blackjack help?

[wasimbutt2007]

does anyone know any blackjack tricks or systems to use in the casino to try and get an edge over the dealer?

[Lampah]

1.Play all the boxes on the table against the dealer.
2.Don't be ashamed to surrender. (some casinos don't offer this but places like Vegas does). Its an underestimated strategy that does make you lose less against 10s and As in the long run when you have 15s and 16s.
3.Stick to a solid basic strategy. eg do not for heaven's sake hit a 16 when the dealer's face card is a 6.
4.Keep track of the cards that have come out. A simple strategy is to assign a +1 for any card lower than a 7 and a -1 for any cards higher than an 8. Keep track of As individually. Estimate the amount of hands left. If few hands are left and there is a huge positive count then bet higher. How high depends on the count. If there is a huge negative count and few As left then ask for a reshuffle or change table. This only works on manual shuffled shoes and not those automatic shufflers ( where the shoes goes on forever) that you increasingly see these days.
5. Never insure if dealer's card is an A. Terrible odds. Plus there's a possibility of losing that bet plus your orginal stake(s). I suppose this comes under no 3. basic strategy but I find its worth a mention seperately.

I might have missed a few things but thats just basically it off the top of my head and bear in mind this will give you only a slight edge in the long run and casinos do look out for people playing in this fashion. Pit bosses are trained to spot card counters. Read the book Bringing down the House written by some MIT students who successfully took the casinos for alot of money. Interesting and inspiring read.

[wasimbutt2007]

i dont quite understand point number 4. I've seen that system used in that film '21' where US students take a lot from Vegas but i don't fully understand it. Could you care to expand on that point please?

[Antony OLBG]

This link is pretty comprehensive
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Card_counting

[fairfranco]

just come back from watching 21 at the cinema, god awful film i've gotta say though it did make me want to read the book as i'm sure it's much better.

i guess when he loses big it's a good advert to all for what happens when you lose discipline!

I personally avoid blackjack as without counting cards there is no way to get a winning edge over the dealer. i've read up on the "perfect game" but that only reduces your losses and still leaves the dealer with about 0.5% edge (think that's right definately still ahead.).

[princecap]

[Lampah]

Yes you do end up losing more hands than you win. Even with counting cards but those hands you do win you would have bet more if you counted and bet in accordance to how many high cards are left to be delt. But still it takes alot of patience, discipline (as mentioned earlier) and not as easy as it sounds. Plus you have to worry about getting caught and at the very least banned. In addition you would need a fair sized bankroll to see any decent profit. There's no point slogging away for hours on end only to end up a tenner ahead.

[wasimbutt2007]

i still dont understand the card counting. By applying the positive and negative values to a card, what does this achieve? Do you have to reach a specific target by using +1 and -1???

[fairfranco]

the higher the number the more high low cards have come out of the deck. the lower the more high cards that have come out.

if you get a 10 or ace and the dealer doesn't then you'd have a good chance hitting a 20 or 21 while dealer wouldn't have a great chance of pulling out 20/21 off of 3 or more cards

it's using the probabily based on having a knowledge of what's in the deck.

you obviously won't win every hand but while the count is high you have a better chance.

i'm no pro though and don't play blackjack. just my take on what i know of card counting.

[Lampah]

What Franco said. In addition the count gets more important (more accurate) the less cards that are left to be delt. Say for example the count is +10 and you estimate there's around 20 hands to be delt. Well you have multiple hands (which in addition you can split, double down etc and these moves also have a higher chance of success) against the dealer's one. The odds are heavily stacked in your favour. Also you have more chance to make 20s and blackjack.
One piece of advice is if you are going to play Blackjack make sure you do it right. No point following some of the rules and ignoring others. It can be brutal game if you stray from basic strategies and lose betting discipline. Good luck hope this helps!!

[turfline]

I agree with what you say Lampah about having a big bankroll and discipline, i have seen were one night the guy has a massive win but the following week he is down to bare bones, blackjack is a killer game it flatters to decieve, its a game you have got to be good at otherwise you are in a world of hurt.