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91-430: Blackjack can be legally beaten by a skilled player. Beyond the basic strategy of when to hit and when to stand, individual players can use card counting, shuffle tracking , or hole carding to improve their odds. Since the early 1960s, a large number of card counting schemes have been published, and casinos have adjusted the rules of play in an attempt to counter the most popular methods. The idea behind all card counting

182-519: A $ 700 million expansion at Foxwoods. On April 25, 2006, Foxwoods announced that they would lease the MGM Grand brand name for the new building, and that MGM Mirage would be a partner in the expansion project. The expansion, entitled MGM Grand at Foxwoods , opened on May 17, 2008. It is a separate building from the main Foxwoods resort. A moving walkway and Tanger Outlets Foxwoods (built in 2015), now connect

273-542: A 2002 interview in Blackjack Forum magazine, John Chang, an MIT undergrad who joined the team in late 1980 (and became MIT team co-manager in the mid-1980s and 1990s), reported that, in addition to classic card counting and blackjack team techniques, at various times the group used advanced shuffle and ace tracking techniques. While the MIT team's card counting techniques can give players an overall edge of about 2 percent, some of

364-734: A 35 fold rate of return in less than nine months of play. Kaplan continued to run his Las Vegas blackjack team as a sideline while attending Harvard Business School but, by the time of his graduation in May 1980, the players were so "burnt out" in Nevada they were forced to hit the international circuit. Not feeling he could continue to manage the team successfully while they traveled throughout Europe and elsewhere, encountering different rules, playing conditions, and casino practices, Kaplan parted ways with his teammates, who then splintered into multiple small playing teams in pursuit of more favorable conditions throughout

455-402: A blackjack, under the condition that they still get paid if the dealer also has a blackjack. Insurance bets lose money in the long run. The dealer has a blackjack less than one-third of the time. In some games, players can also take insurance when a 10-valued card shows, but the dealer has an ace in the hole less than one-tenth of the time. The insurance bet is susceptible to advantage play. It

546-429: A card), "stand" (end their turn and stop without taking a card), "double" (double their wager, take a single card, and stand), "split" (if the two cards have the same value, separate them to make two hands), or "surrender" (give up half of their bet and retire from the game). Number cards count as their number, the jack, queen, and king ("face cards" or "pictures") count as 10, and aces count as either 1 or 11 according to

637-453: A certain number of hands, such as four hands (for example, "resplit to 4"). After splitting aces, the common rule is that only one card will be dealt to each ace; the player cannot split, double, or take another hit on either hand. Rule variants include allowing resplitting aces or allowing the player to hit split aces. Games allowing aces to be resplit are not uncommon, but those allowing the player to hit split aces are extremely rare. Allowing

728-530: A class on blackjack called "How to Gamble If You Must." They reported to Massar, then about to graduate with a master's degree in computer science, that the game was beatable. Using a mainframe computer at the Lincoln Lab in nearby Lexington , Massachusetts, Massar determined that by playing enough hands with enough players willing to signal others about their hands, it was possible for a player to win more hands than they would lose. Massar and several others took

819-417: A dealer blackjack will result in the loss of the split and double bets; the only exception is with a pair of aces against a dealer 10, where it is still correct to split. In all other cases, a stand, hit, or surrender is called for. For instance, when holding 11 against a dealer 10, the correct strategy is to double in a hole card game (where the player knows the dealer's second card is not an ace), but to hit in

910-421: A formalized team became clear. The detectives obtained copies of recent MIT yearbooks and added photographs from it to their image database. With its leading players banned from most casinos and other more lucrative investment opportunities opening up at the end of the recession, Strategic Investments paid out its substantial earnings to players and investors and dissolved its partnership on December 31, 1993. By

1001-531: A high-limit 30-table game area were added in 1995. Because Foxwoods is located on sovereign Mashantucket Pequot land, it is not required to comply with state laws related to smoking. Constructed in 1996, the casino is not a smoke-free facility. Due to complaints in the early 21st century from patrons and employees, it has designated many common areas, such as hallways, walkways, hotel lobbies, retail stores, and most restaurants, as non-smoking areas. In addition, it has designated certain areas for smokers. The poker room

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1092-504: A labor contract with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe. They are the largest group of union-represented dealers at any U.S. casino. On August 7, 2013, the union announced a tentative new contract that would give dealers retroactive and future raises, set stricter limits on second-hand smoke, and give dealers the right to decide how tips are distributed. In April 2018, an additional 300 cleaning and maintenance workers voted to join

1183-560: A loose group sharing capital than a team with consistent strategies and quality control. In May 1980, Massar met Bill Kaplan at a Chinese restaurant in Cambridge. Kaplan had earned his BA at Harvard in 1977 and delayed his admission to Harvard Business School for a year, when he moved to Las Vegas and formed a team of blackjack players using his own research and statistical analysis of the game. Using funds he received on graduation as Harvard's outstanding scholar-athlete, he generated more than

1274-431: A method based on Edward Thorp 's high low system. It involved three players: a big player, a controller, and a spotter. The spotter checked when the deck went positive with card counting, the controller would bet small constantly, wasting money, and verifying the spotter's count. Once the controller found a positive, he would signal to the big player. He would make a massive bet, and win big. Confident with this new funding,

1365-414: A no-hole card game. The no-hole-card rule adds approximately 0.11% to the house edge. The "original bets only" rule variation appearing in certain no hole card games states that if the player's hand loses to a dealer blackjack, only the mandatory initial bet ("original") is forfeited, and all optional bets, meaning doubles and splits, are pushed. "Original bets only" is also known by the acronym OBO; it has

1456-623: A professional blackjack player named Dave contacted Massar after seeing a flyer for Massar's blackjack course. He offered to bankroll a group to go to Atlantic City to take advantage of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission 's recent ruling which made it illegal for the Atlantic City casinos to ban card counters. Casinos instead have to take other countermeasures like shuffling the cards earlier than normal, using more decks of cards, or offering games with worse rules to destroy

1547-503: A required counting and betting system, strict training and player approval processes, and careful tracking of all casino play. A couple of the players were initially averse to the idea. They had no interest in having to learn a new playing system, being put through "trial by fire" checkout procedures before being approved to play, being supervised in the casinos, or having to fill out detailed player sheets (such as casino, cash in and cash out totals, time period, betting strategy and limits, and

1638-426: A single card to the dealer, followed by an additional card to each of the positions in play. The players' initial cards may be dealt face-up or face-down (more common in single-deck games). The object of the game is to win money by creating card totals higher than those of the dealer's hand but not exceeding 21, or by stopping at a total in the hope that the dealer will bust. On their turn, players choose to "hit" (take

1729-714: A small base of employees approached several union organizations to explore unionizing of dealers at Foxwoods Resort Casino. After the dealer group decided on the United Auto Workers in June 2007, the UAW helped start collecting signatures from dealers in support of a union. The UAW announced in September 2007 that it had collected the requisite number of signatures needed to hold an election to determine whether table games and poker dealers desired union representation or not. The Tribe challenged

1820-421: A small mirror or electronic sensor used to peek securely at the hole card. In European casinos, "no hole card" games are prevalent; the dealer's second card is not drawn until the players have played their hands. Dealers deal the cards from one or two handheld decks, from a dealer's shoe or from a shuffling machine . Single cards are dealt to each wagered-on position clockwise from the dealer's left, followed by

1911-444: A table. The dealer deals from their left ("first base") to their far right ("third base"). Each box gets an initial hand of two cards visible to the people playing on it. The dealer's hand gets its first card face-up and, in "hole card" games, immediately gets a second card face-down (the hole card), which the dealer peeks at but only reveals when it makes the dealer's hand a blackjack. Hole card games are sometimes played on tables with

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2002-575: A trip to Atlantic City during spring break to test the theory, but did not find success. The group went their separate ways when most of them graduated in May of the same year. Most never gambled again, but some of them maintained an avid interest in card counting and remained in Cambridge, Massachusetts . Two of them, J.P. Massar and Jonathan, offered a course on blackjack for MIT's January 1980 Independent Activities Period (IAP), during which classes may be offered on almost any subject. In late November 1979,

2093-494: A veto by President Ronald Reagan . The tribe moved forward with development. They founded Foxwoods in 1986 as a high-stakes bingo hall on their reservation. The tribe partnered with Lim Goh Tong , a Chinese Malaysian who founded the only legal casino in Malaysia, for financing to expand Foxwoods into a full gaming casino. In 1992, the tribe added table games, followed by additional slot machines in 1993. G. Michael Brown became

2184-403: A weekend in Atlantic City. He noted that each of the players used a different, and overcomplicated, card counting strategy. It resulted in error rates that undermined the benefits of the more complicated strategies. After returning to Cambridge, Kaplan detailed the problems he observed to Massar. Kaplan said he would back a team but it had to be run as a business with formal management procedures,

2275-515: Is a casino banking game . It is the most widely played casino banking game in the world. It uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as " twenty-one ". This family of card games also includes the European games vingt-et-un and pontoon , and the Russian game Ochko  [ ru ] . The game is a comparing card game where players compete against

2366-404: Is abbreviated "H17" in blackjack literature, with "S17" used for the stand-on-soft-17 variation. Substituting an "H17" rule with an "S17" rule in a game benefits the player, decreasing the house edge by about 0.2%. All things being equal, using fewer decks decreases the house edge. This mainly reflects an increased likelihood of player blackjack, since if the player draws a ten on their first card,

2457-412: Is advantageous to make an insurance bet whenever the hole card has more than a one in three chance of being a ten. Card counting techniques can identify such situations. Note: Where changes in the house edge due to changes in the rules are stated in percentage terms, the difference is usually stated here in percentage points , not the percentage change. For example, if an edge of 10% is reduced to 9%, it

2548-424: Is allowed. Insurance is a side bet that the dealer has a blackjack. The dealer asks for insurance bets before the first player plays. Insurance bets of up to half the player's current bet are placed on the "insurance bar" above the player's cards. If the dealer has a blackjack, insurance pays 2 to 1. In most casinos, the dealer looks at the down card and pays off or takes the insurance bet immediately. In other casinos,

2639-429: Is at the front of the betting box controls the position, and the dealer consults the controlling player for playing decisions; the other bettors "play behind". A player can usually control or bet in as many boxes as desired at a single table, but an individual cannot play on more than one table at a time or place multiple bets within a single box. In many U.S. casinos, players are limited to playing one to three positions at

2730-496: Is based on a player's point total and the dealer's visible card. Players can sometimes improve on this decision by considering the composition of their hand, not just the point total. For example, players should ordinarily stand when holding 12 against a dealer 4. But in a single deck game, players should hit if their 12 consists of a 10 and a 2. The presence of a 10 in the player's hand has two consequences: Even when basic and composition-dependent strategies lead to different actions,

2821-418: Is consequently known as "late" surrender. The alternative, "early" surrender, gives the player the option to surrender before the dealer checks for blackjack, or in a no hole card game. Early surrender is much more favorable to the player than late surrender. For late surrender, however, while it is tempting to opt for surrender on any hand which will probably lose, the correct strategy is to only surrender on

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2912-491: Is non-smoking, and separate table gaming and slot areas are designated as non-smoking. In 1997, the associated deluxe Grand Pequot Tower was opened for business. Foxwoods was once reported to be the world's largest casino, though it was later surpassed by the Venetian Macau . For years after opening in 1992, Foxwoods had a monopoly on casino gambling in the region. It made billions of dollars in profits. Shortly before

3003-450: Is not a blackjack, even one with a value of 21. Wins are paid out at even money, except for player blackjacks, which are traditionally paid out at 3 to 2 odds. Many casinos today pay blackjacks at less than 3:2. This is common in single-deck blackjack games. Blackjack games usually offer a side bet called insurance , which may be placed when the dealer's face-up card is an ace. Additional side bets, such as "Dealer Match" which pays when

3094-479: Is reduced by one percentage point, not reduced by ten percent. Blackjack rules are generally set by regulations that establish permissible rule variations at the casino's discretion. Blackjack comes with a "house edge"; the casino's statistical advantage is built into the game. Most of the house's edge comes from the fact that the player loses when both the player and dealer bust. Blackjack players using basic strategy lose on average less than 1% of their action over

3185-434: Is sometimes seen in "blackjack-like" games, such as in some charity casinos. Each blackjack game has a basic strategy, the optimal method of playing any hand. When using basic strategy, the long-term house advantage (the expected loss of the player) is minimized. An example of a basic strategy is shown in the table below, which applies to a game with the following specifications: Key: Most basic strategy decisions are

3276-422: Is that, because a low card is usually bad and a high card usually good, and as cards already seen since the last shuffle cannot be at the top of the deck and thus drawn, the counter can determine the high and low cards that have already been played. They then may know the probability of getting a high card (10, J, Q, K, A) as compared to a low card (2, 3, 4, 5, 6). In 1979, several friends of J.P. Massar at MIT took

3367-450: The " Reno rule", doubling down is only permitted on hard totals of 9, 10, or 11 (under a similar European rule, only 10 or 11). The basic strategy would otherwise call for some doubling down with hard 9 and soft 13–18, and advanced players can identify situations where doubling on soft 19–20 and hard 8, 7, and even 6 is advantageous. The Reno rule prevents the player from taking advantage of double-down in these situations and thereby increases

3458-550: The 1770s and 1780s, but the first rules appeared in Britain in 1800 under the name of vingt-un . Twenty-One, still known then as vingt-un , appeared in the United States in the early 1800s. The first American rules were an 1825 reprint of the 1800 English rules. English vingt-un later developed into an American variant in its own right which was renamed blackjack around 1899. According to popular myth, when vingt-un ('twenty-one')

3549-715: The Blackjack Hall of Fame. Blackjack team play was first written about by Ken Uston , an early member of Al Francesco's teams along with Bill Erb and Blair Hull . Uston wrote The Big Player (1977) and Million Dollar Blackjack (1981) about Blackjack team card counting techniques. Kaplan enhanced Francesco's team methods and used them for the MIT team. The team concept enabled players and investors to leverage both their time and money, reducing their "risk of ruin" while also making it more difficult for casinos to detect card counting at their tables. Blackjack#Basic strategy Blackjack (formerly black jack or vingt-un )

3640-420: The MIT team's methods have been established as gaining players an overall edge of about 4 percent. In his interview, Chang reported that the MIT team had difficulty attaining such edges in actual play, and their overall results had been best with straight card counting. The MIT Team's approach was originally developed by Al Francesco , elected by professional gamblers as one of the original seven inductees into

3731-489: The advantage gained by counting—even though these all negatively impact the non-counter as well. The group of four players, a professional gambler, and an investor who put up most of their capital ($ 5,000), went to Atlantic City in late December. They recruited more MIT students as players at the January blackjack class. They played intermittently through May 1980 and increased their capital four-fold, but were nonetheless more like

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3822-637: The big player, Katie Lilienkamp (a controller), and Andy Bloch (a spotter). The other team was the Reptiles, led by Mike Aponte , Manlio Lopez and Wes Atamian. These teams had various legal structures, and at times million dollar banks and 50+ players. By 2000 the 15+ year reign of the MIT Blackjack Teams came to an end as players drifted into other pursuits. In 1999, a member of the Amphibians won at Max Rubin's 3rd Annual Blackjack Ball competition. The event

3913-401: The casino against dealers who steal chips or players who cheat. Recordings can also identify advantage players . When a player's hand signal disagrees with their words, the hand signal takes precedence. A hand can "hit" as often as desired until the total is 21 or more. Players must stand on a total of 21. After a bust or a stand, play proceeds to the next hand clockwise around the table. After

4004-735: The casino management achieved full build-out of the resort by hiring several design and construction entities. The majority of the work from 1992 to 2001 was completed by Construction Managers CR Klewin aka Klewin Building Co. and the Architect of Record was JCJ Architecture (formerly Jeter, Cook & Jepson) of Hartford, Connecticut . Planning and concept designs were by New England Design Inc. and Nick606 Inc. Later phases were completed by Shawmut Design & Construction, Perini Building Co., AZ Corporation, and others, with design work by Steelman Partners , HKS, Inc., and others. The resort managers revamped

4095-435: The casino personnel in search of his team members. As a result he decided to fall back on his growing real estate investment and development company, his "day job" since 1980, and stopped managing the team. He continued for another year or so as an occasional player and investor in the team, now being run by Massar, Chang and Bill Rubin, a player who joined the team in 1984. The MIT Blackjack Team ran at least 22 partnerships in

4186-426: The chairman of the casino in 1993. In an agreement negotiated with the state of Connecticut, to gain their approval of the casino, the tribe agreed to pay 25 percent of the slot revenue to the state, a sum that amounted to almost $ 200 million per year as of 2007 . In the fiscal year ending June 2008, Foxwoods' 6,300 slots handled more than $ 9.1 billion. In January 2012, the "hold" was $ 45 million. A poker room and

4277-453: The dealer busts, all remaining player hands win. If the dealer does not bust, each remaining bet wins if its hand is higher than the dealer's and loses if it is lower. A player total of 21 on the first two cards is a "natural" or "blackjack", and the player wins immediately unless the dealer also has one, in which case the hand ties. In the case of a tie ("push" or "standoff"), bets are returned without adjustment. A blackjack beats any hand that

4368-632: The dealer, rather than each other. Blackjack's immediate precursor was the English version of twenty-one called vingt-un , a game of unknown provenance. The first written reference is found in a book by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes . Cervantes was a gambler , and the protagonists of his " Rinconete y Cortadillo ", from Novelas Ejemplares , are card cheats in Seville . They are proficient at cheating at veintiuno (Spanish for "twenty-one") and state that

4459-614: The difference in expected reward is small, and it becomes smaller with more decks. Using a composition-dependent strategy rather than a basic strategy in a single-deck game reduces the house edge by 4 in 10,000, which falls to 3 in 100,000 for a six-deck game. Foxwoods Casino Foxwoods Resort Casino is a hotel and casino complex owned and operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation on their reservation located in Ledyard, Connecticut . Including six casinos,

4550-465: The election in only one form of the Chinese language, thereby disenfranchising workers who spoke other languages. Furthermore, it said that interactions between union officials and some voters were unlawful. An NLRB Administrative Law Judge ruled that the union and the board provided ample explanation of the election in a variety of languages. Foxwoods appealed the decision. The Foxwoods dealers' union asked

4641-586: The foundation of future efforts to beat blackjack. Ed Thorp used Baldwin's hand calculations to verify the basic strategy and later published (in 1963) Beat the Dealer . At a blackjack table, the dealer faces five to nine playing positions from behind a semicircular table. Between one and eight standard 52-card decks are shuffled together. To start each round, players place bets in the "betting box" at each position. In jurisdictions allowing back betting, up to three players can be at each position. The player whose bet

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4732-399: The game. While the profits rolled in, so did the "heat" from the casinos, and many MIT Team members were identified and barred. These members were replaced by fresh players from MIT, Harvard, and other colleges and companies, and play continued. Eventually, investigators hired by casinos realized that many of those they had banned had addresses in or near Cambridge, and the connection to MIT and

4823-520: The jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board for their on-reservation Native American enterprises. Following hearings and review of the petitions, the NLRB ruled in favor of the union and ordered a union election to be conducted. On November 24, 2007, employees voted to unionize: 60 percent were in favor and 40 percent were against. The Foxwoods dealers cast 1,289 ballots for

4914-408: The last hand is played, the dealer reveals the hole card and stands or draws according to the game's rules. When the outcome of the dealer's hand is established, any hands with bets remaining on the table are resolved (usually in counterclockwise order); bets on losing hands are forfeited, the bet on a push is left on the table, and winners are paid out. If the dealer shows an ace, an "insurance" bet

5005-408: The long run, giving blackjack one of the lowest edges in the casino. The house edge for games where blackjack pays 6 to 5 instead of 3 to 2 increases by about 1.4%. Player deviations from basic strategy also increase the house edge. Each game has a rule about whether the dealer must hit or stand on soft 17, which is generally printed on the table surface. The variation where the dealer must hit soft 17

5096-424: The market recession of 2008, Foxwoods borrowed heavily to finance a massive expansion to include new hotel and conference facilities. Starting in 2009, Foxwoods defaulted on debts totaling over two billion dollars. As a result, in 2014 Standard & Poor's lowered Foxwoods' credit rating. The Mashantucket Pequot, owners of Foxwoods, have applied for and received millions of dollars in federal grants. Over time,

5187-649: The mineral name was transferred by prospectors to the top bonus hand. He could not find any historical evidence for a special bonus for having the combination of an ace and a black jack. In September 1956, Roger Baldwin, Wilbert Cantey, Herbert Maisel, and James McDermott published a paper titled "The Optimum Strategy in Blackjack" in the Journal of the American Statistical Association , the first mathematically sound optimal blackjack strategy. This paper became

5278-436: The most damaging to the player, causing the greatest increase in house edge. Since blackjack occurs in approximately 4.8% of hands, the 1:1 game increases the house edge by 2.3%, while the 6:5 game adds 1.4% to the house edge. Video blackjack machines generally pay a 1:1 payout for a blackjack. The rule that bets on tied hands are lost rather than pushed is catastrophic to the player. Though rarely used in standard blackjack, it

5369-499: The name stuck even after the ten-to-one bonus was withdrawn. French card historian Thierry Depaulis debunks this story, showing that prospectors during the Klondike Gold Rush (1896–99) gave the name blackjack to the game of American vingt-un , the bonus being the usual ace and any 10-point card. Since blackjack also refers to the mineral zincblende , which was often associated with gold or silver deposits, he suggests that

5460-403: The number of decks is most dramatic when comparing the single-deck game to the two-deck game, and becomes progressively smaller as more decks are added. Surrender, for those games that allow it, is usually not permitted against a dealer blackjack; if the dealer's first card is an ace or ten, the hole card is checked to make sure there is no blackjack before surrender is offered. This rule protocol

5551-553: The object of the game is to reach 21 points without going over and that the ace values 1 or 11. The game is played with the Spanish baraja deck. "Rinconete y Cortadillo" was written between 1601 and 1602, implying that ventiuno was played in Castile since the beginning of the 17th century or earlier. Later references to this game are found in France and Spain. The first record of the game in France occurs in 1888 and in Britain during

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5642-521: The opening of Foxwoods Casino in nearby Connecticut , where they planned to train new players. Acting as the General Partner, they formed a Massachusetts Limited Partnership in June 1992 called Strategic Investments to bankroll the new team. Structured similar to the numerous real estate development limited partnerships that Kaplan had formed, the limited partnership raised a million dollars, significantly more money than any of their previous teams, with

5733-450: The other Dave from the first round) played on this bank. Ten weeks later they more than doubled the original stake. Profits per hour played at the tables were $ 162.50, statistically equivalent to the projected rate of $ 170/hour detailed in the investor offering prospectus. Per the terms of the investment offering, players and investors split the profits with players paid in proportion to their playing hours and computer simulated win rates. Over

5824-405: The payoff waits until the end of the play. In face-down games, if a player has more than one hand, they can look at all their hands before deciding. This is the only condition where a player can look at multiple hands. Players with blackjack can also take insurance. When this happens, it is called 'even money,' as the player is giving up their 3:2 payout for a 1:1 payout when taking insurance with

5915-481: The player less than 3:2 for a winning blackjack. The following table illustrates the mathematical effect on the house edge of the number of decks, by considering games with various deck counts under the following ruleset: double after split allowed, resplit to four hands allowed, no hitting split aces, no surrendering, double on any two cards, original bets only lost on dealer blackjack, dealer hits soft 17, and cut-card used. The increase in house edge per unit increase in

6006-432: The player to hit hands resulting from split aces reduces the house edge by about 0.13%; allowing resplitting of aces reduces the house edge by about 0.03%. Note that a ten-value card dealt on a split ace (or vice versa) will not be counted as a blackjack but as a soft 21. After a split, most games allow doubling down on the new two-card hands. Disallowing doubling after a split increases the house edge by about 0.12%. Under

6097-409: The player's cards match the dealer's up card, are also sometimes available. After the initial two cards, the player has up to five options: "hit", "stand", "double down", "split", or "surrender". Each option has a corresponding hand signal. Hand signals help the " eye in the sky " make a video recording of the table, which resolves disputes and identifies dealer mistakes. It is also used to protect

6188-444: The player's choice. If the total exceeds 21 points, it busts, and all bets on it immediately lose. After the boxes have finished playing, the dealer's hand is resolved by drawing cards until the hand achieves a total of 17 or higher. If the dealer has a total of 17 including an ace valued as 11 (a "soft 17"), some games require the dealer to stand while other games require another draw. The dealer never doubles, splits, or surrenders. If

6279-421: The player's expected loss. The Reno rule increases the house edge by around 0.1%, and its European version by around 0.2%. In most non-U.S. casinos, a "no hole card" game is played, meaning that the dealer does not draw nor consult their second card until after all players have finished making decisions. With no hole card, it is rarely the correct basic strategy to double or split against a dealer ten or ace, since

6370-410: The resort covers an area of 9,000,000 sq ft (840,000 m ). The casinos have more than 250 gaming tables for blackjack , craps , roulette , and poker , and have more than 5,500 slot machines . The casinos also have several restaurants, among them a Hard Rock Cafe . It has been developed since changes in state and federal laws in the late 20th century enabled Native American gaming on

6461-479: The rest) for every playing session. However, their keen interest in the game coupled with Kaplan's successful track record won out. The newly capitalized "bank" of the MIT Blackjack Team started on 1 August 1980. The investment stake was $ 89,000, with both outside investors and players putting up the capital. Ten players, including Kaplan, Massar, Jonathan, Goose, and "Big Dave" (aka "coach", to distinguish from

6552-422: The same effect on basic strategy and the house edge as reverting to a hole card game. In many casinos, a blackjack pays only 6:5 or even 1:1 instead of the usual 3:2. This is most common at tables with lower table minimums . Although this payoff was originally limited to single-deck games, it has spread to double-deck and shoe games. Among common rule variations in the U.S., these altered payouts for blackjack are

6643-435: The same for all blackjack games. Rule variations call for changes in only a few situations. For example, to use the table above on a game with the stand-on-soft-17 rule (which favors the player, and is typically found only at higher-limit tables today) only 6 cells would need to be changed: hit on 11 vs. A, hit on 15 vs. A, stand on 17 vs. A, stand on A,7 vs. 2, stand on A,8 vs. 6, and split on 8,8 vs. A. Regardless of

6734-765: The sovereign reservations of federally recognized tribes. Foxwoods has two hotel towers, with a total of 2,228 hotel rooms; and an arcade for children and teens. The original tower, the Grand Pequot Tower, opened in 1997, while the second opened in 2008 as the MGM Grand. It was re-branded the Fox Tower in 2013. In 2015, a retail complex, known as Tanger Outlet Mall, opened between the two hotel towers with 85 stores featuring luxury goods . The Mashantucket Pequot Tribe gained federal recognition and legal control of their reservation by an act of Congress in 1983, which overrode

6825-591: The specific rule variations, taking insurance or "even money" is never the correct play under a basic strategy. Estimates of the house edge for blackjack games quoted by casinos and gaming regulators are based on the assumption that the players follow basic strategy. Most blackjack games have a house edge of between 0.5% and 1%, placing blackjack among the cheapest casino table games for the player. Casino promotions such as complimentary matchplay vouchers or 2:1 blackjack payouts allow players to acquire an advantage without deviating from basic strategy. The basic strategy

6916-445: The state of Connecticut to improve the conditions of their workplace. Workers and union organizers pushed for legislation to ban smoking on the casino floors of Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun . The Mashantucket tribe opposed a complete ban on smoking; however, in May 2009 Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell signed an agreement with Foxwoods by which they would limit smoking areas in the casino. On January 26, 2010, dealers at Foxwoods reached

7007-495: The subsequent probability of drawing an ace is higher with fewer decks. It also reflects the decreased likelihood of a blackjack–blackjack push in a game with fewer decks. Casinos generally compensate by tightening other rules in games with fewer decks, to preserve the house edge or discourage play altogether. When offering single-deck blackjack games, casinos are more likely to disallow doubling on soft hands or after splitting, restrict resplitting, require higher minimum bets, and pay

7098-511: The team would train for weeks or months, starting on MIT's campus, then practicing in backroom card games in Boston's Chinatown . They would then begin as the team's mule in Vegas, carrying cash, as they worked up the team's hierarchy. The group combined individual play with a team approach of counters and big players to maximize opportunities and disguise the betting patterns that card counting produces. In

7189-519: The team's peak in the 1990s, the team was visiting Las Vegas almost every weekend. According to a casino security investigator, the team took over $ 400,000 in one weekend. After the trips to Vegas, the team would enter what they remembered into computer programs to devise the best strategy for specific situations. After the dissolution of Strategic Investments, a few of the players took their winnings and split off into two independent groups. The Amphibians were primarily led by Semyon Dukach , with Dukach as

7280-483: The ten-week period of this first bank, players, mostly undergraduates, earned an average of over $ 80/hour while investors achieved an annualized return in excess of 250%. The MIT Blackjack Team continued to play throughout the 1980s, growing to as many as 35 players in 1984 with a capitalization of as much as $ 350,000. Having played and run successful teams since 1977, Kaplan reached a point in late 1984 where he could not show his face in any casino without being followed by

7371-472: The three general partners ramped up their recruitment and training efforts to capitalize on the opportunity. Over the next two years, the MIT Team grew to nearly 80 players, including groups and players in Cambridge, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California, Illinois, and Washington. Sarah McCord, who joined the team in 1983 as an MIT student and later moved to California, was added as a partner soon after SI

7462-474: The time period from late 1979 through 1989. At least 70 people played on the team in some capacity (either as counters, big players, or in various supporting roles) over that time span. Every partnership was profitable during this time period, after paying all expenses as well as the players' and managers' share of the winnings, with returns to investors ranging from 4%/year to over 300%/year. In 1992, Bill Kaplan, J.P. Massar, and John Chang decided to capitalize on

7553-565: The two complexes. Amenities at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods included: In late 2013, MGM Mirage split from Foxwoods. The tribe renamed the building as The Fox Tower, part of a re-branding effort as they face new competition from other casinos in the region. In 2015, Tanger Outlets Foxwoods opened within the complex, located between the two hotel towers. Constructed for $ 120 million, the 85-store mall features luxury brands. Beginning with an employee-led website to gain support and share ideas of how to react to changes employees had been going through,

7644-456: The union, 852 against representation, with challenges to 36 additional ballots. Approximately 2,700 dealers and dual-rate dealers were eligible to vote in the election. After the workers won the right to unionize, Foxwoods Casino appealed the election results, reasserting its jurisdictional challenge. In addition, it said that the NLRB had made mistakes in conducting the vote. It had printed the ballot only in English and provided notices explaining

7735-477: The very worst hands, because having even a one-in-four chance of winning the full bet is better than losing half the bet and pushing the other half, as entailed by surrendering. If the cards of a post-split hand have the same value, most games allow the player to split again, or "resplit". The player places a further wager, and the dealer separates the new pair dealing a further card to each as before. Some games allow unlimited resplitting, while others may limit it to

7826-750: The whole resort and casino, re-branding it as "The Fox". The resort's appearance inspires frequent comparisons or references to it as the "Emerald City", after the city seen in the film The Wizard of Oz . Games available at Foxwoods include: The Poker Room (formerly known as the WPT- World Poker Tour World Poker Room until 2012) is located one floor below the Rainmaker Casino. Poker games of varying stakes are conducted here, including limit and no-limit Texas hold 'em , limit and pot-limit Omaha hold 'em (including hi/lo), and seven-card stud (high only and hi/lo). The poker room

7917-441: The world. After meeting Kaplan and hearing about his blackjack successes, Massar asked Kaplan if he was interested in going with a few of Massar's blackjack-playing friends to Atlantic City to observe their play. Given the serendipitous timing (Kaplan's parting with his Las Vegas team), he agreed to go in the hopes of putting together a new local team that he could train and manage. Kaplan observed Massar and his teammates playing for

8008-772: Was featured in an October 1999 Cigar Aficionado article, which said the winner earned the unofficial title "Most Feared Man in the Casino Business". The team often recruited students through flyers and the players' friends from college campuses across the country. The team tested potential members to find out if they were suitable candidates and, if they were, the team thoroughly trained the new members for free. Fully trained players had to pass an intense "trial by fire," consisting of playing through 8 six-deck shoes with almost perfect play, and then undergo further training, supervision, and similar check-outs in actual casino play until they could become full stakes players. New members of

8099-418: Was formed and became responsible for training and recruitment of West Coast players. At various times, there were nearly 30 players playing simultaneously at different casinos around the world, including Native American casinos throughout the country, Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Canada , and island locations. Never before had casinos throughout the world seen such an organized and scientific onslaught directed at

8190-459: Was introduced into the United States (in the early 1800s, during the First World War, or in the 1930s, depending on the source), gambling houses offered bonus payouts to stimulate players' interest. One such bonus was a ten-to-one payout if the player's hand consisted of the ace of spades and a black jack (either the jack of clubs or the jack of spades). This hand was called a "blackjack", and

8281-745: Was relocated and expanded in March 2006, increasing the number of tables from 76 to 114, making it the largest poker room outside California . It is the third-largest poker room in the world, after the Commerce Casino and the Bicycle Casino . Since 2014, three major mixed martial arts events have been held at Foxwoods: UFC Fight Night: Jacaré vs. Mousasi , World Series of Fighting 20: Branch vs. McElligott and, most recently World Series of Fighting 24: Fitch vs. Okami . Construction started in November 2005 on

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