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FRONT PAGE - Back to THE ADVISOR PAGE Gamemaster, Hello, Wil. The good news is that you can find games where the shuffle is indicated at Global Player Casino, Stanley Acropolis Casino and at the multi-player tables of casinos that use Cryptologic software. All of those casinos are accessible from the Blackjack page of our Casino Directory site.
Yours for winning, GM, Hello, Jason.
Yours for winning, GameMaster, Mark
The Basic Strategy I teach in my "Blackjack School" will be correct for the vast majority of multiple-deck games you'll find in Las Vegas. The only problem is that using the correct Basic Strategy, as I teach it, will still upset many of the players at the table, because most of them do not know how to play the game! For example, it's proper to split a pair of 9s against a dealer's 9, but most people will think you made a mistake.
All this stuff about a player "taking the dealer's bust card" and other such nonsense is a bunch of bull. The people who think that way are just trying to blame someone else for their losses and that's a convenient way to do it. Proper Basic Strategy calls for hitting A-7 against a dealer's 9, but I'm willing to bet (and I'm not a gambler!) that you won't see another player do it more than once on your trip (although I hope you'll do it.) You can also avoid a lot of "heat" by playing in the # 1 or # 2 spots.
Blackjack is not a "team sport", in spite of what others may think. For you to be successful, you have to play each and every hand the correct way, regardless of what other players may think. If you want to have some fun, when another player complains about how you play a hand (and I assume you're playing it correctly), say to him or her: "If you think I played that hand the wrong way, this game is going to cost you a lot of money". That usually shuts them up and, really, that's all you can do. See the article, "Donating Money to the Casino of Your Choice" that is archived on the Blackjack Page of my site for some more insight on this topic.
Play your own game, Mark, and ignore the misguided fools that surround you.
Yours for winning, Hi GM, First Bet $ 1 Twelve is the limit, because all bets should be kept under $10,000 at which point they become reportabe to the IRS immediately. Of course, if you lose twelve times in a row you've lost a lot of money, in this case nearly $11,500 and you won't see it again for quite some time. Odds of losing eleven times in a row are something a little less than 1 in 2,048 and twelve times in a row 1 in 4,096. Doesn't mean it can't happen, though, that is for certain and there is a lot of risk associated with this. But the payoff is a lot better than doubling. I tried various formulas keeping in mind I wanted something that paid more than standard doubling and I wanted to go as many rounds as possible. With regular doubling, you would get only one more chance than this way before you hit the $10,000 limit (starting from $1). Will the casinos let me play this way-I don't know-I imagine some will, some won't. They must realize I will eventually lose at a lower limit casino, they keep those earnings, and I must move on to a higher limit casino but I don't know-casino operators are a whole different breed of paranoia. Some of them would get how this works immediately, others would have no idea what the hell is going on but their instinct would tell them something is screwy-the ones that are more brawns than brains, that is.
I'm sure you've heard of these systems before, I can't say I have every confidence in it because I know it can totally backfire with extreme bad luck. I can't capitalize on extreme good luck, either, because I will always be betting the minimum if I stick with this the way it's written.
Anyway, I'd apprecaite any comments.
Hello, Rodney.
There's an article called, "I am not a Blackjack fanatic" in the archives of the Blackjack page of my site and in it you'll find a simple card-counting technique that you might find worthwhile. Please, please do not go to Vegas and blow your $5000 because you think all this stuff is too hard to learn. It isn't.
Yours for winning, Dear Gamemaster:
My first card counting experience last night actually went very good.
The setup was perfect: it was single deck and they dealt all our cards face
up. Also, there was an option to put money on the side in the chance that
you
hit blackjack with two diamond face cards. This was great because it made
the
dealer take extra time just after the cards were dealt to go around and check
for that and take away the people's money who didnt get it. This gave me an
extra 5-10 seconds to look around the table and count. One issue I came
across
last night was that the count got to m4 a couple times and one hand had
already
been played, so I figured the true count to be m6.
Therefore, I knew the
odds
were stacked against me. Being someone who plays the table minimum most
of the
time, I couldn't just decrease my bet, so I sat the next hand out. I did
that
twice, but I really don't think it's a good thing to do, because it
probably is
a sure sign that I'm counting. People at the table also claimed I
was "screwing up the flow of the cards." Was I doing the right thing by
sitting those hands out? Also, I think those 6 deck shoes last night were a
crock. I didn't play them, but watched the tables for a little bit. The
dealer doesn't put the played cards in a discard pile, he simply puts them
right back into the machine. Maybe I'm missing something, but is there
any way
to tell how many decks are remaining?
Thanks for all your help.
Hello, Mark.
Hey, your $90 win is just great! I played last night and won a whopping
$10, so don't think that we "pros" are rolling in cash. In all humility, I
wish I had run across something like this when I was 21. Stay with it and
your bankroll, confidence and earnings will grow.
I agree that sitting out hands when the count goes down is not a good idea,
because it definitely attracts attention to you and that's something to
avoid when you're a counter. Since you're playing a single-deck game,
you'll be better off to go ahead and play it all the way through, just to
keep the welcome mat out. One way to lessen the impact of negative decks
is to learn the Basic Strategy variations down to a count of -6 or so. For
example, in a single-deck game where the dealer hits A-6, you would hit a
hand of 13 against a dealer's 5 at a count of -4 or lower and would hit an
11 (rather than double) against a dealer's 8 at a count of -3 or lower.
Of course, the other players will think you're crazy and will still
complain about the "flow of the cards", but it'll make you look like you
don't know what you're doing, so that will keep some of the heat from the
"pit critters" off you. For all the index numbers, get a copy of Stanford
Wong's book, "Professional Blackjack."
The 6-deck game you saw is using a "continuous shuffle machine" and it's
similar to the casino shuffling the decks after every round of play. There
is no way to effectively count at that game, so just continue to avoid them.
Yours for winning, Dear Gamemaster Hello, Andy.
The casino's edge is not affected by the number of open boxes at a table.
Yours for winning, Hi Gamemaster,
Hello, Mac.
You mentioned Double Bonus Poker, but that's an entirely different Basic
Strategy, because the strategy changes as the pay schedule for the machine
changes. You might want to check out my "Video Poker Primer" for some
insights. That's archived just below the variations series.
Yours for winning, Hi!
What are the odds of actually gaining money by playing a game of
Blackjack, rather than losing money?
How much will the odds improve by using your "basic strategy" ?
Thank you very much,
Hello, Fredrik.
I'll try to answer your questions as best I can, but I'll need to make a
few assumptions. You want to know the "odds" of winning at the game, but
do you mean one game or 200 hands or a lifetime of play? Blackjack is one
of the few casino games where it may be possible for the player to get an
edge or advantage. However, just by using Basic Strategy alone, the casino
will still have an edge and that means the player will probably lose in a
lifetime of play, but may well win in several hundred hands of play. If
the average, unskilled player loses at a rate of 1.5-2% of all the $$$ s/he
bets at the game, using the proper Basic Strategy will cut that loss down
to about 0.5%, but it's still a loss. An advantage can come only by
counting the cards or other forms of "advantage-play".
I think you're trying to determine if learning what I teach in my Blackjack
School is worth the effort. If you play fairly often, it certainly
is. But, if you're looking for an easy way to beat the game, then it's not
for you
Yours for winning, GM,
One website states "The following states do not allow "electronic devices" in
their casinos: Illinois, Iowa, Mississippi, and Nevada. Casey can be used in
other states that offer blackjack (about 40), including casinos outside the
U.S."
Is this true??? Is this disclaimer correct???? Also do you have any
comments or experience with these devices???
Hello, Terry.
I have never felt the need to use one, so I have no experiences that I can
tell you about, but I will say that I certainly would not use one in a
foreign country.
Yours for winning, GameMaster,
Hope all is well and I look forward to your reply.
Hello, Mark.
Yours for winning, GameMaster,
Thanks for all the great info,
Hello, Wes.
If the dealer does not "peek" and you will lose two bets when you split
pairs or double should the dealer have a "natural", then the strategy
changes. We call that the "European Hole Card" rule and it's not found in
too many casinos here.
Yours for winning, GameMaster,
I would like to get your advice on one other issue. I have been learning and practicing Bryce Carlson's Omega II Count. Do you think the extra mental workout using the Omega II Count will significantly increase my Betting efficiency, playing efficiency and ultimately my winnings in single and double deck games.
Thanks again for the opportunity to review your GameMaster's Blackjack School. Hello, Bill.
Yours for winning, GM,
Thank you for your online school. I think it is great and i love the format
that you use. I do have acouple of questions. 1. How do I find proper basic strategy variation for single deck??
They are in the book, "Professional Blackjack" by Stanford Wong. It's
available at his site, www.bj21.com and other online retailers.
2. Does proper strategy variation change with the counting system that a
person uses such as the Hi Opt I versus the Advanced Omega II???
If you're referring to the "index" numbers, many, but not all, do change
according to the system used.
3. I have purchased casino verite software which has some basic strategy
variation tables in it, are these accurate???? What do you think of this
software program??
It's probably the best of its type and I'm sure it's accurate. I really appreciate you offering your course online!!! I'm glad you have found it to be helpful.
Yours for winning, |