How's the blackjack in Lawrenceburg, IN ?

Hi. I haven't played blackjack or card counted in 4 years. I'll have to re-learn everything. Was planning on going to Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg. Is it still 6 deck? Also, what are the rules there? H17 and double down on any ? Split ? Thanks

Have not been since they changed the name a year ago or so. Prior to that the only games i found that were decent were $25 min, 4 deck das rsa and h17 and surrender. All other games used to be 8d with awful rules, but it changed ownership i believe? Good luck let me know what you find.

The blackjack at the Hollywood is pretty bad. The main floor has six deck games with h17 and das. Some are shuffled and some are dealt from CSMs. The penetration on the regular shoe games is awful. The high limit area has s17 and das on the six deckers and it also has a double deck table with lousy rules, including s17, d9 and no resplits as well as no das. The penetration on the two decker is about 50%.

I've never seen a four decker at the Hollywood nor at its predecessor casino, the Argosy. The Argosy had eight deckers in its low limit area, but it seems the Hollywood is content with six deck games out of a CSM for its low limit games.

so conditions might be forced to improve in the future if casinos are allowed to open in Cincinnati, Cleveland and other areas

I hope I am wrong since I live in Ohio, but I don't think the Ohio casinos will be all that competitive with the Indiana casinos. Ohio's tax rate will be much higher than Indiana's. That's strike one. At least in Cincinnati, the casino is planned to be put at Broadway Commons, which is situated at the eastern end of downtown Cincinnati. Many residents of the Cincinnati area consider this to be an unsafe part of town and will be reluctant to go there. Strike two. Finally, Ohio has prohibitive anti-smoking laws and Indiana doesn't. Strike three.

I'm not the expert on Ohio in this thread but . . .

1. I know nothing about the relative tax rates and cannot comment.

2. The area in Cleveland may be considered unsafe, but Atlantic City was considered unsafe. If there are busses that drop people off at the casino and the casino has adequate shops and restaurants, then players will not have to walk in unsafe areas. There will most likely be an increase in police protection and private security, the latter like the bicycle patrols on Freemont St. in downtown Las Vegas, in Cleveland's casino area.

3. Although Cleveland is not as close to states with weaker laws for the protection of the health and comfort of non-smokers as other Ohio casino cities, it still will draw non-smoking players from out-of-state and in-state. You call these laws "prohibitive anti-smoking laws." What they prohibit and what they are anti is an act that is offensive and harmful to others. Don't you think that such acts should be prohibited in workplaces and places of public accommodation?

As a union official, you know that some jobs are inherently unsafe, unhealthy and uncomfortable. Unions and the government try to make them as less unsafe, unhealthy and uncomfortable as possible. Some of the hazards associated with these jobs can be eliminated through legislation or regulation. We do not grant exemptions to existing laws governing broader areas than a specific workplace to add a non-inherent hazard. Ohio must not give an exemption to its "prohibitive anti-smoking laws" to favor an industry that has been given a license to operate facilities which are otherwise unlawful because they are deemed contrary to public policy. They have been given a license to prey on their patrons by offering illusions and seemingly friendly games that statistically disfavor their customers.

Franz, I'm not arguing for or against anti-smoking laws. They are "prohibitive" because they prohibit smoking in all places of business, public or private. I'm simply pointing out that they will discourage smokers from going into Ohio casinos, especially if there are smoking alternatives nearby. While you may be correct about non-smokers, the experience in my neck of the woods with restaurants and bars has not shown that to be the case. I live in Cincinnati. Smoking is still permitted in bars and restaurants in Kentucky, which is right across the Ohio River. Since the smoking ban was enacted in Ohio, I'm told the restaurant and bar business increased in Covington and Newport while a number of bars and restaurants closed in the Cincinnati area. Cincinnati never got the predicted business from non-smokers coming over from Kentucky.

I'm also not talking about Cleveland, I'm talking about Cincinnati. Cleveland is the one on Lake Erie and Cincinnati is the one on the Ohio River. As for buses, the only people in Ohio who ride buses are the poor who can't afford to gamble, the elderly and their parents. :-)

The busses to Atlantic City from New York and other places in New Jersey were not public busses, often ridden by the poor and elderly, but rather busses owned privately. One of my books on the history of Atlantic City quotes a comedian performing at a run down hotel during the mid 1970s, i.e. before the first casino opened in 1978, as saying that the typical couple visiting Atlantic City is a woman in her 60s and her 90 year old mother.

I'm told the restaurant and bar business increased in Covington and Newport while a number of bars and restaurants closed in the Cincinnati area. Cincinnati never got the predicted business from non-smokers coming over from Kentucky.

This surprises me. There was little effect when bars and restaurants in NY and NJ went smoke-free separately.

P.S. I posted the link to The New York Times article on women only residences on the politics page.

I'm glad you got the joke. Seriously though, I haven't seen a huge tour bus crowd in any of the Indiana casinos, so I don't expect there to be one in Ohio. That isn't to say there aren't tour buses, but there aren't that many of them and my joke could actually apply to those that do exist.

I wish I could give you the article, but I did read one recently in the Cincinnati Enquirer which gave numbers and stats on the comparative bar and restaurant businesses in the Cincinnati area and those across the river in Kentucky. There are fewer bars and restaurants in Cincinnati now than there were when the no-smoking law went into effect and more in the Kentucky suburbs. Since both areas are a part of the same Greater Cincinnati economy, it would appear that there may be reasons other than economic for this change.

I do know that I have lost music gigs as a direct result of the loss of business in bars and nightclubs due to the no-smoking restrictions. One of them had lasted more than eight years and we always had good crowds. When the smoking ban went into effect the crowds disappeared.

I don't know how to compare New York and New Jersey other than to say why would anyone from New York even want to go to that other place? :-)

Interesting gambling history there. Used to have legal(?), openly operated casinos. Wife is calling or I'd Google it.

The gambling operations in Newport weren't legal. They were run by the Mob.

I believe they operated fairly openly from something I once read. Likely just paid off the authorities and did there thing. I believe they were doing the same thing down in Lauderdale By The Sea in SE FL at the time. In the 50's or so. This should be on the social page so I'll stop.

Keep us informed on the OH casinos Boot. Could be interesting when they first open.

In this country of free choice you decide whether or not you want to frequent an establishment. You also choose whether or not to work at an establishment. If smoke bothers you don't frequent or work at that place. If you don't believe in free choice don't work in an abortion clinic. If this country is truly free the business should be able to dictate whether or not smoking is allowed. Feel free to choose not to go there or work there. I choose not to be a crab fisherman because I may die.