Archive for the ‘Blackjack News’ Category

MGM Mirage Beyond Blackjack

Tuesday, February 12th, 2008

MGM Mirage the second largest casino company in the world is currently working on diversifying their business. There are many casino properties owned by the company but their CEO J. Terrence Lanni is currently looking into making MGM Mirage more then just a casino company.

They have just opened up a casino property in Macau, China and their profits are soaring. You would think they would be happy and continue opening up casinos but Lanni has bigger plans. He is not walking away from casinos but is adding a new business to MGM Mirage which is called MGM Mirage Hospitality. These are generally non-casino properties with the MGM name. By 2010, MGM Mirage Hospitality is planned to have more then 15 non-casino properties. By expanding the business MGM Mirage is finding other revenue streams without much liability because they are licensing their name without putting money upfront.

This is not to say that MGM Mirage is not currently building any more casinos. They are currently underway in a multi billion dollar project on the Las Vegas Strip that will be completed in 2012. They are also currently planning a $5 billion casino complex in Atlantic City.

Source: forbes.com

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Florida Indian Gambling Expansion Deal

Tuesday, January 8th, 2008

Governor of Florida Charlie Crist’s agreement with the Seminole Tribe has recently gone into effect with the inclusion into the Federal Register. The changes that the deal allows is the expansion of gaming in Florida is rumored to take a couple months before they show up in Florida Indian Casinos. The Indian casinos are making sure that they have trained staff and have the right equipment before they expand their offerings.

In the short term Florida will receive $50 million dollars because of the new agreement. They are also promised $100 million in the 1st year, $125 million in the 2nd and $150 million in the 3rd year. Long term the agreement could potentially give billions of dollars to Florida schools over the next 30 years.

Though this could change if the supreme court finds that Crist did not have authority to sign the compact which some legislative leaders have challenged. Arguments for the issue will be heard in court on January 30th. The tribes will be allowed to install slot machines but with the compact they would be able to offer blackjack and baccarat to customers.

Source: forbes.com

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Blackjack Card Counters Try Their Luck

Monday, December 31st, 2007

It is well known that the MIT blackjack team took millions of dollars from Vegas and casinos across the country with team card counting techniques. It is largely unknown how many teams were doing the same thing during the late 90’s before casinos put in security precautions to help catch card counters.  On a side note, Card counting is legal but casinos are able to ask anyone to leave if they want so naturally they try to find the players that are card counting and ask them to leave.

In a recent newspaper article from the Rutland Hearld, it describes a team of card counters who are an unlikely bunch. Their jobs are paralegal, bartender and a pool cleaner and are learning to card count to beat Atlantic City and Las Vegas. They have already hit Atlantic City for $50k and are looking to someday beat Vegas. It is an interesting story of card counters trying to start up and avoid detection. They have paid for training from former MIT team member Mike Aponte who holds private sessions for around $5,000 dollars!

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High Stakes Blackjack at Caesars Palace

Tuesday, December 11th, 2007

Caesars Palace has just announced that that have raised their high roller limits on Blackjack and Craps. Players at Caesar Palace casino can now bet $50,000 dollars per hand at blackjack. The old maximum was $10,000 dollars per hand, this new jump is sure to bring some high rollers to the casino.

The reason why casinos don’t like to have excessive high limit tables is because they make more money when blackjack players play over a period of time. The swings can be huge in a high stakes game and if a high roller has a hot streak they can take hundreds of thousands from the casinos in minutes. It looks like Caesars Palace is willing to take that chance and are hoping this news will bring high rollers their way.

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Blackjack Extreme – New Blackjack Variation

Tuesday, December 4th, 2007

There may be a new blackjack variation that can be found online or at your local casino. The game is called Blackjack Extreme and is touted as a mix between blackjack and texas hold-em poker. The game was invented by hollywood producer David C. Thomas and he is in the process of getting it approved by the National Indian Gaming Commission and other state approval boards.

Thomas is looking to have the game played online, in brick and morter casinos and on TV. He is currently shopping a TV show that would have players play Blackjack Extreme like popular Texas Hold-em shows.

Source: kansascity.com

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MIT Card Counters Meet Gaming Executives

Wednesday, November 28th, 2007

Right now in Las Vegas they are having the annual Global Gaming Expo. The attendees are Gaming Executives (Casino Management) and at the event two players from the MIT blackjack card counting team talked to the attendees. The MIT blackjack team is most lucrative blackjack team ever. They were able to make millions of dollars of a couple years playing blackjack in Las Vegas.

The crowd that the two former MIT members talked to were the people (Casino Management) they were trying to avoid for years. They were eventually stopped after facial recognition systems were used by casinos to keep track of card counters and ban them from their casinos.

Source: Las Vegas Now 

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21 Theatrical Trailer

Monday, November 19th, 2007

The new movie about a group of MIT Students who took Las Vegas for millions is coming out in theaters. Here is the first trailer for the new movie called ’21’. The movie stars Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, Laurence Fishburne and Jim Sturgess.

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Casino Games Boost Party Gaming Profit

Wednesday, October 31st, 2007

Party Gaming has recently announced their 3rd quarter revenue and they have shown strong growth in casino games. The companies revenue grew 24% and was boosted by party casino doubling in revenue and generating a return of $36.7 million dollars. Players were playing less blackjack and focusing on more profitable games offered by the online casino including roulette and slots.

Party Gaming did however report that their poker revenue dropped by 3%. This was once a very lucrative market for party gaming but has since struggled due to the site not offering poker for US players. Even with poker slowing down Party Gaming reported a stellar 115.7 million dollars in net gaming revenue.

Source: ukpress.google.com

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Casinos for Celebrity Gamblers by Forbes

Saturday, October 13th, 2007

Forbes has just released a list of the top casinos for celebrity gamblers. This is a list of prestigious casinos that cater to the needs of Hollywood A listers. They have a slide show with pictures and description of each casino and what celebrity stars have been seen there. The article also talks about how most celebrities go to casinos that have more then just gambling and are relatively close to home. Las Vegas is a hot spot because of the short flight from LA (1 hour) and the luxury gambling, shopping and entertainment that it offers.

Some casinos cater to celebrities by giving them their own private rooms to play blackjack and other casino games so they don’t get bombarded by the public. Celebrities that are frequent gamblers: Alex Rodriguez, Warren Buffet, Jessica Biel, Shannon Elizabeth, Ben Affleck , Pamela Anderson, Bruce Willis, Drew Barrymore and Jon Bon Jovi

Top Celebrity Casinos

Bellagio, Las Vegas
The Borgata, Atlantic City, N.J.
The Palms, Las Vegas
The Wynn, Las Vegas
The Venetian, Las Vegas
The Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahama
Crown Casino, Melbourne, Australia
Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, Conn.

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Blackjack Odds

Friday, October 5th, 2007

We have just added a basic strategy blackjack odds chart. This will help players looking to learn basic blackjack strategy. I encourage players to print this out and either memorize it or play along with it while playing online or offline. Pretty soon you will know this chart like the back of your hand and you will become a much better blackjack player because of it.

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