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.
I’ve played an online blackjack that when dealt two Aces automatically changed one of them to count eleven. I didnt catch it at first but sure enough when I drew another card I busted. This particular game would not count both my Aces as one. Is this ever done at a casino?
Yikes! That’s a terrible rule, and one I have never personally seen. I wouldn’t trust any online casino that does such a poor job of implementing blackjack, as I suspect it was just a programmer that didn’t understand even the basics of the game. Who knows what else they are doing wrong! To answer your question, no, this is never done at any casino I have visited.
also, I’ve tried to write a casino a couple times to find out their particular blackjack rules. No response. Should I be able to ask a casino to provide a copy of their rules?
I assume you are talking about online casinos. I would recommend avoiding any place that doesn’t have the rules clearly available on their site. Certainly, if they don’t respond to requests for the rules, that’s all I would need to know about their level of support. No way!
For a card counter, there is a tiny advantage to be gained by sitting at “third base”, since you get to see a few more cards before you must play out your hand. But the effect is minimal expect in single deck. I recommend most inexperienced counters not sit at third base, because other players mistakenly think your play makes a difference in their results. Until you develop a pretty thick skin, just avoid that issue by sitting elsewhere at the table.
Sam Vaughn is my father. I wish over the years that we could have been closer and he could have taught me some of his “tricks of the trade”. I miss him dearly!! Love you DOD!!
Headed to Vegas next week. Staying at the Monte Carlo. Where can I find a list of the best casinos to play at? 3:2 BJ Payout, Re-Split Aces, DS S17, Deep Deck Penetration, etc?
It’s been a while now since I have been to Vegas, but TI consistently gets the best reviews for low limit blackjack games with decent rules. Anywhere on the strip, it’s getting hard to find 3:2 BJ at low limits. Many places just don’t offer it at all until you get to $25+ limits. You also will find most games are now H17. Even downtown is no longer immune. Depending on how serious you are, it may be worth buying a subscription or single issue of Current Blackjack News at bj21.com. They show all the current conditions, updated monthly.
Thank you for the reply, I typically play $25/$50 tables to get the better parameters and no Mid-Shoe Entry. Hopefully with those minimum bets I can get a good game out there. I found this website while searching online, any idea if it is pretty accurate or up to date? http://wizardofvegas.com/guides/blackjack-survey//
I would imagine that the list is mostly accurate. These conditions change over time, but this is a fairly recent effort it appears. It certainly should give you an idea where to start looking once you are in Vegas.
I was put on a data base for advantage players recently I believe it is called Oregon state surveillance or something along that line. It is a national data base. Does anyone know if you can do anything about that? Any thoughts out there? Thanks
Probably not much to be done. These databases are pretty much one-way. In my experience, once you’re listed, you’re listed. The good news is that virtually every pro I know has made a lot more money in the years after they were in Griffin than before. It’s not as fatal as it sounds.
You really should know it’s better to use 2-7 against 9 10 and A instead of 2-6 against 10 and A. Hi-lo may be the original and of historical significance, but it’s better to use 7’s as low cards and 9’s as high cards with only 8 as the one not counting for anything. It’s just as easy a method to do in practice, and it is better for everything except the insurance correlation (the truecount threshold for taking insurance is 4.000 doing it that way instead of 3.333 with hi-low, which is 20% higher, but of course the standard deviation of the count will be sqrt(1.2) times as high, 10% higher, with 1.2 times as many cards having point values).
If you find a place with a super promotion, so that you actually have a slight advantage even flatbetting, you could practice with another vector when the pressure is off and you can stop trying for the rest of the shoe, but the casinos will be most looking for hi-lo first and foremost, and if you are doing something that is not quite the same, yet works better, that means they are less likely to detect you, because you may be betting low when they’re expecting you to be betting high and vice versa, AND you’re more likely to leave the casino a winner instead of a loser.
As such, it is a bad plan to burn this into memory and indoctrinate yourself with the habit of seeing a 7 and an 8 and saying that’s 0 points. No, it’s 1 point. Or seeing a 4 and a 9 and saying that’s 1 point. No, it’s 0. Break that habit before you make it in the first place, don’t train yourself to follow an inferior method as if it was 2nd nature.
There’s nothing wrong with that bet ramp if you’re getting away with it. 20:1 will definitely win the money! I like big spreads. Especially if you have the flexibility to travel a bit. And some out-of-the-way casinos are just clueless.
Most published “win rate per hour” numbers assume you will play through all those negative counts. When they do not, the author will clearly mention the criteria for leaving the table. That’s an excellent plan by the way, because your results will be much better if you leave in bad counts. 40 hours is tough to maintain anywhere, because if you are playing a winning game you must spread out that much play over multiple casinos or you won’t last long at all before being backed off.
If you are going to just play basic strategy, you can find $5/$10 tables in lots of places with continuous shuffle machines. If you plan to count, you will need to look a lot harder to find decent regular shuffled games at that level. The first thing to check is make sure that blackjack pays 3:2, not 6:5. Check TI for some decent low-limit blackjack tables, or look downtown. The rules are generally going to be 6 deck or 8 deck, dealer hits soft 17, no surrender.
Ken is this bet ramp ok? +1 $10 +2 $50 +3 2X$50=$100 +4 2X$75=$150 +5 or higher im maxing at 2X$100. Played at this particular casino for 2-3 months; been doing well with no pit critter sweat.
I’ve played an online blackjack that when dealt two Aces automatically changed one of them to count eleven. I didnt catch it at first but sure enough when I drew another card I busted. This particular game would not count both my Aces as one. Is this ever done at a casino?
Yikes! That’s a terrible rule, and one I have never personally seen. I wouldn’t trust any online casino that does such a poor job of implementing blackjack, as I suspect it was just a programmer that didn’t understand even the basics of the game. Who knows what else they are doing wrong! To answer your question, no, this is never done at any casino I have visited.
also, I’ve tried to write a casino a couple times to find out their particular blackjack rules. No response. Should I be able to ask a casino to provide a copy of their rules?
I assume you are talking about online casinos. I would recommend avoiding any place that doesn’t have the rules clearly available on their site. Certainly, if they don’t respond to requests for the rules, that’s all I would need to know about their level of support. No way!
Where should you sit at the table? or does it matter?
For a card counter, there is a tiny advantage to be gained by sitting at “third base”, since you get to see a few more cards before you must play out your hand. But the effect is minimal expect in single deck. I recommend most inexperienced counters not sit at third base, because other players mistakenly think your play makes a difference in their results. Until you develop a pretty thick skin, just avoid that issue by sitting elsewhere at the table.
Sam Vaughn is my father. I wish over the years that we could have been closer and he could have taught me some of his “tricks of the trade”. I miss him dearly!! Love you DOD!!
Thanks for posting a note. Sam is missed by many.
Headed to Vegas next week. Staying at the Monte Carlo. Where can I find a list of the best casinos to play at? 3:2 BJ Payout, Re-Split Aces, DS S17, Deep Deck Penetration, etc?
It’s been a while now since I have been to Vegas, but TI consistently gets the best reviews for low limit blackjack games with decent rules. Anywhere on the strip, it’s getting hard to find 3:2 BJ at low limits. Many places just don’t offer it at all until you get to $25+ limits. You also will find most games are now H17. Even downtown is no longer immune. Depending on how serious you are, it may be worth buying a subscription or single issue of Current Blackjack News at bj21.com. They show all the current conditions, updated monthly.
Thank you for the reply, I typically play $25/$50 tables to get the better parameters and no Mid-Shoe Entry. Hopefully with those minimum bets I can get a good game out there. I found this website while searching online, any idea if it is pretty accurate or up to date? http://wizardofvegas.com/guides/blackjack-survey//
I would imagine that the list is mostly accurate. These conditions change over time, but this is a fairly recent effort it appears. It certainly should give you an idea where to start looking once you are in Vegas.
I was put on a data base for advantage players recently I believe it is called Oregon state surveillance or something along that line. It is a national data base. Does anyone know if you can do anything about that? Any thoughts out there? Thanks
Probably not much to be done. These databases are pretty much one-way. In my experience, once you’re listed, you’re listed. The good news is that virtually every pro I know has made a lot more money in the years after they were in Griffin than before. It’s not as fatal as it sounds.
Sorry to contradict your dream of winning a house . In Philippines ,they don’t just use 6 decks but all use CSM !!
You really should know it’s better to use 2-7 against 9 10 and A instead of 2-6 against 10 and A. Hi-lo may be the original and of historical significance, but it’s better to use 7’s as low cards and 9’s as high cards with only 8 as the one not counting for anything. It’s just as easy a method to do in practice, and it is better for everything except the insurance correlation (the truecount threshold for taking insurance is 4.000 doing it that way instead of 3.333 with hi-low, which is 20% higher, but of course the standard deviation of the count will be sqrt(1.2) times as high, 10% higher, with 1.2 times as many cards having point values).
If you find a place with a super promotion, so that you actually have a slight advantage even flatbetting, you could practice with another vector when the pressure is off and you can stop trying for the rest of the shoe, but the casinos will be most looking for hi-lo first and foremost, and if you are doing something that is not quite the same, yet works better, that means they are less likely to detect you, because you may be betting low when they’re expecting you to be betting high and vice versa, AND you’re more likely to leave the casino a winner instead of a loser.
As such, it is a bad plan to burn this into memory and indoctrinate yourself with the habit of seeing a 7 and an 8 and saying that’s 0 points. No, it’s 1 point. Or seeing a 4 and a 9 and saying that’s 1 point. No, it’s 0. Break that habit before you make it in the first place, don’t train yourself to follow an inferior method as if it was 2nd nature.
There’s nothing wrong with that bet ramp if you’re getting away with it. 20:1 will definitely win the money! I like big spreads. Especially if you have the flexibility to travel a bit. And some out-of-the-way casinos are just clueless.
Most published “win rate per hour” numbers assume you will play through all those negative counts. When they do not, the author will clearly mention the criteria for leaving the table. That’s an excellent plan by the way, because your results will be much better if you leave in bad counts. 40 hours is tough to maintain anywhere, because if you are playing a winning game you must spread out that much play over multiple casinos or you won’t last long at all before being backed off.
If you are going to just play basic strategy, you can find $5/$10 tables in lots of places with continuous shuffle machines. If you plan to count, you will need to look a lot harder to find decent regular shuffled games at that level. The first thing to check is make sure that blackjack pays 3:2, not 6:5. Check TI for some decent low-limit blackjack tables, or look downtown. The rules are generally going to be 6 deck or 8 deck, dealer hits soft 17, no surrender.
Ken is this bet ramp ok? +1 $10 +2 $50 +3 2X$50=$100 +4 2X$75=$150 +5 or higher im maxing at 2X$100. Played at this particular casino for 2-3 months; been doing well with no pit critter sweat.