It's been awhile for me. New business ventures have kept me away from the tables for a couple of years. This summer a family driving vacation took me through this riverside hamlet and I couldn't resist a quick report:
PREP: Several weeks ago, out came the zen flashcards and the Ne Plus Ultra "Master" software. Following that, a one month purchase of CBJN and an August '99 "SCORE" post by Fine Tuner. Based on the last two resources and my room, I limited my play to Pi0nair, Hedge-H2O, CoBell and Reeverslide. Perhaps I didn't print this part of Tuner's post, or perhaps all scores are below 50, but the D10 rules I found all over these casinos were not represented in the SCORE data available to me. Nevertheless, I played one and two deck games, sometimes D10, spreading 1-4.
As has often been the case in past (miniscule short-run) trips, the 2 deckers often out performed the single. I tried though, to keep my play at the lowest possible house edge available on any given shift. Discovered a 2-deck game at the 'water not listed in CBJN. 6:5 BJ payoffs abounded, but were not found at the 'water. Fak2 games seemed to be everywhere. I did not see them at the 'nair.
Overall, the best games I found were a the 'slide. Pen was great to magnificent, but only with particular dealers, one on one. Second best was the "Hedge" where pen was decent occasionally, but comps were better. The 'bell was only average in every way possible.
Wrapping it up... not a bad BJ stop if you look around a lot, make friends with a few dealers and ask for comps. I actually found more good games here than I did last August when I spent two days at a family reunion in Tahoe where there was only one good TABLE in the entire town.
My results... moderate bankroll increase on first two days. Unstoppable run of busting hands, dealer "miracles" and unfortunate table mates resulting in a quick bankroll retreat to preset stop loss on third day. I retired earlier than I needed to in light of the limited time I had left to play. Kept some of the wins, had delicious comped b'fast at restaurant with large view of the river, hot-tubbed, swam, packed and got home BEFORE sundown. The vacation cost a little bit less than panned!
Hope to be back on GC soon.
Love to all,
Moe
