Blackjack Boats Possible in 90 Days

North Charleston has been talking about whether or not to launch casino boats with games like blackjack on them as a new source of revenue. And as of Thursday casino boats with blackjack are now legal in North Charleston. Huzzah for good blackjack news!

For residents and tourists who are interested in the casino boats, they will be glad to know that the boats could be set up and launching as soon as ninety days from now. Thus far there are at least eight companies who have expressed varying degrees of interest Mayor Keith Summey has said. But he only thinks that a few of those will actually make the investment to create a casino boat business.

The way it would work is that a company interested in running a casino boat with blackjack would have to pay for a licensing fee as well as pay rent for a loading and unloading point. The company would also pay a percentage in taxes from whatever earnings they make off of games like blackjack and slots.

The loading and unloading points would be limited to a certain area, on the Copper River area south of Riverfront Park extending as far south as Shipyard Creek. In short to and from the former Nave Base and Shipyard complex. Any gambling would wait until after the boats had crossed the city

Blackjack Variation: Spanish 21

Spanish 21 is a blackjack variation in which there is a fairly good balance between the rules that favor the house and the rules that favor the player. In fact, it is the one blackjack variation which has a balance similar to a standard game of blackjack, unlike other variations, which are skewed heavily to the house.

This morning I discussed how the rules and game set up for blackjack actually is pretty balanced. So let

Blackjack Balance

The game of blackjack is one of the most balanced casino games, be it online blackjack or blackjack found in a brick and mortar casino.

Think about it for a moment. The odds of winning blackjack are 48% and the odds of losing are 52%. That is actually pretty even in terms of odds of winning. The reason for the fairly even odds of winning or losing comes from the fact that blackjack is a pretty balanced game.

The balance is from the structure of the game, from its rules. See, look:

For every house rule that gives the player some sort of advantage in terms of odds, there is some aspect of the game that will counter balance it. Take for example the house rule that has the dealer standing on all 17s, that is one rule that benefits players because once the dealer reaches that 17 there is nothing else he can do, and if he has a hard 16 he still has to hit it even though it is likely that he will bust.

To counter the increase in player odds, the house will also be using multiple decks at that table. It is not a normal occurrence to find a game of single deck blackjack and that also has the dealer standing on al 17s.

Another example is a blackjack game played with two decks that does allow the dealer to hit a soft 17. But in that game players are allowed to double down on any of their first two cards, not just 9s, 10s or 11s, double down after splitting pairs and resplit pairs up to a set number of hands.

If you study the house rules and the number of decks being used, you can get a pretty good idea of whether the blackjack table you are looking at is balanced enough or not. And if you observe that the rules and set up lean heavily on the house, you know not to play at that blackjack table, and to keep looking for a balanced blackjack game.

Sneaky, Sneaky Blackjack Insurance

Imagine that there is a way to protect your blackjack wager. A sort of insurance that will cover your wager so that you do not lose it in case the dealer turns up that natural blackjack.

Such a thing exists. And it is called insurance in blackjack. But it is not as rosy of a picture as casinos would like for you to believe.

Insurance is offered when the dealer has an Ace for an up card. It is offered because an Ace is required for a natural blackjack, and is the less common of the two cards needed. So the feeling is that if the less common required card is present, there is a good chance that the hole card will have a value of 10.

This is what casinos would like for you to think. But let

Using Basic Strategy with Blackjack

Blackjack players are the best off when it comes to casino games. For one thing they have a lower house edge to begin with. On top of that they can actually use strategy to influence the outcome of a round of blackjack. Players are also lucky because they have the easiest to use and most effective strategy tool: basic strategy.

Basic strategy is a chart that player can use to determine what the best play to make is. And when I say

Blackjack with a Shoe vs. a CSM

A CSM is a Continuous Shuffle Machine. This is a device typically found in casinos on blackjack tables. And the purpose of this moderately sized device? To shuffle the cards after each round of blackjack.

On the surface a CSM may not seem all that bad, but it is a sneaky moderately sized device and does do something to your bankroll that is not pleasing.

What CSMs really do is speed up the rate of play, meaning that you will play more hands per hour at a blackjack table with a CSM than you would at a blackjack table with just an ordinary shoe.

A shoe is a small device, as compared to the moderately sized device that is a CSM, that shuffles multiple decks, usually six or more, before the first round. The dealer will then draw from the shoe until near the end of the deck when the cards must all be reshuffled and placed back in the shoe.

On average there will be 20% more hands per hour when playing at blackjack table with a CSM than when playing at a table with a shoe.

Now in blackjack, even when played with basic strategy, the house will still have the edge. On average players will only win 48% of the time and lose 52%.

Follow the theory and you will see that players stand to lose more hands than they win. So the more hands you play per hour increases the number of hands you lose per hour, and increase the amount of money the casino will make off of your blackjack game.

While casinos adore their moderately sized CSMs, it is better for a player

Even Money Payouts in Blackjack

It does not matter if you play blackjack online or in a brick and mortar casino, you will come face to face with blackjack variations in either one. Variations are presented as a fun alternative to standard blackjack: Why play boring old blackjack when you could play something like Perfect Pairs or Super Fun 21?

Variations such as Perfect Pairs and Super Fun 21 have special rules and side bets worked into them. Perfect Pairs for example features a side bet for wagering on whether your first two cards will be a pair or not.

Along with additional features, better known as money sucking side bets, blackjack variations will also have some differences in their basic house rules. Super Fun 21 will allow players to double down on any number of cards, not the first two like in a standard game of blackjack. Such changes in rules are there to increase the player