Las Vegas » Blackjack http://www.lassvegass.com Gambling heaven Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:29:41 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= Myths about how to win at blackjack http://www.lassvegass.com/myths-about-how-to-win-at-blackjack.html http://www.lassvegass.com/myths-about-how-to-win-at-blackjack.html#comments Sat, 23 Apr 2011 18:36:13 +0000 patrick http://www.lassvegass.com/?p=919 One of the biggest myths about blackjack is that you need luck to win. In fact, blackjack is a game that takes skill and with a strong knowledge of the rules and basic strategy you can greatly increase your odds of winning. When you add an understanding of one of more card counting systems to the mix you can reduce the house advantage to almost nothing!

Another common misconception of blackjack is that it is designed for mathematic brains only. In fact, the only thing you need to know how to do in order to play blackjack is add and subtract simple numbers and count to 21. When it comes to card counting-sure, there are some card systems, such as the Wong Halves system, that are better suited to people who are strong in math. However, simpler methods such as Red Sevens, Knock Out Blackjack and the Hi-Lo card counting system only require you add and subtract 1. Even an elementary school child knows how to do that sort of math.

A lot of people think that in order to count cards you need a photographic memory. In fact, it is a common misconception that card counting requires memorizing every card in the deck. Actually, card counting is simply a method in which you can keep track of the ratio of high to low cards that remains in the deck over a course of blackjack hands. Card counting only requires simple math and no memorization at all. Practicing at home on your own with a deck of cards can help you work on your concentration and improve your card counting skills.

This is a myth that players have made up to make them feel better about a bad day at the tables. It’s always easier to blame someone else for your troubles than yourself. This myth stems from situations in which the player before you makes a bad move, such as hits only to bust, and receives the card that you needed in order to win. The truth of the matter is, however, that his bad play could have gotten rid of a card that you didn’t need only to free up a card that leads to your win. Stop thinking about other players at the table and focus on yourself and you’ll do just fine. Don’t take the myths seriously as they will harm your game, just try to enjoy and develop your own winning strategy.

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]]> http://www.lassvegass.com/myths-about-how-to-win-at-blackjack.html/feed 0 Most common blackjack strategies http://www.lassvegass.com/most-common-blackjack-strategies.html http://www.lassvegass.com/most-common-blackjack-strategies.html#comments Sun, 27 Mar 2011 16:58:47 +0000 patrick http://www.lassvegass.com/?p=935 In most casino games of blackjack, the house advantage is ~ 8%. The house gets this advantage by the dealer being the last player to act. By acting last, all other players have already made their decisions and could quite possibly bust before the dealer has his turn. By using correct blackjack basic strategy, you can turn the casino edge in blackjack from 7%-8% down to 0.5%. If you correctly use advanced card counting techniques, you can often change blackjack odds and give yourself the advantage over the casino. Manipulating the house odds to your favor is the reason most casinos don’t allow card counters to play blackjack.

Two-card count winning blackjack strategy:  This interesting blackjack odds chart is the two card count frequency chart. This chart shows the percentage chance that you will be dealt a hand in each given value range. The most important frequency to note is the chance of being dealt a natural blackjack (natural 21 value. The odds of being dealt a natural blackjack are merely 4.8%. Following this chart you will see that the most common two card hand, at 38.7%, is a hand totaling 1-16, which is considered a decision hand.

Effects of Removing Cards from a Deck: When looking at the odds of removing certain cards from a 52-card deck, some cards have a much greater effect on blackjack odds. To create the strongest card counting system ever invented, you would have to incorporate all of these slight and subtle differences into the numbers to be a completely accurate system. Basically  by removing every 5 from a deck cards would make the largest impact of improving your blackjack odds, as a player. On the other hand, removing every Ace from a deck of cards would make the largest impact on improving the odds for the casino.

 

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]]> http://www.lassvegass.com/most-common-blackjack-strategies.html/feed 0 Card counting strategy in blackjack http://www.lassvegass.com/card-counting-strategy-in-blackjack.html http://www.lassvegass.com/card-counting-strategy-in-blackjack.html#comments Mon, 21 Feb 2011 16:40:13 +0000 patrick http://www.lassvegass.com/?p=926 It is extremely important to understand how card counting works, before you can successfully apply the strategy to your blackjack game. The entire basis of card counting is to keep track of every single card dealt, so you can adjust your betting pattern to fit how your particular blackjack shoe is going. Most card counting systems start with a count of 0.  This means that when you first sit down at a blackjack table, the count is 0. Depending on which counting system you are using, this count will fluctuate with every card that is dealt. You must keep track of not only the cards that you are being dealt, but every single card dealt to every player and to the dealer. The only way to become a skilled card counter is to practice, practice, practice. It can take several months if not several years to truly master several of the card counting systems mentioned above. You need to be constantly practicing your card counting techniques and skills until you can count flawlessly. Keep in mind you don’t have to be playing blackjack to practice your counting techniques. You can practice your counting methods anywhere.

One very effective method of practicing card counting is to create practice counting charts. You can create a chart that show your hand and the dealer’s up card, then you verbally or mentally recite the proper play. If you get stumped, simply refer to your basic strategy charts.

The legality issue of card counting is a common topic around casinos and the game of blackjack. I’m definitely not a lawyer, so take this information in stride and make sure to do thorough research if investigating the full laws and regulations of card counting. The act of card counting at a physical blackjack table with your brain alone (without using any counting devices such as computers and electronics), is considered to be perfectly legal and is not considered cheating.

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]]> http://www.lassvegass.com/card-counting-strategy-in-blackjack.html/feed 0 Dont’s in the game of blackjack http://www.lassvegass.com/donts-in-the-game-of-blackjack.html http://www.lassvegass.com/donts-in-the-game-of-blackjack.html#comments Wed, 09 Feb 2011 15:37:00 +0000 patrick http://www.lassvegass.com/?p=933 In the blackjack strategy most of what you do is determined by the face card the dealer is showing, and how that corresponds to the two cards you are dealt. You can eliminate most bad blackjack decisions by learning basic blackjack strategy. Here are the most common mistakes when playing a game of blackjack.

The seat position when playing: Cards are dealt in the semi-circle from the dealer’s left to his right in a clockwise rotation. Therefore, the first cards will be dealt to the 1st seat to the dealer’s left, then the 2nd seat. Hand resolution occurs in the same way. Avoid sitting in the 1st or 2nd seats. Surrender to give a false soft-hand impression: A lot of blackjack players believe that surrender is always a bad idea. Players will reflexively refuse to surrender, even when that option will save them money.

Typically, a player should surrender when the dealer is showing a “10″ and the player is holding a 10-5, 9-6, 10-6 or 9-7. The player should surrender when the dealer is holding a “9″ and the player is holding a “10-6″ or “9-7″. In fact, surrender sometimes is to the advantage of the blackjack players. It’s not always a bad idea in blackjack. Adapt and not forget old strategy to new strategy: We’re processing new information all the time. As new information enters the brain, we tend to forget old information. Or we get bad blackjack habits because we think we know all the answers. So give yourself a blackjack primer occasionally to reinforce what you already know, and relearn what you’ve already forgot about blackjack.

 

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]]> http://www.lassvegass.com/donts-in-the-game-of-blackjack.html/feed 0 Tips to win at blackjack http://www.lassvegass.com/tips-to-win-at-blackjack.html http://www.lassvegass.com/tips-to-win-at-blackjack.html#comments Mon, 10 Jan 2011 22:54:40 +0000 patrick http://www.lassvegass.com/?p=928 Winning blackjack players know how to play the game. This means having a complete knowledge of how to play blackjack, not just a basic understand of the game play and how to place bets. To win at blackjack, you start with the fundamentals of basic strategy – how to play hard hands and how to play soft hands. You also learn when to split pairs and when to double down against the dealer. Then once you’ve mastered that, you start learning more advanced strategies, like simple card counts, dealer tells, and shuffle tracking. There are a few needed skills to succeed.

Self awareness and dedication:  Not only do you have to memorize all the correct strategic moves, you also have to consistently make the correct plays. Otherwise you’re just going to lose.

Stubbornness and experience: The only way of getting experience is to practice. And in black jack, that means you have to play. The more you play, the more experience you get. And the more experience you have as a blackjack player, the better your chances of beating the game become.

Experienced players make fewer mistakes, they’re able to concentrate for longer periods of time, and they’re able to analyze new situations and strategies quickly in order to determine whether or not they’re advantageous to their play.

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]]> http://www.lassvegass.com/tips-to-win-at-blackjack.html/feed 0 Blackjack http://www.lassvegass.com/blackjack.html http://www.lassvegass.com/blackjack.html#comments Fri, 11 Jun 2010 08:26:28 +0000 admin http://www.lassvegass.com/?p=853 Decks

Blackjack can be played with any number of decks. As the number of decks increase, the game becomes better for the house (casino). In the old days, the game was single-deck Blackjack. Eventually, casinos figured out that they could improve their odds by adding one more deck.

Today, single-deck Blackjack in the real world can be hard to find-unless you want to play $25+ per hand. Usually, the lower limit tables (under $25 per hand) are multi-deck games. Most of those use 4,6 or 8 decks.

Don’t be fooled by online casinos. Yes, they may use a single deck, but the deck is shuffled after each hand (unless specified). This isn’t the same as a single-deck game in the real world, because those games aren’t shuffled after each hand. It makes a difference. Real world single deck games are better for you.

That’s not to say that you shouldn’t play Blackjack online. Just be aware of the differences. For instance, since the online casinos shuffle after each hand, counting cards is of no use to you.

Player Positioning

If you’re playing Blackjack by yourself, this section won’t matter. But, if you’re playing with others, it pays to know the order of play.

The order of play starts with the player position to the left of the dealer. This position is known as first base. The order of play continues in a clockwise direction. The last player position to play is to the immediate right of the deal. This position is known as third base and it’s a coveted position to be in.

If you’re walking up to a table and you’re newer to Blackjack, don’t sit in the third base position. If you make a playing mistake, the rest of the table might suffer and they’ll be mad at you. However, if you’re an experienced Blackjack player, the third base position is one that you’ll most likely want.

Some players are superstitious and will only sit in certain spots. In reality, it’s all luck of the draw. The only true constant is that a poor player sitting at third base can wreck a table. For instance, the dealer might have a 6 showing and the poor player hits on 15, gets a face card and busts. The dealer then turns over a face card, gets a 3 and stands on 19-perhaps wiping everyone out.

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]]> http://www.lassvegass.com/blackjack.html/feed 1 Black Jack http://www.lassvegass.com/black-jack.html http://www.lassvegass.com/black-jack.html#comments Sat, 22 May 2010 08:21:55 +0000 admin http://www.lassvegass.com/?p=849 Blackjack before 1962:
Before publication of the classic book “Beat The Dealer” by Edward O. Thorp in 1962 no single player had ever suspected of such a thing as the Basic Strategy. Everyone used one’s own mixture of superstitions concerning the way in which one or the other hand had to play. Plus, some experience gained while playing at home in the kitchen. Excluding a small number of professional card-players who intuitively presupposed that their overbalance would be more if there were more bowers left in a pack, practically none won in blackjack. Naturally, casinos felt quite comfortable under such conditions. Till 1962 blackjack was not very popular, though percentagewise the profit rate was exclusively high.

The next decade: from 1962 till 1972:
After publication of the book by Thorp the situation changed radically. When the book mounted the peak of sales, became a bestseller, and the professor Thorp became an internationally famous personality, casinos were terrified that thus everyone could learn the system of Thorp and would start beating casinos winning huge amounts of money.

The results of this panic are well-known. The majority of casinos cardinally changed the blackjack rules creating even a larger overbalance in comparison with the previous set of rules. These introductions were effective a few weeks only as the majority of casinos’ clients simply refused to play a game with such bad rules. Subordinating to the law of supply and demand casinos had to quickly restore traditional rules for all. After this gamblers started immediately to play again, more than that in considerably larger quantities.

The popularity of Thorp’s book played into the hands of casinos. Blackjack started to attract crowds of people who thought they could “beat a dealer” only after they had read one book.

But the fact remained that casinos’ visitors continued to lose the same amounts of money while playing blackjack as before. Only the number of gamblers increased a hundred times. The majority of those who had read the book simply didn’t understand the way the calculation of tens given in the book worked, and those who got to the bottom didn’t take enough pains so as to master the system of calculation from A to Z. Casinos observed in surprise the incredibly increased profits.

Reedition of the book in 1966 gave a reader a simpler calculation system. Over that period of time a number of books on blackjack were published. The game gathered pace. Casinos were setting more and more tables. Blackjack was becoming the most popular game in casinos having outrun the previous leader craps.

Blackjack of the 70s:
The classic book “Playing Blackjack as a Business” by Lawrence Revere is responsible for further increase in popularity of the game in the 70s to a great extent. Revere published a shortened version of his systems at the beginning of 1969, but by 1972 already thousands of copies of the book were sold out. Revere republished an extended version of the book offering his simple and effective systems of the game which increased blackjack popularity even more.

Also the book “Winning Blackjack” by Stanley Roberts, was in the right place at the right time, in addition the author appeared in a number of radio and TV-shows. Roberts invested a considerable amount of money into advertising of his book making a splash.

Casinos were once again overcome by the fit of paranoia. They started to suspect that the systems developed with the help of research methods could considerably influence their profits. Casinos started to introduce a multi-pack blackjack instead of a one-pack blackjack to struggle against the system game.

At the beginning of the 70s a lot of scientists, mathematicians, university professors and other “intellectuals” started to write books about blackjack. Some of them developed their own cards’ calculation systems. One of the most popular and effective systems – Hi-Opt I, was developed in 1974 with the help of computer programs created by Julian Brown with participation of an anonymous postgraduate of a large Canadian university.

A lot of professional gamblers transferred from the Revere system to the Hi-Opt I system because of the relative simplicity and effectiveness of the latter one. A lot of ordinary gamblers started to use the system together with the basic strategy. These two systems evidently made the biggest impact upon casinos’ profits because of their use by professionals. Roberts’ systems were more often used by amateurs.

Kenneth Uston, teams and Great Horror:
Kenneth Uston noticed sometime at the end of 1976 that he was amazed by the way how effective the simplest systems of Hi-Opt I type could be. In Uston’s book “Big Player” the way how Uston and his companions won together more than a million of dollars playing blackjack is described. Later on his teams transferred from very complicated systems to the simplest of Hi-Opt I type. Uston was thrown out of a few big casinos of Las Vegas, and he filed lawsuit against them for a total amount of 80 million dollars.

With the arrival of Uston the whole new era of blackjack began. Casinos were once again frightened that teams could win huge amounts of money in blackjack. Nearly at once some casinos did away with a one- and two-pack blackjack transferring to 4-, 6- and 8-pack ones. For an average gambler blackjack became too difficult. Plus, casinos started to cut most cards out of play – to two packs. As has been mentioned by Roberts in one of his articles, such practice was at the very least doubtful. By the way, the fact itself of availability of cards which didn’t enter the game caused new kinds of crooked gambling connected with withdrawal and addition of cards.

Casinos up to now change the number of packs and the extent of cutting, and compare levels of profits, thus balancing rules. In any case, rules are extremely difficult for gamblers in the USA, especially beginners.

The nightmare continues:
The funniest thing is that gamblers’ thoughts are not rigid. Uston’s teams were followed by Keith Taft with his pocket computer for blackjack which played better than any profs in the world. The court of Nevada State broke the record of the USA on the quickness of adoption of statute on use of computers in casinos. Up to five years with confiscation in the current situation, though Taft and his advocates were sure of the unconstitutionality of that law.

Forbade the computer? There appeared Tommy Hyland and his most complicated systems of tracking. A new headache for casinos… To worsen the cutting, introduce more packs and make the procedure of riffle even longer. To invent shuffle-machines!

Stanford Wong was the first to outwit these shuffle-machines. The most important thing was to know how they worked. Poor casinos didn’t know what to do. These machines cost rather a lot.

Perhaps new varieties would help? Spanish 21, Super-fan 21, 6:5 blackjack, “Open” blackjack, Blackjack-switch, Pontoon… With every introduction there was one problem: either no one played it at all or profs immediately found the way to beat it. Tournaments? Old Wong created teams especially for tournament struggle. Every new rule was calculated and intensively looked into a week in advance. The development of the Internet caused quick information distribution.

Further on the whole pleiad of gamblers of the contemporary generation came on stage. Wong, Sneider, Anderson, Dogerty, Shlesinger and heaps of people who were occupied with theory and practical aspects of the game. Mathematical models of the game were worked out. Texts on Blackjack were published in scientific reviews.

Finally, up to the present moment a small number of professionals still win in blackjack. And will win in the future. Some profs transfer to more complicated systems which are plentiful (let’s say, Hi-Opt II was published as far back as 1976). New methods and techniques are being developed.

There is no doubt that it will get still more and more difficult to win in blackjack. However, there difficulties only make gambling wits work harder and harder. Right away new game systems are being worked out in many heads and at many computers of the world.

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]]> http://www.lassvegass.com/black-jack.html/feed 0 Strategy For Blackjack http://www.lassvegass.com/strategy-for-blackjack.html http://www.lassvegass.com/strategy-for-blackjack.html#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 07:53:44 +0000 admin http://www.lassvegass.com/?p=821 The big advantage to a soft hand is that you can take hits with less risk of busing. But that doesn’t mean you can be carefree about how you play your hand. Take a look at the dealers’ showing card and play your cards as follows:

If you have an ace with an 8 or higher then hold your hand and don’t take a hit. By playing the ace as 11 you have 19, which is a hand you should always stand on.

If you have an ace with 7 take a hit if the dealer’s showing card is 9 or better.

If you have an ace with six or less then you should always take a bit. Even though this means you are taking a risky hit on 17 you can always bail yourself out if you bust by using the ace as a 1.

Doubling down is another situation you need to master if you want to win at Blackjack. Doubling down allows you to double you initial bet in certain circumstances. If played correctly you can offset the house advantage and that is an opportunity not to be missed! Bear in mind though that casinos have different rules as to when you can double down.

You should double down according to following rules:

If your have card values of 9 to 11 then double down. Statistically you have great chance to win because there are so many cards with a value of 10 to draw.
However, if you have a 9 then only double down if the dealer is showing a weak card of 3 to 6. This is because the dealer as likely to bust if he/she is showing any other card.
When holding a soft hand you should double down only when you can exploit a weak dealer card. The way to play an soft hand for doubling down is as follows;

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]]> http://www.lassvegass.com/strategy-for-blackjack.html/feed 0 Casinos To Offer Best Bonuses http://www.lassvegass.com/casinos-to-offer-best-bonuses.html http://www.lassvegass.com/casinos-to-offer-best-bonuses.html#comments Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:40:43 +0000 admin http://www.lassvegass.com/?p=596 The  InterCasino has new plans to offer players, but the new players, a new chance. An opportunity to play several blackjack games and roulette games without any deposit requested. This means that they have more chances to win some good and real cash prizes. This could be possible only through 2 freeroll online tournaments.

These are the blackjack freeroll tournament and the roulette freeroll tournament, both have started at the beginning of this month.

These freeroll tournaments are supposed to give 10k dollars Tournaments. You just have to sign up and make your own account to start playing online.

From start, each player will be credited with 500 dollars in tournament chips. But every tournament should be played in only 10 minutes while players should do the best for them: to increase their 500 dollars to a bigger sum of money, in their favour.

The guaranteed prize is the most attractive that makes a player to play online. Each of these 2 online freeroll tournaments have to offer 10K dollars. The winner situated on the 1st place will receive 5K dollars and the second-placed winner will win 2,600 dollars. The other will receive 50 dollars each of them.

Also some promotions are offered every week, a bonus of 30 dollars. To get these money, players should only enter on their account, on the internet the bonus code received.
Besides that, they should make a deposit of only 30 dollars.
More and more promotions are offered day by day at the online casinos, but everything depends on your choices.

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]]> http://www.lassvegass.com/casinos-to-offer-best-bonuses.html/feed 2 Blackjack : Player Decisions http://www.lassvegass.com/blackjack-player-decisions.html http://www.lassvegass.com/blackjack-player-decisions.html#comments Tue, 17 Mar 2009 22:48:50 +0000 admin http://www.lassvegass.com/?p=236 After receiving his initial two cards, the player has four standard options: he can “Hit,” “Stand,” “Double Down,” or “Split a pair.”

Hit means to take another card.blackjack

Stand(stay) means to take no more cards.

Double down means on his first two cards, the player may “double down,” double his bet and receive only one card face “down.” To do this he moves a second bet equal to the first into the betting box next to his original bet.

Split a pair means if his first two cards are a “pair,” meaning two cards of the same value, the player can “split the pair.” To do this, he moves a second bet equal to the first into the betting box next to his original bet.

The player can take as many hits as he wants.

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