Casino Awareness

23 May 2020

By John Marchel

Most experts agree that casinos do not cheat players. Gaming is one of America’s most heavily regulated industries. Today casinos are owned and operated by some of the largest shareholder corporations in the world. These companies are not foolish enough to risk their gaming license to cheat a player out of a few hundred or even a few thousand dollars.

If the gaming commission found a casino cheating, they would close it down right away. However, it is generally agreed that dealers will sometimes cheat. Their cheating for themselves and the casino is unaware of it. If you even think you are being cheated move to another table, pit or casino immediately.

When it comes time to select a blackjack casino, pit or table look for: (1) good rules, (2) minimum and maximum bets allowed (3) seat selection, at or near 3rd base,
(4) attitude of players and dealer (5) winning signs (6) heat or lack of, from management.

The best rules for 21/blackjack are:
• dealer stays on all 17’s
• double down on any 2 cards
• double down after split allowed
• resplit aces allowed
• surrender (early or late)
• single deck

If it weren’t for the fact that the 21/blackjack player can (1) double down, (2) split, (3) take insurance, (4) surrender and get the (5) 3:2 bonus for blackjack, the game would be a very negative one for the player. Therefore, it is important to play in casinos with as many good rules as possible, otherwise, the house would have the advantage all the time, and no player would be able to win. A good example is shown when playing blackjack where the payout is 6 to 5 when the player gets a blackjack is a big disadvantage for the player.


BET YOU DIDN'T KNOW

• In the early 1960s, mathematics professor Edward O. Thorp of MIT traveled to Nevada to try out his card counting strategy for blackjack. He had a $10,000 bankroll, his winnings after nine days of gambling at 18 casinos (including four in Reno) were $21,000. He proved that his card counting system did work.

• April 1, 1964 In reaction to Edward Thorps book, “Beat the Dealer”, Las Vegas Resort & Hotel Association changes the standard blackjack rules for all casinos in Las Vegas. The two major changes were: no splitting of aces and double down on 11 only. Three weeks later those rules are dropped because most customers refuse to play under those conditions.

• March 15, 2004 The first event of the World Series of Blackjack from the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut airs on TV.

• Under Macau (China) Special Administrative Region (SAR), casino directives state there are 27 different game types which are permitted to be played in Macau casinos:
1) Baccarat, 2) Baccarat “Chemin de Fer”, 3) Blackjack, 4) Boule, 5) Craps, 6) Cussec, 7) Dozen Numbers, 8) Fantan, 9) “Zak Ngau”, 10) Fish-Prawn-Crab, 11) 13 Card Poker, 12) Mahjong, 13) Mahjong Baccarat, 14) Mahjong Paikao, 15) Pachinko, 16) Paikao, 17) Mini Paikao, 18) 3 Card Poker, 19) 5 Card Poker, 20) Roulette, 21) “Sap-I-Chi” or 12 Card Game, 22) Super Pan 9, 23) Taiwan Paikao, 24) 3 Card Baccarat, 25) Football Poker, 26) Stud Poker, 27) Lucky Wheel.

• Jan. 12, 1935 Born, Kenneth Senzo Usyi, aka Ken Uston, world-class blackjack player, card counter and noted author, in New York City. A mathematics genius with an IQ of 169, Ken attended Yale University at the age of 16 and later got his MBA from Harvard University.

• Jan. 17, 1984 Fredrick Dakota opened the nation’s first Indian casino in his brother-in-law’s converted two car garage on the L’anse Indian Reservation off Keweenaw Bay in Northern Michigan. He called it “The Pines” and it had two blackjack games.

• May 30, 1979 Famous cartoon character “Snoopy” from the Peanuts cartoon strips, first appears as the gambler “Blackjack Snoopy - World Famous Riverboat Gambler.”

• It’s been documented that solitaire is the most widely played game around the world.