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FRONT PAGE - Back to THE ADVISOR PAGE Dear Gamemaster, I am one of your most loyal fans. I learned first to play blackjack and then to count and then to play indexes from your web page and your encouragement to study, study, study. I now know all the hi-lo indexes from -2 to +5 .splits and pairs included. I play the 8 deck shoe s17, doa, late surrender, rsa . I have been practicing my brains out because we got our income tax refund back and my husband said I could have the whole thing for my Bankroll. I plan to continue betting only red chips until I am a lot better with the system. Your site is the best by far on the internet and I come back to read and reread things you have written often when I have a question...anyway I was practicing this Sunday afternoon by myself and something happened which I could not even have imagined. I was dealt two aces and the dealer has an upcard of an ace. So there are 3 aces showing the count is almost 5 so of course I want insurance and of course i am going to split the aces. Do I just have to purchase the insurance and then split the aces or will i be required to purchase insurance for each hand.? Cheri (grasshopper) PS. I was having trouble using my indexes, keeping count, and all the things I have to do so you know what my husband did to help me simplify things? He labeled my discard shoe not with the number of decks but the decimal multiplier for each deck height and simplied the grouping explaing that for the first two decks .15 is and excellent approximation for example if my running count is 6...my true count is about 6 X .15 =+.75 for decks between 2-3 I use .20 between 3-4 i use .25 for 4-4.5 i use .30 from 4.5 -5.0 i use .35 etc. I can instantly convert a running count to a true count by just looking at the discard tray and using my multiplier. I find this much easier. of course my hubby explained each game will be different depending on the number of decks in the shoe. I hope this helps someone feel free to do the calculations and use the numbers for each deck in your most excellent web page. Grasshopper! How are you? It's always good to hear from you.
Your husband can only be described as an enlightened man. He truly understands that any extra $$$ in the household should be made available to the Blackjack player therein and one has to applaud that attitude. Regarding the hand in play, you first insure, then split the Aces. Insurance always applies to just your original hand.
That's a very cool training device you're husband developed. I'm going to try it out for my practice and see how I like it. If you can "calibrate" your eyeballs to this, it might greatly simplify computing the True Count, which basically is the toughest part of counting, in my opinion. Thanks for sharing the idea.
Yours for winning, Mr. Won --
The wisdom of getting up from the table when the count is negative is a given. However, as everyone acknowledges, you can still win when the count is negative, and I have not really gotten burned badly by negative counts so far. Luckily I have only had one occasion when the count went below -3 for any length of time, and I did get up and leave. In fact, I've been burned more often with large bets out in positive counts and getting dealt a stiff. Here is my question: Should a player set win/loss limits for him or herself before every session, or is this something you just develop a feel for over time? To put it another way, is there a rule of thumb (other than the negative count rule) that says "if you lose $N', or, 'if you lose N hands in a row', get up and leave the table?
Hello.
As you gain a feel for your local game, you'll want to carry a "session" bankroll with you and should that be lost, it's probably best to quit for the night. For me, that's 20% of my total Blackjack bankroll.
As for when to leave a table, there are a lot of reasons to do that but none of them have to do with losing "X" number of hands or $$$. When the count goes down, you should leave, but if the count is at 1 or more, you probably have an edge over the casino, so you should keep playing.
Yours for winning, GameMaster, Thanks so much for you time! Hello, Ryan.
The machine you mentioned is what we call a "continuous shuffle machine" (CSM) and, as you've already guessed, it renders card counting useless, so you should avoid that game.
Yours for winning, GameMaster,
Hello.
It sounds complicated, but isn't, so why not study my course? It's free.
Yours for winning, GM, Hello, Vaughn.
What's important to consider is that it doesn't really matter, because there's nothing you can do about it, anyway.
Yours for winning, hi gamemaster,
thanks,
Hello, behrang.
It may not always be possible to do that, but if you stay, you need to
remember that the casino has a bigger-than-normal edge over you.
Yours for winning, Hello GameMaster I am a 21 year old student who loves blackjack. I began counting 3 or 4 months ago but within the last couple of days, I've been getting really serious at improving my blackjack game. The last time I went to a casino (4 days ago), I won $630 over a period of 4 hours. I knew basic strategy cold and was counting, but at a very slow rate. This was before I started your lessons. I was so excited that I decided to better my game. So when I got home that day, I timed myself and I counted a single deck at 49 seconds. Today (4 days later), I can do it in 16 seconds on a consistent basis. I also count 2 decks at an average of 37 seconds. I'm really starting to get excited about my progress and have been following your lesson plans.
That's great to hear. You are making excellent progress and we are glad we've been able to help.
I read your lesson about standard deviation and although it somewhat discouraged me, it made me realize how lucky I was 4 days ago. You said something to the effect that if you are down a lot of money, don't worry, just keep on playing more hands. The casino is merely holding your money for you. Although I agree with this idea due to the laws of standard deviation, I have to say that I am skeptical. It sounds like a desperate gambler to me. He's down $200 while playing at the $5 tables but he keeps saying that he just needs to gamble more. If I were to say that, people would think I am addicted to gambling.
I think what you're forgetting is that a player with an advantage over the casino isn't "gambling", just like a casino isn't in the business of gambling. If one truly has an edge, time is all it takes for that edge to exert itself. Some people WILL think you have a gambling "problem", because they believe the casinos cannot be beaten. I don't really care what people think about me, but I consider myself an investor and I did a lot better last year than most "legitimate" investors who rode the market down.
Now I don't want to be one of those people who run away from blackjack due to a lack of appreciation for standard deviation, but I also do not want to sound like, or even worse ... become an addicted gambler.
You might become addicted to winning at Blackjack, but if you practice what I say in my school, you'll never be a gambler.
I also have another concern regarding a bankroll:
If I'm going to play at the $5 and spread my bets from 1-12, then I should bring 12 x $5 x 50 = $3000 ??? (If your bankroll should be 50 times your maximum bet) Realistically, I don't think I would bring that much money to a casino. How much money would YOU bring to a casino if you were going to play blackjack at the $5 tables and spread 1-12 (a 6 deck game) for say 5 hours? at the $25 tables? Is $1000 enough for the $25 tables under these conditions?
The $3000 bankroll is the total I recommend you set aside, as a minimum, for your Blackjack play. Remember, I said minimum!
At a $5 table, betting $5-$60, a $500 "trip" bankroll has an 8% risk of ruin (losing it all) in a 400-hand session at a 6-deck game where the dealer hits A-6, DAS is allowed and you're getting 75% penetration. Using a trip bankroll of $1000 for the same game, except betting $25-$300 has a 50% risk of ruin. Playing the $25 tables with a total bankroll of $3000 will all but guarantee you'll lose your total bankroll. Remembering the 50 times top bet rule, such a spread needs a $15,000 bankroll, at a minimum.
Thank you very very much for your time and your advice.
Happy to help.
Yours for winning,
GM,
But I have noticed on other websites saying the cards are not truly random, and therefore card counting becomes ineffective, as clumps of low cards and high cards form which are outside the statistical range of probability. They suggest shuffle and card tracking, as the shuffles are inadequate.
I was all keen to start, but this has me worried, Are the cards shuffled randomised enough?
Hello, Gary.
The primary basis for this "non-random" argument is that card counting systems were developed by computers, which can completely randomize the cards, but that's not how it is in "the real world". While I agree that shuffle- and card-tracking has its merits, I have never felt a need to learn them, because counting continues to work for me.
I honestly do believe that the shuffled cards in an honest game are randomized enough to allow card counting to work.
Yours for winning,
Hey GameMaster,
Very cool. Congratulations!
I know it's not a lot, but it felt good because I felt like it did it in a such a textbook manner. I was grinding it out for a LONG time with $5 bets... fell behind $80... got back up $10..... and then one shoe I got an inanely high count and won like 5 of 6 hands with $25 bets, including a blackjack. And on another shoe I got to the last deal of the shoe with a high count... I slipped down two bets of $20, and got two black jacks! That one made me feel smart. You may think that winning $160 is not a lot, but when you consider that probably 95% of all the other people there lost, it's not such a bad result. The "grind" you mention is just a fact of life in the Blackjack business but as you said, it's nice to know what you're doing, rather than relying on luck alone.
I should have won more, but I made a few mistakes and am stll just getting my feet wet.
You will be making mistakes for at least the next 100 hours of play, so don't let that bother you.
Again, thanks to your site. It's an incredible source of knowledge. I've never found anything like it before. I appreciate the kind words.
I also can't believe how easy it is to count down a 6 deck shoe now with just a little practice. I still haven't been able to master in live game play all the playing strategy variances based on the count, though.
Take it one step at a time. Get to the point where you're making the proper bet 99% of the time before you worry about the strategy variations. Although you should take Insurance when the True Count is at 3 or more.
Anyway, I started taking advantage of playing multiple hands when the true count got to 2 or higher. And, just like you said, everybody at the table made a big deal about it. Of course, I didn't let it affect me really, but it is very annoying. Will this always happen? I was reading another article on your site under the FROM THE FELT TABLE section, in an article called "Interview with a Gambler"... (this guy was mainly a sports gambler), and even he mentioned that he hates it when somebody jumps in at the table during the middle of a deck.
How can such a false myth about "card order" be so pervasisve in the gambling world?
Heck if I know. Most players think that Blackjack is some sort of team sport, but it isn't. Rather than admit that they don't know how to play the game properly, most losers would rather blame someone else for their poor results.
Another pet peeve of mine I wanted to share with you-- as all the Blackjack tables now seem to offer Super 7s, I hate it whenever I get dealt 7s (since I don't play it) and everybody at the table makes a big whoop-te-do everytime I get them. I'm like, "what do you want from me?" I have to say something like "dang, I wish I had them" to get them to leave me alone.
I'm tempted to try to learn a side count of 7s just to shut everybody up :)
That can be done; in fact, I wrote a lesson about it. It's on the GameMaster's Secrets page of my site and is entitled, "Making Side Bets for Fun and Profit - Part 1". But don't try to do too much, too fast. Leave that for later.
I actually was dealt three 7s (unsuited) yesterday. Oh well.
Hey, it happens, but it's not worth the $1 extra on every hand unless you are counting 7s, as my lesson shows.
Last question--when you recommend a $3,000 bankroll for starters, are you talking about having that amount of money "set aside/available" for gambling, or do you mean having $3,000 on you at the casino?
The $3000 is the minimum amount you should have set aside for playing Blackjack. Usually, a $500-$600 "trip" bankroll will suffice for 3 or 4 hours of play at a $5 table.
Thanks for your time,
You're welcome.
Yours for winning,
Hello GameMaster,
Hello.
Don't forget that the dealer already has a built-in edge over you unless
you're counting the cards, so they don't need to go to such lengths to
increase it and the reality is that most players don't know how to play the
game properly, anyway. It might seem like it's a "player's advantage" game
at the moment you're watching it, but that's just selective observation.
If other players' mistakes actually had an effect on my game, I couldn't
make any $$$ at Blackjack. But, in all modesty, I do.
Yours for winning,
GameMaster, Derek Your second question is similar, but a bit more complicated and I have written an article to cover it. Just go to the Blackjack Page of my site and in the archives you'll find a lesson named "Multiple Card Soft Hands" which will give you several simple rules for hands like 3, 2, A.
Yours for winning,
GameMaster: Hello, Gordon. The manufacturer claims that continuous shuffle machines (CSMs) do, indeed, offer a random game but the Wizard of Odds (www.thewizardofodds) demonstrates that they actually reduce the casino's edge slightly. For more info on that, go to the Blackjack page of his site. He covers CSMs in one of his Blackjack appendices. Obviously, as a card counter, I think CSMs suck.
Yours for winning, Hi GameMaster;
Obviously, you can't surrender all the time, but when you have a hard hand
against a 10 or ace, it seems like it would be a good idea, unless the
count is really negative.
Hello, Chris. What you're calling "conventional surrender" is what's more commonly known as late surrender and, yes, it can be a big help to the skilled player. For a closer look at how to use it, go to the Blackjack Page of my site and you'll find two articles on the topic: "Taking Advantage of Surrender" and "Expanding Surrender". They will show you how to incorporate this option into your game.
Yours for winning, Hello.. First off, I'd like to give you my respect for your site (freeblackjacktips.com) - it's awesome! I've got my basic strategy [pretty much] down, and am getting into card counting. I've printed off all of your lessons and have an organized folder for my practices. I am very determined in learning the game. However, upon making my correction sheets for lesson 2, a couple questions started popping into my head as I was writing in the answers...For example, I know if you're dealt an Ace-7 hand, you're supposed to double that vs. a dealer's 6. However, say you're first dealt an Ace-2 hand, take a hit, and recieve a five card. You now still have the "Eight or eighteen hand" just as a Ace-7. I'm supposed to double, but obviously I can't now...so...do I stay with the good strong 18 against the six, or hit?
Many of those hands make me wonder if I put in the right answer to them (Ones with hands containing an Ace and 2 or more other cards). If you don't quite understand what I mean, let me know I'll explain it more thoroughly - Otherwise, a reply to this message will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Hello, Manny. Just so there is no confusion, you need to know that I supply only the "Blackjack School" to www.freeblackjacktips.com/, so be sure to visit my site when you get a chance. It's there that you'll find an article that shows you how to play hands like you've described. When you get to www.gamemasteronline.com/, go to the Blackjack Page and in the archives, you'll find an article entitled "Multiple Card Soft Hands" and it will give you a few simple rules for hands like this.
Yours for winning, GameMaster,
Any suggestions much appreciated. PS I have found your site invaluable, as I am a novice player. Hello, Jan. Unless you are playing with an advantage, such as one gets from counting the cards or from very favorable rules set by the casino, the ideal bet is zero. Naturally, that's no fun, but you have to remember that, in most cases, the casino has an edge over you on every bet, so the more you bet, the more you'll eventually lose. Doubling your bet after a loss will not do anything for you, other than increase your average bet size. And, as you so correctly noted, that strategy can be very expensive if you hit a long streak of losing hands. You mentioned that the casino shuffles after each hand, so it sounds to me like you're playing at an Internet casino. If you can live with a $5 minimum bet, you might want to consider the single-deck game offered at some casinos that use Boss Media software (Gold Club Casino, which has advertised on our site is a good choice). Their game, which is available only in the "single player" mode has a $5 minimum bet size, but perfect basic strategy will give you a very small edge over the casino in the long run. Because you would have an edge on every hand, increasing your bet will ultimately work in your favor, but you still have to have a big bankroll to survive the inevitable losing sessions you'll have. A $1000 bankroll should be enough if you're betting only $5 per hand. Because your edge is so small, you won't get rich doing this, but it can be fun. The alternative is to play Blackjack at a casino that offers you some sort of sign-up bonus. Let's say they'll give you a $100 bonus for depositing $500 and they require you to bet 8 times the combined value of the deposit and bonus before you may withdraw any funds. Let's further assume that the BJ game they offer has a house edge of 0.50%, assuming you use perfect basic strategy. Since 8 times $600 (deposit + bonus) is $4800, you'd have to play about 1000 hands at $5 per hand to meet that requirement. You might lose it all, or you might double it, however, if you bet $5 per hand every time and you use the proper basic strategy AND do this often enough, your "expectation" is to lose 0.50% of $5000 or $25. That would leave you with a net profit of $75 for about 5 hours' work. So, you can see that there are several ways to get an edge, but altering the size of your bet isn't one of them. Stick with minimum bets whenever you don't have some sort of advantage.
Yours for winning, Hi GameMaster, My prayers have been answered. The information on your site is wonderful! I especially appreciate the 19 lessons you provide. I'm all pumped up and ready to go, but my progress has been thwarted. I live in Chicago (2yrs) but I don't know how many decks the casinos in Illinois and Indiana use. Should I learn the single deck or multi-deck method? I don't frequent the casinos, my friend took me out a few weeks back, and I told myself all I was going to spend was $20. Well, I won $200 and quit while I was ahead. I think I could've won more and my friend wanted me to keep going, but I'm not greedy. Hence my second question. I have a passion for learning Blackjack. It's something I've always wanted to excel at. Once I have a system in place, I can make money whenever I feel like it, wherever I go. I'm in control; (you know what I mean) no bosses or bureaucratic BS. I would be comfortable making $500-$1,000 per week. (25K-50K per yr) When I won the $200, the minimum bet was $10. Are my goals realistic or attainable? Could I make more? Should I play the "higher" tables to make my money quicker, or bet more at the lower tables? (3 hours at a $20 minimum table vs. 3hrs at a $100 minimum table) I have no reference point other than my recent "lucky" night. Would online be best for me or a casino? Your personal and professional opinions are much appreciated. I look forward to hearing your comments. PS. If you have any other information/resources that would help a beginner like myself get up to speed more quickly, please let me know. Hello, Steve. All of the Illinois/Indiana games are multi-deck, so that's what you want to learn. Very few on-line casinos offer beatable games, so you'll have to spend most of your time at brick-and-mortar casinos. But you should also read my latest "GameMaster's Secret" because I talk about counting cards at Internet casinos in it. Yes, it is possible to make $500/$1000 per week at BJ, but not necessarily on a consistent, week-by-week basis. You could very well have months where you lose every time you play, but then make it all back the following week or the week after that. How much you make is a function of how much you bet and how long you play. How much you bet is determined by your bankroll and, if you can afford to bet $100 chips (at least a $50,000 bankroll), you won't have to play very much each week to meet your goal. But (and it's a big "but") it's not going to be as easy as it was on your recent trip. You were lucky, plain and simple. Go through my lessons and you'll understand what it takes to make a living at this game. In the meantime, don't quit your day job. For additional information, first get Stanford Wong's book, "Professional Blackjack" (it can be ordered at our site), then start hanging out at his web site at www.bj21.com/ You'll pick up a lot of good information there. Be sure to visit the "Midwestern" pages they offer on a regular basis to get a feel for the games in your area.
Yours for winning, GM, Welcome aboard! I had just begun play at a local casino using a hi-low count. Actually, it was at Station Casino in St. Charles, MO... the place you mention in your last lesson! I'm there quite often. Anyway, I had a good day first day-- doubling my small $100 bankroll (statistically lucky I guess). Way to go.
Anyway, I had two questions for you: Yes, if you win on a consistent basis, they'll begin to notice you at some point. You might find Lesson 12 of my Blackjack School, which is entitled, "Casino Playing Tactics" to be helpful. All of the lessons are in the archives on the Blackjack page of my site. Second--a basic local rules question: do you know of any St. Louis casino that offers surrender? I know Player's Island use to, but I don't think they do anymore. I'm not aware of anyone else, either. Just wondering. Sadly, none of our local casinos currently offer surrender. Players was the last and Harrah's took it out when they bought Players.
Thanks for your time and again, thanks for the site, You're welcome, Kurt.
Yours for winning, GameMaster,
Do you think this is a fair opinion and does/should it affect your opinion
of the sites that use it?
Hello, Joe. No, it doesn't affect my opinion about the sites that use it. I'm sure that those who started and run Cryptologic aren't as pure as the driven snow, but their games appear to be honest and most of their casinos pay winners on time. But, I want to stress I always recommend that players should patronize only casinos where they feel comfortable and if this makes you uncomfortable, then don't play at Cryptologic-powered casinos.
Yours for winning, GameMaster,
1. Casino War
Thanks,
Hello, MC I'm assuming that Harrah's "Super 21" is what most other casinos call "Super Fun 21", where they deal a single-deck game with a lot of favorable rules, except that 'naturals' (blackjacks) pay 1 to 1 instead of the usual 3 to 2. If that's the game, the casino's edge is about 1%, depending upon the other rules such as the dealer hitting soft 17, etc.
Yours for winning, GM, Hello, Joe. Any good counting system also has a well-planned method of betting associated with it, so why start changing it just because you lost the last hand? Counting cards is a relatively long-term approach to beating the game and I think you shouldn't try to rush the process by using a progression. What would you do if the count is over 2, you lose a hand, then double your bet and lose that one and now the count is minus? Would you double your last bet, even though you should be betting the minimum? See the problems with this approach? I like the idea of betting in proportion to my advantage and a negative progression doesn't enhance that concept.
Yours for winning,
Hello GM.
I've been picking up the basic strategy and counting procedures pretty easily. I've been thinking of taking a trip to Tunnica one weekend and was wondering if they mind people watching blackjack being played? I have never been to a casino before and just want to go and watch the game to see if I can keep up with the count. I really don't want to play until I am sure I won't just be throwing my money away. Great website and any help or advice would greatly be appreciated. Thanks. Hello, Matt. The casinos certainly don't mind if you stand and watch Blackjack being played, but it does sometimes make the players nervous, so I wouldn't "camp out" at a table for much longer than 10 or 15 minutes at a time. What will make the casinos nervous is if you watch a table for a while after the shuffle, then come in and play with your first bet being a big one. But as you said, that's not your intention at this point, so I highly encourage you to go and observe, so that you get a "feel" for how it all works. Practice your counting while you're there and make mental notes on the aspects of the game that cause you to lose the count and you'll be well on your way to learning how to play a winning game of Blackjack. Thanks for the compliments on our site and let me know if I can be of further help.
Yours for winning, The Master,
Hello, Jared.
Yours for winning,
Hello GameMaster..
Hello, Sayan.
Yours for winning, Dear Gamemaster; But when I started in on the High/Low counting system, I became a little puzzled. Here's what happened: I have a shoe of four decks on which I use to practice basic strategy. I counted out about half the shoe and found the running count to be +3. I reshuffled the shoe, counted out about 3/4 and found the running count to be -1. So the question comes up: if I understand your instructions properly, I should have a running count of +12 before I could raise my bet. (Divide the running count +12 by 4, the number of decks, to get a true count of +3, right?) So, is it possible, or even common, to play through 3/4 of a four or five deck shoe before you get to the point (+3 or better) where you can safely raise your bet several units?
And, thanks a million for your lessons! I'm really looking forward to
doing this for real $$. Hello, Charles. What you have described is, indeed, the reality of the situation: in a 6-deck game with 75% penetration, the True Count will be at 2 or higher only about 15% of the time. It might get close to 20% in a 4-deck game or in a 6-decker with deeper penetration, but that's definitely how it works. Don't forget, though, that as cards are used up the running count you'll need to get to a True Count of 2 gets lower. For example, if there are only two decks left in the shoe, all it takes is a running count of 4 to get a True Count of 2. The True Count is based upon the number of decks left to play, not the number of decks you started with. This is why we consider penetration to be so important. As you go through the lessons, you'll see that I recommend you leave the table when and if the True Count goes below -1 (unless it's close to shuffle time), and that tactic will keep you from wasting too much time at shoes that are going nowhere, at least in terms of the count.
Yours for winning, HELLO GM, Keep up the great work! Your site is perfect and I love it. Is there some way I can support it? Do you want me to make a donation, click somewhere or do anything else? Please tell me and I'll do it.
THANK YOU!
Hello, Dinos. Our site is supported by the fine advertisers whose banners you see there, so if you play at Internet casinos you can help us by patronizing those casinos. We do not get a commission or a portion of your losses from any Internet casino that advertises with us, but should you choose to sign up with one (or more) of them, by clicking through to the casino from our site it helps by showing the casinos how effective their ads with us are. Should you need some excellent books on Blackjack and other casino games, please click on the link called "Gambling Books Available From Pi Yee Press" that you'll find on our front page, because we get a commission on each book. Beyond that, we are also "paid" by knowing that we have helped people in the past and hopefully will be able to do so in the future.
Yours for winning,
GameMaster, Adam Hello, Adam. At the risk of sounding immodest, you can find everything you want to know about Blackjack at my various sites. If you have never played the game before, go over to the GameMaster's Arcade (www.gamemasterarcade.com), which is a free "practice" casino. Go to the Blackjack page and click on Game #1. That will take you to a page and on the top of it you'll see a link "Haven't played before? " Click on that and it will give you a brief rundown of how to play Blackjack. You'll also find a strategy chart for playing your hands for that game, which is a play-money version that will load automatically, if you have the Flash plug-in on your browser..Regarding books on the topic of Blackjack, on the front page of our main site, www.gamemasteronline.com/, you'll see a link entitled, "Gambling Books Available from Pi-Yee Press". Click on that and you'll see my reviews of some of the best Blackjack books available on the market. To answer your questions about those pluses and minuses, most card-counting systems assign a point value to each card in the deck. Some of those values are + and some are -. By adding the values of the cards as they are played, it tells us when the deck is in our favor or in the casino's favor and that's the primary principle of counting cards. As you might guess, we also cover this topic in depth. Just go to the Blackjack Page of my site and look in the archives for "The Blackjack School". Begin at Lesson 1 and work your way through them all and you'll know more about Blackjack than 99% of the people who gamble in casinos.
Yours for winning, GameMaster,
I've been picking up the basic strategy and counting procedures pretty easily. I've been thinking of taking a trip to Tunnica one weekend and was wondering if they mind people watching blackjack being played? I have never been to a casino before and just want to go and watch the game to see if I can keep up with the count. I really don't want to play until I am sure I won't just be throwing my money away. Great website and any help or advice would greatly be appreciated. Thanks. Hello, Matt. The casinos certainly don't mind if you stand and watch Blackjack being played, but it does sometimes make the players nervous, so I wouldn't "camp out" at a table for much longer than 10 or 15 minutes at a time. What will make the casinos nervous is if you watch a table for a while after the shuffle, then come in and play with your first bet being a big one. But as you said, that's not your intention at this point, so I highly encourage you to go and observe, so that you get a "feel" for how it all works. Practice your counting while you're there and make mental notes on the aspects of the game that cause you to lose the count and you'll be well on your way to learning how to play a winning game of Blackjack. Thanks for the compliments on our site and let me know if I can be of further help.
Yours for winning, |