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Skilled Blackjack player tells his story.
----- Original Message -----
From: "White Knight" Zugszwang@bigpond.com
Sent: Monday, August 05, 2002 4:14 PM
Subject: Packer the Untouchable
This story begins a couple of years ago. CC is a law-abiding citizen of Melbourne.
He enjoys visiting the huge new Crown Casino, opened recently with much fanfare
by the government of the day. He has been promised the chance of winning riches
and having fun in the process.
His game of choice is Blackjack, because it is recognised as a game of skill
by everyone, including the casino. CC plays competition chess and enjoys a bit
of a gamble. Over a period of two years CC loses around $25,000 playing Blackjack
and doesn't really understand why.
CC has a brother who is a mathematics teacher, so he has a chat with him. Apparently
Blackjack can be beaten if you play the correct strategy and count cards. There
is nothing illegal about it as long as you don't use any electronic device.
The advantage is very slim and requires loads of practice, perseverance and
dedication. CC is a very determined character so he stops going to the casino
and starts to save his money. In between working he reads everything ever written
on the subject of Blackjack advantage play. He memorises cross-tables and practices
card counting until it is as easy as reading. After 3 months he is ready for
a triumphant return.
The real life conditions of Blackjack in a casino with its many distractions
make things difficult for CC. It takes a further 3
months of practice before he can confidently keep up with the speed of the dealer
and mentally block out the surrounding noise and movement. It also seems that
whenever he raises his bet in a theoretically advantageous situation, the dealer
pulls a 21 to blow him away. He refuses to become discouraged and returns to
the firing line time and time again. Eventually he starts to have a few wins
and his graphed results begin to have an upward trend. His records show that
he wins 6/11 sessions, hardly setting the world alight, but probably to be expected
with a less than one percent advantage.
Then, over time, he notices something unexpected and peculiar. Shift Supervisors
and Pit Bosses who were once friendly towards him now look at him with suspicion
and are very short in conversation. Whenever he moves to a new table the phone
seems to ring. Dealers seem to be changed more regularly than before, which
upsets his counting rhythm a little. CC wonders if it is his imagination or
is there something to these observations? He has read a little about 'heat'
from casino personnel, but doesn't think it would extend to relatively small
fry like himself!
CC continues to visit the casino regularly and play Blackjack. He enjoys the
mental challenge of making quick calculations and winning a little more than
losing. He feels sorry for all the other people losing their weekly pay packets,
savings and homes, but occasionally he finds another skillful player who plays
in a similar manner and they have a chat. This goes on for another 6 months.
One day CC goes to the casino as usual. He passes by the huge stairway upon
which the Premier had stood cutting the red ribbon a few years previously. He
remembers how an invitation to all members of the community had been made on
that day. CC looks for an empty spot at a Blackjack table. Suddenly a group
of intimidating black-suited security men appear from nowhere. A tall man in
a grey suit is with them as they surround CC. He announces himself as the manager
of Crown Casino. He informs CC in much the way a policeman would read someone
their rights that he is being restricted in his Blackjack play. He is allowed
to bet the table minimum only and if found to be breaching this condition might
be excluded from the casino. CC is given a letter to this effect. Everyone who
witnesses this event assumes CC is some type of criminal.
CC is rightly stunned. He knows that the condition effectively means that he
cannot play Blackjack with a long term advantage any more. The implications
are that you are not allowed to win at the casino full stop! Is this right?
Surely not! He goes home and begins some investigation. Through friends he discovers
another chessplayer who has been restricted at Blackjack. After time he talks
to 5 or 6 people in a similar situation and they tell him that nothing can be
done. Not believing them for a minute, CC decides to write to the Victorian
Casino and Gaming Authority (VCGA). After a month, the VCGA reply, stating that
Crown Casino have acted within their rights and nothing will be done.
Next CC decides that he will try an action through the Equal Opportunity Commission.
After several more months it is decided that there is no 'attribute' (sex, race,
religion, etc.) being discriminated against and the action is thrown out. Not
yet discouraged CC writes to the ACCC, the Gaming Minister, the Premier and
anyone else he thinks will listen.
In the meantime he decides to test the casino's resolve and ignores the restriction.
He believes it is his moral duty to do so. After a couple of warnings, CC gets
'side-roomed' and told that if he ever sets foot on any of the casino's property
again (casino, restaurants, cinema, night-clubs, car-park, etc) he will be arrested
for trespass. CC decides to spend a couple of weeks across the road from the
casino handing out information to passers-by. He continues to send out letters.
Finally the VCGA decides to hold an inquiry into the rules of Blackjack which
allow discrimination against skilled players. The public is invited to make
submissions to the inquiry and a public meeting is even suggested. CC and many
other restricted and banned players put forward their ideas to suggest a compromise
position. After all, they recognise that a 'Whale' with a huge bankroll could
conceivably dent a casino's profits in the long-run. The card counters' position
is well thought out and reasonable, but after almost a years deliberation, the
VCGA decides to side absolutely with the casino. No changes to the rules
will be made.
I am CC. I am the writer of the help-for-gamblers website www.whiteknightblackjack.com
and I am looking for any legal avenue to challenge the rich casino owners of
this country. Guaranteed, if I was a sports star or otherwise famous person
instead of a nobody, I would not have received this unjust and humiliating treatment.
Packer and others make billions from the
misery of others and it is a little known fact that they do not let anybody
win, despite advertising to the contrary!
Regards,
'CC'.
0408 306 063
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