iPhone apps cause trouble in Vegas
As if the iPhone has not become one of the most ubiquitous devices of the 21st Century, now it’s profile has become even higher, this time as an illegal card-counting device in Las Vegas.
Rumor has it that gaming authorities in California have sent a rules enforcement tip to their compatriots in Las Vegas (and the rest of Nevada) about several different card counting programs currently available from the Apple App Store. All of the applications available there, some of which are free, are being advertised as “training aids,” but gaming security personnel have indicated clearly that the apps could be used to change the odds unfairly into the favor of the game player if their use went undetected.
The memo, which was distributed by the Gaming Control Board to Las Vegas casinos after receipt, warns security personnel to watch for people covertly using Iphones or Ipod Touches in stealth mode, according to an Inquirer story. This is an iPhone feature which lets applications continue to run and work even though the screen is turned, as long the user knows where the virtual keys are on the display.
Card counting is a card game strategy used to determine when a player has a probability advantage. The term is used almost exclusively to refer to the tracking of the ratio of high cards to low cards in blackjack and its derivatives such as Spanish 21. The idea behind counting cards in blackjack is that a deck of cards with a high proportion of high cards (ten-valued cards and aces) to low cards is good for the player, while the reverse (a deck with a high proportion of low cards to high cards) is good for the dealer. A deck rich in tens and aces improves the player’s odds because blackjacks (which offer a higher payout than other winning hands) become more common, the dealer is more likely to bust a stiff hand, and double-downs are more successful.
The technique of card counting, in and of itself, is not illegal. Gaming venues have largely eradicated the potential problem by using more and more decks of cards in a Blackjack shoe, but using a device to count cards is unwelcome in almost all situations and is almost certain to get you ejected from any casino in which you are plying and counting cards.
Related Posts:
February 16th, 2009
You’ll keep kicked from every casino doing this
February 16th, 2009
“…could be used to change the odds unfairly into the favor of the game player….”
And we could not have that, since the odds are already stacked in favor of the house: 3 1/2 cents of every dollar you put on the table goes into their pockets. It is the law, not only codified by various state legislatures, but enforced by the laws of probability, against which there is no appeal. This is what has always gotten me about legalized gambling–it is a sucker’s pursuit. People are get screwed by the casinos, who are somehow able to convince these marks that it is fun to leave their money on the table.
BTW, counting cards may not be illegal, but Big Brother is always watching and if he thinks you’re a card counter your sorry ass is kicked out and blacklisted (further strengthening the hand of the casinos.) I have absolutely no sympathy for the casino owners, who are simply trying to deodorize their legalized form of highway robbery with a patina of low-brow “luxury.” Go get ‘em, iPhone owners.