"Table Master" electronic blackjack machines...

[winbig]

Does anyone have an in-depth knowledge of these machines?

Are you getting a "real" game of blackjack, or are these just another slot machine?

The reason I'm asking is that I've dropped a good sum (not a whale by any means) in these machines, without one winning session out of about a dozen.

...and now that I'm reading more about these machines, I get the impression that instead of playing blackjack like it's supposed to be played, you're up against a game that has NO BEARING on whether you hit/stand/double/whatever. That, added with up to a 15% HOUSE ADVANTAGE = disaster.

*The minimum payouts for PA 'slot parlors' stands at 85%. Most of them have been running at 91%.


http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07111/779921-336.stm

(key items in bold)

Each player competes individually against the virtual dealer. One individual's play doesn't affect anyone else's odds or outcome, said board spokesman Doug Harbach.

...


"The board felt these machines will provide another strong entertainment value, one that will produce more revenue" for the state, he said. The state taxes slot machine revenue at a rate of 55 percent, and will use much of that revenue to lower property taxes, but not before July 2008.

...

Mr. Harbach said the board's gaming laboratory has been working for several months with Shuffle Master of Las Vegas, which makes the electronic table game, to make sure it complies with the 2004 Pennsylvania slots law. That law banned actual table games, which have a human dealer.

....

Table Master is legal because the odds are random and one player's decisions on his "cards" don't affect any of the other players, Mr. Harbach said.

[dd99]

I've taken in interest in Tablemasters lately - and a brief search showed that they have been certified by Gaming Laboratories. If so, based on the standards (linked below) it would seem that this is indeed a fair game and by no means a slot.

any "tweaking" of the game would I would assume be both illegal as well as incredibly damaging to Shufflemster's (very lucrative) business...

D.



http://www.gaminglabs.com/downloads/...0Rev%201.2.pdf

Does anyone have an in-depth knowledge of these machines?

Are you getting a "real" game of blackjack, or are these just another slot machine?

The reason I'm asking is that I've dropped a good sum (not a whale by any means) in these machines, without one winning session out of about a dozen.

...and now that I'm reading more about these machines, I get the impression that instead of playing blackjack like it's supposed to be played, you're up against a game that has NO BEARING on whether you hit/stand/double/whatever. That, added with up to a 15% HOUSE ADVANTAGE = disaster.

*The minimum payouts for PA 'slot parlors' stands at 85%. Most of them have been running at 91%.


http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07111/779921-336.stm

(key items in bold)

[pokeraddict]

If you play this game in PA it is basically a heads up game because state law does not allow for another player's play to affect your outcome on a slot. In any other state it is a legit game that appears to reshuffle after every hand.

When I lived in Deadwood, SD there was an amazing advantage play on this game for about a year. The game pays back about 99.6%. On Mon and Wed the casino paid 3x points. 1x points was .4% so 3x was 1.2% making the game payback 100.8% on 3x points day. Once a month you got 7x day which paid 102.4%. On top of this I would get $250-$350 a week on bounce back.

I had massive swings on this game. I had one day under 90% and had 2 over 110% (just game result, not cashback). In the end I was down about my expected loss and the cashback and promos put me up huge. It took a year for the casino to figure out what I was doing and they removed all cashback from the machine. It was in 2 casinos in Deadwood, one banned me completely, the other "no mailed" me.

Anyway I found the game to be legit. If it has a player's card you should easily be able to figure out win/loss %. If you're really getting 85% then that is disturbing and would be virtually impossible on a fair game.