Monday Musings - June 21, 2010

• The problem with complaining about 6:5 Blackjack payouts is that there is no easy way to change the casino's mind. (For reference 6:5 Blackjack means whenever a player is dealt a blackjack, they will receive $6 for every $5 they bet. The more normal standard is $3 for every $2 bet.)
  
  As mentioned in the article, 6:5 blackjack is almost 3 times as profitable for a casino than 3:2 blackjack. That by itself is enough to ensure it's existance. Throw in an unwitting public who just wants to gamble and doesn't know what are "good" rules and what are "bad" rules, and you have a giant hill to climb. What more knowledgable players might have to do is compromise - take 3:2 blackjack while playing at a continuous shuffle machine (especially if they are looking for lower stakes); or accept dealer hitting on a soft 17. This doesn't help those advantage players, but those players are most likely to be betting at high enough levels to get all of the best rules. For everybody else, the choice is to either compromise or boycott.


• Want a box of kids' Superman pyjamas? Visit the Government's take on eBay.


• Let this be the final word on the "Dressed too Sexy" story. Please.


• Every movement needs a backlash to truly be a movement. Shut Up Foodies is the backlash to the foodie movement.


• How to tell that the real estate market was out of wack: A drug dealer gave up dealing drugs because real estate was more lucrative.


• Archie comic books will be parodying the Jersey Shore in July, just in time for the second season of Jersey Shore.


• Do yourself a favour and catch a replay of the WEC event from Sunday, if only to see the Yves Jabouin vs. Mark Hominick fight. WEC never fails to produce at least one great fight, and this might be the second best they have produced all year.


• And finally...