Is the end of blackjack near???

When I look at CBJN, it appears as though shitty BJ games are becoming ubiquitous.

LV used to have such great rules and games in the 90s, but now H17 is spreading like the plague. Penetration is bad, table minimums are high, and it is difficult to get down a decent spread without drawing heat, a preferential shuffle, or becoming 86'd. Casinos are barring mid-shoe entry, using CSMs, and even capping bet spreads for players that refuse to be rated.

With today's lousy rules and conditions, it is hard to find a game where you can get a SCORE of 50. Don't get me wrong, there are still 2-3 decent casinos in Vegas, but they are making it more and more difficult to beat them.

I want to play games with S17, DAS, LS, RSA, with 2,4, or 6 decks. I also want no less than 75% PEN while spreading to 8, 16, and 20 units respectively for the aforementioned games. Is this asking too much?

MJ

I think we are a few years away from most decent games being dealt in the US from disappearing. Chips with sensors that can correlate with the count will be the final straw.

I was kind of thinking the same thing. In this economic downturn I was thinking on both sides of the coin.

On the one hand I would think that because times are bad that the casinos may be stricter, shift the rules in their favor more (H17 and more), and be more aggressive towards counters because now the casinos want to hold on to every dollar.

On the other hand however I was also thinking since the economy is so bad, that to entice more people they may start offering more promotions, relaxing the rules (Or at least not make them harder), and maybe, dare I say, tolerate counters to a bigger degree than usual just to get more money on the table.

What do you guys think? Is a bad economy a good thing or bad thing for card counters?

Though, like most of us, I would think that casinos should be doing something to encourage more people to play in these economic times. I can see some encouragement to get people in the door with lower room rates and lower minimums, but little else.

I sometimes look at a mainly U.K. site, casino operations forum or something like that. There under table games was a discussion about one of the new table systems and the attitude of most posters was simply, "Once we get them in the door, what can we do to take all their money in the minimum amount of time" The mindset of these people is that in tough times they need to do a better job of fleecing the public and not to give the public a better game.

I think they are wrong but I also think that since these people have been operating within a time period of casino expansion they have no reference of what to do at a time like this.
Good markets tend to take even bad operators along for the ride but those kind of operators seldom survive in bad markets.

So do I think the rules of the games may get better? No, at least in the short term. These guys will worsen rules in order to increase their hold, even though it may be a seriously shrinking hold. Perhaps after enough of these managers drive their casinos in bankruptcy, then a few smarter, inovative managers will shine through offering a better gamble to their public.

Concerning the question of the possibility of their being more tolerant towards counters, I see no reason at all that they would welcome us. Perhaps they will be less tolerant. Before, we might have been considered someone who was skimming a bit of their profits but when profits are down or non existant, we are now a greater threat at least in their minds.

I can't speak for the US but on a world wide basis, rules have become better not worse in recent years.With the spreading of CSMs,Casinos feel much safer from card counters which led to a spectacular comeback of Early Surrender in many places, giving the BS-player even a slight off the top edge.

Francis Salmon

...of any casino operation is "to take all their money in the minimum amount of time" and may I add, with the least amount of pain.

I may kibbitz and schmooze with dealers, floor people, casino hosts and management, but they know what their primary purpose for showing up for work on any day is, and so do I. Never lose track of that fact. They have their act to perform and so do we.

Rudolph Valentino Cobbson

"The Sole purpose of a Casino is --- to take all of their (customers) money in the minimum amount of time."

My response:

Not totally true. Indeed they want to take as much of your money as possible, but it is to their benefit to do so at a slower rate which leaves you with the impression that you are right on the edge of figuring it all out and when you do, you will become a longtime winner.

I suppose the best example of the above truism is the number of people who are willing to play the Big Six game. The odds are so poor that the only time the table has a full compliment of players is when it is so busy that players can't find an open seat at any other table game. They play the big six, in part, because they don't realize how terrible the rules are or because they just want some action, or both.