Silverstar

Just returned from the Silverstar (Philadelphia, MS).

Nice $10min double-deck game. Stand on soft 17. Double after split. None of that double on 10-11 only mess, either. Very little heat to speak of. Did switch to a faster dealer, though (everyone at the table was either KO or hi-lo - had supper with two of them afterward the first session) - thought it was just a shift change, but saw the slower dealer at a $5 shufflemaster, after I left for supper.

Comped the room and meals. Room was acceptable. There is a new casion (Golden Moon) attached (with a nice powered people mover tube connecting it), but didn't care for the blue felted tables there, so I stayed at the Silverstar.

Good trip. Out in the boondocks, though.

I was disheartened to see a ton of CSMs all with crowds.

The 50% pen and the crowded conditions.

The pen was actually around 75 - this was my only time there, so I can't speak to how it "normally" is. As far as crowded, I didn't see it at the $10 and $25 tables. There were dealers waiting for players with their hands on the felt. There were few empty seats at the 6-deck soe $5 games, however.

didn't care for the blue felted tables there, so I stayed at the Silverstar.

Well, I'm definitely not going there....imagine...blue felt!

if you saw 75% pen you're either blind or very lucky. House policy is 50% plus one round.

LOL, well, I guess I'm lucky. Played two long sessions, finished up in both. Never saw the pen at less than 60 - with any dealer - shoe, pitch, or whatever.

An Like I said, DD, DA2, S17.

They've comped me another room and I'm going back November 22-23, I'll report whether or not my first trip was just an anomaly.

And, heh, the blue felt hurts my eyes. It's like that damn football field at Boise.

Do you calculate penetration by how many cards have been seen before the last bet or how many cards are seen before the shuffle? Naturally the former is more accurate than the latter. The more hands being played, the larger the discretion.

For example:
THREE HANDS: 11 cards per round, 6 rounds dealt.
Pen at last bet is 55 cards or 53%.
Pen at shuffle is 66 cards on average or 63%.

FIVE HANDS: this is one of the worse at Silver Star. 4 rounds dealt.
Pen at shuffle is 64 cards. 61% game is OK on the surface, but...
Pen at last bet is only 48 cards or a horrendous 46%.

The fewer the hands, the closer the correlation between pen% at last bet and at shuffle. Thus a 60% game is playable head-on but a very poor game with five hands.

I'm not saying this is what you were doing, just that it's a point that all should consider.

Jimbo

CVSIM FeltSim has consistently shown that blue is the most difficult table color to beat. Most APs I know don't even bother playing at these tables. At one time there was even talk of enlisting the aid of ploppies in a boycott of this color to convince casinos using same to color up to green.

Regards,
adhoc

That was pretty good.

I estimate pen by the number of cards in the tray before the last hand is dealt.

fewer moving parts

if you saw 75% of the cards in the tray and were still getting another round you need to write down the name and description of that dealer and seek this person out. I also have occasionally found a deep dealing dealer at the place. But it is not the norm.

I live an hour from the Silverstar and I have been playing the $10 DD using KO for a while now. They put the cut card at about 60% so they go about 65% i'd say at the most. Now the 6D shoes have much better penetration, around 75%, and a lower min bet, $5. Is this a good game to play? or rather is it that much worse than the DD to play?
Bob

at Silverstar/Golden Moon you're dreaming! The dealers are told to deal 50% plus one round...the 50% can be very subjective resulting in exactly 50% pen from one dealer, 45% from another, and 60% from a third.