Wednesday, April 18, 2007

2007 Trip Three

A new country. Some other professionals went here some years ago before conditions deteriorated, and on the basis that these things are cyclical I thought it was time to check if the situation had improved. I went to the first casino a few hours after my arrival. I show ID and register as a member and am in the process of checking my jacket when I am called back and asked if I am on a blacklist. Oh dear. This is the first I’ve known of this. The receptionist calls the manager who comes down and tells me I cannot be admitted due to the fact my name has been flagged. I ask him why I’m on the list, and who put me on it but he says he does not have that information. This has never happened to me before:barred at a casino I 've never been to, which doesn’t belong to a group at whose casinos Ive previously played, in a country in which I’ve never set foot before. I go back to my hotel to think about this and get some sleep.

After dinner I walk to the next casino, with a similar result. They in fact know I’ve already been turned away from the other one and from this and some of the notices on the wall which bear a similarity to the other establishment, I deduce that they are of the same group. This other manager confirms this. I ask again where the blacklisting originated and he doesn’t know but says they get information from various countries and mentions the two countries specifically. I have played both of these countries in the past but I seriously doubt that it could be either as it’s a long time since I played under my own name in either place. He doesn’t tell me any other countries that may subscribe to the database that supplied my name. It’s not a pleasant realisation that you are on an international blacklist somewhere. I have a suspicion that it could be the place I played in trip or possibly a casino I was barred from exceedingly quickly, being told that I was now “On the blacklist”. At the time I just presumed this meant on their computer records rather than on a list shared internationally, but now that comment has taken on a rather more sinister aspect.

Oh well, 2 down, one left. I get in without incident, hooray! The game is pretty good too, although it’s only a small place so despite the fairly large maximum on the blackjack table they may sweat the action a bit. I only play long enough to ascertain the rules and see a variety of cuts by the dealers. They are open 24 hours so I’ll catch up on my sleep and get in early tomorrow.

Day two

What a beautiful day. The sun is shining and it’s pleasant to be out in it. I enter the casino mid-afternoon. The cut starts at 1.5 decks from 6 but I get attention on my first big bets. I win only a few hundred but the scrutiny is apparent. I have a good shoe a some time later and get a little further ahead. The dealer has changed by now and the cut with her began at 1.75 and now goes out to 2 decks, as she looks to her pit boss for confirmation. 90 minutes in and we are now at 2.5. I have another good shoe to put me nearly $2000 up. Next shoe the cut is 3 decks. If it stays there from now on I’ll probably stick around for another day or two then go to a neighbouring country where I know I can get a better game. This thought doesnt last long however. The first shoe at a 3 deck cut goes positive very early on and I’m betting big almost from the beginning. I think to myself that this may convince the management that I’m not counting cards since it has occurred just as they’ve given me half a shoe to prevent me from gaining an advantage. The count keeps going up and I rue the fact that the count is unlikely to come in and that the biggest count of the afternoon comes just after they have cut 3 decks. I start losing the hands as the count keeps on rising, but then I rally and although the shoe still ends with a large positive count I actually make a few hundred on the shoe. I hope this may show the management that I’m not bothered by the amount of cards cut out, but their paranoia is such that my betting on the last shoe has only served to panic them further. The cut is now 3.5 decks. I decide to play out this shoe and then leave. Perhaps they’ll be more tolerant on a later shift. As it happens, the count goes negative after about 2 decks and I leave then, wondering if they’ll let me back in.

After dinner I go back, half expecting to be told I’ve been barred. Some places prefer not to bar you at the table, perhaps fearing a scene, but will bar you on the way out or simply not let you enter on your next visit. This latter scenario is the one I find. The receptionist has obviously been told to look out for me as she doesn’t even take my membership card from me, simply telling me that I can’t go in. On the move tomorrow then.

Day Three

A last minute decision sees me getting off the train several stops early in order to check out the game in a town I didn’t know the train passed through when I bought my ticket. I may as well see what's here. I’ve been told it’s playable though not brilliant. It does however mean a shorter journey than my original intended destination and I can move on again other previously unvisited towns should I decide to do so or continue on to the place I had first decided upon. Unfortunately, of the two casinos I thought were playable in this town today, one has worse rules than I’d been told and the other one is closed for refitting.

Day Four

I decide to double back on myself to go to another of the towns the train passed through yesterday, making it my third country in three days. By contrast to the previous town, the information I had been given was not encouraging but that was over 18 months ago. Much can change in this time, a new rule or even a new casino. The first one I check out has fairly standard rules but the shuffle is trackable. The other game in town is of no interest. I find a hotel and check in.

Day Five

I start playing big straight away. I’m losing but hitting enough big cards to justify staying here. They don’t seem to phased by the big bets. Naturally, it helps that I’m losing but then I hit a nice run and finish for dinner nearly even. I thought they had started to give me a worse cut but it appears that it can vary with the particular dealer. There’s one guy who looks like he suspects me of something and cuts a lot out. This does not affect my game but unfortunately his shuffle if very meticulous as well so he is completely unplayable. I lose some after dinner but not a lot.

Day Six

Sometimes it can be very frustrating with shuffle tracking. At least with counting you know with any dealer immediately if you have a decent game as it’s governed by the rules and the cut. With certain shuffles it depends on how sloppy the dealer is . This being the case you have to assess every dealer which can be time consuming. I keep getting borderline dealers or worse at the beginning and do not hit the big cards the way I need to. Then I get two consecutive dealers who are very profitable and I come back. After dinner I get some decent dealers butdon't get lucky. Now the casino is getting busy and I’m tired so I leave. I’ve not put in much potential profit today due to the barren period after dinner but I still think the game is worth playing. I feel I’ve been slightly unlucky with the way the cards have come out and perhaps it is a case of being absolutely ruthless with which dealers I play.

Hand of the day: 2 x $200: I get 17 and A-A. The aces are split. Picture, ace. Fortunately they allow aces to be resplit here. Another ace and a nine. Split again: 5, ace. They allow unlimited resplits so I keep on going: ace, 9. Amazing. Again: 4, ace. Wow. Again: 9, picture. I have split the aces six times and my wager has grown from $400 to $1,600. So far so good, as well as the 17 I now have two stiffs , three twenties and two twenty-ones. Dealer has a five and draws: 5………9. I lose 3 hands and win the other five. After all that splitting I end up winning the equivalent of my original bet.



Day Seven

Most dealers are playable today, including a few very sloppy ones. I don’t win much but I get a lot of bets and a good rate. One development concerned me though: I was the first player today on the blackjack (although I didn’t get in right after opening) and the cards were already shuffled. Casinos often do this to save time but being concerned about having a full complement of cards it always makes me anxious and I’m frustrated with the casino that they don’t realise that people need confidence in the game and it’s not worth it for the sake of a few minutes. I ask if I can see the cards and the manager fetched fresh decks but then says he’ll have to open a new table as the cards at the first one “are for that table”. He didn’t want to go through the process of sorting out the cards on the table but this may just have been for convenience rather than because that first set wasn’t right. I find this strange that he would rather have another dealer on shift instead but am somehow reassured since if they have such rigid procedure they are less likely to play with an incomplete set of cards. I think it’s ok but I resolve to get in right after opening every day to see the cards being spread. If they have not already shuffled I shall ask to see the cards spread.

Day Eight

They seem to have got the message about spreading the cards. They are there ready when I walk in. The manager comes over and says, “Everything Ok for you?” “Yes thank you, I can see all the cards” I reply. When they open the 2nd table they just bring cards that arealready in a shoe. They are the same colour as the ones I played with yesterday, so they may be using the same set to save time. It still worries me though, things can happen to cards left overnight.

There are some good dealers on today, only one is really unplayable. I get a lot of bets and hit a lot of good cards. The management start to take a real interest for the first time since I came here. At one point I think they are giving me a bad cut but then the dealer changes and it’s good once more, not that it matters for the game I am playing but it’s a handy barometer of the casino attitude as it’s often the first (and often knee-jerk) reaction to bet variation. Those that cut a lot out may well therefore be doing it on their own initiative. I break for dinner $2000 up, now just ahead against this casino. After dinner I’m not so lucky and lose a few hundred back. I feel tired so I leave for a few hours. When I return the dealers have changed and are not so profitable. I hit a bad run and worse, because the casino is busier now, the dealers get fewer breaks so the turnover is less and I find myself stuck with the same dealer for several shoes. The cut is good now so I decide to count for a bit until the dealer is changed. First shoe and the count goes up, and up.I’m slightly behind and the shoe is about to end. I spread to 3 hands. I get 10-10, 10-10 and 4-3 against a 4. The count is still so high it’s worth splitting the pictures. I split and keep getting more pictures, unsurprising, given the count. I end up with 8 hands in all from the two twenties started the hand with. I’ve caught a couple of aces and a 7 but the rest are all stiff hands. I pull two 21 from the the 4-3 as well so unless the dealer gets 21 it won’t be too expensive. Dealer draws: 10, 5. I’ve lost six hands and won 3 for a loss of $600 rather than a win of $1800 which would have put me level since dinner and given me a nice win on the day as it is I’m a few hundred down on the day after a great start.

Day Nine

Déjà vu as again I have a good start, go for dinner and lose a little back. The difference today is that I don’t give them back the rest of it later on. After my next break. In fact I don’t play long. I feel tired and the same guy as last night on the split tens hand comes on the table. I switch to counting as his cut is better than his shuffle and this time I make $1000, around what I lost to him counting last night. I decide to get an early night and go to bed winning against this casino overnight for the first time.

Day 10

Hmmmmm……. Suspicious. I walk in and the receptionist refuses to allow me in having shown the ID I have used up until now without a problem and insists I show her my passport so that she may note down the number. I point out that my other ID has an official number but she says that the manager has decreed that I must show my passport. I leave saying I will fetch it and take an early dinner to thihnk about this. Is this a preliminary to a barring? It certainly indicates that they are now taking an interest now I’ve got myself slightly in front, but will it be that they will take my passport number in order to be certain of my identity and then exclude me straight after. A similar thing happened to me a few years ago when I left a casino and got asked for ID. They hadn’t bothered with it for several days as they knew my face so I only had a credit card on me. The doorman noted down my name and then told me not to come back.

On balance I decide to go back in. Wary as I am that I may get myself on another blacklist, they don't appear to suscribe to the one that did for me last week as I've been here for a number of days and I may still get several more days of play in before they bar me, which probably won’t go any further. I go back, passport in hand only to find that they are evacuating everyone for some reason. The casino has a separate entrance in part of a hotel and they are clearing the entire building. Bomb scare? I don’t know. Ominously, the receptionist still ask for my passport in the middle of this so she can make a note of the number. Her anxiety to get the number makes me even more suspicious.

Well, if my number’s up here, it’s up, I may as well find out one way or the other. I give in my passport and sure enough, the receptionist checks it and says I can’t come in. I ask why and she calls over the manager. The manager tells me more than I thought she would. I’m on an international blacklist but they didn’t find out for five days because they only got around to checking it last night, even though (according to the manager) they check all names against the list as a matter of course. I’m not sure I believe this as it seems rather too coincidental that this all happened after I had my first decent session against them. Like last week she doesn’t know who put my name on the list but that it’s because I’m “suspected of card counting”, which shows they don’t know much as only about an hour of 5 days’ play was counting and hardly any of my (modest) win. She also says they “Can’t take the risk”.

So, another enforced night off. I wonder more about this blacklist- it seems strange I’ve had trouble with it twice on the same trip if it came from who I originally suspected as that was over a year previously. On the other hand, it may be the smaller, independent casinos that use it as they have no casino group to rely on and it just happens that the last 2 places I’ve played are such establishments.



Day 11

On the move again then. I cross the border again and travel west this time. Another counter has been here in the past year and told me it’s worth a few days. It’s only a slight detour from the way to my next choice of town if this no good so I decided to take a look. I know it’s by a border and most of the clientele come over from the other side to gamble, so it’s fairly remote and apparently there’s not much out there besides the casinos. I take a taxi out there. After I’ve told the driver where I want to go he looks in his glove box for his passport. I presume there may be some kind of one-way system which makes it easy to cross the border if you want to turn around. Perhaps he has decided to take this opportunity to go over the border for some reason, but no, before we reach the place, we have to go through a checkpoint and the driver gives his and my passports to the officer. It certainly does have a no man’s land feel, my hotel is actually minor part of a large duty free shop. Apart from that there are the 2 casinos, 2 shopping malls and a petrol station.

I was told that the conditions were patchy and this turns out to be true. This wouldn’t be too bad if the minimums weren’t so low. As the weekend is coming up I may use the crowds to back-count and then leave when they do.

Day 12

I get in early to play heads-up before it becomes busy. Even with the low minimum the speed of the game makes it worthwhile. I start badly but then recover. The management still seem friendly. I finish $2000 ahead, an excellent win given the low maximum. I take dinner and have a look at the other casino. Counting is not really an option as the cut is so very bad but there may be something to do with the shuffle. I play small just to see. It turns out be to a lot less effective than the casino obviously thinks. It looks complicated but due to what must be regarded as a large oversight on their part, the same parts of the shoe are separated and then eventually end up shuffled together again, so that by the end of the shoe the cards are in roughly the same order as before: The parts of the shoe rich in tens and aces will be rich in tens and aces again. It will just be a matter of cutting in the right place and betting big straight away. I think I should be able to tell where the high-value cards are. On the first attempt, the cards I aimed for came out when and in the quantity I expected. I revise my plans to head out after the weekend, this looks like being the best game around this area.

I take a break and go back to casino 1. They have a free buffet so I may play for as long as I get a solo game, eat and then go to the other one. I do indeed find a table to myself. Some other players come but are content to play behind me, so I soon have two other people behind me. This is not ideal as not only does it slow my game down, but I can’t even put on the full maximum as it applies to the total bet on the box rather than bets per person. This actually turns out to be a good thing since one of the other players, realising that the game is being slowed by my having to adjust my bet and use smaller chips to make sure I have as much on as I can, asks for the minimum to be raised. I hadn’t done this since I had been told that the management were reluctant to do it. This was supported by the fact that of the several tables in the place, all had the same minimum attached to them, so I presumed that this was a fairly strict policy on the part of the casino not to expose themselves to too much risk. However, the limit is changed without quibble since all three of us are playing at or above the proposed new minimum. Happily, the maximum is doubled so this game also now looks a lot better than last night.

Unhappily, having had a good run up to this point, the bigger bets start losing and I’m level on the evening but still up on the day. The people backing my box, who were quickly becoming fans of mine, start to have doubts and drift away. I rally later and hit my highest point of the day but then I hit a brick wall and in the last 2 hours of play lose about 75% of my day’s win. Oh well, at least I should be able to play here a few more days. Gratifyingly, I got a heads-up game most of the time, even though the place was busy, the small increase in minimum keeping away most players.

Day 13

Back to casino 1 since the other one is not yet open. I manage to get the higher limit without difficulty. Another nice win over a couple of hours and then I break for dinner. It turns out to be a similar story to yesterday, good win in the afternoon followed by ups and downs in the evening with a bad finish. The curse of the last shoe strikes again. I lose my heads-up game and the table becomes crowded so I make the decision to finish the current shoe and leave. Naturally the count goes up and keeps going up. I lose about 10 hands in a row before the dealer busts on the last hand. This limits the damage a bit but I’ve still gone from being a few hundered down since dinner to a few thousand, leaving me down on the day and level since I got to this town.

Day 14

I have only a few more days before I’m due to fly back home and I believe I can safely book those days at the hotel here as I think I’m unlikely to get barred from both casinos in such a short space of time. My hope is that I have at least another trip here next time as casino 1 seems fairly cool with my action (and I’m not winning now either) and casino 2 may not realise what I’m doing in a short time as I won’t be betting the count.

As in the past 2 days, I get a good solo game at casino 1 in the early part of the day. I win again too. I hope they realise that I’ve been giving back on Swing the money I’ve been winning in the afternoon. After a couple of hours, I lose the solo game and take a break.

Casino 2- I sit down and play the shuffle. It’s very, very good. The clumps of big cards are coming out when I want them to. There’s someone else at the table so I can’t get the minimum raised but even at those stakes it’s a great game. I’m a little unfortunate later on and leave with a small win but I’m satisfied that this is the game to play here.

I break for dinner and a nap and go back in a few hours later. Another table is open now and I ask to have it at a higher minimum. No problem and I even get asked if I want a priavate table. They obviously noticed me earlier on and liked the action. Now playing bigger, I’m still hitting the cards I want when I want them and I go up very quickly. Then I have my first miss. It was only a smaller group of cards but the count actually went right in the other direction an I lose a lot back. To add insult to injury, a new dealer arrives and he can’t be tracked.

Coincidence? -No. From all dealers previously doing the same shuffle, every successive dealer does something different. The management obviously got spooked by the run that I had but I’m quite bemused that even betting big off the top I can't avoid the casino trying counter-measures. It does beg the question of why the have that shuffle if they think the shuffle it is vulnerable. It isn’t for speed as it looks quite complicated. Maybe they like keeping the clumps together. I don’t think so though because some of the following dealers have a similar shuffle to the standard one but is effectively the same. I put it down to paranoia on the part of the casino rather than any solid suspicion of me on their part. It is evident now though that I’m not betting as often as I did with the standard shuffle, so they may conclude that they were right to take this action. On the other hand, the shuffle change coincided with a losing run for me so it may look like I’ve lost confidence. It just proves once again that, contrary to appearances, casinos are not in the gambling business. They want the sure thing and look at the bottom line like any other business. You get a bit lucky and some places immediately wonder what is wrong. It looks like an ace tracking game for me now, I wonder what they’ll make of that? I’m too tired for that now as it takes a lot more effort, so I leave with another small win.

I decide to leave casino 2 until tomorrow and try casino 1 again. I hope that I don’t give back my earlier win on this shift. A forlorn hope. I lose the money I won here earlier (leaving me down against casino 1 now) plus most of the modest sum I got from the other casino, to leave me a couple of hundred dollars up on the day. Ah well, that’s the way it goes. My trip win was halved in about 2.5 hours of play. Remember -bankrolls can go down as well as up.

Day 15

I don’t bother with playing casino 1 early today, I will get in to Casino 2 as soon as it opens, fresh and ready to play. I enter the casino and there are already a couple of people at the table and the dealer is finishing the first shuffle of the day I ask for a another table to be opened, at a higher mimimum. No problem. They give me a private table again as well, so far so friendly. Now what shuffle will I get? To my surprise, the standard shuffle has returned. I manage to cut a slug of tens to the front on the third shoe. I hit it, but lose around $1000. The next shoe is better. The previous shoe has started off negative and then went right up the other direction so that the unshuffled cards will be full of high ones. If I cut it right I think I can get all the small cards at the end of the shoe so that I can bet from the very beginning for at least 3 decks. After 2 decks the count is –10! It always feels unnerving to continue betting when it is so negative but I think there should be a few more big ones to come out. When it gets to –15 I drop my bet a bit although I don’t think the small ones are there yet. The count gets to minus 20, then a few low value cards start to appear and the shoe ends . It just shows how powerful this is when it works. I see why the shuffle trackers can be quite evangelistic about it. Had I simply been counting, I would have been playing minimum all the way and marvelling at the way more and more big cards came out. The hands have worked out well and I recover the deficit plus a few hundred. Now the pit boss tells the dealer to split the cards into more piles when shuffling. However, the dealer riffles them in exactly the same order as she put them there, so there is little difference. I bet big off the top again, -5 after a deck, very nice.

Dealer change. This new one is mixing the cards more efficiently so there is less opportunity but I have a few bets. Generally the big ones come out but I missed completely on one occasion and it went the other way. I think it was because the big handfuls the dealer took mixed a slug of small ones in with section I was betting for. This isn’t an exact science. The following dealer isn’t really trackable either. I try tracking aces instead and although a few came out, I never had the chance to bet on them.

The next dealer comes on. After the shuffle all the big cards appear to have ended up at the front of the six decks. I have to cut at least a deck from either end so I cut from the bottom and get ready to start betting after that first deck. +5 after the first 50 cards, here we go, I’m not stopping until –10 or the end of the shoe, whichever is sooner. It gets to –11 less than a deck from the cut card and stays there until the end. A great feeling when it works out. The dealer has bust almost every hand. I’m well ahead now, I play a bit longer but my head is swimming now although I’ve only played a couple of hours.

I can’t really carry on. I’ll take a break, eat and decide whether to go back in later. They aren’t as busy in there as casino 1 and that loss may hurt them a bit. Their paranoia in changing the shuffle so early indicates they are a bit nervous at the big bets. My fear is that they may conclude that I’m doing something even if they don’t know what it is and bar me on that basis alone. The classic quandary: play it hard and for as long as you can until you get barred or play it less intensely in the hope of greater longevity but with the risk that the game or the good conditions will disappear before long or that you’ll get barred soon anyway. There is another factor at play here: I know that casino 2 has a sister casino elsewhere. I’ve been there before and noticed nothing special but this shuffle may well have been introduced there too. It is a bigger place too so may take the action more willingly. This being the case, I want to check that one out before getting a possible group barring. As it happens, I’ll be in a position to check that other one out before I leave for home so I’ll know what I should do for next time.

Right now though, I’m in no fit state to play any game. After a couple of hours I decide to try casino 1, do normal counting and return to casino 2 later on. My solo game at casino one doesn’t last long. I lose a few hundred then the table gets full so I leave. I feel particularly jaded. I think switching between counting, tracking and locating at casino 2 took quite a toll on me. I need to sleep. My sleeping pattern has been very inconsistent this past week. I get up, have breakfast, watch some tv, try to sleep again before starting play (sometimes successfully, sometimes not), play, eat possibly nap again, play eat, play, finish for the day. The result has been that although I’ve started early and finished quite late most days, I haven’t done all that many hours as there has been a lot of idle time in between. When the casino is only open at night, you start then and try to pack in as much play as the opening hours and your own state of alertness allow. Now that I’ve got much more freedom to pick and choose my hours I haven’t done any more work than normal and actually feel more tired. Perhaps this is because I haven’t been able to follow a consistent routine on this trip and I am only just beginning to get into one here now, just as it’s time to leave.

So I go back to my room intending to sleep for a while, then eat and play some more. In the event I sleep for nine hours, so a short day for me then.

Day 15

Ok then, lets get some hours in. Unfortunately, I still have a headache. Breakfast and sleep it is. I should be able to play a few hours at casino 1, eat and be in casino 2 not long after it opens. This is my last day in this town before I move on so I’d like to give it a full day as I don’t know if I’ll be able to play much tomorrow.

I get up, shower, change and head into casino 1. I have a disastrous start and am struggling from then on. I get to within $1000 of level then end up at my lowest point of the day a couple of shoes later. I rally a bit later on, only to fall back one more. It’s one of those days- the dealer always seems to pull 21 just when they need it. Twice in a row I doubled my 11 for 21 only to see the dealer get blackjack. After 4 hours I break for dinner. After dinner I try casino2. they don’t seem to bother with the counter measures and very happily, I get the standard shuffle. This really is a great game, the feeling of actually knowing the tens and aces are about to come is wonderful. I go down early on then as the dealer is getting all the blackjacks. I come back strongly later on for a decent win although not as much as I lost at casino 1. A few of the dealers vary the shuffle a bit but all are playable just some are better than others. I naturally get a lot of attention but the fact that I’m getting the normal shuffle a lot of the time is encouraging. They still seem friendly enough despite a decent win today and a bigger win yesterday. Time to see if the shuffle is the same at the sister casino on my transit day tomorrow.

I go back into casino 1 just for the free buffet. I see a table is free on my way from the buffet and decide to play a few shoes before I leave. Just as I start to play one of the locals sits down as well. I decide to leave right after the shoe as this game isn’t really good without the solo game because of the bad cut. He starts asking me this and that, why I’m in the area, what I do for a living etc, etc. He also doubles soft 19 v 8, which I’ve never seen before. Naturally, the count goes up, I win a little mainly because I win one of my 2 hands with a BJ or double and lose the other. Then towards the end of the shoe it turns. The dealer still refuses to bust but I’m not getting the hands any more and I finish a few hundred down. Expensive dinner. However I decide to play the bonus game they are having as a promotion here. I’ve been collecting the tickets that they give with every BJ you get and the more money you have on it the greater the number of tickets. I decide to see what I can get for them. It turns out that the promotion is quite generous. The manager seems quite surprised at the number of tickets I have accumulated and I am able to have several goes at the game. I’m quite lucky on the game they have and actually make my trip expenses in the 10 minutes it takes. Even though I was lucky it’s quite a significant bonus. The manager is happy to see me leave with that sum, although I’ve lost a fair sum at his establishment over the past few days, which obviously helps. Nevertheless, this is a big chunk of that given right back to me. What a pity it’s only a promotion.

Day 16

Checked out a couple of the places in the capital. The sister place to the one in the town I’ve just left has a different shuffle, what a shame. Another one has a few new interesting sidebets which may or may not be profitable, I’ll have to do some sums. I go to a third one just to see if anything has changed. I hear that word again: “Blacklist”. I am especially surprised at this one as I took a lot of money from this place a year and a half ago and they still let me in after they had changed the conditions. Even when other counters were barred I was not, possibly because I’d had large losses before recovering and getting a good win from subsequent trips. I was last in there 6 months ago and was not turned away and just played minimum long enough to ascertain how the rules had changed, so they have not had any reason themselves to bar me since I was last there. It shows that they really set store by this blacklist even though it presumably only needs one (possibly mistaken) casino to decide you are a threat. The fact that I was here only a few months previously narrows down the list of suspects of who put me on the blacklist. It’s quite worrying that I can lose through this list a casino that didn’t previously suspect me. Oh well, time to go home, no blackjack for me for a couple of weeks.