1,2,3

[kiwiana]

starting: early october
bankroll: 4g
hours per day: 8
casinos: 5
plan so far: wong to 10g br
location: UK
counting strat: hi-lo
casinos: 6deck, stand all 17, no surrender
living costs are covered with savings, this is an experiment that if it goes well it'll be permanent for the mid-term future.

advice i need is what i should do/learn once i reach 10g to maximise my time and efforts at the casinos - i.e. shuffle track? ace track? continue wonging to higher br?

 

[moo321]

starting: early october
bankroll: 4g
hours per day: 8
casinos: 5
plan so far: wong to 10g br
location: UK
counting strat: hi-lo
casinos: 6deck, stand all 17, no surrender
living costs are covered with savings, this is an experiment that if it goes well it'll be permanent for the mid-term future.

advice i need is what i should do/learn once i reach 10g to maximise my time and efforts at the casinos - i.e. shuffle track? ace track? continue wonging to higher br?

Keep wonging if you're in the UK. There might be some decent 4 deckers, but otherwise I'd just wong shoes till you make a pile of money. Then fly someplace with a better game.

 

[FLASH1296]

Learn a stronger count.

 

[sukh]

Why are we all on this forum.. Love or money??

Hello people
Im new to this forum and have been going through many many posts, interesting yes, informative again yes, the answers were all looking for ..NO.
Now Im on this forum as I do love the game of BJ but I feel along with myself you all love it too but only cos of the gains.. without that its pointless.. now all you senior members who have played the game for centuries need to know we cant all count cards and were not gonna stop playing BJ...

So my question is for the non card counter who will always play the beautiful game..WHAT IS THE BEST POSSIBLE BJ STRATEGY PERIOD??? out of the whole bad bunch of strategies which one gives you the best chance of winning???

Now before you start saying your usual answers, and declaring the glass half empty, give your fellow members words of encouragement and let them try with the best possible chance they can possibly have.....
So come on guys which is it????????

 

[FLASH1296]

On formulating a question -


The "Best Strategy" is to win.
The question that you are trying to express is:
What is the bets "Tactics" to employ?
The answer is that you need to provide considerable
information in order to receive a meaningful response.

In brief, the only responses that are of value will re: "Card Counting"

 

[ycming]

even playing basic strategy perfectly, you will still make a lost in the long run. But you might get lucky, so leanr basic strategy perfectly !

Ming

 

[tripsix]

Pick your doctor to pick your ailment?

You came to the Cardcounting forum to ask this question. If you were really open to any answer, I would suspect you would ask in the General Blackjack forum. Seems you already know the answer your looking for.

P.S. I personally have only been posting here a couple of months, so I'm not crusty.

P.P.S. Card counting can be very easy and still get you a small advantage. If you can learn Basic Strategy, then there are CC systems that will be as easy to learn and gain you a small advantage. That may be what your looking for, the weaker systems are more difficult to detect and you won't have to worry about much heat, cover plays or the like.

Oh yeah, the answer: Hi-Lo is the most accessible information wise ((Dead link: http://www.gamemaster.com)) , but least work is the KO. Another easily accessible possibility right now is the FELT count found in Norm Wattenberger's book at http://www.qfit.com/book

Hope this helps

 

[Nazgul]

living costs are covered with savings, this is an experiment that if it goes well it'll be permanent for the mid-term future.

Things will not go well. I don’t mean to sound rude but that is the reality of the situation. If this is your first time counting then you are going to make a lot of mistakes. Every novice player does. It is important to get experience playing in a casino but don’t expect too much from this experiment. There are just so many things that you still have to learn and so many mistakes that you have to make before you know how to play for real. You will play bad games, you will make counting and TC errors, you will overbet, you will not notice dealer errors, you will play too long, you will not be aware of the heat or you will be overly paranoid about the heat, you will use a bad bet spread or play too many negative counts, you will not be prepared for the bankroll swings that will occur. The list goes on. These are mistakes that probably everyone on this website has made and learned from. You will learn them too but they will cost you money if you learn them in a casino. I wish you the best of luck but you need to have realistic expectations before you begin. Think of this experiment as practice and don’t expect to make any money. Even if you play perfectly a 4g bankroll isn’t going to earn much money unless you take a huge risk.

advice i need is what i should do/learn once i reach 10g to maximise my time and efforts at the casinos - i.e. shuffle track? ace track? continue wonging to higher br?

It all depends on what opportunities are available to you. You won’t know that until you start playing and looking around. Just worry about counting for now. Once you reach the 10g mark you will have a much better idea of what to practice next. Studying and practicing card counting should be more than enough to keep you busy for the next few years.

 

[Automatic Monkey]

...So my question is for the non card counter who will always play the beautiful game..WHAT IS THE BEST POSSIBLE BJ STRATEGY PERIOD??? out of the whole bad bunch of strategies which one gives you the best chance of winning???...

Play Basic Strategy, no exceptions ever. (there is only one Basic Strategy for any set of rules in blackjack. There is a feature on this site that will print out a chart for you.)

Play at stores that offer the best comps.

Play slowly, as your comps are rated per hour and your cash losses are per hand.

Exploit error-prone dealers. Point out errors they make that are not in your favor, but when they make an error in your favor be kind and courteous and remain silent to avoid hurting their feelings. Is it not better to be unkind only 50% of the time than 100% of the time?

 

[daddybo]

Exploit error-prone dealers. Point out errors they make that are not in your favor, but when they make an error in your favor be kind and courteous and remain silent to avoid hurting their feelings. Is it not better to be unkind only 50% of the time than 100% of the time?

You're such a "nice guy" AM :laugh::laugh:

 

[UK-21]

Play at stores that offer the best comps.

There aren't any. Some chains offer some sort of rewards points programme, based on your buy-ins, but that's it. I suppose if you drink a lot of Coke (as opposed to snorting it) at 4 drinks an hour you're gaining the equivalent of around six quid an hour at pub prices. Possibly as much as you might win counting. Free non-alcoholic drinks is about the limit. If you build up enough points you qualify for a club sandwich.

Play slowly, as your comps are rated per hour and your cash losses are per hand.

Not in the UK they're not.

Sorry to sound tetchy. I think this expectation of gaining comps is where the UK game falls well behind those in the States, not in things such as not being able to insure against anything other than a dealer ace. Unless you are a serious high roller and will be playing in one of the very up market casinos in the West End of London, there's no way you're going to get free accommodation, free meals, free shows etc. It just ain't part of the programme. I read in Kevin Blackwood's book how he flew to Belgium with the aim of exploiting a particular game, and was shocked that he had to pay for his hotel room despite having a hefty bankroll. Yep, welcome to Europe.

Getting back to the original question, my advice, for what it's worth, would be to spend some of the team's four grand on one of the el cheapo chinese-made BJ tables that can be bought on eBay for around £200, dealer shoe, discard, casino grade cards, chips etc and not play in a casino for at least 6 months. Make one visit to the casino early on - purely to see how the staff there manage the table, deal, make payouts etc, and then a second a bit later on to see if you've got it right when practising. And then spend a bit more on some good books on the subject. Then study the numbers. When you've done that you'll understand why turning £4K into £10K is either a high risk endeavour or a tall order.

Just my two bob's worth.

Good luck with it.

 

[ycming]

There aren't any. Some chains offer some sort of rewards points programme, based on your buy-ins, but that's it. I suppose if you drink a lot of Coke (as opposed to snorting it) at 4 drinks an hour you're gaining the equivalent of around six quid an hour at pub prices. Possibly as much as you might win counting. Free non-alcoholic drinks is about the limit. If you build up enough points you qualify for a club sandwich.


Not in the UK they're not.

Sorry to sound tetchy. I think this expectation of gaining comps is where the UK game falls well behind those in the States, not in things such as not being able to insure against anything other than a dealer ace. Unless you are a serious high roller and will be playing in one of the very up market casinos in the West End of London, there's no way you're going to get free accommodation, free meals, free shows etc. It just ain't part of the programme. I read in Kevin Blackwood's book how he flew to Belgium with the aim of exploiting a particular game, and was shocked that he had to pay for his hotel room despite having a hefty bankroll. Yep, welcome to Europe.

Getting back to the original question, my advice, for what it's worth, would be to spend some of the team's four grand on one of the el cheapo chinese-made BJ tables that can be bought on eBay for around £200, dealer shoe, discard, casino grade cards, chips etc and not play in a casino for at least 6 months. Make one visit to the casino early on - purely to see how the staff there manage the table, deal, make payouts etc, and then a second a bit later on to see if you've got it right when practising. And then spend a bit more on some good books on the subject. Then study the numbers. When you've done that you'll understand why turning £4K into £10K is either a high risk endeavour or a tall order.

Just my two bob's worth.

Good luck with it.

In the uk, what is the highest table maximum you ever seen ?

And what sort of bankroll do you recommend to make a decnt amoount of return?

Thanks
Ming

 

[UK-21]

(1) At Gala, on the £5 table I think the max is £500, and on the £3 table where I've played I think it was £200. Don't know what it is on the £25 table as I don't play them. £500 at the only place I've played in London. The most I've ever seen anyone bet is £50 a hand, so I think if you were to play at the table max you'd stand out like a pair of bulldog's bollocks - which of course is not the aim of the game.

(2) Depends what you consider a decent return. If you're looking for £20 an hour then you're looking at a £10 unit and will need around £4-£6K to give an acceptable RoR (although that is of course subjective). If you're looking to make £50 an hour, you'll need to bankroll £25 units, and going to the top end to reduce RoR to the margins you'll need around £15-£20K, possibly more. If you have that sort of money you can get a better return elsewhere than the longer term 1.5%ish from counting cards at BJ. And in order to achieve these averages you'll need a sleeping bag to take into the casino with you as you'll need to play for hours every week in order to even out the variance . . .

Again, buy the books, do the sums, and understand why BJ, even for a proficient well capitalised card counter, ain't a get-rich-quick scheme. I did it all a year ago. You'll discover why in "21" Ben's £16K, 10% share of the winnings from his first trip to LV to play with the team was a bit far fetched.

Keep it as a hobby and you won't be left disappointed or skint.

 

[FLASH1296]

English Blackjack Rules were liberalized more than a year ago; although it would be more
accurate to say that the British Casinos gained the right to offer better rules to their patrons.

Have any casinos changed their blackjack rules ?

Download the official"Rules of casino games in Great Britain" (July 2008) from my website:

(Dead link: http://www.mediafire.com/?xyknqxtazmz)

 

[UK-21]

You are correct. Although I've only been playing since around May 08, everwhere I have played offers the newer options - being able to double on soft hands and also being able to split 4s, 5s and 10s. Although these new options are mostly more advantageous for the player than the house, I think operators caught on early that if they stayed with the old restrictions punters would look elsewhere for a better game.

We're slowly catching up with the States. Very recently the tipping of the table staff has been allowed, although us Brits tend to be a bit conservative when it comes to tipping for good service. I think there will be a line drawn though at altering BJ payouts to 6:5. Having said that, I can see a time when something called "single deck 21" (or similar) puts in an appearance in UK casinos - and you can hear the table staff now; "it's like Blackjack but because we only use a single deck the odds are better for the player". Good for me though when I visit, as I won't have to struggle quite as hard to find a seat at a BJ table. And you never know, if they deal deep and don't shuffle up prematurely this could still be a beatable game. We'll see.