BJ21.com Newsletter
July 24, 2009 090724
Presented as a public service
by BJ21.com, the leading source of accurate
information about casino games and conditions. Our free
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Compiled by Al
Rogers
Al@bj21.com
GAMING: Regulators
to casinos: Clean up act -- Board raises concerns, seeks dialogue with
resorts
Two weeks after imposing a heavy fine against a Strip casino for not
properly controlling illegal activity inside a nightclub on the
property, Nevada state gaming regulators let gaming licensees know they
have other concerns about how casinos are operating.
Finding justice --
Stop making cases more difficult for public defenders
LAS VEGAS - The gambler spent days in jail and tens of thousands of
dollars on defense. Nevada may, too, have spent tens of thousands of
dollars chasing this putative evildoer. Finally, figuring out that it
is not illegal to gamble under an assumed name, and there is nothing
fraudulent about placing a bet at the odds the casino offered, the case
was outright dismissed.
Liquor license rejections force Planet Hollywood clubs to close --
Gaming Commission approves $500,000 fine against resort
LAS VEGAS - The Clark County Department of Business License has denied
the liquor license applications for the Prive and Living Room clubs at
Planet Hollywood, forcing the clubs to cease operations when their
temporary licenses expire next week.
Harrah’s
earnings fall with Las Vegas woes
"While hotel occupancy was strong at nearly 95 percent, second-quarter
and first-half revenues declined in the Las Vegas region from the
year-earlier periods due to lower spend per visitor and weakness in the
group-travel business, which led to lower average daily room rates,"
Harrah's said in a statement.
Longtime
dealer sues Caesars over second-hand smoke
A proposed class-action lawsuit was filed in Las Vegas Wednesday
against Harrah's Entertainment Inc. and Caesars Palace, alleging
Caesars isn't doing enough to protect casino workers from second-hand
tobacco smoke.
M
Resort’s trial by fire -- What’s worked, what hasn’t for the
still-young, family-run casino on the edge of town
Many Las Vegas casinos have lengthy customer lists built up over years
in the business, as well as a fine-tuned sense, after years of trial
and error, of what customers want. Not the M Resort, which opened March
1, in the worst economy in the modern casino era.
Casino work card
system finds new home online
NEVADA - More than five years after taking over the casino employee
registration
program from local law enforcement, state gaming regulators have moved
the process online in an effort to cut costs and streamline the work
card system.
Golden
Nugget gambling revenue falls 15 percent
Gambling revenue at the Golden Nugget properties in Las Vegas and
Laughlin fell 15.1 percent to $56.5 million in the second quarter, and
management blamed the decline to competitors and an unwillingness by
customers to spend money.
Tribe may lose Greektown Casino-Hotel -- Bankruptcy exit plan to give
control to creditor
DETROIT - After more than a year, the Chapter 11 saga of bankrupt
Greektown Casino-Hotel is moving toward conclusion, but the casino's
owners aren't in for a happy ending. Likely to be a victim of the
casino's restructuring will be the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa,
which also operates smaller gambling halls in the Upper Peninsula.
Roethlisberger
accused of sex assault in lawsuit ...
RENO - A woman has filed a lawsuit accusing Pittsburgh Steelers
quarterback Ben Roethlisberger of raping her last summer in his
penthouse room at a casino in Lake Tahoe during a celebrity golf
tournament.
Thanks to Green Chip member FHBM
for posting the above link.
...
Legal analysts say Roethlisberger accuser has a hard case to win at
trial
The woman accusing Ben Roethlisberger of raping her last summer will
have a difficult time convincing a judge and jury she was assaulted in
the star quarterback’s penthouse hotel room partly because she never
reported it to police and waited a year to file a civil lawsuit.
Sorry,
that's no $2.6M jackpot, that's a slot machine glitch
A woman is suing a New Mexico casino that refused to pay her the $2.6
million she says she won at its slot machines, the Albuquerque Journal
reports.
Lax oversight faulted in Gulfstream Park slots ripoff ...
TALLAHASSEE - A ring of employees and a supervisor at Gulfstream
Park casino manipulated computer software in the summer of 2007 to
steal nearly $290,000 in slot machine winnings by using cards that
allowed them to play for free, according to a state investigation.
...
High Times and Low Crimes at Gulfstream
Gulfstream Park was a hell of a place to work for some employees, full
of cocaine and free gambling. When the scheme was finally discovered,
hundreds of thousands of dollars had been stolen from the casino and
taxpayers, and the "family-friendly" racetrack was a potential public
relations nightmare.
Senators
raise alarms on Delaware sports betting ...
WASHINGTON - A pair of veteran Republican senators urged Attorney
General Eric Holder to look into the legality of a new Delaware law
allowing sports betting and to defend a federal anti-sports betting law
that New Jersey politicians are challenging.
...
Sports leagues sue to block Delaware's sports betting
WASHINGTON - The four major pro sports leagues and the NCAA sued
Delaware Friday, seeking to block the state from implementing sports
betting.
Global
Betting & Gaming Consultants: The Next Crunch - Credit Card Default
Will Cost Online Gambling US$ 11b
LONDON - A new report says that rising debt on credit cards will damage
the online gambling industry by as much as US$1.3bn in GGY in 2009 and
a further US$2.8bn in 2010 and US$ 11bn between 2009 and 2012 causing
the industry at best to grow by 2% this year and 3% in 2010.
High court gives life to Sparks Lazy 8 project
RENO - The Nevada Supreme Court has upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit
by opponents of the proposed Lazy 8 casino in Spanish Springs.
10 year sentence for “Mr. Casino” in craps cheating conspiracy
Richard “Mr. Casino” Taylor proclaimed himself “the best dice player in
the world” and declared his innocence just minutes before he was
sentenced to 10 years in prison this morning for masterminding a craps
cheating conspiracy that cost Foxwoods Resort Casino an estimated
$70,000 and ruined the careers of a dozen employees.
Hells Angel bikie claims he won $200,000 in betting chips
SYDNEY - A high-rolling Hells Angel will fight for more than $200,000
he claims was a legitimate casino windfall, but police allege is
proceeds of crime.
Miss.
casino revenue worst since Katrina
Mississippi's state-licensed casinos won less money from gamblers in
June than during any month since the reopening of coast casinos damaged
by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Casinos
need power to detain
When underage gamblers are caught in Atlantic City casinos placing
bets, the casinos can sometimes face fines that hit six figures. It's
plenty of motivation for the gambling houses to do all they can to keep
those who are 21 off casino floors.
As
Boom Times Sour in Vegas, Upward Mobility Goes Bust
LAS VEGAS - Drew Johnson and his wife, Tina had the life many Americans
only dream of: A big house in a swanky suburb, a backyard hot tub, and
a $100,000 deposit on a new condo with views of the Las Vegas Strip and
24-hour concierge service.
Thanks to newsletter reader
Toddler
for providing the above link.
Demolition work starts
at Lady Luck site
LAS VEGAS - The CIM Group, a California development company in charge
of redeveloping the Lady Luck casino, started tearing down a
concrete-and-steel building skeleton at the corner of Fourth Street and
Stewart Avenue that Mayor Oscar Goodman recently referred to as a
"carcass."
The Bear Growls
Long-time Las Vegas-based advantage player, casino critic, and frequent
BJ21.com
contributor LVBear offers his opinions on things that sometimes go
wrong in the world of casinos.
Current and past growls can be read and comments posted at LVBear's
website, TheBearGrowls.com
You've Got Heat Volume
II e-book by Barfarkel
Barfarkel is the pseudonym of a skilled card counter who treats card
counting as an avocation. His card counting trips to Las Vegas and Reno
are quite detailed, and show how grueling it can be to take on the
casinos at their own game. Barfarkel began his card counting
journey in April 1999 with a $2,000 playing bankroll. Four years later,
he was able to grow his bankroll to $10,000. This part of his playing
career is fully documented in his first book, You've Got Heat.
You've Got Heat Volume II encompasses the subsequent 20 trips
that Barfarkel took to Las Vegas and Reno during the period of October
2003 through October 2007. During this time, Barfarkel played 643 hours
of blackjack, and his bankroll took some wild swings (from a high of
$17k to a low of $7k). How this happened makes for fascinating reading.
As usual, Barfarkel prefers to write as he speaks, directly and to the
point. So don't be surprised if you find some abbreviated sentences and
unorthodox phrasing in his narratives. Each of the trip reports in
this book was originally published in Blackjack Insider Newsletter.
They were updated and most of the repetition was removed from chapter
to chapter although some was left intact to maintain the original style
of each trip report.
Blackjack players will get inspiration from reading Barfarkel's
story. He shows that you can win money playing blackjack using the
principles and techniques of card counting. Is it easy? Hardly, as
you'll discover when you read this book. Barfarkel started his card
counting journey as a red chip player, with the desire to become a
green chip bettor. After he started winning, he accomplished this goal.
He then set his sights on winning more to allow him to become a
high-rolling black chip player. Did he achieve this goal? We'll let him
tell the story.
Note:
This is an "e-book" --
not a regular paper book. When ordered, it will come via email in PDF
format. Order form.
The Color
of Blackjack focuses on
KO count
The Color of Blackjack focuses on the KO counting system. It is
68 pages, and features many full-color charts.
Ken Smith, longtime
professional blackjack player and author, says:
I've known Daniel Dravot for quite a few years now. He's a successful
and experienced pro player. He's been on the road playing blackjack all
over the country for many years and gambling has long been his sole
source of income. What I did not know was that he uses KO as his count
system. That was surprising to me. Even though I have long recommended
KO to new players, I always thought there was a small performance
penalty to pay for the simplicity and convenience of KO. The Color of Blackjack describes his
addition to KO which is a workable way to gain some of the advantage
you could have with TKO (True-Counted KO).
George C, longtime
professional blackjack player and author, says:
I've known Daniel Dravot for quite some time. He not only talks the
talk but walks the walk. He's made a nice haul over the last few years
and it's outlined in the book.
The price is $24.95 plus shipping (plus sales tax if sent to a Nevada
address). Green Chip members receive a ten percent
discount. Order The Color of Blackjack.
Video
Poker for the Intelligent Beginner by Bob Dancer
Bob Dancer's real-life video poker successes are legendary, but he's
also a world-class teacher. Now, after years of creating the industry
standards in video poker reports, strategy cards, and software, Dancer
has written the quintessential beginner's guide on the game. Video
Poker for the Intelligent Beginner is a how-to-win blueprint for
players seeking the fast track to the upper levels of this beatable
game. First, you'll master the techniques for finding and identifying
the highest-returning games. Then you'll learn how to generate,
understand, and implement the computer-perfect strategies that yield
the ultimate goal: monetary profit!
In addition, Video Poker for the
Intelligent Beginner imparts Dancer's professional insight
relative to
the game's many nuances and related considerations, including in-depth
coverage of slot clubs, casino promotions, progressives, team play,
scouting, and tournaments. Plus, this book explains in detail how
Dancer's powerful Video Poker for Winners! software can be employed to
solve previously unanswered questions about bankroll needs, promotions
analysis, and profit potential.
The price is $24.95 (plus sales
tax if sent to a Nevada address) Order Video Poker for the Intelligent Beginner
BJ21.com
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Current Blackjack News
On the 1st and 2nd of every month, a couple dozen Pi Yee Press
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