The following is a quote from the article in the link at the bottom.

"...the scheme involved Benward somehow convincing casino crews that he placed bets on winning numbers after the numbers had already come in.

One thing that interests me is the borderline between cheaters and advantage players. One breaks the rules, the other looks for any possible edge without going over the line into straight cheating.

Benward was a cheater. He did a verbal equivalent of past posting. ..."


     I've "very very seldom" observed a Bac player cheating. The few times I've witnessed this is by the cheater moving their official bet back toward them and into the winning spot. Typically, as the dealer started paying out to the opposite end of the table. 



https://www.techopedia.com/gambling/blog/winners-losers-las-vegas-black-book

Good morning to all.
I just returned from an overnight multi-day trip during the Labor-Day holiday weekend.
Brief highlights/lowlights below.

My town typically has a lot of festivities during this holiday. So to side step an extra 100,000 folks drinking/partying in my town I decided to take a 2.5 hour trek to a casino market that I typically only play during the week(daytime). Plus my wife was off work /wanted to travel somewhere.

I live in a casino market with casinos 5mins away and over 100 within a 3hour radius so rarely travel overnight with most play M-F, with occasional sat or sun early afternoon quick sessions.

Even when I play overnight in this market I general don't stay in any of their casino hotels. Mainly because I don't want to be obligated to any one cas just because they gave me free room/food. I typically just rent a hotel equi distance to all four (15mins or so to any of them). So that I can play as long or little at whichever I prefer/not be restricted. Plus I like to get out of the casino and give my brain a little rest from all the aural stimulation. Plus I meet some of the local players and generally play more at the casino we agree upon by consensus.

I also like the option should I want to eat a certain type of food. IMO most casino food is unhealthy (fast food, buffets,...etc), and during the week/ typical day-only trips I pack my ususal(Turkey sticks, cheese sticks,veggies, nuts, H2o). Often just snacking as I drive to different casinos. Time is money.   

I use an outside host for most all overnight casino trips. Same for this trip/ had him go ahead and book a comped room for the first night at the largest of the four casinos(Pottawatomie tribe-OKC,OK). Plus I have several Bac comrades that play here so joined them for several sessions.
Plus they have a really nice Brazil Steak House that my wife likes(& my host not only added the comped steak house but also added a $249 two hour spa pkg for my wife). The steak house is great food but I typically don't eat there as its simply too much food. Plus when playing during the day I prefer to not take time off from gaming to set in a restaurant for an hour,..etc.


The four casinos I play Bac in this market are small indian casinos with 1k and 2k Tmax(Most 1k) and though some may have three Bac tables typically only have one or two open in the morning(& some days never open all of them or only at night).

I played approximately six to seven shoes per day(some only partial)

Highlights: Longest of the common streaks was a Banker 9iar(ended shoe). 10iar P streak. 8iar 2x2(BBPP), 8 iar opps(BPB,...etc). 9iar 1x2(BppB..etc).

A few of our forum members that I play with on a regular basis know that I typically bet an aggressive pos progression and more likely to parlay+ and full press the initial hits into any identifiable streak pattern. Then set it aside , and reenter into a different streak later on.

However I treated the Banker 9iar above a little different once I was ahead greater than my most recent highest wager. It was near the end of the shoe and somewhere near the 4th or 5th B I was at table max as I think I entered on the 2nd B. So I went above Tmax (1800) as I capped the guy next to me for that extra 800 onto his 200. Then everyone (except two of us) colored up or scattered to another table.

I couldnt believe they would all leave a streak. Maybe they departed because it was near the end of the shoe. They were afraid of winning too much?? Who knows.

So I then had to regress back to the Tmax of 1k as they don't allow one to wager in a vacant  (One must cap another players bet on the same spot /have that player OK it). After regressing back to 1K I then started doing a -1% exponential regression til the shoe ended after the 9th B. I still did well but immediately was thinking: "I wish I was at Bellagios in Vegas or Beau Rivage in Biloxi,MS.

Oh well still a decent ROI from the shoe. Just last week had another good run and had to regress back instead of compounding upward at a similar low Tmax Cas. One never knows as I have also been on runs where the low Tmax actually kept me from pressing higher and locked in a nice ROI. This is more often the case(at least for me) as that hunt for  "one extra" hit can sometimes be costly.

The other player that stayed until the end was a 25ish Asian lady that I have played with in the Midwest on many occasions/at various other casinos. She typically wagers something like 100-200-100. However, I noted she went 100-200-400-400-600-1K to the end. She told me later she had won about 2k on earlier shoe.
She looks about 15yo and it was funny on the 9iar B run. She would put her wager on B and then ask me in her ESL accent: "Do you think B again"? I would say yes. She had a strong Asian accent and her English was sometimes not clear.
     She said afterwards: You have the holy grail(Or maybe she said you are the holy grail), as Im
     not 100% sure after translating,  . Ok I made up the last sentence.

Lowlights: Busted one 4K buyin on the trip. It was several days old and had produced some good profits. I seldom ever lose a whole buyin in any one shoe as I have some cut offs that after a certain number of failed guesses I either bet into a different pattern or just stop and assess. Meaning I don't chase losses on one pattern Im guessing wrong. So this busted buyin was across several shoes as I would almost get buyin built back to even and draw down again,...etc. My hit rate was above-average on the shoe that I busted on. However, I seemed to fail on getting that 3rd press to go four or the four iar press would fail on the 5th attempt.


I will edit and maybe add other thoughts later today or on weekend. Im tired after 5-day trip plus my wife gave me a long list of "stuff u need to do" today.




Continued Success To All,

I like Red Rock. This is an interesting marketing approach. Though it doesn't appeal to me I do wish them well.

https://www.casino.com/news/las-vegas/red-rock-resorts-is-all-set-to-enter-the-tavern-gaming-business/

Casino Heists

USA is currently doing a "Vote for your top casino players club".
This contest is active until 8/26. After that just state your favorite players club and why.
Thx in advance.

The usa today voting link is below. You may need to refresh the link as the link below is after I voted today. We are allowed one vote per day I believe.
I am being bombarded with emails from many of the Players Clubs asking for my vote(Especially CET), as CET sends me 2-3 emails per day. So far I have voted for Pearls Rewards(Scarlet Pearl Cas) and MGM the same number of times.

https://10best.usatoday.com/awards/travel/best-players-club-2024/

This is good news for the "show-me-state" and bordering states that havn't yet passed legislation to allow sports betting.
I suspect bordering states are rapidly pursuing this as well(They don't want to lose gambling $s) to online/other states SB betting portals.

I've noticed several casinos in nearby (Ks, Ok, Ar) have recently added or remodeled sections of their casino pubs to accommodate the expected passage of said legislation.

SportsBetting in Mizzou



Continued Success,

?Should Baccarat Be An Olympic Sport?

     I will make a proposal to the IOC(International Olympic Committee).

For a variety of reasons I have not watched the paris olympics. Partly due to the (6 hrs) time difference. Partly due to not understanding some of the "sports".

However, I have watched some youtube et al channels replays for some of the highlights.
Cole Hocker winning the 1500M was impressive. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone was impressive and she seems like a class act. Femke Bol has been impressive(Her slogan could be: "If your not Dutch your not much"). The Cuban wrestler (M. Lopez) winning 5 consec olympic Gold medals /then retiring by leaving his shoes on the mat was great. I think he is 41 or so. Impressive for an old guy.

As I skimmed through the channels trying to find certain highlights from the previous days results I ran across some sports being shown I've never seen(or heard of until now).


Womens Breaking ??
I don't know what this is. Not sure on how one would qualify. Im guessing not all countries offer this sport.

Boulder and Lead??
I don't know what this is. I didn't see this sport but saw the event name and pondered what this entails. Maybe players seeing who can heave a rock-boulder or ball of lead the farthest??

Syncronized Drowning??
Im not 100% sure on the objective here. I scanned through the channels and paused a second at this event being shown. I saw two feet sticking up out of the water.(All one could see were toes, feet, ankles, and calves). Im guessing the athlete was upside down. It appeared the toes and feet were moving to music. My highschool and college didn't offer this sport.

Several other "sports" that I didn't see. However, based on the name alone Im not sure how a score was determined and how we would decide the winner or loser.


?Should Baccarat Be An Olympic Sport?
     So obviously my proposal for Bac to be offered as an olympic sport is not too far fetched.
My initial thoughts would be to do it "Midi" style. This way it could be shown like the hours of WSOP on TV is now. The cameras could show us bending the edge of the card corner. The cameras could show our chip totals/ maybe first card for each side,...etc. Maybe show the players anticipation awaiting our 3rd card draw. They could show each players height and weight and favorite food,...etc. Im just brain storming at this point.

My only concern is that if the IOC does indeed accept my proposal for Bac. Then, this would leave it open for other sports such as Spelling Bees.
I think ESPN already shows this sport on all their sports channels. I could just see some 5th grade girl from India making it to the finals against me/ talking smack. I would demand the IOC make her first word: Bakaratte.



Continued Success,

It looks like AC Brick/Mortar cas win in June 2024 was up 1 percent compared with June 2023.

??Could AC be making a comeback??? LOL.

Unfortunately for most of AC they are simply doing the TunicaTwoStep. Both gambling locations have an uphill battle IMO.

Re: AC, too much competition from the NY et al east coast casinos. Historically poor management/ not protecting market share.

Re: Tunica, similar problems with competition from Indian casinos in Oklahoma and recent legislation permitting cas in nearby Arkansas.

Just my opinions and I wish them well as I dislike seeing any business go under. Even when it is partially self induced.
_____________________________________________________________
AC June, 2024

Table and slot win:

Bally's up 9 pct compared to 6/23
Borgata up 6.2 pct compared to 6/23
Caesars down 11.1 pct compared to 6/23
GN up 5.9 pct compared to 6/23
Hard Rock up 11.8 pct compared to 6/23
Harrah's down 15.5 pct compared to 6/23
Ocean down 4 pct compared to 6/23
Resorts down 2 pct compared to 6/23
Trop down 4 pct compared to 6/23

Ranked in order of table/slot revenue, June 2024, millions: Borg (64.3), HR (48.4), Ocean (33.5), Trop (20.2), Caesars (19), Harrah's (17.7), Resorts (14.9), Bally's (13.5), GN (12.5)

Internet gaming revenue: 6/24 (186.8 mill), 6/23 (149.3 mill)
NJ sports betting revenue: 6/24 (60.1 mill), 6/23 (66.3 mill)




Continued Success To All,

Caesar's announced a few days ago that they have reached an agreement to sell the WSOP brand to NSUS group owners of GG Poker for $500 million. Caesar's retains the right to host the WSOP for 20 years at their casinos.

Any thoughts??

https://newsroom.caesars.com/press-releases/press-release-details/2024/Caesars-Entertainment-Agrees-to-Sell-World-Series-of-Poker-Brand-to-NSUS-Group-for-US500-million/default.aspx?utm_source=awin&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=AM_brand&utm_term=771467-Shoreline+Design&sv1=affiliate&sv_campaign_id=771467&awc=6145_1722650946_2835d31d7ccc3424160fb12022d65c40&utm_content=publisherLink

Considering potential for Advantage Play and Edgewise, which is better and why?

Baccarat (P or B), Craps Line Bets(Pass or don't), BlackJack BasicStrategy?

 
Obviously all low house edge/ SD is comparable.

re: Baccarat, with a H.E. just over 1%.
Though according to many book authors supposedly card counting/ sequence counting, et al approaches,...etc doesn't improve ones probability of success.

re: Blackjack--I probably haven't played a hand since my freshman year in college (Single deck @ $1),  so no opinion/ no expertise. Though allegedly some players can get an edge with Basic Strategy w optimal play. However, casinos frequently sell little laminated cards in their gift shops with  Basic Strategy. Therefore, I am hesitant to think that approach is a concern for the casino.

re: Craps Line Bets(P or D). I've played line bets and agree they are low H.E. and low SD. However, I don't know all the other wagers. Though, I do know they are significantly higher H.E. vs Line Bets.



Q: Which is better and why?



Thx in advance,

Note in the following link below:

Pg. 3 NOTE the significant drop in Hold% for Bac starting in 2004.? Any thoughts as to why the hold % dropped from approx 18%--21% from 1992--2003, then a huge drop to mostly 11-12% from 2004--2023.
* My thinking was that maybe the increase in EZ Bac tables vs the old-school "Big Table". I don't know as just thinking out loud. There has to be some major change in the game for that to occur. Maybe just variance??

Any thoughts or theories??


NevadaTablesHold%


Thanks/credit to the UNLV Center For Gaming Research

Where to Play Baccarat in Las Vegas for 2024

Baccarat is the most popular table game according to a 2024 Las Vegas Table Games Survey in terms of the number of installations.

Best Las Vegas baccarat casinos
Baccarat is dealt at 25 Las Vegas Strip casinos. It is also available at four downtown casinos and 15 off-strip and locals ones. The low limit games tend to be in the locals market. Downtown and Las Vegas Strip casinos often have higher minimum bets for it.

Minimum bets on the Las Vegas Strip
On the Las Vegas Strip, minimums range from $15 to $100. The following casinos deal baccarat on the Strip.

Aria
Bellagio
Caesars Palace
Cosmopolitan
Cromwell
Encore
Flamingo
Fontainebleau
Harrah's
Horseshoe
Luxor
Mandalay Bay
MGM Grand
Mirage
Palazzo
Paris
Park MGM
Planet Hollywood
Resorts World
Sahara
The Strat
Treasure Island
Venetian
Wynn

Minimum bets for downtown Las Vegas baccarat
The minimums in downtown Las Vegas range from $10 to $100. It can be found at four casinos downtown.

Circa
El Cortez
Golden Nugget
The D

Minimum bets at off-strip and locals casinos
Live baccarat minimums also range from $10 to $100 at locals and off-strip casinos.

Boulder Station
Durango
Gold Coast
Green Valley Ranch
M Resort
Mohegan
Orleans
Palace Station
Palms
Rampart
Red Rock
Rio
Santa Fe Station
South Point
Westgate

_________________________________________________________________
Stadium baccarat

Some Las Vegas Strip casinos also deal stadium baccarat. These gaming platforms/devices have dozens of seats with a video screen. A dealer in the center handles the cards for all players. There may be multiple hands running at the same time.

I also know that Gold Coast and some Station Casinos properties also have stadium baccarat. This includes Palace Station, which offers four games at once on its Dynasty Stadium.

The Las Vegas electronic table games(ETG) can be sorted into three different categories: heads-up, stadium, and multiplayer.

My preference is the Stadium or the multiplayer. Im not a fan of the "heads-up" version as many casinos in the Midwest, USA are offering this type of game.
I much prefer the live dealer Stadium setup where we can select between >= two or four live dealer games in real time.

Re: All forms of electronic table games. There are at least sixty-nine Las Vegas area properties that have at least one version. However, this does not include every casino with electronic table games. Many smaller locals casinos also offer ETGs.

The following have at least one form of ETG <=4/24.

Las Vegas areas
Downtown Las Vegas
Binion's
California
Circa
Downtown Grand
El Cortez
Fremont
Golden Gate
Golden Nugget
Main Street Station
Plaza
The D

Las Vegas Strip
Aria
Bellagio
Caesars Palace
Casino Royale
Circus Circus
Cosmopolitan
Cromwell
Encore
Excalibur
Flamingo
Fontainebleau
Harrah's
Horseshoe
Linq
Luxor
Mandalay Bay
MGM Grand
Mirage (Hard Rock)
New York-New York
O'Sheas
Palazzo
Paris
Park MGM
Planet Hollywood
Resorts World
Sahara
Slots A Fun
The Strat
Treasure Island
Tropicana
Venetian
Wynn
Locals and off-strip casinos
Aliante
Boulder Station
Cannery
Durango
Ellis Island
Gold Coast
Green Valley Ranch
M Resort
Mohegan
Ojos Locos
Orleans
Oyo
Palace Station
Palms
Red Rock
Rio
Sam's Town
Santa Fe Station
Silver Sevens
Silverton
South Point
Suncoast
Sunset Station
Tuscany
Westgate
Wildfire Rancho


Credit in part to Kristina Mehaffey,Advantage Media


Continued Success,

It may seem like triple zero roulette has taken over Las Vegas. There are almost 100 triple zero tables in the market these days and over 200 double zero ones. However, there are a few Las Vegas casinos that deal single zero roulette. April,2024 there are 29 tables in vegas. That is just 8% of the total roulette tables in the Las Vegas market. There are over three times more triple zero wheels.
     *Im guessing the same folks that play the "Big Wheel" are also visiting the 000 roulette
      wheel. Just an opinion by KungFuBac.

There are two types of Las Vegas single zero roulette. One is called European Roulette. It uses a single zero wheel and adds several bets that are not available on most other roulette felts. The big rule change in European Roulette is that the player only loses half their bet on even money wagers like red, black, odd, even, high, and low when the ball lands on zero. This is called la partage.

The other type of single zero roulette in Las Vegas is the traditional one. Every bet on the felt has the same payout as it would on a double or triple zero wheel.

The house edge in single zero roulette is 2.7%. It drops to 1.35% in European Roulette for bets that qualify under the la partage rule.

Cheapest Las Vegas single zero roulette
Plaza offers the cheapest single zero roulette game in Las Vegas. It starts at $15. The minimum bet sometimes goes up to $25 during busy hours. It is the first table game you see when entering Plaza from Main Street. Plaza's single zero roulette opens daily at night. It is sometimes available during the day.

Las Vegas locals casinos with single zero roulette
There are three Las Vegas local casinos with single zero roulette. It is available at Durango, Red Rock Resort, and Green Valley Ranch. The minimum bet is $200 at Durnago and Red Rock and $50 at Green Valley Ranch. The game may drop to $100 during the slowest hours at Durango and Red Rock.

All three Station Casinos have traditional single zero tables. La partage is not available.

Most other roulette at locals casinos is double zero. There are three triple zero tables in the locals market. 

Las Vegas Strip casinos with single zero roulette
All remaining single zero roulette tables in the market are on the Las Vegas Strip. All are in high limit salons.

The limits below are what we found during the slowest hours in our last Las Vegas table game survey. These limits are likely to be higher at night and on weekends. Some of these tables are only open on busy shifts.

$50 European Roulette
Treasure Island (often closed, may need reservations)

$100 European Roulette
Aria
Cosmopolitan
Fontainebleau
Mandalay Bay (limited hours)
Mirage
Park MGM
Resorts World

$200 to $500 European Roulette
Bellagio
Encore
MGM Grand
Wynn


$100 single zero roulette
These tables have single zero wheels but do not offer la partage.

Caesars Palace
Palazzo ($50 when slow)
Venetian $50 when slow)
Single zero roulette payouts
Payouts on single zero roulette tables are the same as ones with two or three zeros. It is impossible to bet more than one zero at single zero or European Roulette. There is also no basket bet.


 
Special thanks goes out to John Mehaffey, Advantage Media.


Continued Success,

The link to full article is at the bottom. It would be interesting to know where they placed the cutoff for "high-roller". Also, how do "high-rollers" compare with "non high-rollers."

"...Baccarat didn't just perform well in isolated months, it also performed admirably when looking at the Strip's gaming total for 2023. There was a 10.6% increase in table game revenue to $4.1 billion and high-end baccarat accounted for $1.5 billion of this.

This was the Strip's third-highest yearly total ever for baccarat, close to 30% more than in 2022. More than $8.8 billion was bet on baccarat, which was a 13.5% increase from 2022. Furthermore, Strip casinos won a total of 16.6% of baccarat bets, the most they have done in the last two decades.  ..."


https://www.baccarat.net/news/las-vegas-strip-benefit-from-increase-in-baccarat-high-rollers/

Personally, I'm partial to Bellagio's. First class atmoshphere along with well trained professional staff.
The ranking IMO is reasonable and justified. I've played many times at all (except Aria). I seldom play at Aria but hear good things from locals, so I don't have an informed opinion.

Red Rock is nice, clean, and a quiet atmosphere. I don't play there very often.

Any and all opinions are welcomed.


https://www.gambleonline.co/casino/land-based/las-vegas/baccarat/

https://www.casino.org/news/baccarat-drives-performance-select-strip-casinos/

Merry Christmas to all.

May the wind always be at your back throughout the new year.





Continued Success,

Dragon Tiger or Baccarat – Which Offers Bigger Winnings?

Baccarat Lucky Six

Little-Known Yet Fascinating Baccarat Statistics

https://www.express.co.uk/travel/articles/1840945/world-smallest-country-Las-Vegas-Macau

2 Vegas dealers accused of collaboration w players

I typically don't play Bac on Sunday. However, a bac comrade asked I travel with him to check out a new Bac Version: 3 Dice Bac by Galaxy Gaming. The design and rules are as follows:

Three dice are placed in a cup for each side Player and Banker.
Each cup has a clear lid. The dealer shakes each cup and flips the cup upside down in front of the players and raises the cup upward from the lid exposing the three dice with the top of each die(3) totaling the respective scores.
The totals are calculated like cards(e.g., 3 Die total of 12 would result in that sides' score being 2)

*Commission Free
     *Push on a win with totals = 3-0( for both sides).
*No drawing rules
*Several bonus wagers such as any 3-0 win, with payout of 35-0. So players could hedge on the above push if one desires.
*My research indicates that some casinos will allow the players to shake the cup. Though the casino I played did not allow players to shake the cup.
 
My Questions:
Anybody played this version?
What is the house edge for the 3-0 Push?
Addendum thoughts and suggestions?


Thanks in advance,kfb

From Billy Walters, the world's greatest and most successful sports gambler.

A great read with several applications to other types of gambling. Thanks to forum alum AsymBacGuy for recommending this book. I purchased a couple weeks after its release and concur with Asym's opinion.

Gambler Secrets from a Life at Risk(Billy Walters,2023)



Continued Success,

I've probably spent >40,000 minutes studying Bac(And Still Learning).


https://www.caesars.com/casino-gaming-blog/latest-posts/table-games/baccarat/how-to-play-baccarat?awc=21867_1695478186_0eb33a61d4dcc39c0d1c7ad208ad5a23&sn=1&utm_source=awin&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=AFF_show&utm_term=407399-Wildfire+Systems%2C+Inc.