One. Dollar. Blackjack.
What’s the catch? You have to be 25 years or younger. Every Thursday in June from 8pm - midnight they are having promotional $1 tables for the purpose of getting the younger audience hooked on the game so that in the future they are willing to gamble for more money. The median age for blackjack players is 50+, so it’s only a matter of time before there are no players left. (Fortune Bay’s logic, I disagree.)
If you are in the area between 18-25 years old and want to dabble in card counting, there will never be a better time. You can be quite comfortably bankrolled for less than $1,000.
Quote: ChumpChangeBack in 1992 or so, Mall Of America had a little store or room where there was a Black Jack table where people could come in and play a few hands while shopping just to learn the game, no money involved. People could spend 15 minutes there, it would draw a crowd. I know if Minnesota casinos cared about lower limits, $2 is always an option. But with inflation nowadays, $2 is the new $10.
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That’s Mystic Lake that had that and last time I was there it was still a thing.
Quote: PokerGrinderQuote: ChumpChangeBack in 1992 or so, Mall Of America had a little store or room where there was a Black Jack table where people could come in and play a few hands while shopping just to learn the game, no money involved. People could spend 15 minutes there, it would draw a crowd. I know if Minnesota casinos cared about lower limits, $2 is always an option. But with inflation nowadays, $2 is the new $10.
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That’s Mystic Lake that had that and last time I was there it was still a thing.
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I have a special place in my heart for Mystic Lake Casino. I remember going there in the early 1990's when it was a bingo hall called Little Six and they were negotiating a compact with the state to put in slots. The company i was with got a big contract for the slots when it was approved.
https://www.bluelakecasino.com/play/table-games/
Quote: richodudeYou heard it right, in June 2024, Fortune Bay Casino in northern Minnesota is offering live dealer $1 minimum blackjack.
What’s the catch? You have to be 25 years or younger. Every Thursday in June from 8pm - midnight they are having promotional $1 tables for the purpose of getting the younger audience hooked on the game so that in the future they are willing to gamble for more money. The median age for blackjack players is 50+, so it’s only a matter of time before there are no players left. (Fortune Bay’s logic, I disagree.)
If you are in the area between 18-25 years old and want to dabble in card counting, there will never be a better time. You can be quite comfortably bankrolled for less than $1,000.
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I'm assuming the player must show ID to demonstrate they meet the age limits?
Is there an ante?
Quote: Dieter
I'm assuming the player must show ID to demonstrate they meet the age limits?
Is there an ante?
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Yes, I believe you must also have a player's card to qualify. Kind of goes against staying anonymous as a card counter, but the cage will refuse a cashout at $1000+ anyways without one. Even if you're found, you are allowed to play until you win $5000 total and I don't think they share info with other casinos.
Not sure what you mean by ante, but as long as you are 25 and under it's no nonsense $1 blackjack. No fee. No rake.
Here's a fun idea. Fortune Bay rounds up the blackjack payment on 50 cent bets. This means betting $1.50 per hand instead of $1 will cut your losses by over half. A 0.205% HE for 5:3 blackjacks compared to the 0.55% HE on 3:2 $1 bets. Assuming 80 hands/hour, you can expect to lose 25 cents per hour if you play perfect basic strategy. At the cost of $1 you can play for 4 hours and have all the free pop you want.
Quote: smoothgrhBlue Lake Casino in California still has $1 blackjack and $2 Spanish 21 on Tuesday and Thursday for all ages (21 and up).
https://www.bluelakecasino.com/play/table-games/
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That's wild. I thought $5 blackjack was almost completely dead. A table full of awful players generates $1.50/hand, hardly worth the time or wages to any casino nowadays
Quote: richodude
Not sure what you mean by ante, but as long as you are 25 and under it's no nonsense $1 blackjack. No fee. No rake.
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The "fee" or "rake" is often called an ante.
From what I can tell, $5 tables are fairly rare, and yet I managed to see one yesterday morning with 5 players. The mere $30/hr in EV for the casino may be tolerated, since they're not giving away booze.
If you are near fortune bay, I strongly encourage you to take advantage of this promotion, we have 2 more left. You don’t even need perfect basic strategy or card counting to have a winning game!
"We're also..." So are you casino staff encouraging 18-25 year old's to come in and try to count cards at your $1 tables? lol?Quote: richodudeUPDATE: week 2 of this promotion just ended and it’s pretty lack luster. First off, we aren’t enforcing the 25 and under rule. Anyone can play. There is 1 $1-25 table and 1 $3-50 table. We’re also giving out up to $1000 cash a night in prizes, you just need a players card. To be clear, only the prizes require a card, anyone can play. The promotion is only bringing in 2-3 kids and hardly anyone is utilizing the sub $5 limits anyways.
If you are near fortune bay, I strongly encourage you to take advantage of this promotion, we have 2 more left. You don’t even need perfect basic strategy or card counting to have a winning game!
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Quote: ChumpChangeIf I was trying to start with 500 bets at $3, I'd need a $1,500 bankroll. Unfortunately, that would only get me a 100 bet bankroll at a $15 table. I may go back to the $5 BJ machine and work back up since I backslid on my last couple of $15 table sessions. Dealers be drawing 21's like magicians whether it's a hand shuffle or a table machine shuffle. I'm barely seeing the advantage tables have over the BJ machines with that type of luck. I've been betting with too thin of a bankroll all along anyway and I've been a bit lucky, but I've got to consolidate my wins by lowering my bets back down and getting more bets for the bankroll.
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Remember, anything can happen in a night. Your odds are much better at the tables. Fortune Bay's rules return 99.45% of your money with perfect strategy. In Minnesota, an electronic machine cannot pay back more than 98%. This becomes obvious when you see the machine pays blackjack 6:5, doesn't allow resplits, and plays with 8 decks shuffled every hand. In other words, you are losing 4x the money at the machine! Then again, the pretty virtual blackjack lady doesn't accept any tips...
I figured I could get 20 bets at a $10 table for the same buy-in price of 15 bets at a $15 table with my system, so I'll hunt for the $10 table if the BJ machine is busy. I could still lose my buy-in in one shoe either way. The BJ machine seems to make a point of losing me 15 bets right off the bat then I have to tread for half an hour waiting for a come-back.
But today it's near 90 degrees out and because of the cyberattack against car dealerships this week that shut them down (15,000 car dealerships) I'm kind of adverse to going on long trips because any kind of necessary car service is likely to be unavailable until further notice.
