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ATLANTIC CITY BLACKJACK REPORT─JANUARY 2015
by Frank Scoblete
Frank Scoblete, is the #1 best-selling gaming author in America. Frank’s books and tapes have sold over a million copies. For a free brochure call: 1-800-944-0406 or write: Frank Scoblete Enterprises, Box 446, Malverne, NY 11565. Frank’s website is
www.frankscoblete.com. Befriend Frank on Facebook.Free! Free! Free!
I am leaving the book-selling business. My wife and I are doing a lot of traveling, around America, around the world; catching up on the things we’ve missed because I’ve spent so much time in casinos for over a quarter century, often 130 days a year. I have books stocked in my warehouse. The following are available,
for free, I’ll even pick up the postage but I will ask you to pick up the postage if you are ordering more than one since I am sending them out Priority Mail --- I’ll bill you with the shipment. (This is while supplies last.) Just send me an email to fscobe@optonline.net with your address or contact me through Facebook.The Virgin Kiss
Confessions of a Wayward Catholic
Beat the Craps Out of the Casinos: How to Play Craps and Win!
Slots Conquest: How to Beat the Slot Machines!
Casino Conquest
Forever Craps: the Five-Step Advantage-Play Method
Casinos Here and Gone
I am going to do something a little different this issue. As you know Atlantic City is in the midst of a bloodbath. As I write this, the massive Taj Mahal may be a few days from closing --- if not, it is a few months from closing. So I am going to give you a couple of experiences with all those closed casinos since I played in almost all of them. The casinos that still operate I’ll give my regular report.
Casino Ratings
It is always best to check out the games for yourselves. Time of day, type of dealer, table minimum, number of decks can influence the most important ingredients in a good game for a card counter --- penetration. The second most important things are the rules. Most Atlantic City casinos allow doubling on the first two cards, splitting of pairs (once or twice), doubling after splits, three-to-two payouts on blackjacks (except those awful one-deck games). Sadly most of the casinos are hitting soft 17, except in the high roller rooms. For non-card counter you want shallow penetration and good rules and a full table!
Our reporters have somewhat different takes on the various casinos. Again it is always best to do a quick tour of the one(s) you plan to play at.
Okay, for nostalgia’s sake I am including the ghosts of casinos past. It is hard for me to think of Atlantic City shriveling up and dying.
Rating System:
Four stars: * * * * = superior game
Three stars: * * * = worth playing
Two stars: * * = look elsewhere
One star: * = seriously don’t you have something better to do?
No stars: 0 = are you that hungry to lose your money?
ACH
: This was the old Golden Nugget, and then became Bally’s Grand, then the Grand, then the Hilton and then ACH. I played there for quite a while but as I always seem to do I overstayed my welcome. I went the RFB route but one day my host told me that there would never be any comps here for me again. The pit boss told me that they would shuffle all the time on me. Never played there again.BALLY’S:
Eight decks in the main casino, hitting on S17, typical rules. Penetration about 75 percent. High roller room has six-deckers, about 80 percent penetration. Casino has been redesigned and looks good. Excellent craps tables. Some of the riff-raff from Trump Plaza has made their way to Bally’s. Not a good sign. Can’t people launder their drug money somewhere else? Rating: * * *BORGATA:
The "in" place in all of Atlantic City. Young sexy folks abound. If all the casinos collapse this place will probably keep chugging along. Decent games. Eight decks on main floor with some hitting soft 17 and some standing on soft 17. Good penetration (about 80 percent) and some six-deckers throughout the place. Crummy craps tables. Rating: * * *CAESARS:
I thought this place was safe but there are rumblings that Caesars Entertainment is seriously considering closing this place. That would be bad. It is a lovely casino and a good hotel. Blackjack is fine with eight deckers in main casino, hitting on soft 17, decent penetration of about 75 percent. Rating: * * ½ *CLARIDGE:
I bow my head to the late Captain. This was my favorite casino in all of Atlantic City. I played there for several years with the Captain and his Crew. I saw the "Arm" shoot the dice here. I never had any trouble at this place until a man named Francis went "ape" when a group of us hit his craps table hard. I loved playing blackjack in the Claridge high-roller room. I started my casino gambling career here. I also learned a very valuable lesson in over-betting my bankroll and ultimately losing it all.GOLDEN NUGGET:
It looks as if this casino is making it. It has survived a very tough time for Atlantic City and is beginning to bring in the bucks. Blackjack games are so-so in main casino, eight decks with hitting on soft 17. Penetration about 75 percent at most. High roller room has six-deckers with penetration of 75-80 percent. Great craps games. Great crews. Rating: * * ½ *HARRAH’S:
A slot palace but the blackjack games are far better now than during my last visit. If some of the Showboat crowd migrate here it should help improve their bottom line. Eight deck games with hitting of soft 17 throughout. Penetration of 70 percent – which is great for this place. Rating: * *RESORTS:
The place looks great. I still think they have to brighten the lighting in the casino but the place is clean and a nice casino in which to play. Blackjack games are decent; 75 percent penetration, eight decks with hitting soft 17. No one was in the high roller room when I checked this place out. It was a very early morning. Rating: * * ½ *REVEL:
The biggest white (silver) casino elephant ever. I played blackjack at their six-deck games where they stood on soft-17. The penetration was quite good. Every time I went into this place I knew it couldn’t last. You can’t run a casino with a handful of customers.SANDS:
I saw Sinatra and Dean Martin here. They even played in the casino. Those were the days. What did I learn at Sands? My second time playing blackjack as a basic strategy player I turned $5 into $500. I never increased my base bet. Would I have that luck now! I also lost my shirt using a Martingale system at roulette. For a while I used Sands as my base but then (as always) I screwed it up by playing there too much. I got the shuffle-after-every-hand treatment.SHOWBOAT:
Came here when it was a great table-games place. Played craps with the Captain and his Crew. Blackjack games were quite good. All the rooms were suites. The book to be written about this casino is titled: Life Under the Mississippi.TAJ MAHAL:
I hope this place hangs in there but I think even as you read this it might have closed. My last visit, mid-week, the place was deserted. I’ve always liked it but left when their craps tables became trampolines. Main floor eight-deck blackjack goes from good games with 80 percent penetration to poor games with 65 percent penetration. I guess it all depends on the dealer and the floor person working a particular pit. All games hit soft 17. High roller room gets some good action. They stand on soft 17. About 75-80 percent penetration. Rating: * * ½ *THE WORLD’S FAIR
(formerly Playboy Casino): Never played here. Trump owned it for a while. Are there any Playboy clubs anywhere anymore?TROPICANA:
They are gunning for big play. There are huge Asian crowds with more Asian games than I’ve seen elsewhere. It is a strong casino with plenty of good games. Eight deckers in main casino, all eight-decks, hitting soft 17, with 75-80 percent penetration. High roller room has six-deckers with 80 percent penetration, sometimes even better. Rating: * * *TRUMP PLAZA:
Won’t miss this dump. Had one of the most unpleasant experiences with a casino shift boss who got into my face while I was playing craps. The blackjack games used to be pretty good too.WILD WILD WEST
: I wonder if Bally’s is going to keep this joint open? When I last came here there were no table games. I will admit that was a few months ago. None of my reporters even bothered going here in the last couple of months. Oh, well.************************
Our Readers Report
If you wish to contribute your reports or observations, I need to receive them by the 18th of the month for the next month. Write to:
fscobe@optonline.netWe have many readers who send us their reports on various aspects of Atlantic City and we do have some that give us reports just about every month – so we have decided to give them the fame and glory (as opposed to "fortune and glory") of their own columns
You will note that our correspondents tend to have somewhat different views. Always it is up to you to decide which games you want to play by scouting them for yourselves.
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Frank,
You said it in one of your articles that the Boardwalk is empty during the weekdays. I feel like I am going to a funeral when I go to AC. I don’t think it can turn itself around. The Boardwalk Empire is over.
Bill
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Dear Frank,
Do card counters still go to Atlantic City? You can find much better games in Philadelphia but the drive there is too long for me. I see myself basically retiring from blackjack play, except for a trip now and then. I used to play a couple of times a week!
Davis
NEW BOOKS BY FRANK SCOBLETE
Inside the World of Advantage-Play Blackjack
by Frank Scoblete
They lived the life! Frank Scoblete and his wife the Beautiful A.P. were a devastating card counting team consistently beating the casinos in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, the Midwest and Mississippi.
Now Frank will share with you everything he knows about beating the casinos at blackjack, including techniques that only he and a few true pros know such as End Play, the Fat Finger Method, Card Counting, Celebrity Play and Card Grouping.
The heart of this book focuses on what it means to be an expert player. Enjoy Frank and A.P.’s amazing true story; a story of phenomenal skill, teamwork, casino intrigue, and fascinating characters and, yes, how the casino bosses angrily reacted to a couple who knew more about winning money than almost anyone who ever challenged a casino. You’ll see what happens when the casino bosses go after Frank and the Beautiful A.P.
You’ll also meet such greats as Ken Uston, Henry Tamburin, the Stickman, Fred Renzey, Howard Schwartz, Edna Luckman, John Gollehon, Marvin Karlins, Walter Thomason, Stanford Wong, the real Rain Man, Joanna W., Silas the Miser, the Wheat Germ Man, and first and foremost, you will meet the man Frank considers the World’s Greatest Blackjack Player ever!
Enjoy their ride and learn their secrets!
"Frank Scoblete has won much money from casinos in Las Vegas and elsewhere. This book describes how Frank and his wife cleaned up at blackjack by counting cards. Frank explains the details of how they did it, shares how they overcame the difficulties they encountered, and describes colorful characters they met along the way. Frank has a delightful way with words." – Stanford Wong, best-selling author of Professional Blackjack
"I've had the pleasure of working with some of the brightest minds and sharpest experts. Scoblete is in a class of his own." – Rob Wiser, managing editor, Casino Player magazine
"Frank Scoblete is an icon in this industry." – Catherine Jaeger, managing editor, Midwest Gaming & Travel magazine
"Frank Scoblete and the Beautiful A.P. are probably the standard for all husband/wife or couple blackjack teams. This book will blow your mind!" – Bill Burton, columnist About.com, Casino Player and Midwest Gaming and Travel
Available in the BJI store.
Bless me father for I have sinned. Confessions of a Wayward Catholic Confessions of a Wayward Catholic
"I love my husband but there is stuff in this book that is disgraceful and should never have been written!" – Alene Scoblete, wife
"Francis Scoblete has been a major sinner ever since he came to elementary school. I watched him closely at the dances." – Sister Jerome Blake, in charge of making sure girls and boys slow danced a foot apart.
"I don’t know why Jewish kids went to a Catholic school but I’m proud they did well in religion." – Chief Rabbi Sol Bernstein
"I believe that you should love your neighbor as yourself. Luckily, Frank lives in another town and is not my neighbor." – Jesus Christ
"Scoblete says I have no sense of humor. I will afflict him with boils and sores over his whole body, just like I did Job." – God
"Frank Scoblete has been wayward for over six decades. He’s my main man!" – Satan
Available from Amazon.com, your local bookstore and Kindle.
FREE for READERS OF THIS NEWSLETTER.
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