Splitting 5's and 10's against a dealer 10!!!

[Ronnie]

I was playing the Shuffle Master Royal Match table game (blackjack machine) last night for my usual minimum bet (five bucks per hand) and a guy next to me was playing for 50 and 100 bucks a hand.

And he was quite amazing to say the least!

On one hand he had a pair of 5s and the dealer showed a 10-value card. He split the 5s, nailed 6s on both of them, and then doubled each one grabbing 10-value cards. He drew crummy double down cards but the dealer busted.

A few hands later he got a 20 and the dealer showed a 10. He split the picture cards and got two stiffs. But once again the dealer busted.

I will give him credit for one thing: he was consistent. He always split 10s no matter what. He always took insurance. And if he "felt right" he even doubled down on 12s!

I didn't play very long but I saw quite a bit!

The major thing I took away from this was that if a person is going to invest so much money in playing this game then one would think that he would take a little time to learn how to play at least "somewhat" properly!

But maybe if money is no object to him then it doesn't matter.

It would not surprise me if he also plays craps and his favorite bet is "any seven," positively the worst bet on the board.

I did not say a word but I did hear what appeared to be grumbling from a few people. I don't know if they were grumbling because they were losing or because this guy was winning with so many "idiotic" plays!!!

I cannot envision any situation where one would split 5s or 10s against a 10 except if you were in a blackjack tournament and you needed to do something "dumb" in order to have any chance of beating all the other players.

 

[moo321]

If you're cheating with the dealer, or holecarding, you would split then tens. But you wouldn't split the 5's, you would double on them.

 

[ScottH]

If you're cheating with the dealer, or holecarding, you would split then tens. But you wouldn't split the 5's, you would double on them.

It could be a cover strategy by always doing these apparently dumb moves, but there is a better chance he is just a bad player...

 

[Ronnie]

It could be a cover strategy by always doing these apparently dumb moves, but there is a better chance he is just a bad player...

I would say cover strategy is unlikely since the dealer is on a TV screen!

And since the six-decks are reshuffled after each round, card counting of any type is probably insignficant.

 

[ScottH]

I would say cover strategy is unlikely since the dealer is on a TV screen!

And since the six-decks are reshuffled after each round, card counting of any type is probably insignficant.

Oh, I didn't realize it was on a machine... then the guy was just being dumb.

 

[moo321]

99.9% chance he's an idiot. .1% chance he's cheating with the dealer.

 

[Dyepaintball12]

I have seen people split 10's against 10's. Ive even seen people split 5's against 10's.

I've even seen people who play very poorly literally yell at other players who play poorly. Its great.

A couple days ago I saw a guy double on a soft 20 and draw a 10. Good times.

But hey, people can play how they want.

 

[Ronnie]

99.9% chance he's an idiot. .1% chance he's cheating with the dealer.

If it's that .1% chance then he must be cheating by knowing the programmers. Because the dealer is simply a pretty lady on a large video screen.

Of course maybe he would LIKE to cheat with her (the REAL lady that is) but I don't think that's what you have in mind here!

 

[EasyRhino]

Is this the machine where it's a videotaped "dealer", and they switch between a man and a woman, and the backgrounds also change randomly?

I haven't actually played any of these machines are the cards "shared" between all players? Do ploppies still get pissed about the flow getting messed up? Does digital blackjack have a flow?

 

[Ronnie]

Is this the machine where it's a videotaped "dealer", and they switch between a man and a woman, and the backgrounds also change randomly?

I haven't actually played any of these machines are the cards "shared" between all players? Do ploppies still get pissed about the flow getting messed up? Does digital blackjack have a flow?

YES it is the machine you described. A casino in Pennsylvania has eleven of them: some of them have videotapes of men and some of women. I don't recall seeing the backgrounds randomly changing.

Each player gets a separate hand and (as described above) it's a six-deck game with a shuffle after each round.

I'm still hoping that someone here might know someone who might know someone who might be a friend of someone who programs these machines so I can find out if they play legitimately or cheat.

 

[moo321]

Oh. I thought it was a game where they video taped a live dealer.

 

[shadroch]

YES it is the machine you described. A casino in Pennsylvania has eleven of them: some of them have videotapes of men and some of women. I don't recall seeing the backgrounds randomly changing.

Each player gets a separate hand and (as described above) it's a six-deck game with a shuffle after each round.

I'm still hoping that someone here might know someone who might know someone who might be a friend of someone who programs these machines so I can find out if they play legitimately or cheat.

If they are in a casino in Pennsylvania,you can be pretty sure they don't cheat. The slot parlors there are bringing in much too much money for them to play games.

 

[ihate17]

They play legitimately which means you can not win.

YES it is the machine you described. A casino in Pennsylvania has eleven of them: some of them have videotapes of men and some of women. I don't recall seeing the backgrounds randomly changing.

Each player gets a separate hand and (as described above) it's a six-deck game with a shuffle after each round.

I'm still hoping that someone here might know someone who might know someone who might be a friend of someone who programs these machines so I can find out if they play legitimately or cheat.

The edge is the edge if you play perfectly against these machines. There is no way to overcome this, so given time you will lose all of your money.
These things have been around for years and have been horrible investments for casinos that can have real games. In PA or NC, where real games are not available, they may work, but I have seen these in a couple of California Indian Casinos a few years ago and today they are gone from these places. Remember in one place that had perhaps 12 BJ tables, 11 regular and one of these. On a busy evening there would be people waiting at every table except there would be 0 players at the electronic table. Given a choice, no one would play these things.

ihate17

 

[Kasi]

The edge is the edge if you play perfectly against these machines. There is no way to overcome this, so given time you will lose all of your money.ihate17

This made me wonder if anyone can tell me what are the chances I'd be AT LEAST 1 unit up in any given session of a maximum X hands flat-betting using BS.

While I can figure out the chances of FINISHING at least x units ahead or behind after y hands assuming flat-betting, I have trouble with the AT LEAST 1 unit up at any given point DURING X hands.

In other words, if I have enough bankroll to flat-bet the next 1000 hands and I quit when I am 1 unit up and begin another session of at most 1000 hands, and do this 1000 times, in how many of those 1000 sessions will I have been at least 1 unit up?
In other words, in how many will I have lost the first unit and never recovered?

Also, does anyone know if Presque Isle has these machines?

 

[EasyRhino]

I was at Presque Isle recently, didn't see any, but I checked with a friend: no blackjack machines (other than perhaps the war-crime machines with the 3% house edge)