Smart Baccarat

A little flashback, to the first Vegas property to introduce baccarat to the United States.

Oh, the power of the nine.  The story of "The Temple of Gold Hair," was news to me.

Labels: baccarat, big baccarat, chemin de fer, las vegas, natural nine, sands, vegas

"Classic" Big Baccarat

Labels: atlantic city, baccarat, big baccarat, borgata

my only comment...... the sweet taste of a player streak!

Labels: baccarat, ballys, player streak

Well, my pledge to take a Vegas hiatus during the summer is actually happening. While I booked trips for 31 July and also in August (for the Venetian Carnival of Cuisine), this year, I really do think I'm going to avoid the Vegas heat. (Well, at least for a few months).

Off to Atlantic City in a few days, staying at the casino that just turned 30 on 26 June 2009 (surprisingly, also my birthday).

If you still don't know which property it is, this picture will give it away :



Luckily, they have managed to update things 'just a bit' since 1979. A nice little article on Atlantic City's second casino, turning thirty. Amazing, still quite a few employees working at Caesars who have been there since the original opening.

I plan on focusing quite a bit of time this trip on finally doing a baccarat overview of all of the Atlantic City properties. I'm also going to share some of the Caesars Atlantic City history, since I find it fascinating. Maybe even get into a bit of discussion about the departed Playboy Casino, which I spoke about last year.

I also have a number of interesting observations and thoughts from my previous Vegas (April) and Atlantic City (May) trips that i'll try to summarize and share. Unfortunately, I haven't had the time (or desire) to write extensive trip reports, but most definitely have quite a few great tales.

Labels: atlantic city, baccarat, big baccarat, caesars, playboy casino

So, I've been neglecting the blog lately.

But, can you really blame me? Well, maybe... but, the ice storm of December 2008 set me back a bit, and now I'm super behind on my stories. Yes, it was a pretty great run at the end of the year. Some of the highlights I promise to talk about further :

- The Caesar's baccarat curse of 2006 is broken, and broken in style. It was destined to happen, and I must happily report that it did happen in the lovely Palace Court at Caesar's Atlantic City. The triple tie at the end of the first shoe was definitely a sign; but I was unstoppable (for a bit) while dealing from very close to the top of my second shoe. Harv witnessed it all, and I predicted that I'd be betting purples! It was amazing, but... you'll have to wait for some details.

Actually, my inspiration to finally get my lazy ass going, and actually post something was a text from Rob C. this evening, from the lovely Eldorado Casino in Reno, Nevada. Seems, that the Eldorado didn't get the memo that it is currently 2009; and that baccarat plaques haven't been used in mainstream casinos (in lower than $5,000 denominations) since the lovely 1980's.

But, plaques are alive and well at the Eldorado in denominations of $100 and up. Rob sent me a text message about the oddity, and was able to snap some pics.



























































These are used instead of chips for wagers at the Eldorado baccarat tables. The $500 is a little difficult to see, as the color is pink. Rob will have to chime in about the other denominations available at the tables. Pretty sure this was at a mini-baccarat game, which makes it even more odd.

So, now that I've finally posted something,
what I have in store for my upcoming blog posts :

- The epic November baccarat and dice trip to Atlantic City, and a step back into yesterday with dinner at Bacchanal.
- The early December Vegas Palazzo trip, with the most amazing dinner of 2008 at Alex (Wynn) thanks to a most awesome friend
- The final Atlantic City trip of 2008, and also the rush to re-qualify for harrah's diamond. 2+ days, 21+ hours of rated play -- it was a whirlwind
- Back to Vegas again, the first trip of 2009, and the "Pimp-Daddy Suite" sans disco ball

and... well, next week, the super crazy one day trip to Vegas (don't ask!)

Labels: baccarat, eldorado, eldorado casino, plaques, reno

It was conceived as a classy casino center boardwalk in Atlantic City. A bit too classy for American Gaming tastes. It was casino number seven in New Jersey. It was constructed on a very tiny piece of land on Florida Avenue and the boardwalk. The unique three-level casino with the minimum 500-room hotel opened on April 14, 1981.

From the Elsinore company history profile "In 1980, Playboy/Elsinore Associates began construction on a $159 million hotel and casino in Atlantic City. The Playboy Hotel and Casino offered 500 hotel rooms and suites, 52,000 square feet of gaming space, 25,000 square feet of convention and meeting facilities, and a 1,000-seat entertainment lounge, the Playboy Cabaret. Elsinore and Playboy sought to attract the international, high roller market with a design modeled on European casinos and Playboy casinos in England. Spread over three floors in small rooms the Playboy provided an intimate setting for gaming, including European favorites such as European Single O Roulette, American Double O Roulette, and Chemin de Fer, a game similar to baccarat. The Playboy Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City opened on April 14, 1981."

Labels: atlantic city, baccarat, big baccarat, casino, chemin de fer, playboy

Yes, the wait is over.

There is now an iphone application for baccarat.

The Baccarat Pro interface is pretty snazzy.

 

The application provides easy access to the rules of the game, as well as a scorecard, and history.

 

You can keep track of high scores on the leader board. I especially like the card burn feature at the beginning of the shoe, though you are not shown the burn cards. The only odd, or unnatural thing about the game interface is that it sets aside the commission for bank bets when they are placed. This is to prevent you burning through your bankroll and still owing commission. In real life, the casinos know you are on the hook for the commission, and you would just have to dig in your pockets for the balance, if you didn't have it in chips.

A detailed review can be found at the iphone games network website.

Now, one can practice their baccarat strategies all day long!

Labels: baccarat, baccarat pro, game, iphone

On the evening of Oct. 4, 1982, Lefty Rosenthal, the talented professional gambler and gangster-when-necessary who had brought sports betting to casinos in Las Vegas and illicitly run an empire of four hotel casinos, walked out of Tony Roma’s on East Sahara Avenue with an order of takeout ribs. He had just finished dinner with some fellow handicappers, and he was bringing the food home for his two children. When he got into his car, it blew up.

Mr. Rosenthal survived the explosion — later he could not remember whether he had turned the ignition key — but the attempt on his life, for which no one was ever prosecuted, ended his career as one of the most powerful men in Las Vegas. He left the city early the next year and on Monday, at home in Miami Beach, he died. He was 79 and had lived in Florida since the late 1980s.

more details HERE

NY Times obituary is HERE

Rosenthal interview with the Miami Herald in 2008

A nice NPR tribute, Man Behind "Casino" Dies

The Stardust was my absolute favorite Vegas property for many years.

I was friendly with a few baccarat supervisors who worked directly for "Lefty." --- the stories were awesome, one of the many reasons I loved playing big baccarat at the 'dust.

I played the final day-shift big baccarat game at the 'dust back in 2006.

and, I'll never forget the great times I had talking to Shirley in the baccarat room --- the "first" female baccarat dealer in Vegas, trained by "Lefty." Lefty helped train Shirley to be a baccarat dealer, back in the day.

Oh, yes, and they had a great Loyalty Program @ the 'Dust. Chairman and Gold Level were ripe with lots of discretionary perks. ;)

Lefty was one of the last of the true Vegas legends.

Labels: baccarat, casino, las vegas, lefty rosenthal, stardust

Posted with LifeCast

If you look closely, "Os" on the scorecard represent bankers, there were just 3 Banks followed by a TIE (represented by a --).

I always bet the "repeat TIE" (yes, I know it's a sucker bet, but TIEs often repeat... LOL....)

Also decided to use this opportunity to throw out a bet for the dealer,
so you can see my bet (two black chips $200) with a bet for the dealer (on TOP of my bet) --- and the TIE bet (above the Banker bet).

Dealer is pulling the cards from the shoe, and about to hand over the "Player hand" to the highest bet "Player" to face those cards ("Player" cards are always faced before the "Bank" hand)

Labels: baccarat, harrah's, midi-baccarat

Posted with LifeCast

This is a MIDI-Baccarat game @ Harrah's Atlantic City. $25 is the minimum bet, which is great for a table where you can "handle" the cards. Notice how crumpled the PLAYER (hand on the left side) cards are.

While my favorite Baccarat game is Big Baccarat, I can deal with a MIDI game, since you at least get a chance to face the cards. Only big difference from the Big Baccarat game is that the players don't deal (and the shoe doesn't travel around the table).

Players at this table were spreading from approximately $25 to $800, with one woman sitting next to me who was wild with her consistent $75 tie bets (and $25 to $50 Dragon Bonus bets).

Yes, this table has the additional sucker bet, the Dragon Bonus. For more details on the Dragon Bonus, please refer to the Wizard of Odds tables.

From the ShuffleMaster web site :

Dragon Bonus is the industry’s most popular baccarat side bet, and doesn't corrupt the drawing rules or commission structure of baccarat.

To play the Dragon Bonus side bet for baccarat, players must make the Dragon Bonus wager before the dealer reveals any cards. The dealer will then deal and reconcile the traditional baccarat hands according to house procedures.

Natural winners pay even-money on the Dragon Bonus wager and in the event of a natural that ties, the Dragon Bonus wager pushes. Non-natural winners that win by at least four points pay even-money, and the larger the margin of victory, the larger the payout.

Labels: atlantic city, baccarat, dragon bonus, harrah's, midi-baccarat

An interesting article published a few years ago by Andrew MacDonald & William R. Eadington is one of the few available that discusses high stakes baccarat.

They have a rather fascinating discussion of volatility, the law of large numbers, and fear of the unknown; and how this all relates to the high stakes baccarat business. They go on to explain "Extending this, there is about a 95 percent chance the player will end up within two standard deviations of the expected result (between 75 units behind and 51 units ahead), and a 99.7 percent chance he will end up within three standard deviations of the expected outcome (between 107 units behind and 83 units ahead)."

Upon first glance --- you figure, yeah, I knew Baccarat was not particularly volatile for the casinos... but, what many don't figure in their analysis is the often perverted (and excessive) table limits that need to be offered to the baccarat whales. While "normal" games will often have a maximum bet of $5,000 to $15,000 --- the "whale" table limits are what make it such a volatile business. (These maximum bets often exceed $100,000 per hand)

As they go on to say "Thus it is very rare that outcomes are beyond three standard deviations. However, if one unit is $150,000, the “unlucky” outcome for a casino with our hypothetical baccarat player at the two standard deviation (95 percent confidence) level would be a player win (or casino loss) of 51 units, or a rather painful $7.65 million (before expenses)!"

In addition, you have the problem with the limited number of decisions (or hands) played by the high end baccarat player. As we all know, more hands (or spins on a machine) equal less "sweat" for the house. But, with baccarat, a shoe (with only around 70 decisions) can take up to 3 hours in high end big baccarat play. This small number of hands coupled with the über high maximum bets is a volatility disaster.

"At a 1.2 percent house advantage, a maximum bet of $250,000 played for 1,000 hands will result in an expected win of $3 million but (within two standard deviations) will vary between a loss for the casino of $12.5 million and a casino win of $18.5 million in 95 percent of occasions."
HOLY VOLATILITY BAT-MAN!

We are going to continue this discussion and looking at why the RIO got out of the high-end baccarat business, when the propellor heads at Harrah's purchased the property from Marnell in 1999.

In an effort to blog on a more consistent basis; I'm going to be setting out an agenda for each week (every Sunday or Monday).

So, this week's agenda will include :

- continued discussion of big baccarat and volatility
- brief history of the RIO Casino, the purchase by Harrah's, and the end of high stakes baccarat at the RIO
- a look at the Palazzo Suites (at RIO) built for the high stakes baccarat royalty

and just in time for the new movie release, we will look at the new movie "21!"




but, take a trip back to the "original real deal blackjack team" --- yeah, NOT the MIT Blackjack Team --- but the "wandering Jew" and his crew in the 1970's.

Labels: 21 movie, baccarat, big baccarat, high stakes baccarat, las vegas, mit blackjack team, palazzo suites at rio, rio, wandering jew

a great report on Macau from civicmon Very much appreciated!

I was just in Macau last week and just wanted to give you a quick report since as the Baccarat king you'd have a heart attack if you saw Macau.

It's the game of choice, no doubt. It's known that 85% of Macau's gaming revenues come from Baccarat alone. In reality, I'd estimate 90% of all gaming tables at all casinos are Baccarat. I'm sure you're aware of the Chinese superstitions with gambling so I'll spare you the bulk of my comments but it's quite a sight.

I went to the Grand Lisboa (think the new Stanley Ho/STDM "Leaf" tower casino) and did fairly good at my game of blackjack. Went down pretty good but won most of it all back. That casino has 3 floors, effectively as the Chinese number floors with the "1st" floor actually what we call the 2nd floor, of gaming.

Baccarat is obviously king with minimums running into hundrends of thousands of HK$ and VIP rooms for parties and stuff but for the average guy, minimums are either $50/$100 HKD, so about US$7.5/$13 (US$1 = HK$7.75 at a fixed rate) I was there over a weekday night and the places weren't packed but there was more than enough business to make the place work.

The Grand Lisboa claims to offer the first craps game in Macau and Hold'em.. had two live hold'em tables with pit bosses from Australia running the games as well as one craps table. I'm unsure if the other majors have them as I never independently verified that. Typical Chinese games such as SicBo, their wonder-wheel sort of games are there but not in the sheer numbers that one finds the Baccarat tables.

There's a huge boom there but now there's arguments of oversupply. I was in the Wynn Macau which is a carbon copy of the Las Vegas property, but just smaller. Even has an Okada restaurant. There's a MGM, Crown Casino (an Aussie group) the infamous Venetian, the Sands, Pointe 16, most of the older STDM joints and a couple more (Macau "Studio City" for one) coming down the pipe. That's what is just opened now and there are already more under construction which includes expansions.

That being said, I think you'd enjoy a trip to HKG/Macau. Chinese casinos are not known to be lavish on the comps but that being said, if you got real money it can be done, however "real money" in numbers is always up for debate, just avoid the major Chinese holidays to up your chances (May 1, Chinese NY and some other time in August or October). I didn't even recall if alcohol was comped at tables as I just normally stick to water anyways. No one tried to sell me on player cards or anything, but I believe the Grand Lisboa and I know the Wynn had their own cards. Not sure about the Wynn's convertibility between their Las Vegas and Macau sites, likewise for LV Sands properties. Just watch the summers there.. imagine Orlando with casinos. It was in the low 70s F when I was there so it was really nice.

There are non-stop flights EWR/JFK-HKG and via ORD, SFO, LAX, YVR, YYZ etc. Spend a few days in HKG which is an awesome place if you never been and then a few more in Macau with some gaming and sight seeing as there's a slew of historical and culturally significant sites due to the unique heritage of the area.

Shanghai is about 3 hrs away flying from Hong Kong/Macau. There's some tricks to getting to Macau cheaper from Shanghai if you tag along on the trip itself (basically, gotta fly into the Chinese border city which can be more work than it's worth) as flights between Shanghai-Macau are overloaded with Taiwanese who are flying back/forth to Taiwan, thus the prices can be insane even at the best of times. Not sure about Seoul/Tokyo although a Macau-based charter get was supposed to fly Macau-Tokyo but not sure if that ever came about. HKG is an amazing airport inside and out, however, the train can have you at HK Island in about 25 minutes.

Macau can be done in one day as they're "turbojets" which are basically high-speed catamarans that run between a couple of HK (and Chinese) spots and back out in the evening. Tickets are easy to come by even just minutes before a launch, provided it's not a Friday or anything. Run something like every 15 min during peak times and once a half-hour in the overnight hours

One day will NEVER do the place justice if the visitor is a gambler.. Even the wife should be able to enjoy a few things there, I would think as the territory itself is pretty neat with a lot of Portuguese-inspired architecture and narrow, fascinating back streets and a nearly 500 year European history which is unparalled for anywhere else in Asia just based on it's uniqueness. The city is changing in a major way and I'm almost tempted to say that it really has turned into a mini-Vegas, it's not always all for the better. That being said, the territory was nothing more than a weird backwater until gambling hit the city and despite China closing off, Hong Kong became a world financial power.

I was last in Macau 5 years ago and it's insane how different the place is. The Wynn/MGM are on a stretch of reclaimed land called "Nape" (or, Na-Pay) which is directly opposite where the classic Lisboa is. North of there is some sort of Fisherman's Wharf complex which is designed to suck some of the people away from the Casinos but hasn't really taken off very well. The Pointe 16 is weird, it's on the opposite side of the territory directly opposite the Chinese mainland (and a very pleasant Chinese city called Zhuhai with some AWESOME food! Probably the best local cuisine on the Chinese mainland). Most of the rest of the developments such as the Venetian and some more local joints are a bit south of the peninsula proper on another stretch of reclaimed land called the Cotai Strip, between COloane and TAIpa islands (hence the name). There's a ferry that runs straight from HK direct to Taipa now although most go to the "Termino Maritimo" as it's known in Portuguese in Macau.

Weird stuff with Portuguese language there (case in point: "STOP" is like we see here, but they'll have DUI warnings in Portuguese...) but virtually no one speaks it other than the handful of Portuguese who are still there and most anyone who speaks anything other than Cantonese/Mandarin will speak English.

I stayed at a small guesthouse instead of one of the casinos but while I'm sure the service and facilities are top notch, don't expect a slew of "side activities" as Tryst at the Wynn Macau is closing (or closed, unsure the actual status) due to lower than forecast usage and aside from the usual gold-crusted rolexs and ferrari dealer, the shopping in the territory is bland at best. Most people from Macau just go to China these days as the prices are a lot better anyways.

Good deals can be had on the weekdays as well. The Macau Ferry Terminal aka "Shun Tak Center" on HK Island has a hundred travel agents who can usually give you a good deal on a room and get the turbojet tickets thrown in for free on top of that. Weekends see the obvious price rises that AC sees.

FWIW, and this is somewhat important, but HK$ are the currency of choice there. Macau has a currency known as the Pataca (usually signed "MOP") which trades at US$1/MOP 8.15 vs. US$1/HKD$ 7.75 - The Chinese RMB is just about at US$1/7RMB but the cages and dealers usually only want HKD but will change anything else into HKD to buy chips at a currency change booth. Virtually everyone outside the casinos will take HK$ at an assumed 1:1 rate but surprisingly they didn't at McDonalds when I wanted a soda and some nuggets as an entry fee to use their bathroom. So I just ran in and split Long story short: If you go, don't sweat not having MOP but get a fistfull of HK$. Most ATMs outside the casinos give HK$ or MOP, it'll ask. You can also change USD as well but MAKE SURE YOU HAVE PERFECT, CRIPS BILLS at the casinos This cannot be stated enough as they reject bills for the most minute problems. It was the source of most North Korean forged US$ which is a lot of the reason. Most moneychangers on the streets and alleys will accept the imperfect ones but they're typically not near the casinos.

In Macau, you can also bet on soccer and NBA using typical Vegas lines but there's not a lot of that going on at all. The Grand Lisboa had it.

If you really want to see an old Chinese gambling hall, the "Lisboa" is your best bet. This may be torn down in the near term but it was the original "resort" casino that the city had for 30 or so years before the Americans came in. It's everything you expect from a gambling hall, crowded tables, lots of screaming and no fresh air. It's crowded, clustered and interesting although the new casinos do have a more "fresh" appeal to them. There's a few more shadier ones out there as well from the old Stanley Ho monopoly days.

Labels: baccarat, civicmon, macau

believe me, it's still going on now!

also, love how it was a player streak! --- no commission!

Labels: baccarat, cheating, scam, vegas

Since it is my birthday, figured I'd talk about one of my favorite topics ---- BACCARAT.



gotta love James Bond at the Baccarat Table. Of course, he is playing some bizarre form of Baccarat, which is not quite Chemin de Fer and not American Baccarat. Of course, Bond now plays Hold-em poker --- if you recall, I bitched about this when Casino Royale first hit the theaters. And, I continue to bitch about it (how consistent).

I really wish I was around for the cash Baccarat days in Vegas. Unfortunately, our silly government put a bit of pressure on Vegas to convert "cash-only" Baccarat to "chips" Baccarat in the early 70's. Something about folks who launder money and like to play a bit of Baccarat.

Baccarat was such a posh game when you just played with cash. I still enjoy cash-play Baccarat in Vegas --- though, it was a whole different animal when everyone at the table was playing with cash. On the right, you can see Sinatra dealing a Baccarat game in the 1960's. Unfortunately, Atlantic City requires that cash be converted to chips --- so, alas, you can't leave all types of bills in play on a Big Baccarat table in AC.

Above is a pic of one of my final days at the Stardust, playing for cash and dealing the cards at the Big Baccarat Table.

If anyone is in AC, I am trying to get a group together for some Baccarat play on July 5th. According to a recent New York Times Article and due to the popularity of Baccarat with Asian gamblers; we seem to be having a bit of investment by the casino properties in Baccarat (and other "Asian-popular" games).

"At the start of 2006, Harrah’s opened a gambling and dining area inspired by the Ming- and Song-dynasty architectural elements at the Showboat in Atlantic City, in what Gary Loveman, its chief executive, described as “the country’s first authentic Asian gaming pit.”

"The company imported carved woods from China to house a dozen baccarat tables — the preferred game among many Asian players — and several more for pai gow poker, which is based on an ancient Chinese dominoes game."

"Over all, table game revenue at Showboat increased 35 percent last year, to $63 million, up from $46 million, and the casino more than doubled its business among Asian players. Table games include baccarat and pai gow but also craps, blackjack and roulette."

Was thinking, it might be about time to check out the new Baccarat pit at the Showboat. I really liked the new Asian Pit at Caesars AC -- but, the Big Baccarat table there is pure evil.

Labels: atlantic city, baccarat, caesars, harrah's, las vegas, showboat, sinatra

"The scene was the baccarat table at the Aladdin. As the shoe went around the table, I built up my stake. Each time I had the shoe, I bet $4,000 on Bank. Four times the Player hand beat me with a natural nine.

The shoe was passed to me for the fifth time. I pushed forward my last $4,000 worth of chips. I don't care if I lose this one, I announced to one and all at the table, but I'll be very annoyed if I lose it to another natural nine. The other players smiled. My hand was a natural eight. Worthless against the Player's eight and ace ---- another natural nine.

Five hands and each defeated by nine. $20,000 worth of experience in relearning that the improbable is always possible."

This is from the late great Lyle Stuart in Winning at Casino Gambling

Labels: "lyle stuart", baccarat