Search Results for: man

Five Worst BlackJack Rules

Quick, can you tell me what are the five worst playing rules for blackjack? If you don’t know them then the next time you play blackjack you might just be bucking higher than normal odds. So let’s review these bummers to be sure you never play in a game that has them.
Blackjacks pay Even Money

This one stinks. Normally the casino pays 3 to 2 when a player gets a blackjack hand (and the dealer doesn’t also have blackjack). Getting paid 1 to 1 may not seem like a big deal but it is because the casino’s edge goes up by 2.3% (ouch).

Normally blackjack games that offer an even money payoff also have several other player favorable rules as a come on. A good example is SuperFun 21, which is offered in many casinos in Las Vegas. The game uses only a single deck of cards with liberal rules such as surrendering anytime including after hitting, doubling, or splitting. But the liberal rules do not come close to negating the 2.3% edge the house enjoys when it pays even money on blackjack hands. The bottom line is be very cautious when a casino only offers even money on a blackjack.
Blackjack pays 6 to 5

Oh come on, no casino would pay 6 to 5 for a blackjack hand you say? Well guess what? Walk up and down the strip in Las Vegas and you’ll find this game all over the place. The come on is that it’s advertised as a single deck game, which usually implies a good game for the player. But getting paid 6 to 5 on a blackjack is a much worse deal than getting paid the normal 3 to 2. How much less? For every $10 you bet and get a blackjack you’ll get paid $3 less. This increases the house edge by 1.2%.

What’s ironic is that these same casinos that offer this 6 to 5 abomination game also offer plenty of multiple deck games with a much lower house edge (partly because blackjacks are paid at the standard 3 to 2). Yet the last time I visited Las Vegas I observed all the 6 to 5 single deck tables packed with players while the multiple deck tables where much less crowded. I finally asked one player who had quit playing the 6 to 5 single deck payoff game why he choose to play it rather than the better multiple deck game. His response was that he thought 6 to 5 was a better payoff than 3 to 2. So much for the math skills of the average blackjack player (which is probably why the casinos in Las Vegas are blazingly getting away with offering this game to clueless tourists).
Doubling Down only on 11 or 10 or just 11

Often you’ll see this rule in single deck games where a player is restricted to doubling on a two card 10 and 11 (or just 11). This means you can’t double down on 9 or any soft hand (that’s not good). The house edge goes up by about 0.7% when you can only double on 11 and by 0.25% when you are restricted to just doubling on only 10 and 11.
Using 8 decks of Cards

Compared to a single deck game, the casino’s edge increases by 0.61% when 8 decks of cards are used. You would need several liberal rules to offset the 0.61% edge to make the game playable. At the minimum make sure the dealer stands on soft 17 and doubling after pair splitting is offered (ideally also late surrender).
Dealer Hits Soft 17

Many casinos (especially on the Las Vegas strip) have changed the dealer rule regarding soft 17. It used to be pretty standard that dealers must stand on all 17 hands (which includes a soft 17 hand). Nowadays, however, more casinos are changing to hit soft 17. That’s not a good change for the player because the casino edge increases by 0.20%. Given a choice you are better off playing where the rules require that dealers must stand on soft 17.

Probably the worse blackjack rule that I ever saw was dealer winning all ties. Yes, I know that’s the way you play it with your buddies when you get together for a friendly game of blackjack and poker. But in a casino, you should never play any blackjack game where the dealer wins ties. The standard casino rule is when your hand totals 21 or less and the dealer ends up with the same total, it’s a tie or push and you don’t lose or win your bet (but remember that a dealer blackjack hand beats a player’s three or more cards 21 hand). By winning tied hands the casino edge zooms by about 9%.

There are two things to keep in mind when you play blackjack. First, there has never been a game with exotic rules that has a lower house edge than the standard game. So before you decide to try a SuperFun 21 or other ‘new’; game you better check the rules.

Secondly, you should always try to pick your games carefully so that the overall mix of rules leads to a casino edge that’s as low as possible for the game you are playing (this of course assumes you know the basic playing strategy – if not, learn it!).

Dan Pronovost showed the effect of each rule on the house edge in his excellent article, Picking the Right Game, that appeared in issue #35 of the Blackjack Insider Newsletter (www.casino.com/newsletter/blackjack/archive/). This article is a good starting point to be sure you understand the impact a rule has on the house edge.

Often casinos will introduce new rules or games in their blackjack pits. An example is the new game Blackjack Switch, which recently had a trial run in Atlantic City and will soon be launched in casinos there and in Las Vegas (it’s also offered on the Internet). In this game you must play two hands and you are allowed to switch the two top cards. That very favorable player rule is offset by this new rule – when the dealer has 22, all player hands of 21 or less push (instead of win). So is the favorable switch rule offset by the very unfavorable push 22 rule? The answer is I don’t know at the moment but I’ve got several blackjack mathematicians working on this as we speak to determine the overall impact on the player (we hope to have it all unraveled in the next issue of the Blackjack Insider Newsletter).

That’s it for now. Stay positive and make sure you know the rules before you play.

By Henry Tamburin

Blackjack Player Options

Standing
The player elects to “stand” with the current total and not to draw any additional cards. If you are in a game where the cards are dealt face-down, you slip your cards under your chips. The dealer will understand the message. If you are in a face-up game, wave your hand back and forth in a wiping motion just above your cards, which is the signal for standing. All casinos insist on some form of hand signal; verbal statements are not accepted. Casinos can get rather noisy, and it is easy for a dealer to mishear a player. Also, the cameras hidden in the casino’s ceilings can be used to resolve disputes only if hand signals are used, since they do not have an audio component.
Hitting
The player elects to draw an additional card or cards. If you are in a face-down game, draw your cards toward you with a quick scratching motion against the felt once or twice. In a face-up game, make a similar motion with your fingertips or , preferably, point to your cards with your index finger.
Splitting
If your first two cards are of the same value, you may split them and play each as a separate hand. To indicate a desire to split your cards, place an additional wager equivalent to the original one to the side of it. If you are playing in a face-down game, you must expose your cards. After splitting a pair, various other options become available. You can re-split if a third like-valued card appears. Or you can double down on the split hands should an appropriate card be drawn. For example, if you have split 8’s and catch a 3 on the first 8, you may now double down on this total of 11. Both re-splitting and doubling and doubling down after a split are to the player’s advantage.
Doubling Down
The player may double the size of the original bet and elect to draw only one additional card. The typical doubling situation is where you have a hand that stands a chance of becoming a _very_ good hand with one additional card; for example, your first two cards total 10 or 11. To indicate a double down bet, slide a second wager to the side of the original bet. This wager may be as much as but no more than your original bet. If you are playing in a face-down game, you must expose your cards. Virtually all casinos permit doubling on 11 and 10; most on 11, 10, and 9, and many will allow it on any two cards. The latter rule is the most advantageous to the player.

Counting Cards

Many inexperienced players have a misconception about card counters as mathematical geniuses who can keep track of every card in a multiple decks of cards. While there may very well be people who can do this kind of thing, card counting is not about keeping track of every card. The idea behind counting cards is to keep track of the players statistical likelihood of winning a hand and then adjusting betting and playing accordingly.
The idea behind card counting is simple gambling strategy. Any professional gambler will tell you that the way to win at gambling is to bet more when you have the advantage and bet less (or not at all) when you do not. It is that simple. In black-jack, certain cards remaining in the deck are good for the player and certain ones are not. If you “count” these cards, you will always know when you have the advantage.
Edward O. Thorp’s work confirmed that 10’s and A’s remaining in the deck were good for the player, while 5’s and 6’s remaining in the deck were bad for the player. He worked out the circumstances under which particular combinations of cards remaining in the deck gave the player and advantage over the house. He also presented the first two card-counting systems, Thorp’s five-count and Thorp’s ten-count. The latter, which is more powerful, was based on determining the ration between 10’s and non-10’s remaining in the deck. Card counting was born from irrefutable logic: Keep track of the cards: make small bets when the deck favors the house and large bets when it favors the players.
Thorp’s analysis was later improved upon by the work of many others, notably Julian Braun, Lawrence Revere, Peter Griffin, Stanford Wong, Ken Uston, Arnold Snyder, and Lance Humble. Today the game is understood at a rather deep level, and sophisticated systems exist that give the knowledgeable player a distinct edge over the house.
Which Cards Matter?
The object of card counting is to keep track of cards that are advantageous to the player. The simple question is, then, “which cards matter?”
The card most beneficial to the player is the 10. 10’s are ad-vantages to the player for several reasons. One, they will cause the dealer to bust since he is required to take cards based on the rules of play. He may not take other factors into account while playing (like you do!). Two, they turn hands that you double down on into very strong hands (which is why you double down on those hands, by the way). Three, they are used to create blackjacks. Remember that blackjacks are more beneficial to the player since getting one pays 3 to 2 but losing to one only costs the original bet! Another important card for the player is the A. Aces present soft doubling (and hitting) opportunities and they create blackjacks. Remember – blackjack is more important to the player than the house!
The worst cards for the player are the 5 and the 6 (and 2, 3, and 4 to a lesser degree). The reason these are not good for the player is simple – they are beneficial to the house. Since the house is forced by the rules of play to take cards on any hand lower than 17, the 5 and the six present the possibility of very strong hands for the dealer (remember that 10’s are not advantageous to the dealer since they make “busts” of these hands).
Before we begin to learn how to count we should talk about how this will help us. You should remember that the purpose of counting is to know when the player has an advantage and when he does not. This knowledge will do nothing for you unless you do something with it. What you want to do is adjust your betting and your play based on your advantage.
Adjusting Your Bets
Adjusting your bets is very straightforward. When the composition of the deck is in your favor, you bet more. When it is not, you bet less. Very simple. Learning just this can give you as much as a 2% advantage against the house. If that advantage does not sound like much, keep in mind that many casino slot machines only produce a 2 – 3% advantage for the casino and that is enough to make billions of dollars of profit for the casino. Granted, this is at a much higher volume than you will play at but remember that bet sizes are much smaller.
Adjusting Your Play
Learning to adjust your play based on deck composition is not an easy task, but the rewards are phenomenal. Taking this step can increase your advantage by another 2% for a total of 4% against the house. The good news is that you can learn this with a lot of practice. The principles are simple but mastering this level of play takes many hours of practice.
An expert card counter will adjust play in many different ways depending on the composition of the deck. It is common for an expert card counter to do things that “break the rules” of basic strategy like:
1. Standing earlier if the deck is very 10 rich — if the dealer can bust, so can you!
2. Standing later if the deck is very 10 poor.
3. Splitting 10’s when the deck is extremely 10 rich.
4. Doubling down on A, 9 when the deck is extremely 10 rich.
Of course, the most important play adjustment can be deciding when to start playing at a table and when to stop.

Is Counting Cards Illegal?

In a word, no!

Many people think that casinos implement rules to try and deter card counters, but the truth is that the rules are usually implemented to deter cheating and many times these rules do put counters at a disadvantage. A simple example is the face down game. Casinos implemented the face down game to stop real cheaters but obviously a face up game would be better for a card counter.

That being said, casinos do not like card counters. You will learn as you get better at counting that some of the best bet-ting opportunities arise when you can join a game only after the deck is in your favor. Unfortunately, most casinos will resort to all sort of tactics to keep you from standing around a table and studying play at the table. Don’t ever walk up to a table and watch a game with a pen and notebook in hand, for example.

Hit or Stand?

The guidelines for hitting are rather straightforward. If the dealer shows a 2 or 3, you continue to take a hit until you have a hard 13 or a soft 18. If the dealer shows 4, 5, or 6, you continue to take a hit until you reach a hard 12 or a soft 18. If the dealer shows 7 or 8, you continue to take a hit until you have a hard 17 or a soft 18. It the dealer shows anything higher than 8, you continue to take a hit until you have a hard 17 or a soft 19.

Dealer Shows Hit Until You Have
2 or 3 hard 13 or soft 18
4, 5, or 6 hard 12 or soft 18
7 or 8 hard 17 or soft 18
9, 10, or A hard 17 or soft 19

Though there is no mathematical “proof” of these principles there is actually some simple logic to them. Don’t forget that you are also playing the odds based on billions of simulations of blackjack hands. Let’s look at some of the logic.
? If the dealer shows a 7 or above, then the most likely two-card total is 17 or above (with a 10 or an A in the hole), so you are going to have to take a card on any total under 17 or likely lose.
? When the dealer shows a card less than 7, the two-card total will likely be less than 17 (it can be exactly 17 with a 6 and an A), and the dealer will be forced to take another card. Since there are more 10’s in the deck than any other denomination, the dealer will have a fairly high probability of busting and you will win.
? If you were to take a card with a total between 12 and 16 you would be likely to bust. In situations like this the proper play is to let the dealer pull. If the high card shows up and there is a high card in the hole, you will win.
? Hit a total of 12 against a dealer 2 or 3. I’ve seen books that tell you to stand in these situations. They are wrong. You must take a card.
? Hit a 16 against a dealer’s 7. Many inexperienced players have trouble believing that this is the proper play but it is. Countless computer runs have proved it again and again. From the players point of view a total of 16 is no better than a total of 12; you can win with such totals only when the dealer breaks. Besides, there are still five cards that can help out a 16 (A, 2, 3, 4, 5).
? You take a card whenever you have A, 6 (unless you double down) and you hit an A, 7 against a 9, 10, or A. It’s true that you will sometimes find yourself going “backwards” and have a hand that is “weaker” than you just had. However, computer simulations consistently show that this is the proper play.
? It may come as a surprise to inexperienced players, but 18 is not a strong hand when facing a dealer 9, 10, or A.

Should I Take Insurance?

Insurance
When the dealer shows an A, players are given the option of taking insurance against the dealers’ having blackjack. Calling this “insurance” is a bit misleading. Actually, it is nothing other than a side bet that is paid at 2 to 1. If you wish to take insurance (which is only recommended in very specific circumstances recognizable by an expert card counter only), place a bet equal to half your original bet in the semicircle running just in front of the your betting spot. If the dealer has black-jack, you will lose your original bet but win the insurance wager and break even on the hand. If the dealer does not have blackjack, you will lose the insurance bet and the hand will be played out normally.

When to Take Insurance
Never! Next topic.
“Wait a minute!” I can hear many players saying. Don’t you always take insurance when you have blackjack yourself? That’s what everyone tells me.
Well, let’s stop and take a look at that situation more closely. Many people do believe that this is a “no lose” situation. The logic goes something like this. If your original bet is $10 and you have blackjack and you take insurance ($5), the hand will play out in one of two ways. Either the dealer will have black-jack or he will not. If he does, the hand is a push but you will win $10 because of the insurance. If he does not, you will win the hand but not the insurance bet and you will still win $10.
While taking insurance when you have blackjack seems like a “win” in every case (because it is), it is *not* your best play. What most inexperienced players fail to realize is that the insurance is a side bet. It is completely unrelated to the original bet. Let’s take a closer look.
You are guaranteed a “win” when you take insurance, but you are missing the opportunity to play the odds for a larger win. Assume you are playing alone with the dealer in a six deck game and you bet $10 on your hand and bet $5 on insurance. A six deck shoe contains 96 10’s and 214 non-10’s. After you and the dealer have been dealt your cards, you have blackjack and the dealer shows and A, so there are 95 10’s and 214 non-10’s left. There are 95 ways for the dealer to have a 10 in the hole, and if you take insurance, you will win $10 on each of them for an income of $950. However, there are 214 ways for the dealer to have a non-10 in the hole, and on those occasions you will lose $5 each, for a loss of $1,070. This is an expected loss of $120 — 7.8 percent — on 309 possibilities. A very bad bet!
It should be noted that there are certain times when taking insurance is advantageous to the player, but these circumstances can only be detected by the best card counters.

Is Blackjack a ?Winnable? Game?

When blackjack first became a casino staple, it was assumed that it was rather like baccarat, where the house, by virtue of the rules determining play, had a statistical edge. All players and students of the game assumed that this advantage existed based on two simple facts. One, the player had to act first. Two, all busts (hands totaling over twenty-one) were losers no matter what the dealer later drew. These two rules seem to give the house an incontrovertible edge.
Conventional began to change in 1956 when a paper by Baldwin, Cantey, Maisel, and McDermont was published in the _Journal of the American Statistical Association_. This paper and a black-jack strategy manual published by Baldwin et al. the following year both attracted very little interest among non mathematicians, but it would prove to be the first step toward determining that blackjack is a “winnable” game.
Edward O. Thorp, a scientist at MIT, did understand the implications of the work of Baldwin and his colleagues and began to ex-amine two elements of the game that were previously unexamined. One, the composition of a deck of cards changes with every card dealt. Two, some deck compositions favor the player and other favor the house. In 1962, Thorp published his now famous book, _Beat the Dealer_, which contained a simple yet profound mes-sage. Unlike dice, roulette wheels, and slot machines, decks of cards have “memory.”
Blackjack, unlike Roulette for example, is a winnable game be-cause of this “memory.” Let’s look at an example. You are sit-ting at the Roulette table and the dealer throws the ball and it comes to rest on the number 9. Now, when he throws the ball again for the next round, what are the odds the ball lands on 9 again? Assuming the wheel is not rigged or the dealer is not trained to “fix” the outcome, the odds of the ball landing on 9 again are exactly the same! Let’s take it a step further. Assume that the ball does indeed land on 9 again – twice more. Now the ball has landed on the 9 three times in a row! What are the odds this happens a fourth time? Exactly the same! There is no statistical reason that the ball should “avoid” landing on 9 again.
Blackjack is different. Let’s look at a similar situation in blackjack. You are at the table with two other players. The dealer deals a 9 to each of the players at the table. Now the odds of dealing another 9 have been significantly reduced. In a six deck game the odds have been reduced from 3:49 to 7:104. This fact alone makes blackjack a winnable game.