CasinoCityTimes.com

Home
Gaming Strategy
Featured Stories
News
Newsletter
Legal News Financial News Casino Opening and Remodeling News Gaming Industry Executives Author Home Author Archives Search Articles Subscribe
Newsletter Signup
Stay informed with the
NEW Casino City Times newsletter!
Recent Articles
author's picture
 

Deal Me In: If the shoe fits, you don't have to wear it

18 October 2013

Dear Mark: I favor the joints out West where I can still find a hand-pitched game of blackjack. Even with an occasional “card down” or “one hand on the cards, please,” I prefer it to the salvo of a shoe dealt game. I’ve been to Atlantic City a few times and can’t find anyone pitching cardboard. All I find are shoes that don’t fit me, and I don’t like to limp. Is there some law or something against it? Randy

In the past in Atlantic City, Casino Control Commission regulations had mandated that all the casinos be required to deal blackjack from a shoe. Today, some casinos offer a single-deck blackjack game. The problem, Randy, is that these single-deck games only pay 6-to-5 when you get a snapper rather than the standard 3-to-2. This raises the house edge on this game to at least 1.58 percent. Warning: Never play on this game!

Unlike Las Vegas, Atlantic City casinos cannot ban players from counting down the deck, so management relies on shoes to thwart counters. They can also limit the size of your bets, not allow mid-shoe entry, lop off three decks with the cut card, and shuffle up anytime they suspect a player of counting. The last time I was in AC, I was on a rare $5 game, bumped my table minimum bet up a half dozen times to $25, and got some of the above “special” treatment. Since they were in no mood to offer any grub for my play, I politely thanked the dealer, and off I went to my go-to spot every time I am in Atlantic City: The Irish Pub for some Jersey Crab Cakes and a couple pints of Guinness. The best part about gambling, Randy, is that you can walk when you want to. In my case, it was only 100 yards in from the boardwalk on St. James Pl.

Speaking of displeasure for the shoe game, there was an incident in Atlantic City in the 1980s involving Frank Sinatra. On December 1, 1983, while gambling at the Golden Nugget Casino, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin browbeat a dealer and a pit boss into breaking New Jersey law by making the dealer hand-deal the cards instead of dealing them from a shoe.

The New Jersey Casino Control Commission didn’t find it so funny, so they fined the Golden Nugget $25,000, which Sinatra eventually paid out of his own pocket. Perhaps no harm no foul for the casino; however, it wasn’t so amusing for the workers involved. Four employees, including the dealer, a supervisor and pit boss were suspended without pay.

When the only game in town is a shoe (multiple-deck) game, you do give up more of an edge to the casino. Compared to a single deck, a two-deck game handicaps your play -0.35 percent; four decks, -0.48 percent; six decks, -0.54 percent; and eight decks, -0.58 percent. As you can see, the house edge goes up substantially when you go from one deck to two, but the change is less dramatic as you add more decks.

So, Randy, how much is this costing you in dollars and cents? If you were to play 100 hands per hour at $10 per hand, each -0.1 percent would cost you approximately $1 per hour. Playing on a game with two decks versus one will cost you $3.5 per hour, with each additional deck costing you increasingly more.

Wherever you play, Randy, just make sure you play the most straightforward game you can find, that offers a 3/2 payoff on a blackjack, with fewest decks and at a limit you can afford. This is your best way to shrink the house edge.

Gambling Wisdom of the Week: “Believe it or not, the beautiful lights, the around-the-clock activity, and the festivity and fast-paced action can sometimes make idiots of otherwise well-oriented, clear-minded individuals.” – Len Miller, Playing Games for Fun and Profit
Mark Pilarski

As a recognized authority on casino gambling, Mark Pilarski survived 18 years in the casino trenches, working for seven different casinos. Mark now writes a nationally syndicated gambling column, is a university lecturer, author, reviewer and contributing editor for numerous gaming periodicals, and is the creator of the best-selling, award-winning audiocassette series on casino gambling, Hooked on Winning.
Mark Pilarski
As a recognized authority on casino gambling, Mark Pilarski survived 18 years in the casino trenches, working for seven different casinos. Mark now writes a nationally syndicated gambling column, is a university lecturer, author, reviewer and contributing editor for numerous gaming periodicals, and is the creator of the best-selling, award-winning audiocassette series on casino gambling, Hooked on Winning.