The California heat is unbearable, and I don't have air conditioning. This has lead to several trips to the the air conditioned movies, shopping malls, and libraries in order to pass the daylight hours. One such trip lead to a 2 hour evening drive to visit a few Indian Casinos in the area (in LA, "in the area" is anything within 2 hours).

The first was Fantasy Casino in Indio. There was only one nickel table open (full), so I stalked for a while. Before long a few spots opened up (during a +3 count too!). I jumped in, and after a quick rally of medium bets, things cooled off. It was a fun crowd, and a good game. After about 30 minutes I called it quits $25 ahead.

I skipped the Trump 29 casino because of the horrible TrackJack entry, but stopped for a while at Casino Morongo. It was terribly crowded with rude people and rude dealers. There were plenty of tables, so I found a hot seat fairly easily. It only took one hand to discover that this place was a big mistake. They charge a $1 "collection fee" for EVERY HAND played. THAT's 20% of my minimum bet! On top of that, they don't pay 3:2 on blackjacks! If you get a natural, they pay you even money and give you a "21" card. If you win the next hand they trade your "21" card for the amount of your original bet, if you lose you get nothing. I guess they figure that you will win the 2:1 payoff slightly less that half of the time, so you're actually getting slightly less that 3:2. I played through the hot section and left with an extra $65. By this time it was about
1:30 AM and I was hungry, tired, and more looking forward to the 2 hour drive than another crowded Indian Casino.

I have also heard good things about the Agua Verde and Spa casinos, but I have yet to check them out.

A few conclusions:

1)I was amazed at the total lack of counters at the tables. People were playing accurate basic strategy, but leaving the table a high plus counts. Most of them flat bet, but a few spread $5-$15 in a "play-all" situation. I was only spreading $10-$30, but only playing on plus counts.

2) I play mostly DD games in Vegas, so I use Hi-Opt II with Aces on the side. This got a little tricky in 6D games, but not as impossible as most people have said. Still, I wish I had been using a more appropriate count.

3) Collection Fees stink! I can't believe that people would give up so much money at Casino Morongo when they can drive another 15 minutes in any direction to casinos with NO FEES! I also enjoy playing at Chumash Casino near Santa Barbara for the same reason, but their rules aren't quite as good. I'll have to look into the Spa casino and Agua Caliente casino. Better yet, I should just give up and stick to Vegas.

-Sonny-