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Wow. First of all, this article addressed the losing nature of reverse progression as related to BlackJack (almost). It was simplified to large degree. However, the author is corrects in two major points. First being that in and of itself, Martingale will fail at BlackJack over the long run. Second is that a vast majority of players will not make the optimum decisions each and every time to increase their odds given ANY particular strategy. If someone does not understand the math, have the discipline and bankroll to try any system to it’s strictest mathematical constraints, and have a willingness to lose, he has no business experimenting. Most people searching this sot of thing (As the author suggests) are looking for a simple, quick way to beat the house. And thy will fail.
Most striking among the replies are the liberal doses of perceptual bias. ANYONE who makes a claim based on observed results is suspect. The human mind is not capable of correctly interpreting complex statistics from it’s observations. This is a fact. Make no mistake, your 9 or 38 or 21342345 trips to the blackjack table to try a system, and your recollection of results is skewed. Humans remember the extreme examples better than the more average examples. This has been proven time and time again. It is why math, specifically linear progression, is necessary to bear out the validity of any given system. One then has to have a mature and reasonable viewpoint to assess any practical application.
As far as playing any BJ game with reduced odds, or where you cannot see the shuffle, don’t. 6/5 is for tourists who don’t know better or care if they lose. Casinos who cannot or will not show a shuffle simply deserve to lose your business. This is a moral, not a mathematical response. As far as a mathematical response, it is ridiculous. There is no possible stack of a deck that can ensure victory over an unknown number of players. The deck could be juiced, meaning that the ratio of small cards to 10’s and/or aces is illegally modified. But any casino trying this is risking their license. You might see that in the Caribbean or some such place, but not in Vegas.
Hello Ken, first of all I would like to thank you for such a wonderful course, my game has come on leaps and bounds since reading it, I have been putting in about 4 hours training in per day for the last month and I have made all the flash cards for strategy deviations and have been learning them at a steady pace, it has occurred to me however that some of the flash cards may not be applicable for the set of rules I play here in the U.K.
They are:
6 Deck
S17
European hole card rules
Double after split allowed
Double any two cards
Unlimited splitting
No surrender option
Hello Ken, first of all I would like to thank you for such a wonderful course, my game has come on leaps and bounds since reading it, I have been putting in about 4 hours training in per day for the last month and I have made all the flash cards for strategy deviations and have been learning them at a steady pace, it has occurred to me however that some of the flash cards may not be applicable for the set of rules I play here in the U.K.
They are:
Stand all 17s
European hole card rules
Double after split allowed
Double any two cards
Unlimited splitting
No surrender option
As you said, bad players are the only reason the casinos can offer the game, though I wonder how many bad players are at the ultra high stakes tables and how the house supports that. Bad players are actually amusing to watch so long as they behave well. The worst players are the ones who throw the cards down, curse or overact when they lose, and drunks. There seems to be a certain point up to which the casino will tolerate that behavior, probably depending on the pit boss, how much money they’re making off the offender or whether the cards are being bent.
Sounds like the games there are not really playable unless you already happen to be in Cancun on vacation perhaps. Definitely not worth a trip though, unless you’re going for those fine Mexican hotties you mentioned
Yes, in one deck, the effect of removal is quite substantial. Consider what card you would most like to draw if you hit this hand. A seven. And you already have two of the four available sevens in your hand. So stand with (7,7) vs Ten is correct. ONLY in single deck.
Well written, but you display either an extremely limited knowledge of how card counting works or are deliberately attempting to mislead less knowledgeable players. I noticed that you mention playing online several times and provided a direct link to one particular online casino.
It’s true that, with index play, you have more information available for playing the 2nd hand and beyond. However the benefit of the extra information is not even close to enough to overcome the house edge, and you certainly should not be doubling your bet on each subsequent hand. This is a recipe for disaster.
Hi Gronbog, thanks for the kind words and critique. My purpose wasn’t to teach counting, simply to relate a self-taught system fraught with errors and the inevitable results. All I did back then was count Ten cards and Aces so I had a feel for how many were left – like using 1/3 of the simplest possible strategy and I didn’t assign a value to the Tens or any other cards. I think it was a case of knowing just enough to get in trouble. It worked okay as long as the deck got smaller with every deal, not so much when reshuffled between hands. Sorry I wasn’t more clear.
3-5 seats playing single deck: Well, maybe you’ve given me that little prod I needed to do the maths to determine EV for hands 1 through 5 playing single deck. With those numbers, I’ll be able to establish a range of optimal bet increase for each hand, based on known cards.
I can see I wasn’t super clear on “I simply bet ‘more’, usually doubling the wager on each hand.” There is no potential disaster in betting $10 on #1, $20 on #2, $40 on #3, etc.
Agreed, those numbers aren’t in line with the odds, of course, each successive seat isn’t x2 as likely to win as the last, but as long as the highest bet is within bankroll limits there’s no harm – Not optimal to be sure, but it’s never brought me ruin. Anything you can do to chip away at the HE is a good thing!
This Trainer is a waste of time. Poor design and features. Never in my life have I seen so many 21’s on the dealer side and automatically once you start to win your completely wiped out. Ridiculous programmer stupid trainer for idiots. The advice give is mostly wrong.
Always follow basic strategy first when i give you a balance count for the ko count. 2-7 is a +1 and 10-k
Make the Ace neg-2
The cards are not balanced 6 cards versus 5. But the point value to both positive and neg cards as two groups are balanced.
Aces are -2 . But the aces are also more valuable of a card. That normally pays 2-1 for blackjack. So
As the 5 cards high 10,j,q,k,a represents 100% divide 100% by the six points . 4 points represent “66.6% . 10,j,q,k”
The aces 2 points represent
” 33.3% “A’s”
Never over risk your bank roll
On the little extra advantage. Cause
Remember. If multi-aces come through at the beginning. You will plunge fast into the negative count.
And takes more to get back to the positive. Why need to exacute basic strategy and follow like the bible. Deviation play can be a bit trickier than compared to hi-low. Count. Good luck….
Sorry you feel that way. I believe I provided the correct answer. Perhaps your annoyance would be more directed towards the casinos like MGM that offer the garbage games.
What type of device are you browsing on? What resolution are you using?
Using a toshiba laptop with 1366×768 resolution. Also have it zoomed to 140% to help me see the action.
I figured it out. These are called floaters and can be removed by adblock plus. Thanks anyway
Wow. First of all, this article addressed the losing nature of reverse progression as related to BlackJack (almost). It was simplified to large degree. However, the author is corrects in two major points. First being that in and of itself, Martingale will fail at BlackJack over the long run. Second is that a vast majority of players will not make the optimum decisions each and every time to increase their odds given ANY particular strategy. If someone does not understand the math, have the discipline and bankroll to try any system to it’s strictest mathematical constraints, and have a willingness to lose, he has no business experimenting. Most people searching this sot of thing (As the author suggests) are looking for a simple, quick way to beat the house. And thy will fail.
Most striking among the replies are the liberal doses of perceptual bias. ANYONE who makes a claim based on observed results is suspect. The human mind is not capable of correctly interpreting complex statistics from it’s observations. This is a fact. Make no mistake, your 9 or 38 or 21342345 trips to the blackjack table to try a system, and your recollection of results is skewed. Humans remember the extreme examples better than the more average examples. This has been proven time and time again. It is why math, specifically linear progression, is necessary to bear out the validity of any given system. One then has to have a mature and reasonable viewpoint to assess any practical application.
As far as playing any BJ game with reduced odds, or where you cannot see the shuffle, don’t. 6/5 is for tourists who don’t know better or care if they lose. Casinos who cannot or will not show a shuffle simply deserve to lose your business. This is a moral, not a mathematical response. As far as a mathematical response, it is ridiculous. There is no possible stack of a deck that can ensure victory over an unknown number of players. The deck could be juiced, meaning that the ratio of small cards to 10’s and/or aces is illegally modified. But any casino trying this is risking their license. You might see that in the Caribbean or some such place, but not in Vegas.
what does the red light on the black jack table mean?
Hello Ken, first of all I would like to thank you for such a wonderful course, my game has come on leaps and bounds since reading it, I have been putting in about 4 hours training in per day for the last month and I have made all the flash cards for strategy deviations and have been learning them at a steady pace, it has occurred to me however that some of the flash cards may not be applicable for the set of rules I play here in the U.K.
They are:
6 Deck
S17
European hole card rules
Double after split allowed
Double any two cards
Unlimited splitting
No surrender option
Hello Ken, first of all I would like to thank you for such a wonderful course, my game has come on leaps and bounds since reading it, I have been putting in about 4 hours training in per day for the last month and I have made all the flash cards for strategy deviations and have been learning them at a steady pace, it has occurred to me however that some of the flash cards may not be applicable for the set of rules I play here in the U.K.
They are:
Stand all 17s
European hole card rules
Double after split allowed
Double any two cards
Unlimited splitting
No surrender option
Cheers
Dave
As you said, bad players are the only reason the casinos can offer the game, though I wonder how many bad players are at the ultra high stakes tables and how the house supports that. Bad players are actually amusing to watch so long as they behave well. The worst players are the ones who throw the cards down, curse or overact when they lose, and drunks. There seems to be a certain point up to which the casino will tolerate that behavior, probably depending on the pit boss, how much money they’re making off the offender or whether the cards are being bent.
Sounds like the games there are not really playable unless you already happen to be in Cancun on vacation perhaps. Definitely not worth a trip though, unless you’re going for those fine Mexican hotties you mentioned
Clear All – Removes all previous bets on the table.
1 deck, S17, DAS, No Surrender, Peek
Chart is instructing playing to stand on 7,7 vs the dealers 10???? I don’t see how this can be correct? Is it?
Yes, in one deck, the effect of removal is quite substantial. Consider what card you would most like to draw if you hit this hand. A seven. And you already have two of the four available sevens in your hand. So stand with (7,7) vs Ten is correct. ONLY in single deck.
Well written, but you display either an extremely limited knowledge of how card counting works or are deliberately attempting to mislead less knowledgeable players. I noticed that you mention playing online several times and provided a direct link to one particular online casino.
It’s true that, with index play, you have more information available for playing the 2nd hand and beyond. However the benefit of the extra information is not even close to enough to overcome the house edge, and you certainly should not be doubling your bet on each subsequent hand. This is a recipe for disaster.
Hi Gronbog, thanks for the kind words and critique. My purpose wasn’t to teach counting, simply to relate a self-taught system fraught with errors and the inevitable results. All I did back then was count Ten cards and Aces so I had a feel for how many were left – like using 1/3 of the simplest possible strategy and I didn’t assign a value to the Tens or any other cards. I think it was a case of knowing just enough to get in trouble. It worked okay as long as the deck got smaller with every deal, not so much when reshuffled between hands. Sorry I wasn’t more clear.
3-5 seats playing single deck: Well, maybe you’ve given me that little prod I needed to do the maths to determine EV for hands 1 through 5 playing single deck. With those numbers, I’ll be able to establish a range of optimal bet increase for each hand, based on known cards.
I can see I wasn’t super clear on “I simply bet ‘more’, usually doubling the wager on each hand.” There is no potential disaster in betting $10 on #1, $20 on #2, $40 on #3, etc.
Agreed, those numbers aren’t in line with the odds, of course, each successive seat isn’t x2 as likely to win as the last, but as long as the highest bet is within bankroll limits there’s no harm – Not optimal to be sure, but it’s never brought me ruin. Anything you can do to chip away at the HE is a good thing!
Perfect work you have done, this web site is really cool
with superb info.
This Trainer is a waste of time. Poor design and features. Never in my life have I seen so many 21’s on the dealer side and automatically once you start to win your completely wiped out. Ridiculous programmer stupid trainer for idiots. The advice give is mostly wrong.
Always follow basic strategy first when i give you a balance count for the ko count. 2-7 is a +1 and 10-k
Make the Ace neg-2
The cards are not balanced 6 cards versus 5. But the point value to both positive and neg cards as two groups are balanced.
Aces are -2 . But the aces are also more valuable of a card. That normally pays 2-1 for blackjack. So
As the 5 cards high 10,j,q,k,a represents 100% divide 100% by the six points . 4 points represent “66.6% . 10,j,q,k”
The aces 2 points represent
” 33.3% “A’s”
Never over risk your bank roll
On the little extra advantage. Cause
Remember. If multi-aces come through at the beginning. You will plunge fast into the negative count.
And takes more to get back to the positive. Why need to exacute basic strategy and follow like the bible. Deviation play can be a bit trickier than compared to hi-low. Count. Good luck….
Sorry you feel that way. I believe I provided the correct answer. Perhaps your annoyance would be more directed towards the casinos like MGM that offer the garbage games.
The goal in Blackjack is to beat the Dealer, not to get as close to 21 as you can.
sure pal