Are Card Counters Worth Your Resources?
Resources are paramount in this world. Water, oil and natural gas are only a few of the most precious resources on this planet. They’re valuable because they’re limited, and they make our lives livable.
The Gaming World
Casino gaming is its own small world, with its own resources. Time and money are indisputably the most valuable resources in casino gaming. Everything in gaming revolves around or is based on these two things: time and money.
People only have so much time, so convincing the public to spend that time visiting a casino is where it starts. Then it moves to trying to get people to stay in the casino, because the more time they spend there, the more money (we’ll come back to money in a minute) there is to be made. That’s why casinos have evolved to include hotels, restaurants, shopping malls and nightclubs. It all started as ways to keep people in the casino for more time.
Now, money is the only bigger and more valuable resource in casino gaming than time. It’s not up for debate. It’s all about “Benjamins.”
• Money in the drop box
• Money in the guest’s pocket
• Money in the cage
• Payroll and bonuses
• Actual win
• Theoretical win
• Hold percentage
This list could go on for ages. Much like in the real world, how we spend our resources in the gaming world is of utmost importance. This is where things get foggy. There are lots of different opinions on how we should spend our time, our staff’s time, our money and our company’s money.
Resources and Advantage Play
Want to know who else worships at the altar of time and money? Advantage players.
They’re all about it. How much time can they put in? How much money can they make? These two questions are what drive advantage players. It’s all about that EV (expected value). Advantage players in today’s world don’t care about wins and losses. They focus on the value of the game they’re playing (money) and playing it as long as they possibly can (time).
This is just another way in which casinos and advantage players are mirror images of each other, an unpopular opinion on both sides. While both sides are similar in the resources they value, it could be argued that the APs are ahead of the game in how they’re utilizing these resources (another unpopular opinion, to be sure).
The reason that the APs may be ahead of the game is simple: efficiency. They learn and use their resources exponentially more efficiently than casino staff. There are exceptions to this on both sides, of course.
How do advantage players use their resources better? Advantage players at the professional level learn the craft, scout which places they want to play, and play the game itself at a higher, more efficient level than ever before, while scouring for and absorbing as much new information as they possibly can. This is due to a higher level of training that is more readily available than ever before. It’s also due to information sharing being easier and faster.
Resources and Casinos
All the information described above is becoming more advanced for the knowledgeable blackjack player with every passing day.
Conversely, the same variables are decreasing for the casinos as time passes. In-house training, for instance, used to be required for all floor supervisors and management. There was a time when being able to pass a basic strategy test and being able to count down a 52-card deck was a prerequisite for becoming a floor supervisor.
In general, this is not the case anymore. When a guest at the table asks the supervisor what the correct basic strategy play is on a given hand, it’s a common sight for the floor supervisor to have to check their phone or a cheat sheet, or just flat-out guess (often incorrectly).
There is in-house training for casino staff, sure. But it’s extremely rudimentary and quite dated, to the point of complete inaccuracy at times. That is said from having taken and seen many different versions of in-house training. Advantage play is different now than it was 20 years ago, and the training hasn’t kept up with the times.
The game has changed. Even the simple act of card counting has changed. There’s still a contingency of casino staff that think six- and eight-deck games can’t be counted because, “It’s too many cards.” Not to mention, there is a lot more to being an advantage player today than simply card counting.
Resources and Surveillance
One of the biggest battles for resources in casinos right now is the amount of time the surveillance room is spending evaluating players for card counting. It’s very common for casino floor management to request that surveillance do an evaluation of a player for card counting and have it show absolutely no indication that the player is counting cards.
When making requests for surveillance to do player evaluations, it’s important to be mindful of how much time and effort it takes to do one. It’s also important to remember that surveillance is often an overworked department that is carrying a ton of responsibility, from casino-wide monetary accuracy to the safety of everyone in the building. Asking surveillance to spend time doing an evaluation of a $200 flat bettor who happens to be on a lucky streak is not conducive to efficient resource management.
When requesting surveillance to do a time-intensive evaluation, it should be for more reasons than just that the player is winning. The player’s bet spread should be noted. Is it one to six units on double deck? Is it one to 20 units on six- or eight-deck games? Are the games even beatable by card counting? If you’re watching a 6:5 blackjack game or Free Bet Blackjack, the answer is no. Is the player taking insurance when betting more than the minimum?
Are they staying on hands they would normally hit when betting larger amounts? Do they hit when they normally stay when they bet their minimum? It’s important to know the answers to at least some of those questions before turning to surveillance to do an evaluation.
Resources and Security
If a player has gone through the evaluation process and has been determined to indeed be a professional-level card counter, there have been and continue to be far too many instances where security is called and a handful of officers and a security supervisor are summoned to confront the player, try to obtain their I.D., try to trespass them, all while being tracked by surveillance and likely observed by one or two casino managers.
As an executive, consider how much payroll is tied into this one player from when they enter the building to when they walk out the door. Think about the observations on the floor, then the evaluation, and then all the officers and everyone else involved in the back-off and/or trespassing of this person.
It’s a lot. You’ll be infuriated to know that player is likely to cost you more in payroll for that whole situation than they would have in their theoretical win if they’d played at your table. That’s why training and resource management are so important.
If the staff is well trained, the signs of card counting will be spotted quickly, the evaluation will be efficient, and the end will come when one manager approaches the player to inform them that they can no longer play blackjack. Done deal. Resources saved and more wisely spent elsewhere.
The Bottom Line About Resources
As casino executives, time and money are surely already on your radar as resources that need to be managed and spent wisely and efficiently. The goal here was to point out some resource spending that has been going on under the radar that might not be productive.
When it comes to card counting, there are many ways casinos misuse their resources. Plenty of surveillance rooms across the country are buried in review footage that should never even be given a second look. Imagine also if a security force had a hard time responding to a real issue because they’re wrapped up in an unnecessary situation with a card counter.
—By Andrew Uyal & Bill Zender
Andrew Uyal is a Las Vegas–based casino operations leader, author and former professional advantage player with deep expertise in table game management, game protection and player behavior analysis. His career spans roles from dealer and pit supervisor to casino operations specialist, giving him a rare 360-degree view of both casino management and advantage play. He is the author of Blackjack Insiders, a firsthand account of how he successfully applied professional card counting techniques across the country.
Bill Zender is the founder of Bill Zender & Associates and has authored several influential books, including Card Counting for the Casino Manager and the Casinoology series. With more than 40 years in the industry, he is a sought-after consultant and the only presenter to have spoken at every World Game Protection Conference since its inception, earning the conference’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.
