One of the nice things about my profession as a blackjack player, writer and instructor is that I get to travel to different gambling areas in the U.S. In the past month, for example, I visited and played in Atlantic City, Tunica, Biloxi, and Las Vegas. I saw quite a difference in blackjack playing conditions in all three areas from previous trips and thought I’d summarize what I found.
First, Tunica, Mississippi. In the past Tunica was an excellent venue for blackjack. They offered good single- and double-deck games for recreational players and also card counters. I rated the blackjack games there equal to, and in some cases, slightly better than the majority of the blackjack games in Vegas.
Unfortunately on my recent visit to Tunica I found a significant deterioration in blackjack games. Last year several casinos were dealing 70%-75% of the cards in double-deck games, which is excellent penetration for card counters. This time all I saw was 50%-60% penetration at most casinos. This makes these games much less profitable for card counters. I observed several casinos were offering the single-deck blackjack game where the casino only pays 6:5 on blackjacks, something I hadn’t seen on previous trips. The house edge on those 6:5 single-deck games is around 1.4%, which makes this game verboten.
Jerry “Stickman,” who reports on Tunica blackjack for my Blackjack Insider Newsletter, confirmed what I observed, stating that “poor penetration and poor rules” is now the norm. If you’d like to read Jerry’s blackjack report, go to www.bjinsider.com/freetrial to obtain a three-month free membership to the newsletter, which also allows you to read past issues posted on our website. (Jerry’s Tunica reports are in the February and April issues.)
Poor blackjack conditions wasn’t the only problem in Tunica. During my trip there, I taught a Golden Touch blackjack course with Frank Scoblete. By coincidence, Tunica experienced one of the worst ice storms in memory that weekend. Employees didn’t show up for work, therefore services at casino hotels and restaurants were severely limited. I had to leave town on Monday, but Frank stayed. His experience was … let’s just say unbelievable. How bad? Frank wrote about everything that happened to him and Dominator in a very entertaining story appropriately titled “My Worst Gambling Trip,” that I published in my Blackjack Insider Newsletter.
Three casinos recently opened in Biloxi, Mississippi following the massive destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina. The IP (formerly Imperial Palace) reopened its casino first, followed by temporary casinos that opened in the New Palace and Isle of Capri Hotels. Business is booming at the three casinos and I found the blackjack tables crowded with players. Table limits were fairly high, most were $25 minimum, with a few $10 (this was a weeknight). The IP has by far the most blackjack tables (30). Most of the tables offered six-deck games with the dealer standing on soft 17, doubling after pair splitting permitted with resplitting of aces allowed. About 4.5 decks were dealt before the dealer shuffled the cards. I observed only two two-deck games with the same playing rules. Unfortunately I saw a few of those ugly 6:5 single deck games. The two- and six-deck games are playable except for the crowds. The Isle of Capri had 15 blackjack tables, and the New Palace, seven. They also offered a mix of two- and six-deck games with the same rules as IP, except you can’t resplit aces at the Isle of Capri. Both casinos were crowded. I’m afraid the demand for blackjack games is exceeding the supply in this area. Until more casinos open, you can expect crowded blackjack tables with fairly high minimum bets.
Next up was a trip to Atlantic City to teach another Golden Touch blackjack course, and of course, to play. I have found from experience that Atlantic City has always been more expensive to stay and play compared to Tunica, Biloxi, or Las Vegas, but this time I found it down right exorbitant. I tried booking a room at any casino hotel and for a Friday and Saturday night; rooms were going for at least $250 and up a night. It cost $4 every time you parked your car in a casino garage. Our blackjack class was held at the Sheraton Hotel and parking there was $10 per day (no, that’s not a typo).
Blackjack games in AC are pretty much standardized with eight-deck games the norm in most casinos (the Borgata has mostly six-deck games and is the preferred casino for blackjack). In all the casinos the dealer stands on soft 17. However, the casinos have petitioned the Casino Control Commission to allow dealers to hit soft 17 (a less favorable rule for players). A few casinos had 6:5 single deck games. And blackjack table minimums — let’s just say you were hard pressed to find a $15 minimum table, most tables were $25 and up and there weren’t a lot of empty seats.
One of the bright spots in Atlantic City has always been the gourmet casino restaurants. Meals aren’t cheap, but the service and the quality of the food was always excellent. I had two great meals in AC with Frank Scoblete, Dominator and Jerry “Stickman.” Then I left town on Monday for a family reunion and according to Frank, service and quality went to hell when he revisited the following weekend.
I play blackjack in Las Vegas more than any other place. Although there are still some good games for recreational players (and card counters), for the most part blackjack games continue to deteriorate in Sin City. Here’s one example. Hooter’s just opened a new casino there. With all the competition for blackjack players you would have thought that they would open their new property with competitive blackjack games. It turns out they have some of the worst games in Sin City (including an unheard of 6-deck, 6:5 game dealt with a continuous shuffling machine, the house edge on this game is an outlandish 2.3%).
For the most part the big Strip casinos are offering mostly 6:5 single deck games, and six-deck games where the dealer hits soft 17. The betting limits on these games are usually the lowest in the casino (of course to attract the low stakes tourists). Want a better blackjack game where the dealer stands on soft 17, or how about a nice two-deck game? They’ve got them but you need to pony-up more money because the minimum bets on these games is usually $25 and up. If you want a low stakes blackjack game in Las Vegas with decent rules, your best bet is to play in the Downtown area or visit a casino that caters to local players.
I plan to play blackjack this summer in several Midwest casinos. I’ll let you know what I find in a future column.
- Dr. Henry Tamburin is a leading authority on casino gambling. For copies of his books and tapes at a 30% discount visit
www.smartgaming.com; for a free subscription to his Blackjack Insider e-newsletter visit
www.bjinsider.com. For a free catalog call toll free (888) 353-3234.
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