Are the RC Casino Blackjack Wheels on the Up and Up?

[Cahroozer]

This is an issue that has bothered me for months. I have concerns about one game in Royal Caribbean's casinos, and it is causing me to wonder if other games are compromised. I invite others to share their experiences.

 

RC casinos typically have an optional $1 side bet on blackjack tables, which players win if they get a blackjack. Winners push a button to electronically spin a wheel that determines the size of the payoff. The wheel has 12 payoff amounts (as I recall, please correct me if this is wrong) and most of them are rather low. However, one of the payoffs is $1,000.

 

Here's the problem: I've played at RC blackjack tables virtually every night they were open on a half-dozen cruises. I have seen many people win the side bet but I have never seen anyone win $1,000, which of course should happen one time in 12. Furthermore, on two cruises we privately asked dealers about this and they sheepishly said that they've never seen anyone win it either.

 

Has anyone seen a $1,000 payoff on the blackjack wheel?

How many side-bet winners have you seen who did not won that jackpot?

 

I don't relish the thought of this being less than forthright, but the evidence grows with every cruise and it has left me uneasy. Blackjack, my favorite, is a game that a casino can easily fudge in its favor (by removing certain cards from the shoe) and players would never be able to prove it. I would prefer to have full confidence that fairness is not an issue here because I do enjoy the casinos on my cruises.

[TEXASMUNK]

Last first: I have sat a table when the casino opens...all decks, one at a time, are counted. When decks have been replaced (drink spilled on cards, taht sort of thing). Every deck counted.

 

I have seen the Bonus Jackpot hit....twice....Once on Rhapsody, and last year on Voyager.

[spbflseas]

This is an issue that has bothered me for months. I have concerns about one game in Royal Caribbean's casinos, and it is causing me to wonder if other games are compromised. I invite others to share their experiences.

 

RC casinos typically have an optional $1 side bet on blackjack tables, which players win if they get a blackjack. Winners push a button to electronically spin a wheel that determines the size of the payoff. The wheel has 12 payoff amounts (as I recall, please correct me if this is wrong) and most of them are rather low. However, one of the payoffs is $1,000.

 

Here's the problem: I've played at RC blackjack tables virtually every night they were open on a half-dozen cruises. I have seen many people win the side bet but I have never seen anyone win $1,000, which of course should happen one time in 12. Furthermore, on two cruises we privately asked dealers about this and they sheepishly said that they've never seen anyone win it either.

 

Has anyone seen a $1,000 payoff on the blackjack wheel?

How many side-bet winners have you seen who did not won that jackpot?

 

I don't relish the thought of this being less than forthright, but the evidence grows with every cruise and it has left me uneasy. Blackjack, my favorite, is a game that a casino can easily fudge in its favor (by removing certain cards from the shoe) and players would never be able to prove it. I would prefer to have full confidence that fairness is not an issue here because I do enjoy the casinos on my cruises.

 

First, your premise that there is a 1 in 12 chance at the $1,000 is incorrect. It is an electronic wheel that, much like the wheels on a slot machine, has a specific probability of the the "jackpot" being hit.

 

Second, it is important to know that the "sidebet" is nothing more than an opportunity to add a significant percentage to the house advantage. Blackjack, when paid 100% by the book, has a very small house advantage (I believe less than 1% house advantage). However, when you play the side bet on every hand, I think the house advantage increase to something like 6%. Just think about all the spins you saw. Statistically, 1 in 21 hands will be a blackjack. I would be willing to bet that the average spin you saw on that wheel paid less than $21. Therefore, if the statistics played out, you played $21 on the bonus spot, but probably won $11, $15, $17 or something like that when you did hit the jackpot and won the spin.

 

With all that said, I can attest that the wheel is on the up and up. I was sitting at that table one evening (I believe it was the Explorer of the Seas several years ago) when I guy sat down. He asked the dealer for an explanation of the wheel and decided to play it. On the first hand, he was dealt a blackjack, he spun the wheel, hit the $1000 and walked away.

[Cahroozer]

I appreciate the information about the integrity of the decks, as I'd rather play blackjack than have my doubts confirmed.

 

I gather that no one has seen the wheel pay off $1,000 anywhere close to every 12 times. It does indeed seem to be the equivalent of a slot machine whose payoff probabilities are set by the house. However, when the wheel is "spun" it is reasonable to expect, without any other information, that each payoff has an equal chance of being selected. After all, when the roulette wheel is spun, we expect each of the 38 possibilities to have an equal chance of occurring.

 

By the way, the RC rules for multi-deck blackjack result in a 0.43 percent advantage for the house if the player stringently play by the basic strategy. Many people do not. True, the side bet is a way to increase the house advantage. As for me, I never play sidebets or variations as their odds are always far worse for the player.

 

Thanks again for the feedback.

[mgg42]

sunandsea is dead on correct.

 

I spend (too much) time (and money!) in Vegas, and there are a number of casinos that have the electronic wheel side bet. Much like the wheel on the "wheel of Fortune" slots and similar machines, there is no declaration that the wheel is a random spin. However, the great benefit the casino gets is that people assume it would be.

 

The wise move in any blackjack game, is to never EVER make the side bet. Your odds are much better off simply increasing your primary bet by that amount.

[HowBadAmI]

Give the queens side bet a shot. I enjoyed it on Grandeur recently and did quite well at it.

 

It's generally on the $25 table.

 

Jim

[mikeqube]

Last year on the AOS, some really lucky guy got a royal flush on let it ride and played the bonus bet. He won about 26k.