Pro blackjack player? Do casinos want winners?

22 July 2014

By Frank Scoblete

FROM UNMEN: One of the things you should have included in your “Don’t, Don’t” article is this: “You should not stand in back of someone playing a slot machine and act so impatiently to get the machine. Don’t bug the player.”

FRANK RESPONDS: Absolutely!


FROM JACQUELINE: I just read one of your articles and can relate to losing and winning. I have only been playing blackjack for about three months and love it. Surprisingly, I kept winning in the beginning and if I lost I went back to the casino the next day for revenge.

Recently I have been experiencing more losses and my pride got in the way of breaking even and I left the casino too broke to return. Money started slipping through my hands.

I am refueling now and planning a revenge trip back to the casino, at least by the end of the year. I am preparing by studying the basic strategy and managing my money better.

I want to become a professional blackjack player in the future. Any advice you can give will be greatly appreciated.

FRANK RESPONDS: The toughest task in the gambling world is trying to become a professional blackjack player. Don’t do it. The day-to-day grind on your money and your emotions is just not worth it. Play as an avocation and play for small stakes. Have a heavy bankroll but be light with the bets. That’s the best advice I can give you. I am sending you a copy of my new blackjack book “I Am a Card Counter,” and that will give you some idea of what a professional would go through.


FROM JOE: I was at the Seminole Classic Casino in Hollywood, Florida where I watched the opening of a blackjack table. The decks were delivered in pre-packaged and pre-shuffled decks of six. The backs of the cards were inspected but not inspected face up. If an Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and a Ten were removed from each package before being delivered to the pit, wouldn't that severely reduce the player's expectation level? I'm curious?

FRANK RESPONDS: You bet it would impact on the player’s expectation! The player would start deep in the hole and most times would never get into a plus count high enough to give him an edge. I am sending you a copy of either "Confessions of a Wayward Catholic" or "The Virgin Kiss" -- you choose.


FROM ANN: We were in a casino in October and they checked purses, not just for bombs, but for smuggling booze in. They are so cheap they won't give drinks away and prices are exorbitant. The slots are also the tightest in the country that we've seen. I enjoy your column. Keep up the great work.


FROM PAUL: Just read a letter from someone stating that casinos want people to win. That may have been the case a few years ago but not anymore.

The machines are programmed tight and with the 6-5 payoff on blackjack, six- and eight-deck shoes, 0 and 00 on roulette wheels, dealer hits soft 17, and on and on.

I wish the casino execs would read your article about what makes casinos more money, I even brought it up to an exec one time in Tunica, but I could tell he was just feigning interest. Harrah’s just recently closed in Tunica. Fitzgerald’s is looking for a buyer. I wouldn't be surprised if more close either, not just in Tunica but other places as well.

FRANK RESPONDS: The idea that casinos want some people to win sounds good but on a closer examination the statement is not really 100 percent true. First of all, how do you know who won? Unless a person is your friend and you know for a fact that he/she won, look around the casino at all the other players -- of them, who won? Who lost? You don’t know.

Tonight you look and maybe everyone you see has lost. You don’t know that though. You might even think that all the cheering you hear at craps is coming from winners. There’s a great chance those players cheering are behind and/or will be behind when they leave the casino.

Since no one really knows who won or who lost -- except in very, very limited circumstances as mentioned above -- the casinos really don’t care if anyone wins. There is no mass communication happening with all the players.

I am sending you one of my books, either "Confessions of a Wayward Catholic" or "The Virgin Kiss." You choose.

Frank's new books are "I Am a Card Counter!" and "Confessions of a Wayward Catholic."