You know how, while not illegal, casinos really do not like blackjack players who can count cards? The ones that are not all that skilled at card counting are annoying to the staff, and those that are good at the skill have the serious potential of turning the odds to their own favor, and that means the casino is paying the player to pay. But apparently some casinos feel that is just fine for them to count the cards though.
Such is the point behind a type of blackjack table called MindPlay. A MindPlay blackjack table is identifiable by the black well near the third base position at the table. For those who are not familiar with the term ‘third base position’ it means the final chair at the table at the dealer’s right hand. That black well is not a normal fixture at a blackjack table; and since casinos will not label the table as being equipped with MindPlay technology, it is the only give away that the table is for all intents and purposes rigged.
MindPlay blackjack uses a special set of marked cards. Those cards are fed into a shuffle machine, and once shuffling is complete, the dealer will then place the cards in the well. While in the well an optical device will scan all of the marks on the cards, compiling a list, so to speak, of the order of the cards. As cards are dealt and played, the programming of MindPlay counts the cards that have been used. Once the count reaches a certain predetermined number, the dealer is notified to reshuffle the cards. The cards are all placed back into the shuffle machine, reshuffled and fed again to the MindPlay well for the new order to be recorded.
The purpose of MindPlay is to keep players from counting cards. The casinos know that card counting is not against the law so they cannot outright turn away card counting blackjack players. But likewise there is no law against the casinos counting the cards. If the casinos can have the cards counted in order to reshuffle the deck before card counters take advantage of any situations, then the casinos see it as a win since their edge is preserved.
But since the house has the edge to begin with, it actually seems like they are taken unfair means to preserve their edge. Because really, how dare players develop a skill that could turn the odds. It is an odds game and the casinos will go to any means it seems to make sure they keep the edge. But then again, there is no law against casinos counting cards after all.
The best a blackjack player can do is to recognize a MindPlay table and avoid it because, let’s face it, there is no way to beat a MindPlay system. I do think it rather rotten for casinos to use a table like this. After all, the percentage of blackjack players that could actually impact a casino’s odds on blackjack is small; they will still make money off of blackjack players even if a handful of capable card counters drop in. Because the number of card counters that take advantage of a casino are far smaller than the number of blackjack players a MindPlay table would take advantage of, it really makes the MindPlay tables unfair. Spread the word, avoid MindPlay tables with their little black wells on the dealer’s right hand, and play traditional blackjack.