Our guest this week is Stan Pietruska. Stan is an attorney in New Jersey. We talk about the legalization of sports betting, online poker, and the Phil Ivey case.We welcome your questions – send them to us at [email protected], or you can find me at @RWM21 on Twitter or https://www.facebook.com/GamblingWithAnEdge.
podcast
Click to listen – Alt click to download
Show Notes
[00:00] Introduction of gambling attorney Stan Pietruska
[00:37] Dan’s background in gambling
[02:28] PAPSA
[04:33] Off-shore sites in the late 1990s
[07:21] UIGEA
[11:39] Why did some poker sites still allow U.S. players?
[13:30] Chris Christie
[19:50] Phil Ivey case
[27:35] Fanduel’s NFL pricing error
[31:01] Does Dan take gamblers’ civil rights cases in New Jersey?
[33:58] South Point August Casino Promotions – free gift promotions, email free play promotion for locals
[35:35] BlackjackApprenticeship.com – card counting training site and community with a member’s forum, casino database and software tools
[36:08] VideoPoker.com/gwae – Free Pro Membership trial for GWAE listeners
[36:36] Live betting at William Hill and others
[38:56] Barring sports bettors in New Jersey
[40:37] Super Bowl streaker wager
[43:48] Caesars’ surveillance case
[46:43] Current state of online poker
[52:58] Recommended – Downton Abbey, Gosford Park, The Other Woman by Daniel Silva, Tales from the Pit by David Schwartz
Sponsored Links:
SouthPointCasino.com
BlackjackApprenticeship.com
VideoPoker.com/gwae
Tales from the Pit episode:
https://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/gambling-with-an-edge/gambling-edge-week-3/
Recommended:
Downton Abbey Netflix.com/title/70213223
Gosford Park Amazon.com/Gosford-Park-Maggie-Smith/dp/B000I543SM
Tales From the Pit https://amzn.to/3j1mFKXThe Other Woman https://amzn.to/3f5KDTU
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Stan was incorrect about NJ having the right to bar card counters or any other gambler. In NJ, that right solely rests with the regulatory body (currently called the NJ DGE). NJ casinos can only bar people who they suspect of having committed a crime or who are inimical to the operation of the casino. The latter is the excuse sportsbooks have used for trespassing Spanky from their premises.
As a result, card counters are often flat-bet, half-shoed, denied mid-shoe entry. Sports bettors are likewise limited to small amounts ($2 or less) for their wagers, which makes it not worth their time to place a wager. In effect, barring them.
In Nevada, casinos are considered private property where they can ban anyone, and it is trespassing to return.
In NJ, a bit different. Casinos can ban you if they suspect you of cheating. Defining cheating is not always black and white. Using a device to help you or other person to assist you in the counting is obviously cheating.
And if you use the Wong method (as I once did) or any other, with current casino rules – large number of decks, earlier shuffling, the ability to cap bets at a low multiple of the minimum when they want to, having the dealer or someone else count cards at tables where this is going on, if you are PERFECT (and few are), counting both cards and played cards, keeping side counts of aces and other cards, your win expectation is a bit under 1 percent. And one mistake or distraction – and they can try to distract you – can mean you have an expectation of losing. So if you want to sit at a 50 dollar table and win an average of 50 cents a hand – should you be perfect over a long period of time – some chance of success, but don’t count on it. In fact, the casino loves card counters who are not perfect – because they bet higher when they are wrong or miscounted.
In short, the NJ Supreme Court decided to leave rules banning card counting to the Casino Control Commission – who decided not to do so. However, they tightened the game and made it much harder to count cards and win over time. Earlier shuffles, more decks, etc.
So it is illegal for a casino to detain you or eject you for card counting in NJ – but they can “suspect” you of using a device or helpers and do so anyway. And they will report you to an agency that tracks cheaters if they “suspect” you of cheating.
So bottom line, it is easier to count cards and win in Nevada, but you can be banned and ejected. It is harder to do so in NJ where they let you. And I won’t speak to the possibility of a cheating house or specific dealer who may come in and “help” the house.
The most recent successful teams needed a huge bankroll and succeeded before the house caught on – by simply sitting only at tables that counters recognized as being good ones. And now the house has less tables with less seats available to keep one from doing that easily.
A dim outlook for otherwise talented people. You have my respect and sympathy on this.