An interesting story in today's LVRJ: Bob Nersesian, an attorney whose name is probably familiar to some of you, filed suit on behalf of a player at the El Dorado casino in Reno, over the use of the MindPlay automated tracking system. The suit alleges that the dealers used the information provided by MindPlay to shuffle away player-profitable situations. Here's the link to the Review Journal article: http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Oct-19-Tue-2004/news/25027617.html
Casino avarice. Preferential shuffling up when the count is positive to the player, particularly with hand held one or two deck games, has been around forever. I used to know a dealer who counted the cards and shuffled up on big players in one of Las Vegas' big casinos. He bragged about it. I brought it to the attention of the pit manager who told me to take my business elsewhere. Downtown single deck dealers have long been suspected of being better card counters then most of their players. Can this type of greed and dishonesty go on forever? I sort of doubt it, but I would love to see this case go in favor of the player. Luckily, Steve Wynn introduced his standardized cut-off for his BJ games (a nick in the discard tray) and you can still find them around town. A level playing field is all we want, right?
