Gaming writer Andrew Grazer’s perspective:

http://www.freep.com/news/casinos/gam6_20021206.htm

Brian Dickerson’s clear-headed business perspective:

http://www.freep.com/news/metro/dicker27_20021127.htm

What Does it mean to YOU?

Well let’s start with Millennium Management, the company that operates  Greektown in Detroit.

Millennium is made up of three partners.

~ Bill Wortman owns Nevada Palace in Las Vegas.

~ Bob Mendenhall owns Las Vegas Paving.

~ Bill Paulos is a long-time LV casino-management legend.

Millennium Management also operates the Rampart Casino at JW Marriott (the former Resort at Summerlin in Las Vegas), and they are the owners of the new 50,000 square-foot Cannery Casino which opens in North Las Vegas later this month.

The message is clear: 

~       They DO NOT like winners!  They especially do not like consistent winners or anyone who shows any apparent level of skill in ANY casino game. 

~       When they read the “advantage-players riot-act” (the Trespass Act) to you; your money-making ventures will come to an end at their gaming-house.

So far it is only thirty advantage-play video-poker patrons at one casino, but consider this:

If it can happen in Detroit, and be perpetrated by licensed casino operators who also operate in Nevada; then folks, it can happen anywhere and EVERYWHERE across this nation. 

You can wear rose-colored glasses to screen out reality, and continue to believe that you don’t have to shield your wins.  However you are likely going to sacrifice your casino-playing longevity for instant-gratification greed, gluttony and blind ambition. 

When you do finally open your eyes, it may be too late.

Ignore History at your Peril

I laugh out-loud when I read how seemingly intelligent people say that casinos will never, ever ban successful Precision-Shooters. 

While I understand that some of them may have a vested interest in perpetuating that pretty wish, it is in fact, just wishful and hopeful thinking, praying and hoping.

The facts don’t support that optimism.

Long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away, they actually held blackjack card-counting clinics in a number of casinos.  In point of fact, the old Royal Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas where John Patrick filmed a few of his videotapes, even held a few of those “Beat Blackjack” seminars. 

Of course, those $299 seminars were brought to a grinding halt when the casinos realized that while new players were being brought into the casino with the attraction and lure of a “beatable” game; they found that they were taking occasional HUGE hits from savvy counters and coordinated teams.

Yes, books like “Beat The Dealer” and a number of other publications increased the interest in blackjack.  And while the casinos were very happy that lots of fresh meat…er, I mean, new players were coming in and losing tons of money, the casinos weren’t going to let a few skilled advantage players steal any freshly-hatched eggs from their golden goose.

There was a brief and glorious period when blackjack gained in popularity and the game flourished, but the money-making honeymoon of big money for advantage-playing card-counters was relatively short-lived.

The casinos saw the huge profit that they could make from people who couldn’t count properly, or lacked knowledge of basic-strategy, or were poorly disciplined money-managers, but were nonetheless attracted to this “beatable” game.

At the same time, the casinos didn’t want their golden feathers to be plucked by an disciplined and highly-skilled counters who actually mastered the game.   So they did what any good business-owner would do.  They re-jigged the business-model (the rules of the game) until they could still continue to draw steady losers, but discourage or outright bar the advantage-players.

That is the reality of the current world of blackjack.

It didn’t take the casinos long before they initiated the unending string of counter-measures that are employed against skilled blackjack counters to this very day. 

Shall I mention a few?  How about:

Ø       Facial-Recognition software

Ø       Random-shuffling

Ø       Shallow deck penetration

Ø       Multi-decking

Ø       No mid-shoe game entry

Ø       Dealing past certain players

Ø       Limited betting ranges

Ø       Continuous-Shuffling machines

Ø       Outright barring of “advantage” players

Oh, and let me mention the new favorite counter-measure du-jour: 

~The elimination of the 3-to-2 payment for a two-card “21”, in favor of the higher house-advantage 6-to-5 payout.

New Lunacy, Old Greed

I’m told that some people are starting to hold their dice-setting seminars right in the casinos.

Well that should certainly make it easier to identify advantage-players in the future.

They keep saying, “Mad Professor, there ain’t no way, no how that casinos will never, ever bar skilled Precision-Shooters.  I’m telling you MP it will never, ever happ…OOPS!!

Like I said, sometimes I HATE being right.

Good Luck & Good Skill at the Tables…and in Life.

Sincerely,

The Mad Professor

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