Here are all the comments posted on the site, with the most recent discussions listed first.
To participate in any of these discussions, you can reply on the article page.
Hi i have just started playing blackjack and i am doing fair your basic strategy game is a wonder. my question is at the casino all the games have a side bet are these side bets worth playing
I have tried the single deck card count at Harrah’s casino in South Carolin, and thanks to you, I won $500 in 3 hours!
I just got out of college, and I am going to Harrahs casino, in June! The way I count cards is: there are 16 cards that equal 10, in a normal deck of cards! So, that gives you around 32 percent chance, I think, of the card that is being dealt is a ten!
Anyway, that is my way of counting cards! It is not as fancy as y’all’s, however, it work for me!
Just FYI. Three or four of the three-card combinations in the Basic Strategy Decision Exercise above are not possible scenarios. That is, sometimes the first two cards (or any two of the three shown) would dictate a double, preventing three cards from ever being dealt to your hand.
Correction: When you double, of course you will end up with three cards. What I meant to say was that when you have two cards and double down, you will never be presented with another decision question. Your third card will be your final card, and there is no decision to make. No “decision exercise.”
Thank you for providing such a nice training game, it is very informative and a valuable training tool.
I do find the screen difficult to see as the contrast seems to be on the weak side. Other than that one minor issue your game is excellent.
You also didn’t factor in the 3/2 payoff on a blackjack that can be the streak ender. If you bet, say $640 after your 6th loss in a row and hit a blackjack, you make $330, not $10. Also, since double-downs and most splits are in your favor, while you certainly need a much bigger bankroll for the possibility that you’ll get deal an 11 when the dealer has a 6, those hands also put the odds in your favor when you have the most money on the table.
You have a 1/20 prob. of being dealt a blackjack w only a 1/25 chance (assuming 8-deck shoe) of having your blackjack pushed. Suppose you are playing a 13 loss Martingale, then that means you will have 200 strings that end with you getting a blackjack and making $10 plus your bet on the string. Simply counting $10 profit on every string ending in a loss and multiplying by the number of times you can expect to win and then subtracting by the total lost win you do run through the string is incorrect. Perhaps, you can figure the math using martingale relative to expected losses while figuring in the mathematics of a 3/2 payoff on the probability of each length string ended by a blackjack?
You’re right. I ignored blackjacks in this simplified comparison, just like I ignored doubles and splits. The math gets quite a bit messier, although I suppose it would fairly easy to account for only the blackjacks. The conclusion is however unavoidable. In blackjack, your expected loss is the total of your bets times the house edge, unless you vary your bets based on the deck composition instead of some scheme based on a string of wins or losses. No progression can change that fact. Feel free to work it out in laborious detail if that interests you. It doesn’t interest me.
Reading all of this right now and I must ask 2 questions:
1. This one seems obvious for me but either way: Gambling with these odds and this little money seems to be a waste of time compared to just working. But for me if I go to a Casino I want to play with the best odds at least and have some influence over the game so yeah.
So the question: Is it even worth it in your opinion to invest months of time learning and playing BlackJack for that amount of money? (If it really just is the money you want)
2. The more important question for me: I haven’t found a table with <$10 yet and am not playing with more than $100
I know that's not a lot but that's what I can (easily) spare for gambling.
At the live dealer machine the minimum would be $5 but no way to count right? also the game can be predetermined beforehand. So machine isn't worth it right?
So how would you advice me to handle my moneymanagement as playing with a minimum of $10 would bring me to bets I couldn't even do if it were 6 or higher TC.
Also: The dealers shuffle the decks again after using 1/2-1 deck.
Taking your advice I'm not fit to play the game at all under these conditions if I understand everything correctly.
But honestly I cannot imagine that everybody reading this has a payroll high enough to be able to easily spend $3000 (which you should be willing to if you start this game seriously if I understand this article correctly (or at least something in the area of $1000)).
Also I cannot imagine that most Casinos wouldn't reshuffle after the approximate amount of cards for 1 deck is played.
(At least I haven't seen it happen).
Sidequestion: How do I know how many decks are played, asking the dealer would be suspicious right?
I'd be happy for any advice on this!
As far as I'm concerned I'll stick to play basic strategy and try to see it as entertainment since I do not see me winning (or winning enough) in the long run. But for the sake of optimising my play I'd still like to hear your advice 🙂
Hello.
A local casino nearby has some odd rules in this regarding: 6D, S17, double any, re-split except As, double after split, no peak.
Surrender is allowed except against As since there is no peak by the dealer. I wonder how should I set the Basic Strategy Engine?. With early surrender or late?.
I was told by a casino dealer in Vegas that those ShuffleMaster machines shuffle the cards Numericly ! Hmm, Food for thought. Any reaction are appreciated. Thanks
Finally a rational voice…All true…6 5 is a great game to practice counting with low limit bets…One important thing not mentioned…When the count goes hot, which casinos order dealers to shuffle up the second run of cards at a full table…THAT can change everything!!!
Hi i have just started playing blackjack and i am doing fair your basic strategy game is a wonder. my question is at the casino all the games have a side bet are these side bets worth playing
I have tried the single deck card count at Harrah’s casino in South Carolin, and thanks to you, I won $500 in 3 hours!
I just got out of college, and I am going to Harrahs casino, in June! The way I count cards is: there are 16 cards that equal 10, in a normal deck of cards! So, that gives you around 32 percent chance, I think, of the card that is being dealt is a ten!
Anyway, that is my way of counting cards! It is not as fancy as y’all’s, however, it work for me!
Just FYI. Three or four of the three-card combinations in the Basic Strategy Decision Exercise above are not possible scenarios. That is, sometimes the first two cards (or any two of the three shown) would dictate a double, preventing three cards from ever being dealt to your hand.
Correction: When you double, of course you will end up with three cards. What I meant to say was that when you have two cards and double down, you will never be presented with another decision question. Your third card will be your final card, and there is no decision to make. No “decision exercise.”
You may want to check the A5 line in the chart for accuracy vs 4 and vs 7. i love all of the material you have made available.
Oops, that was definitely a typo. Thanks for catching it! I’ve just fixed it.
try playing
not reading
Free bet is one of the worst games around.
Thank you for providing such a nice training game, it is very informative and a valuable training tool.
I do find the screen difficult to see as the contrast seems to be on the weak side. Other than that one minor issue your game is excellent.
You also didn’t factor in the 3/2 payoff on a blackjack that can be the streak ender. If you bet, say $640 after your 6th loss in a row and hit a blackjack, you make $330, not $10. Also, since double-downs and most splits are in your favor, while you certainly need a much bigger bankroll for the possibility that you’ll get deal an 11 when the dealer has a 6, those hands also put the odds in your favor when you have the most money on the table.
You have a 1/20 prob. of being dealt a blackjack w only a 1/25 chance (assuming 8-deck shoe) of having your blackjack pushed. Suppose you are playing a 13 loss Martingale, then that means you will have 200 strings that end with you getting a blackjack and making $10 plus your bet on the string. Simply counting $10 profit on every string ending in a loss and multiplying by the number of times you can expect to win and then subtracting by the total lost win you do run through the string is incorrect. Perhaps, you can figure the math using martingale relative to expected losses while figuring in the mathematics of a 3/2 payoff on the probability of each length string ended by a blackjack?
You’re right. I ignored blackjacks in this simplified comparison, just like I ignored doubles and splits. The math gets quite a bit messier, although I suppose it would fairly easy to account for only the blackjacks. The conclusion is however unavoidable. In blackjack, your expected loss is the total of your bets times the house edge, unless you vary your bets based on the deck composition instead of some scheme based on a string of wins or losses. No progression can change that fact. Feel free to work it out in laborious detail if that interests you. It doesn’t interest me.
Reading all of this right now and I must ask 2 questions:
1. This one seems obvious for me but either way: Gambling with these odds and this little money seems to be a waste of time compared to just working. But for me if I go to a Casino I want to play with the best odds at least and have some influence over the game so yeah.
So the question: Is it even worth it in your opinion to invest months of time learning and playing BlackJack for that amount of money? (If it really just is the money you want)
2. The more important question for me: I haven’t found a table with <$10 yet and am not playing with more than $100
I know that's not a lot but that's what I can (easily) spare for gambling.
At the live dealer machine the minimum would be $5 but no way to count right? also the game can be predetermined beforehand. So machine isn't worth it right?
So how would you advice me to handle my moneymanagement as playing with a minimum of $10 would bring me to bets I couldn't even do if it were 6 or higher TC.
Also: The dealers shuffle the decks again after using 1/2-1 deck.
Taking your advice I'm not fit to play the game at all under these conditions if I understand everything correctly.
But honestly I cannot imagine that everybody reading this has a payroll high enough to be able to easily spend $3000 (which you should be willing to if you start this game seriously if I understand this article correctly (or at least something in the area of $1000)).
Also I cannot imagine that most Casinos wouldn't reshuffle after the approximate amount of cards for 1 deck is played.
(At least I haven't seen it happen).
Sidequestion: How do I know how many decks are played, asking the dealer would be suspicious right?
I'd be happy for any advice on this!
As far as I'm concerned I'll stick to play basic strategy and try to see it as entertainment since I do not see me winning (or winning enough) in the long run. But for the sake of optimising my play I'd still like to hear your advice 🙂
Thanks!
Hello.
A local casino nearby has some odd rules in this regarding: 6D, S17, double any, re-split except As, double after split, no peak.
Surrender is allowed except against As since there is no peak by the dealer. I wonder how should I set the Basic Strategy Engine?. With early surrender or late?.
Thanks for ur answer… regards…
40? You’re definitely not ready
If I play perfect basic strategy, can I win more often if I use a positive progression at the same time?
I was told by a casino dealer in Vegas that those ShuffleMaster machines shuffle the cards Numericly ! Hmm, Food for thought. Any reaction are appreciated. Thanks
Finally a rational voice…All true…6 5 is a great game to practice counting with low limit bets…One important thing not mentioned…When the count goes hot, which casinos order dealers to shuffle up the second run of cards at a full table…THAT can change everything!!!
You don’t know anything about blackjack
Thank you very much for the explanation. I wasn’t aware of that, and silently cursed players for doing this.