Tag: Casinos

Blackjack for Charity

Do you know what brick and mortar casinos do with the proceeds from their test dates? No? Well in western Pennsylvania they donate the proceeds from test dates to charity. That means any money you lose at the blackjack table is going to a good cause.

That might even be a very good reason to lose at blackjack.

The Meadows is set to open its doors and have its blackjack tables up and running on July 8th. However, before they turn the blackjack dealers loose, they need to make sure that their dealers are ready to go and see that operations at the table games will run smoothly when the new 68 table games, including the blackjack tables, are opened.

In Washington County, home of the Meadows, any revenue generated from table games like blackjack has to be donated to charity, minus the portion that is paid to the government in taxes of course.

Since the Meadows opening in 2007 they have had several test dates for various additions to their casino. Former recipients of test day revenue have been volunteer fire departments, the Washington County Food Bank, the Washington Women

Blackjack Intimidating?

I read this morning that blackjack is intimidating. Yes, I know, I was just as surprised. But apparently casino folk consider blackjack to be intimidating.

Now this rather puzzles me considering that blackjack does not have a lot of fancy rules and strategy. If you can add the numbers 1 through 11 then I do not see how blackjack can be hard. Add up the total of your first two cards, and decide if you want to try to increase your hand total by hitting or decide to stand with your total against whatever the dealer has.

To me adding 1 through 11 is not all that difficult, so I fail to see how blackjack is intimidating there. But it is also being said that strategy for blackjack is intimidating. Really?

Because the first form of blackjack strategy that comes to my mind is basic strategy, and I am sorry, there is no form of strategy that is easier.

Basic strategy is the most commonly used form of blackjack strategy. And it is a chart! If you can locate your hand total on the left side and locate the dealer

Ultraviolet or Microchipped: What is Your Blackjack Chip Choice

With the fairly recent approval of table games for casinos in Pennsylvania, the latest debate is about what kind of casino chips to use at the blackjack tables. Casino managers voice their concerns about the security of chips at their blackjack tables.

Earlier this week I discussed how the Meadows in western Pennsylvania has already decided to use casino chips with micro chips embedded in them. They are meant to make for quick adding up of wagers made and for quick cash outs at the casino

Microchip Blackjack Happening

Imagine a game of blackjack in which you place your chips on the table and your betting total is instantly calculated by the casino. The casino is watching you and your chips, and how you are betting in blackjack, how much you a betting.

Sound a tad Big Brother?

Well, it does kind of sound that way. It seems casinos may have found a way to track their chips. The Meadows in Pennsylvania says that it might have in place microchipped casino chips. These chips would use a radio frequency identification technology to communicate with the casino.

According to the Meadows these microchipped casino chips can be used at a blackjack table to add up a player

How Card Counting Works

Part of the image of blackjack is card counting. And that image is of a smooth blackjack player who slips in and, using his incredible intelligence, overcomes the house edge, wins lots of money and slips out before the casino staff can catch on to him.

The idea that card counting can be used to beat the house is not new. And it can help a skilled blackjack player to break even with the house

Rhode Island Blackjack Hits Another Snag

Lawmakers in Rhode Island are certainly taking their time in deciding what to do with a bill about expanding the gambling offerings in two slot parlors. The two slot parlors are the Newport Grand and the Twin River in Lincoln.

The bill would allow for gambling expansion, which includes adding blackjack tables. But it seems that either lawmakers are a bit intimidated by blackjack, or there simply are not a lot of blackjack players in Rhode Island.

The bill would allow the state to determine how many blackjack tables there would be, their placement, their rules and odds, and to collect receipts from blackjack.

In 2006 citizens were allowed to vote on an amendment that would allow the Narragansett Indian Tribe to become partners with Harrah, and open a casino in West Warwick. The citizens voted no.

So lawmakers are aware that Rhode Island citizens are not crazy about the idea of having full casinos within their state. However, the state is hurting for money like a good number of states. And like those states, the lawmakers are eyeing revenue from legalized gambling to fill in some of the holes in the budget.

But lawmakers are not being too nasty about this and trying to force this through. There have been several revisions of the bill since it was first voted on. And for once the lawmakers are being considerate. They are going to have another review before voting.

But some citizens are not happy even with the lawmakers taking time to review the bill again. Barry Flynn, a resident of Newport, referred to the lawmakers as

Blackjack Misconceptions

For being one of the easiest casino games to play both in the casino and in an online casino, there are a fair few misconceptions about blackjack. I understand that it is a card game and not quite as simple as pushing or clicking Spin on a slots game, but blackjack is not nearly as difficult to understand.

In looking over thirty sites with the objective of blackjack given, twenty seven of them were inaccurate.

Now poker, that I can see someone building misconceptions on and not understanding. But not blackjack.

So, I am going to discuss one of the biggest misconceptions about blackjack.

The biggest misconception about blackjack is its objective. Many people, players, nonplayers and so-called experts, claim that the objective of blackjack is to obtain a hand total of 21 using only two cards: an Ace and either a face card or a 10.

For starters the actual objective of blackjack, both blackjack played in a brick and mortar casino and online blackjack, is to beat the dealer

Card Counting Illegal or Not

I was looking around for blackjack news and I found something today that actually kind of shocked me. I read that card counting not being allowed in a casino is a myth

About Card Counting

It is entirely up to the player in blackjack if he wants to use a blackjack strategy. Many players will take up basic strategy because of how easy it is to use and how effective it is. Playing every hand in blackjack according to basic strategy can lower the house edge to 0.5%. But for some blackjack players that is not enough strategy.

For those players looking for a little extra edge they will usually turn to brick and mortar casinos and card counting because card counting cannot be done in online blackjack.

Card counting is a way of tracking what cards have been played to have an estimation of what is left in the deck still to be played. Once card counting blackjack players have an idea of what is left unplayed in the deck they will base their wagering on that estimation.

Throughout an entire game of blackjack, these players will count the cards as they are played and discarded to manage their betting. This becomes a part of their betting strategy.

When counting cards, blackjack players tend to use one system or another. But like how basic strategy is the most widely used strategy for its ease and effectiveness, card counters in general will use the simplest counting system: the Hi-Lo System.

The Hi-Lo System assigns counting values to the cards, designating them as high, low or neutral cards. The breakdown is as follows:

2-6 are worth +1 and are considered low cards
7-9 are worth 0 and are considered neutral cards
10-Ace are worth -1 and are considered high cards

Well, now that you know that, let