The Future Of Blackjack
So, where is this all going? Are the days numbered for card counters? Many players fear this may be so, especially considering all the technological countermeasures that have been developed in the past decade.
Automatic shuffling machines are being introduced on more and more tables. These devices make shuffle tracking impossible, and they make it faster, and cheaper, for the dealers to shuffle more frequently. The new continuous shuffle machines make card counting itself impossible. Various types of "auto-peek" devices are now extensively employed to read the dealers' hole-cards, eliminating the possibilities of most legal hole-card strategies—tell play, warp play, first-basing.
Surveillance software that analyzes the skill levels of blackjack players is now used in many major casinos. Counters who have fooled the pit bosses for years suddenly are called up on a computer. Prototypes of "smart" blackjack tables—equipped with shoes that can read the cards as they're dealt, keep track of the players' hands and strategies, and record the players' betting histories via magnetized chips—are now being introduced in Nevada.
Even more ominous than these technological horrors are the legal problems card counters face. In Nevada, the Gaming Control Board is supposed to be an agency that protects the rights of both the casinos and the players, ensuring the fairness of the games. To the consternation of blackjack players, this official state agency has officially taken the position that Nevada's cheating statute, which prohibits the casinos from altering the table games in a way that would change the frequency of the payouts, does not apply to blackjack. Because of this ruling, many Nevada casinos now train their dealers in hand-held games to count cards and shuffle up any time the game favors the players, only dealing when the cards favor the house.
In New Jersey, the state supreme court has ruled that players whose civil rights have been violated by the casinos—even if those players are cheated at the tables—may not sue the casinos for damages. They must settle their differences with the Casino Control Commission, a state agency which claims no authority to order monetary reparations to casino patrons.
Card counters must accept the fact that the state gaming regulatory agencies are often corrupt. These "protective" agencies are in fact puppets of the casinos, controlled by that immensely wealthy industry. As a result, one of the most rewarding aspects of card counting is taking money from some truly evil entities. The dealers, pit bosses, shift managers, hosts, and most of the people a card counter will actually come into contact with in the casinos, are not themselves corrupt; they're worker ants, in the same way that people who work on the assembly line at a cigarette factory, or a munitions plant, are just people who have found a job to do, and they try to do it well in order to pay the rent and raise their families.
But lurking in the shadows of this gambling business are some truly slimy bastards. If you get into card counting with any serious amount of money, you will learn firsthand what a nasty business this is. Though it has been shown over and over in the courts that card counting is perfectly legal—nothing more than using your brain to play your hands—counters are viewed within the industry as parasites, cheats, and enemies to be eliminated by whatever means necessary.
Casinos throughout the world keep "mug books" of card counters' names and photographs, and these photos are hawked and sold on the open market. Despite the fact that these blacklists might violate various consumer laws, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, civil rights, laws against libel, slander, and the invasion of privacy, the state courts and police agencies throughout the U.S. and around the world systematically use these mug books to harass card counters and deny them access to the gaming tables.
Online Blackjack Games Hit the Blackjack TableBlackjack Professional pachogacasino.com
Tags: card counters, online casino, table games