The stupidity of casino management

[Shoofly]

I am constantly amazed at the stupidity of casino management. Here are few recent observations:

A new owner recently moved into an existing casino. The $5 and $25 chips are nearly identical. A close scrutiny could probably discern a difference, but at first glance, the only difference is the tiny 5 and 25 in the center of the chip.

Instead of a betting circle, one casino provides the logo of the casino. The logo is red in color. Most of the casino's tables are $10, so the red chip bets virtually disappear.

A local casino recently changed their felts. The new felts have a very busy design that makes one woozy in very short time. I can only imagine the plight of the dealers, who have to stare at that mess all day.

Casinos encourage taking of insurance, but one casino forbids the dealers from offering "even money." They will pay even money if the player requests it, but they won't offer it. They obviously don't know that insurance and even money are the same thing.

I wonder how these people make it to work every day.

[biggg]

I have seen the even money rule elsewhere. The reason for that rule is that players will angle shoot where if the dealer turns over a bj they will say "but the dealer didn't ask me if I wanted even money". So the solution is to not ask.

[RWM]

I don't believe that. I think it is because the casino is so dumb they actually believe that even money is "good" for the players so they don't want to tell them.

[Three]

I have seen the even money rule elsewhere. The reason for that rule is that players will angle shoot where if the dealer turns over a bj they will say "but the dealer didn't ask me if I wanted even money". So the solution is to not ask.

I have heard this said from suits in the pit as well. I don't know if it is true or not. The downside of making a BJ take insurance is even money is always full insurance. If the player with BJ takes insurance he may insure for less. Obviously overall full insurance is better for the house. Upon reflection though perhaps making him put a bet on the insurance line encourages others to take insurance as well. You know ploppy see ploppy do. LOL

[Shoofly]

I have heard this said from suits in the pit as well. I don't know if it is true or not. The downside of making a BJ take insurance is even money is always full insurance. If the player with BJ takes insurance he may insure for less. Obviously overall full insurance is better for the house. Upon reflection though perhaps making him put a bet on the insurance line encourages others to take insurance as well. You know ploppy see ploppy do. LOL

Casino management doesn't think that much. They simply believe that even money is better for the player than insurance.

[RS]

I'm going to go against the grain on this one, at least partially. I don't think it's necessarily stupidity, but more likely to be a lack of communication or understanding...or something that we didn't think of. Like what Tthree said, maybe it's the "monkey see monkey do" effect....and guess what -- it costs them nothing, except perhaps a few seconds. Or, maybe they are stupid.

I've been to a few places where the $5 and $25 look the same and the $25 and $100 look the same (rather...they look similar). You can see the real difference if you look on the edge of the chip (not the face). The dealer can see the edge because that's how they're stacked in his tray. When he sees your bets, he can see the edges of your chips. As a player, you are mainly looking down on your chips so you can only see the face. Generally if a player has 2 or more denominations of chips, he will have fewer higher denomination chips and more lower denomination chips. ie: $400 in 'green' and $300 in 'black'. Perhaps, the idea here is to "trick" a player into betting one of his black chips instead of his usual bet of a green chip. In other words, it increases player's averages bets, which would increase revenue. Maybe that's the thought, and maybe it actually does increase revenue. Or, maybe it doesn't.

Maybe they had an image of what they wanted the felt to look like on a computer screen and all looked dandy....but when the felt was actually created and shipped, it looked different (woozy). Have you ever had an image on your computer that looks awesome, then when you print it out, it looks all funky? Could be the same thing.

[Jabberwocky]

You've tossed around several theories but if you want to know, you might ask them next time.

[bigplayer]

Wouldn't be the first or last time a casino confused variance with expectation. Insurance locks in a sure win at the expense of variance...to the casino this looks like a gimme. The casino would prefer players who gamble rather than take the sure thing even though the casino loses less in the long run by encouraging even money on blackjack.

[AP360]

Excellent post! Although it seems obvious, it's often forgotten or stored on back-burner.