Hole card readers

I'm reading up on hole card readers and thinking of purchasing the non-electric type for the BJ tables at out charity gaming events.

I'm mostly interested in them because they say that the house can increase hand-per hour by as much as 20% - 30%. For us, that would be huge! Comments?

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I assume you're talking about the little mirrors built into tables. I hove no idea how much they cost, but I've seen them at the Gamblers General Store.

I gotta believe that the speed is the result of checking for BJ first rather than playing out the hand first. And even then, I can't believe you'd save that much time. You WILL save by thwarting an advantage play opportunity.

You do realize you gotta use special cards, right?

Peek mirror

That's the least expensive one I can remember finding online.

It needs specially marked cards; I don't generally see cards with the "no peek" markings on them as readily available. Most of the customers for those cards (casinos) get them specially printed with their logo on the back, and request the special face.

You also need to train your crew to use it correctly.

My understanding is that the reason to use a no-peek device is to prevent bending the cards (which you can probably do by rotating them 90 degrees - long side toward the dealer - before peeking, and lift instead of bend) and to prevent the dealer from seeing the hole card (which can lead to an accidental tell to the players).

I understand you're already running an 8 deck shoe. Not sure where you're setting the cut card, but 1 deck from the back vs 2 decks from the back should get a few extra hands per shoe... I know you're not waiting for the dealers to shuffle, just waiting for the runners to send the next shoe over, which may or may not be a delay.

Short version: I don't think it will speed up the game.

Quote: Dieter

Peek mirror

That's the least expensive one I can remember finding online.

It needs specially marked cards; I don't generally see cards with the "no peek" markings on them as readily available. Most of the customers for those cards (casinos) get them specially printed with their logo on the back, and request the special face.

You also need to train your crew to use it correctly.

My understanding is that the reason to use a no-peek device is to prevent bending the cards (which you can probably do by rotating them 90 degrees - long side toward the dealer - before peeking, and lift instead of bend) and to prevent the dealer from seeing the hole card (which can lead to an accidental tell to the players).

I understand you're already running an 8 deck shoe. Not sure where you're setting the cut card, but 1 deck from the back vs 2 decks from the back should get a few extra hands per shoe... I know you're not waiting for the dealers to shuffle, just waiting for the runners to send the next shoe over, which may or may not be a delay.

Short version: I don't think it will speed up the game.

+1

Quote: AxelWolf

Quote: Dieter

Peek mirror

That's the least expensive one I can remember finding online.

It needs specially marked cards; I don't generally see cards with the "no peek" markings on them as readily available. Most of the customers for those cards (casinos) get them specially printed with their logo on the back, and request the special face.

You also need to train your crew to use it correctly.

My understanding is that the reason to use a no-peek device is to prevent bending the cards (which you can probably do by rotating them 90 degrees - long side toward the dealer - before peeking, and lift instead of bend) and to prevent the dealer from seeing the hole card (which can lead to an accidental tell to the players).

I understand you're already running an 8 deck shoe. Not sure where you're setting the cut card, but 1 deck from the back vs 2 decks from the back should get a few extra hands per shoe... I know you're not waiting for the dealers to shuffle, just waiting for the runners to send the next shoe over, which may or may not be a delay.

Short version: I don't think it will speed up the game.

+1

Spoken like true AP's

:)

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Just realized I made an error.

You don't need special cards to use a peek mirror; it just works much better.

The advantages of using a peek mirror are lost if you're not using the special cards.

The special cards have the index markings moved away from the corners on most of the cards (A-9), and an additional index mark on the other corners for the aces. (This varies slightly depending on the particular face design - the No Peek and the Tech Art achieve the goal slightly differently. No Peek uses big black marks on the corners; Tech Art leaves the index marks in place for the tens/faces and uses additional index marks for the aces. See face samples )


The general idea with the mirror is that you want to see "white" for no blackjack, and "something" for blackjack. If the card indices aren't moved away from the corners, the dealer can read the standard index on the card (just like they could without the mirror, only slower, since they're trying to read a poorly lit card upside down and backwards through a tiny peephole), negating any game protection advantage.


You would need the special cards to use an electronic no-peek reader. You'll also go broke trying to keep them in batteries for your 4 days a year of use... but they're almost* fool proof.

** The fools can still stick the cards in the wrong way - rotating a ten for a read or not rotating an ace for a read can give a false positive. Rotating only the under card can also give a false read.

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Quote: Ibeatyouraces

He then realize it was a 9 up but knew an ace was in the hole for 20. I had 18 and he "advised" me to hit. I busted

Unless it's one of those extremely rare houses where dealer must draw on soft 20... I'd say shooting for the 2/13 chance is worth it. (This strategy chart agrees with me.)

You could have stood on 18 and lost anyway. ;)

Funniest one I ever heard: through a peeker mistake (red light), dealer opened the hole card to show a hard 20. Everyone at the table saw it. People are hitting their 18's, 19's, etc. Pretty much everyone is busting. Gets around to the last guy. He draws to 17 and waves off.

"Are you sure?"
"Yep. I'm not gonna hit on a 17 - I might bust out!"

Makes me smile just thinking about it.

Quote: Tomspur

Spoken like true AP's

That, sir, may be the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever said to me.

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Quote: Dieter

Unless it's one of those extremely rare houses where dealer must draw on soft 20... I'd say shooting for the 2/13 chance is worth it. (This strategy chart agrees with me.)


"Yep. I'm not gonna hit on a 17 - I might bust out!"

Makes me smile just thinking about it.

Yeah, he surrendered the hand but just didn't get half the bet back, damn fool

Quote: Ibeatyouraces

I had a dealer at MGM one day mistake a 9 up for a ten up and peeked looking for the ace. He then realize it was a 9 up but knew an ace was in the hole for 20. I had 18 and he "advised" me to hit. I busted :-(

That was a good dealer. He made a mistake. He didn't have any sort of tell that indicated anything but knowing that you were about to lose, he offered what suggestions he could legally offer you.

Quote: FleaStiff

That was a good dealer. He made a mistake. He didn't have any sort of tell that indicated anything but knowing that you were about to lose, he offered what suggestions he could legally offer you.

Good for that dealer. Legal though? I don't know.