Good question. I suspect they give you a newly shuffled deck each and every round, but that they do not make this apparent to the player. Why 8-deck? Makes it even more to the house advantage. I could be wrong; this is just my instinct or natural paranoia.
 
aslan

aslan

Well-Known Member
#8
#8
The game minimums may be time-of-day and weekend sensitive. I have friends who go the MGM National Harbor and they told me the lowest minimum is $5o on the floor and the lowest minimum in the high limit area is $200 whenever they go. They also say it is always packed with people. They also reported CSMs everywhere except the high limit area.

The high limits should form a clientele profile of middle class working man/woman and wealthy person over time (and don't leave out the prospering criminal element), but right now it is a mix of everyone. People on the lower economic scale will be broke in short order at the present limits unless they stick to slot machines, which I am told are wound tight. This may be management's plan to manage their customer profile. Two fights broke out the other night when friends of mine were there, but they were quickly resolved. Besides the 6 million population of the Washington Metropolitan area, National Harbor draws from the entire Interstate 95 corridor and all its many tributaries, which runs from Maine through Florida, although the draw is surely attenuated the further out you go. Three international airports serve the area, the closest only a few minutes away.

In summary, advantage play seems limited to the high limit games, usually $200 and up, if you can get a seat in the present crowds. Too rich for my blood, if I were playing, but not my friends who are not APs. They look for the same things APs do, good pen, no CSM, S17, DAS, surrender, but they don't count, at least not in any scientific manner. Go figure!
 
V

Vagabond

Member
#12
#12
The Multihand Blackjack game at Maryland Live is 8 decks with 2.0-3.0 dealer dependent penetration and 3x$1,500 max bets. The game is dealt very slowly, uses up many cards between rounds if busy, and is shuffled with an MD3 ASM. There's a screen for the dealer and supervisor to monitor a seating chart of all active players. It seems too risky to Wong-in for large stakes unless well orchestrated with a team. If anyone is seriously considering it, please message me.
 
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V

Vagabond

Member
#13
#13
Here are my notes from a recent visit to the National Harbor. I have removed a few specifics that might piss off any advanced players.

Progressive Slots
UTH $15-$500 4T
LIR $15-$500 2T
Cut card automatically placed underneath cards
FCP $15-$500 2T
TCP $15-$1,000 3T
TCP $10-$1,000 1T
No cut card on TCP but dealers trained to use hand to block view
Blackjack
$15-$500 6:5 H17 CSM 4T
$25-$1,000 6:5 H17 CSM 27T
Super 4 side bet
In Between side bet
Double-Zero Roulette
Craps 10T
TCP $? 2T
LIR $? 1T
UTH $? 1T
Fortune Pai Gow Progressive $50-$10,000 4T
Blackjack 3:2 6D S17 ASM $50-$5,000 12T
1.3-1.5 pen
Only 4T open on weekend day shift
Tables busy with 5 players and 6 spots/table
Baccarat Royal 9 16T
Live Poker Room
High Limit Room:
$100-$10,000 6D S17 HS HL NMS 3T
$200-$10,000 6D S17 HS HL NMS 9T
1.5 pen
Baccarat HL 3T
Single-Zero Roulette 1T
Call surveillance button easily accessible behind digital displays
 
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