Kurt's Thoughts

I was just at New York New York in Las Vegas last week and I read an article online that hailed 6:5 Blackjack as the single worst thing to exist Las Vegas in 2007.  It rang so true that it inspired me.

DEAR NEW YORK NEW YORK:
I can’t say that I’ll be playing at your casino in the future.

Upon visiting your casino this past week it’s become readily apparent over my few past visits (and stays at you hotel) that you folk intend on squeezing the life out of Blackjack at your casino with your too-many-to-count 6:5 tables.

USED CAR SALESMEN
Paying 6 to 5 to patrons for receiving natural 21s is downright deceptive and the fact that your tables are not well labeled makes this practice even more horrid.  Your hotel’s overly aggressive usage of 6:5 blackjack tables places you in the realm of used car salesmen and boiler room telesales callers. 

It’s frankly almost a ‘bait & switch’ practice preying on the ignorance of the population:  It’s the same thing as a riding the hype behind a popular Dodge automobile and having a car salesman sell a 4 cylinder Hyundai that looks like 6 cylinder Dodge… and implying that ‘it’s all the same thing’ to unsuspecting buyers.

JUST PLAIN DISINGENUOUS
I understand that you’re a business and exist to make money – Lord knows, I’m a salesperson and no one understands this as much as I do.  But corporations generally also have character and ethics policies, and while Las Vegas isn’t known for it’s ethics, I think your prominent usage of 6:5 blackjack in tandem with your lackluster labeling of these tables says a lot about your hotel and MGM Mirage as a whole.

Basically it comes down to this:  In order to bleed your patrons dry more quickly, you’re willing to quietly & disingenuously change the odds of the game in a dramatic & substantial way – in your favor – and depend on people’s ignorance of the impact of your actions.  And that’s pretty sad.

THE NOOB TABLES
The only people that willing play at 6:5 blackjack tables are… well… NOOBs:  People that simply don’t know any better.  People that are uneducated and ignorant enough that they don’t understand what it is that you’ve done.  People on vacation with their defenses down that have an expectation of fairness.

People that you take advantage of. 

It saddens me to say this too because I love eating at Sirrico’s Pizza after a couple hours at the tables at NYNY – win or lose.  It’s like a ritual for me.  And it’s better than eating at the Venetian’s food court after a night of play.  But no more.  I’d rather play the Venetian’s crummy double deck blackjack than your 6:5 tables.