Dealer Busts Side Bet
When playing blackjack, players around the table are all hoping for the same outcome: the dealer to bust. At some casinos, players can cash in on this possibility with a “dealer busts” side bet. This bet can be a lucrative one if Lady Luck is on a gambler’s side and can add a unique level of excitement to any game of blackjack.
The payouts on the “dealer busts” side bet vary exponentially with the number of cards the dealer takes to bust. With a 3-card bust, which happens 17.3% of the time, the player receives 2:1 odds. A 4-card bust, with a 9% chance of occurring, yields 2:1. If the dealer busts with 5 cards, which happens 2% of the time, the side bet pays 4:1. The winnings escalate greatly from there. If, by a stroke of luck, the dealer busts with 6 cards, which only happens .26% of the time, wagers on this side bet pay 12:1. In the event the dealer busts with 7 cards – something that only happens .02% of the time – the side bet wagers pay 50:1. To top it all off, there is a .0012% chance the dealer will bust with 8 whopping cards, and players will win an incredible 250:1 payout on their bet!
However, anyone who knows much about gambling shouldn’t be disillusioned by these big potential earnings. Since the odds of the dealer busting are only around 28%, and the big payouts are incredibly rare, the house collects a sizable edge of 6.21% on the wager that the dealer will bust. The edge assumes the dealer hits on soft 17 and is played with six decks. Understandably, the edge would be higher if the dealer stood on soft 17 or the game was played with more than six decks, up to 8.7%.
The verdict, of course, is that smart gamblers will stray away from this bet. Side bets in general are designed to earn the casino even more money. Nonetheless, a winning “dealer busts” side bet is bound to make a few tourists’ trips to the casino much more memorable. My advice, however, is simply to stay away.
5 Card 21
While there are numerous variations on possible blackjack hands, the rarest possible combination is a 5-card 21 where all 5s make an appearance. Exceptional hands like this give blackjack players a different perspective on the game and a better sense for the odds inherent in it. While it’s been said that it would take a blackjack player 24 years to encounter a scenario like the one that has been described, it’s still fascinating to see how a hand like that could possibly occur and to take a lesson from it.
The conditions that would have to occur to encounter a 5-card 21 where every 5 makes an appearance would have to come into place in a very specific fashion. First, the player would almost certainly have to start out with 5,5 as their first two cards. As this card would be an obvious one to hit on, the player would have to then hit and it would be necessary that the third card would also be a 5.
The next step in constructing this unlikely circumstance would be the dealer’s hand. If the dealer is showing a card of 7 or higher, the player would be strongly enticed to hit in order to give themselves the greatest odds against the dealer. At the same time, the dealer’s hole card would likely need to be a ten or an ace (more likely a ten) or the player would likely simply double down on 10. For the sake of argument, assume the dealer has a 10.
For the final step to be fulfilled, the player would need to get an ace, then, assuming they chose to hit a final time, get hit with the final 5, giving the player 21 and completing this dream scenario. The chances of the end of the scenario occurring are made even more unlikely due to the fact that not every player will trust the odds enough to choose to hit on 16. Many players may feel it best to trust to luck rather than risking a bust. However, at least in this hypothetical instance, hitting on 16 would have been a wise choice indeed.
Contemplating hands like these are both instructive and fun. For those who have encountered such hands, it provides ample opportunity to share tall tales about winning and losing hands and think about the odds of such things occurring in a game that isn’t rigged, but can sometimes feel like it. For those who have never had the pleasure of such an occurrence, it provides an opportunity to contemplate some of the more unlikely aspects of the game of blackjack. That way, when you stumble across an equally unlikely 6-card 21, the player isn’t quite as surprised.
Blackjack: Super Split
The best side bets in blackjack are always considered to be the stretch along with the always favorable house advantage and rules. These kinds of side bets never truly require a skill or a difficult decision on your part. They are never fun and always kill any left chances of making any money of the regular bets. So how come they exist? They are called the Super split, which we will look closely at as they play a big role when playing blackjack. They are based and most played when you spit your hands on the first two cards. Then the sequence that you get is most likely the payoff that you are going to receive on the side bet. Now let’s look at the other common mini game in blackjack that deals similarly, known as the six deck game. In this game the overall house advantage against the player stands at about 23 percent. With this the common 6 or 7 percent house edge in other games does not look so bad after all. Then there is the eight deck game which yields the best odds, as it has only a 22 percent house advantage. Other game that has good odds is the two deck game, which has an incredible 28 percent advantage over the house. All of the games mentioned are a good way to keep the worst and best players away from your table.
Finally we have the best ways to get the best payoff between a splitting two aces in your original hand and the two face cards after the split. This bet contains the best possible payoff in an astonishing odd be to of 2,500 to 1. But to see that kind of luck you fist have to get luck y yourself as the odds against you to see that are 0.0004 percent. So it will basically never happen. The final and best outcome of the bet could be a regular 500:1 payoff, which contains odds at 0.03 percent. It‘s never the less more authentic and true with less zeroes and a more realistic chance of you getting some kind of payout from it all, if at all. Although you can take the whole field of playing at high stakes chances and Take it down a notch to require only one, non-suited face card after splitting aces. With it you get 50:1, including a realistic 0.2 percent chance. Likewise with a splitting two aces nets you 25:1, along with a 0.3 percent. So there is only an o.3 percent chance of you getting the big bucks from a six deck game. Lastly we have a splitting two of the same face card. Already valued and suited which regularly pays it’s odds at about 15:1 with a 0.4 percent chance. Last we have the Two general face cards game which has a 5 percent chance and pay offs at 3 to one.
These kinds of games are not that much lucky on the winning side so take a considerate amount of bet when playing. They are not that much to gamble on at, unless you like to play and enjoy the overwhelming Caribbean Stud progressive game. It is recommended to move on to other games as the lucky meter won’t feel up just for playing at a single table for a long period of time, along with the probabilities that will never rise to your winning level. These are dangerous game to play and hopefully you will get lucky and win a couple of bets. Most importantly just enjoy the games that you play even if you don’t win and have a good time.
Blackjack: Doubling Questions
Inside of the rule book it says that you divide 10′s when facing a five if the true number is five. It also states that you divide 10′s against a six when the true number is four. I apologize to all of those who are not counters, just stay with me on this one.
What would you do if you got an ace on your first split in either of the scenarios? Would you double the hand you are holding? There is not one answer to this question, but two. The first answer refers to the financial part of the matter at hand, and that would be to take the double. The second answer depends on what casino you will be playing at. It is the physical side part of the matter at hand. This basically means that if you would like to hold all of your earnings in one piece, the best thing to do would be to stand. The double after the split is a revealing sign that you just might be a card counter, and if you decide to make that move, get ready for a pat on your shoulder or worse before even fifteen minutes goes by. You may be doubling your cash, but you definitely will not be doubling your luck.
In the second scenario, if rather of an ace, you received another ten. The splitting of 10′s is ever an ill-natured topic, and irrespective of what the true number is, or what the card may tell you to do, every person has their own preference when it comes to playing as well as their own gut feelings about it. Personally, it may take more than just a couple drinks these days to really get me in the spirit to split 10′s, particularly if I had already split them once before. This particular answer is most likely guided along those same lines. If you yourself play by the book, you will split. Just keep in mind your multiple splits (may be more if you have been winning) will acquire some attention from the dealer as well as many casino employees.
What I am trying to get at is this, how good are you at hiding your card counting? If the number count gets too high, you could be splitting your hands four or five times (differs with each casino’s guidelines) and then you may not be able to even finish your hand before you get taken into the back room or out of the front door. Would you be able to accept a little less profit knowing you’d be safe to stay at your table? Do you have the prediction skills to recognize that you could make more money at the end of your course by sacrificing a little early on in your situations?
Splitting 10′s against an ace is a breakneck, nerve-wracking prospect, it is even this way for the regular players. While counting, follow the +7 doubling rule. Do not be afraid to avoid it altogether. Playing smart is the way to win, don’t miss an opportunity or you may end up kicking yourself in the end.
Blackjack: Double down double trouble?
People who play blackjack regularly can get quite a bit of entertainment from silly moves the tourists make at the tables. Given an abundance of players with habits counter to those of basic strategy, many gamblers are scared off and feel it necessary to move to another table to change their luck. Of course, anyone who claims to be a real gambler ought to know better. The fact is that most gamblers get more enjoyment from casinos play with their intuition and Lady Luck, and, quite often, it works out nicely in their favor.
With this in mind, allow me to present a scenario that happened to me earlier this month. I was playing a minimum $25 bet blackjack table. With such a high minimum bet, only those who are comfortable with basic strategy really ought to be playing. Although I do not consider myself a blackjack aficionado, I did observe that the other players at the table, in general, were on top of their game.
Nonetheless, I was startled when someone had the audacity to double 12s. Even more shocking is that this was often done when the dealer’s up card was 4 or 6. Of course, I found myself thinking, “Who in their right mind does that?” For a long while, I found myself rolling my eyes at the guy, but he just kept winning. After a few hands, I was dealt a 12. I cracked a smile, thought, “What the hell,” and doubled my bet.
The dealer busted.
I had no reason to think that Lady Luck herself wasn’t at the blackjack table that night. Consequently, I took advantage of her presence and gambled. What happened? Not a single ten came up, and the dealer busted every time. The guy who started doubling 12 ran off with about seven times what he started with, and I profited around $150. Although strategy charts will tell you differently, I think that anyone who doubled on 12 that night made the best move possible.
For what it’s worth, I still think the guy who got me doubling 12 was a skilled blackjack player who may have even been a card counter. Why? He made small talk. There is a great deal of scrutiny from other players during a game of blackjack, and casting aside any fear is essential to succeeding at the game. Small talk can successfully boost confidence and gain you respect from other players; consequently, your game will improve.
So, what lesson can be learned? Gambling is supposed to be fun. Enjoy the friendly company you have when playing, and take a chance. Who knows? If it’s your lucky night, an otherwise foolish decision can get you some serious wealth.
MIT Blackjack Team
The MIT Blackjack Team is one of the eldest of organized blackjack teams. It’s players are form of students and graduated students from all over the United States from some of the best schools. This team mainly involved educated people from various high rated schools who often used many different techniques in order to win against casino blackjack tables.
The various techniques that this particular team used in order to win against such casinos included counting cards, hole carding, shuffle tracking as well as many other techniques which they learned over the years. The MIT Blackjack Team formed after a few people visited a mini course at MIT called ‘How to Gamble if you Must’. The ones who attended this particular activity learned many new techniques that allowed them to win while playing blackjack.
In the spring of 1979 the MIT Blackjack Team took their first real trip to the casinos located in Atlantic City. However, They did not do as well as once thought. During their trip they ended up losing everything they had went with. After their unsuccessful trip to Atlantic City, the team split up going their separate ways, most graduated and soon after took on regular jobs while two of the former team stayed behind to better themselves at the game. These two members then started recruiting new members to the team as well as some investors to better their chances of winning.
The two members of the original team then used the same mini course they had learned from to show to new potential members and recruited those that seemed most interested. The team was not very big when they once again formed and were only limited to five-thousand dollars to use toward the tables. However, Their hard work seemed to pay off a little at a time as they started making little profits here and there on the tables. They were not making much, So after a little time some of the players were beginning to wonder if their team was really a good idea or if it were just a dream that wasn’t likely to pay off.
This was until Bill Kaplan came into play in 1980. Bill Kaplan was already a very successful man when it came to the game of blackjack and had previous experience running his own blackjack team in Las Vegas, Nevada. Bill spent a-lot of his time keeping an eye on the MIT team and eventually decided it may be a good idea to join them if they would make some mild changes and run it more as one would a business. After very little time after Bill joined them, the MIT team’s fund reached a very impressive limit of eighty-nine thousand dollars. This was when the team once again went off to the tables.
In only two months time the MIT Blackjack team had managed to double their original investment of eighty-nine thousand when they started making over one-hundred and fifty dollars per hour. The team was beginning to do very well for themselves even when they came into the 21st century. Although the MIT Blackjack team is now discontinued, blackjack teams everywhere are still making good profits from the blackjack tables at casinos today.
Blackjack: Taking even money
Blackjack is great fun and exciting. Hitting a 3:2 may get you very excited. You’ll get transfixed by the win and know your making some extra money with all of your good fortune. You’re on top of your game. However, all of your excitement and happiness is only bound to the moment you win that 3:2 payoff. This explains why the regular blackjack players may scold you worse than if you had hit a 15 against a dealer’s five if you take even money.
Let’s put counting aside, if you do take even money, you cannot just frown upon the people who play insurance when the dealer has a possible blackjack. You’re probably wondering why. Well, it’s because it’s basically the same thing. You are disabling yourself either way you play the game. Most regular players will tell you that taking the insurance in a game of blackjack is a ‘sucker’s bet’. Therefore you should know enough to stay away from any of the even money bets, as well.
If we were to discuss the video blackjack games, there is a small amount of difference. You will not notice it if you are not playing that much every night. However, if you are on a trip to a popular casino in your area, surrounding area, Atlantic City, New Jersey or in Las Vegas, Nevada for a few weeks or an extended vacation. You may notice a very huge add up in your way of playing the game of blackjack. You are probably now wondering what I could possibly be talking about. Well, it’s really quite a simple concept, if you are betting forty dollars and the dealer shows you an Ace and you take even money, your current bet for the hand you are holding will be marked as forty dollars, the same as what you had started with in the first place. However, If you were to take the insurance on the hand the bet would then be marked at fifty dollars, not much of a difference but you sure would be getting somewhere.
If you are keeping count, taking even money is another in the big bag of tricks at camouflaging your game play. There is an old saying that goes, “You’ve got to lose a little to make ‘em think you’re not trying to win.” Or maybe that is just one of my personal sayings, but I’m sure there has to be a saying similar to that which captures the spirit of what I was trying to say. Con artists try to deceive the watchful eyes of the casino security. So if they are making a couple playing ‘mistakes’ here and there that could or could not affect their playing status at the end of the game. It just makes the most sense to play your hand in that way.
Blackjack KO card counting
When one is counting cards its not knowing when to hit or stand its knowing what your best odds are against the house. In order to get an accurate card count you have to give each card a value of a positive one, negative one, or zero. There are different ways to do that. The KO way is giving the numbers 2 through 7 a positive one, the 8-9 gets a value of zero, and 10 through Aces get a value of negative one. But this doesn’t always mean that you are going to win by just knowing the count. You also need to have a good knowledge of Basic Strategy. Basic Strategy teaches you on what hand to hit, stand, fold, split, or double, and also what hands the dealer must hit on . Knowing all this plus keeping an accurate card count will give you the upper hand in beating the dealer/house. But there is also a lot more involved as in running counts which turn into a true count. The running count is the running total of each card’s assigned value. The running count is converted into a “true count,” which takes into consideration the number of decks used. The true count is essentially the running count divided by the number of decks that haven’t yet been dealt. It can be calculated exactly or approximated with an average card count per round then multiplied by the number of rounds dealt. However, many variations of true count calculation exist. Although there are other ways to count cards KO is one of the best because it is a well balanced system. You may also use a Team. Using someone else in KO card counting will make it easier. It helps in so many ways one way is one person can keep a true count of the cards with out betting to high and one the count gets to a high enough number the “Big Hitter” as there called comes in and bets high but not to high to alert the dealer. So the “Big Hitter” would bet depending on the table minimum and maximum. The two players that are working together have key words to let the Big Hitter when the deck is getting cold. Which means that the house is getting the upper hand and its time to color up and get out. So knowing the different ways to count cards is just the beginning you have to learn how the game is played and the best way for you. The KO way to count cards is one of the easiest ways to learn there are more advanced systems but for the starter KO is the way go. But once you learn you cant just walk into a Casino and do it you have to practice and practice to get it perfect.
Blackjack Hi/Lo Card Counting
Blackjack, or twenty-one, is one of the most popular gambling games in the world. The standard rules of the game involving being dealt a series of cards until the value reaches twenty one, or as close you can get without going over that number.
The easiest strategy for winning blackjack is the hi/lo card counting strategy. In this strategy, each card is assigned a specific value of either plus one, minus one, or zero and the player uses these values to keep a running count in his/her head. The value of each card is as follows:
2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 are plus one
7, 8, and 9 are zero
10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace are minus one
For example, if the first five cards dealt are six, five, seven, king, and two, then the values would be +1, +1, 0, -1, and +1 and the running count would be two. The next step is to divide your running count by the amount of decks being used in the game to get the true count. Most professional blackjack games use more than one deck, so you will have to figure out how many decks are being used to calculate the true count. For instance, if the running count is 7 and the dealer is using four decks of cards, then the true count would be 1.75, or you can round up and say 2. Using this strategy will help you determine what your bets should be during the course of the game. The general rule is that if the true count is negative, you bet the minimum and if the true count is positive, you bet more.
One of the reasons this strategy is so effective is because it uses a balanced count as opposed to an unbalanced count. The difference between these two is that when using the balanced count and you go through the entire deck with the appropriate values, you will end up with zero.
The best time to use the hi/lo strategy is at the beginning of a new deck or shoe so you don’t miss any cards and you keep your running count and true count as accurate as possible. Nowadays, most casinos don’t go through the entire shoe because they have caught on to card counting strategies, and the best time to make money is at the end of the shoe.
As you can see from above, the actual card counting strategy is very easy to learn. The trick is memorization, practice, and maintaining focus. Casinos are very noisy and there are a lot of distractions all of the time. It is important to maintain complete focus during the game so you don’t miss any cards that have been played to keep your counts accurate.
Blackjack – A boost to success
The successful way to have an extra advantage in blackjack is to be discipline, have patience and a lot of passion. It’s all the basics professional and wannabes always try to master before going out in in the big leagues. It is essential to master the principles in order to get ahead in long lasting sessions, which last sixteen hours and sometimes more. It’s all going to help you the long way to finish strong and be confident with other players. It is very important to be practicing your counting as well. Another thing to do is to be to plan out your supplements. They are vital to every aspect of the game. Most professional consider the supplements to be a most important factor to have in your game to be successful. So here am going to mention some of the best supplements that are important to have on your side when it comes time to play blackjack.
One of the best recommended products out there is the DHEA with a daily intake of two to three times. It is vest for when playing daylight blackjack, then to consume some melatonin in the evening. Green tea will also do wonders ether in the day or night. Here are some important facts to keep in mind when taking any supplement. The DHEA is a product that might improve your hormone if you’re older, although it has not been proven. It also contains many side effects that might include effects in your mood. The side effects are however more present on long term users and not the typical short term users who use it for a blackjack lesson once in a while. Then there is also Melatonin, which is another great supplement product. This drug is capable of disturbing your normal sleep cycle. It is great to use to give you an extra push when you are feeling tired during the blackjack session, it is very important that you never overused any supplement product. You should always contact your doctor when using any supplement product. Then there are natural ways to get prepared for a long blackjack session that consist of getting a good night sleep. If you are having trouble falling asleep because of the excitement of the upcoming session, you should take some small amount of honey and hot water or cinnamon. They are very helpful in calming your system down a bit.
When you start the session, you must remember to eat regularly.it is not recommended that you indulge in large amounts of food before the session as it will not last the whole session. If you eat before the session a lot of carbohydrates, it will cause the body to feel tired after releasing insulin. That’s not a good idea when seating at a blackjack table for long hours. So it’s better to fill up on small amounts of food between breaks to avoid unwanted body problems. Of course there are the most common solutions used by almost everyone at a game, drinking soda or energy drinks. They will help the body out in a short term goal which is useful throughout the session. Or do the old school baby basic of power napping your way through the session. It’s best when you have an hour break. Go wash your face, have a small meal and sleep the remainder of the time. It’s most effective when done every six hours.
So there you have it, my own master plan to execute a perfect session awake and alert. My last say is to be careful with the supplements. Enjoy.