No $5 BJ at Mohegan Sun

Mohegan Sun in Connecticut has offered $5 blackjack 24/7 since day one, but that is going away as soon as they can change the felt on the existing $5 tables to reflect dealer stands on all 17's rules. The tables will then match the rest of the BJ tables in the casino and have table minimums set to $10 or more. Over the past several years the number of $5 tables has been steadily reduced to the current three. The tables are always full: there is no lack of player interest. On a positive note, at least they didn't try to switch to 6/5 BJ payouts to get the profit they want. A new game will be offered that involves 39 terminals and has two dealers at tables dealing for a camera. It is some blackjack derivative using communal cards and maybe a CSM, too. Not of enough interest to me to even check the game rules or betting minimums.

I played my first and last 20 minutes in the new layout. H17, CSM, no side bets. No chips - cash and/or tickets in, tickets out. You can play both tables at the same time, toggling between the two by tapping on the touchscreen. If you don't make your own decision before time expires (15 seconds? 10 seconds?) the computer decides for you - I think it hits anything up to 16, or maybe hard 12, pretty sure regardless of the dealer's up card.

It's like large-screen video blackjack, absent the cleavage and the Patty Duke/Helen Keller blank stare off into space. Playing two games with the always pending timeout, all I did was look down at the screen: Toggle... hit or stand... toggle... hit or stand... toggle... rebet..

It's not blackjack. It's also not a slot machine or video poker, since you are (sort of) playing with 40 other people who aren't going to wait for as long as YOU want before the next round goes off. You can take as long as you want between spins on a slot machine. Not here. And you aren't spending any time chatting with your friends or the dealer. Tick tock. Tick tock.

The wandering masses who happen by, or the folks who have some knowledge of the game and can treat it like they do the slots where they spend the majority of their time anyway, might be entertained. But there is more skill involved here than pressing a button and relying on the paytable of the machine you're sitting in front of.

I'll be interested in seeing how popular it is.

Quote: BleedingChipsSlowly

Mohegan Sun in Connecticut has offered $5 blackjack 24/7 since day one, but that is going away as soon as they can change the felt on the existing $5 tables to reflect dealer stands on all 17's rules. The tables will then match the rest of the BJ tables in the casino and have table minimums set to $10 or more. Over the past several years the number of $5 tables has been steadily reduced to the current three. The tables are always full: there is no lack of player interest. On a positive note, at least they didn't try to switch to 6/5 BJ payouts to get the profit they want. A new game will be offered that involves 39 terminals and has two dealers at tables dealing for a camera. It is some blackjack derivative using communal cards and maybe a CSM, too. Not of enough interest to me to even check the game rules or betting minimums.

The new stadium BJ on betting terminals is much better than playing at a $5 table. You should really try it. What others are doing has no effect on your hand, very fun.

Quote: SM777

What others are doing has no effect on your hand, very fun.

I don't think that's true.

Assume dealer 6, and the "community cards" are 8 and 6 for 14. You stand. Player next to you takes the next card, a 10. He gets 24 and busts. The 10 goes into the "Community cards" pile. No one else takes a card. Dealer turns the next card, which is his second card. It's a 10. Dealer has 16. Dealer takes another card. It's a 5. Dealer has 21. If the other guy had stood on the 14, the first 10 goes to the dealer, who then has 16. The next 10 goes to the dealer, who busts. You lose because the other guy took "the dealers 10" - just like when third base in a real blackjack game does the same thing. Except in this case the card the guy took was in fact destined to be the dealers second card.

I think that's how it would play out - correct me if I am wrong.

Not vey fun.

Also not very fun - it happened to me - if you don't act within the allotted time, the robot decides for you.

One of the first things I learned when playing REAL blackjack is that the dealer CANNOT ACT WITHOUT YOUR SIGNALLING WHAT TO DO. If you do not make a discernable motion, play ceases. In stadium blackjack, if you are distracted, are talking to your friend, are busy looking up the play on the tiny little card, if you run out of fingers because the cards add up to more than 10 - too bad. The buzzer sounds and the hand is over.

The 5 could just as easily come before the 10. This argument has been debunked many thousands of times already.

I played something like it in the UK and recall getting a Pair of Aces vs 10 (which I would have split). However at that time the waitress came and while asking whether I wanted sugar, tipping her etc. the computer had taken a card. Furthermore, if I remember it correctly, it then stood on the four card soft 16!

It's almost impossible to prevent accidental distractions, at a real BJ table the Dealer will either wait or ask you for your decision. Thus with an automatic dealer the HE is worse than standard BJ as sometimes you will be distracted and the computer will play it wrong.

Quote: Ibeatyouraces

The 5 could just as easily come before the 10. This argument has been debunked many thousands of times already.

I was only commenting on the observation that the other players have no effect on your hand. While it's true that you can decide on your own what to do with that 14, while another player might decide differently, the fact that there are other players in the game can impact the result. Only if you are playing one-on-one, with a human dealer or a robot, do you get a game where everyone else's actions cannot effect the outcome.