Seminole Hard Rock offers BJ beginning 6/20

Never thought I'd live to see it happen! :grin:

Starting at 6:00 pm EDT this coming Sunday, June 20, 2008, it will be possible to play blackjack at a casino in the State of Florida. That is when the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino will commence house-banked card games in Hollywood, including BJ, baccarat, 3-card poker, etc.

No more risking sea-sickness on one of the local "cruises to nowhere"!

Preliminary word is that it will be S17, Double any pair, DAS. Probably 6 deck shoes, but hopefully some 2 deck, at least in the high limit area. 55 tables, with minimums to start at $15-25. Haven't been able to find out whether it will be hand shuffle, machine shuffle, or (No, please, NO!) CSMs.

It's tempting to go Sunday night, but due to the likely crowd scene and inevitable hyper-attention on the new games, I'll probably wait a week or two before making an appearance. Still, to be able to just drive down I-95 and play BJ, without packing a suitcase, waiting at an airport, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. :grin:

May have soft opening a day or two before Sunday 6/22

The cage told me they will open the tables two days before the official opening.

Awesome! Thanks for the info. I live in Tampa and have been wondering what the official date was going to be. Please no CSMs!!!

Anybody checked out the games yet?

KenSmith said:

Anybody checked out the games yet?

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anyone? bueller? bueller?

Aponte and Irvine in the news re: Seminole Hard Rock:
(Dead link: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/579030.html)

8 deck shoes mentioned in the article. Blech.

KenSmith said:

Aponte and Irvine in the news re: Seminole Hard Rock:
(Dead link: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/579030.html)

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Holy cow, Aponte was able to restrain himself from chatting away with a local reporter for two whole days after the game opened up. Wow I'm impressed.

Automatic Monkey said:

Holy cow, Aponte was able to restrain himself from chatting away with a local reporter for two whole days after the game opened up. Wow I'm impressed.

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Is the game beatable?

What I got out of the article is that one should go well prepared or you will be welcome with open arms as a wanna be counter..

Still haven't heard from anyone thats been over there yet. The possible 8 deck shoe sounds discouraging though. Anyone tried them out yet?

deathrisingup said:

Still haven't heard from anyone thats been over there yet. The possible 8 deck shoe sounds discouraging though. Anyone tried them out yet?

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8D is just fine. If they cut the pen to crap because there's a guy running around town loudly promoting card counting seminars, that's not fine, that is what makes the game unplayable and all they have to do is suggest it to their dealers to make it happen.

Seminole Hardrock Hollywood, Florida

The Seminole Hardrock on opening night had 12-$100/5000 8d with 1 3/4-2d penetration with asms; 20-$25/2500 with 8d same penetration with asms and 16 - $25/5000 csm's. All BJ rules the same on all tables: S17, double any 2, das, split to 4, split aces get 1 card, bj pays 3:2, no surrender. Penetration varied by dealer.

They also had 6-$25 3 card poker, 3-$25 let it ride, 3-$20/2500 pai-gow poker and 2-$25/5000 mini-baccarat.

The place was VERY crowded so I couldn't see all of the tables but I think I listed them all. I've read that minimums will reduce to the $5-$15 range at slow times. Carmen Elecktra and a ton of sports stars were on hand for the Grand Opening.

I just threw up in my mouth... They will fail over to slots and take the welfare as well as the social security checks from the Floridians.. Who in their right mind would play such a shitty place.. Obviously they are in for the take, the raping of the elderly...

HockeXpert said:

The Seminole Hardrock on opening night had 12-$100/5000 8d with 1 3/4-2d penetration with asms; 20-$25/2500 with 8d same penetration with asms and 16 - $25/5000 csm's. All BJ rules the same on all tables: S17, double any 2, das, split to 4, split aces get 1 card, bj pays 3:2, no surrender. Penetration varied by dealer.

They also had 6-$25 3 card poker, 3-$25 let it ride, 3-$20/2500 pai-gow poker and 2-$25/5000 mini-baccarat.

The place was VERY crowded so I couldn't see all of the tables but I think I listed them all. I've read that minimums will reduce to the $5-$15 range at slow times. Carmen Elecktra and a ton of sports stars were on hand for the Grand Opening.

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News links re: Seminole Hard Rock start of Blackjack

Here are some links to the local stories about the opening.

MIAMI HERALD:
(Dead link: http://www.miamiherald.com/467/story/579647.html)

FT. LAUDERDALE SUN-SENTINEL:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbjbegins0623sbjun23,0,2046869.story (Archive copy)

PALM BEACH POST:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/state/epaper/2008/06/22/m1a_blackjack_0623.html (Archive copy)

And a picture from a Sun-Sentinel story, showing dealers training at a BJ table WITH A CSM!
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-semblackjack.pg,0,6403485.photogallery (Archive copy)

Photos and videos on the websites showed table markings that indicated at least some offered "Dealer Match" side bets.

Besides former Playboy pin-up Carmen Electra, the featured celebrities included actor Frank Vincent and actress Lorraine Bracco of The Sopranos. You have to wonder who in the Tribe thought it would be a good idea to convey a wise guys image in connection with their casino.

And in case anyone sees video of the grand opening, that guy smashing the guitar on stage lookes like Hollywood Dave, but it's Rob Patterson of Korn.

I seriously doubt they'll be able to sustain those $25-$100 table minimums consistently 24-7 here in South Florida. After the honeymoon, those will probably drop to $10-$15 off-peak Monday-Thursday, especially on CSM-equipped tables.

Looking forward to my first excursion this coming weekend!

EagleA10 said:

And in case anyone sees video of the grand opening, that guy smashing the guitar on stage lookes like Hollywood Dave, but it's Rob Patterson of Korn!

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Patterson is my nextdoor neighbor in San Clemente. zg

Thanks for the info HockeXpert! And I do agree that the 8 deck per se is not the bad part, its the press on the counters that will screw everyone. Those limits are pretty nuts though. Hopefully they will come down after a while. Session bankroll running a spread of 8 would be just nuts for someone trying to not be on the radar like myself.

Thanks again. Looking forward to more reports.

HockeXpert said:

8d with 1 3/4-2d penetration with asms

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Wow, tell me you really meant 1.75 to 2 decks cut off instead of that much dealt out before shuffling.

I've only seen penetration that bad in AC when they want to make it clear they don't want your action.

My bad: 1.75 - 2d cut off @ Seminole Hardrock

Penetration is 6d-6.25d. The funny thing is that someone posted, on another site, that the dealers @ Hardrock told them they were using 6 decks on opening night. The dealers weren't really lying since they are only "using" 6 out of the 8 decks they were taking out of the shuffle machines.

Thanks for the clarification. Still not pretty, but quite typical for 8 decks.