Barona update ????

It appears they got rid of the single deck, 100 min and went to double deck ?

Can anyone substantiate this ?

What rules are on the 2D game ? Still 100 min ?

The website still claims to have the best BJ in the country, is this true ?

If not where is the best BJ ? LV high limit ? Wendover ?

Any other SD's around the country, w/ decent rules ?

Yes, the Barona sadly did get rid of the best BJ game in America. Their best game is now a double-deck with a 0.34% house edge. The CBJN (Current BJ Newsletter) says the minimum is $25. This is not as good as the Viejas single-deck game at 0.30%. So I would claim the web site is wrong, I think just out of date. I let them know about it just now.

As far as I know the best BJ game in America is now the single-deck game at the Hacienda (near Hoover Dam) at 0.13% house edge. Does anyone know of anything better. Real BJ only -- no gimmicks.

yes as stated by the LVBJS, :)

Anyone know why they changed to the 2D ?

Took a big hit from some high rollers ?

Too many AP's flocked to the best game in the country ?

The locals burned them out ?

Publicity value persists far beyond reality.

Quote: Wizard

Yes, the Barona sadly did get rid of the best BJ game in America.

I'm sure a great many people in the immediate area of the casino read the newspaper articles and accorded some sort of "halo" to the casino. It brought in a great many first time gamblers or people who might otherwise not be there quite so often. That 'best blackjack in America' may have been cancelled for any number of reasons, but it is still earning the casino some return on its investment.

Hacienda? Its a trek and its small. People already heading out to look at Hoover Dam might go there. A group of sharpies might go there as a lark, the way a group might show up at a 3:00am Bingo session as a lark or drop in to some locals poker room to see who can out-donk each other. I can't see anyone taking a trip to Las Vegas to get 0.13 percent at the Hacienda if they have a reasonable percentage locally.

Topaz Lodge? http://www.blackjackclassroom.com/articles/single-deck-blackjack/

Quote: calwatch

Topaz Lodge? http://www.blackjackclassroom.com/articles/single-deck-blackjack/

I just looked at that site ... 224,000 a year for a professional blackjack player. H'mm.. I wonder if that is a figure used because he sells card counting lessons. Anybody actually think card counters make that much in a year? How do they avoid being backed off?

Quote: Wizard

As far as I know the best BJ game in America is now the single-deck game at the Hacienda (near Hoover Dam) at 0.13% house edge.

Yes. Either that, or the Alamo in Sparks which has surrender and the six-card Charlie rule.

Quote: calwatch

Topaz Lodge? http://www.blackjackclassroom.com/articles/single-deck-blackjack/

According to the CBJN the rules of that game are:

single-deck
H17
no double after split
late surrender allowed
no re-splitting aces
six-card Charlie, including against a 10-up blackjack.

Before considering the six-card Charlie rule, I get a "realistic" house edge of 0.26%, and "optimal" of 0.11%. Can anyone help me with the effect of the six-card Charlie rule?

The Hacienda rules are:

single-deck
H17
double after split
no surrender
re-splitting aces allowed

I get a "realistic" house edge there of 0.13%, and "optimal" of -0.02%.

I strongly doubt the six-card Charlie rule is strong enough to make up the 0.13% difference otherwise. Furthermore, the CBJN puts the Topaz house edge at 0.10%, and the Hacienda at 0.03%.

Furthermore, I downloaded the CBJN newsletter in Excel format to easily find the lowest house edge in America. They also claim it is the Hacienda game.

And on that note, a friendly reminder to Mike to post my Hacienda review :)

Quote: teddys

And on that note, a friendly reminder to Mike to post my Hacienda review :)

Yes, what good timing for it. I'm still swamped with my post-vacation backlog. I hope to get to that by the end of the week.