Conditions at the new BJ tables in Hollywood FL

Hi all, any early reports on conditions at Seminole Hard Rock Casino, which being called "the first legal Blackjack games in Florida"?

FrankD

Hi Frank,

I live about 15 minutes from the Hard Rock in Hollywood and have been there 3 times now since BJ began. I will start with the rules for all tables:

Dealer Stands on all 17's
No Surrender
Double on any 2 cards
DAS allowed
Spilt up to 3 times (can only split aces once)
Double on any 2 cards.

52 total bj tables but half use a CSM with 6 decks, so worthless.

The other half have 7 betting spots using 8 deck shoes. 1.5 decks for penetration, but I have seen some dealers cut off 2 and a few 1.

Table min is $15 during the day, but after 4pm they are upped to at least $25 with more at $50 and $100. All have a $5k max.

One last thing is although a shoe is used, the dealer does not shuffle, so no shuffle tracking. After the cut card is reached and round is finished the dealer pushes a button on a black machine and a sort of tower pops up and the dealer takes the remaining cards in the show and those in the discard rack and places them in it, pushes the button again and up pops a different deck shuffled by the machine while the other round is played.

I have only played by Wonging In which is very easy to do as there are always people standing around watching, even at 9 or 10 am which is when I find it easier to find spots to Wong in at.

I hope that helps and please feel free to post any other questions I may be able to help with.

Steve

...this opens up another place to travel with my spouse (she is used to the fact that a local casino, with playable blackjack conditions, is my basic requirement for a vacation destination).

Sounds like you are not familiar with "automatic shufflers" (not to be confused with CSMs). Automatic shufflers are a positive for me, as they increase playing time (more play for an Advantage Player means more profit).

At $15 minimum, I would not even feel the need to wong in, but would play from the beginning of a shoe and see how it goes, and wong out if required. I find wonging out after a losing a hand or two when it has gone south, is less obvious than standing around and wonging in.

That's a lot of tables, so I assume there is usually some room to play a spot (preferably 2) at many tables.

Thanks again for the excellent details... time to plan a vacation to Florida for the fall....

FrankD

Hi Frank,

Thanks for your note. Yes, I am new at counting and appreciate your info on the automatic shufflers.

I would say you should have no problem playng 2 spots at a table especially if you play $50 or $100 min tables. Those are about all that exist after 8pm.

The Hard Rock in Hollywood is probably 3 miles or so from Hollywood Beach and about 20 miles north of Miami.

Steve

meaning you could have 4 hands after splitting?

I remember when the little "table rules" signs used to say this in the distant past: "Split Pairs up to 4 times". Given I played mostly 6D, there were many times where I would get 4 pairs with my splits and they wouldn't let me split the 4th time. I would point out that the sign says I can split pairs 4 times and that the sign clearly doesn't state that I can "spit pairs to four hands". As I'm sure all can imagine, I had a lot of fun with this. I never got them to let me have that 4th split to create the 5th hand though. However, by 2004, I never saw those signs again in any casino. Guess I'll take the credit. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm :-))))

Hi,

Yes, as far as I know you would have a total of 4 hands if you split the 3 times. However, aces can only be split on the original pair. Even if you get 2 more aces dealt on the first split, they do not let you split them again.

I saw this happen 2 days ago to someone and it was a horrible sight to see. lol.

One other thing I learned after talking to a friendly dealer, they are trained to put the cut card at 1.5 decks. I have found a few dealers who don't adhere to this strickly and will cut off at 1 deck. There is one who sometimes will forget to put the cut card in before putting the 8 decks in the shoe and he is even better b/c he just inserts it towards the back with the cards in the shoe which is sometimes a little less than 1.

Steve

that often would make a messy table:)

No automatic shufflers are NOT a positive, as you stated.
They are a negative as they reduce the motivation for casinos to give good penetration to improve their bottom line by increasing their hands per hour.

This game would be better if there were just 6 spots.

This is a marginal game with 1.5 decks cut off and the rules as stated, but with 7 spots on a full table it means that the original 8 decks is reduced to 6.5 decks - which is 338 cards.

As the average hand = 2.7 cards You divide the 338 cards by [2.7 x 8] = 21.6 cards (the dealer's hand included) - This equates to 338 divided by 21.6 = 15.6 rounds dealt per shoe

With 8 decks and 2 decks cut off this 15.6 rounds per shoe drops to 14.4 rounds.

Now these figures will increase if there are 6 spots instead of 7, as follows:

17.9 and 16.5 rounds respectively.

IN BOTH CASES you gain 2 rounds per shoe with one less seat !

IF you have an advantage at the game, it is to your advantage to play as many hands as possible. Of course, I would never play at a full table anyway.

Incidentally, high roller tables, in other venues, are often found with 5 betting spots.

Hi Flash,

thanks for your insight. Unfortunately, aside from a few floating casinos, Hard Rock has the only game in the state of FL right now and they know it, lol.

I have found 3 dealers who just cut off 1 deck and sometimes a little less than that and do try to play them only by Wonging in when there are open spots.

Usually between 9am and 2pm you can find $15 & $25 min tables with just 2-4 players. Howeve after 2pm you may as well forget it on the $15's and the $25's usually have 5 people at them by 2pm. Even on a Monday (I just went today) this was the case.

If you are a $50 or $100 min table player, you can still find quite a few tables with 4 or less players. The max on all $25, $50 and $100 min tables is $5000.

Thanks again for your insight and I hope this info helps anyone who may be coming to the Ft. Lauerdale area for just a beach vacation and is considering playing BJ.

Steve

PS. There is a 'High Rollers' pit with 2 BJ tables and I do not know how many spots are on those tables, but I am told they use a 6 deck shoe there, but still use the auto shuffler to shuffle and then he dealer offers the cut after taking the 6 decks out of the machine.

Hi Flash,

thanks for your insight. Unfortunately, aside from a few floating casinos, Hard Rock has the only game in the state of FL right now and they know it, lol.

I have found 3 dealers who just cut off 1 deck and sometimes a little less than that and do try to play them only by Wonging in when there are open spots.

Usually between 9am and 2pm you can find $15 & $25 min tables with just 2-4 players. Howeve after 2pm you may as well forget it on the $15's and the $25's usually have 5 people at them by 2pm. Even on a Monday (I just went today) this was the case.

If you are a $50 or $100 min table player, you can still find quite a few tables with 4 or less players. The max on all $25, $50 and $100 min tables is $5000.

Thanks again for your insight and I hope this info helps anyone who may be coming to the Ft. Lauerdale area for just a beach vacation and is considering playing BJ.

Steve

PS. There is a 'High Rollers' pit with 2 BJ tables and I do not know how many spots are on those tables, but I am told they use a 6 deck shoe there, but still use the auto shuffler to shuffle and then he dealer offers the cut after taking the 6 decks out of the machine.

Because the dealers don't want to beat the completion of the shuffler the Pen is better than normal.