Can anyone tell me what the following terms mean when describing blackjack rules; Multiple action blackjack & Mindplay system
Multi-Action Blackjack (from www,trumptaj.com): Multi-action Black Jack allows players to play three rounds of Black Jack with a single hand against the dealer's first card. The dealer's first card is used for all three rounds of play. Each round is the same as one complete hand in regular Black Jack. When the game begins, a player may be required to make 2 or 3 wagers against the dealer. Check the sign at the table for more details. Each player is dealt one card face up and the dealer receives one card face up in the first of the three squares in front of the chip rack. A second card is dealt to each player. At this time, the dealer does not receive a second card. The player's now make their decision on how they will play their hand. Insurance may be taken on any or all of the wagers if the dealer's card is an ace. Players may double or split on all wagers. The player's first hand and the dealer's first card will be used through all three rounds of play. After all the players have made their decisions and placed any additional wagers, they may draw additional cards or stand. After all the players have completed their hands, the dealer completes his hand by drawing one or more cards. The dealer then pays, takes or pushes all first round wagers. The dealer now picks up and discards only his hit card or cards, keeping his original card on the layout. The dealer then moves his original card to the second square in front of the chip rack and completes his hand again. All second round wagers are paid, picked up or pushed. As in the first round, the dealer picks up only his hit card or cards and leaves the original card on the layout. The dealer then moves the original card to the third square in front of the chip rack. In this final round, the dealer again completes this hand and pays, picks up or pushes all the third round wagers. All of the player's and dealer's cards are then picked up and a new hand is dealt.
MindPlay discussion (excerpted from USA Today 11/02/04): MindPlay technology tracks cards, bets A retro card game such as blackjack couldn't be more low-tech, right? Tell that to the Caesars Entertainment chain of casino resorts, which has brought high technology to 21. Using miniature built-in sensors, Caesars can track both the cards being played and betting chips — giving the house a more accurate way of rewarding big players with "comps," and weeding out card counters. QMindPlay is owned by Alliance Gaming, a leading slot manufacturer. Caesars is the first major casino to test it.) How does the system work? A: MindPlay tracks cards and chips. The dealer shuffles cards. ... On the side of the card, there's invisible ink, and each card is bar coded. The system reads the stack of cards and knows when the cards are being dealt out, and which card goes to which player. The chips have a stripe on the side of them, and there are computers under each table that can read the side of the chip. With the information we get, we know how many hands are being played, the value and size of someone's bet as they play. We use that information to rate the player for comps. Q: These tables aren't cheap. They cost around $20,000 each? A: Yes. And in less than 6 months, we make our money back. Because we can monitor a dealer, we can keep the level of activity up, and by better managing our comps, we're not overly compensating some players. {END OF EXCERPTS} Although those casinos contemplating purchasing the MindPlay System are "selling it" to players as a means of more accurately tracking players' betting activities for the purpose of computing comps (which it can do), suspicious skilled players suspect other motives. Specifically: __because the system records all bets and cards and plays at the blackjack table, an observer of the data or, more likely, a program analyzing the data can determine if a player is a card counter. Some Las Vegas casinos do not permit card counters to play at their tables. __because the system records all the cards as they fall, the system could be employed to implement preferential shuffling; the system could signal the dealer when the deck is "rich" (i.e. favorable to the player), and the dealer could then shuffle away any deck favorable to the players. If the system were to be installed widely, I would expect some legal challenges to be lodged against the casinos for "altering the random nature of the game" in violation of Nevada gaming statutes. Ultimately, I would expect the gaming statutes to be altered to permit the MindPlay system implementation.
