Quote: WizardI had a nice dinner with Charles Mousseau (hope he doesn't mind the name drop) yesterday. He drew my attention to a bar-top game at Binion's with some awful rules. Afterward, we went over and I can confirm the rules were:
- Single deck
- Dealer stands on soft 17
- All wins, including blackjack pay even money (or 2 for 1)
- Player may never double or split
- Player and dealer must automatically stop on six cards.
My blackjack programs don't even support such awful rules so I asked expert Norm Wattenberger for the bottom line. He said the house edge was 4.30%. Benny Binion must be rolling over in his grave. I wish I could put copper wire and magnets in it to generate electricity.
Still, in all fairness, it isn't as bad as Blackjack Plus, with a house edge of 6.36%.
I'd like to thank Norm for his help on this. Please check out his blackjack software Casino Verite.
That's pretty standard these days. Maybe a third of bar video blackjack machines offer splits or limited doubling. Most only allow you to split queens, not a queen and a Jack.
On the plus side, you can play for a dollar a hand and drink more than your expected loss and vbj is eligible for slot points ,especially on multiplier days. It often is a better option than the 7-5 JOB many places offer.
Quote: billryanThat's pretty standard these days.
Shows you what I know. Pretty sad. Still a much better bet than reeled slots.
Quote: WizardShows you what I know. Pretty sad. Still a much better bet than reeled slots.
Does that mean that the new fancy slots are better than the old reel slots?
Quote: VCUSkyhawkDoes that mean that the new fancy slots are better than the old reel slots?
No, they are worse.
And yeah, really the big benefit of that game was that it was a 25 cent minimum. Compare that to, say, the MGM's Bar Top which has doubles and splits allowed but has a $2 minimum.
But agreed with the Benny Binion spinning in his grave, massive electromagnet theory. They don't even have the token $25 min full pay single deck game anymore. 6-5 on every blackjack game in the joint. Oh Benny, what have they done to you?
Quote: CharlesMousseauOh Benny, what have they done to you?
Yep, ironic that Binions has become exactly the opposite of what Benny stood for. If I had twenty million to burn I'd buy a small downtown property, have the best odds in Vegas on every game, and I'm sure run it into the ground within a few years.
Quote: WizardYep, ironic that Binions has become exactly the opposite of what Benny stood for. If I had twenty million to burn I'd buy a small downtown property, have the best odds in Vegas on every game, and I'm sure run it into the ground within a few years.
Let's do it. I'm in for 5%.
Quote: WizardYep, ironic that Binions has become exactly the opposite of what Benny stood for. If I had twenty million to burn I'd buy a small downtown property, have the best odds in Vegas on every game, and I'm sure run it into the ground within a few years.
I would almost do that.
I would have Video Poker that was all in the 99+% range on half of my machines, except Video Poker would not earn points and there wouldn't even be a place to put your player's club card in for it. I would have several 100%+ games on VP, but they would all be single line for either nickels or dimes.
I would have 3:2 Blackjack, but most other rules would positively suck. Some players know that 3:2 is good and 6:5 is bad, but I imagine a good percentage of those players don't know what else to look for.
-Eight Decks
-Six-Card Charlie (Fun and doesn't affect much, I also think people would go after it too aggressively)
-Double on Any Number of Cards, but total must be 9-11. (Doesn't add much)
-Split only to two hands.
-No RSA or HSA
-No Surrender
-Hit Soft 17
-No Double After Split
You're looking at about .9355% HE with Basic, before you knock a wee little off of that for my Six Card Charlie and Double on Any Number of cards (except after split) rule. I think I'm giving back roughly .39-.4% with my Six-Card Charlie and Double on Any Number of Cards (before Splitting only), so that's an overall HE of about .53-.54% with Basic on a semi-complicated rule set with lots of opportunity to make errors. Still not a bad HE, really.
All the tables would be electronic with physically dealt cards. Comps would be 5% of theoretical loss.
Anyway, I would advertise the hell out of, "We have 3:2 Blackjack and ALWAYS will!"
Quote: CharlesMousseauSome of the best veal I ever had, to be honest.
I'll be in Vegas next week. Where's more of that veal to be found, if I may ask.
Quote: racquetI'll be in Vegas next week. Where's more of that veal to be found, if I may ask.
That was at the Golden Nugget. I recommend a table with a view of the pool.