 
| ||
|
|
|
LAS VEGAS BLACKJACK REPORT:
Gold Coast, Palms, Tuscany, and Westin
by Stu D. Hoss
Stu D. Hoss is a recently retired Air Force officer and aviator. He has visited and served in over 40 countries including flying combat missions in the Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Horn of Africa. Most of it under the guise of keeping the world safe for democracy, better blackjack, and for a few other personal reasons. He has been playing blackjack for almost 20 years and cut his teeth on the tables of South Lake Tahoe during flight training in Northern CA. Mr. Hoss uses basic strategy and the HiLo count method to give himself a chance against the house edge. He currently resides in NV and is weighing his options for a second career.
The observations of casino conditions were made in December 2011. The casinos visited in Las Vegas include:
Gold Coast Hotel and Casino
Palms
Tuscany Suites and Casino
Westin Casuarina
In last month’s issue of Blackjack Insider Newsletter, I reviewed conditions in some very contrasting properties. This month’s article is a continuation on that theme. In many respects, Las Vegas in December is a city of contrasts. During the first ten days of the month, Las Vegas hosts the National Finals Rodeo and the whole town seems to grab its boots, belt buckles, and cowboy hats. Country Western music fills the air and the casinos are awash with visitors. This is followed by a period of quiet, cold, and darkness. Things begin to pick up with college football’s Maaco Las Vegas Bowl prior to Christmas, and really get rousing as revelers from near and far celebrate the coming of the New Year ... Vegas style. Amidst the contrasts of December, I filled my saddlebags with cash and player’s cards, hitched up the blackjack wagon, donned my spurs, and headed west down Flamingo Road to explore four off-Strip properties.
Gold Coast Hotel and Casino, 4000 W. Flamingo Road
Owned and operated by Boyd Gaming, the Gold Coast is big with over 86,000 square feet of gaming area that draws a heavy locals’ crowd. The table games area is centrally located in the middle of the casino near the Race and Sports Book and features four pit areas with almost 50 tables. The largest area has 14 baccarat tables, three Pai Gow Poker tables, and a game called Asian Poker. These games are popular with the Gold Coast’s many Asian patrons since the property is located very near Las Vegas’ Chinatown. The bulk of the blackjack tables are located in another large pit area where there are nine double-deck games, one six-deck shoe game, two Super Fun 21 tables, and two roulette tables. and a few tables of Three Card Poker and Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em. Two smaller six-table areas are home to five more double-deck blackjack games and two six-deck shoe games, as well as, two additional roulette tables.
There are no single-deck games at the Gold Coast, and the double-deck and six-deck games pay the traditional 3:2 for blackjacks. Players are allowed to double on any first two cards (DOA), double after splits (DAS) and split Aces only once to form two hands, even on the six-deck game (I was told the latter by a floor supervisor). Dealers hit soft 17 (H17) and surrender is not allowed. Table minimums and maximums ranged from $5 or $10 to $1,000, and $25 to $2,000.
Some of the Gold Coast blackjack games offer...
...enter your member login information below to read this article/newsletter...
Paid Members-Only Article
You have clicked on a link to a Blackjack Insider web page or article for paid subscribers. You must have a paid membership to the Blackjack Insider newsletter to view this content. About 1/2 of the articles in each issue of the Blackjack Insider are for paid members only, while the rest are viewable by everyone. Your purchased membership will allow you to read all Blackjack Insider articles for 12 months.
Enter your user name and password below (they were listed and e-mailed to you after you purchased your Blackjack Insider membership):
Forgot your membership id or password? Click here.
How do I get a membership?
A membership can be purchased online at our secure store with your credit card for only $19.95 per year. You will receive a user name and password immediately by e-mail which you can use to read the all past and future members-only articles for 12 months, as well as the regular free articles.
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE A ONE YEAR MEMBERSHIP NOW... only $19.95
Do I have to buy a membership?
No. Blackjack Insider will continue to be published as a free monthly e-newsletter. But about 1/2 of the articles each month will be for paid members only. Subscribers without a membership can still view and read the non-members articles for free.
What happens after I buy a membership?
Immediately after you complete your purchase, you will receive a unique login user name and password. These are displayed on the final purchase page, and are e-mailed to you. When you click on a members-only article in our web site, you will be prompted for this user name and password (as shown above). Simply enter them, and enjoy the article! Note: make sure you turn on the checkbox above when you login, to save the user name and password so that you don't have to re-enter them every time you view members-only articles.
Why did you switch to paid memberships?
Blackjack Insider is a professional monthly publication with top-notch articles by world-reknown gaming experts. In addition, we have regular reporters that monitor game conditions and tournament schedules throughout North America. We use a partially paid subscriber model to enable us to continue getting the best content for our readers from leading authors on blackjack and gaming.
|
|
©2015, DeepNet Technologies. No material to be copied without express permission of DeepNet Technologies.
This site developed by
DeepNet Technologies, Ontario, Canada. Contact webmaster @ bjinsider . com
if you have problems.
This site is best viewed in a 800x600 graphics mode, or higher.