Dear GameMaster,

While I consider myself to be a conservative low rolling knowledgeable gambler, I have not had much luck? success with online casinos, regardless of the type of game played. It seems to me, based on experience, that the random number generating software can be comprimised, indeed modified to further the house advantage, based on the players level of winnings or even his bet size. This, depending on the scruples of the individual casino operator. I know a casino has a right to earn a profit and has a built in house advantage on each game, but my results at a number of internet casinos do not in any way approximate results I have experienced in live- land-based casinos. Have I just been unlucky or is something funny going on in cyber-casino world? By the way - enjoyed your question and answer forum on the web. You are indeed very knowledgable concerning odds, probabilities and statistics.

Thank you.
Doug

Hello.

While I know for a fact that some online casinos cheat (see the Blacklist on my site), it's actually pretty difficult to do without being detected. From my experience, cheating by manipulating the RNG is not only rare, but also very dangerous for the casino involved. The biggest risk is, of course, that they'll get caught and presumably will receive a lot of bad publicity that could put them out of business. The other risk is that smart players will figure out how the RNG has been changed and use that information against the casino.

Bearing all that in mind, the biggest risk to those that gamble on the Internet is not getting paid if they win, rather than being cheated. The list of casinos that don't pay is far bigger than those that offer "non-random" games. In your particular experience, you may be relying upon relatively small samples of data to draw your conclusions and that can make it difficult to determine the truth of the matter.

On my site, you'll find our Recommended List which are the games and casinos that I believe are fair and honest. I can't guarantee that their games are "square" (they were when I checked them, but that can change overnight) and I cannot guarantee that they'll pay you, but they all have a long history of doing so, consequently, I think these are your "Best Bet", should you decide to continue playing online.

Yours for winning,
The GameMaster
4/6/03

Dear GameMaster,
I love your web site which is teaching me the basic strategies in Black Jack. It will make any gambling I do much more fun. But I want to understand something simple. You say that in 6 decks,S17,DA2,DAS, OBO, Late surrender the house has an edge of 0.36% Right?

First off, that is real small. If I understand you correctly and I play the basic strategy correctly, I will only lose 0.36% of my money over a playing time period (say 1 hour or 8 hours) if I'm bankrolling $1000.00 that means I only lose $3.60???

How can that be true? I thought one would lose $300 or more?

The casino's edge will, in the long run, exert itself on the total amount that you bet. For example, if you play at a rate of 60 hands per hour and bet $15 per hand, on average, then your total bets are $900 per hour. If the casino's edge is 0.36%, your "expectation" is to lose .0036 x $900 = $3.24 per hour. However, in some hours you may win $490 or lose $500 or more (one Standard Deviation). This is due to the fact that you'll actually win or lose $15 on any given hand, but in the "long run", it'll work out to .0036 x $15 = 5.4 cents per hand, assuming you play the proper basic strategy on each and every hand, without fail. You can see that betting and rebetting your bankroll over and over creates a lot of "action" for even a $1000 stake because in 8 hours of play your bets would be about $7200.

I've been playing around with my "expert casino" blackjack game and using "basic strategy" combined with simple money management. When I'm up over bankroll by 10% I stop playing. I seem to be winning more than losing. I'm I just not playing long enough?

'Fraid so.

Yours for winning,
The GameMaster
3/24/03

Hi GM!

I'm interested in blackjack as an academic challenge (I like betting but cannot stand to lose too many bets at the $5 level...would like to play for a buck though.

What do you consider the most effective counting method for swinging the player advantage to over 50%?? I have studied wong's hi/lo and was wondering if there's anything else that's more effective??

Thanks!
Anthony

Hello, Anthony.

It's all in how you define "effective" and that depends a lot on the game you'll be playing. At the $5 level you'll likely be at a 6- or 8-deck game and, in my opinion, there's nothing better than the Hi/Lo count for that. The key to beating the "shoe" game is a big bet spread and the Hi/Lo is great at identifying good betting situations. Plus, that's the count I teach in my free lessons, so there's a lot of information available to you at little or no cost. Visit www.blackjack-school.com/ for the latest set of lessons.

For a comparison of many popular counts, read my series, "Counting Systems", which is in the archives on the Blackjack Page.



Yours for winning,
The GameMaster
3/17/03