Bettie: Hooters Casino Hotel Grand Opening Schedule

[hunter]

> Except at the "Super Lame" table, yeah. You
> just couldn't ask for even money on your blackjack
> versus an ace. You'd have to take insurance instead.

Er...wait a minute....isn't "asking for insurance" while holding a natural exactly the same as "even money"? The possibilities are:

1)Dealer has a natural. You win double your insurance bet and push the normal bet. You got paid even money.

2)Dealer doesn't have a natural. You lose your insurance bet and win 3:2 on the natural. You got paid even money.

So...if they aren't allowing even money, I can only assume they also aren't letting you "take insurance" while holding the natural. Right?

Of course the more interesting question is "why on earth would they ever do that?" After all, insurance is a great boon for the house (unless the player counts, and from the conditions report counting doesn't look profitable to me at hooters) and even money is actually the *best* insurance bet to offer (From the house's perspective. This is because given that 3 A/10's are in view, the chances are lower that the dealer will have a 10 in the hole.) I can't understand why any casino would disallow even-money. Just doesn't make sense. Maybe they're thinking that by specifically ruling it out on some tables, they will convince players that it's a good idea to take EM on the tables where it's offered. I dunno...

[Parker]

> Er...wait a minute....isn't "asking for
> insurance" while holding a natural exactly the
> same as "even money"? The possibilities are:

> 1)Dealer has a natural. You win double your insurance
> bet and push the normal bet. You got paid even money.

> 2)Dealer doesn't have a natural. You lose your
> insurance bet and win 3:2 on the natural. You got paid
> even money.

> So...if they aren't allowing even money, I can only
> assume they also aren't letting you "take
> insurance" while holding the natural. Right?

> Of course the more interesting question is "why
> on earth would they ever do that?" After all,
> insurance is a great boon for the house (unless the
> player counts, and from the conditions report counting
> doesn't look profitable to me at hooters) and even
> money is actually the *best* insurance bet to offer
> (From the house's perspective. This is because given
> that 3 A/10's are in view, the chances are lower that
> the dealer will have a 10 in the hole.) I can't
> understand why any casino would disallow even-money.
> Just doesn't make sense. Maybe they're thinking that
> by specifically ruling it out on some tables, they
> will convince players that it's a good idea to take EM
> on the tables where it's offered. I dunno...

You are correct, of course, assuming that a blackjack pays 3:2. However, Hooters has DD SuperFun 21 games and a whole pit of 6:5 single deck games, neither of which pay 3:2 on a blackjack.

My guess is that mgmt doesn't let the dealers pay "even money" on the 3:2 games because they might forget and do it on one of the other games, which would be an overpayment. So, they simply always must go through the motions of taking insurance, even when the player has a blackjack on a 3:2 game.

[Don Schlesinger]

> My guess is that mgmt doesn't let the dealers pay
> "even money" on the 3:2 games because they
> might forget and do it on one of the other games,
> which would be an overpayment. So, they simply always
> must go through the motions of taking insurance, even
> when the player has a blackjack on a 3:2 game.

Those who aren't from the east coast might be shocked to learn that, since day one, this has always been the practice in A.C. You can't take "even money" on naturals! You have to go through the idiotic motions of actually putting up the chips every single time. When people who cut their teeth on LV games protest, the a**hole pit bosses look at them like they're the crazy ones, because the imbecile bosses (are there any other kind?) have never seen even money payoffs.

Hard to believe, huh?

Don

[Bettie]

Right. I wrote that you can't just ask for the even money, but you have to take the insurance to get it.

I've been back since that opening weekend (I said I wouldn't, but an old friend was in town and we met there for his benefit), and the games were certainly better than on opening weekend, but with most tables at a $10 or $15 minimum. I played for fun with my friend (too busy talking to count, so played straight BS) and we had excellent pen. Otherwise, it was standard fare.

Bettie