Electronic Blackjack

[huntforoil]

I'm not sure what the proper term is? Video blackjack, digital, electronic? We played it on Carnival Imagination last week and had a lot of fun. We fared quite well and are wondering if anyone knows if these are exclusive to the cruise ships, or if we can find the same type of Blackjack machines in Vegas etc?

[cb at sea]

Some of the machines have multiple games...you can pick a BJ game, if you want. None of the ship's slots or video games will be as "loose" as Vegas...and lately, Vegas hasn't been too loose!

[MrCo9]

Caesars Palace has one with a $5 minimum near the SeaHorse Bar.

[deadmoney]

They have one at the Hard Rock Casino in Tampa.

Min. bet is $10

[AndyTheK]

What a horrid idea!!

 

1. If I wanted to play video games, I'd stay home and do it here at nmy computer.

 

2. Part of the fun of casino gambling is the interaction with others - dealers or other players.

 

3. Playing against an electronic machine is like sitting home alone and ... (you get the idea :D:D )

 

All the above are my feelings - you might feel differently but nothing to dispute because they are not facts!

 

PS I don't do slots either.

 

Shalom, Andy.

[sailor_jimc]

I'm with you Andy!

 

Besides, if they are going to charge the same amount as a table... why play on a machine? And I wouldn't trust a machine not to be rigged in some way as to reduce the odds...

[MrCo9]

The ones in Las Vegas are regulated by the Gaming Control Board, so the odds are the same as at a live table. The one at Caesars Palace is $5 minimum while the live tables have a $15 minimum, that is a bit high for some players.

[VideoTech]

I'm with you Andy!

 

Besides, if they are going to charge the same amount as a table... why play on a machine? And I wouldn't trust a machine not to be rigged in some way as to reduce the odds...

 

The slot machines in all major land based casinos are regulated by various gaming commissions, and cannot be "rigged" to change the odds (or more correctly, the payback %). That is set by the chip or by computer program running in that machine, and most gaming control commissions require that the casinos notify them of (and they supervise) the changing of a machine.

 

More to the point, there is no need for any casino to "rig" a machine. They will always make their money over time, and have no need to do anything underhanded to insure that they do. It would be counterproductive if the word got out that a casino was "rigging" machines in some way.

 

What the casino relies on is that 2 or 3% of your money that they'll get over time from any game, slot or table. They wouldn't be in the business if it wasn't profitable, and it is a very profitable business.

 

Ship-board casinos are perhaps less well regulated, but the above points still apply.

[sailor_jimc]

The problem line in your reply is "land based casinos" I wholeheartedly agree that no land based casino is going to bother trying to alter a machine.

BUT we are talking about ship casinos which are NOT regulated by any US laws. These are the same people that charge you $15 for a 5x7 print (which you can get done at a land based Wal-Mart for 50 cents...) They have no qualms about gouging you for even more money than they are already going to make with the normal odds.

 

And I admit that "rigged" was too strong of a word... what i should have said was that they could easily change the payout percentage to be the worse the machine could do. Meaning that normal BJ odds do not apply to a machine. With the real life table and real cards, at least you know what the house advantage is based on the rules of the game....

[MrCo9]

The machine at Caesars Palace now has a $10 minimum, it is the Royal Match version, it offers a side bet where your first two cards are of the same suit.

[brilliantseas]

Does anyone know if the machines are fleet-wide on Carnival, or still in the trial phase? I was on the Triumph in January and did not see one. We have them up in Detroit and the minimums are lower than the "real" tables. I suspect the casino is ok with this because the electronic version plays at about double the speed of a table game, so the casino rakes in its take faster.