01/27/97 SPECIAL REPORT

Casino Niagara is located close to the famous Falls in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. I'll give you the bottom line evaluation right now in case you don't have time to read the whole report: CASINO NIAGARA IS A VERY EASY PLACE TO WIN, AT THIS TIME, PLAYING BLACKJACK. My advice is to go there quickly before they change their blackjack dealing procedures.

Casino Niagara is easy to reach by car. It took my wife and I 90 minutes to reach it from Toronto. It's only 30 minutes from Buffalo, about 4 1/2 hours from New York, about 3 hours from Detroit (driving on the 401 Highway through Ontario, then the 403 to the Queen Elizabeth Way [QEW] into Niagara Falls). Valet parking is $25, regular parking is $8, or $5 if you want to park one block from the casino. We went on Wednesday, January 15th. Arrived at noon and left at 3:15 pm. The city was practically deserted. Many stores and tourist attractions were closed for the season. Also, some stores were empty, boarded up, permanently closed due to poor economic conditions in the retail sector. The Butterfly Museum/Farm, however, is open daily and houses about 2,000 exotic live butterflies. Very colourful sights, my wife tells me. (She dropped me off at the casino at noon and picked me up at 3:15).

The casino is big with three levels. The lowest level is the nonsmoking and smaller -- then the second (main floor) level. There is a third level, I believe, for the Billionaires' Club players, a small place for high rollers, I assume, but I did not take time to check it out. The casino has 56 blackjack (BJ) tables on the main level and 20 BJ tables on the lower level. All tables use 8 decks. Some tables use automatic ShuffleMaster machines. These are new and sometimes break down (I overheard a pit boss telling this to a dealer).

The dealers are mostly newly trained and very friendly and helpful. The pit bosses don't say much and are very businesslike. Most dealers deal slowly so it is easy to count the cards. PENETRATION IS GREAT. Most dealers deal 7 out of the 8 decks. All of them deal at least 6 1/2 decks out. The practice may change as counters take advantage.

The rules are typical Las Vegas rules -- the same as at Casino Rama near Orillia in Northern Ontario which I reported on in the Fall 1996 Newsletter. Dealer stands on soft 17, insurance is allowed, doubling after splitting is allowed, you can double on any first two cards. The table limits are: $5 to $300; $10 to $300 $15 to $300. Then $25 to $500; $50 to $1,000; and $100 to $2,500. If you use U.S. currency (60% of the players are from the U.S. so far) you must buy your chips at the cashier's cage as the dealers do not take U.S. currency. When you cash out, you can ask for U.S. or Canadian currency.

On that Wednesday afternoon there were only two $5 minimum tables on the main floor and only three $5 minimum tables on the lower, non-smoking levels. At noon, only half of all the tables were open. But by 1 pm three quarters were open but they were almost all full except the $25 and higher minimum tables. There are about ten $10 minimum tables. Most of the tables are $15 minimums and $300 maximums.

They have one bad rule: if you want to play two hands you must wager three times the table minimum on each hand; and if you play three or more hands you must wager five times the minimum on each hand. I don't think anybody except an idiot should play more than one hand under these conditions when the count calls for a minimum wager.

I won $320 in three hours by simply walking around, waiting for a new shuffle, counting the cards till the count reached a true count of at least 1.5 then placing a wager of either $30 or $60. When the count went negative I either bet the minimum (usually $15) hoping the count would turn plus, or I left the table. It was very easy to win the $320 in this way. However, they may discourage this hit-and-run type of play in the future. They will also probably cut off closer to two decks if they get hit too hard by winning players betting large amounts.

The casino has over 3,000 slot machines (.25 cents to $1.00) including poker slots. There are also many baccarat tables, Caribbean stud poker, and Pai-gow poker tables. Also, enough roulette wheels with a single and a double zero on each wheel and $10 only minimum bets on roulette. There is also a Race Book scheduled to open in February. You can actually see the Falls from the Race Book Lounge and from other lounges that have windows. They whole casino is in a brand new-looking but refurbished hotel. Everything looks new, bright and clean. Everyone is very friendly. It was a pleasant experience. An innovative touch are several BJ tables, always at the end of the rows, for handicapped dealers and players. These are built about one foot closer to the floor with lower seats than for standard tables. I never took the time to sample the food or entertainment. There are no craps tables. Craps is illegal in all of the Canadian casinos.

Once you are inside the casino it is very similar to the Las Vegas casinos. During the Christmas holidays, soon after the December 9th opening, the casino was extremely crowded with line-ups taking four hours to get in at times. However, on Wednesday January 15th at 1:00 pm there were absolutely no line-ups and there was always more than one seat open at the $25 and $50 minimum BJ tables. And there usually was a set open at the $15 minimum tables. There were no seats open at $5 and $10 minimum tables but you could get a seat here if you wanted to wait 10 to 20 minutes.

Most of the BJ players played close to good basic strategy. However, I only spotted two counters (there could have been more) who were varying their bets parallel to my wagers. Since I am a nonsmoker I found the main level uncomfortable and developed a headache after about 90 minutes. That level is well ventilated but still somewhat smoky. The lower nonsmoking level was completely free of smoke. However, it was cool, since it was the basement and they may have had the air conditioning on.

I spotted two players I knew. One was a woman who is a tough tournament BJ player. She was at third base at a $25 minimum table. She spotted me too but pretended not to know me and casually left her table. I pretended I did not notice her either. The other player I noticed, unfortunately, began to talk to me in an excited fashion. He said, "Hello, Professor, remember me?" I asked him to keep it down, but it was too late. The dealer took two good looks at me (his name was Oleg. Oleg I have to avoid in the future). And the pit boss also looked my way but made her look appear casual. Such are the hazards of fame.

To repeat, Casino Niagara is a great place to win at BJ at this time. Playing conditions are good to excellent -- you can get head-on games at the $25 and $50 minimum tables. However, in the spring when the weather improves and thousands of tourists hit the place conditions may be very crowded and thus negatively affect one's cost/benefit ratio. Of course, each BJ player has his or her personal style or preference -- some players don't mind crowded tables. My preference is to stand around behind an empty spot, bet when the count is positive and quit when it turns negative. I am not interested in playing for amusement or socializing with other players. Good luck.