First time with a casino.. advice?

[AdamSmith]

Hello,

I'm new to the casino world, but I have been learning a lot about it... My friend introduced me to an online casino www.888.com or (Casino-on-Net), and I've been playing on it for three days now.

He started me out by saying he has a fool-proof system for winning and that he's already won $1500 from it.. And yes, it is by using the "martingale system", except he thought he made it up .

I have to admit I've been using it on roulette with success.. profit about $400 or so, but I started playing black jack for fun betting just $1 at a time (not using martingale). I've also been doing fairly well with that, sometimes I would re-bet my winnings and win more back or I'd go back to where I started. So far I have won about $1000 total (about $600 from black jack).

I was feeling "too" lucky so I decided to slow down for a bit and I've been looking online for black jack strategies.

Then I found all the articles about the martingale system not being as great as it sounds, so I've stopped using that. ( I did experience some losses.. The max bet was $100, so I would do 1,2,4,8,16,32,64, then I could only do $100 instead of $128, so I would lose some.) Anyways, I definitely have moved on from using "systems".

Anyways, my main focus now is black jack and I want to become real good at it. It seems to me from what I've read the only way to get ahead is by using a counting system and knowing your chances of winning. I have downloaded the "Basic Strategy" sheet for the casino I've been using, but there is a problem...

The casino I'm using suffles after every hand, so the counting system cannot work for this one. Here are the other rules for this particular casino. I believe they are good except for the suffling after every round, but please let me know what you think...

4 decks & suffle after every round
BJ pays 3-2
21 with 3 or more cards pays 2-1
dealer plays to soft 17
you can double on and 1st 2 cards or after splitting
only one split per hand
only can split similiar 10's (J&J and not J&Q)
10&A after splitting 10's pays 3-2


Also, from what I understand a basic counting system...
Assign value of 1 to 2-6 cards
value 0 to 7-9 cards
and -1 to 10-A cards

So... If you have a positive value you should bet about 3X's your minimum bet? This doesnt apply to games where they suffle after each round either does it? And... Is the rules the casino im using good, and if not.. what are some casinos that don't suffle after every round? Thanks so much for the help!

Regards,
Adam

[Mikeaber]

First, you are correct in decuding that you cannot use any counting methodology when playing a constantly shuffled game. The condition of the deck is restored to "original" after every hand.

The rules do not seem too bad except for the split rules. I've never heard of only being able to split identical ranks when dealing with face cards. Also, splitting only one time is not in the player's favor either.

3:2 on Spit Aces when hit with a face is good...real good. I've seen that rule used in promotions only.

2:1 for 3-card 21 is excellent.

But for some reason, this gives me the feeling of a "circus game." I don't know if you can plug all those rules into the "edge calculator".

Someone else will have to enlighten you on the good online casinos to frequent. I stick with brick and mortar.

[SweetCheeks12354]

I'm pretty new to the online casinos, too. I do know that the martingale system does suck because of table limits, but just FYI you can always leave the table and move to another table with a higher limit to continue the lossing streak, but don't use it. The best way to win at online BJ is to play it straight with the BS. Usually at land based casinos this is not a good idea but since it is "shuffled" every hand then it makes it possible for you to win every other hand or pretty much make the wins/losses even, therefore the way you make money is by getting BJs, DDs, and all that other good stuff. I usually make a min. of 5 units an hour, which could be good or bad. If you're unit is 1 dollar, it's bad. If it is 10 dollars it could be good to make 50 bucks an hour for a part-time job.

I think Casino-on-net is pretty good. Look for online casinos based in the U.S., few as they may be most are good.

[Mikeaber]

Couple of things SweetCheeks.....I didn't realize that US law allowed a US based on-line casino. I thought that they all had to be offshore and thus, governed by agencies/governments beyond the influence of US legalities.

Secondly, you mentioned that land based casinos were all shuffled after every hand.

Usually at land based casinos this is not a good idea but since it is "shuffled" every hand then it makes it possible for you to win every other hand or pretty much make the wins/losses even, therefore the way you make money is by getting BJs, DDs, and all that other good stuff.

That's not reality. In fact, most land based casinos either shuffle by hand after the cut card is encountered (usually 55% to 75% of the deck(s)) or they use Shuffle Master shufflers which emulate hand shuffling and are used after the cut card is encountered. I've only seen a few CSMs in use.

Possibly, you were thinking of Single deck games. I have seen those where the deck is reshuffled after two hands are played out.

I do agree with you that conservative play with BS would involve flat betting and that you make your percentages on the Blackjacks, Double Downs and Splits. If you not playing to an advantage, then you can expect to lose somewhere between .14% and .64% of the total money you wager using that method. Many times you will walk away with winnings much more than that but sooner or later, you are going to take a beat and lose more than the projections. That's the variance coming into play.

[SweetCheeks12354]

Sorry,

That was bad wording, I meant the online casinos "shuffle" after every hand. And you're right, there aren't any online casinos in the U.S. that was my mistake. Hence when I said I was new to BJ. But that's what forums are for, correcting others mistakes.

[SweetCheeks12354]

I think the only real way to make money at online casinos is to go for the bonuses.

[AdamSmith]

Or to get lucky! lol. That's about the only way I'm winning any money with them right now. I've currently won $1200 total. I withdrew $1000 when I reached $1100, so I left myself with $100 to play with. I told myself that if I lost the $100 then I was finished with online blackjack, but so far I have turned that $100 into $300 pretty much using BS and wagering higher with luck. So far I am doing pretty good. I am preparing to withdraw $200 from my $300 and start again from $100. I find this way, I wont keep betting and lose all the money I've won. I know it will eventually come to an end, but I know I will have won a lot more than I lost. Just my two cents with online casinos.

Regards,
Adam