Crown Casino price gouges - again!

[Punting Ace]

Crown Casino price gouges - again!

by Andrew W Scott

Crown Casino has quietly changed their rules of BlackJack for the worse, upping their advantage against optimal (but non card-counting) play by 39%. As far as I am aware there are no advertisements on TV with actors’ beaming smiles publicising this 39% price increase. Imagine the price of some other commodity suddenly going up 39%? Apparently “entertainment” costs 39% more now than it did a month ago.

Clown (sorry, Crown) Casino have created this price increase by introducing a new rule “dealer hits on soft 17”, a rule that has never existed in any one of Australia’s 13 legal casinos. In typical Clown style, it appears they introduced this rule completely unilaterally and with no government or punter consultation whatsoever. We now hear that the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation is investigating whether Clown had permission to change the rules and why it wasn't displayed on their website, as is required by the Casino Control Act. One very short odds bet is that nothing will come of the VCGR’s “probing investigation”. Every single time the VCGR (or its forerunner the VCGA) has investigated Clown for its numerous rule and procedure breaches over the last thirteen years, the outcome has been a slap on the wrist at best, and complete silence at worst. Did I hear someone say “do not bite the hand that feeds you”?

This is not the first time Clown has quietly slipped rule changes in. Some years back they changed the rules to increase their BlackJack advantage by 68%. So the game today costs the punter 234% of the price it did when the folks at Clown first opened their doors on Black Thursday, 30 June 1994. Who knows when the next rule change for the worse will come?

When they made the change years ago which increased the price of BlackJack by 68%, their excuse was “to come into line with the other Australian casinos”. Funny that, because when “coming into line” meant a price increase, then “coming into line” was fine. But now they have made a rule change which no other casino in the country has, and as a by-product of that change, well what-do-ya-know the price of play goes up by 39%! Apparently “coming into line” is not so necessary anymore?

Frown (sorry, Crown) introduced a weird BlackJack variant game called Pontoon (let’s call it “BlackJack for Dummies”) some years ago. “BlackJack for Dummies” costs approximately double the price of real BlackJack. What fun!

Oh, and of course don’t forget that anyone with enough brainpower to beat the game (such as yours truly) is persona non grata in the casino, and not allowed to play the game. Hence skilled players play a never-ending cat-and-mouse game, disguising their skill from the powers that be at Clown, often using farcical methods that would be hilarious if there wasn’t so much money involved. On the other hand, losers with no knowledge on how to win are, naturally, most welcome guests of Clown. If you are a really BIG loser, then they will roll out the red carpet (luxury suites, luxury food, luxury soirées and luxury ladies-of-the-night, here we come).

What we need in Australia is what they have in the great casino locations of the world ? competition. Look at Las Vegas and Macau. Dozens of major casinos compete side by side, and rule changes ? for the better ? are common. Casinos place large signs at their door advertising good rules. In all my year’s experience with Australia casinos, I have never seen a casino make and advertise to the punting masses a rule change for the better. Why? Because the two nearest casinos in Australia are over 100km apart, and they just happen to be owned by the same company. The nearest casinos to Clown are in Launceston and Canberra.

Maybe there is a role for the ACCC in this? It would be great to see a classy, boutique style card room or casino open next door to Clown, offering great games with wafer thin advantages, giving real bang for the punter’s buck. The current price gouging of the less fortunate in our society has just got to stop. Unfortunately with Clown’s cosy exclusivity deal in place with their business partner (and regulator), The Victorian Government, any competition for Clown remains a pipe dream.

Clown Casino represents one of the most cynical money grabs in Australian society. They call it “A World of Entertainment”, I call it “A World of Negative Expectation”.

I would have thought the Packer family already had enough money, without gouging it from the masses. Apparently not.

© 2007 Andrew W Scott

[Fizzer]

[quote="Punting Ace] I would have thought the Packer family already had enough money, without gouging it from the masses. Apparently not.

© 2007 Andrew W Scott[/quote]

The essence of corporate business ethics and practice I would have thought. And if you think we are hard done by then ponder a moment for the third world countries at the hands of feted corporates.

Business as usual.


$$$

[Gaza]

I agree with the thrust of the article that monopolys are bad for the consumer. what is even worse than a monopoly is an enforced one. when you have a monopoly you dont care much, when you have an enforced one you dont give the slightest shit to your customer. The customer has no where else to go and no one else can offer the cutomer a service.

[graemep]

Anyone know if this rule re dealer hitting on soft 17 has changed?

Thanks

[mickeedee]

I love the sensational use of your percentage increases to scare the uninformed Andrew! A 39% INCREASE on a 0.64% house advantage (I can tell you that I am not 100% sure of the previous house advantage on BJ at Crown Casino...but I think I'm pretty close!) changes the house advantage to 0.8896..if my maths is correct. I may be wrong (but very unlikely), but I think Bookmakers and the Totalizator Agency Board, Keno, Scratchies...the list goes on....take a far greater % when setting their markets and return to player.

I do agree that we need competition in Casinos in Australia, however, due to the population it is not viable and not morally warrented at this stage...perhaps at any stage.

Cheers Mick

[Trend Surfer]

???!!!??? Anyone going to offer me odds that Mick works for a casino??

Seriously though, maximising returns whether via competition or some other way, is critical for us the players. The utter contempt PBL show players means I'll never enter CC again. Which is a pity, because up 'til now I would have voted them the best casino I've been to in Australia so far (out of Syd/Melb/Townsville/Brisbane).

~TS

I do agree that we need competition in Casinos in Australia, however, due to the population it is not viable and not morally warrented at this stage...perhaps at any stage.
Cheers Mick

[JustinR]

It's only natural that a company or casino for that matter exploits a situation where it has a monopoly. That's unfortunately something we players have to deal with.

[gamerbud]

Clown (sorry, Crown) Casino

that's funny yet true for they are like clowns that keeps changing rules which also make us Frown.