Casino Gambling by Mark Pilarski

Low limit player survives the High-Life -- this time

Dear Mark, On my last gaming excursion, I had to play on a $25 blackjack game because all the $3-$5 games for us low-limit players were full. What a different world on a high-limit game, and two intriguing things did catch my attention. First, a gentleman next to me at the cashier's cage was cashing out thousands of dollars worth of chips that he won on the same blackjack game I had been in. And the cashier asked him for some identification. I didn't realize you have to show ID when you are a winner. Is this standard practice in all casinos? Also, another player at my table kept asking the dealer for more chips. All he had to do was sign a slip of paper and in return kept getting a $1,000 worth of chips. What exactly was happening here? Was he a shill for the house? Jimmy S.

Hey, Jimmy, what the Sam Hill were you doing on a $25 table? Believe me, a quarter snap game is no place for the lunchbox flock -- ever! Accept this caring advice as a wrist slapping. Next time, expect the infliction of a much more financially punitive correction, courtesy of an employee of the casino, e.g. a dealer willing and able to take all of your hard-earned cash at sonic speed.
As to your first question, the reason for the third degree at the cashier's cage is that Uncle Sam does not want the casino to be a drug dealer's savings and loan. Regulation 6 states that any time a player's cash transaction exceeds $10,000 within a 24-hour period, that customer must provide the casino with name, permanent address, and driver's license number. One of Reg. 6's intended purposes is to thwart money laundering. An example of this is seen when a well-loaded wise guy buys in for $10 G's in chips at the table, plays three hands of blackjack, then trots to the cashier's cage to cash in those same chips for an armload of twenties.
What you saw at the blackjack game was probably not shilling, but "marker" play. Players who have established credit with the casino can write markers at the gaming tables. The marker is essentially a check written on the player's credit. This customer convenience accommodates the player who doesn't want to cart a wad of hundreds to the table. Instead, the player asks for a $1,000 marker. The pit boss calls the cashier's cage to see how much money or credit remains in that person's account. He then writes a marker for the requested amount, has the player sign it -- now legally equivalent to a check -- and hands over $1000 worth of chips. The cashier then deducts the $1,000 from the player's remaining balance. Finally, back to my horrified front-end seizure. Again, what were you doing on a $25 table?

Dear Mark, I was told that multi-action blackjack has a higher win percentage for the casino than regular blackjack. Rules being the same, why would it be higher? Am I missing something? Dan L.

The reason that Multi-action blackjack has a higher win percentage than your typical BJ game is that most players don't hit the hands they ought to for fear of losing all three bets. For instance, say a player has a 13 against the dealer's face card. Since the player has three bets on the line, alarm bells go off about losing ALL THREE HANDS and the typical player wimps out. This sporadic caution violates the perfect basic strategy rule of hitting a 13. Any time cold feet prevail over the mathematics of the game, the casino wins.

Gambling thought of the week: "Let me tell you, there's no better medicine than a friendly card game for sloughing off the cares of a workaday world." Paul Auster, The Music of Chance (1990)

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pilarski@markpilarski.com
http://markpilarski.com

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