I travel quite a bit for my job and my latest trip has taken me near a place with a charity casino nearby. Ive never heard of this, just curious as to what exactly good on at these?
The Canadian Charity Casinos have little to do with charity.
Typically, they permit BJ bets of only $10 to $100.
With marginal penetration, there are no meaningful profits to be had.
This must not be confused with "Charity Nights" in the USA where non-
profit organizations are sometimes permitted to deal BJ where the
house wins all ties. No Pushes. You cannot overcome that thievery !
In Ontario, Canada, the charity casinos are a source or revenue for the provincial government. The profits are supposed to go toward funding community based projects, such a rec centers and social programs. It's the same revenue stream as provided by the provincial lotteries. Most have slots only while a few provide table games as well. I don't feel terribly bad about winning at these places. From what I observe, they are raking in a lot of money from a clientele comprised mainly of senior citizens.
The limits are as Flash has posted, but I am aware of one location where a few dealers provide outstanding penetration.
How much of the net gaming win by the Canadian charity casinos goes to charity and how much goes to an operating company? Does it all go to charitable causes, or is a trivial amount used for that and the majority goes to whoever operates the casino? Or somewhere in between? I tried google but I'm apparently not using the right search terms.
So-called "charity" games are NOT always so bad game rules.
There's one here in Michigan, a "poker room" in a bowling alley & golf course, near Van Dyke Ave in Sterling Heights, Michigan...
here's a pic captured from Google Street View: http://www.********************.com/...Sunnybrook.jpg
or their website: http://www.sunnybrookgolfandbowl.com/
I was only there one time, stopped in to check it out & played a couple shoes back in February. $2 minimum to $25 max. Dealer said "sometimes" the owner will let a game go up to "maybe $100". When I arrived only one game was working, and it was full, so the manager agreed to open a new table for me. Dealer cut reasonable PEN, about 1.5 on 8D shoe, normal house rules were okay (BJ 3:2, DOA, DAS, split to 3 only, no surrender).
Nobody's gonna get rich attacking a game like this, LOL, but for low stakes goofing around or beginner "counting practice" it IS probably actually a better game than any of the official casinos in the Detroit area. You're sure not gonna get a $2 game anywhere in Detroit, probably not even in Vegas anymore. Those days are long gone.
As to whether or not these "charity" setups really give the money they take from players to some charity, or how much goes to charity vs. management, etc... I have no idea. You'll have to decide for yourself if there's some moral reason NOT to attack games like this with skilled play.
But the point of my post is just to say that while "charity games" usually ARE set up with a huge house edge (players lose pushes, etc)... you may find one from time to time that actually does offer decent rules and be pleasantly surprised.
-DBJT
Tthree, I absolutely agree that IF these charity games really DO give money to worthy charitable causes, they should not be attacked.
But, y'know, I have my suspicions about 'em. Wouldn't be the first time that some sleazy outfit was hiding behind the word "charity" to fleece the public.
No idea how to find out about any of these places, one way or the other, however. I suppose you could ask them. But then again if they're a sleazy ripoff setup they're not gonna tell you so, are they? LOL
If someone really wanted to use a place like this for card counting practice but felt bad about MAYBE taking money from a charity, obvious solution would be to go ahead and play, hit 'em as hard as you want, but then take all your winnings and DIRECTLY donate it to some charity of your choice that you KNOW is legit!
Problem solved.
-DBJT
These are good questions, for which I don't have the answer. Add to that that some Ontario casinos ("Charity" or not) are associated with the local Indian tribe.Originally Posted by Nyne
My point with regard to these casinos is that they are professionally run casinos in every sense of the word, regulated and run by the provincial government. They are open 24/7, the games and side bets are the same revenue-generating machines that you would find in any independent casino and they protect them against intelligent players with the same vigour. The only difference is that the revenue goes to the government and is supposed to be spent on programs which benefit the community that hosts the casino. Like any casino, they set the rules and conditions and offer the games, knowing that they will make massive amounts of money in the process, much more than the tax payers would find acceptable via direct taxation.
To me, it's all shrouded in the same amount of false hope and misinformation as peddled by independent casinos and is pursued with the same intensity. For those reasons, if they are willing to offer the games and to take as much as they can, then I am willing to play them and do the same. As for the breakdown of the distribution, like any government revenue stream, it may be difficult, or impossible, to determine.
My thoughts are similar to DBJT...
When I first started counting, working and practicing alone, I was not able to test myself under "real" conditions. Sure I gave myself distractions such as a movie playing loudly while dealing myself/playing 5 hands while counting, etc. However, I wanted something a little more realistic before stepping into a casino. I went to a few charity casino nights for local high schools with "dealer wins all ties" and "$1 min, $10 max bet" rules, plus the decks were really just a bunch of cards shuffled together and sometimes a lot of high cards, and others a lot of low.
Although the game was bad, it gave me a chance to see if I could keep a count going while talking to other people, having a drink, etc. The first time I played I was stacking chips up as the count went on, eventually even just counting out loud (the dealer didn't care and probably didn't understand what I was doing... she was a parent of a student). After a few tries, and plenty of donating, I managed to perfect a method that helps me maintain the count, be social with other players, the dealer, etc.
Winning money at a charity casino night was never my goal and while I did win a small amount once, I donated that amount a few times over to other schools. I came out a winner, though, because I would've been nervous and underprepared if I stepped straight into a casino. I've seen other counters who it was so obvious by the way they played it was their first time (is there a term for counting virgins?). One time I actually ran into a guy taking a shuttle back to hotels who I played with earlier that night--it was obvious it was his first time and he admitted he had only ever counted at home before. I pointed out some of his giveaways, flaws, etc that could've been weeded out if he tried practicing at a charity casino (or some other realistic setting).
TL;DR - Practice makes perfect!
Vaya con Dios...
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