I am curious about how the ship Casino operates during the cruise tournament. I recall from the cruise posts last year that the tournaments are held in a separate area from the casino. I would like to know if the ship casino gets a lot of Blackjack side action from the tournament players and if so is this wanted or unwanted play for them. Andy
Unwanted - Yes and No! Good question Andy, last year we had are own little conferance room for the tournaments, but we played in the mourning until around 5:00 - 6:00 pm. The ships casino usually wasn't open during our tournaments so it wasn't that big of a problem. However Carnival didn't (and won't again this year) allow any players in the tournaments who weren't signed up with the Texas Tournament group before going on the cruise. they didn't want any players losing money that they could lose in their casino...LOL. Sad, but true! Actually most of the players in their casino were from the tournament players we brought.
Wanted or unwanted I don't think they normally worry to much about who plays at their tables on cruises, however we do have the distinction of having the only player that I know of who got the tap when he sat down at the tables on our last cruise, our leader, Ken Smith! Rick can share the story it is so funny! :laugh:
To be read with a British accent: "Sir, it seems that your name has come up while we were going over the ship manifest, and we'll have to ask that if you choose to blackjack in our casino, you must restrict your bet to no more than $25. You're welcome to play any of our other games." Meanwhile, other far more notorious players were spreading to the table limit. It was pretty funny. Given the unattractive characteristics of cruise-ship blackjack, they saved me a lot of trouble, and perhaps some money.
It was pretty sad for Ken, but sweet for some others. I even made a few big spreads myself, (what the hell) as long as they were allowing it...LOL My favorite was when the casino host gave our dealer a break and he didn't have a clue what he was doing. The table had $10 to $25 bets down and when he bet the entire table, but still paid everybody we just looked at each other and the entire table started betting max. bets the next hand...LOL It only lasted about 6 hands, to many players started coming up to the table drawing attention to the game. Out of that 6 hands (actually 7 the host dealt) I was paid on all 7 hands and I didn't always have the best hand...LOL. Damn, I hate it when that happens...LOL
