FRONT PAGE - Back to THE ADVISOR PAGE
The GameMaster Advisor
May, 2002

Dear GameMaster:
I've just started learning blackjack strategy and card counting on your site. In the money management section, you mention that we should have a minimum bankroll of $3,000. So what if you play with a smaller bankroll? If I learn to count cards, and follow your strategy advice, am I going to be able to win money playing $10 or $15 hands, with a bankroll of about $300? What if I'm playing $25 hands? What should my minimum bankroll be then?
Amir

Hello, Amir.

The key to winning at most Blackjack games is to bet small when the casino has the edge and bet bigger when you have the edge. Betting either $10 or $15 per hand does not give you what we call a "bet spread", so you would have to be very lucky to make a profit. In addition, with only $300 as a bankroll, you have just 20 or 30 total bets available to you so one bad session could easily wipe you out. That's why I recommend you have at least 50 maximum bets as your bankroll before trying this.

Regarding your question on the bank roll requirements for $25 bets, please don't think that you can make a profit at the average Blackjack game by betting the same amount on every hand. Yes, by learning proper Basic Strategy and by using the count to vary the play of your hand, you'll likely do better than the average player, but you are still gambling, so the size of your bankroll is immaterial because you'll probably lose it all.

Unfortunately, it takes money to make money at Blackjack and my best advice for you is to just practice your skills at home while you are accumulating a proper bankroll. Otherwise, you'll probably just lose a series of these $300 "bankrolls" and walk away from the game convinced that counting doesn't work when, in reality, you were just over-betting.

Yours for winning,
The GameMaster
5/29/02
Dear GameMaster:
I have been working through your Blackjack strategy curriculum online and it is fantastic. I do have one question: In perusing the site, I noticed that you mention AC, Reno, and other gambling hotspots. However, there is no mention of Las Vegas. Does the basic strategy taught on your site apply to the tables in Vegas?

Thanks,
Joe

Hello, Joe.

Yes, the strategy I use in my lessons does, indeed, apply to many of the casinos in Las Vegas, particularly those that are located on the "strip". While the rules may be slightly different from casino to casino, the Basic Strategy I teach is what most experts would agree is a good "generic" strategy for multi-deck games.

Thanks for the compliment and welcome aboard. Don't hesitate to contact me if you have further questions.

Yours for winning,
The GameMaster
5/22/02
Dear GameMaster:
Being a relative newbie, I have learned basic strategy and how to count cards. To this point I only use the count to determine when to increase my bets and have been pretty successful.

I was fascinated by the chapter on basic strategy variations, but you indicated that what was in the lesson only applied to six deck games. Caesar Indiana has double deck games with dealer draws on 17, D only on hard 9, 10, 11, and late surrender.

What would be the basic strategy variations for such a game?
Any help is appreciated.
George

Hello, George.
The variations in my lessons are appropriate for a double deck game where the dealer stands on A-6, with the obvious exception of the doubling on soft hands, which you cannot do. I put that disclaimer in there so that people who play single-deck games don't use the wrong numbers, but double-deck games are, for all practical purposes, just like 6-deckers. For a complete listing of all variations, you should get Stanford Wong's book, "Professional Blackjack", which can be ordered through my site.

Yours for winning,
The GameMaster
5/21/02
GameMaster,
I used your basic strategy system on a recent trip to Vegas and was pleasantly surprised at my results. Thanks.

I was somewhat confused the use of the auto shufflers. How do these machines affect ones use of basic strategy? When I asked the dealers how many decks they used they would get this nervous look on their faces and say five or six. Is that a secret?

What are your views on these contraptions? Thanks again for your website.
Hello.
It's good to hear that your trip went well.

There are really several different "automatic" shuffling machines, so it all depends upon which type you're referring to. Some casinos use what we call an "auto-shuffler", which is where the deck or decks are placed in the device only to be shuffled. If the cards are then removed from the machine and dealt "normally", either by hand or from a shoe, then those have no effect on the casino's edge for either the Basic Strategy player or the counter.

The other type is what we call a "continuous shuffling machine" (CSM) and these are the ones I and all other counters avoid. What happens at games with CSMs is that the dealer picks up the cards from each round of play and feeds them back into the machine where they're intermixed with the remaining cards. For all practical purposes, this amounts to playing a 5- or 6-deck game where the decks are shuffled after every hand. The dealers were reluctant to answer you because they probably don't know exactly how many are used themselves, but it's most assuredly a multi-deck game. These CSMs don't really affect the player who uses Basic Strategy, but the thing to keep in mind is that you'll play more hands per hour at a game like this because there are no breaks for shuffling and, because the casino has an edge over you, these very likely will cause you to lose faster, although it's not due to the manipulation of the cards.
Yours for winning,
The GameMaster
5/20/02
GameMaster,
Why split aces against an ace ? If you are lucky enough to get two tens you only have twenty one. if the dealer gets a ten he has blackjack.
Joe

Hello, Joe.
If you are playing a game where the dealer doesn't take a "hole" card (the "European No Hole Card" rule) and you will lose both bets if s/he gets a "blackjack", then you should not split a pair of Aces against an Ace. But, if you're playing a game where the dealer does take a hole card and you'll lose only one bet if s/he gets a blackjack, then it's a serious mistake to not split Aces against an Ace. We measure situations like that with "expected value" (EV) and the EV for hitting a pair of Aces against an Ace is to lose 2.3% of all the $$$ you bet in situations like that, but if you split, the EV is to win 12.7%. That's a 15% net gain in EV.


Yours for winning,
The GameMaster 5/17/2002
GameMaster,
With a running count at the end of the first hand we convert it to a true count. On the next hand do we revert back to the running count from the previous hand or do we use the true count to continue?

Do you use the true count or the running count when betting on the second hand?

Thanks!
Dan
Hello, Dan.
You convert the running count to a True Count in order to size your bet for the next hand and then you revert back to the running count from the first hand as the cards for hand # 2 are dealt. The conversion to the True Count is always temporary and you do it when you need it for either sizing your bet or playing your hand if you are using the Basic Strategy variations. Beyond that, everything else is done with the running count and it's continuous from the first hand out of the shoe until the dealer shuffles.

I hope this answers your question.

Yours for winning,
The GameMaster 5/16/2002
GameMaster,
When I play single or double deck blackjack I increase my bet as the count becomes positive and of course decrease my bets as the count becomes neutral or negative. Since these games are dealt face down I have problems with basic strategy variations based on the count. I realize it is probably best to play against the dealer one on one but sometimes this is not possible. So if I am playing at a single or double deck game with several other players and haven't seen all the cards dealt in a new round. How would I approach this would I base my strategy variations on the cards I have seen or should I look for another game with the least amount of players at the table?

Also would you recommend counting behind the table and playing only in positive counts or is this hard to do in today's game?
Hello.
Make the Basic Strategy variations plays based upon the information you have, only. While it's always better to play alone, that won't always be possible so don't worry about cards you can't see. Once the round of play is finished, pick up the count from the other players' cards and use that to size your bet for the next round.

Backcounting has many advantages, but a lot of single-deck and double-deck games have a "no mid-shoe" entry rule that precludes this technique. However, if the casino allows you to sit in at any time and that action won't attract a lot of attention, then go for it. This so-called "wonging" technique usually works better at games that use four or more decks.

Yours for winning,
The GameMaster
5/14/2002
Hi GameMaster,
I've noticed some major discrepencies between various "basic strategy" charts on the net. One of the most disputed is whether to double on an eight when the dealer shows a five or six. Some say yes, some say no.

Could you tell me how your outcomes were calculated?
Thanks,
HQ
Hello, HQ.
Differences in the Basic Strategy for Blackjack arise from two sources: either the "author" is incorrect or the rules of the game are different. For example, a Basic Strategy chart that recommends you double 8 against a dealer's up card of 5 or 6 is most certainly designed for a single-deck game. But to demonstrate how even that can vary, if the 8 the player has is composed of a 6 and a 2, then the player should hit, rather than double. That's called "composition dependent" strategy and can lead to even more confusion. The fact is, you'll get an 8 against a dealer's 5 or 6 in a single-deck game only about 350 times in every 100,000 hands of play (0.35%), so whether you hit or double is not a critical issue, especially when you consider that hitting has an expected value of +14.0% and doubling has an EV of +15.4% (assuming a hand of 5,3 against a dealer's 5 in a single-deck game where the dealer hits soft 17). Compute it all out and doubling adds only 0.0049% to your edge! Sure, we want to get all we can out of the game, but concentrating on the important plays like when to double a hand of 10 or 11 and then actually doing it, is going to pay more dividends in the long run.

The Basic Strategy I teach in my Blackjack School was designed for a game where the casino uses four or more decks, the dealer stands on soft 17, you may double on any first two cards, double after split is allowed and there is no surrender option. Most experts would agree that the strategy for this game functions well as a "generic" Basic Strategy for multi-deck games, assuming double after split is allowed.

The best way to avoid any confusion, however, is to first determine the rules of the game you wish to play, then go to the Blackjack Strategy Engine (BSE) at www.blackjackinfo.com/ , enter the rules into it and it'll deliver (for free!) a strategy chart for your game. I'm quite sure that you'd be able to find someone, somewhere who will disagree with the chart the BSE will generate, but 99.9% of the time you'll get the correct strategy for the game you designate.

Yours for winning,
The GameMaster
5/13/2002

Hello Gamemaster,
I wrote you two emails about two months ago for advice. I took your online course and practiced very hard for many hours. I have now been playing a few times a week for a month in Atlantic City and I have been making out like a bandit! I have to admit I was a little skeptical at first of the whole card counting thing mainly because of this question that keeped popping in my head: "If it was this simple, why wouldn't everyone be doing it?" Kind of like, "It's too good to be true." Well I am now a true believer. Besides many hours of winning practice play and now about 140 hours of winning casino play, I also proved it mathmatically for myself that it is possible to beat the game of blackjack even the shitty AC game. I know many others have proved this before, but I had to see for myself and understand. I would like to thank you for providing this black jack knowledge on the internet for free.

As for my above mentioned internal question, I now know the answer. Most people would not want to count if given the opportunity. What I mean by this is that most people by their instinct are "gamblers". They want something for nothing as you say. Just look how many people refuse to use basic strategy even if they know it is the right play. They elect to use thier "instinct". The average, everyday person's perception of a counter is someone who always wins. When a lay person learns that it really isn't like this they figure their "insticts" will work better or just as well anyhow. The result is your common ploppy.

Finally, what is your opinion of the zen count? I switched over to that from the high/low and I used it yesterday in the casino with great effect for the first time. One thing I noticed is that the true count can get to +2 very quickly and likewise -2 very quickly. Are these early +2 counts where a bunch of four, five, and sixes come out in the first few hands good betting situations as the count would suggest? I know this is a foolish question, but it was that yesterday when I was playing it seemed that I had many more betting chances than usual using the zen as opposed to the high/low. For example I had a running count of 19 after two hands were dealt out of the shoe. This would give me a true count of 19/8=~+2.Was this an example of an exceptional postive variance or by using the zen count, do you really get more chances to bet because the count gets positive more often?

Your feedback is appreciated.
Joe

Hello, Joe.

I really appreciate you taking the time to write and tell me of your experiences. It's always good to hear that we've been able to help someone. Believe me, I understand your skepticism. In fact, many people will read this and think that you and I cooked it up in order to promote my site or whatever. But, since it's all free, their argument isn't a very strong one.

Anyway, be happy for the "ploppies" out there, because if everybody did what you and I do, there wouldn't be any good Blackjack games available.

The Zen count is certainly a good one, but I think it's really a case of "overkill" for the game you're playing. The reason you're getting such high running counts is because the "point" values of the cards are higher, consequently an increase of 1 in the True Count as measured by the Zen is worth only 0.25% in player advantage, as opposed to an increase of 0.50% in the Hi/Lo. Make sure that you're calculating your advantage properly; a TC of 2 in the Zen count does not give you an edge in the typical A.C. game and you should leave at a TC of -2, not -1 as measured by Hi/Lo.

Yours for winning,
The GameMaster
5/3/2002

GM,
I'm curious - do the majority of the BJ games you choose to play have the S17 rule? What is the most common one of the two? (2 Possibly different answers) Is it important to mentally know both basic strategies?

I play mostly S17, but H17 is definitely much more common and I just switch back and forth between the two strategies. Write down the differences on a 3 x 5 card and look at it before you begin to play, just as a reminder.

One more question - How long is the average recommended playing session (hrs.)? (Using Hi-Low)

It all depends on a lot of factors. Are you "wonging" the game? Is the casino giving you any "heat"? Are you using a big spread? If any of those are answered with a "yes". then keep the sessions short. But if you're getting a good game and are able to leave the table when the count drops to -1, a session might be several hours in length. The important thing is to play only when you know you aren't making any mistakes in the count and, for a lot of players, that's maybe two hours. After that, take a break and see how you feel. You might then go back to the tables, but remember that mistakes can cause you to give up your edge over the casino.

Yours for winning,
The GameMaster
5/3/2002