I have a quick question on basic strategy. Most of the charts I've seen say I should double when I have a soft 13 (A,2) vs. a dealer's 5, but according to Stanford Wong's Professional Blackjack (Table 1 Generic Basic Strategy page 26) he says to hit. I'm assuming these are the rules on the table: 6 deck shoe, stand on soft 17, double after split, late surrender. What should I do w/ a soft 13 vs. a dealer's 5?
Basic Strategy question
- Thread starter cheaney97
- Start date
Wong is wrong
Hmm, I never noticed this, but this mistake is in his book Basic Blackjack too.
(A,2) vs 5 is a double in any land-based casino game I've ever seen. According to Griffin's Theory of Blackjack, you should just hit this hand in ten or more decks. (9 or more decks if S17).
Maybe Wong used infinite deck approximations to make his generic basic strategy?
Anyway, double this hand.
Hmm, I never noticed this, but this mistake is in his book Basic Blackjack too.
(A,2) vs 5 is a double in any land-based casino game I've ever seen. According to Griffin's Theory of Blackjack, you should just hit this hand in ten or more decks. (9 or more decks if S17).
Maybe Wong used infinite deck approximations to make his generic basic strategy?
Anyway, double this hand.
When you've been had!
:flame: OK...No whining, I know it happens, but when you know you've been had, is there any recourse? Let me digress. The only casinos around these parts are Indian casinos: bad rules--dealer hits on soft 17, no surrender, which gives the house an even bigger edge. But, usually, well, almost ALWAYS, No, damn it, so far this has never happened: a string of losses five in a row, then a win, or two, then a string of losses seven in a row, then a few wins and then an EIGHT IN A ROW LOOSING STREAK! WOW! The deck stayed between a Neg 2 and a pos 2 for the almost the entire five shoes I played (oh yeah, six decks at the Indian casinos, lousy penetration). HOLY MOLY! And to make matters even worse, it was just me and the dealer for most of the time, only one other player bought in later and got taken big time! After playing my ass off, (and I have basic black jack down pat) I noticed there were damn few black jacks, or even ACES for that mater, so I kept a side count, and just played streight Black Jack. Four aces came out of the next shoe, then only four came out the next shoe...Wait a minute! Something was amiss here!
The catch-22? If I said anything they would know I was counting cards, but after loosing $300 on six shoes, something didn't add up...if there is a pun there so be it. Has anybody else run across this sort of thing? And can anybody tell me if certian cards are removed from the deck, what advantage the house has? NOW I am just courious as hell!
Six loses in a row, and now I walk away.
:flame: OK...No whining, I know it happens, but when you know you've been had, is there any recourse? Let me digress. The only casinos around these parts are Indian casinos: bad rules--dealer hits on soft 17, no surrender, which gives the house an even bigger edge. But, usually, well, almost ALWAYS, No, damn it, so far this has never happened: a string of losses five in a row, then a win, or two, then a string of losses seven in a row, then a few wins and then an EIGHT IN A ROW LOOSING STREAK! WOW! The deck stayed between a Neg 2 and a pos 2 for the almost the entire five shoes I played (oh yeah, six decks at the Indian casinos, lousy penetration). HOLY MOLY! And to make matters even worse, it was just me and the dealer for most of the time, only one other player bought in later and got taken big time! After playing my ass off, (and I have basic black jack down pat) I noticed there were damn few black jacks, or even ACES for that mater, so I kept a side count, and just played streight Black Jack. Four aces came out of the next shoe, then only four came out the next shoe...Wait a minute! Something was amiss here!
The catch-22? If I said anything they would know I was counting cards, but after loosing $300 on six shoes, something didn't add up...if there is a pun there so be it. Has anybody else run across this sort of thing? And can anybody tell me if certian cards are removed from the deck, what advantage the house has? NOW I am just courious as hell!
Six loses in a row, and now I walk away.
Walking
Town Hall,
I would not presume to tell you that the Casino was cheating. There is always the possibility that the Aces were hiding behind the cut card (you said it was lousey penetration.) But twice in a row is pushing it isn't it?
As for walking after 7 losses in a row, well, a lot of folks, especially non-counters like me, will walk after an arbitrary number of losses though as soon as you do walk away, it is just as probable that you would have started winning.
I had two strings in one 6-deck shoe this past weekend where I won 7 in a row using the 2,1,2,3,3,4,5 progression. I was at a $3 table and just playing with the progression. Those I've talked to know that I do not as a rule encourage betting progressions. But I know that I had 7 in a row twice because twice during the day (both in that first shoe) I reached a $15 bet. By the way, I won $150 in that one heads-up shoe on the $3 table. I watched the dealer check the cards, wash them and shuffle them....both sets (Shuffle Master) as I was at the table just as they were opening them.
I never lost 7 in a row this weekend, but it did turn bad on me too. It got to the point that the table was loosing probably 3:1 to the dealer and that streak lasted for several hours. Enough time to cost me everything I'd won. I should have walked but of the 20 BJ tables at AmeriStar in Kansas City that Saturday night, there was not a single open seat!
Town Hall,
I would not presume to tell you that the Casino was cheating. There is always the possibility that the Aces were hiding behind the cut card (you said it was lousey penetration.) But twice in a row is pushing it isn't it?
As for walking after 7 losses in a row, well, a lot of folks, especially non-counters like me, will walk after an arbitrary number of losses though as soon as you do walk away, it is just as probable that you would have started winning.
I had two strings in one 6-deck shoe this past weekend where I won 7 in a row using the 2,1,2,3,3,4,5 progression. I was at a $3 table and just playing with the progression. Those I've talked to know that I do not as a rule encourage betting progressions. But I know that I had 7 in a row twice because twice during the day (both in that first shoe) I reached a $15 bet. By the way, I won $150 in that one heads-up shoe on the $3 table. I watched the dealer check the cards, wash them and shuffle them....both sets (Shuffle Master) as I was at the table just as they were opening them.
I never lost 7 in a row this weekend, but it did turn bad on me too. It got to the point that the table was loosing probably 3:1 to the dealer and that streak lasted for several hours. Enough time to cost me everything I'd won. I should have walked but of the 20 BJ tables at AmeriStar in Kansas City that Saturday night, there was not a single open seat!
In Kansas, it is monitored very loosly by the State but I do not know the agency name. There are at present, only Indian Casinos in Kansas. I do know of one that was shut down because they would not allow agents to test their slot machines. They are back open now.
In Missouri, the casinos are supposedly "Riverboat" casinos. That's really stretching it though <LOL>. They are monitored very closely by the State. Again, I do not know the name of the agency. But the State of Missouri is very diligent in this monitoring. You are allowed to loose only $500 in a 2 hour period before being required to "sit out" for a couple of hours.
In Missouri, the casinos are supposedly "Riverboat" casinos. That's really stretching it though <LOL>. They are monitored very closely by the State. Again, I do not know the name of the agency. But the State of Missouri is very diligent in this monitoring. You are allowed to loose only $500 in a 2 hour period before being required to "sit out" for a couple of hours.