Silver Moon Casino
Avenue La Marina (2400 block)
San Migel

Bringing Blackjack to the masses!

Hello. RT here.

I wandered in here, just expecting to see another endless football field with slot machines. Well, I was wrong.

Smack dab in the middle of the slots were three tables with dealers standing in front of them, and people sitting on chairs gambling.

Jackpot! Er, Blackjack!

But not just bblackjack, but a computer-human mix of blackjack. The players are human, the dealer is human, the chips are real, but the cards are dealt on a TV screen at each seat from a computer shoe.

The shoe empties and they cards 're-mix' every so often. They ask you to cut.

All the regular rules of blackjack apply, including surrender.

Now here's the kick: The table I sat at had a 3 Sol minimum -- less tha $1 (most casinos play in dollars and the minimum is $3). I figured that the other tables were higher stakes. Wrong again. The other tables were 2-Sol and 1-Sol minimums.

So now, anyone with 31 cents can play blackjack! How democratic! And the dealer spoke English, the rarest of rarities in Lima.

RT

RT,

This human/computer blackjack sounds interesting. Does the human dealer work off of your hand signals or do you touch an interactive screen for hit, stand, draw, split, insurance, surrender etc?

RT here.

Good question. I just got back from more research into this new phenomenon. You (the player) do nothing differently than if there were live cards. You give hand signals for everything. This casino was a little more lienent than some around here in that they would take a head shake for stand. Most of the places here want you to tell them 'no card' even if you have a 19 or a 20. Also, the machine doesn't know how much you've bet, because you're dealing with chips.

When you indicate a hit, the 'dealer' pushes a button to tell the machine to deal.

I got beat today. The house had fantastic luck. I keep going back and forth on is it fixed or not. I vote no, just because you t you can't be sure.

RT, I have logged in every day to hear about your journey. I think it is not fixed. Just dumb luck as in most gambling. But what about the girls? Any new insights? :-) I'll be there in 4 weeks and any new info is greatly appreciated my friend.

Thanks. I took Angie there on Sunday (OK, I saw her for one day), and she wouldn't double down because she didn't trust the computer. Me, I lost. She, she won 5 Soles ($1.55), so what do I know?

No trip report this time, but I have a lot of dribs and drabs to add to various threads (restaurants, free-lancers, banos turkos, etc.)

I am head-first back into work, so I may not get to it until the beginning of next week.

RT

RT,

more questions.

how many decks in the computer shoe?

if they ask the player to cut, how does one cut an electronic shoe? tap a screen.

i've played blackjack at video slot machines and i've seen a large video black jack table with multiple players, but this combination definitely sounds interesting.

i agree about the concerns with foul play, but the house has the edge already. because the odds favors them slightly they always win in the long run. JMHO

put it this way, when they unexpectedly lose money consistently they are the ones thinking foul play.

how many decks in the computer shoe?

Don't know for sure, but I would guess six (no more than 8). The 'dealing' happened reather quickly.


if they ask the player to cut, how does one cut an electronic shoe? tap a screen.

The player indicates to the dealer with a tap, and the dealer hits a button.


i've played blackjack at video slot machines and i've seen a large video black jack table with multiple players, but this combination definitely sounds interesting.

It's more interesting, just because you 'feel' like you're playing, what with the chips and all. It's faster than those multi-player games with the dealer on a big screen, and less annoying.

After playing the last time, my feeling is that I would only play there if a)I was in the area, b)I couldn't afford to play for dollars, c)I really 'needed' to play in the daytime (the tables open at 6pm at most casinos there), or d)I was paying for someone else to gamble and wanted to limit my exposure.


i agree about the concerns with foul play, but the house has the edge already. because the odds favors them slightly they always win in the long run. JMHO

put it this way, when they unexpectedly lose money consistently they are the ones thinking foul play.

I agree. It just pisses me off when the house has a five showing, and then rolls a King and then hits a six. Twice.

I agree. It just pisses me off when the house has a five showing, and then rolls a King and then hits a six. Twice.

I've seen that happen enough times with regular decks and shoes. Especially after heavy splits and double downs.

All this talk about BJ (black jack, not blow jobs) makes me smile. I used to be a regular player 2 or 3 times a month in Reno. I was a card counter and had a good run until the casinos starting kicking me out. There is nothing worse than being a counter, knowing the odds, seeing a deck loaded with tens, drawing a paid of tens against a dealer's 16 and then watching her hit it with a 5. You want to scream to the Gods of BJ about how cruel they are.

TF,

You must of been a exceptional counter to be kicked out of the casinos. I read that book "bringing down the house". It was cool.