Posts Tagged ‘Blackjack player’
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
Yesterday I began talking about reducing your losses per hour in blackjack. While it is possible to reduce your losses per hour in online blackjack by slowing down your rate of play, some of the other ways of reducing losses are limited to playing blackjack in a brick and mortar casino.
One of those ways was discussed yesterday: making bets on another player’s hand. Between playing at a full table (same as slowing down your rate of play in online blackjack) and making wagers on another player’s hand, you can reduce your average loss per hour of $7 down to around $3.
But for blackjack players who are also card counters, they can reduce their losses per hour a little more.
This might sound a little backwards but bear with me. If you are playing at a table that has had a few hands of high cards leave the table. Save your spot, leave and then go play at another table. The reason for this is that, after a few rounds of high cards, you can expect that the run will be coming to an end. And you do not want to be making larger wagers when the run ends and the low cards start running. Low cards favor the dealer and you stand to lose more then.
On the other hand if the cards run low for several hands, say you see more than eight low end cards in a row and passing out of play, it is then time to start upping your wagers again.
This bit of blackjack strategy takes more time to work with and become good at but it can pay off in the end in reducing your losses per hour in blackjack from the average of $7 down to around $1. These are the best odds for a blackjack player who is trying to reduce their losses per hour.
Remember—play at a full table, make a few bets on another blackjack player’s hand and balance when to play at a blackjack table and when to bow out.
Tags: Blackjack, Blackjack betting strategy, Blackjack Odds, Blackjack player, Blackjack strategy, Blackjack Tips., Casinos, Game of Skill, How to Bet in Blackjack, How to play Blackjack, play Blackjack
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Monday, July 19th, 2010
Online blackjack players have just received another point in their corner in the democrats attempt to overturn the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA).
For those online blackjack players who have not been following closely, the last session ended without Representative Barney Frank being able to get his bill, Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act, up for debate. Frank’s bill would overturn UIGEA and also set the stage of the United States to regulate and tax online gambling.
Once his committee, the House Finance Committee, finishes their debate on Frank’s bill, it will then be passed on to the entire House. And if the House finishes its debate and passes the legislation guess where Frank’s bill goes next. That’s right, it will go to the Senate and so on. You see how this works.
So what has happened to make another step towards online blackjack being legal?
There is a change in West Virginia’s seat in the Senate: Carte Goodwin will be in place of Robert Byrd. And Goodwin is a Democrat. He is a favorite to take up Byrd’s seat in November vote in West Virginia.
But while Goodwin is the favorite to win the West Virginia seat, it is possible that someone else could be voted in. But for now, Goodwin is in Byrd’s seat which puts another Democrat in the Senate.
If Frank can get his bill pushed through the House Finance Committee and through the House overall, and get it to the Senate before the West Virginia November elections, it will give online gambling one more pro vote.
But while Frank’s bill does have a handful of Republican co-sponsors, he is still going to need each and every Democratic vote. Goodwin will be one more Democratic vote. And that extra vote is happy online gambling news for online blackjack players.
Here is to hoping that Frank will get his bill pushed through and voted on before November while he still has Goodwin in the Senate.
Tags: Barney Frank, Blackjack, Blackjack player, Carte Goodwin, Casino Games, Casinos, House Finance Committee, Legalize Blackjack, Legalize Gambling, Online Blackjack, Online Casinos, play Blackjack, Robert Byrd, UIGEA
Posted in Online Blackjack, Online Casinos | 1 Comment »
Friday, July 16th, 2010
Have you heard that phrase ‘When it rains, it pours?’
That could be said about blackjack in Pennsylvania. It is raining blackjack in Pennsylvania.
Already six casinos have received, set up, tested and opened blackjack tables. Those six casinos would be the Meadows, the Rivers, the Presque Isle Downs in western Pennsylvania and the Mohegan Sun, Mount Airy and Hollywood casinos in eastern Pennsylvania.
Now blackjack, and other table games like craps and roulette, will be coming to the Philadelphia area. Thankfully it is not another three casinos; this time it is only two: the Parx Casino and Harrah’s. Parx is located in Bensalem and Harrah’s in Chester.
Both casinos will be working their table games test today and hope to open said table games at 6 am on Sunday morning.
Ever since table games were approved earlier this year it seems that every brick and mortar casino in Pennsylvania is jumping up to install table games.
The funny thing about the sudden downpour of blackjack and other table games is that table games is not where the money is in casinos games of late. Vegas can attest that money comes from the slots machines. Popularity seems to be with the slots too.
So why the mad dash to install, staff and offer table games?
The only guess that I can offer is that casinos are hoping to draw more traffic, pulling it away from Atlantic City, by offering more gambling options to patrons. Yes, offering table games is could bring in more money but here is a little secret: with the offering of table games, these casinos have also been allowed to increase the number of slot machines to help accommodate an increased number of casino patrons.
So in short the table games were a means to an end. Not that blackjack players in Pennsylvania will care. They are just happy to not have to drive a long distance to play their favorite game.
Tags: Blackjack, Blackjack player, Casino Games, Casinos, Craps, Harrah's, Hollywood, Meadows, Mohegan Sun, mount airy, Parx, Pennsylvania, play Blackjack, Presque Isle Downs, Rivers, Roulette, Table Games
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Thursday, July 15th, 2010
One of the fun things about playing blackjack in a brick and mortar casino is the free drinks. You will see waitresses going from table to table bringing drinks to players.
The casino’s surface intent of these free drinks is to make your playing experience all the more enjoyable with drinks brought right to you so that you do not have to leave your game, and on top of that your drinks are free! This would be one of the advantages blackjack in a brick and mortar casino has over online blackjack…if you like to drink while playing.
But the real reason that casinos like to offer their players free drinks is in hopes that players will become somewhat inebriated, but not fully intoxicated. For the most part when players become inebriated they lose their focus and do not usually stick with their blackjack strategies, tossing aside their basic strategy charts, and making foolish plays or wagers. Casinos make money here.
But they do not want players to be drunk as it ruins the experience for other players. That, and there is the possibility that a player will behave very badly.
I read this morning about a man who was playing blackjack at one of the Meadows’ new blackjack tables. Security was going table to table around 2:30 am telling the players ‘Last Call’ when this man became very angry and aggressive. He wound up being tasered by a state trooper who was called in and hauled off to jail. Not how you want to end a night of blackjack.
Not only should you want to avoid being tasered, your main reason for watching how many of those free drinks you have has more to do with your playing and your blackjack strategy.
Remember that part where I mentioned that getting drunk at the blackjack tables will cause players to play recklessly, and that casinos like when this happens? You do not want to play recklessly because it will cause you to lose your money faster. You might as well hand it over to the cashier and be done with it if you want to be drunk and throw your money away.
Blackjack offers players the chance to make money. Getting tipsy and reckless with your playing will not only reduce your chances of making money, it will increase your chances of paying out through your nose.
Tags: Basic Strategy, Blackjack, Blackjack basic strategy, Blackjack betting strategy, Blackjack Odds, Blackjack player, Blackjack strategy, Blackjack Tips., Casino Games, Casinos, Game of Skill, How to play Blackjack, Meadows, play Blackjack
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Wednesday, July 14th, 2010
On Thursday of last week three brick and mortar casinos in western Pennsylvania opened the blackjack tables, drawing patrons away from the long haul drive to Atlantic City to enjoy some blackjack.
Unfortunately for Atlantic City the run of Pennsylvania casinos is not at an end yet. This past Tuesday, July 13th, saw the opening of blackjack tables in three eastern Pennsylvania casinos.
Blackjack players all over Pennsylvania are very excited with the addition of their favorite casino game in six casinos. This follows months of back and forth political arguments earlier this year about whether or not the State would allow table games like blackjack, roulette and craps to be added to their game offerings. But the demand was there and the income to the State in gaming taxes was needed. Everyone wins. Well, except for Atlantic City.
For decades Atlantic City was the mecca of East Coast gambling in the United States. But with the down turn in the economy and a lack of funds trickling down the government hill, states began looking at other ways to bring in money.
Pennsylvania is not the only state to look to gambling. Florida recently settled a long standing dispute with the Seminole tribe about blackjack there. Florida will be making $1.5 billion over the next five years from their deal with the Seminoles.
But with the addition of blackjack to the casino games at the Rivers, Meadows and Presque Isle Downs casinos in western Pennsylvania and the Mohegan Sun, Mount Airy and Hollywood casinos in eastern Pennsylvania could spell even more trouble for Atlantic City.
Not only will the time-honored East Coast gambling destination be competing with these six improved casinos next door, they might also be competing against online gambling. New Jersey is looking at legalizing online gambling for New Jersey residents that would make the competition even greater for Atlantic City.
While Pennsylvania blackjack players are quite happy with the new table games in six of their casinos, we shall have to see how Atlantic City fares over the next few years. Will it be able to keep itself afloat or will it sink in the ocean that is the gambling industry.
Tags: Atlantic City, Blackjack, Blackjack player, Casino Games, Casinos, Craps, Florida, Hollywood Casino, Legalize Blackjack, Legalize Gambling, Mohegan, mount airy, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, play Blackjack, Presque Isle Downs, Roulette, Seminole Casinos, Seminole Tribe, Seminoles, the Meadows, The Rivers
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Tuesday, July 13th, 2010
I am sure we have all heard this phrase before, and generally its source is one of two places: the business world or a movie. Actually I have also heard that goblins in massive multiplayer online games say the phrase too. But this actually relates to blackjack—not the goblins but the idea of time being money.
In any casino game time is your enemy when playing as long as the house has the edge. Here is how it works when you are playing blackjack.
When the edge is stacked up against you every hand of blackjack that you play has more potential to cost you money than to gain you money.
As an example let’s say that you lose six of every ten hands played and you are wagering $10 per hand. If you only play ten hands in one hour, out of the $100 you had wagered you would have only lost $60. But if you had played at a faster pace and played twenty hands in one hour, it means that of the $200 you had wagered you would have lost $120.
Keep going with the math and you can see how the faster you play the more money you stand to lose. This is why casinos dislike card counting blackjack players—the players can turn the edge to favor themselves which means the casino has the potential to lose more per hour than the player does.
If you are not a skilled card counter or if you are playing online blackjack where card counting is useless what can you do to overcome the time is money principle in a casino?
If you are playing blackjack in a brick and mortar casino play at full tables. The more players there are at a table the slower the rate of play is. It will take longer to play through a round if seven players have to decide how to play than if only two players have to choose how to play.
Also look for hand shuffled blackjack tables as it takes longer to shuffle by hand than if shuffle machine is being used.
If you are playing online blackjack you are playing one-on-one with the dealer. Shuffling is automatic in online blackjack. But the round depends on you meaning you set the pace. The longer you take to play out a round the less rounds of online blackjack there are per hour. Slow yourself down!
Time very much is money in blackjack. Understanding that and working that principle into your blackjack strategy can help you to exert a little more influence on your own blackjack odds. Remember odds are about your potential to make money. And if you can slow the game down so that the house has fewer opportunities per hour to take your money you will have successful put a little bit of a change in your odds.
It is like time and money in business. The more control you can exert the better your own odds. And forget the goblins. There are no goblins in blackjack unless you have a really nasty dealer.
Tags: Blackjack, Blackjack Odds, Blackjack player, Blackjack strategy, Blackjack Tips., Card counting, Casinos, Game of Skill, How to play Blackjack, Online Blackjack, play Blackjack, Rate of Play
Posted in Blackjack, Blackjack strategy, Online Blackjack | 1 Comment »
Monday, July 12th, 2010
While basic strategy offers players a wonderful, easy and legal way to lower the house edge it only takes you so far. As far as 0.5% still being in the house’s favor. And while that house edge is not as great at the 8% to 12% that players are up against at a slots machine, the casino is accepting for two reasons:
1. Not every single blackjack player will play according to basic strategy, nor will they play every hand according to it, deviating and thus keeping the house edge above 0.5%.
2. And the house still has the edge. As long as they have some kind of an edge they are a happy casino.
But then along comes those wily card counting blackjack players.
Casinos very much do not like card counting blackjack players. This is more about money than anything. On the surface card counting evens out the house edge and can even, for the skilled card counter, tip the edge in favor of the player.
If these card counting blackjack players were playing for fun or for fake money the casino would not care at all if the house edge slipped in favor of the player. But when money is involved, well that is another story.
When the house edge is in favor of the house, they stand a greater chance of making money off of the players. But when the edge goes to the player, the casino winds up paying more money to the player—something that they do not want to do on a regular basis. A slots jackpot here, and an honest 3-2 payout on a high-end wager to a non-card counting player, sure they are okay with. But a player who is taking regular advantage, no.
That is why if you are going to be a regular card counting blackjack player there is another skill you need to acquire: appearing that you are not counting cards.
Pit bosses, when they suspect that a player is counting cards or that something funny is going on, will come over to the table and strike up conversation with players. And often players will talk with the other players at the table or even with the dealer.
It is the player who with the bets going form $5 up to $50 suddenly that is not talking that will catch their attention. So the other skill you need to teach yourself to go hand-in-hand with card counting is the ability to keep an eye on the cards, keep your count and still interact with the other players, the dealer and even the pit boss if he stops by.
The point here is to be social and to appear that you are not counting cards when you really are. If you can interact with the others while playing blackjack the casino staff will not think that your mind is focused on counting. But then they assume that card counting blackjack players are not smart enough to do two things at once.
Tags: Blackjack, Blackjack betting strategy, Blackjack Odds, Blackjack Payout, Blackjack player, Blackjack Tips., Card counting, Casino Games, Casinos, Game of Skill, House Edge, How to Bet in Blackjack, How to play Blackjack, play Blackjack
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Monday, July 12th, 2010
Last week blackjack tables in three western Pennsylvania casinos opened:Rivers, Meadows and Presque. They ran the blackjack table test on July 6th and then opened completely on July 8th, much to the pleasure of local residents.
The addition of blackjack tables and other table game such as roulette, craps and mini baccarat are now pulling patrons away from the slot machines in favor of casino games they feel more in control of, especially blackjack.
Staff noticed a difference in the noise, energy and excitement of the casinos’ patrons when the table games were opened. They truly feel that the addition of blackjack and other casino table games is the reason.
“Primarily, they [table games] are the most exciting part of the gaming floor – the noise and action there dominates the rest of the casino,” said gaming expert David G. Schwartz. Mr. Schwartz is the director of the University of Nevada at Las Vegas’ Center for Gaming Research.
So what makes for the change in the dynamic at these western Pennsylvania casinos? Can the addition of blackjack and other table games really have that big of an impact? And can they really push slot machines off to the side?
Yes, table games can change the dynamic of a casino floor, but this is because table games, like blackjack, offer a different playing experience. Table games offer players more camaraderie while playing. Even though blackjack is a player vs. dealer sort of game, having other players at the same table boosts the feeling of ‘we are in this together,’ whereas slots are a more individual game.
Because of the single player feeling and the actual design of the machines themselves, slots can literally be pushed off to the sides of a casino, against the walls and to line walkways.
Patrons seem to be quite happy with the addition of blackjack. Bill Shuba, who is a blackjack player, says that he probably will not be back to the casino in West Virginia he patronized before the addition of the blackjack tables to the western Pennsylvania casinos. In his words, “[They] probably won’t see me anymore.” This was said before he sat down at a $25 minimum blackjack table at the Meadows on the blackjack tables’ debut.
Tags: Bill Shuba, Blackjack, Blackjack player, Casino Games, Casinos, David Schwartz, Meadoews Casino, Pennsylvania, play Blackjack, Presque Casino, Presque Idle Downs, Rivers cAsino, University of Nevada
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Thursday, July 8th, 2010
Seems that so much is finding its way into being Apple applications for various i-whatevers. And blackjack is no exception. While the two blackjack apps that are out there now are not apps designed to make the game online blackjack, they certainly allow players to take blackjack on the road with them.
The two blackjack apps that are available to those with iPads do not allow for play with other players. These apps are similar to online blackjack games except that players are not online and the graphics are more on the simple side.
The two apps for the iPad are called Blackjack for iPad and Blackjack HD. Blackjack for iPad was created by Haolan Qin and Blackjack HD was created by MobilityWare.
There really is not too much of a difference between the two apps. Both have players starting out with $1,000 that they can add to by winning or lose by playing poorly. Thankfully both apps allow for learning, which means that they both have an Advice button.
So what makes them different from each other? Blackjack HD offers players another dimension of play. At a real blackjack table hand gestured are used to communicate to the dealer what play you would like to make. In the Blackjack HD app players can tape the screen twice to hit or swipe a finger horizontally to tell the game they wish to stand.
So what does Blackjack for iPad offer that Blackjack HD does not? Players can change the number of decks being used in Blackjack for iPad. Also to simulate differences in house rules, the insurance and surrender abilities can be turned off which allows players to practice playing with different house rules. Although I have yet to hear of a casino, online or otherwise, that does not allow for insurance considering that they make money on insurance. I suppose it is the thought that counts on the part of Blackjack for iPad.
While both of these iPad apps allow for taking blackjack on the go, I would still only recommend them for practice. They are able to simulate a game well enough to allow for practice but they still are not up to the standards of a game in a brick and mortar casino or online blackjack.
Tags: Blackjack, Blackjack for iPad, Blackjack HD, Blackjack player, blackjack practice, Blackjack strategy, Blackjack Tips., Blackjack Variations, Casino Games, Game of Skill, How to play Blackjack, iPad, iPad apps, Online Blackjack, play Blackjack
Posted in Blackjack, Casino Games, Online Blackjack | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, July 6th, 2010
I read recently how a Dutch court ruled that poker is to now be considered a game of skill. This is a result of the defense in a court case arguing that because of tactics, experience and psychology poker is a game of skill.
This made me think of blackjack and how it should be considered a game of skill as well. I think of it as such, but the rest of the world should think of blackjack as a game of skill as well.
Why is blackjack a game of skill?
For starters players who use blackjack strategy can change their odds in blackjack. The easiest example is how a player who uses basic strategy can reduce the house edge to 0.5%. A player who does not use a form of strategy cannot lower the house edge and will more often than not increase the odds against them.
For players who practice their blackjack strategies and skills their ability to manipulate the odds increases in their favor. For this example I want you to look at card counting.
While card counting cannot be used in online blackjack, it does have an impact on blackjack played in a brick and mortar casino. And the more a player practices his car counting the better their skill at it is and the better they can take advantage of the cards they are counting; they acquire a better skill at knowing when to raise and lower their bets.
When a blackjack player combines their skills at basic strategy and at card counting they can bring the house edge to 0 if not tilt the edge in their favor.
Now you tell me how that can be done in a game of chance like slots or roulette? It is not possible in those games because the player does not have any impact on the outcome of a round. Whereas in blackjack the player is choosing how to play his hand—meaning he has a say in the outcome of his hand in the round. He can choose to hit or stand.
It is those playing options and the application of a practiced strategy and practiced skills that allow the player to have an impact on the outcome. And the more a player practices his skills the more controlled his impact is on the outcome of a round.
Because a player in blackjack can have an impact and because practicing and refining skills results in a positive impact on a player’s blackjack odds, it means that blackjack is a game of skill.
Tags: Basic Strategy, Blackjack, Blackjack basic strategy, Blackjack Odds, Blackjack player, Blackjack strategy, Blackjack Tips., Card counting, Casino Games, Game of Skill, Online Blackjack, play Blackjack
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