Just a thought,

The only game I play in vegas is BlackJack. Not that I can beat it (I haven't got that far yet, though I'm getting closer), but I play just because I know it's the one game in Vegas I have a chance to beat. And because I don't feel like an idiot for trying. It's a challange.

I think by far the majority of the people who play the game are pretty much like me, some a bit further along, most a bit behind in terms of skill. They have heard through the books and media appearances of Sanford Wong and Mr. Schlesinger and others, that this is the one game you can beat. Many even have a vague understanding of some of the main concepts such as "high low" (heck you can see Stanford Wong demonstrating that one on the Travel Channel every other week). But even if the ploppies don't know anything beyond a few beginning concepts, they definitely understand that BlackJack is the one game in Vegas that they are not behaving like an idiot when they play it, because it can be beaten.

Well, I just got back from a trip to Vegas, and based on what I saw on the strip, I think it's time as a community, we get out a new message. "Continuous shuffling machines are a form of cheating by the casinos. It's as if they were turning poker into bingo. And if you are playing in a game with a continuous shuffler you cannot win, and you are a chump."

All of us need to be out on the web, at other gambling and travel sites spreading this new message. And especially the most notable experts need to be out in the media speaking with a single voice on this subject. Stanford shouldn't be out there shilling for Vegas on the Travel channel when his game (as a game of skill in any case) is dissappearing from the strip.

My basic thought is this, the shared belief of most gamblers has become that BlackJack can be beaten, but now we have to give the ploppies and the occasional gamblers a new message, "continuous shuffling machines are a cheat." If we don't, Black Jack, as a game of strategy, will soon be a thing of the past.

Or, hopefully, I'm behind the times and people are already organizing to get this message out.

Chris