Ploppy Play House Edge

I've seen many idiotic moves, but one of them last night was wow, as the guy stood on a 7! Yes, he stood on a 3 and 4. Dealer and his buddy reminded him, but his answer was "f*** it, I wanna stand".

Hi, I've been checking out these forums for a while, but, I started playing blackjack in a casino just about 2 weeks ago. I find counting very interesting, but right now I'm playing BJ for fun and with almost perfect basic strategy (about 1-2 misses in 500 hands in my trainer sessions).

But in the last 2 weeks, after about 12 hours of total play, I've seen all sorts of people, of which the majority were -as called in this forum- ploppies.

I've seen many idiotic moves, but one of them last night was wow, as the guy stood on a 7! Yes, he stood on a 3 and 4. Dealer and his buddy reminded him, but his answer was "f*** it, I wanna stand".

What I wonder however is that, what could the actual HE be on these types of players? I know that there's no single ploppy style, but say when you miss BS 50% of the time, what would the HE be in that case? Does it move to 3-4% or 10-15%?

I also played some Let It Ride, and I found the players to be knowing what they're doing. It's not a game a ploppy can just jump in and understand the rules etc. So, although, initially I thought the casino edge on BJ was pretty poor compared to roulette's 5%+ and Let It Ride's 3%+, after having played BJ in real life, I think the edge might be much much better than the calculated <1% levels.

Any insights on whether this is the case, and BJ is actually one of the most profitable table games for the casino, when ironically, it has the best mathematical edge for the player?

Some nicer dealers actually can't take these moves anymore and they just stop the game and give a quick briefing on not hitting stiffs against 4-5-6

Although most dealers don't know perfect basic strategy, their genuine efforts on fixing some of the major idiotic moves are very nice. I've had this happen a couple of times when idiots kept hitting 15s, 16s left and right against any dealer up card.

By the way, I noticed that none of my BS moves got any dealer surprise as much as hitting A7 against 9-10-A. It's right there, on the BS book, yet I almost always got them double or triple checking whether I'm sure on that. I don't know why they are stuck on this very move, while they can grasp most of the BS moves.

It is a common myth that 18 is a decent hand and according to many soft 18 is the most misplayed hand, this is why dealers will often ask if you're sure you want to hit. I was practically the only person hitting soft 18 when I was down in Biloxi!

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I've seen many idiotic moves, but one of them last night was wow, as the guy stood on a 7! Yes, he stood on a 3 and 4. Dealer and his buddy reminded him, but his answer was "f*** it, I wanna stand".

Some nicer dealers actually can't take these moves anymore and they just stop the game and give a quick briefing on not hitting stiffs against 4-5-6

Although most dealers don't know perfect basic strategy, their genuine efforts on fixing some of the major idiotic moves are very nice. I've had this happen a couple of times when idiots kept hitting 15s, 16s left and right against any dealer up card.

By the way, I noticed that none of my BS moves got any dealer surprise as much as hitting A7 against 9-10-A. It's right there, on the BS book, yet I almost always got them double or triple checking whether I'm sure on that. I don't know why they are stuck on this very move, while they can grasp most of the BS moves.

Some nicer dealers actually can't take these moves anymore and they just stop the game and give a quick briefing on not hitting stiffs against 4-5-6

Although most dealers don't know perfect basic strategy, their genuine efforts on fixing some of the major idiotic moves are very nice. I've had this happen a couple of times when idiots kept hitting 15s, 16s left and right against any dealer up card.

By the way, I noticed that none of my BS moves got any dealer surprise as much as hitting A7 against 9-10-A. It's right there, on the BS book, yet I almost always got them double or triple checking whether I'm sure on that. I don't know why they are stuck on this very move, while they can grasp most of the BS moves.

Years ago, when a Blackhawk casino had a game with early surrender ($5 max multi-action), I had a dealer completely incredulous that I was surrendering a 17 vs. an ace. This is correct BS for early surrender (which is extremely rare as it gives a BS player an edge off the top with nearly any rule set that doesn't involve a short payout for BJ).

I do think that hitting soft 18 is possibly the most counter-intuitive plays in basic strategy. Most people just don't realize how weak a hand 18 actually is against a dealer 9 10 or A, and hitting it often makes it worse, or makes no difference if you get a 10.

I think the general accepted figure is that the average casino patron plays at about a 1.5-2 percent disadvantage.

But if you hit it and get a ten, brother! do the ploppies go crazy! You took the dealer's bust card. Then when the dealer turns a 5 for eleven, then an ace and a ten -- bust! -- they either say, "Well, it could have been a bust card" or "Man, you saved the entire table!" Don't count on which one it will be, but usually they are grateful the dealer busted. When I hit a ten and the dealer hits a ten, also, I am quick to point out, "She would have caught a ten either way!"

I take so much heat when I hit soft 18. The dealers are always "are you sure? are you sure? Its 18 sir, are you sure?" and the whole table groans like I am some sort of moron and all this always draws the bit bosses over. A player hitting soft 18 been playing for 5 hours and is winning? Might as well right counter all over my face.