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The GameMaster Advisor
October, 2000

GM,
Hello...wondering if you could tell me...on UG games, when you leave the blackjack tables, do they automatically reshuffle? Is there a new shuffle each time you start a game? (This is on the 6-deck game)
Thanks!
Jeff

Hello, Jeff.
Yes, as far as we know, the cards are shuffled when you leave and come back in, so it is possible to "wong" the game. It's almost impossible to verify that 100%, but by all indications, that's the case.

Yours for winning,
The GameMaster
10/31/2000

Dear Gamemaster:
Had some good luck playing at Harrahs in Bossier City and I thank you for the good advice prior to my trip.

I know the importance of deck penetration for the card counter, but does it make any difference for the basic strategy player?

Best,
Mac
San Antonio, Tx

Hello, Mac. No, penetration doesn't make any difference for the basic strategy player.

Yours for winning,
The GameMaster
10/31/2000

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Hello, Paul. Congratulations on your Royal. I know what a thrill that is and it's nice that it happened at William Hill Casino where you know you're going to get your $$$.

Thanks your kind words about the site and I hope you'll visit us often. We very much appreciate any "word of mouth" publicity you can give us.

Yours for winning,
The GameMaster
10/20/2000

Dear GameMaster,
My local casino offers a 6-deck game with about a 60-70% penetration, where players are allowed to enter a game at any stage of the shoe, either playing for themselves or piggybacking others' bets. The rules are:

Double down only on 9, 10, 11
Double after split
Dealer stands on A-6

My question is a simple one. Can I turn this into a profitable game of blackjack by using only an Ace-5 count, combined with back-counting??

Or, alternatively, what kind of edge could I gain by back-counting, using a true count, and only entering the game on a true count of 3 or more??

Hello, Dave.

Using the Ace-5 count as you mention would get you a slight edge over the casino, about 0.25% which is, for all practical purposes, a break-even game. Using the Hi/Lo count and adjusting for a True Count would get you a long term edge of about 1.1% if you bet one unit at a count of +2 and then scaled up to a maximum bet of 12 units, topping out at +6. That is, by far, the best way to proceed.

You mentioned that you can use "rider" bets, that is, place your bet in the betting square of another player, as opposed to taking a betting square of your own. Many casinos which offer that also give the "rider" the option of taking any extra bets like doubling or splitting pairs. For example, if the "regular" player gets a pair of 8s, the rider does not have to put up an extra bet for the split; s/he can just have their one bet remain on the right-hand 8, if s/he chooses. Stanford Wong's book "Basic Blackjack" shows you the strategy for this. In the case of a pair of 8s, the rider does not put up an extra bet if the dealer's upcard is 2, 8, 9, 10 or Ace. You can see that the rider now has a hand of 8 instead of a hand of 16 yet hasn't put up more $$$ for the privilege. The downside to this is that you should only "ride" on the hand of a player who knows the Basic Strategy for your game.

A neat little trick to do here is go in partners with a friend who knows Basic Strategy for your game. That person plays at the table (let's call him or her the "caller"), perhaps flat betting $5 a hand and you just stand and watch. When the count gets up, you place a bet in that square and then use a special strategy which Wong calls "sacrifice" splits when it comes to splitting pairs. (You would both use the same strategy otherwise.) For example, if the hand dealt is a pair of 7s and the dealer has a 9 up, the "rider" is better off if the cards are split, but an extra bet is made only by the caller. In that way, the rider bet, which we presume to be the larger of the two is on just the first 7 but the caller now has two bets of $5 out. So long as the rider bet is $35 or higher, it's profitable to make this sacrifice split. The problem with this is that pairs are the least-frequent hands in the game, and it's a lot of info to absorb for something which seldom happens. But, Wong calculates that the rider will gain 0.2% by using the sacrifice strategy and the caller will lose 0.2%, so you can see why the rider bet has to be a lot larger.

Yours for winning,
The GameMaster
10/20/2000