But that’s not reality.  At best – at absolute best your depth will be 85% into the shoe.  Most likely you’ll end up somewhere around 75%, or even 70%.  Unless you’re stuck playing in Atlantic City; I’ve written before about the problems in playing blackjack there.

And please don’t ask about depth of deal in an online casino.  The only reason to even play blackjack in an online casino is to work one of the buy-in bonuses.  There is no such thing as depth of deal in an online casino - if you have to ask why, PLEASE do not gamble.  Ever.

http://www.seminoletribe.com/enterprises/hollywood/casino.shtml

The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino is run by the Seminole Tribe of Florida with the famous “Hard Rock Cafe” blended into the resort. Hotel, massive swimming pool and tiki bar, casino with Bingo, over 48 tables, what looks like hundreds of slots, restaurants, a shopping walk, a museum, Indian Village, concert hall and stage, this unique complex offers 24 hours/day entertainment, partying, and hospitality. A definite happening place in Hollywood. Rating: 5 stars.
Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Hollywood, FL
©2005 Technogypsie.com, click photo for larger view

But it closed.

And the odd part is that there was absolutely no warning. In fact, they seemed to have hired new dealers the week before they shut down. It could be temporary, but I doubt it.

The larger question is – how would a casino fail? There are a few reasons:
1) They don’t get enough gamblers. Every time I went into this place it was PACKED but the problem is, so what? They only had 8 games total going. It used to be a chinese restaurant before it was a casino so you can imagine the cramped quarters.
2) The owners simply wanted to get out. That’s possible, and there could be further extenuating circmstances as this was not a tribal casino, it was owned by a foreign company.
3) Tax problems. The IRS can be a real bastard.

Most likely 3.

Now what I want to know is – what happens to old equipment? Chips, cards….signs….the felt, obviously, is custom to the place so it can’t easily be re-used. The kitchen/restaurant/bar equipment all will go to a used restaurant equipment dealer, but the gaming equipment? (This place did not have roulette or craps)

I would definitely like to know. The home poker room could use a little spiffing up.

According to the state of Connecticut, not only does it violate State law, but it violates the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

Foxwoods says they don’t believe any problems have been caused, as the bet is placed at Foxwoods and the users are allowed to check the results online. Since all gambling is actually done at Foxwoods, the Pequot Tribe argues, it isn’ t “Internet Gambling.”

The attorney general said he understood their argument, but since all marketing materials claim otherwise – and supposedly encourage minors gambling – that they site would be taken down.

The site is currently under review by the gambling commission, who had already approved the site, and is expected to be back online on August 2nd.

The tables from MindPlay/Bally’s track everything. EVERYTHING. ALL cards played, all wagers spent, in what denominations. EVERYTHING.

According to the casinos this is supposed to be a boon for players because now it’s efficient for them to trace comps on the lower ($5-$10/hand) players. Except it’s really just another way to screw the player in favor of the casino.

Can you imagine being able to track the cards – exactly – while also tracking each player’s bet strategy – exactly? This is just another gimmick that is sadly somehow catching on, because the casino VPs are calling the shots and not paying a damn bit of attention to the marketing people who are seeing the real blackjack players run away from these tables in droves.

Trust me. If you play the Mohegan Sun, stay away from these tables like the plague. No. Even worse. Stay away from them as if they pay 6-5 on blackjack.

These mindplay tables failed in the Las Vegas Hilton, despite the claims of Bally’s marketing staff.

Once RFID is instroduced into the cards, this will be the end of counting. As soon as the casino can determine when the deck becomes heavily stacked to the player, POOF, reshuffle.

Not as bad as the tables I saw in a casino in Longview, WA, which didn’t use cards but a video screen for each seat….but in any case. Play MindPLay tables at your own financial risk.

What makes this particularly scary is that he claims that it works on line as well. Logically I can see how that might be the case but I’m especially leery of that.

The essence of his strategy is to formulate a 3 to 7 step sequence which you repeatedly use. This sequence somehow works wonders.

A sample sequence for a max bet 3 coin machine could be
Press the Bet 1 button, Press the Max Bet button (automatically spins)
Press the Bet 1 button twice, Press the Max Bet button (automatically spins)
Press the Max Bet button (automatically spins)
Press the Bet 1 button 3 times, pull the lever (spins)

…a four step sequence. Note: this isn’t a sample sequence from his pamphlet but rather a sequence I came up with. He suggests making your own sequence and presumably, sticking to it. According to Mr McQueen, this is the essence of the play. There’s a bit more to it, supposedly (he has small lip-service-sized paragraphs on budgeting play as well as choosing a machine) – but that’s pretty much it.

I’m going to try it; my scientific background coupled with my nagging “What if he’s right?” paranoia is hastening me out to the Emerald Queen to give this thing a go.