Coin Slot Magazine - #041 - 1978 - June [International Arcade Museum]
Those who roll dice
are consumers, too
enough for the players/' Merck said
in a speech before delegates to the
annual spring conference of the Pub
lic Gaming and Research Institute at
Resorts International Hotel, which
will probably be the site of the city's
first casino.
Merck's remarks were aimed at
his four fellow commissioners who
will meet Tuesday to consider a set
of proposed rules for blackjack, roul
ette, craps and baccarat.
Some of the proposed rules — such
as the use of a "double-zfero" roulette
wheel and the standard 54-position
"Big Six" wheel — are favored by
the
commission.
Resorts
Interna
tional also supports the rules because
of the advantageous odds they pro
vide for the casino.
But Merck, who frequently finds
himself at odds with the other com
missioners, chose to use the gaming
-conference as a platform to urge
Gov. Brendan T. Byrne — the man
who appointed him to the commissioo
— to urge the commission to adopt
gambling rules that favor the "aver
age" customer.
Merck feels that the other commis
sioners will probably adopt rules that
favor the casinos unless he, or the
governor, can persuade them not to.
"It doesn't mean casinos aren't
going to make a barrel of money.
Wtey are," Merck said. "It's just
going to take an hour or two longer.
feat's all."
commission to allow only 50 numbers
on the "Big Six" wheel, a change
that would, Merck said, cut the house
advantage from more than 22 percent
to 16 2-3 percent. Merck character
ized the proposed 54-number wheel as
"a rip-off."
• That Byrne persuade the com
missioners to adopt the so-called
"single-zero" roulette wheel instead
of the "double-zero" one primarily
used in Las Vegas and the Carib
bean. Any increase in the number of
zeros on the wheel decreases the
odlds for the customer, Merck said.
• That Byrne persuade the com
mission to adopt rules to prevent ca
sinos from 4'excluding expert play
ers. ... I don't think anybody should
be thrown out of a casino for playing
skillfully," Merck said.
Later in the day, Resorts Interna
tional's president, I. G. Davis, told
the same gathering that Merck's at
tacks on the proposed gaming rules
were not justified.
"On balance," Davis said, "we feel
we are competitive in terms of favor
able odds for the players. The odlds
are comparable to any other major
market in the world."
One of the few favorable aspects of
Las Vegas gambling, Merck said, are
the slot-machine odds, which are set
by each casino.
In New Jersey, each slot machine
will be set by the State Legislature to
pay the customers an average of 83
percent of the machine's revenue, as
opposed to up to 97 percent for
some machines in Las Vegas.
com
.
m
:
m (the useu
told the 75 delegates, "is that o
fr be people
governor) act... to he*p
the
d
e
e-m
a
Mto will be coming
in d At
oa to d gamble
That difference, coupled with the
l
c
r
n
a
lantic City ow
to obtain w. advantages
high
house advantage of the "Big
D
w in the West
w find
which they cannot
/
/
Six" wheel, prompted Merck to
:
p
t in the Caribbean."
(Las Vegas)
ht or
bluntly tell the conference delegates:
; ^What I'm
asking
now," Merck
Merck, 57, who retuhied last week
from a three-day trip to Las Vegas,
inade three specific proposals:
• That Gov. Byrne encourage the
© The International Arcade Museum
"I would advise anybody who
comes here . . . don't play the jkrt
machines, and don't play the INg
Six1."
••.>-.
http://www.arcade-museum.com/