Posted by Dan Marticello on November 19, 1996 at 17:37:41:
I was recently in St. Maarten.
The Coliseum and the Rouge et Noir are burn joints.
The Sheraton and Little Divi are still closed due
to the hurricane. Ditto for the Grand Casino in Mullet
Bay. The Great Bay is open but I did not get a chance
to go there.
Lightning has 5 decks but deals only 3. The Pelican
is not worth stopping at due to poor penetration.
THe Atlantis is the best place to play. They have all
6 deck games. Generally 4-5 $5 tables and 2 $25 tables.
You can double on any 2 including after splitting.
You may resplit to make 4 hands. Aces of course only get
one card. Dealer stands on soft 17.
Penetration is generally 4.5-5 decks although you sometimes run into a dealer that only deals 4.
I wonged as much as possible spreading from $5-$100
and did not get any heat in the week that I played there.
Other players are the worst in the world standing on
soft fourteens etc.
Observed only one other possible counter and immediately
left his table as he was spreading 5-400 on each of 2 hands. He did not
get any heat when I was there.
On a $800 double down and the count sky high he caught
a low card but lucked out against a dealer's ten as the hole card was a
deuce and the hit card was another 10.
On the same round on his other $400 hand he stood on
a hard 13 against a ten which made me question to
myself on whether he was a counter or not.
Only other place worth playing is at the Casino Royale.
But penetration does not become adequate until around 8-9PM Even then the
dealers are not consistent and
you have to pick and choose.