This probably sounds really dumb because it's waaayyy off Basic strategy, but whst the advantage if you play almost like you're a dealer. By that I mean, don't worry about the dealer upcard and just hit to 17 on all hands that are not doubles. Split when necessary, and then follow the same strategy. That way, you and the dealer are playing the same, which you would think would make it 50, 50. And you can rely on BJ's and double downs to make the money. I just played for a few hours and the dealer rarely busted. With a 6 up, I don't feel like the dealer has that great a chance of busting that I should stay on 12. I know it was just a bad day, but in this case, you figure the dealer has 2 chances to pull another small card. And you have a better than average chance of not busting yourself. I'm sure this must have been tried in sims, I was just wondering how much worse your odds actually get.
Mike
Mike