Star Casino Sydney
I recently spent one hour on the main floor at Star City casino, and I wish I hadn't as it was a complete waste of time. This is my opinion and report on my perception of the joint. Firstly, this is the only casino in Australia's largest city - of about 4.5M. It is also a prime example of monopoly control and what happens in a monopoly casino.
I entered around 5:30pm and stopped for a while at the sole craps table. It had four players. The crew captain - (a woman in her 40s) kept stifling yawns. She has no idea how contagious yawns can be... This set the scene for the entire casino. It is one big yawn.
I headed for the blackjack tables as I stifled another yawn. But gee, they were tough to find as there were so few, spread out as they were among far more mini-baccarat games, pontoon and two or three variations of poker carnival games. I could not find ONE hand-shuffled BJ game! Even the sole $100 min BJ game was dealt from a CSM. And get this: EVERY card game in the joint was dealt from a CSM. This casino has gone CSM mad. I figure if they could deal roulette from a CSM as well, they would!
For the most part, the staff looked and acted bored shitless. This has (one told me) a lot to do with the fact that management wants more action - hence the machines - which means no breaks for dealers. They used to look forward at least to one small break from the tedium, by having a shuffling break. Now even that is denied. The result: dealer fatigue, burnout, boredom and an attitude. This joint has that 'vibe' about it: greedy management practices, uncaring, unfriendly, sloppiness, laziness, I could go on and on...
By far the dominant demographic was Asian. Don't get me wrong, I like Asian players and generally find them polite and quiet. It's just they make up perhaps 5% of this city and probably 50% of the patrons were Asian at that time. And the game of choice for Asians is... Baccarat.
The final negative straw that broke this kangaroo's back came when I beheld the latest in techno blackjack gambling wonder: a computer runs a large digital screen with a shrieking female Asian dealer calling the shots. The unfortunate player sits at one of many consoles and feeds cash into the machine and bets on each hand, just like a normal (CSM) game. This is online casino gambling madness brought onto the main floor for the benefit of management. Is this the future for the game of blackjack on main casino floors? Hell, I hope not. I'd like to think this computer game was just another stunt from the management of this place that demonstrates yet again that when a casino has no competition in a large city, they can get away with all kinds of crap. It was great to get out of there. By the way, I did not have a bet.
I entered around 5:30pm and stopped for a while at the sole craps table. It had four players. The crew captain - (a woman in her 40s) kept stifling yawns. She has no idea how contagious yawns can be... This set the scene for the entire casino. It is one big yawn.
I headed for the blackjack tables as I stifled another yawn. But gee, they were tough to find as there were so few, spread out as they were among far more mini-baccarat games, pontoon and two or three variations of poker carnival games. I could not find ONE hand-shuffled BJ game! Even the sole $100 min BJ game was dealt from a CSM. And get this: EVERY card game in the joint was dealt from a CSM. This casino has gone CSM mad. I figure if they could deal roulette from a CSM as well, they would!
For the most part, the staff looked and acted bored shitless. This has (one told me) a lot to do with the fact that management wants more action - hence the machines - which means no breaks for dealers. They used to look forward at least to one small break from the tedium, by having a shuffling break. Now even that is denied. The result: dealer fatigue, burnout, boredom and an attitude. This joint has that 'vibe' about it: greedy management practices, uncaring, unfriendly, sloppiness, laziness, I could go on and on...
By far the dominant demographic was Asian. Don't get me wrong, I like Asian players and generally find them polite and quiet. It's just they make up perhaps 5% of this city and probably 50% of the patrons were Asian at that time. And the game of choice for Asians is... Baccarat.
The final negative straw that broke this kangaroo's back came when I beheld the latest in techno blackjack gambling wonder: a computer runs a large digital screen with a shrieking female Asian dealer calling the shots. The unfortunate player sits at one of many consoles and feeds cash into the machine and bets on each hand, just like a normal (CSM) game. This is online casino gambling madness brought onto the main floor for the benefit of management. Is this the future for the game of blackjack on main casino floors? Hell, I hope not. I'd like to think this computer game was just another stunt from the management of this place that demonstrates yet again that when a casino has no competition in a large city, they can get away with all kinds of crap. It was great to get out of there. By the way, I did not have a bet.
Rules To Blackjack
A true casino classic. It’s one of the oldest table games, one of the easiest to learn and also one that’s guaranteed to always be a good time. The game is simple: reach a card value as close to 21 (Blackjack) as possible – without going over, or “busting.”.
How To Play Casino Blackjack
- The following rules apply at The Star Sydney: Players may double their bet when they have any two cards with a total of 9, 10, or 11. When players choose to double, only one additional card is dealt to the hand. Players may split a pair on their first 2 cards dealt, and play out the 2 hands resulting from the initial split. Players may only split once.
- The top two from the 12 include Crown Melbourne and Star Casino Sydney, and both offer a large variety of blackjack tables. Crown Casino Melbourne was established in 1994 as a temporary casino but moved to its permanent residence of Southbank in Melbourne’s CBD in 1997.