Card Counting Blog

I found out from a friend that the Seminole Hard Rock Casino blackjack tables will not let you double down when you have a ten or eleven when the dealer is showing a 2 or 3. This ruins most EV you have for playing the game and makes the game not worth playing. I will be just flying to vegas instead.

The Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood Florida started their blackjack games tonight at 6pm. CardCountingBlog.com was on location.

 I was only able to find 2 different table mins. They had $25 tables and $100 tables.  Most of the $25 tables had automatic shufflers but I was able to find one $25 pit that was not using an automatic shuffler. All of the $100 pits did not use automatic shufflers. I did not see any single deck games and did not get a chance to check deck penetration.

The Seminole Hard Rock Casino Blackjack Rules included:

• Dealer must stand on all 17’s
• Insurance Pays 2:1
• Blackjack pays 3:2
• Split Aces Once
• Split 3 times for a total of 4
• Even money option

I did hear that they would have $5 tables but most likely only in the mornings and weekdays when it is not that packed. Every seat was taken tonight with a crowd around every table. If you waited about 20 minutes you could get a seat.

Card counting techniques include the following:

• Playing Efficiency – PE indicates how well a counting system handles changes in your playing strategy. Playing efficiency is particularly important in games with one or two decks.
• Insurance Correlation – IC is defined as the correlation between card point values and the value of cards in insurance situation. A point value of -9 for tens and +4 for all other cards would be perfect for predicting if an Insurance bet should be made.
• Betting Correlation – BC is defined as the correlation between card point values and the effect of removal of cards. It is used to predict how well a counting system predicts good betting situations and can approach 1.00. BC is particularly important in shoe games (six or eight decks.)
• Side Counts – There are several side counting methods used to increase strategy efficiency.
• Level – The level of a strategy refers to the number of different values assigned to cards. Level 2 and 3 counting strategies are more efficient, but quite a bit more difficult for most people. Level 4 & 5 counting strategies also exist. But this is overkill.
• Type – The TYPE column key follows:
  • B – Balanced count that requires the calculation of a True Count
  • U – Unbalanced count with no True Count
  • S – Suit Aware count requires that you have a different count for red and black cards
  • C – Compromise indexes used for greater ease
  • 1, 2, 3, 4 – Level. That is the highest tag value

Blackjack, baccarat, 3 card poker  and other new card games will begin June 22 at 6 p.m. at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino near Hollywood, as the Seminole Tribe continues to expand its offerings under a revenue-sharing agreement signed by Gov. Charlie Crist in November.

The tribe, which installed about 1,000 Las Vegas-style slot machines at the Hollywood casino in January as part of the agreement, will unveil 71 new card tables, including about 55 for blackjack. The rest of the tables will be divided among mini-baccarat, pai gow, Let It Ride and Three Card Poker.

”Clearly blackjack is the game — not just here at Hard Rock but on a national basis. It’s the game people want to play,” said James Allen, CEO of gaming operations for the tribe. “We’re thrilled to have it.”

The tribe went on a national search to hire about 700 dealers and another 100 people in support positions for the new card games. Most of the dealers have gained experience in places like Biloxi, Atlantic City and Las Vegas.

The tribe’s decision to push forward with the new games comes even as one of its competitors, the Isle Casino in Pompano Beach, filed suit this week alleging the games are illegal.

The Pompano Beach casino claims the gambling compact signed by the governor and the tribe is invalid because it violates the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which allows tribes to play only games already authorized in Florida. State-regulated casinos like The Isle are allowed to operate slot machines, but state law does not allow them to operate card games like blackjack.

The agreement requires that the tribe pay the state a minimum of $100 million annually in exchange for permission to offer the new games.

”It’s law, it’s legal and obviously we’re standing here today based on that premise,” Allen said, standing at the first blackjack table installed at the casino. “Certainly we respect the right of our competitors. If they want to challenge something, that’s up to them. . . The reality is, I could deal you a hand of blackjack right now and we’d be 100 percent legal.”

Another suit challenging the right of the tribe to offer new games also remains before the Florida Supreme Court. House Speaker Marco Rubio and other House leaders sued the governor and the tribe, claiming that the compact violated the Florida Constitution because it creates law without legislative action.

The court heard the case Jan. 30. It has not yet ruled.

Under the agreement with the governor, the tribe can open the games at all seven of its casinos. The Hard Rock Hollywood is the first. The Hard Rock near Tampa — probably in late fall — and the tribe’s Coconut Creek casino are likely next, Allen said.

The new games — which will likely have minimum bets of $5 to $25 and limits of $5,000 — will be unveiled in a ceremony at 6 p.m. on June 22.

The “Blackjack coming soon” signs have been replaced with the June 22 date. The first cards will be dealt at 6 p.m. The casino will have blackjack, Pai gow, Baccarat, let it ride and 3 card poker.  There will be 55 blackjack tables and 16 of the rest at the Seminole Hollywood Hard Rock Casino.

I will be there to play and report on if they are hitting soft 17, using automatic shufflers, allow surrender, and all that sort of stuff.

On the highway today I saw a billboard of a jack of spades holding a guitar and said the Seminole Hard Rock Casino would have Blackjack soon.

No date was listed but hopefully its sooner than latter. I’m hoping the blackjack rules wiill favor the players more than the dealers, which includes no automatic shufflers. Once the Blackjack tables are out I will do a full trip report.

Can card counting help u become a better texas hold’em poker player? As far as i’m concerned no. I do not see any benefits that will affect the way you play poker by card countiing. Although, I am a strong beliver in Shuffle Tracking and belive that the card counting skill of shuffle tracking can help give you an edge at the poker table.

Using some basic shuffle tracking skills you can help yourself figure out where certain cards are in the deck by keeping track of the muck pile, people folding, and the way the dealer shuffles the cards.

Shuffle tracking while playing live texas hold’em poker might give you that extra edge you have been looking for and the only way card counting will help your poker game is if you are also colluding and you know what some of the other people have at the table.

The greatest trick the casino industry pulled off was making the general public believe that card counting was illegal, immoral, and very hard. While writing for CardCountingBlog.com a co-worker saw me and his responce was, “You don’t know how to card count”.  After i assured him I did he said “but isn’t it illegal?”

I took out a deck of cards and thought him the basic count really fast and a co-worker saw us and asked what we were doing. I explained that he was card counting and he then said the same thing the first co-worker said, “you don’t know how to do that” and “card counting is illegal though”.

Card counting is NOT illegal.

What will happen if you are caught card counting?

In a Las Vegas casino, you will first be asked to stop varying your bet size, if you continue you will be asked to play any game but blackjack. If you still continue you will be asked to leave the premises. In Atlantic City casinos the casino is not allowed to stop you from playing because you are card counting. If you are caught card counting you might start getting mid-shoe shuffles to avoid the count getting to high. In casino outside the United States you might still get beat up or if you play in shady places but I wouldn’t worry about card counting on the strip of Las Vegas.

How hard is it to card count? 

You do not need to be “Rain Man” to be able to card count. But being good at basic math is essential to keep the running count.

Been in Asia for the last month and the movie 21 is not being released till mid May so I didn’t get a chance to see the movie 21 until yesterday. I liked the movie very much and it was a lot of fun to watch. Just how Rounders made people quote lines from the movie at thousands of poker tables, I’m sure the movie 21 will do the same with some memorbable quotes. I definetnly recommend everyone check out this movie if you have not yet.

I left the theatre planning my next Vegas trip which will be soon and will involve card counting.

Shuffle tracking is a high level blackjack playing strategy used by card counters to track the shuffle of cards. The premise of shuffle-tracking is that shuffles are not random, meaning the location of cards after the shuffle is predictable to some degree. Shuffle tracking exploits the nonrandomness in casino shuffles. Shuffle tracking technique involves keeping track of the count in different portions of the discarded card tray.  Shuffle tracking can give you a good idea when the deck is going to turn hot and can also help with cutting the deck. For example, If you know many low cards are on the top of the deck from correctly shuffle tracking, you should make a small cut to get those cards out of play.

A great blackjack shuffle tracking book is Blackjack Shuffle Tracking Cookbook by Arnold Snyder. I will blog about many of the things i’ve learned from his book and teach you guys some shuffle-tracking for blackjack and poker.

 Two benefits of casino shuffle tracking include:

• Additional information about regions of the deck
• Knowledgeable cutting to remove low cards from play