Underage Blackjack Gamblers Get Mohegan Sun Into Trouble, Again
December 28th, 2011 by OBO-admin
For the sixth time in four years, the Mohegan Sun Casino faced the wrath of the Pennsylvania State Gaming Control Board for its failure to curb underage gambling. The casino was slapped with an $80,000 fine for two incidents involving three juvenile blackjack gamblers.
In the more disturbing of the two infractions an unnamed 20 year old player in the company of his equally unnamed parents spent more than three hours on the gaming floor playing blackjack and the slot machines. He was supplied with beer while he played.
The other case involved a 20 year old and a 19 year old, both unidentified males, playing blackjack on the floor for almost two hours.
The state police investigated the two violations. Under Pennsylvania State Law, Under 21s are prohibited from betting on, playing or attempting to play either table games or slot machines in a casino.
Mohegan Sun agreed to pay the fine and also to implement a procedure whereby anyone who looks under the age of 30 will be required to furnish identification.
The role of the parents in the first case came in for special questioning by the Gaming Board members. The two could find themselves on the State’s gamblers black list.
Posted in Blackjack News |
Blackjack Dealers in Training for Ohio Casinos
December 19th, 2011 by OBO-admin
A number of unemployed people hoping to land jobs as blackjack dealers in Ohio casinos are now in training and getting ready for auditions. Over a 100 people practiced in a makeshift casino in Owens Community College, Northwest Ohio and got trained by Penn National Gaming to work in Hollywood Casino, which will launch in Toledo next year.
Penn National Gaming plans to recruit around 500 dealers for table games such as craps, poker, blackjack, and others. Director of Casino Games for Hollywood Casino Neal Perry said that the casino has already received 3,500 applications and expected to pay in the range of $16 – $22 per hour, including tips.
Hollywood Casino is one of the four casinos that obtained voters’ approval back in 2009. These casinos are expected to generate over 6000 jobs.
The candidates now in training had to undergo two screenings to gain admission to the 5-week course in card dealing, which started 3 weeks back. The audition is scheduled for December. The casino plans to hold 3 more similar courses.
Perry said that the casino will also hire dealers with experience from a wide range of casinos, including Penn National Casinos, and that even experienced dealer will have to undergo an audition.
Posted in Blackjack News |
Blackjack Player’s Win Responsible For Casino’s 4% Revenue Drop
December 9th, 2011 by OBO-admin
The casinos in the state of Pennsylvania reported a good profit in the month of October 2011 and analyses confirmed that it was a 30% hike when compared to the number that the casino showed in October 2010.
However, it was noted that the Presque Isle Downs and Casino would have actually had a profit not of 30% but of 34% had a lucky blackjack player not struck the jackpot at one of their tables. The casino reported a decline a in the month of October after the player won a prize of $568,290 at the blackjack tables.
The lucky blackjack player was from Erie County and was in his late twenties. Jennifer See, a spokesperson for the Presque Isle Downs and Casino confirmed the incident had in fact cut the casino revenue. The casino has opted to not release the personal details of the player.
Other casinos in the state also reported a loss of revenue like the Meadows Racetrack and Casino, which suffered a big set back of 33%. Even the once popular Mount Airy Casino Resort located in the Poconos area of the state saw its revenue dip by 13 percent and hopes to recover it losses soon.
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Barona Casino Launches Special Blackjack Promotion for Veterans Day
November 30th, 2011 by OBO-admin
In order to make this Veteran’s Day extra special, the Barona Resort and Casino has decided to host a special array of promotions and casino games for its players to enjoy. These promotions are specifically designed to honor veterans and will reward those casino members who had served in the military with $50 free that they can use to play at the casino!
This promotion will run from the 11th of November to the 30th of the same month. To avail of the offer, players will only have to present their identification proving that they had served in the military. Players will have to go to the Club Barona Booths to get their free play offer. The Barona Resort and Casino will also reward the veterans with a special pin. The casino will also be featuring a live band and a DJ.
Rick Salinas, the general manager of the Barona Casino commented on the promotions. “This Veterans Day, we want to honor our military friends for their dedicated and loyal service to our country. At Barona, we are proud of our armed forces and want to make sure they know how much they are appreciated.”
Posted in Blackjack News |
Blackjack House Edge Lowest In Pennsylvania Casinos
November 18th, 2011 by OBO-admin
The Independent Regulatory Review Commission of the state of Pennsylvania recently requested the Gaming Control Board to check the Blackjack house advantage in PA casinos as compared to those in other states such as New Jersey.
In the state of Pennsylvania, the game of blackjack has a lower house advantage than other games as compared to various jurisdictions, which means players have a better chance of winning in this state. The game of blackjack has many varieties, and there are different rules that are applicable for blackjack. This makes blackjack good for the house or good for the players depending on the rules.
For Pennsylvania, the rules were set in July 2010 and the house advantage is less than 0.4% if players stick to the basic strategy, which is based on the computer driven concept.
The commission talks about having rules that are “consistent with legislative intent” and they are also interested in knowing how these regulations will affect the economy. This comparison will determine whether the rules are in favor of the people or against them.
Weakening blackjack rules increases the casino revenue and affects the player’s pockets. More casino revenue means more tax for the state, and so it is understandable what rules will apply. The best thing to do now would be to make the existing rules permanent.
Posted in Blackjack News |
Littlewoods Is Hosting Blackjack Tournament with £2,605 Prize
November 13th, 2011 by OBO-admin
The Littlewoods Casino, one of the most reputed online blackjack hubs for gamers will be hosting an exciting blackjack tournament with a prize worth £2,605. This event will be a one-day tourney that will go on for 24 hours online, giving blackjack enthusiast a chance to earn as many points as they can while playing blackjack.
At the end of the day, the player with the highest amount of points wins the prize! The event is called Blackjack attack and will commence at 00.00 hours and go on until midnight. The first place prize will be worth £625 and the event has over 50 cash prizes for the first 50 players.
The event is scheduled to take place late this month so get ready to participate in it and do not miss the opportunity to be a part of an exciting blackjack tourney if you like playing the game.
Players will have to deposit a minimum of 60 pounds to participate in the event, but do not have to spend all that much money at the event. The players will receive good rewards up to the 5th position, after which the players will be given 30 to 15 pounds depending on which ranking they have come up as winners on the leader board.
Posted in Blackjack News |
Blackjack Tables Raising the Odds against Players?
October 25th, 2011 by OBO-admin
Players are always wary of those blackjack casinos that have the odds stacked high against them. Sadly, it would seem that this is going to be a trend where the odds are hiked in order to meet the increasing costs faced by casinos. And as always players are against this!
Casinos usually raise the house’s percentage by playing roulette with 0 and 00 on the wheel, by tweaking the odds on slot machine games, and by changing the blackjack payoff ratios. However, they cannot keep doing this and need to find new ways of improving the house odds. If players were to find out all about the constant raised odds, they would leave the casinos, and hence casinos have to find different ways of doing the same.
A panel that explored different ways of how casinos can improve the house odds have come back with the information that installing a cup holder at the blackjack table will allow companies to benefit from it. Players usually spill drinks on the table in their excitement and that bites into the time for the game, which decreases the number of hands played and decreases the money on the table, hence companies can install cup holders and players can play the game without getting irritated as well.
It was also suggested that the number of side bets on common games should be increased and that the experiment would be put into effect starting with blackjack.
Posted in Blackjack News |
Players Urge State to Retain Player Friendly Blackjack Rules
October 20th, 2011 by OBO-admin
The blackjack players of Pennsylvania are urging its lawmakers to retain all the blackjack friendly rules.
A blackjack player who frequents Keystone State casinos has voiced his opinion that blackjack money lasts longer in Pennsylvania casinos than at Las Vegas casinos because of the excellent rules in Pennsylvania. Another player said the Pennsylvania blackjack rules are fairer than the Atlantic City rules.
Seventy Players from Pennsylvania, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, District of Columbia, and Canada wrote to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, all voicing opinions similar to those above. They have all urged the state to retain player friendly rules such as 3 to 1 payments, dealer to stand on soft 17, and the option to surrender half the bet.
The board has also received letters from Greenwood Gaming Entertainment, the operators of Parx Casino, and Hollywood Casino. While Greenwood Gaming has urged the board to permit tables allowing dealers to hit on soft 17, Hollywood Casino wants casinos to be allowed to pay even money when the dealer gets an Ace and players get blackjack. Surprisingly, no casino has asked the board to introduce the infamous 6 – 5 payouts.
The board says that all comments will be carefully reviewed before proposing the final regulations.
Posted in Blackjack News |
Legal Blackjack Card Games To Be Made available at Horse Race Events
October 10th, 2011 by OBO-admin
New York State politicians are now considering permitting poker and blackjack card games take place in the state’s racing tracks. According to the latest update the Saratoga Casino and Raceway may convert into a mini-casino. The idea is to generate some revenue for the state.
It is estimated that around 20% of New York lives on the facilities provided by the government and due to the recent economy, the stock market is not doing so well, and the state has not been able to receive its development funds for this year.
Most other options to solve this problem have run out and hence they might resort to gambling as a solution to rake in revenues. Only if the blackjack games are legalized, regularized and taxed will there be enough cash to prevent any sort of mishap or rioting that might come up eventually.
Some statistics show that $3-$5 billion is spent each year on casino table games by New York City residents alone, and that money has yet not been taxed. This money if taxed will ensure additional revenue for the state for a few decades.
The general idea is that as long as this does not affect the horse racing industry it should do just fine to generate revenue through legal poker & blackjack card games.
Posted in Blackjack News |
Blackjack Champions And Neuroscientists Partner for Discovery Summit
October 4th, 2011 by OBO-admin
The 2012 Discovery Summit will be hosted by the JMP, which specializes in business analytics software and related services. They have decided to invite neuroscientists and blackjack champs at the same time in order to debate on the topic of ‘improving decision making by overcoming biases and shortcomings’.
The summit will take place from September 13th to 16th at Denver. Two keynote speakers, one a noted neuroscientist and the other a noted blackjack champ will be expressing their views on the same.
Jonah Lehrer will discuss neuroscience and Jeffrey Ma, the guy whose story inspired the movie “21”, will also speak on the same and he plans to talk about ways to harness the mind’s power in order to focus on analytical part of the brain, which results in better decision making. Jeffrey Ma will also exhibit his speech in action at a game that he will be leading at the online blackjack casino during the summit.
The neuroscientist has no such exhibition whatsoever, but it would have been interesting to see if some of the attendees included President Obama’s staff and since that is not the case, it is no surprising the kind of decisions that are being taken in the United States.
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