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I’ve noticed that some advantage players hit on A+7 when the dealer has a 2 whereas your strategy here indicates that stand/stay would be the preferred choice with 8 decks, DAS, No surrender, and no peek. Any thoughts on this difference?
It is likely that you saw players doubling A7v2, not just hitting it. (Hitting would simply be a mistake, as it is the third best way to play the hand.)
The choice of whether to stand or double with A7v2 is a close one. In fact, correct basic strategy for that hand depends on whether the dealer hits or stands on soft 17s. (The strategy engine takes all this into account when creating an accurate strategy chart for you.)
In S17 games, you should stand. In H17 games, you should double. (Except in single deck.)
Card counters will often double this hand even in S17 games, because it only takes a true count of +1 or more to make this the correct play.
I’m going to be playing at a casino next week with No surrender, 8 decks, S17, and no peek. Got a couple of questions about strategy in such a situation;
1)Do I DD with a hard 11 on dealer’s 10 or hit? 2)Do I split 8s on dealers 10-A or hit? 3)Do I stand with a soft A/7 on dealer’s 2? 4) Do I split A/A on dealer’s A or hit?
Appreciate your help and any rationale you can provide for choices in these situations given the conditions of the table at which I shall be trying my luck. Thanks..
To answer your questions: 1) Hit 11vT 2) Hit 88vT and 88vA. 3) Stand with A7v2. 4) Hit AAvA.
Just to be clear, these strategies are for a “no peek” game, where the dealer either does not deal a hole card, or does not check it for a blackjack, and all player bets are vulnerable if the dealer ends up with a blackjack. In the US, that’s almost never the case, but it is common outside the US.
The answers to 2 and 4 would change with peek, right? Split on A/A and 8/8 with dealer’s A. And I do understand how vulnerable all players are with European style no peek. If I notice anything interesting or advantageous, I’ll post here.
Hi,i have been playing in Macau and according to some website the house edge there is only about -0.09%(with proper basic stratergy),1/6 penertration.I was wondering if the game is beatable with large enough bet spread since the house edge is so low…thx!
Almost any game is beatable with a large enough spread. Is it beatable in practice? You would really need to sim this and see what kind of spread it would take. I assume by “1/6”, you mean they are dealing only one deck of out six before shuffling (or before putting the discards into a continuous shuffle machine). That’s a tough game, and even if it is beatable with a huge spread, there should be better opportunities for you elsewhere.
thanks a lot man! you have been quite helpful. One last question: Is it possible that the casino, to increase their profit rate, put just a bit more small cards in the shoe so as to increase their edge?
Possible? Yes, but very unlikely. Fortunately, most games still spread the decks and examine them when they open the table. Get there and watch yourself to make sure the cards are as they should be. If they don’t spread the cards when opening new decks, you have a right to be suspicious.
I was thinking that “-0.09%,even a running count of 1 at the beginning,which is a true count of 1/6 can easily turn the table, since a true count of 1 will give you an advantage of at least 0.8%(according to blackjackincolor) ,that means 1/6 can give you an edge of 0.13%” Is that mathematically right?
I was surprised by the BlackjackInColor information saying that true +1 adds 0.79%, but after some thought it makes sense. In most games, that’s no big deal since the starting house edge is usually much closer to half a percent.
However, you can’t assume that a true count of 1/6 will deliver 1/6 of that 0.79%, because as that same chart shows, the effect is non-linear. The only reliable way to know is to sim it. (I recommend CVData, although I no longer keep it in inventory at my site. Here’s a link to it at the publisher’s site.)
If your starting house edge of only 0.09% is accurate, it won’t take much to tip the scales. I can’t imagine the game is going to yield much of an hourly return, even with a pretty large bet spread.
I am a master student who is studying engineering in Nederlands, and I am also a basic strategy player. It’s a pitty that also the casinos in nederland have already introduced CSM. I’ve kept losing for 3 days, actually losing money is not the worst thing troubles me, because I am convinced that in long terms, maths in in my favor. The thing really made me sad is the man like me is not welcomed in th casino. The dealers of course always try to get me rid of the table, and the suckers always blame their loss on me. For example, I got a 16 and dealer shows 10, I hit get a 2, than dealer gets a 10(the dealer only take one card in the first round, wihch means if I didn’t hit, the dealer could bust). when this situation happened, all the rest of tables will get very angry and thy to teach me how to play. It’s obviously that I and these stupid suckers live in differrent world, which means I don’t need to explain anything cause they don’t even know what house advantage is. And if sometime I am in bad luck and suckers won some money in their wrong ways, their can be even more arrogant and throw their weight around. That is the darkest moment for me cause they will set me as a stupid example. Suckers think a BS player as suckers and blame on they, what a world!!!
I enjoy your blackjack game. It helps me control the urge between trips to the casino.
I really appreciate the Android app. I asked several months ago when an app for my Samsung tablet would be available. You promised it was in the works. Thanks for following through.
I’ve noticed that some advantage players hit on A+7 when the dealer has a 2 whereas your strategy here indicates that stand/stay would be the preferred choice with 8 decks, DAS, No surrender, and no peek. Any thoughts on this difference?
It is likely that you saw players doubling A7v2, not just hitting it. (Hitting would simply be a mistake, as it is the third best way to play the hand.)
The choice of whether to stand or double with A7v2 is a close one.
In fact, correct basic strategy for that hand depends on whether the dealer hits or stands on soft 17s.
(The strategy engine takes all this into account when creating an accurate strategy chart for you.)
In S17 games, you should stand.
In H17 games, you should double. (Except in single deck.)
Card counters will often double this hand even in S17 games, because it only takes a true count of +1 or more to make this the correct play.
I’m going to be playing at a casino next week with No surrender, 8 decks, S17, and no peek. Got a couple of questions about strategy in such a situation;
1)Do I DD with a hard 11 on dealer’s 10 or hit?
2)Do I split 8s on dealers 10-A or hit?
3)Do I stand with a soft A/7 on dealer’s 2?
4) Do I split A/A on dealer’s A or hit?
Appreciate your help and any rationale you can provide for choices in these situations given the conditions of the table at which I shall be trying my luck. Thanks..
“No peek” does impact the decisions that you asked about.
You can get a complete strategy chart for this exact game here:
https://www.blackjackinfo.com/blackjack-basic-strategy-engine/?numdecks=8&soft17=s17&dbl=all&das=yes&surr=ns&peek=no
To answer your questions:
1) Hit 11vT
2) Hit 88vT and 88vA.
3) Stand with A7v2.
4) Hit AAvA.
Just to be clear, these strategies are for a “no peek” game, where the dealer either does not deal a hole card, or does not check it for a blackjack, and all player bets are vulnerable if the dealer ends up with a blackjack. In the US, that’s almost never the case, but it is common outside the US.
The answers to 2 and 4 would change with peek, right? Split on A/A and 8/8 with dealer’s A. And I do understand how vulnerable all players are with European style no peek. If I notice anything interesting or advantageous, I’ll post here.
Correct. Answers 2 and 4 change with peek. Here’s the chart:
https://www.blackjackinfo.com/blackjack-basic-strategy-engine/?numdecks=8&soft17=s17&dbl=all&das=yes&surr=ns&peek=yes
Very helpful. Many thanks.
Hi,i have been playing in Macau and according to some website the house edge there is only about -0.09%(with proper basic stratergy),1/6 penertration.I was wondering if the game is beatable with large enough bet spread since the house edge is so low…thx!
Almost any game is beatable with a large enough spread. Is it beatable in practice? You would really need to sim this and see what kind of spread it would take. I assume by “1/6”, you mean they are dealing only one deck of out six before shuffling (or before putting the discards into a continuous shuffle machine). That’s a tough game, and even if it is beatable with a huge spread, there should be better opportunities for you elsewhere.
How about Vegas? Are most of the casino using CSM now? Is it possible to count cards there?
Sure, Vegas still has lots of non-CSM games, as do most areas of the US.
thanks a lot man! you have been quite helpful. One last question: Is it possible that the casino, to increase their profit rate, put just a bit more small cards in the shoe so as to increase their edge?
Possible? Yes, but very unlikely. Fortunately, most games still spread the decks and examine them when they open the table. Get there and watch yourself to make sure the cards are as they should be. If they don’t spread the cards when opening new decks, you have a right to be suspicious.
I was thinking that “-0.09%,even a running count of 1 at the beginning,which is a true count of 1/6 can easily turn the table, since a true count of 1 will give you an advantage of at least 0.8%(according to blackjackincolor) ,that means 1/6 can give you an edge of 0.13%” Is that mathematically right?
I was surprised by the BlackjackInColor information saying that true +1 adds 0.79%, but after some thought it makes sense. In most games, that’s no big deal since the starting house edge is usually much closer to half a percent.
However, you can’t assume that a true count of 1/6 will deliver 1/6 of that 0.79%, because as that same chart shows, the effect is non-linear.
The only reliable way to know is to sim it. (I recommend CVData, although I no longer keep it in inventory at my site. Here’s a link to it at the publisher’s site.)
If your starting house edge of only 0.09% is accurate, it won’t take much to tip the scales.
I can’t imagine the game is going to yield much of an hourly return, even with a pretty large bet spread.
Dear Ken,
I am a master student who is studying engineering in Nederlands, and I am also a basic strategy player. It’s a pitty that also the casinos in nederland have already introduced CSM.
I’ve kept losing for 3 days, actually losing money is not the worst thing troubles me, because I am convinced that in long terms, maths in in my favor. The thing really made me sad is the man like me is not welcomed in th casino. The dealers of course always try to get me rid of the table, and the suckers always blame their loss on me. For example, I got a 16 and dealer shows 10, I hit get a 2, than dealer gets a 10(the dealer only take one card in the first round, wihch means if I didn’t hit, the dealer could bust). when this situation happened, all the rest of tables will get very angry and thy to teach me how to play. It’s obviously that I and these stupid suckers live in differrent world, which means I don’t need to explain anything cause they don’t even know what house advantage is. And if sometime I am in bad luck and suckers won some money in their wrong ways, their can be even more arrogant and throw their weight around. That is the darkest moment for me cause they will set me as a stupid example. Suckers think a BS player as suckers and blame on they, what a world!!!
Regards,
ZHANG
There is no easy solution. Just try to ignore them as much as possible. Good luck.
I enjoy your blackjack game. It helps me control the urge between trips to the casino.
I really appreciate the Android app. I asked several months ago when an app for my Samsung tablet would be available. You promised it was in the works. Thanks for following through.
I misunderstood the app link – I thought it was you. I retract all my kudos and return to waiting mode.
Retraction accepted. 🙂
Now that the new site work is complete, the new trainer is my next big project. I’m doing research for it now.