MVSeahog

Ellis, That's a keeper for the "F2/3" file for sure. MVS

KKong, I play weekly at Betphoenix dot ag (NOT Bephoenixcasino dot org/com) with no probems. They've changed their studio around a few times over the years, but overall it's worked out well for me and we have several other guys who either play there or test there all the time. It's the only one I can get into as a US player. Well, it's the only one I've put the effort into getting into. There are supposed to be a few others but I haven't done any full scale testing on them. I don't work for BPH or am I an affiliate. I just play there because it's available to me. If you'll look back in the threads, I'm sure you'll find several messages about the site. You can play with "free" money there as well as real money. The free money tables are the same as the real money tables, they're just a click away. MVS

Guys, Perhaps I've managed to present this stadium concept incorrectly. They are not playing "one table and 5000 seats". The original message was meant to imply that there are approximately 5000 stadium seats available throughout the region, not in a single casino. Hopefully this clears up some misconceptions. I'm thinking what "might" show up around here is what we used to see in the old Keno lounges. Once game and a lot of seats/terminals to play at. Does that make more sense? MVS

That's a very good point. The shear amount of players and tables in Macau is really something to see. The relatively small amount of players here might well be the reason it doesn't show up in the States anytime in the near future. MVS

NormA, As I understand the way this is working now, they DO have the 8 decks, the shuffle and all that. What they don't have is the money handling. As everyone is playing the same shoe "in the stadium seating", then it's like having a table with 50 positions! They're still hand dealing the cards and playing the traditional game, they're just paying it off in a different manner! MVS

All, Well, maybe not right away, but it's coming, bet on it. Stadium type table games are basically a live dealer and a "stadium" of live betting terminals. Think of it as a lot like those 8 station roulette machines you may see, but with "extra" seats. How many? Well, there are currently 4000 or so stadium seats available in Macau and they are forecasting upwards of 6000 available player stations in the next 5 years. Why "stadium" type of roulette, baccarat, sic-bo? Look to the MONEY, of course! At a normal 7 station baccarat table, you get 7 players against one shoe. At a stadium type of live baccarat table, you can have 50 players all on the same live shoe! It's a no brainer for the casino. All that and the dealer's no longer have to handle any of the money as it's all done right at your personal terminal. So, if you've been wondering what the direction of table games are, simply look to Macau and it should be obvious. MVS (article summarized from the Macau Business Daily)

It's simply amazing to see what other people are doing since you've gotten into a more "selective" method of playing. I do agree with you. So many people who just show up and throw money on the cards with no idea at all of what may be happening in the shoe. Good job. MVS

Ellis, The Tampa Hard Rock casino has a large hotel on property. I can't speak for the Hollywood casino but I would assume it also has an on site hotel. The Immokalee casino has nothing available and there's not even a decent motel nearby. MVS

Sarrom, I'm probably one of the people who still bases his overall play on basic NOR, specifically S40 and F2/3. I do have the "luxury" of being able to see all of the shoe played before I jump in with my wagers as I'm online and can view the entire board as played up to that point. I am very slow to change, especially when something is winning, so I'll probably be late to the NOR+ game too. For now, NOR works for me in the particular way that I play. MVS

No need to go our of your way to hit the Immokalee casino. Hollywood and Tampa are much bigger and nicer places. And besides that, Immokalee is in the middle on nowhere, literally! But it's the closest one to me by at least 30 minutes of drive time so it's the one I go to when I need a B&M fix. MVS

Uh, that would be me, but we've already talked about that in the PM's!! We do have several players in the south Florida area though and evidently Hollywood and Tampa are the two major places for the guys to play. I'm the lone eagle down at the Immokalee Hard Rock. MVS

Hmm, just decided to do a quick check and since I replied to you the first time, there have been at least 37 new messages in the private baccarat area and most of them are right on target. Good questions, good discussions and answers to problems. That's what I'm looking for in a good baccarat forum. MVS

Aha! I stand corrected. Can't believe I misread the original post to make the gaff of mistaking 11 Banks for a ZZ run of 11. That changes things around and I'll play it again tomorrow. For those of you wondering what we're talking about, I had posted up a message playing the shoe in question but mistakenly transcribed the 11 Banks in a row as a ZZ run of 11. Obviously it had to be deleted to keep the confusion to a minimum!! MVS

What's happened? Well, in the three years that you've been a member here, it appears you've made this one post. I may be wrong, but the number is posted up in the corner. As to the discussions? Well, I think a lot of people come into the forum expecting it to be like the other "baccarat" forums and they find out that although there's not a whole lot going on in public, the private areas are carrying on a large volume of discussions, almost all of it on topic! The typical fighting and arguing in public forums is rarely seen among the group of private members. They paid to be there and they have made the decision to get serious about their game. Figuring that about 300 people a day just cruise on in as guests, only a small fraction of those actually register and a smaller subset of that eventually realizes that perhaps it is time to do something "different" than what they've been doing, namely losing at baccarat! Some read through all of the public areas over and over and MAY ask a question or two. Assuming the question is valid, they'll get a good answer assuming some of the private area members wish to comment. On several occasions, members have made really good comments, only to be trashed for their efforts so they quietly go back to the private area and just continue to read, study, play and show a profit. There's no need to make a big noise if you're content to win so the public area slowly loses participation. What is it that you would like to know? Anything specific? The currently accepted method of play appears to be NOR+ for those who have worked with standard NOR and wish to "tweak" their game. I'm still basically a NOR player but that's because I've learned the basics of it a long time ago and it suits my style of play. MVS

Fiveseven18, Because I'm in a pretty good mood this morning, we'll let your two immediate posts stand but will remove the link to your advertisement for still another baccarat system killer. The majority of the members here are serious practictioners of the game and your link was, at best, a pure and simple spam pass. So, in spite of that, welcome aboard and enjoy the place. You may even learn something. If anyone would like to see the link, please PM the original author and have him email it to you. MVS

Stafchar, I don't believe I've ever seen a baccarat program that shuffles after every hand. If it did, it wouldn't be a baccarat game. Are you planning to test manually or have the computer run all the plays? Lots of really good baccarat games out there for the iPad (I borrow my wife's iPad when she's in a store) and there are plenty of free baccarat games on pretty much every game server in the world. All of the online internet casinos also have RNG baccarat games for use in testing. MVS

Chief, Now that says a LOT in a short amount of time. That's a keeper! MVS

Keith, Nicely played and I even think I understand what you did and WHY you did it!!! MVS

Johnnycs1, No, I use BetPhoenix.ag as my online source. I've been with them for a few years now and no real complaints from me to speak of. I'm not an "affiliate" or anything and my play at this particular casino has been documented and mentioned in several earlier threads. I am merely a player at the only venue available to me from my desk! MVS

Henri, Just to jump in here, it does sound like playing a good, legal online game will probably wind up being your best option at this time. There are literally 100's of online casinos "available" to the European community but I would stay with the established, well known names, especially when you finally go on-line, live, with real money. Although I play 90% of my baccarat "online", I have very little experience with the better online casinos around the world. My only choice at this time is a casino in Costa Rica and in fact, it is merely a baccarat/casino studio with video feeds, but the game is legitimate and with live dealers, it's just like being in the casino, minus the smoke and all the fuss! If you do decide to play online, be sure and TEST, TEST, TEST and then practice, practice, practice until you're 100% comfortable with the particular casino's practices. There is no need to rush in and start wagering right away. Play, practice, test. Almost all of the better casinos do allow you to practice play on the same tables that they play for real money. Here's hoping this helps. A lot of study and preparation BEFORE jumping into the live casino will pay off in the end. MVS

Tlam62, I think your first post may have been put up as a "blog" entry which is why it didn't show up in the forums for an answer. This current message does appear to be in the forum now and it looks like the Chief is already on it. Welcome aboard. MVS

BigVic, No real need to moderate this type of thread as the responses have pretty much taken care of the "problem". Besides, the Frankenstein thing was pretty weak which is why nobody jumped on it! Trading "junk" for "junk" is a circular exercise in futility. See? We really do read this stuff! However, if the concensus is that these types of messages should be removed, it will be. I don't believe we see this type of message locally all that much so the "once in a while" post will can stay unless it's pretty blatant. MVS (an easy +4 on Wednesday)

HotCooler, I had a full blown reply to all the questions but something happened to the forum software and it kind of disappeared into the shuffle machine I think. Anyway, I did manage to salvage this part of the reply.... You're always looking and watching the "bias" of the shoe. If you're running S40 and the shoe turns into a giant streak on either side, the bias has just changed! If you break the shoe up into roughly a set of three sections, it may look different in the third section than the first section. This is our "shorthand" when transcribing or posting up a shoe for anyone to follow. B121314 literally translates to BPPBP PPBPP PP Once you've written your transcribed shoes this one a few times, it will become automatic and you'll start to wonder why people use a neverending set of B's and P's to describe the shoe. Events of 7's and 9's. Not the actual card totals. When deciding when to exit a shoe, watching the "half decades" would be the hands 25, 35, 45, 55, etc. Shoe. There are a lot of posted shoes here in the forum if you search them out. Many of the members post up "unusual" or difficult shoes when they shoe up and those are always good to practice on. Also, having 8 decks (or six) in the house and physically dealing shoes to yourself and picking apart each hand until you get it right, helps a lot. Dealing shoes also teaches you the flow of the game without being able to "peak" ahead and see if your practice bets will work out. If you read it as written. It says "Up 1, Down 2, Mandatory 2". This means no matter what the outcome of the first wager, the next one is always a 2. Assuming you were monitoring and playing both sides of the table (Bank and Player) and you were about to wager 6 on Player and 3 on Banker, the NET BET would be 3 on Player. (6-3=3) I would recommend that you read through the NOR manuals again, and then keep it close by to track down answers as they come up. I've been playing NOR for a long time and still have the manual sitting on my desk to look up something unusual when it shows up. You really can't read or practice too much. Good luck and just remember that there are no dumb questions. For every person that had a question, there are many who are lurking and will also get an answer. MVS

The use of "OP" in a message thread generally refers to the "Original Poster". MVS

Chief, You beat me to it. MVS