Tamburin says that some casinos have previously pulled back after trying to change payouts. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reports that visitors who said they gambled during their stay has declined steadily from 86 percent in to 71 percent in Over the same span, the average time that gamblers have spent at the tables and slot machines has dropped from 3. Field Notes.{/INSERTKEYS}{/PARAGRAPH} Las Vegas Sands declined to comment. But compulsive gambling is also an addictionβone that affects some three to four million people in the United States alone. At the same time, the advent of automatic shuffling machines mean players see more hands per hour. In March, the Venetian and Palazzo casinos changed the payouts on blackjack hands from three-to-two to six-to-five. Tamburin says a player can expect to hit a blackjack about once every 21 hands. The other, semi-mythical version of a cooler is an actual person supposedly hired by a casino whose mojo is so spectacularly bad that he or she can ice down a hot table just by sitting at it. But that didn't stop him from becoming a judge in This month he was charged with misconduct in that position too. Skeptics and hardened card sharps might call that the work of an intentionally cold deck. William H. A Las Vegas hospital is transporting mentally ill patients via solo trips on Greyhound buses. That fee goes up when casinos short players on payouts. Single-deck blackjack games are generally considered the most player-friendly because they allow players to better anticipate which cards may be coming. The idea behind blackjack is fairly simple: Try to make a better hand than the dealer without going over Players and the dealer are initially dealt two cards: one up, the other down. Macy portrayed one of these fellas in the creatively titled indie film The Cooler. To much of the outside world, gambling is a vice not worthy of mercy: It is a symptom of recklessness, of compulsiveness, of greed. In , blackjack made up less than one-quarter of house revenue. But the wave of tighter tables threatens to become a sea change. Hanging umbrellas in the Palazzo in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are two things that card sharps who want to play in a more favorable environment can do when faced with a six-to-five table: complain, and go elsewhere. The job market has shown signs of improvement after peaking at nearly 15 percent unemployment following the housing bust, and even home prices appear to be climbing out of the rubble. Social Justice. Meanwhile, gambling houses in downtown Vegas and elsewhere off of the Strip still largely offer exclusively three-to-two games. A number of smaller towns are opening up casinos in the hopes of emulating the success of Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Home Economics. {PARAGRAPH}{INSERTKEYS}The Venetian in Las Vegas, Nevada. For occasional players, that means more opportunities to lose. After the attack on Sunday night, decision-makers on the Strip will need to consider what new policies they must implement to keep visitors safe. The shift to six-to-five games comes as Sin City continues to dust itself off from the bad beat Vegas and many of its residents took during the recent recession. Instead, casinos are seeing an increasing share of their revenue come from other entertainment, like restaurants and night clubs. The rules require dealers to take a number of additional cards up to a certain amount. Spread that over every player at every table at a casino and you can see why pit bosses might go all in on six-to-five. One is to simply change the rules. These blackjack tables, which often feature scantily-clad dealers, pole dancers, and loud music, also come with house-friendly rules that limit splitting cards and doubling down and may even pay blackjacks at the once unthinkable rate of one-to-one. As far as economic development goes, this is the worst idea. A player who beats the dealer usually get paid at a one-to-one rate. Other gambling houses on the Strip are taking notice. But like skinning a cat, frying a fish, or badgering a cocktail waitress, there are several ways to squeeze more cash out of the gambling masses. Those who do try their luck are turning to options other than blackjack. News in Brief.