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Uh. Wow. I’m not so sure how accurate the claims on this page could be. This isn’t anything like my results. I have kept a log. 80 days. On 80 different days in my life I have gone to casinos. I have gained $US 1458.74 after tips I have left dealers, waitresses, money I’ve spent in restaurants because the mealcomps I got for gambling didn’t QUITE cover the meal, though I also received much free stuff, like 140 dollars worth of prepaid credit cards/gas cards/gift cards (about 1000 dollars worth of mealcomps) and a bunch of other free stuff like boxes of chocolates and thermos bottles with the casino’s name on it and whatnot. But we’re still talking 80 trips, probably 3 hours each on average, so that’s 240 dollars for 1458.74 and 1600 miles worth of driving or so so what is that, 500 dollars worth of gas probably because my car sucks. That’s not even minimum wage. I would have done better to get a job as a blackjack dealer. If they’d hired me. They wouldn’t have done that. And I’m actually GOOD at it. In fact, as far as individual lone wolf people go and not teams, I’m probably the best there’s ever been. I’ve worked out the exact function of bet amount as a function of truecount to minimize risk of ruin, even tackling the murky issue of how much you should resplit and double after split under different conditions to minimize risk of ruin (so for instance, it’s bad to split a bunch of times and double on all of them on a big bet, and if you’re just playing to maximize the expected value of your return you should do it fearlessly, but if you’re obeying the kelly criterion, you’re trying to maximize the LOG of your bankroll at the end of the bet – though it’s not QUITE the same as that, the minimum bet throws a monkeywrench in that, so I go for linear gains instead of exponential and go for an exponentially decreasing risk of ruin, but it’s still quite high even starting from 10000 dollars, it’s like 50%). And yet it’s not lucrative for me. It’s crap. Absolute crap. And for making a tiny amount of money, I’ve been banned from 3 casinos in the process, or well, one of them I can still play baccarat technically, and I COULD, I also worked out how to count the panda8 and dragon7 sidebets but I’m forced to take the main bets and it’s just not worthwhile. I really don’t understand how you can call this the world’s greatest job. Working at walmart would be better.
Not so sure that’s so devastating as you make it out to be. A loss of 1.4% to the house could be worth it to play a 1-deck game. That’s only the same difference in player/house edge as 2.8 in the truecount. And that can happen prettttty easily in a 1-deck game, if you’re halfway through the deck, that’s a count of only 1.4! The standard deviation of the truecount halfway through a n-deck shoe is sqrt(40/n), which means if n is 1, that’s straight-up the square root of 40 or 6.5. Which means a full 16% of the time, the truecount will be over 6.5 halfway through a single deck. I’ve seen the truecount get up to 15 in a 6-deck game near the cutcard and I’ve seen it go to 12 in a 2-deck game, both of which with the cutcards 1 deck before the end. It depends on where that cutcard is. Is it with 26 cards left? 22? 30? That 16% of the time when it’s over 6.5, that’s when you’d be betting big, 6:5 blackjack or 3:2. The 1.4% house edge or 2.8 in the truecount is only 0.4 standard deviation of the truecount with 26 cards left and it’s no obstacle at all if the count is 10 and the player gets a 5% advantage from it. Though I guess it wouldn’t quite be the same 0.5% per truecount since it’s the increased probability of blackjack that accounts for much of the advantage you get from the count being high, so it’s probably more like 0.4% then. The question is, how serious are they about catching people trying to count their 1 deck game with the 6:5 blackjack, and what is the min and max bet at the table? If it’s a 50 dollar min and 300 max or if there’s serious heat then I’d say screw it. But if that’s what they do in atlantic city where they’re not allowed to prohibit card counting players, I could very well go there and make them very very sorry they offered a 1-deck game myself, with or without a 6:5 blackjack payoff. Hell I’d go there and count cards out loud just to mess with them, that would be funny, 6:5 blackjack payout on a 1-deck game is hardly an obstacle in a 1-deck game it seems to me!
Wong. I’ve heard that name. Well Mr. Wong, if you read this, let me tell you something, that if I see someone “wonging in” the middle of my shoe, stealing my high cards when the deck is rich, or wonging out, leaving me to take the low cards when the deck turns bad, I will be very incensed, and if you do it repeatedly, I will consider reporting what you are doing to the pit boss even though it would probably mean I’d be banned from the casino too unless I’m very cautious about how I do it. Since that practice is actually stealing from the other players. That’s what it is. Remember that, Mr. Wong. If you mid-shoe enter, when the count goes high, or when you leave in the middle of the shoe when it goes super negative, you are actually stealing from the other players, not merely improving your performance against the house. If I’m the only one at the table and the count swings high and there are enough cards left in the shoe for 15 hands with only me at the table, it will only be enough cards for 10 more hands with one other person instead, since if it’s me, someone else and the dealer, that uses 1.5 times as many cards per hand as just me and the dealer (a little worse than that actually, since the dealer will never split hands, so on average, the player uses more cards than the dealer, so it’s maybe a ratio of 3.2 to 2.1, maybe it’ll be 9 instead of 15 hands remaining). I’m happy to play at the same table as someone else who’s counting, hell, if I figure it out, and I lose count, I might just watch you and bet the same thing you bet, and you’re welcome to do the same for me. But if you leave halfway through a sour shoe or step in when I’ve suffered through the first half, absorbing low cards all the way in order to MAKE it hot in the first place and yet to be denied my hard-earned prize by someone who swoops in like that, you might as well be stealing chips from my stack and I won’t stand for it. I expect you to take your punishment right along with me if you want to count cards with me at the table, suffer through it yourself when the count is bad and don’t just exploit me as a tool to use up the cards you don’t want. You’ll also be less likely to be banned by the casino too. Even when I’m playing alone, I’ll sit there and take my punishment, I’ve seen the truecount get down to -14! And I’ll do CRAAZZZY things when it does, I’ve hit on 14 against a dealer’s 6 before, I’ve hit on hard 17 before, and you can be sure I bet the minimum, but I still sit there and take my punishment.
I have a question. What is better: bet $100 in one place or $50 in two places at the same table, considering a positive count?
I believe that at the same table there is a high correlation among the hands. On the other hand, the risk of playing two places at the same hand is fewer.
Betting two spots of $50 is better than one spot of $100. The expected win is the same, but the risk will be quite a bit lower despite high correlation between the hands. In fact, you have roughly the same risk betting two spots of $75 each as one spot of $100. And in that case, the total $150 bet over two spots will of course have a higher expected win in positive counts than the $100 single bet.
Do this Hi-Lo indexes apply with the European blackjack rules?? (no peek, dealer stands at soft 17, double any 2 cards, double after splits, no surrender, 4/6/8 decks)
Yes, the index numbers will be fine for a European no-peek game, with one adjustment: Ignore any index that has you doubling or splitting against a dealer ten or Ace.
Read a book called ” Against the Gods”. It is a well documented book on the history of risk including casino games. One of the points that has stuck with me is………the longer you play blackjack the higher the percentage of losing comes your way. A good read.
Time is a factor in the equation. It helped me to understand why when you look on the faces of people at a blackjack table it is almost always the same.
BJ player. Casino’s put out basic strategy cards because they know it will attract people to play. $1.50 for the card, $20, $40 sit at the table. Just because people have them doesn’t mean they will use them correctly. If they have a hunch or gut feeling or have seen lots of low or high cards come out, they will go with their gut and ignore the card. You just have to remember 2 things. 1. Don’t get mad. They’re only there for a bit of fun. 2 PLAY YOUR GAME. Their decision doesn’t effect your play. GL. a5teve.
This is silly. the same stupid moves those players make can easily benefit you. You just pay more attention to when these players hurt you then when they help you.
I played in North Cyprus the last fortnight and the pros considered the Rocks to the best place to play. It is a fair game with a notch in the shoe to give a decent penetration. 75% even. There are 2 hand shuffle tables at $10 minimum and $25 minimum. These go up during the weekends to a $25 minimum. If you play here you will be eligible to eat at the restaurant which has a very very decent buffet. The downside is the smoking but in North Cyprus this is the norm. Its worse in the Rocks because of its low ceilings. There are a lot of junkets that come here and the casino are playing to the tune. Counters are easily identified. The table maximum on the $10 table is $200 but its easily over come with a horizontal spread.
A minimal bankroll puts you in a tough spot. You cannot play a positive game without spreading at least 1 to 6 in a multi-deck game, but a top bet of $60 would mean you would usually lose whatever money you bring to the table because of short-term swings. If you are playing for fun, then budget whatever you can afford and spread minimally as you describe from $10 to $20. That is not much better than flat-betting, and perhaps flat-betting would be a better option. Either way your expectation is to lose a small percentage of your overall action. Be sure your basic strategy is solid. That will help.
When playing 10 a hand with no bankroll just paycheck to paycheck what should my spread be with each true count? If the true count is 3 should i bet 20.00 or less? Thanx for your time. Dont really understand the spread i should use
It sounds to me like you’ve just been luckier when practicing at home than when playing in the casino. As an example, I get complaints from players who use my strategy trainer here on the site… Some say “It must be rigged to be too easy. I win a ton!”, while others complain “It must be rigged to be too hard. I can’t ever win!” Welcome to blackjack. It’s a bumpy ride.
There is no download for the trainer here. If your device is not compatible with Flash, the current version hosted here on this page will not work. I’m hoping to have a new mobile-friendly version available here in early 2016, with LOTS of new features. It’s in progress.
Wow. While you were at it, did you contact the united chess federation while and ask if it’s against the law to think about your moves before you make them or if you’re legally required to move randomly when playing chess (not just by the rules of the game, but under penalty of law)? Maybe ask if it’s a misdemeanor or a felony to not move at random? You obviously either think we live in Orwell’s 1984 subject to enforcement by thought police (what, it’s illegal to try to REMEMBER something now? And we’re not even talking about a GOOD memory, a FISH could remember that much, it’s laughable how much an intellectual thing counting cards ISN’T) or don’t even know what counting cards is. All it is, is remembering a stupid number that starts at 0 at the beginning of the shoe, adding 1 to the total whenever you see a low card dealt out, subtracting 1 when you see a high card dealt out! Remembering a number. That’s IT! That’s all it is! That’s all it’s ever been! “Card counter” shouldn’t even be a NOUN! It’d be like “move thinker” in chess. If you’re not counting cards, it’s not that you’re avoiding cheating, you’re simply playing badly. Just like the chess player who refuses to do anything but move at random isn’t somehow doing something ETHICAL by refusing to form any sort of plan in his moves and play the game well, he’s just not playing the game well, he’s playing it like a 4 year old is all! You’re either counting cards or you’re playing badly. Those are your choices. And if you call the casino and announce your intention to count cards, you are an even bigger idiot than the people who go to the casino and play blackjack and DON’T count cards (i.e. play the game BADLY). Because the casinos make their money from stupid people. They don’t want people who play it well, they want imbeciles. And being a BUSINESS, they have a right to refuse to do business with anyone they want to, you’re just telling them you’re one of those people who they want to not do business with. Whatever. At best you’re a shill for a casino to ask a question like that on a website like this, but probably just someone who intellectually reaffirms my cynicism and disgust for the human race.
Uh. Wow. I’m not so sure how accurate the claims on this page could be. This isn’t anything like my results. I have kept a log. 80 days. On 80 different days in my life I have gone to casinos. I have gained $US 1458.74 after tips I have left dealers, waitresses, money I’ve spent in restaurants because the mealcomps I got for gambling didn’t QUITE cover the meal, though I also received much free stuff, like 140 dollars worth of prepaid credit cards/gas cards/gift cards (about 1000 dollars worth of mealcomps) and a bunch of other free stuff like boxes of chocolates and thermos bottles with the casino’s name on it and whatnot. But we’re still talking 80 trips, probably 3 hours each on average, so that’s 240 dollars for 1458.74 and 1600 miles worth of driving or so so what is that, 500 dollars worth of gas probably because my car sucks. That’s not even minimum wage. I would have done better to get a job as a blackjack dealer. If they’d hired me. They wouldn’t have done that. And I’m actually GOOD at it. In fact, as far as individual lone wolf people go and not teams, I’m probably the best there’s ever been. I’ve worked out the exact function of bet amount as a function of truecount to minimize risk of ruin, even tackling the murky issue of how much you should resplit and double after split under different conditions to minimize risk of ruin (so for instance, it’s bad to split a bunch of times and double on all of them on a big bet, and if you’re just playing to maximize the expected value of your return you should do it fearlessly, but if you’re obeying the kelly criterion, you’re trying to maximize the LOG of your bankroll at the end of the bet – though it’s not QUITE the same as that, the minimum bet throws a monkeywrench in that, so I go for linear gains instead of exponential and go for an exponentially decreasing risk of ruin, but it’s still quite high even starting from 10000 dollars, it’s like 50%). And yet it’s not lucrative for me. It’s crap. Absolute crap. And for making a tiny amount of money, I’ve been banned from 3 casinos in the process, or well, one of them I can still play baccarat technically, and I COULD, I also worked out how to count the panda8 and dragon7 sidebets but I’m forced to take the main bets and it’s just not worthwhile. I really don’t understand how you can call this the world’s greatest job. Working at walmart would be better.
Not so sure that’s so devastating as you make it out to be. A loss of 1.4% to the house could be worth it to play a 1-deck game. That’s only the same difference in player/house edge as 2.8 in the truecount. And that can happen prettttty easily in a 1-deck game, if you’re halfway through the deck, that’s a count of only 1.4! The standard deviation of the truecount halfway through a n-deck shoe is sqrt(40/n), which means if n is 1, that’s straight-up the square root of 40 or 6.5. Which means a full 16% of the time, the truecount will be over 6.5 halfway through a single deck. I’ve seen the truecount get up to 15 in a 6-deck game near the cutcard and I’ve seen it go to 12 in a 2-deck game, both of which with the cutcards 1 deck before the end. It depends on where that cutcard is. Is it with 26 cards left? 22? 30? That 16% of the time when it’s over 6.5, that’s when you’d be betting big, 6:5 blackjack or 3:2. The 1.4% house edge or 2.8 in the truecount is only 0.4 standard deviation of the truecount with 26 cards left and it’s no obstacle at all if the count is 10 and the player gets a 5% advantage from it. Though I guess it wouldn’t quite be the same 0.5% per truecount since it’s the increased probability of blackjack that accounts for much of the advantage you get from the count being high, so it’s probably more like 0.4% then. The question is, how serious are they about catching people trying to count their 1 deck game with the 6:5 blackjack, and what is the min and max bet at the table? If it’s a 50 dollar min and 300 max or if there’s serious heat then I’d say screw it. But if that’s what they do in atlantic city where they’re not allowed to prohibit card counting players, I could very well go there and make them very very sorry they offered a 1-deck game myself, with or without a 6:5 blackjack payoff. Hell I’d go there and count cards out loud just to mess with them, that would be funny, 6:5 blackjack payout on a 1-deck game is hardly an obstacle in a 1-deck game it seems to me!
Well I guess more like 6.33 since 6.5 squared is 42.25. But still.
Wong. I’ve heard that name. Well Mr. Wong, if you read this, let me tell you something, that if I see someone “wonging in” the middle of my shoe, stealing my high cards when the deck is rich, or wonging out, leaving me to take the low cards when the deck turns bad, I will be very incensed, and if you do it repeatedly, I will consider reporting what you are doing to the pit boss even though it would probably mean I’d be banned from the casino too unless I’m very cautious about how I do it. Since that practice is actually stealing from the other players. That’s what it is. Remember that, Mr. Wong. If you mid-shoe enter, when the count goes high, or when you leave in the middle of the shoe when it goes super negative, you are actually stealing from the other players, not merely improving your performance against the house. If I’m the only one at the table and the count swings high and there are enough cards left in the shoe for 15 hands with only me at the table, it will only be enough cards for 10 more hands with one other person instead, since if it’s me, someone else and the dealer, that uses 1.5 times as many cards per hand as just me and the dealer (a little worse than that actually, since the dealer will never split hands, so on average, the player uses more cards than the dealer, so it’s maybe a ratio of 3.2 to 2.1, maybe it’ll be 9 instead of 15 hands remaining). I’m happy to play at the same table as someone else who’s counting, hell, if I figure it out, and I lose count, I might just watch you and bet the same thing you bet, and you’re welcome to do the same for me. But if you leave halfway through a sour shoe or step in when I’ve suffered through the first half, absorbing low cards all the way in order to MAKE it hot in the first place and yet to be denied my hard-earned prize by someone who swoops in like that, you might as well be stealing chips from my stack and I won’t stand for it. I expect you to take your punishment right along with me if you want to count cards with me at the table, suffer through it yourself when the count is bad and don’t just exploit me as a tool to use up the cards you don’t want. You’ll also be less likely to be banned by the casino too. Even when I’m playing alone, I’ll sit there and take my punishment, I’ve seen the truecount get down to -14! And I’ll do CRAAZZZY things when it does, I’ve hit on 14 against a dealer’s 6 before, I’ve hit on hard 17 before, and you can be sure I bet the minimum, but I still sit there and take my punishment.
I have a question. What is better: bet $100 in one place or $50 in two places at the same table, considering a positive count?
I believe that at the same table there is a high correlation among the hands. On the other hand, the risk of playing two places at the same hand is fewer.
Betting two spots of $50 is better than one spot of $100. The expected win is the same, but the risk will be quite a bit lower despite high correlation between the hands. In fact, you have roughly the same risk betting two spots of $75 each as one spot of $100. And in that case, the total $150 bet over two spots will of course have a higher expected win in positive counts than the $100 single bet.
Do this Hi-Lo indexes apply with the European blackjack rules??
(no peek, dealer stands at soft 17, double any 2 cards, double after splits, no surrender, 4/6/8 decks)
Yes, the index numbers will be fine for a European no-peek game, with one adjustment: Ignore any index that has you doubling or splitting against a dealer ten or Ace.
In blackjack if you are dealt 5 cards under 21 do you automatically win the hand?
No. The “5-card Charlie” rule is not part of normal casino blackjack.
Read a book called ” Against the Gods”. It is a well documented book on the history of risk including casino games. One of the points that has stuck with me is………the longer you play blackjack the higher the percentage of losing comes your way. A good read.
Time is a factor in the equation. It helped me to understand why when you look on the faces of people at a blackjack table it is almost always the same.
BJ player.
Casino’s put out basic strategy cards because they know it will attract people to play. $1.50 for the card, $20, $40 sit at the table. Just because people have them doesn’t mean they will use them correctly. If they have a hunch or gut feeling or have seen lots of low or high cards come out, they will go with their gut and ignore the card. You just have to remember 2 things. 1. Don’t get mad. They’re only there for a bit of fun. 2 PLAY YOUR GAME. Their decision doesn’t effect your play. GL. a5teve.
This is silly. the same stupid moves those players make can easily benefit you. You just pay more attention to when these players hurt you then when they help you.
I hate people who complain about them.
I played in North Cyprus the last fortnight and the pros considered the Rocks to the best place to play. It is a fair game with a notch in the shoe to give a decent penetration. 75% even. There are 2 hand shuffle tables at $10 minimum and $25 minimum. These go up during the weekends to a $25 minimum.
If you play here you will be eligible to eat at the restaurant which has a very very decent buffet. The downside is the smoking but in North Cyprus this is the norm. Its worse in the Rocks because of its low ceilings. There are a lot of junkets that come here and the casino are playing to the tune. Counters are easily identified. The table maximum on the $10 table is $200 but its easily over come with a horizontal spread.
A minimal bankroll puts you in a tough spot. You cannot play a positive game without spreading at least 1 to 6 in a multi-deck game, but a top bet of $60 would mean you would usually lose whatever money you bring to the table because of short-term swings. If you are playing for fun, then budget whatever you can afford and spread minimally as you describe from $10 to $20. That is not much better than flat-betting, and perhaps flat-betting would be a better option. Either way your expectation is to lose a small percentage of your overall action. Be sure your basic strategy is solid. That will help.
When playing 10 a hand with no bankroll just paycheck to paycheck what should my spread be with each true count? If the true count is 3 should i bet 20.00 or less? Thanx for your time. Dont really understand the spread i should use
It sounds to me like you’ve just been luckier when practicing at home than when playing in the casino. As an example, I get complaints from players who use my strategy trainer here on the site… Some say “It must be rigged to be too easy. I win a ton!”, while others complain “It must be rigged to be too hard. I can’t ever win!”
Welcome to blackjack. It’s a bumpy ride.
There is no download for the trainer here. If your device is not compatible with Flash, the current version hosted here on this page will not work. I’m hoping to have a new mobile-friendly version available here in early 2016, with LOTS of new features. It’s in progress.
Wow. While you were at it, did you contact the united chess federation while and ask if it’s against the law to think about your moves before you make them or if you’re legally required to move randomly when playing chess (not just by the rules of the game, but under penalty of law)? Maybe ask if it’s a misdemeanor or a felony to not move at random? You obviously either think we live in Orwell’s 1984 subject to enforcement by thought police (what, it’s illegal to try to REMEMBER something now? And we’re not even talking about a GOOD memory, a FISH could remember that much, it’s laughable how much an intellectual thing counting cards ISN’T) or don’t even know what counting cards is. All it is, is remembering a stupid number that starts at 0 at the beginning of the shoe, adding 1 to the total whenever you see a low card dealt out, subtracting 1 when you see a high card dealt out! Remembering a number. That’s IT! That’s all it is! That’s all it’s ever been! “Card counter” shouldn’t even be a NOUN! It’d be like “move thinker” in chess. If you’re not counting cards, it’s not that you’re avoiding cheating, you’re simply playing badly. Just like the chess player who refuses to do anything but move at random isn’t somehow doing something ETHICAL by refusing to form any sort of plan in his moves and play the game well, he’s just not playing the game well, he’s playing it like a 4 year old is all! You’re either counting cards or you’re playing badly. Those are your choices. And if you call the casino and announce your intention to count cards, you are an even bigger idiot than the people who go to the casino and play blackjack and DON’T count cards (i.e. play the game BADLY). Because the casinos make their money from stupid people. They don’t want people who play it well, they want imbeciles. And being a BUSINESS, they have a right to refuse to do business with anyone they want to, you’re just telling them you’re one of those people who they want to not do business with. Whatever. At best you’re a shill for a casino to ask a question like that on a website like this, but probably just someone who intellectually reaffirms my cynicism and disgust for the human race.