BS w/ more than 2 cards drawn and more

Hi Everybody;

I have been reading the archives and came across an interesting comment about Basic Strategy not being valid when you draw more cards than the initial two cards dealt. This whole thing plays into the "Strategy" of watching trends in what cards have come out and which ones are on the table during the current deal. "Hunch" or "intuition" I liked being called observation. The first step to learning to count?

I realize with only putting $120 on the $15 dollar table and $200 on the $25 table, Foxwoods never has $10 tables after 4pm, that I am playing very very close to the edge. If I had had enough sense to have had left the tables when I had doubled my money, when I first started playing, I would have a much bigger bankroll today. I did not and in the process gave a lot of money back to the house. I have also read that playing with a small bankroll insures the advantage to the house.

It seems to me that I was a very very lucky person! Now that I am getting more knowledgeable at BS I have not been as lucky. I have been loosing the last few times I have gone and do not have a lot of money left to play with.

I have been practicing with the trainer here and with CVBJ and have gotten up into the 84% range. Most of my errors are double down errors because I would rather keep the option to draw more than one more card and surrender errors because one of the books I am reading said it is best to try to make something work instead of surrendering. I have been learning that in many cases it looses me twice as much $.

Any help/advice you can give this frustrated newbie would be much appreciated.

Thank you all in advance!

Pamelarose

Hey Pamelarose,

As far as I know, it doesnt matter if you have two cards or six, the BS is for your total. Like, if you have two 6's or if you have four 3's, you still have twelve. It makes no difference to me and I can't see why it would.
The only reason I can think of that might affect BS is if you are counting on a one or two deck game and the count changes as you take your cards. This is only for advanced play though, and it changes the BS it doesnt make BS invalid.
"Hunch" or "intuition" have nothing to do with counting! If you try to count and you go along with hunches and forget BS, you will lose.

I was lucky my first time in a Casino too. I came out $100 ahead playing imperfect BS at a $10 table.

I dont have CVBJ yet, but 84% on the strategy trainer here doesnt seem that high. I definitely wouldn't count with that level of BS. I think my scores were higher than that and I'm not happy with my BS yet.

Don't take this as a personal dig or whatever, I'm just being honest and giving an opinion based on my own knowledge

Pamelarose, Foxwoods has one $10 table Monday-Thursday nights in the non smoking section of the Rainmaker area.(it's usually the last table in the corner, up against the back wall. If you can't find it, ask them where it is).
If you are playing BS, ALWAYS double down when the BS chart calls for it, ALWAYS, ALWAYS. Trust the math on that BS chart. It's there for a reason. Sometimes you WILL lose twice as much, but in the long run you will win more than you lose on those plays, so double down. On the surrender, don't play hunches. Foxwoods uses 8 decks, and since you are not counting, ALWAYS surrender 15 vs 10, and 16 vs 9, 10, A. Again, if you're playing hunches, once in a while you'll get a good hand by hitting, but in the long run you will lose more $$$ by hitting those hands than if you surrender. Surrender, used properly, to is the player's advantage, not the house's advantage. Use it.

hehehe been there... DOING that. The smarter and more technically improved my game becomes, the more my BR seems to shrink.