AC Report

[Thunder]

Thunder, the late great Peter Griffin, Ph.D. did a study some years ago.

The bottom line was that A.C. players make significantly less
Basic Strat' errors than players elsewhere. It was not even close.

Seeing perfect B.S. in A. C. is certainly commonplace.

RE: Tarzan's post.

"Vegas World" was the earliest incarnation of "The Stratosphere".

Tarzan's Count (balancing high-medium-low cards) is so mind-bogglingly
powerful, that if properly applied, it makes him bulletproof in pitch games.

Trouble is, that it is too difficult for most of us to apply improperly !

Well maybe I'm going against conventional thought but isn't it best to try to learn the most powerful count you can? Then if after a great deal of effort, you fail, work your way down from there until you realize that your brain is truly mush and you can't even master basic strategy. :laugh::whip: To accomplish greatness in life, you have to be willing to push yourself to the limits. To me blackjack is just another art that takes time to master. No different than learning how to play the guitar or learning how to juggle. You get out of it what you put into it.

 

[Automatic Monkey]

AC blackjack players are very, very tough. They usually hit their stiffs out vs. big upcards, they double down when they should, and they split against low cards. Some of the Midwest casinos have decent players.

The blackjack players in the UP in Michigan were some of the worst I've ever seen. The ploppies at the MGM Grand in Detroit are far and away the most aggressive I've ever seen with their ploppy logic.

And low level Vegas players can be quite bad.

CT players give up less than 1%. The only things they consistently miss are soft 18, 12 vs. 3 (negligible) and splitting 9's vs. 8 and 9.

 

[FLASH1296]

Take a seat at any BJ table in the Northeast, and a common experience is
having everyone or most players using virtually perfect Basic Strategy.

In my travels, there are many venues where you will be hard-pressed
to find any players who use Basic Strategy, especially in rural areas.

 

[Automatic Monkey]

Take a seat at any BJ table in the Northeast, and a common experience is
having everyone or most players using virtually perfect Basic Strategy.

In my travels, there are many venues where you will be hard-pressed
to find any players who use Basic Strategy, especially in rural areas.

Yes. And I hate to get into certain regional stereotypes, but, you know.

My theory is that Northeastern people travel a bit and are more likely to have traveled to a casino where they at least saw a basic strategy card for sale, and perhaps tried using it, and remember the more intuitive plays.

 

[FLASH1296]

The key factor is that A.C. is NOT a tourist destination.
Tourists make little, if any, attempt to learn how to gamble.

 

[Waterrat]

Take a seat at any BJ table in the Northeast, and a common experience is
having everyone or most players using virtually perfect Basic Strategy.

In my travels, there are many venues where you will be hard-pressed
to find any players who use Basic Strategy, especially in rural areas.

I know I don't have anywhere near your BJ experience but at least in the cheap seats at Foxwoods I would have to disagree. I saw alot of bad play (not crazy bad but still bad) from the other players at my table and they FREAKED when I doubled S18 vs. 6

 

[FLASH1296]

I am going out on a short limb here and suggesting that that was probably alow stakes table,
and I assume that you know that in an 8 decker you need to reach an appropriate
True Count before doubling an A-8.

 

[Gamblor]

I know I don't have anywhere near your BJ experience but at least in the cheap seats at Foxwoods I would have to disagree. I saw alot of bad play (not crazy bad but still bad) from the other players at my table and they FREAKED when I doubled S18 vs. 6

Agreed, play cheap seats here mostly. And I would say 95% of players do not hit 12 v 2 even in AC.

 

[Gamblor]

I know I don't have anywhere near your BJ experience but at least in the cheap seats at Foxwoods I would have to disagree. I saw alot of bad play (not crazy bad but still bad) from the other players at my table and they FREAKED when I doubled S18 vs. 6

Also, try coming down to AC and doubling S19 vs. 6, see the reaction that you get

 

[Waterrat]

I am going out on a short limb here and suggesting that that was probably alow stakes table,
and I assume that you know that in an 8 decker you need to reach an appropriate
True Count before doubling an A-8.

Yeah, low stakes - cheap seats. And I said S18 (A-7) not S19 (A-8) (I know you simply misread that)

 

[FLASH1296]

Gamblor, I am a virtual fixture in A.C.

I.M.O. … in A.C.

At the lowest stakes tables perhaps 40-45% of the players will hit 12 vs Deuce and 10-15% will hit 12 vs. Trey.

At the higher stakes tables perhaps 85-90% of the players will hit 12 vs Deuce and 50-60% will hit 12 vs. Trey.

 

[Gamblor]

Flash, don't doubt your experience down there. Maybe my 5% is a little low, but I really don't think 40% of people hit 12 v 2 in lower stakes in AC.

Would guesstimate that 2/3 of players at this level are newbies or people who play very infrequently, and they almost never hit 12 v 2.

Of the other 1/3 who play more frequently, maybe half of them might hit 12 v 2. I'm still surprised when I see someone play BS perfectly. Even those with BS cards don't sometimes

I could be wrong, I'll be in AC for a few days very shortly, so I'll make sure to keep a closer eye on this and see what I find.

 

[21forme]

At the lowest stakes tables perhaps 40-45% of the players will hit 12 vs Deuce and 10-15% will hit 12 vs. Trey.

At the higher stakes tables perhaps 85-90% of the players will hit 12 vs Deuce and 50-60% will hit 12 vs. Trey.

Same is true for the Sp21 tables :laugh:

 

[Gamblor]

Just some further updates on AC.

R casino had some S17 10-15$ tables and got a little sweaty there.

TM casino had some 5$ tables at off peak hours (morning, afternoon).

Nothing unusual at other properties.

Pretty lame trip for me, first day steadily sank down to -110 units. Eventually clawed my way back to +15 units overall.

 

[alwayssplitaces]

The key factor is that A.C. is NOT a tourist destination.
Tourists make little, if any, attempt to learn how to gamble.

Come to AC on summer weekends, and it'll be packed full of tourists. I'm sure back in the day when Vegas and AC were the only 2 places to legally gamble, it was a tourist destination all year.

 

[Thunder]

Update

Well I wish I could say something good about AC right now but unless you like free or $1 buffets at the Hilton, there's not much that's good. Hilton is still the same crappy 8 deck H17 little penetration game. Tropicana may have gotten better for the BS player with 2 $10 6 deck S17 games (afternoon weekday) but with 66-70% pen, sucks for the AP. Trump Plaza actually was ok with 75-80% pen on the 6 deck $25 S17 games but the rest are H17 8 decks. The $25 tables were empty in the early evening but with that comes more heat. More to come later.

And I never thought I'd be saying this but so far my winnings % wise in JOB VP are crushing my BJ winnings. What can I say. In the past several months in just about oh 1000 hands or so on the VP machine, I've gotten a royal, two straight flushes and about a dozen 4 of a kinds. Gotta love extreme + variance :laugh:

 

[Southpaw]

Well I wish I could say something good about AC right now but unless you like free or $1 buffets at the Hilton, there's not much that's good. Hilton is still the same crappy 8 deck H17 little penetration game. Tropicana may have gotten better for the BS player with 2 $10 6 deck S17 games (afternoon weekday) but with 66-70% pen, sucks for the AP. Trump Plaza actually was ok with 75-80% pen on the 6 deck $25 S17 games but the rest are H17 8 decks. The $25 tables were empty in the early evening but with that comes more heat. More to come later.

This makes me sick. I've been spoiled I guess.

Spaw

 

[kewljason]

This makes me sick. I've been spoiled I guess.

Spaw

Makes me sick as well, Spaw. Having begun my career in AC and played there regularly for a number of years, I have a soft spot for that little town and it's mediocre blackjack games. Sounds like they're are not even up to mediocre anymore. That's a shame. I am going to be in area back east for a short period in July and at this point, based on reports, don't even think I will make an attempt to head that way.

 

[b jay cobbson]

Why not decompress?

I am going to be in area back east for a short period in July

Jason, If you're not headed east specifically for a blackjack trip, why not take the time to decompress from your work here. If I don't have plans to get out of Vegas for several months, I take a week off from the tables just to get my head back on straight. The tables are always here when I return and my attitude is much better. Helps me maintain to my "A game".

Jay

 

[kewljason]

Jason, If you're not headed east specifically for a blackjack trip, why not take the time to decompress from your work here. If I don't have plans to get out of Vegas for several months, I take a week off from the tables just to get my head back on straight. The tables are always here when I return and my attitude is much better. Helps me maintain to my "A game".

Jay

Real good advise for sure Mr Cobb. I am heading back for a friends wedding and a week later my 10 year HS reunion, so I will have plenty of non blackjack relaxing time. I really want to see how the games in Pa have evolved since I was last there just after they opened late last summer.

To be honest, my life is really wrapped up into my career right now. I pretty much live and breath blackjack. I don't really decompress much more than a day or two at a time now. One nice day hiking out at Red Rock canyon or a drive thru the desert and I'm itching to get back to the game. I know that's probably a bad thing. I have noticed the desire to get back is a little less during down and stagnant periods.