Counting is harder than people think

[MasterofNone]

Universe balances out. If you had not learned card counting, the tiger would never attack Roy.

I am still laughing at that one. Thank u for making my day!

 

[blackjack avenger]

Variance, the Destroyer of Bank

The variance is the problem with counting.
If the variance was far less then more CC would be successful

:joker::whip:

 

[aslan]

The variance is the problem with counting.
If the variance was far less then more CC would be successful

:joker::whip:

I wonder if the variance was far less,

would everyone and his brother would then be a card counter

and

would casinos be forced to put an end to blackjack as we now know it altogether?

 

[blackjack avenger]

Sure

I wonder if the variance was far less,
would everyone and his brother would then be a card counter
and
would casinos be forced to put an end to blackjack as we now know it altogether?

I tend to agree, casinos have to make money also
:joker::whip:

Probably most important:
the casinos make a lot of money off of couters, because many of them are pseudo counters. They may even fail a skills test but have enough weaknesses in their game that they are losers.

 

[bigplayer]

I wonder if the variance was far less,

would everyone and his brother would then be a card counter

and

would casinos be forced to put an end to blackjack as we now know it altogether?

Variance is what makes the game exciting and entertaining for the masses. That is why Double Double Bonus poker is the #1 VP game despite the fact that it has a higher variance and lower return than Jacks or Better.

 

[aslan]

Variance is what makes the game exciting and entertaining for the masses. That is why Double Double Bonus poker is the #1 VP game despite the fact that it has a higher variance and lower return than Jacks or Better.

Are you saying that if card counting were less susceptible to wide swings in variance, in other words, if card counting was more likely to bring winnings, and losses were more likely to be small, then fewer people would turn to it? That sounds couterintuitive to me. But I do get your drift on the excitement factor. Ploppies, other than APs, might find BJ less enjoyable with less swings in variance. OTOH, I believe this would spawn more APs, and more successful ones than at present.

 

[riggler]

Variance is what makes the game exciting and entertaining for the masses. That is why Double Double Bonus poker is the #1 VP game despite the fact that it has a higher variance and lower return than Jacks or Better.

The variance for carnvial games is much greater than BJ, yet they entertain a fraction of the players.

 

[tensplitter]

Ploppies are entertained by variance. If they come to a casino knowing they will definitely lose 2% of their stake they won't gamble. We win big and lose big. In the long run, we win big more than we lose big.

 

[aslan]

Ploppies are entertained by variance. If they come to a casino knowing they will definitely lose 2% of their stake they won't gamble. We win big and lose big. In the long run, we win big more than we lose big.

Tell that to the thousands who lose their life savings in Las Vegas. I really don't think we can safely make that assertion.

 

[pit15]

Ploppies are entertained by variance. If they come to a casino knowing they will definitely lose 2% of their stake they won't gamble. We win big and lose big. In the long run, we win big more than we lose big.

They won't?

Actually plenty of ploppies come to the casino knowing they will lose 100% of their stake.

I've seen enough people who will not leave a table until it's all gone.

 

[MasterofNone]

I don't think it is the variance of BJ though. i am routinely surrounded by those betting the table minimum on BJ, but 2x the minimum on the side bet. it is the carnival bet that keeps them returning to their wallet or purse until they are spent out even as they are winning at BJ.

 

[wwcd]

I don't think it is the variance of BJ though. i am routinely surrounded by those betting the table minimum on BJ, but 2x the minimum on the side bet. it is the carnival bet that keeps them returning to their wallet or purse until they are spent out even as they are winning at BJ.

I agree with this. I also have been to enough local joints, where underfunded ploppies (buying in for $20 for instance) play $2/$3 per hand, yet they never forget to put a buck on that stupid side bet.

Added to this, overtipping also kills ploppies. I've seen regular red chippers winning $100-$200 at some point and they end up throwing a red chip every winning hand!! At one point a lady winning $250 in relatively short time gave away about $60 in tips. What they don't recognize is that the next time they play, variance might very well be on the other end of the spectrum and there won't be much winnings left (due to overtipping) to erase the losses out.