February Podium

[ZOD]

Mayor,

Nice thoughts, those. In this era of marketing and hype, wouldn't it be nice if counters turned out to be just the draw that casinos need to revitalize their table games?

Imagine...a small, notoriously sweaty Vegas shop decides to try a new strategy to lure in some business. They add some double deck with decent penetration and good rules, start advertising the "best game in town" complete with testimonials by the Travel Channel "experts", and suddenly their tables are full with amateurs who think they can beat the game. This doesn't go unoticed by a large slot house (oops, I mean casino) and they, too, free up a little space for some decent blackjack and proclaim in their marquee that "the Mayor plays here!" Other casinos rapidly follow suit, signing on advantage players by the dozen. The fun and excitment of table games is super-hyped by the marketeers, interest in the machines wane and suddenly, a full-blown gambling renaissance has begun....

Yes. Nice thoughts, those. Unfortunately, every day I see the mystique of gambling being swallowed up by the ringing, whistling and clanking of more slots. I see casinos catering to stockholders rather than gamblers. I see this game getting tougher all the time.

But I'm not quite willing to let go of the nice thoughts, either. I mean, poker is being rejuvenated by the media. Why not blackjack? Where there's a will there's a way. Keep the nice thoughts Mayor. I'm right there with you.

Best...

ZOD

 

[Tom]

There's already good BJ games all over the country. These casinos would love to have travel channel advertise for them. Blackjack is the most popular table game in the world and growing by the minute and all over the USA for that matter. It is said that 54 million people( mostly ploppies you suppose?)played BJ in 2003. Casinos raked in billions by offering blackjack. Sure there's bad games,funny games, but there's also good ones. I remember the days when Americans use to have to travel THOUSANDS of miles to find a blackjack table. This is no longer true. Blackjack is everywhere.

These are the good old days my friend. I cant imagine seeing the day any casino would be stupid enough to get rid of table games. The reason why, is because they know they'll go broke while their neighboring casinos get rich,mmm I mean richer.

Tom

 

[deZerTomB]

poker is being rejuvenated by the media. Why not blackjack? Where there's a will there's a way.

Has anyone heard anything on the reality show to be filmed at GN downtown LV? At least that's what the suits told me they were setting up there. Maybe a blackjack tournament would play best, people could go all in, like poker for the dramatic moments.

Three card monty has to have a winner for losers to play, usually a shill. Therefore a place that tolerates a low stakes card counters is using him as shill for the house, to draw in losers. That's why they put all the decent odds games in the back or surrounded by a million slot machines. Competition is the key, places that do not have to compete for customers will offer an inferior product. Why? Because they can. The ads for single deck 21 are symbolic of the lure of a game that can be beat. Although it is simply a bait and switch in the end with 6-5 payout on blackjack should not diminish the fact. Savvy players turn around and leave, ploppies play on. Casinos need winners in order to have losers, if no one won, no one would play. That's why you see billboards with peoples faces and how much money they won(on a slot machine usually). So as more casinos face increased competition from the indian reservations and card rooms and racetracks, some will loosen their odds to increase revenue to maintain profits. They do this by offering a few beatable games and adjusting the slots& VP payouts hehe. It's called a loss leader. People come into the store to buy the one sale item and end up buying other stuff while they are there.

 

[Rob McGarvey]

We are the "bad boys" of casino gambling. The far too few that have a mind for getting an edge on "The Man." Once "The Man" hires you, you are getting what you were after in the first place: money. You can then hang your face in front of the camera and allow them to worship you, pay you, and slowly, you forget about your bad boy past. Your struggle up to the point where they HAD to notice you. Like a hacker that gets a job from the company he hacked as his sentence in life. He goes from eating Doritos by the bag to lobsters by the tail. A million analogies of pond life come to mind, a Darwinian look at the life of an advantage player. When did the fish's fins become legs? I too have struggled with my evolution, and have been called a shill, and worse. Without "advertising" myself, I think I have bridged the gap of working for "The Man," and keeping the dirt under my fingernails. It's not a 60/40 deal to me, it's 100x100. We all do it to the best of our ability, and get judged for it somehow. Life is tough. Being an AP is even tougher.

Bad boy bad boy, whatcha gonna do?