STREETWISE BLACKJACK

Brave New World

Wearing my "Resident's Blackjack Expert Hat," I took a phone call at Gambler's Book Shop last week. The man at the other end explained he was a longtime player who had purchased most of the blackjack books we sell, AND had read them. He hadn't been in Las Vegas for six or seven years and was completely shocked and dismayed at the prevalent playing conditions in the city. He wanted to know where the "good" games went; what happened since he'd last visited. Here we go...

If you are new to this column, I'll explain my approach to the oft-puzzling, dazzling blackjack universe. In the approximately 40-year modern history of the game (or since Edward Thorp changed the world with Beat the Dealer in 1961), just about everything has been written about the game's strategy, from every conceivable perspective. There's nothing more I can add to the complete body of knowledge out there, readily available. If you want a good strategy book, call us at the shop. We have bushels of them.

The agonizing dilemma of whether to hit your total of 16 versus a dealer's 10 up-card has been/is/will always be a problem -- it is a losing proposition -- one which players and theorists have debated for years. There is only so much to say about these things. Can the bright cold mechanical laboratory results of computer generated simulations and analyses truly replicate live action casino experiences? Does the math matter more than your individual perceptions? Is there such a thing as "card sense?"

It is almost a year since I began writing this column for the Las Vegas Review-Journal's, lasvegas.com/casinogaming.com website. Three weeks shy of my first anniversary, I thought it appropriate to take a look back, then ahead, in light of that lingering opening question.

This column has tried to examine, in detail, the important issues facing players, dealers, and casinos, i.e., the industry as an entity. We are all intertwined, not independent, but interdependent. It's a fact of life -- without casinos, floor supervisors, and dealers, the players wouldn't have a sandbox. Without players, casinos would have no reason to exist -- it's a mutual dependency. In the past year, I've tried to analyze and discuss the various relationships within this universe as a longtime passionate participant and observer.

One of the most fascinating aspects of this universe is that very little remains the same -- the only thing you can depend on is that things will always change. In a similar fashion to life going on outside each casino's walls, there is a regular cycle -- three shifts -- day, swing and graveyard. But within this framework, almost anything can and will happen; anything is possible. There are human interactions ranging from meaningless to meaningful, slight victories to joyful triumphs. These are the particulars of casino life I find most interesting.

Within this larger framework, the blackjack world is one of the most transitional as it represents one of the two largest threats to a casino's bottom line when played by experts or skilled players (with baccarat the other), yet it remains a high yield arena, holding about a 12 percent profit these days. When you consider a casino expects to maintain approximately 14.5 percent, blackjack, as the most popular of table games, remains crucial to this figure.

So the job of a casino is to figure out how to keep most of it's players' money while still attracting gamblers. The players' task is to figure out how to win money from casinos without getting backed off or barred. This never-ending cat and mouse game has periods in time when the advantage pendulum slips to one side over the other before arcing back.

In the past year or so, movement has been decidedly in favor of "The House." Technological advances as well as across-the-board rule changes have created a large impact on the game -- advantage house. The net effect has had immediate as well as long-term implications. Thus the phone call from the loyal but disillusioned customer/player.

He was astute enough to recognize the sea change but clearly puzzled. One of the most-asked questions we get at GBC is "Where are the best blackjack games in town?" In his two or three days in Las Vegas, our fellow was surprised by the games' uniformity -- there was little difference in playing conditions from one casino to the next. It wasn't always this way and as local and world leaders in gaming information, he was calling Gambler's Book Shop in desperation.

My standard answer has become something like: "As you've noticed, the games are similar everywhere. You have to combine skill and stealth and vote with your feet. Go from table to table, casino to casino -- shop for the best value. Don't play until you've found the best possible rules and penetration. Realize your discovery is like the weather -- subject to momentary change. If you find a good game, play it. Enjoy it. But don't expect it to be there when you return the next shift, day, week, or year.

"And if you are fortunate to find a good one, DON'T go on the Internet, telling the world. If you think casinos don't have employees whose job it is to go to the blackjack chat rooms and websites, you're naive. All it takes is for one of these folks to see a dealer at their casino named as offering 80 percent penetration and you are not only preventing that dealer from repeating his/her benevolence but you are probably getting him/her in hot water as well. Loose lips sink chips."