BJ21.com Newsletter
June 18, 2009 090618
Presented as a public service
by BJ21.com, the leading source of accurate
information about casino games and conditions. Our free
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Compiled by Al
Rogers
Al@bj21.com
$1 million lawsuit targets casino -- Thunder Valley says woman banned
because of safety concern
SACRAMENTO - What started with a gag postcard has turned into a
million-dollar lawsuit for 71-year-old Lucy Taylor. On June 1, the
lifelong Lincoln resident filed a lawsuit against Station Casinos,
Inc., the operator of Thunder Valley Casino, complaining of false
imprisonment, discrimination and civil-rights violations related to a
June 2007 incident in which Taylor was banned from the casino.
Will
Web poker bust spark fight or flight? -- Little agreement on how feds’
multimillion-dollar seizure will shake out
The federal government’s recent seizure of millions of dollars from
bank accounts used to process online poker transactions is sending
shock waves through the Internet gambling community.
The NFL Doesn't Want Your Bets -- League Is a Gambler's Favorite, but
It's Fighting Efforts to Profit From Wagering; Delaware's Plan
Some of the National Football League's founders were gamblers. The
league draws more wagers in the U.S. than any other sport. It recently
authorized its teams to sell their logos to state lotteries. But when
it comes letting states expand sports betting, the NFL has made its
position clear: Not now, not ever.
MGM,
Harrah’s casinos among those suing ex-Illinois governor
Casinos owned by Harrah's Entertainment Inc., MGM Mirage and Penn
National Gaming are suing former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich as they
continue to fight an Illinois law that requires them to share their
profits with the state's ailing horse racing tracks.
MGM
Mirage plans hotel in Egypt
MGM Mirage today announced an agreement to bring its MGM Grand hotel
brand to Egypt -- the second such deal in a month for the company in
the Middle East.
Amid
cost cuts, executives’ pay raises hackles -- Workers see contrast with
their worsened fortunes
LAS VEGAS - When Station Casinos last year reported that top executives
exercised more than $200 million in stock options triggered by a $9
billion management-led buyout by a private investment company in late
2007, critics attacked the lavish rewards, which made Station bosses
the highest paid local executives in 2008.
State
of Harrah's -- Gary Loveman talks about present and future of gaming
giant
Although some industry insiders and observers have had second thoughts
about the wisdom of private equity's entry into the gaming industry,
Harrah's Entertainment chief Gary Loveman isn't one of them.
Donald
Trump aims to retake control of casinos
ATLANTIC CITY - As the casino company that bore his name sank deeper
and deeper into the red this year, Donald Trump went head to head with
bondholders trying to buy it and take it private — and lost.
N.J.
motor vehicle director leaving to join casino control panel
Sharon Harrington, administrator of the state Motor Vehicle Commission,
is preparing to leave the $140,000 a-year job by the end of the month
to become a member of the Atlantic City-based state Casino Control
Commission.
Foxwoods,
Mohegan Sun report sizable declines in May slots 'win'
Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun released their May slot-machine
winnings Monday, reporting declines of 14.2 and 7.6 percent,
respectively, over May 2008.
Cal
Neva hurt by downturn, Indian casino
CRYSTAL BAY, NV - The Cal Neva, the rustic Lake Tahoe resort Sinatra
owned for three swinging years in the 1960s, was forced into
foreclosure earlier this year. The stage where Frank and Dino and Sammy
cut up, the cottage where a distraught Marilyn spent her final weekend,
the hillside acreage above a lake bluer than Ol' Blue Eyes' eyes: It
was all up for auction — and the number of bids was zero.
2
accused of selling counterfeit slot machines
Two men have been indicted for allegedly selling counterfeit video slot
machines and programs in Las Vegas.
Crist
signs gambling bill allowing compact with Seminole Tribe
FLORIDA - Gov. Charlie Crist on Monday signed a bill that will expand
casino gambling in Florida. Senate Bill 788 gives the governor the
authority to negotiate a compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida by
Aug. 31.
Lenders:
Cost overruns led to Fontainebleau loan default
Bank lenders for the first time have publicly disclosed why they
declared the $2.9 billion Fontainebleau resort in Las Vegas in default
on its construction loan and shut off funding. Tuesday, they cited
hundreds of millions of dollars in cost overruns and possible
misrepresentations by the hotel-casino developer.
MGM Mirage chief doesn’t plan to sell Las Vegas Strip casinos
MGM Mirage Chief Executive Officer Jim Murren doesn’t plan to sell any
casinos on the Las Vegas Strip because of low offers.
8
charged with defrauding Quebec casino
Eight people have been charged with defrauding the Casino du Lac- Leamy
of more than $100,000 and Gatineau police say more charges are
expected.
Revel casino to cannibalize Atlantic City market, report warns
ATLANTIC CITY - Revel Entertainment Group's $2 billion megaresort may
be the coup de grace for two or three of Atlantic City's weaker casinos
if they aren't killed off even sooner by the recession, a new research
report ominously predicts.
Retail,
gaming center planned at Las Vegas Blvd. property
LAS VEGAS - Developers have acquired the site of the old Holy Cow!
restaurant and brewery on Las Vegas Boulevard at Sahara Avenue and plan
to build a Times Square-like retail and gaming center there.
Mohegan
Sun cuts jobs for 7 top managers
CONNECTICUT - Mohegan Sun has eliminated the positions of seven top
managers, the casino's president and chief executive officer said
Wednesday.
IGT
lays off managers to cut costs
International Game Technology has terminated the employment of some
management level employees in a cost-cutting initiative, a regulatory
filing revealed today.
Investigators
say Moulin Rouge fire was human caused
The fire that tore through a portion of the historic Moulin Rouge in
May was human-caused, Las Vegas Fire Department investigators have
determined.
Former commissioners
coming home -- Herrera, Kenny will finish incarcerations by year's end
LAS VEGAS - Dario Herrera and Erin Kenny are being shipped back to Las
Vegas from their respective federal prison camps, but their lives back
home will bear little resemblance to their high-flying, high-living
days as Clark County commissioners.
Woman confirms
adultery with Nevada senator
WASHINGTON -- A former aide to Sen. John Ensign confirmed through her
attorney that she had an extramarital affair with Nevada's junior
senator, whose once thriving political career took a further tumble
Wednesday when he quit his Senate Republican leadership position.
The Bear Growls
Long-time Las Vegas-based advantage player, casino critic, and frequent
BJ21.com
contributor LVBear offers his opinions on things that sometimes go
wrong in the world of casinos.
Current and past growls can be read and comments posted at LVBear's
website, TheBearGrowls.com
Risk
Reward Probabilities for Poker, by George C
The author of Shuffle Tracking for
Beginners and The Unbalanced Zen 2 covers the relationship that
relationship that expectation and standard deviation have on your
bankroll. In George C's typical style, this booklet is all "meat
and potatoes" with no fluff. It is only 32 pages, but is packed
with useful charts and includes a helpful Excel program on a CD-Rom. Risk Reward Probabilities for Poker
is a comprehensive study with a number of informative statistics that
will help clear up some poker-related misconceptions.
The price is $19.95 (plus sales tax if sent to a Nevada address).
Green Chip members receive a ten percent discount. There is no
shipping charge for this item.
Order Risk Reward
Probabilities for Poker, by
George C
The Color
of Blackjack focuses on
KO count
The Color of Blackjack focuses on the KO counting system. It is
68 pages, and features many full-color charts.
Ken Smith, longtime
professional blackjack player and author, says:
I've known Daniel Dravot for quite a few years now. He's a successful
and experienced pro player. He's been on the road playing blackjack all
over the country for many years and gambling has long been his sole
source of income. What I did not know was that he uses KO as his count
system. That was surprising to me. Even though I have long recommended
KO to new players, I always thought there was a small performance
penalty to pay for the simplicity and convenience of KO. The Color of Blackjack describes his
addition to KO which is a workable way to gain some of the advantage
you could have with TKO (True-Counted KO).
George C, longtime
professional blackjack player and author, says:
I've known Daniel Dravot for quite some time. He not only talks the
talk but walks the walk. He's made a nice haul over the last few years
and it's outlined in the book.
The price is $24.95 plus shipping (plus sales tax if sent to a Nevada
address). Green Chip members receive a ten percent
discount. Order The Color of Blackjack.
Pi Yee
Press Blackjack Bundle -- Get Professional
Blackjack, Blackjack Secrets, and Basic Blackjack for a total
price of $39.95. This
is an approximately 20% discount off
the normal $49.85 price for the three books.
Order any of
the three books. In the Special Instructions section of the
order form, specify Blackjack
Bundle. Along with the book you ordered, you will receive
the other two books in the same shipment. It's that simple! Green Chip members get
an
additional 10% discount.
Professional Blackjack
is 350 pages of card-counting advice for
beginners to experts. It presents the high-low and the halves. The
high-low
is the best combination of simplicity and power, and probably is the
most
popular system used by card counters. Halves is a level-3 system that
yields
almost perfect estimates of your advantage, information you need to
determine
your optimal bet size.
Blackjack Secrets
is advice for expert card counters, and also
a good book for someone who is interested in learning about blackjack
but
not how to count cards. I know that sounds like a strange combination,
but being proficient in counting cards is no guarantee that you will
win
money in casinos. What good does it do you to be able to count a deck
down
in 30 seconds and be able to reproduce a table of strategy numbers from
memory if you are sending out signals that identify you as a card
counter?
Blackjack Secrets teaches you how to look like a gambler, how to
play a winning game of blackjack without sending up red flags that
alert
casino management to your skill at the game.
Basic Blackjack
presents basic strategy and
expected value for almost every unusual rule variation ever offered.
Examples
of rules covered: no hole card to dealer, doubling down on three or
more
cards, splitting when there is a bet riding that will go on one hand
and
not have to be matched with a like bet on the other hand, early
surrender,
five-card hands can be turned in for a half win, over/under, multiple
action,
double exposure.
Order any of
the three books. In the Special
Instructions section of the
order form, specify Blackjack
Bundle. Along with the book you ordered, you will receive
the other two books in the same shipment. It's that simple! Green Chip members
receive
an
additional 10% discount.
Casino-ology
by Bill Zender
Casino-ology
provides contrarian solutions to common gaming management issues.
It is must reading for
patrons and casino employees.
Bill Zender knows the art of casino management. In addition to having
worked in, managed, and owned casinos for decades, Zender has also been
an enforcement agent for the Nevada Gaming Control Board, as well as
spent time as an advantage player, exploiting the vulnerabilities of
casinos from the civilian side of the tables. Today, he travels the
globe consulting for the international casino industry.
In Casino-ology, Zender
argues against excessive card-counter and
shuffle-tracker countermeasures in favor of hand production to increase
profits, and concludes that rhythmic dice rollers aren.t the threat
they.re made out to be. He details the dangers of customer-service
breaches; ill-conceived non-negotiable-chip programs; and past-posting,
marked-card, and false-shuffle scams. He addresses player tracking
systems, 6-5 payouts for blackjacks, the subtleties of marketing to
Asian customers, nuances of the derivative pit games, even the science
of turning around a distressed casino.
By challenging long-cherished conventions, Casino-ology provides
contrarian and radical, but proven, solutions to common gaming issues.
The price is $39.95 plus shipping (plus sales tax if sent to a Nevada
address). Order Casino-ology by Bill Zender.
Beat the Players - Casinos, Cops and the
Game Inside the Game, by Bob Nersesian
This
book should be read by everyone who sets foot in a casino: average
casino patrons, skilled players, casino employees, and anyone else. It
should be required reading for police officers, regulators, other
public officials, and attorneys who may represent any of the
aforementioned. Beat the Players
was the subject of a
feature in USA Today.
Bob
Nersesian is an attorney who represents victims of casino wrongdoing
against patrons. In an enjoyable writing style, he takes a look at the
often too-cozy relationship between casinos, police, and regulators. He
discusses specific cases and dispenses sound, practical advice that
patrons, casinos and public officials would be wise to heed. Cases
discussed are from Nevada and other jurisdictions.
Chapters
include: Your Money or Your Liberty; Scary Cop Statements; They'll Take
Your Liberty Anyway; Gaming Agents Speak; The Take of the State; Rules
for Casino Patrons; Gambling at the Legal Limits; Cops Hate Card
Counters; Griffin Investigations; Casinos Cheat With Impunity; A
Judicial and Government Overlay; Finding a Nickel Brings Trouble; Names
and Aliases; The Security Office and Surveillance Functions, and
Casinos and Cops.
Appendices
include Nevada Cheating and Detention Laws with Commentary; Other
Nevada Gaming Laws of Interest; Gaming Cases of Interest, and Nevada
Gaming Regulations with Commentary.
The
320-page book includes a bibliography and an index.
The
price is $19.95 plus shipping (plus sales tax if sent to a Nevada
address). Green Chip
members get their normal 10% discount .Order Beat
the Players.
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Current Blackjack News
On the 1st and 2nd of every month, a couple dozen Pi Yee Press
reporters visit casinos around the United States to check on the
blackjack rules and playing conditions. Five of those reporters split
up Las Vegas and visit every casino in town. Any changes in rules and
playing conditions that they find, they email to the CBJN editor, who
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