New Blackjack Players

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Several events have transpired to prevent me from playing blackjack.

One is that the casinos in Palm Springs seem to have changed their comps structure somewhat and I’m no longer being given free rooms. In fact, the last time I was at The Spa, the woman at the rewards desk was somewhat rude when I asked about comps. Apparently, the fact that I’m not there every week redeeming every available offer made to me counts against me. Given that attitude, I’m not holding my breath that the free hotel nights will return even when the Palm Springs season ends. Ah well – it was a great deal while it lasted and I enjoyed myself thoroughly.

Another factor is my friend who lives in Palm Springs is busy with her life right now and just isn’t in a place where she can handle guests, so I’ve lost my other free accommodation.

But most important, I terminated everyone who works for me and now I’m doing all the work myself. Yeah – it’s a drag and I hate it, but since I haven’t won millions in the lottery, it is what it is. It’s not that it’s a full-time job, just enough that the 2 to 2-1/2 hour drive to the nearest casino isn’t feasible for a day trip if I also have to get my work done.

Are you feeling sorry for me yet??

So, last night I dreamed I went to Las Vegas and I spent the entire night looking for a decent blackjack game. I found myself in a film noir version of downtown Las Vegas, not the Strip. There were all these twisting streets, strange entries to casinos, casinos behind casinos… about what you’d expect from withdrawal dreams. And during this entire night of going in and out of casinos, I couldn’t find ONE decent blackjack game – kind of reminded me of my last trip to Vegas, actually. Only weirder.

Maybe I need to pull out the felt and the shoe and just practice my blackjack for about an hour. It’s not quite the same, but it might hold off full withdrawal for awhile.

If there’s something I wish I could teach new blackjack players, it would be to boycott tables that pay 6:5 on a blackjack.

The Gaming Commission doesn’t regulate the payouts in blackjack. The house has every right to set them at whatever they want. The game of blackjack, however, has traditionally paid 3:2 on a blackjack. First, we saw single deck games go to a 6:5 payout. Now, the payout of 6:5 for blackjack is rampant in Las Vegas. I’m not even going to get into the number of 8-deck shoes I saw on the Strip. When I was in Vegas last year, it hadn’t spread to the downtown area, and the downtown casinos were full of the more savvy players who were refusing to play the Strip games paying 6:5. This year, however, there were casinos downtown paying 6:5 on blackjack, and the ones that didn’t were not allowing double down after split and/or splitting of aces more than once.

Folks – just boycott blackjack 6:5 okay? Do the blackjack-playing community a favor and refuse to play it. I suspect I can say this until I’m blue in the face and even if this blog goes viral, there will be no shortage of people going to Vegas or other venues and playing blackjack without a clue. But if you read this blog, now you know better – and you have no excuse.

Let me make something clear: the house always has an advantage and you will, over time, lose money. The only time you can play blackjack with an advantage is if you’re counting the cards. So why look for the game with the lowest house advantage? Well – why do you look for the best deal at the grocery store? Why do you wait until that big screen TV you want goes on sale before you buy it? Go to Vegas, have a good time, but at least make your money go further.

Let’s say you find what seems to be a typical game of blackjack on the Strip these days: 8-deck shoe, dealer hits soft 17, you can only split aces once, you can double down after a split (except aces), you can double down on any two first cards, and blackjack pays 6:5. The house advantage on that game is just slightly over 2%. Now – make the blackjack pay at 3:2 and the house edge is just under 0.65%. See the difference? Make it a 6-deck shoe, same rules, paying 6:5 and the house edge moves slightly, to just under 2%. Same game paying 3:2 moves the house edge to a little under 0.62%.

By playing the 6:5 game, you’re giving the house almost 1.5% advantage over you.

That’s like buying that big-screen TV this week at full price, even if you’ve been told it will go on sale for half the price next week. It doesn’t make much sense, does it?

Just a quick note that I’m not dead and I will tell you all about my recent trip to Las Vegas.

What with the holidays and work, I haven’t had much opportunity to get out and play blackjack, so there wasn’t much to talk about.

Well, I now have a lot to talk about! Like – what the hell has happened to the game of blackjack in Las Vegas???

You’re gonna hear all about Binions and the Four Queens, the Harrah’s properties on the Strip and how Harrah’s has completely ruined a friendly little casino they call O’Shea’s. Still love the dealers – but I’m afraid with the changes Harrah’s has made in blackjack at this and their other casinos, I’m going to have to say goodbye to some of the friendliest dealers on the Strip until someone at Harrah’s comes to their senses. Which will be about the same time all the clueless blackjack players GET a clue and start boycotting casinos playing these lousy games. Which is to say – never.

But more on that this weekend. Stay tuned!

It finally happened – I was in proximity to numerous casinos for a long enough period of time to get in a lot of play and by the time the week was over, I was tired of playing blackjack.

I know – difficult to believe, isn’t it? I surprised myself!

Here’s what happened…

It started with an invitation to a week-long party in Palm Springs. I had a one-night comped stay at the Spa Resort Casino in Palm Springs, so I went out one day early so I could get in even more playing time. I started out at the Spotlight 29 casino in Indio, not only because I couldn’t check into the hotel until after 4:00, but I knew I’d be spending a lot of time at The Spa and I wanted a little variety.

A few things about Spotlight 29…

Their blackjack rule variations aren’t optimum, but they play a lot of low-limit tables ($5) and it’s usually about the right kind of quiet for me – not so dead that I’m not socially stimulated, but not so crowded that I’m waiting for a space at a table, either. They do play one $2 minimum table out of a 6-deck shoe, but that one is almost always crowded. However, if you do get a seat at that table, it’s a good place to practice your basic play strategy and betting strategy without losing your shirt. I sat down at the double deck table, which I occasionally like to play, and immediately started off on a winning streak that didn’t end all day. I was up a couple hundred dollars when I decided I really needed to go check into the hotel and get something to eat.

About Spotlight 29′s double deck game…

On the negative side, you are only allowed to split once and you cannot double down after a split. I find that incredibly annoying. On the positive side, they burn 1 card and they don’t place the cut card deep into the decks. (More on this later when I get to The Spa’s double deck game.)

In spite of this, I had a good winning streak, so I was happy. I occasionally like to play double deck and I like winning even more.

However, I did spend most of the week at The Spa because the party was right in Palm Springs and The Spa is convenient. Unfortunately, management knows it’s convenient. There’s only one $5 minimum blackjack table and most of the day, it’s difficult to get a seat there. However, my winning streak continued and so I was willing to play the $10 minimum tables.

About the double deck blackjack at The Spa Casino Resort…

The folks at The Spa like to think they’ve got it all over Spotlight 29. It is true that The Spa has a completely different vibe and clientele than Spotlight 29.  But they would also like players to think The Spa has much better games. New players and those who don’t really pay attention might actually buy that line, but if you know a little about blackjack and pay attention, you’ll find it’s casino hype. Big surprise, huh?

They’re quick to point out that they allow multiple hand splits and double down after splits. And yes, that’s great on any blackjack game – bring it on. But when a casino burns a card – and then approximately 20 more – on a double deck game, then places the cut card another 20 to 30 cards in, it takes away any advantage the split rules give you. This is not a good game to play, folks. You’d be better off driving the 30 miles out to Indio to play the game at Spotlight 29, where you can at least play for a $5 minimum instead of the $15 minimum The Spa seems determined to hold its double deck game to (I’ve never seen it for less).

The Spa has initiated a Lucky Lucky side bet since I was there last, earlier in the summer. My comps suffered as a result of my extended absence, but damn – Palm Springs is just too hot in the summer! You’d burn up just walking from the hotel to the casino, since they are on different blocks. Close – but still a walk in triple-digit heat. And I had other commitments northward.

But back to that Lucky Lucky side bet…

I know side bets are sucker bets and I rarely play them. But, as I said, I was up a couple hundred dollars and feeling lucky, so I started to play it at $1 a bet. Now, I’m a bit obsessive-compulsive, so I was keeping my side bet play chips separate from my blackjack play chips and doing pretty good on the side bets, not so good on the blackjack. And if you ask the dealer which spot they want their tip played on, they usually pick the side bet. If you win, they get paid more than they will on a blackjack hand win. And I was winning that side bet pretty steady – 2:1 pay on 19 and 20, 3:1 on 21, 15:1 on suited 21. I also hit a couple 30:1 and 50:1 plays. All in all, the side bet winnings were carrying what I was losing in blackjack and it was fun. A warning is that if you start playing it, it’s hard to stop. Inevitably, as with any side bets, as soon as you don’t bet it, you’ll hit the hand that would’ve paid umpty-bajillion to 1 and then you’ll be kicking yourself around the casino!

One evening, I went with some of the others from the party to play. It was really busy – Thursday night, after the Palm Springs Street Fair. If you’re thinking this casino is going to be quiet midweek, think again – Tuesday is their drawings day and it’s crowded and Thursdays after the street fair is really busy, as well. I was at first base and my friend – after getting her ass kicked on the double deck table – finally got a seat at the table I was at and came over to sit next to me. I got dealt 8♣. Next, I got dealt 7♣.

Suited 6,7,8 pays 100:1 on the side bet. OK, I know it’s a measly $1 bet – but 100:1 is nothing to sneeze at. I start chanting under my breath “6♣, 6♣!” It took my friend a minute to realize what was happening, then she got excited. By the time the dealer turned over his card, we were both halfway to excited. When he turned over 6♣, they probably heard us at the other side of the casino. That win put me $50 over my losses on blackjack – so we cashed out and left. It was 3 a.m., anyway.

Surprisingly, I hit suited 6,7,8 again the next morning. What was even funnier was the dealer, who apparently isn’t on board with this whole side bet thing. It slows down the table. She made it clear she didn’t like it. Then, she kept telling me I was down because I was playing the side bet, even though I pointed out to her that I had two separate chip stacks going – one for blackjack and one for the side bet – so I knew what I was winning and losing on each. About 10 minutes after insisting that I was losing money on the side bet, she dealt me a suited 7 and 8, then turned up a 6 of the same suit. I was happy to take the $100 and leave – again, having my blackjack losses more than covered by the side bet winnings.

The day before I was to leave, I went to the casino for breakfast and just happened to get snagged by a blackjack table. The $5 table was full and although I don’t like going head-to-head with the dealer, I sat at the empty $10 minimum table to play. I went on an unbelievable winning streak – if I had a lousy hand, the dealer busted. In 30 minutes, he only turned over 2 blackjacks. This went on quickly, with me upping my bets and laying out tips on both the side bet and the blackjack hand for the dealer, who made probably $100 in tips during his 30-minute shift. I left – without breakfast – an hour later with several hundred more dollars in my pocket.

But then… there was Sunday night. Now I remember why I avoid casinos at night, especially during the weekend. Why do I continue to allow myself to be surprised at people who sit down and play without knowing a damn thing about how to play? At one point, all the $10 minimum tables that were open were full and I was stuck at a table full of young bucks who agonized over hitting a 12 against a 10, or doubling down A,6 against a 5. And why is it people who play like this seem to actually WIN? It only reinforces their belief that they know how to play! I sat back and stayed out of play hand after hand. I could have left, yes, but there came a time when I was just bemused and amused at what I was witnessing! I realize that – over time – how other players play their hands don’t affect mine, but at that particular time it WAS affecting my hand and not in a good way. I was willing to concede that these particular players were never going to play in a way that would swing things over to my favor. A pit boss kindly took pity on me and held a seat for me at another table when one opened up. OK – maybe he wasn’t being kind, he was just tired of watching me take up space without putting any money in the circle.

All in all, it was a good trip, money-wise. But – I went home tired of sitting in a semi-circle!

As we all know, that doesn’t last for long – I’m planning another trip next week.