Archive for February, 2012
Winning Casino Strategy for Multi-hand Blackjack
Is playing multiple blackjack hands together at a traditional or Internet casino tought of as one of the smart strategies that should be universally used by neophytes and experts alike?
This issue has been widely argued decades prior to the inventor of the internet was even born, and will be a point of contention long after our generation is nothing but dust. We will discuss the main points agreed upon by the vast majority of experts, leaving other issues on the backburner for blackjack philosophers to debate.
Only experts should play simultaneous multiple blackjack hands. If you have to think about the optimal strategy for even a second, when you have an Ace and a three and the dealer is showing a five, then you should not attempt multi-hand blackjack card games. Do you know the optimal play in this situation? Look at the basic blackjack strategy card and find out.
Don’t attempt this unless you have a bankroll of 100 times the size of your total bet size ($1000 minimum) with playing two $5 per hand simultaneous blackjack games. The short-term fluctuation can easily cripple even the best of the best as has happened to the MIT blackjack team over a decade ago.
Depending on the number of players at your table, you can expect to make 200-400 instantaneous decisions, each one using advantage strategy. In internet blackjack, that number can triple or quadruple. Most traditional casinos will also require players to double their bet size, knowing too well that a pro playing two hands can murder the table deep enough into the shoe.
Do you count cards? If you do not, then this blackjack strategy is definitely wrong for you. Most casinos will ask you to double your bets playing two simultaneous blackjack hands. Consider studying these best blackjack card counting books before you even attempt to gain an edge playing two hand blackjack.
Without card counting and memorizing the perfect strategy for all hand combinations you will wind up losing a lot more in the end then winning. In the United States, card counting is 100% legal despite anything you may have heard.
NJ Supreme Court in USA, ruled that Atlantic City casinos could not use card counting as the sole reason to ban players. The worst that a Las Vegas casino can do is ban you, because an AI program monitoring game play thinks you may be counting cards. Please check with an attorney before practicing card counting within your country or if you are playing on sovereign tribal land.
As you can tell, the article has changed focus now into advantage plays, which is the key to having that 1% advantage over the casino. All other areas of playing multi-handed blackjack card games, such as moving your seat to ‘change the flow of cards’ or juggling 3 rabbit feet before playing, are useless mathematically. If performing such rituals make you more confident, focuses your brain better, and improves your concentration, feel free to change your seat between every hand.
Learn Your Blackjack Variations
The blackjack game is one of the most popular types of gambling. Both live and internet blackjack are a major contributor to nearly all casinos and is typically the largest take from all of the table games. Blackjack has grown in several way in the past few years, and our days players can find many variations to play. Each variation comes with its own set of rules that will influence the way you will need to use your basic blackjack strategy. And each variation offers a different house edge, making some better than others.
If you wish to play the maximum strategy you will need to understand the variation that you are playing and the strategy that comes along with it. One thing to look for the game’s payout out for each blackjack hand. The hand can pay as much as 2-1, yet some games will pay out as little as 6-5 on your blackjack hand.
The next thing one needs to know of the blackjack game one is playing is if the dealer hits or doesn’t hit on soft 17. If the dealer must hit on soft 17 the house has a bigger edge than it would in a game that the dealer stands on soft 17, around 0.2%. Our days it is rare to find a game in which the dealer stands on 17.
Next find out about the doubling rule. The doubling rule refers to the ability to double your bet after your first two cards are dealt and you hit for the next. This gives the player an edge of 0.2% over a game that does not allow you ro double down. Some Internet casinos will not allow any doubling in their games and some will.
Finally you need to know if you can split pairs. Some casinos will allow splitting and some will not. There is a unique strategy for splitting pairs on a blackjack table, so be sure you know this simple strategy before you play a game that allows splitting.
There are many more blackjack variations available. If you are considering playing the game you need to know the rules of the different variations you are playing, and you need to learn the right basic strategy for each of the variations you will be playing.
Blackjack Strategy Cards
If you play blackjack on the internet with any regularity you should know how to play basic strategy. This is a set of rules for the player to follow that will give them the best possible chance to win in any hand situation they may find themselves in. Basic strategy decision-making varies depending on the blackjack variantion that you are playing, and you can potentially lower the house edge over you to less than a half percent. Counting cards is not an option in internet blackjack, so the best way the increase your chance of winning is to learn basic strategy. It’s not rocket science to learn, and you can even use a cheat sheet until your decision-making becomes automatic to you.
These cheat sheets are not cheating, they’re cards that outline which decision is best to make in any hand situation. Most land-based casinos allow you to have a copy of a blackjack strategy card with you as you play, but not all will. But when you are playing internet blackjack there’s nothing to stop you from using them; and you can reference it anytime you are unsure of the best play to make. With enough practice you’ll memorize every situation and you won’t need the cards anymore.
Using these cards will not guarantee that you are going to win the next time you play the game. But they will lower losses in the long term, and your playing bankroll won’t have to deal with such a wide win/loss variance because you lowered the house edge against you. The blackjack strategy cards will provide you with information on when to hit, stand, double down, split, or surrender. They will also inform you what move to make if either doubling or surrender is not allowed in that variant of the game.
Basic blackjack strategy cards can be found easily online. The best ones are color coded so you can find the information faster. Make sure you have the right card for the variantion of blackjack that you are playing and always follow the card. If you are not disciplined about following it you won’t lower that edge over you like you should.
Keeping track of Blackjack Wins and Losses
The majority of blackjack players who play think they know how much they win or lose. Yet actually the majority has no clue what the real numbers are when it comes to their game play. The majority has a certain sum of money that they know they can afford to lose, and they spend it on the game. Over time those numbers get lost in the shuffle, and keeping tack with what you’re really spending on the game can’t be properly calculated.
Every serious player should keep a record of their wins and losses. These figures will not only tell you how much you spend while playing, but it will also tell you if you have any room for enhancing your game. Depending on the game you’re playing, basic blackjack strategy should only give the house around a 0.5% edge over you. If your losses are more frequent than this over a large selection of games, you’ll know that you’re not playing to the best possible blackjack strategy.
Keeping track is as simple as writing down how many hands you play and how much you bet in each hand. Make it a habit to write down how much you have to start with and how much you have left once you stop playing. It does not take too much effort to keep a record of it all as you play, once oyu get used to this idea it will become a second nature for you.
This info will not only tell you about how much you spend on play, but it can also offer you patterns that you can see and adjust to. If you see a pattern that often ends up being costly to you, you can make the adjustment so that particular situation is no longer a leak in your game. Your mistakes will be exposed and you’ll be forced to correct the things that are obviously costing you money.
Once you work on getting rid of all your bad habits, you’ll be playing to the best possible advantage. There’s no way to discover these bad habits that we all possess until you analyze your game play history, and in order to do that you need to have some kind of record to follow up on.



