Here’s an update from our Vegas blackjack insider, Charlie..

“The games of blackjack at the RIO were just OK.  They played a lot of 6 deck games with good rules and many one deck games with poor rules.  The one deck games paid 6 to 5 for a players blackjack and there was no doubling after splitting.  They did have two double deck games that were very good with a good cut (meaning good penetration always past 5/8ths of the double deck.  I won pretty easily in this game.  The only problem I had was getting a credit line.  I applied for credit early in the morning and didn’t get it approved until about 6 PM.  I think it was because my Merrill Lynch account stopped using Bank One and started using J.P. Morgan Chase…”

“I also played at the Bellagio and the game there is great with the same rules as the Rio in the double deck game.  A strange thing happened at the Bellagio when I asked for a marker for the same amount as a player to my left.  We left the game at approximately the same time.  He won and I lost.  In Vegas you usually pay off your marker at the table (different from AC where you pay the marker off at the cage).  The pit boss made a mistake and gave the player next to me my marker instead of his.  He immediately ripped it up and when the pit realized what they did, they tried to find me.  They didn’t know where I was staying so if I never returned I would have never had to pay off the marker.  I did go back, however, so they immediately told me about their mistake.  I naturally agreed to signing another marker and that made them very happy.  They told me that this happened before and they ran into players that were not so agreeable.  I asked them what they would have done if I didn’t come back to the table and they said they would just wait for me to come back some day and they were not going to call me at home. They were very embarrassed, but it turned out well.  By the way I won more than the value of the marker when I played the second time.”

…Until next time…