Archive for the ‘Blackjack News’ Category

iPhone Blackjack App

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

Jason Zhang, a creator of iPhone applications and software, recently launched a unique blackjack iPhone application that is capable of teaching users how to play blackjack and training them in the skills of the game.

Zhang’s blackjack iPhone application is also suitable for gamers who have iPods and iPads with touch screen services. The new software is available now for less than dollar at a price of $.99 and can be purchased from the Apple Apps Store. The blackjack application is equipped to train players on two types of blackjack games and include both Atlantic City blackjack rules and Las Vegas Strip blackjack rules. Depending on their game of choice players will be able to opt for whichever type of blackjack game they want to learn and access it on their iPhones or iPods with this application.

This application has been designed to work as button free software and takes into consideration the touch screen system used by most iPhones and iPods. This blackjack application allows the players to make their moves simply by touch. For instance, a player who wants to make a stand will only have to move their fingers across the screen and push chips with tier fingers across the virtual blackjack table to increase their wagers.

Zhang’s iPhone blackjack application also has blackjack strategy and tables to help players understand.

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Mount Airy to Hire Northampton’s First Blackjack Trainees

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

The first batch of Northampton’s table games trainees, who finished their blackjack training on Thursday, hope to land up at Mount Airy. If state lawmakers permit, the casino hopes to launch table games early June.

Blackjack is more popular than any other class offered at Northampton Community College, which began offering job-oriented table games courses as soon as the state legislature approved table games. The curriculum was purchased from Atlantic Cape Community College and the instructors were obtained from Mount Airy.

Eighty-seven of the 92 students who signed up for the initial blackjack sessions are still on roll, says Community Education Dean of Northampton College Paul Pierpoint. He is sure that all of them will graduate.

George Toth, the president of Mount Airy, is ready to hire a majority of them provided they satisfy their license requirements. He said that the students’ performance in class, their dedication, motivation, sense of work ethics, and ability to interact with others will determine if Mount Airy will have them.

The students have already learned basic chip and card handling skills during Northampton’s 120-hour course, which lasted for 6 weeks. They must now take written and performance exams on procedures and dealing as well as a CPR course.

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Blackjack Player Nabbed for Bank Heist

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

Joseph Baer, was recently arrested while playing blackjack at a gaming table at the Trump Plaza Casino based in Atlantic City.

Baer has a criminal history and is a convicted felon on the charge of bank robbery. He is 39 years old and is known to be a compulsive gambler with an affinity for blackjack tables it would seem. In a twist of fate, it was at a blackjack table in the Trump Plaza Casino that Baer was apprehended and taken into custody.

Baer has been on the most wanted list of the FBI when it was believed that he was responsible for holding up three banks in the Philadelphia area. The U.S. Marshals also went so far as to put a $1,500 reward out for any information that would help them to arrest Baer. It is believed that the security guard at the casino who spotted Baer playing blackjack may receive this reward.

The police had launched a man hunt for the suspect and were of the mind that Baer was robbing banks to fund his gambling addiction. They believed that he would take the stolen money from the banks and take it straight to the casino to play blackjack.

According to FBI Spokesperson and Special Agent J.J. Klaver “He was playing blackjack. A security guard at the casino recognized him and notified a state trooper who was there.”

Baer had allegedly robbed the PNC Bank located on Frankford Avenue and was captured on camera which allowed for the police to identify him.

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Seminoles Secure $1Billion Gambling Deal Legalizing Blackjack In Florida

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

The Seminole tribe from Florida recently received the House vote in their favor and when they received the go ahead for a $1 billion gambling at 74-39.

This deal has full approval of the Florida state legislature and makes blackjack and slots legal games at any Seminole casinos. This deal marks a record win after a long court case and many negotiations. This $1 billion deal in favor of the Seminole tribe was signed and authorized by Governor Charlie Crist on Monday.

According to this billion dollar deal blackjack and other card games are officially legal at five casinos, namely, the Hollywood Casino, Coconut Creek Casinos and the Tampa Hard Rock casino. All five are Seminole casinos and are expected to do very well in the state of Florida.

The deal also ensures that the tribe is able to operate Vegas-style slots in all the State counties with the exception of the Miami-Dade counties and Broward.

This deal is the third to be issued since the year 2007 and is the first one to support the tribe. The deal also allows for a tax break of 15 percent in the southern area of Florida and permits blackjack games to last long and be played for high stakes.

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Study Shows Pennsylvania Casinos Need to Add Blackjack Tables

Monday, April 19th, 2010

According to a recent new report published by TRC, casinos in Pennsylvania that add table games like blackjack and poker to their offerings are seen as the better option by players in the region.

The TRC study as conducted by the reputed market research company found that 14% of undecided gamers believed that they would see casinos in a more favorable light should they add blackjack tables in their halls. The company conducted the study among several groups of residents in Pennsylvania and estimated that although many people had mixed feelings towards the USA casinos in the state, many considered the addition of blackjack tables to a casino’s game offerings would tip the scales in its favor.

The study also found that the idea of casinos with blackjack and other table games were met with approval among the young residents and also among singles and men.

The study also showed that about fifty percent of the residents in PA believed that the casinos would provide job opportunities, which made them view the growth of casinos in the state as a positive trend. Others on the other hand, claimed that the casinos in Pennsylvania and the addition of blackjack games may trigger an increase in the crime rate as well.

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Australia’s Star City Casino Ups Efforts to Catch Cheats

Sunday, April 18th, 2010

The Star City casino based in Sydney recently announced that it was tightening security in an effort to track and apprehend blackjack cheats and thieves. The new surveillance measures that it has taken has proved successful and reports claim that the casino has caught several blackjack cheats who are using marked cards and fake chips. The main focus of all this effort is the blackjack tables at the casino where cheating and fraud appear to be rampant.

The Star City casino is looking to clean up its image and its casino by removing all unruly and unscrupulous patrons from its premises and has increased its surveillance operations by 20% in the last 2 years. As of now the Australian casino boasts 1200 close circuit cameras on its premises that cover all the areas of the casino including the main gaming floor and the building’s perimeter. Star City has also added cameras in its high rollers room.

By the year 2011, the casino will re-launch itself complete with a new name and reputation and several more security cameras to watch its blackjack tables. In total there will be 1800 cameras in the casino. The casino reported that the cheating and thefts that occurred in the casino had doubled in the past year, but according to the casino spokesperson, this is indicative of the number of cheaters and thieves who have been apprehended.

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Casinos May Have to Allow Card Counters

Thursday, April 15th, 2010

Tom Donovan, who made the news when he was first banned from the Grand Victoria Casino in the year 2006, has recently garnered attention or his appeal to the USA Supreme Court against the ban. It may just be possible that Donovan could get the Supreme Court to vote in his favor which could mean USA Casinos would have no choice but to allow card counters.

Donovan cited unfair treatment as his case claiming that the Grand Victoria Casino had no good reason to ban him. He appealed to the Indiana’s Supreme Court and seems to have met with a favorable attitude. Justice Frank Sullivan Jr. made a very valid point when he said: “Your casino … offers games where skill can be a factor, like blackjack and poker, in an effort to attract customers who think they have the requisite skill to win. But once you identify a customer who has the requisite skill to win, you pull the rug out from under them and say ‘Sorry you can’t play,’ ”

Tom Donovan does not have a reputation for cheating. Instead he is a computer programmer who acquired the skill of counting cards when he took an online class. He then used this skill to win money playing blackjack and has taken in as much as $65,000 over a 7 year period.

Donovan was banned from the Grand Victoria’s blackjack tables once he was discovered counting cards. The court in Marion County sided with the casino and ordered the player to refrain from the blackjack tables.

Whatever decision the Supreme Court of Indiana makes will have repercussions for the gaming industry as it could recognize card counting as a gaming skill.

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Seminole Indiants Cuts Blackjack Deal with Florida

Monday, April 12th, 2010

Florida lawmakers have signed a deal with Seminole Indians regarding online gaming, as a result of which the Seminoles are permitted to offer slots games and Blackjack games. However, the Seminoles will have to pay an upfront fee as well as part of the annual revenue generated by Blackjack and slots games to the state.

Moreover, the state can re-examine the deal after 5 years. The Seminoles will not have to pay the state part of their gaming revenue if it chooses to ban Blackjack. On the contrary, if the state opts for gaming expansion, the Seminoles will not have to pay the same rates on Blackjack although they will have to continue making the same payments for slots games.

According to the latest deal signed with the Seminoles, the state will no longer receive payments if it regulates online blackjack gaming and if the Seminoles lose their right to operate online gaming sites. The Seminoles can utilize this clause if they observe a 5 percent drop in their profits.

The state of Florida might end up being the loser if certain special circumstances crop up. If the country chooses to regulate and legalize online gaming, Florida lawmakers have to make a quick decision regarding online gaming.

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Blackjack Players Use 1930 Gaming Law to Reclaim Lost Funds at the Hard Rock Casino

Friday, April 9th, 2010

Two blackjack players are using a law instituted in the 1930s to make the Seminole Hard Rock Casino based in Hollywood, Florida, pay them back their losses of $15,000. The two players have lost large sums of money while playing blackjack at the casino’s tables and have now devised an ingenious method of getting their money back.

Michael Trentalange, the attorney representing these two players, has helped them file lawsuit with the Florida Supreme Court on the basis that the table and card games such as blackjack that were hosted by the Seminole Hard Rock Casino were illegal. According to the 80 year old law, gamblers are allowed the privilege of recovering their losses if the law estimated that the gambling at that centre was illegal.

The Florida Supreme Court has placed the games provided by the casino as illegal, while the Seminole tribe claimed that all the games are legal and that they should not have to pay the losses of these two players. The tribe alleged that the Department of Interior had ruled on the legality of the games and that they were in the clear.

Currently, it appears that the two blackjack players may have the right to a refund as it may just stand that the casino is in fact operating an illegal operation. Should this happen, then every player who has participated in the games at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino would be expected to get a refund. The case depends on the legal status of the games in the USA casino.

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Indiana Supreme Court to Make Decision about Card Counting Rules

Friday, April 9th, 2010

In 2006, Indianapolis resident Thomas Donovan sued the Grand Victoria Casino and Resort after he was banned from the blackjack table for suspicions of card counting.  Marion County court ruled in favor of the casino, but the decision was eventually reversed by the Court of Appeals.  The case is now being brought before the Indiana Supreme Court to decide whether casinos should have the right to ban gamblers who count cards, reports indystar.com.

The casino argues that because it is privately owned, it has the right to refuse business with anyone.  However, Donovan argues that both the state and the casino currently have no rules prohibiting card counting.

Source: indystar.com, Associated Press, Posted April 4, 2010

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