Does anybody know blackjack conditions in the casinos in Russia is like? No. of decks, DOA, DAS, surrender etc
The important distinction is that you can find early surrender vs. Ace only
NOTES:
All casinos are very very small and are run by hoodlums; and you have NO recourse if they refuse to cash you out or if they cheat you.
Winnings are TAXED as you cash out !
Getting robbed after leaving with significant cash (no checks available) is commonplace.
Do you have first hand experience? Or are you just repeating stories you've heard?
"Posted By BaBa Booey
When the Last Time you Played in Russia?
In Response To: caveats (FLASH)
Do you have first hand experience? Or are you just repeating stories you've heard?"
One may keep informed about Russian/Chinese casinos without actually being physically be in the Communist Mother Lands.
While we're waiting for Flash's reply, I did some digging. With google, any gambler can verify comments from Flash. For example, I googled with a few keywords, and I got some highlights about Russkies' bad news.
Googled news:
"Russia deported 180 Georgians Friday, continued to shut casinos and restaurants allegedly controlled by the Georgian mafia and reportedly made inquiries at schools as part of a crackdown following an �espionage� scandal...
Russia's Interior Ministry has shut down a third Moscow casino in an apparent crackdown on gambling businesses controlled by the Georgian mafia, a ministry official said Thursday...
Russia's Interior Ministry has shut down a second Moscow casino allegedly controlled by the Georgian mafia, a ministry official said Wednesday...
South Africa casino company Sun International has dropped a major casino development plan in Moscow... The Weekender newspaper, in a report quoting local Moscow government officials, said Sun had pulled the plug on the project, which it estimated to be worth some $2 billion..."
The Russkies' casinos do sound shaky based on what I read. Perhaps that's why the concerned AP did remove the Russian Casino Directory from a website.
So being mob owned doesn't bother me much. But Flash posted as if he had personal experience with Russian casinos. I was wondering if he did.
There are changes going on in Russia at the moment and, as it stands, all casinos will be closed by July 2009 and moved to 4 specific areas in the suburbs of Russia.
In the mentime, new legislation means that a casino can only operate if it reaches a minimum criteria on floorspace. A lot of the smaller casinos do not have this amount of floorspace so are faced with being shut down. However, the bigger casinos, which tend to be far more trustworthy regarding payment etc, are staying put for the time being.
Most of the predominant casinos in Moscow have removed the ES against Ace but still allow SE against dealer face card. Generally, rules are 6 deck, ENHC, S17, DAS, DOA, ES10 so the casinos still offer a good game although not as good as in the past when the player had an edge off the top of around 0.2% (o.5% in one place I know).
If you stick to the high profile casinos then the worst that's likely to happen is that you would get barred. Most of these places are run by European and US management (along with Russian) and will follow the tradition of the casinos in the US. If you search out the smaller casinos, that may have better rules, then you may take a risk in being able to get your money.
One other thing, if you go, is to declare your money going into Russia as you are only allowed to take out up to $10,000 extra. If you take out more than $3,000 (but less than $10,000) then you have to fill in a form at the airport. I forgot one time and the customs took about $1,000 from me (I only had $6,500 on me at the time). So, if you go with $10,000 then you can bring back $20,000 as long as you have declared the $10,000 going in and sign the form coming out.
Hope this helps.
That's very helpful. I am surprised to hear about their great playing conditions. Do you know which four areas they are going to allow the casinos to exist from 2009? I would imagine Far east Russia offers similar conditions to that of Moscow. btw, what about the penetration? was it good?
The 4 areas are going to be way out in the wilderness. Many operators are complaining that players will not travel that distance especially as some of the areas are not accessible by road. There is a possibility that the ruling will change before it comes into effect. Some people are saying that the government is taking a strict regime in order to clean up the current status of the gambling over there.
Penetration varies and some casinos use CSM's. Anything from 1 - 2.5 decks being cut out of play. I don't play much while I'm in Moscow so I haven't made a note of the best places to play regarding penetration. Management are quite sharp in the bigger places and if you get barred from a group, say Storm, then you will likely to be refused entry into all of their casinos.
Actually, Hold'Em poker provides the best value for me as the players are pretty poor on the whole. Unfortunately, you have to overcome the house rake which is generally 3% (with no cap !).
