Daily Archives: May 3, 2022

Todays modern casino floors have all kinds of new ways to get in on the action. New table games, new slot machines, poker, sports betting, keno, bingo, and the list goes on and on. To put it lightly, there are nearly endless ways for a casino to take your action.

And while the new games can be a lot of fun, for me, the best games are the classics. There is a reason that every casino on the planet has games like blackjack, roulette, baccarat, and craps. And that is because these are the games that have been played for ages, and even after all the years, they are still the most popular games in the casino.

Today, we are going to take a look at a couple of those classic real money games as we compare blackjack vs baccarat in what is essentially a heavyweight title fight when it comes to the battle for the title of the best casino game of all time.

First:

Lets take a look at each game individually, and then we will pit the two gaming juggernauts against each other to decide once and for all which game is better? Baccarat vs blackjack! Lets get started!

Blackjack is a card game where players square off against the dealer, trying to get closer to 21 without going over. The game starts with the player getting two cards face-up, and the dealer getting two cards, one face-up, and the other face-down. The player then has the option to hit or stand based on the strength of their two cards.

Whats In A Name?

One thing that I love about blackjack is that the game is named after the best hand that you can get. A blackjack is an automatic winner, where the player is dealt an ace and a face card to start.

Not only do players automatically win their bet, but they also get paid out in odds rather than even money. Depending on where you are playing, you are going to get either 3-2 or 6-5 on a blackjack.

Unlike other games like Pai Gow Poker or Craps, where a Pai Gow is the worst hand that you can get, and nobody is ever trying to Crap out on a dice roll, blackjack is all about going for the best hand possible.

In reality, the name of the game doesnt make any difference in how it is played, but for me, I am all about positive vibes when I am gambling, and the fact that everyone wants a blackjack, and the game is literally called blackjack, helps keep me in the right mindset to beat the casino and win some cash!

We arent going to go too deep into blackjack strategy, as there are plenty of resources available out there that can help you improve your blackjack game.

Please Note:

But the key distinction here that separates blackjack from some of the other popular casino games, is that the players decisions have a meaningful impact on the outcome of the hand. If you play better strategy, you are going to win more often. Now lets take a look at baccarat.

Baccarat is another casino card game that, to the untrained eye, might appear to be very similar to blackjack. Players have three options to bet on a baccarat table. They can bet on the player, the banker, or the tie. After making their wagers, the dealer then deals two cards to both the player and the house or banker.

All of these cards are dealt face-up:

Outside of high limit rooms, most roulette wheels will have a 00 slot as well, and we have even started to see wheels with a 000 slot! The dealer will spin the wheel in one direction and then spin a little white ball in the other direction.

While you might see the player or the banker draw an additional card, those cards are dealt according to a set of predetermined rules, not because the player requested them. There are no actual decisions to make for the player outside of where they place their bet.

To calculate the score of a hand in baccarat, you add up both cards. Aces through nines are counted at their face value, and tens and face cards count for zero.

If a hand is a three and a four, that hand adds up to seven:

Outside of high limit rooms, most roulette wheels will have a 00 slot as well, and we have even started to see wheels with a 000 slot! The dealer will spin the wheel in one direction and then spin a little white ball in the other direction.

If a player has a nine and a seven, which adds up to sixteen, the one drops off, and the hand is counted as a six. While that might seem a bit confusing at first, you will get the hang of it after just a couple of hands, and remember, we already mentioned that you cant go over nine on a baccarat hand!

Please Note:

Once all hands are dealt, and all draws are taken by both the player hand and the banker hand, the bets on the hand closest to nine wins. If the hands tie, all bets on the player and banker push and are refunded, and any bets on the tie are paid out in odds of 8-1.

While you might think that the player is rooting for the player hand and that the house is rooting for the banker hand, that isnt always the case, as players are allowed to bet on either hand.

We have all heard the term the house always wins, and while that is certainly true, in baccarat, you can bet on the banker hand, and if it wins, you win too!

There are several different variations of baccarat available, but on a traditional bac table, a bet on the player hand pays even money, and a bet on the banker hand pays even money minus a 5% commission. That slight difference in payouts is based on the card drawing rules that favor the banker hand.

Visually, baccarat and blackjack appear to be very similar games as they both involve a player and a dealer getting two cards to start and then potentially drawing additional cards to help improve their holdings.

But when you dig a little deeper to truly compare blackjack vs baccarat, that is about it when it comes to similarities. I guess you could also say that both games are played with cards and chips and a dealer, but we could say the same thing about just every table game in a casino, so I wont get to that level of superficial comparison.

At the end of the day, these games may appear to be similar, but they are very different.

There are lots of differences between baccarat and blackjack, but to me, the biggest difference is that in baccarat, players dont make any decisions whatsoever that could affect the outcome of the hand.

The only decision a player can make is whether they want to play the player hand, the banker hand, or the tie. After that, they are just watching the outcome to see how it unfolds. In blackjack, the player can choose to hit, stand, or maybe even surrender based on their hand, the dealers hand, and the other exposed cards on the table.

Decisions like splitting pairs, doubling down, or surrendering are major decisions that can greatly change how the hand plays out. That makes these games completely opposite, as in one game, you just watch, and in the other, you are in complete control of what happens with your hand.

Now that we have established that being able to make decisions is what truly separates these games when comparing baccarat vs blackjack, the real question is, does that make blackjack the better game?

For the informed and skilled blackjack player?

Absolutely it does. But for a player that doesnt understand or use basic strategy, being able to decide what they do with their hand can actually work against them! We have all seen the player that splits tens against an ace on a blackjack table or hits their 14 when the dealer is showing a bust card like a six, and those poor decisions significantly increase the house advantage on the game.

Being able to choose your own destiny makes players feel like they have a bigger edge, but for the vast majority of casual players, it actually hurts them in the long run.

As with most things, the answer here falls somewhere in the middle. When you look at the theoretical hold for these games, both games are very good gambles with small house advantages. But there is always going to be a delta between the theo hold and the actual hold, and with blackjack, depending on the skill of the player, that delta can be massive!

Not all blackjack games are the same. Some pay 3-2 on blackjack, whereas others pay 6-5. Some tables allow you to double down on any two cards and others only allow you to double down on only ten or eleven. Can you split aces just once or up to four times?

There are lots of different rules that make a difference on what the house advantage of a blackjack game might be. Casual players usually dont fully understand how these minor changes can make a big difference in the hold, and that is where the casino tricks you into playing a bad game.

Please Note:

The theo hold on a BJ game with optimal rule sets and played at perfect strategy, is about 1%, the best of any game in the casino. But when you sit at a table that has rules in place that favor the house and the player doesnt play perfect strategy, we see the actual hold on blackjack swell into double digits.

Many of the lower limit blackjack tables that you will play at are holding well above the theo hold and holds of 12-15% are very common. When you look at the math involved here, you can easily argue that those decisions that blackjack players love, make blackjack a game that they arent going to win at in the long run.

While baccarat might be a little boring at times, as all you do is watch as the hand plays out, the fact that they take away the ability to make decisions on your hand, actually gives you a much better gamble, as you cant mess things up!

Nobody is sitting at a blackjack table and trying to mess things up, but that is absolutely what happens more times than not. Blackjack might be more fun, but that doesnt mean it is the better game. When you are playing baccarat, the house essentially protects you from yourself, as they dont allow you to jump in and change the house advantage by playing poorly. That inability to play baccarat better or worse keeps the actual hold very close to the theo hold on a baccarat table.

A standard baccarat game is going to hold less than 2% and when you compare that to a BJ game that will easily hold double digits, these games arent close in terms of giving players a chance to win money.

And for me:

That is why I can confidently say that when comparing baccarat vs blackjack, that baccarat is the far superior game!

Now that we have come to our determination that baccarat is the better game, based on the fact that it offers the player a much better bang for their buck in terms of house advantage and hold, you might be looking for ways to play the game online!

If that is the case, you are in luck, as we here at TheSportsGeek have scoured the internet for the best deals at the top online casinos.

If you check out our play baccarat online casino page, you are going to find offers exclusive to TheSportsGeek readers. Click on the link, make your first deposit, and start winning now! Thanks for reading and good luck playing baccarat on your next trip to the casino!

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Baccarat vs. Blackjack Which Is the Better Game? - The Sports Geek

This past weekend, the Chicago Cubs hit blackjack, scoring 21 unanswered runs against the woeful Pittsburgh Pirates in game three of their four-game series. Over the course of that set, the Cubs outscored the Bucs 29-12, but dropped the other three games. The division race will be heavily influenced by which team can most effectively destroy the Pirates; the Cubs did their faint October hopes no favors by losing this series.(Numbers in parentheses are NL rank heading into the week.)

Of course, the Cubs already started a new week of action, starting a matchup with the defending champs down in Atlanta, but before we get too deep into that showdown, lets take a look back at what we learned last week.

Nico Hoerner is the kind of player MLB is trying to emphasize: the anti-three true outcomes guy. His walk percentage is just 2.0 (compared the MLB average of 9.0), and his strikeout rate is 14 (against the average of 23). He has yet to hit a homer. And as he showed last week, that brand of baseball can be serious fun.

His weekly slash line was .450/.476/.550 and he ran the bases well, including a steal in his only attempt. While he was busy creating runs, he was also suppressing them: he leads all Cubs in OAA, and is tied for second in the MLB shortstop rankings. I had wondered whether the Cubs would be better off leaving Hoerner at second, where he played Gold Glove-caliber defense last year. So far, Im happily wrong.

Kyle Hendricks returned to form this week, pitching seven shutout innings against the Pirates in that 21-0 obliteration. (Ill admit it, I just like writing 21-0.) These were not exactly high leverage innings, but its good see at least a glimmer of the Hendricks of old: he surrendered just one extra base hit and issued no walks. His first start of the week was scarier: a 90-pitch slog in which he failed to escape the fifth inning. Lets hope that second start is a better harbinger. And, heck, lets hope 21-0 is a harbinger.

What we learned this week

With Hoerner leading the way, the Cubs are putting the ball in play a lot more often than they did last season. Their three true outcomes (TTO) percentage (that is, the percentage of plate appearances ending in a strikeout, walk or homer) is 33.5, down from 38.6 last year. Of the Cubseight qualifying hitters, six are striking out below the league average of 23.1 percent. And the Cubs are actually walking more than they did last season, keyed by Seiya Suzukis insane 20.6 percent walk rate.

Many of the rules changes that MLB is tinkering with are designed either directly or indirectly to get more balls in play. The big league returns so far show meager progress: the TTO percentage this year is 34.5. down from 35.2 in 2021. So on this issue at least, the Cubs are trailblazing. Whether more fun baseball will also be more winning baseball remains to be seen.

What we questioned this week

The Cubs are just 12th in the NL in starter innings. David Ross has done an astute job of managing a depleted and unsettled pitching staff, but the trail ahead turns sharply steeper. Beginning in May, the roster size will shrink from 28 back to 26, with a maximum of 13 pitchers. In addition, the Cubs will be facing 2021 postseason teams until May 9, when they travel to playoff-caliber San Diego for three games. The Cubs wont see a relatively easy opponent again until they visit the Diamondbacks beginning May 13.

Want your voice heard? Join theCubbies Crib team!

This will be a challenging stretch for Ross, who has so far managed several games as though they were playoff contests, hooking starters early and heavily using his deep (and so far effective) pen. That strategy will be much harder to pull off once the rosters shrink, and in the face of sustained pressure from some of MLBs better offenses. Expect to see names like Manny Rodriguez, Locke St. John, and Adrian Sampson coming soon to a box score near you; pitchers with options remaining are about to become almost as valuable as guys with high spin rates.

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Cubs Week in Review: 4/18 4/24 A Saturday at the blackjack table - Cubbies Crib

Every year theres a crop of new grills and tools to up the ante on your BBQ game. We see advancements in pellet burning, automatic temperature control, and wireless monitoring that make cooking your favorite meals easier, tastier, and more enjoyable.

And the accessories that go along with backyard barbecuing arent just getting smarter, theyre also continuously being refined and redesigned. Take a look at what we think are the best barbecue grills and tools on the market for spring 2022.

You cant deny the convenience of grilling with gas, and Char-Broils Cruise might be the most convenient cooker of all. Its the first gas grill to let you set and hold heat like an oven to maintain specific temps beyond the standard low, medium, high. And a max-heat mode zooms to 700 degrees for the perfect seared steak. But our favorite feature? The auto clean mode that cleans and shuts off the grill at the end of each grilling session. Convenient, right?

[$699; charbroil.com]

Pellet grills smoky versatility has won over many a grill master, but most wont let you get a true flame-broiled fix. Enter the Camp Chef Apex. This unique hybrid combines the perfection of pellets with the blaze of gas, all in the same main chamber (easily switchable with a button). Add a gasketed lid, double-wall construction and internal lighting, and youll never go back to a one-dimensional grill.

[Available June 1, from $1,599; campchef.com]

Gas might be easy, but purists love charcoal, and Oklahoma Joes Blackjack Kettle is the Cadillac of charcoal grills. The superior build includes a porcelain-coated fire bowl and lid for increased durability, and an adjustable smokestack and air intake for top-notch temperature control. The 363 square inches of cooking space is big enough for a dozen burgers; and smart features like a hinged lid, a side table for food prep, and a towel bar for hanging tools increase usability.

[$329; oklahomajoes.com]

Get serious enough about backyard culinary pursuits and youll find your way to barrel smoking, a simple system for cooking inside a chamber of 360-degree heat. Pit Barrels Classic Drum Cooker gives you everything you need to start smoking in an 18-gauge steel drum lined with porcelain. Layer the bottom of the drum with charcoal and wood chunks, then hang meat or veggies from the rack.

[From $400; pitbarrelcooker.com]

Flip alerts. Thats the beauty of the Connect Smart Grilling Hub, which pairs digital thermometers with an app on your phone, turning any cooker into a smart grill that tells you exactly when to flip your steaks, chicken, brats, etc., then alerts you when your meat has reached the perfect temp. No more cutting or poking the meat to see if its done.

[$130; weber.com]

It doesnt matter how good you are on the grill. You have to be able to see what youre cooking to achieve barbecue beatitude. Enter the Permasteel Grill Lighttwo separate LED lights (each containing nine bulbs) with heavy, magnetic bases that stick to any part of the grill. Adjust the flexible goosenecks to direct 75 lumens at the grate and ogle your perfect, sizzling chops.

[$18; permasteel.net]

The 1-inch-thick Material Angled Board is so pretty, it doubles as a serving tray. One side of the cutting board has grooves to catch juices while slicing, and the other side is smooth for presentation. Choose your wood and finisheither walnut or ebonized white oakeither way, the timber is FSC-certified and sustainably grown and harvested in the U.S.

[$95; materialkitchen.com]

Every barbecue ninja needs a good blade by his side, and Benchmades Station Knife combines the hefty attributes of a chopper with the delicate tip of a slicer to make short work of thick ribs or expertly process slabs of steak. Pull up the online customization website and you can choose between two high-quality steels and finishes (black or polished), laser etching on both sides of the blade, and three durable handle materialsG10, Richlite, or carbon fiber.

[From $280; benchmade.com]

Most guys would think that a spatula is a spatulauntil you wield the FlipFork, which is more of a MacGyver-esque multitool than a ho-hum burger flipper. A sharp knifes edge slices, a blunt edge tenderizes and a protruding prong helps manage all the tricky forking, poking, and flipping required when the flames start jumping. Theres even a bottle opener, too, for grill-side brewskis.

[$26; myflipfork.com]

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Best New Grills and Accessories to Upgrade Your BBQ This Summer - Men's Journal

Whether New Yorkers are ready or not, casinos will soon be coming to the New York City area.

Precisely how soon and how many remains to be determined. What we know now is that in April, New York State approved the issuance of three new casino licenses intended for the area.

Technically, one or more of the licenses could be issued to a casino operator in another part of the state, but they are widely expected to go to the downstate region.

The state legalized casinos in 2013, but effectively agreed not to place any in the downstate region until 2023. Gov. Kathy Hochul and the State Legislature wanted to move faster and included a provision in the recently passed budget to advance the timeline.

The effort was partly the product of a lobbying effort by, among others, the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, along with seven gambling companies who are spending some $300,000 a month.

But before any new bricks are laid or chips are played, a lengthy, gnarly process awaits, involving a telescoping series of bureaucracies, including the New York State Gaming Commission, the Gaming Facility Location Board and a still-to-be-determined number of community advisory committees.

Probably not.

MGMs electronic gambling facility in Yonkers, just north of New York City, is thought to be one of two locations with a leg up in the process, along with the Resorts World facility at the Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens. Both are already home to racinos horse racetracks that have expanded to include casino-like properties, but with video lottery terminals, not table games.

Given their longstanding community and political relationships and pre-existing infrastructure, they are considered to be favorites for two of the three licenses.

There is a strong possibility that the third would be in Manhattan. While the prospect of a Manhattan casino has bewitched developers from Hudson Yards to the East River, winning permission from local politicians is still considered a heavy lift.

Other parts of the city are also in play, including neighborhoods in Queens and Brooklyn.

MGM and Genting, which operate the two so-called racinos in the area, are hoping to upgrade their facilities in Yonkers and Queens to full-scale casinos.

The competition for the presumptive third license is a free-for-all. The matchmaking between real estate developers and casino operators eager to take part in a bid is something like speed dating with casino operators freely consorting with several developers.

Among those who have considered participating are developers like SL Green, Related Companies, Vornado Realty Trust in Manhattan and the Citi Field owner, Steven Cohen, in Queens. Joseph J. Sitt, the chairman of Thor Equities, is also planning a bid for a site on Coney Island.

There will also most likely be bids from Long Island.

The field of casino operators eyeing the opportunity includes Ballys Corporation, Las Vegas Sands and Hard Rock, which just opened a hotel in Midtown.

If the bureaucracies were a Russian nesting doll, the biggest, outermost doll would be the New York State Gaming Commission.

The commission will have a say on who gets the three new licenses and where the new casinos will be situated, but others will have a voice, too.

The first step is for the commission to fill a five-member Gaming Facility Location Board; its responsibilities include creating and managing the application process for casino developers and recommending the winners. State law requires that at least three members be in place by Oct. 6; once that occurs, the commission will have 90 days to issue requests for applications for the casino licenses.

The applications will then be reviewed by the location board, which will make a final recommendation to the Gaming Commission. The commissions makeup would seem to give Governor Hochul some control: All seven members are appointed directly by the governor, one on the recommendation of the New York State Assembly, and another on the recommendation of the New York State Senate.

But the Gaming Commission cannot overrule the location board, unless it finds a problem with the fitness and character of the applicant, the commission said.

And before any vote is taken, separate six-person community advisory committees will also have a chance to weigh in. In New York City, two of those members will be designated by the governor and the mayor; the other four will be local representatives of the City Council, Assembly, Senate and borough president. Those committees will consider the relevant application, with a two-thirds majority required for passage.

Approval by the community advisory committee is a prerequisite for a license, giving the committee power to quash an application before it ever gets to be considered by the gaming commission.

A glut of casinos unquestionably exists in the United States, as well as a wealth of other gambling options, and that has put a damper on economic projections for many new casinos.

But New York City is different.

It is affluent, it is dense and any casino here is likely to be successful albeit at the possible expense of nearby gambling locales, like Atlantic City.

You have access to a huge local population that already has been fueling a lot of gaming revenue for a couple decades now in the broader geographic region, but its also a huge international destination as well, said Colin Mansfield, an analyst at Fitch Ratings.

For further evidence, look no farther than Resorts World at Aqueduct, which despite having no table games like blackjack or roulette, claims to be both the highest-grossing slots casino in the world and the largest single property taxpayer in New York State.

In order to put a casino anywhere in New York City, a developer may have to persuade the New York City Council to rezone the land in question, according to the New York State Gaming Commission.

At present, land regulations in New York City do not allow casinos. But that may not be a blanket prohibition: The commission has yet to determine if the state-owned land at the Aqueduct, in Queens, or the land near Penn Station (which the state plans to redevelop using a process that typically overrides local land-use regulations) would require rezoning.

At sites where rezonings are necessary, developers can expect a monthslong process at minimum. If they can secure the zoning approval and the go-aheads from the community advisory board and gaming commission, they will then have to pay at least a $500 million license fee to the state.

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5 Things to Know About NYC-Area Casinos That May Be Coming - The New York Times

Partnership brings exclusive Lighthouse Immersive rewards to playAWARDS portfolio, beginning with Immersive Van Gogh exhibit on the Las Vegas Strip

LAS VEGAS, May 02, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--playAWARDS, the loyalty marketing division of mobile gaming leader PLAYSTUDIOS, has added experiential entertainment brand Lighthouse Immersive to its growing portfolio of reward partners. Lighthouse Immersive is the creative force behind the Immersive Van Gogh experience that showcases the works of Vincent van Gogh through 500,000 cubic feet of projection mapping, 60,600 frames of video, and 90,000,000 pixels. The experience is currently running in fourteen different cities throughout the United States and Canada. Players of PLAYSTUDIOS mobile apps can now exchange loyalty points earned during free gameplay for complimentary and specially priced tickets to Immersive Van Gogh, on the Las Vegas Strip, located at Lighthouse Artspace Las Vegas in The Shops at Crystals.

"Lighthouse specializes in the kind of cutting-edge, immersive experiences that our audience of players loves to see," says Head of playAWARDS Rob Oseland.

Lighthouse Immersive joins a lineup of playAWARDS partners with celebrated brands offering unique experiences across the globe, including MGM Resorts International, IHG Hotels and Resorts, City Winery, and Wolfgang Puck.

"As we expand our immersive experience offerings around the world, we are eager to partner with innovative brands that understand the fast-growing mobile consumer," says Immersive Van Gogh producer Corey Ross. "What PLAYSTUDIOS and playAWARDS have built is unrivaled in loyalty marketing, and together we can introduce an all-new audience to these incredibly unique experiences, and watch them gain a new appreciation for art."

Players can access Lighthouse Immersive rewards through the Rewards store on PLAYSTUDIOS mobile apps myVEGAS Slots, myVEGAS Bingo, my KONAMI Slots, myVEGAS Blackjack, POP! Slots, and MGM Slots Live. PLAYSTUDIOS apps are available to download free on iOS, Android, Kindle, and Facebook.

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About PLAYSTUDIOS

PLAYSTUDIOS, Inc. (Nasdaq: MYPS) creator of the groundbreaking playAWARDS loyalty platform is a publisher and developer of award-winning mobile games, including the iconic Tetris mobile app, POP! Slots, myVEGAS Slots, myVEGAS Blackjack, my KONAMI Slots, myVEGAS Bingo, and MGM Slots Live. The playAWARDS loyalty platform enables players to earn real-world rewards from a global collection of iconic hospitality, entertainment, and leisure brands. playAWARDS partners include MGM Resorts International, Wolfgang Puck, Norwegian Cruise Line, Resorts World, IHG, Bowlero, Gray Line Tours, and Hippodrome Casino among others. Founded by a team of veteran gaming, hospitality, and technology entrepreneurs, PLAYSTUDIOS apps combine the best elements of popular casual games with compelling real-world benefits. To learn more about PLAYSTUDIOS, visit http://www.playstudios.com.

About Lighthouse Immersive

Lighthouse Immersive creates, produces, and distributes innovative digital immersive art experiences through its experiential entertainment multiplex digital art galleries, aiming to cultivate community and creativity through large-scale events and exhibitions of all art forms. Lighthouse Immersive offers versatile spaces for creators to present their work while engaging audiences in unique art experiences that encourage dialogue and inspire new artistic creations. Lighthouse Immersive has produced the world premiere of Immersive Van Gogh, Immersive Frida Kahlo and Immersive Klimt: Revolution to more than 21 North American cities. Recognized as the leader in immersive art experiences, Lighthouse Immersive custom-designs each of their venues, named Lighthouse ArtSpace, to distinctly envelop the various architectural settings they inhabit, it operates galleries in a range of historic venues including refurbished industrial and retail spaces.

Since 2021, the company has opened or is opening 21 new galleries in North American cities including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Boston and Denver, and is currently expanding into additional markets. To date, Lighthouse Immersive has sold over 4.8 million tickets to Immersive Van Gogh across North America, with Artnet calling it "one of the largest coordinated art phenomena of all time."

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220502005350/en/

Contacts

Amy RossettiRossetti Public Relationsplaystudios@rossettipr.com

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playAWARDS Partners With Experiential Entertainment Brand Lighthouse Immersive to Bring All-new Rewards to Global Community of PLAYSTUDIOS Gamers -...