The Colour of Money

I've been meaning to post this one for a long time, but I'm terribly late. On my recent trip to England, for business, I was able to spend 2 hours in the local casino before my return home. In the UK, you have to be a member of a Casino and it takes 24hrs to process the application. Luckily, I had applied three years ago on my last visit.

This small Grosvenor casino (there are many) had a few roulette tables, four blackjack tables, some slots and a small bar. It was attached to a hotel near the tube, so it's pretty convenient. After walking around a bit, I decided that I'd play blackjack, as I wasn't in the mood for roulette or slots, and I was flying to Las Vegas in less than a week. There were 4 tables, 2 of £5, one of £10 and one of £25. Remember, the exchange rate is nearly 2:1, so a £25 table is a $50 per hand bet! Since the £5 were jamming, I decided to wait for a time at the £10 table. I waited for a while and there was one hole open (#2) but no seats....after standing for some time, I was able to play while standing behinAsian asian ladies (who weren't as bothered by me as I thought they'd be).

A few things stand out. One, you can't tip the dealer or play for the dealer. "The Grosvenor Casino feels that we are paid handsomely" they will say when you try to tip them. OK, whatever.

You can tip the waitresses. You don't get free drinks here. In fact, you get a pint of lager for £2.40. Instead of change, I give the lass a £5 chip. That's right, I paid $10 for a pint of lager and the privledge to lose money. Yikes.

Lastly, the dealer has no down card. That's right, no down card. Therefore, after all player hitting takes place, the dealer immediately takes a second card to his up card and then plays out the hand. I think that this action favors the house immensely by allowing low cards and high cards to come consecutively with the dealer's second card. The only way to truly bust (since there is no standard separation between the dealers second card and 3rd) is if the dealer's hole card is low and he hits two highs consecutively. I don't like it. therefore, I hit more aggressively than normal.

I took my stack of £5 red, and worked it up a bit. I ended up £150 (almost $300), which is nice at those limits (10-15 bets plus what I gave the waitresses). Crap thing is that I lost a percentage changing my £350 back to US currency! See pic.