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RGB: Elko NV BJ Conditions
Posted by M.Dalton for G.Fulk on 16 May 2001, at 8:29 p.m.
REMOTE_HOST: 24.26.113.104; REMOTE_ADDR: 24.26.113.104
Subject: |
Elko NV BJ conditions |
Date: |
Wed, 16 May 2001 15:55:47 -0500 |
From: |
"George L. Fulk" |
Organization: |
IBM Austin |
Newsgroups: |
rec.gambling.blackjack |
I took a trip to Elko NV this last weekend. They have 4 casinos there, |
3 small and 1 medium sized. Red Lion is the one medium sized. I was |
told there were 2 other places in town that had a small room with slot |
machines only (not worth mention). |
Red Lion |
1 table of single deck, hand pitch. |
1 table of six deck shoe, face up (only in use 1 of the 3 days I was |
there). |
3 tables of double deck, hand pitch. |
4 tables that were never used (I think these were also all double deck). |
FYI, craps is 2x free odds, and roulette is American double-zero. |
Gold Country |
Red Lion and Gold Country are right across the street from each other. |
They call themselves "sister" casinos. So much so, that chips from one |
can be used in the other without a problem. These 2 casinos are at the |
exit ramp of I-80 about a mile and a half north of downtown. Next door |
is a McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut, and all other strip mall stores. |
2 tables of double deck, hand pitch. |
1 table never used (I think it was also double deck). |
These 3 BJ tables are the only table games in this casino. |
Stockman's |
2 tables of double deck, hand pitch. |
They have a couple of other tables games too (craps, roulette). |
During the day there was almost nobody here. It doesn't get busy until |
evening. |
Commercial |
1 block from Stockman's in downtown Elko. Stockman's and Commercial have |
a shuttle service that will pick you up and drop you off anywhere (ie. |
pick up and return to Red Lion). |
2 tables of double deck. |
2 tables not used while I was there. |
So, in Elko, everything is double deck hand pitch, except 1 single deck |
table at Red Lion and 1 6 deck shoe at Red Lion (not always in use). The |
rules at all the tables were the same: dealer hits soft 17, DOA, no DAS, |
no RSA, resplit non-aces up to 4 times, no surrender, all hand shuffle. |
Most of the double deck tables have a side bet called "Royal Match Bet". |
It's limits are $1-25. If your first 2 cards are the same suit, you win |
2.5 times the side bet. If your first 2 cards are the King and Queen of |
the same suit, you win 25 times the side bet. My math might be wrong, |
but I compute the odds of this side bet at -8.3%. |
table limits |
Red Lion $5-300 |
Gold Country $3-50 |
Stockman's $3-100 |
Commercial $2-50 |
Red Lion (Red Lion Inn) and Gold Country (Best Western Inn) and 2 other |
Inns are associated with an air junket company called Casino Express. |
They offer cheap air/hotel packages for 3 days from cities around the |
country. Air plus 3 nights (double occupancy) from Austin is $111, add |
$35 for singles. 95% of Red Lion and Gold Country patrons are from these |
junkets. Stockman's and Gold Country are at least 50% from these junkets |
who take the shuttle. Stockman's and Commercial get more locals. All 4 |
casinos are much more relaxed than most. 75% of the air junket |
passengers are retirees. The biggest chip I could find was a $100 chip. |
Nobody used anything larger. Most dealers were very friendly, pit people |
too. Only a few sour dealers (mostly working 3am). There was almost |
always a free seat at most tables. The single deck table would fill all |
7 positions soon after a new flight arrived (twice a day), but would |
thin out to 4 on average. |
One thing I hadn't seen before (first time in Nevada for me) was no |
middle of the deck penetration card. In Louisiana they always have a cut |
card in the middle of the deck (like a shoe), even on hand pitch games, |
to tell when to shuffle. In Elko, it's up to the dealer to determine if |
they have enough cards to deal another hand. A friendly dealer (who |
likes to see a toke) might be convinced to deal another hand with few |
enough players. I once saw the single deck game go down to 3 cards. The |
dealer doesn't want to run out of cards because they say they will catch |
hell for it. And the single deck table has 7 positions. So a full table |
will only get 1 or 2 hands per shuffle. But during off hours there might |
be only 1 or 2 players at that table and you can get very good |
penetration. One long time dealer told me that they are under orders to |
shuffle with large bet spreads. For instance, she said $5 to $50 |
would cause a shuffle. So try $5 to $20 to $40 instead. Most people |
were red chip betting. Only a few green chip bettors. |
One item of warning. The AC system in the Red Lion casino was broken |
(rooms were fine). Fans would blow, but the AC compressor didn't work. |
Elko is over 5000 feet in elevation, so mid-May no casino AC wasn't a |
problem; plenty comfortable. But I'll ask if it's fixed before a |
mid-July trip. |
Bottom line... if you looking for low stakes BJ, in a more relaxed |
atmosphere, I recommend Elko. I enjoyed the trip and will probably |
return sometime soon. Since the air junket comes to Austin every |
month and a half, I'll wait until September to go back; unless the |
AC is fixed in the next month. |
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