Video Blackjack on Decline in Vegas
January 22nd, 2016 by Dustin Jermalowicz
Internet blackjack information site OnlineBlackjack.com has released their annual survey of blackjack games in Las Vegas, and it has some bad news for those that enjoy playing video blackjack in Sin City.
The report revealed that video blackjack conditions have gotten substantially worse following a strong growth in favorable games during 2014. Nearly all casinos located on the Las Vegas Strip and Downtown Las Vegas have reduced the payouts on video blackjack to 6-5, making the games almost unplayable. Notable exceptions to this rule are the Venetian and Palazzo, as they currently pay 3-2 on blackjack. Players can find machines that pay 3-2 on naturals, although the number of these machines is down drastically as well.
Online Blackjack’s analysts concluded that video blackjack in Vegas is basically unplayable, and have begun pushing players toward video craps.
The Las Vegas Blackjack survey is an annual tradition at OnlineBlackjack.com, as it sends analysts out into the world’s second-largest gambling market to study the various 21 games available for play, notes the table minimum bets, rules, and payouts. Through this information, the site is able to put together comprehensive articles that give players the best spots to play in an effort to maximize their odds of success against the house. In addition to video blackjack, the site also put together analysis of single deck, double deck, and shoe games, and analyzed the conditions of the Northern, Central, and Southern Strip as well as Downtown Vegas.
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Blackjack on the Decline in Deadwood
December 30th, 2015 by Dustin Jermalowicz
For years it was card games like poker and blackjack that grew the reputation of Deadwood, South Dakota as a gambling hotspot, but it appears that card games are on the decline, as November numbers revealed that blackjack and poker revenues fell 28% during the month.
The South Dakota Gaming Commission on Gaming reported that poker and blackjack games fell by 28% in the month, while other table games were down roughly 8%. Slot machine wagers for the month totaled $74.3 million for the month, which is up 10% from the same period last year.
Commenting on the results Deadwood Gaming Association Executive Director Mike Rodman said, “Despite November’s mixed results, 2015 year-to-date Deadwood gaming handle continues to outpace 2014 by 3.34 percent in slots and 7.57 percent in table games.”
Deadwood grew to infamy during the 1800s as a variety of outlaws and frontiersman, with the legend of Wild Bill Hickock ending when he was murdered during a poker game. Today there are 24 different spots to wager at, with some sites offering slot machines, some offering table games, and some spots offering both.
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Golden Nugget Louisiana Blackjack Dealer Steals Casino Chips
December 3rd, 2015 by Dustin Jermalowicz
In late November a dealer at the Golden Nugget Casino in Lake Charles was arrested for stealing $1,000 worth of casino chips during her shift.
Cindy Thompson was jailed in the Calcasieu Parish Correctional Center and she is currently charged with felony theft. She was caught on surveillance camera during a work period taking chips and sliding them into her work apron multiple times. After she had taken the chips she then went out to the L’Auberge Casino Resort, where she tried to exchange her Golden Nugget chips with the L’Auberge chips.
After she was caught, Golden Nugget security held her until Louisiana State Police picked her up. She was then interviewed, where she admitted to stealing the chips, placing them into her apron and then revealing to police where she hid them.
Thompson is still incarcerated as she has a bond set at $5,000.
Online Blackjack Odds will update this story as we learn more.
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ShaqJack Blackjack Variant Goes Live
November 17th, 2015 by Dustin Jermalowicz
Retired NBA basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal has announced that he has teamed up with Dynamic Gaming Solutions to create ShaqJack, a blackjack variant which has gone live at Parx Casino in Pennsylvania.
ShaqJack is an electronic blackjack game, which pits players at a terminal that can be located anywhere within the casino, which then broadcasts a live dealer game to the terminals. O’Neal was brought on board to help brand the game, which features the 7 foot 1 inch star in a digital avatar, offering praise for players when they win, consolation for when they lose and also offers them insurance. Shaq lent his name to the game without requiring an upfront fee, instead opting to earn royalties based on the performance of the game.
The Parx Casino is offering 24 of the terminals at the casino, and is offering hands of blackjack starting at just $10, which is much more economical than the $25 minimum that the casino generally offers its customers.
Commenting on the appeal of ShaqJack gaming lawyer Lloyd D. Levenson said, “When you go into a successful casino in the evening, you can’t find a (blackjack) table for less than 25 bucks. (Operators are) missing out on a population that would like to gamble but can’t afford to spend $25 dollars a hand. With Shaqjack, the expense side for the casino is less, so they can afford to reduce the minimum bet.”
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Film Website Posts Article on Inaccuracies of “21”
October 30th, 2015 by Dustin Jermalowicz
Online entertainment website Film-News.co.uk has posted an interesting new article regarding the various inaccuracies surrounding the blackjack film “21”, which is loosely based on the MIT blackjack team that won big at various casinos in the 1990’s.
The website noted that there are at least six big inaccuracies pertaining to the events of the film, and they are all attached to various strategies that the group uses or the outcome of their scheme.
The six inaccuracies attached to the film in the article are:
– That the object of the game is to get as close to 21 as possible
– That card counters are geniuses and that workers at casinos are generally dumb
– That the card counters always won
– That splitting 8’s against Aces and 10s is for suckers
– The role that the spotters in the film played
– And that card counters are still beat up by casino security staff
The movie 21 was released in 2008 and stars Kevin Spacey, Jim Sturgess, Lawrence Fishburne and Kate Bosworth. The plot of the movie follows a group of MIT students and their teacher (Spacey) as they make a run on various casinos by counting cards and walking away with big cash prizes. The movie was met with mixed reviews by critics, but still managed to net $157,802,470 at the box office.
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PGCB Fines Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course $13,000
September 24th, 2015 by Dustin Jermalowicz
This week the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board voted to fine Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course $13,000 for operating blackjack tables even though decks for the games were missing a card.
The regulator fined the casino’s parent company “Mountainview Thoroughbred Racing Association” the large cash fine given the fact that the Hollywood Casino ran two gaming tables, “Spanish 21” and a standard blackjack game knowing that the games were missing cards. The incident took place in April of this year.
Hollywood Casino at Penn national Race Course first opened in 2008, with table games going live in 2010. The casino has 2,480 slot machines and 54 tables. Besides blackjack, the casino also offers poker, roulette, craps, and Pai Gow.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board was founded in 2004 and serves as the Keystone State’s gaming regulator, overseeing the casino and horse racing industry. The state currently taxes slot revenues at a rate of 55%, while table game taxes stand at 14%.
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Florida and Seminole Tribe Blackjack Negotiations Progressing
September 14th, 2015 by Dustin Jermalowicz
A dispute between the state of Florida and the Seminole Indian tribe regarding blackjack at the state’s casinos is in mediation, and negotiations between the two groups is progressing.
A state Senator has said that negotiations between the two groups is making progress, and it is believed an agreement could be reached before an October deadline, which would require the tribe to stop offering banked card games at its casinos. Previously the Seminoles and state had signed a 5 year, $1 billion compact that gave exclusive rights to the tribe that expired, and no new agreement has been reached as of press time. For their part the tribe believes it retains the right to offer the games.
Commenting on the talks Senator Rob Bradley said, “We are making progress in discussions with the tribe. I’m hopeful that we can reach a point where we have something to offer to the membership to consider and debate.”
The state is expecting that any deal would have the state making a $250 million payment that it considers due annually, and the tribe would expect exclusive rights to the games in the Sunshine State.
Online Blackjack Odds will update this story as more developments arise.
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Resorts World Casino Begins Offering Video Blackjack
August 25th, 2015 by Dustin Jermalowicz
New York City based Resorts World Casino has announced that they have begun offering video blackjack to their customers, as the casino launched 60 of the machines.
The casino has a goal of eventually offering 300 of the games in its casino, believing that the games will contribute at least $31 million to the state’s Lottery Education Fund… enough to hire 700 teachers.
The state of New York approved a regulation change in April that allowed the state’s racinos to begin offering games such as blackjack, provided the games are of the skill variety and are delivered in an electronic format.
A statement released by Resorts World New York President Ryan Eller on the issue read: “Resorts World is proud to do its part to help improve New York’s education system. The introduction of video blackjack furthers this support and helps to ensure more students throughout the city and state will earn a high-quality public education.”
Other betting sites such as Empire City Casino in Yonkers have also adopted the games as well, hoping that they can tap into the revenues being generated in states such as New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut.
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Top Three Blackjack Documentaries
May 12th, 2014 by OBO-admin
Several documentaries have been made on the game of blackjack, which is one of the most popular casino games in the world. Here is a list of the three top blackjack documentaries.
Breaking Vegas is a blackjack documentary based on the adventures of a group of MIT students and former students who learned card counting and won huge amounts of cash from Las Vegas casinos in the nineties. Made by History Channel, it provides an insight into the MIT phenomenon, giving clear details about their schemes and how they used their genius to beat Las Vegas casinos.
Holy Rollers: The True Story of Card Counting Christians is another blackjack documentary worth checking out as it is inspired by a US blackjack team of devout Christians, the biggest and the richest in the country. The Holy Rollers would travel from one casino to the other counting cards and winning thousands of dollars. They would say that one should learn to play blackjack in order to be a true disciple of Jesus.
Horizon: Making Millions the Easy Way is also a documentary inspired by the MIT group and traces their evolution from students to card counting high rollers in Las Vegas casinos.
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Tulsa Resident Pleads Guilty to Cheating at Blackjack
May 9th, 2014 by OBO-admin
A resident of Tulsa has pleaded guilty to receiving the assistance of a blackjack dealer to win blackjack games at the local Tulsa casino. The dealer in the case had already pleaded guilty long back.
Nam Quoc Le, aged 33 years old, pleaded guilty to a federal indictment of Jan 8, which accused him of cheating at the blackjack tables of Tulsa Osage Casino with the help of the blackjack dealer in the months of January and February.
Le stated that he had worked with dealer Misty Lynn White to win money at the blackjack tables illegally. His accomplice White has already been sentenced to a five-year probation term and ordered to return part of the $59,936.50 the casino has lost because of her illegal activities.
Le said that White would show him the cards while playing blackjack so that he could use this information to his advantage. The casino staff became suspicious and video footage showed Le revealing the cards to the man.
Gregory Frizzell, the US chief district judge, will sentence Le on May 15. William Lunn, legal representative of Le and Cozzoni, said that the judge could give him a probation term according to certain federal guidelines.
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