STREETWISE BLACKJACK

Streetwise Blackjack

Everybody's in Showbiz

By Peter Ruchman

     The Discovery Channel was in town for the last couple of weeks filming another special on our fair city and some of its inhabitants.These folks who specialize in features concerning fast four-legged mammals, large poisonous snakes and horrifyingly large carnivorous fish, have taken to Las Vegas like nothing else in the past year. No less than four film crews have come to town to interview, record and document Las Vegas. You might have even seen a few of these efforts as they have appeared in different formats on The Learning Channel, The History Channel, The Travel Channel, and of course, The Discovery Channel. All of these others share affiliations of the latter group and swap material back and forth. Their surveys indicate on a consistent national basis that the Las Vegas shows are their highest rated.

      Why bring this up in a gambling blackjack column? Simple. Gambler's Book Shop has participated in almost every one of these specials, on camera and off, as consultants, advisors, and actual participants. There's no direct money exchanged for these services, just the honest hope that our faces and footage will make past the cutting room floor and actually on to your television set at home. I know some of you may find this difficult to believe, but there are more than a few folks out there who aren’t aware of our existence. We'd like them to know about us. As the Gambler's Book Shop has been noted as a world-class resource for several decades since founders John and Edna Luckman put us on the map in 1964, many call and ask questions ranging from the simple to those requiring several days of shooting to answer properly.

      To that end, a different Discovery Channel crew came to town in May to film a story on "Cons and Cheating" and stopped by the shop to film me for five hours discoursing on why blackjack counting wasn't a form of cheating in a casino. I tried to explain, on camera, how the men and women who supervise and own casinos might have settled on the notion from a historical basis, and what has happened in the interim. Look for that one to appear sometime in August. Those of you who follow this column on a regular basis will understand my point of view. For those who wish to get more information, please refer to this column's archives -- you'll get the picture.

      This latest crew came to town on July 6 and filmed for 12 days, trying to capture some of the town's flavor and characters. Naturally, much of that involved casino life, which is where I came in. Always happy to lend a hand, especially where it might involve national exposure on a regularly rotating basis on four cable channels, I became one of several appointed casino experts to explain the mysteries of sportsbetting, craps, Las Vegas history, and of course, blackjack.

      Two master blackjack players and philosophers -- -Olaf Vancura and Stanford Wong -- were recruited to play at Sunset Station. Another masterful card counter, Anthony Curtis, was asked to explain the contortions one goes through in attempting to keep track of the cards in blackjack, and I was requested to explain how one might play against the latest devilish invention -- the automatic shuffling shoe (Please refer to my column: "The New Hard Shoe" for reference).

      Wong, Vancura and Curtis did their parts, and it was up to me on the second-to-last day of filming to place the cherry on top of the creation. I have to give credit to this particular crew, Ross Productions, and their director Richard Wall, and efficient cameraman, lighting technician, audio engineer, and the woman who kept track of all the chaos. These folks showed themselves to be true professionals.

      Sunday July 16 was my third day of shooting with this group, and they were a tad on the frayed side, almost at the end, but not quite, feeling a little homesick. We started down in the sports book and then worked our way over to a blackjack table provided to us by the fine people at Bally's. Hats off to casino manager Joe Manno and assistant casino manager Tom Spinuzzi. If any of you know my writing, I pride myself on being one stern critic of this industry, but given the current conditions, these people go out of their way to accommodate players and I believe that is worth noting. If you think casinos enjoy putting up with the major disruptions that any small filming brings, believe me, they don't. Sure they get some publicity from it, if the material makes on to the screen, but things can get a little crazy while getting there, particularly on a weekend.

      Sharon was selected to be my dealer and Tony was the floor supervisor behind the table as I was given $350 of the casino’s real checks (chips) to use. And, no, unfortunately, I didn't get to keep any of them if I happened to win. I was asked to explain how and why perfect basic strategy was the only tool one could employ when playing the shoes and even that gave the house a .05 percent advantage. There are currently 3 major companies distributing these inventions throughout the globe and the all act on the same principles of randomizing the shuffle continuously to prevent card tracking and counting. I played against the shoe for about a half-hour, explaining my moves, hits, stands, doubles, and splits, the camera recording the events, while Sharon dealt. I won’t spoil the fun by revealing the outcome.

      Then it was on to craps, to a table set for our purposes so I could explain the intricacies of the layout and why betting -- wrong or on the "Don'ts" can often be boring but more rewarding. Finally, it was a wrap after almost four hours of setting shots, explaining strategy, then doing it all over again from a different angle. If you think that it is easy being articulate, knowledgeable, witty, concise, and reasonable in the middle of a roaring casino with all of the noise and distractions, while a 15-foot professional video camera lens is pointed 8 feet from your nose, with all of the lights in your face, I strongly urge you to try it sometime. It gives you a whole new respect for the great actors and actresses and their performances you take for granted. Only time will tell if I made it to the screen. The two-hour special is scheduled to air sometime in the spring. Stay tuned.