Just when you think you have seen it all, here is a new one I ran into this past weekend at Harrah's in Cherokee, North Carolina. Blackjack is played at a regular table, but instead of dealing cards the dealer "deals" electronically. Each player sits in front of a monitor which is flush in the table in front of their position. The monitor displays their hand as well as the dealer's hand. The players use regular chips to make their bets in the designated space in front of their screen. After the cards are dealt, the dealer goes around and asks each player what they want to do. The player makes the normal hand motions and the dealer pushes one of the buttons next to the "shoe" which tells the computer how to proceed. After all players have played, the dealers card is revealed and the computer finishes playing the hand. Based upon the outcome, the dealer pays the players. Some observations. I don't know what rules or how many decks they were using in the simulated play, I didn't sit down to find out. I did note one sign at one table that said "No midshoe entry" which leads me to believe that table may have been single or double deck. You couldn't see what the other players got unless you were standing and leaned over the table to look. This would prevent any counting. The dealer was the only one standing at the table and I would assume his screen showed everyone's hand, but I didn't get a chance to see for sure. The tables were completely dead. Normally you see a group of people interacting about each other's hands and the outcomes, but since you couldn't see what other people had, it pretty much limited your interaction to maybe the person you sat next to and if the two of you leaned over to see what the other person got. I asked one of the dealers whose table was empty if they had any tables where they dealt real cards and he said they had some rule at this reservation that they could not use real cards, so the casino came up with this electronic version.
Old Game Digital 21 is a game that Sunset Station here in Las Vegas had on their floor about 4 years ago.They used it with promo chips trying to get players to play it.It was a big bust and the game was removed from the floor.Casino just don't get it players do not like machines at tables.Thats why CSM will never grow in numbers among real players.Tourist will play anything 6/5 BJ ,CSM ,Sic Bo.Let them pay the electric bill, im more interested in the casinos profit sharing program :laugh:
The electronic blackjack games in Cherokee are alive and florishing. They've recently added more tables and have added mini baccarat. Last Sunday I had to wait for about 1/2 hour for a spot to open up. I've won some and lost some there. When you're 1500 miles from Vegas ,any game will do.
