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Gaming Guru  Pro Blackjack Player? Do Casinos Want Winners?22 July 2014
By Frank Scoblete FROM UNMEN: One of the things you should have included in your “Don’t, Don’t” article is this: “You should not stand in back of someone playing a slot machine and act so impatiently to get the machine. Don’t bug the player.” FRANK RESPONDS: Absolutely! FROM JACQUELINE: I just read one of your articles and can relate to losing and winning. I have only been playing blackjack for about three months and love it. Surprisingly I kept winning in the beginning and if I lost I went back to the casino the next day for revenge. Recently I have been experiencing more losses and my pride got in the way of breaking even and I left the casino too broke to return. Money started slipping through my hands. I am refueling now and planning a revenge trip back to the casino, at least by the end of the year. I am preparing by studying the basic strategy and managing my money better. I want to become a professional BJ player in the future. Any advice you can give will be greatly appreciated. FRANK RESPONDS: The toughest task in the gambling world is trying to become a professional blackjack player. Don’t do it. The day-to-day grind on your money and your emotions is just not worth it. Play as an avocation and play for small stakes. Have a heavy bankroll but be light with the bets. That’s the best advice I can give you. I am sending you a copy of my new blackjack book “I Am a Card Counter” and that will give you some idea of what a professional would go through. FROM JOE: I was at the Seminole Classic Casino in Hollywood, Florida where I watched the opening of a blackjack table. The decks were delivered in pre-packaged and pre-shuffled decks of six. The backs of the cards were inspected but not inspected face up. If an Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and a Ten were removed from each package before being delivered to the pit, wouldn't that severely reduce the player's expectation level? I'm curious? FRANK RESPONDS: You bet it would impact on the player’s expectation! The player would start deep in the hole and most times would never get into a plus count high enough to give him an edge. I am sending you a copy of either Confessions of a Wayward Catholic or The Virgin Kiss --- you choose. FROM ANN: We were in a casino in October and they checked purses, not just for bombs, but for smuggling booze in. They are so cheap they won't give drinks away and prices are exorbitant. The slots are also the tightest in the country that we've seen. I enjoy your column. Keep up the great work. FROM PAUL: Just read a letter from someone stating that casinos want people to win. That may have been the case a few years ago but not anymore. The machines are programmed tight and with the 6-5 payoff on blackjack, six and eight deck shoes, 0 and 00 on roulette wheels, dealer hits soft 17, and on and on. I wish the casino execs would read your article about what makes casinos more money, I even brought it up to an exec one time in Tunica, but I could tell he was just feigning interest. Harrah’s just recently closed in Tunica. Fitzgerald’s is looking for a buyer. I wouldn't be surprised if more close either, not just in Tunica but other places as well. FRANK RESPONDS: The idea that casinos want some people to win sounds good but on a closer examination the statement is not really 100 percent true. First of all, how do you know who won? Unless a person is your friend and you know for a fact that he/she won, look around the casino at all the other players --- of them who won? Who lost? You don’t know. Tonight you look and maybe everyone you see has lost. You don’t know that though. You might even think that all the cheering you hear at craps is coming from winners. There’s a great chance those players cheering are behind and/or will be behind when they leave the casino. Since no one really knows who won or who lost --- except in very, very limited circumstances as mentioned above --- the casinos really don’t care if anyone wins. There is no mass communication happening with all the players. I am sending you one of my books, either “Confessions of a Wayward Catholic" or "The Virgin Kiss." You choose. Frank's new books are "I Am a Card Counter!" and "Confessions of a Wayward Catholic." This article is provided by the Frank Scoblete Network. Melissa A. Kaplan is the network's managing editor. If you would like to use this article on your website, please contact Casino City Press, the exclusive web syndication outlet for the Frank Scoblete Network. To contact Frank, please e-mail him at fscobe@optonline.net. The Employees Make the Casinos15 July 2014
I am going to preach in this column. I figure after 25 years of writing, I deserve a day on the soapbox. I think if casino dealers, hosts and other employees are excellent; if they give professional, courteous and friendly service; if the dealers make you enjoy playing at their tables, or going to their ... (read more)
The High and the Mighty8 July 2014
I receive some letters and/or emails almost every day and most are decent ones asking questions, giving opinions or saying they like my books and articles (those letters I like the best!). But sometimes I get angry letters or deranged letters from writers who should be sedated. Here is one: Dear Mr. ... (read more)
Dice Control Machines1 July 2014
Here is an interesting concept. Could a machine be built that would allow it to prove either that dice control exists or to disprove the whole notion? The machine would have to set the dice and throw the dice the same way each time to see if it could reduce the appearance of the seven or increase the appearance of certain specific numbers. ... (read more)
Ask Frank: Spanish 21 StrategyHello there, Living in Canada, I find that the rules are more liberal here than at other casino locales, such as the dealer standing on all 17s for Spanish Blackjack. In your book, Armada Strategies for Spanish 21, there is only a strategy for when the dealer hits soft 17. I w... (read more)Ask Frank (Playing Winning Craps)Dear Mr. Scoblete: In your book Forever Craps, you recommend to play one Don't Come bet per shooter without odds in order to reduce your exposure to the house. I usually play at casinos that count the spread and odds. If I play one ... (read more)Bad Ways to Play Good Casino GamesYou've met this guy before. He's cantankerous, witless, and loud. He knows everything about everything when it comes to casino games. He's a self-made expert who knows more than all writers and mathematicians combined, and as he doubles on his thirteen against the dealer's ... (read more)The Craps to English DictionaryCraps is another country, a kingdom with its own mores, legends, myths, rites, rituals, superstitions and government. It also has its own language, much of it easily misunderstood as sexual or scatological references. For those of you interested in journeying to this ... (read more)Craps Crap and Craps Gold - Part 1What do the following sayings have in common? "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." "Better late than never." "High fences make good neighbors." "Always play the Pass/Come and take full odds." Answer: The above statements are true. Yes, some people might quibble and say that you can eat as ... (read more) |
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