Basic Strategy

When you have nine. Not a shabby hand. If you double down with nine and draw a 10 or a face card, you end up with nineteen. Pretty good. Get an Ace and you have twenty. That's better. Double down with nine when the dealer shows 3 through 6. When he shows 7 through Ace, or the troublesome deuce, don't double down take a hit!

Resist the temptation to double down when the dealer shows a 7. Any card from a 2 to a 7 would lock you into a hand of sixteen or less. The dealer would beat you with a standing hand of seventeen or eighteen if his hole card were a 10, or picture card, or Ace. The percentages prove it's not worth the risk to increase your bet.
Hit nine against the 2 and 7, and, of course, the 8 through Ace. Double down against 3 through 6.

Basic blackjack strategy when you have nine

DEALER'S UP CARD          YOU SHOULD

            3 6                     DOUBLE DOWN
2, 7 Ace                              HIT

WHEN YOU HAVE TEN

I am a cautious Blackjack player. My conservative moves frequently produce a raised eyebrow or two. One of the critical situations where this is almost a certainty is when you hold a two card total of ten.

In this situation, my Basic Blackjack Strategy chart tells you to double down against the dealer's up card of a 2 through 7 and hit against the 8 through Ace.
Julian Braun has shown that the percentages slightly favor doubling down with a ten versus the 8 and 9, but my objective is to limit your losses with less aggressive moves.

Also, with a poor deck, I won't double a ten against a 2. But you can't know a deck is poor unless you know how to count cards. So, for now, stick with doubling down a ten against a 2 through 7, otherwise, you must hit.

Basic blackjack strategy when you have ten

DEALER'S UP CARD        YOU SHOULD

                    2 7             DOUBLE DOWN
8 Ace                     HIT

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Become an Online Blackjack Icon

There are a lot of fun games that you can play at an online casino. But since these sites have become all the rage, none have been more of a crowd pleaser than online blackjack. The fact of the matter is that this game has a lot to offer in the way of fun, challenge, and the earnings that can be had. Before you can start to dominate the online blackjack table, there are some skills that you will need to master. In other words, online blackjack is not one of those games that you will simply start to dominate from the word go.

The best way to become comfortable with online blackjack is to play the game as much as possible. For most new players, it is a good idea to find an online casino that will allow them to play for free. Think about it this way: when you are playing for free you have the chance to hone your skills without having to risk any real money. This will give you the chance to make the most of your online blackjack skills while always keeping your money safe.

You also need to learn each and every rule that is associated with online blackjack. Sure, you have to get closer to 21 than the dealer, but is this where everything begins and ends? The simple answer to this question is no. With so many rules to learn, it only makes sense that you take your time when getting started. This way you will be able to compete against the dealer on an even playing field. It is safe to say that if you do not know the rules that you are putting yourself at a distinct disadvantage from day one.

Finally, you need to have a strategy that will help you with each hand. And in order to put a strategy together, you should know the odds of winning during certain situations. It can take a long time for you to become familiar with each possible hand, but when you do, you will find that your strategy is much more effective.

Overall, you can become an online blackjack icon if you put in the time. This is not a game that is hard to start playing, but it can be difficult to master. The key to success with online blackjack is to play as many hands as possible; this will help you to become comfortable with the game. And when you start to settle in with what online blackjack has to offer, you will definitely find that you are winning on a more regular basis.

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Blackjack betting strategy - Sequence 2

There is one option play. In the case of a score on the Bucket, you can increase all groupings, except the Bucket, by one chip and 'Pull' 8. Every subsequent winning spin in that Series should call for one chip increase on each grouping. For the more aggressive player   you can adhere to the following:

a.    Three consecutive hits: Increase each grouping by one chip
b.    Next 3 consecutive hits on any grouping: Increase each by two chips on each subsequent spin
c.    Next 2 consecutive hits on any grouping: Increase each by four chips
d.    After 8 straight hits, I would start regressing the bet on each grouping by one chip each

You can see that one decent streak a day will kick off a nice return. Digest the 'Up and Pull' wagers and if you do not agree with them, make the adjustments that you're comfortable with. That advice is for you people who don't like increasing your bets by one chip at a time but would prefer a more powerful outlay of chips.

That is your choice, but be sure you've decided on the increases well before you sit at the table. Now I didn't just give you the right to attack the table with a gun and whip, or tell you that it is okay to just go crazy with your bets.

But if you'd like to become aggressive on maybe the third hit, you could increase your Double Streets by two chips instead of one. After two more hits go up another three chips on each Double Street and two chips on the other groupings. There are so many variations of moves, that it'd be a boring exercise to list them all. But that is where each of you get the chance to make up your own Series and 'Up and Pull' moves.

You know where I stand very conservative!

In fact, if you so desire, you can pop a Regression bet into your Series on the fourth win. At that time you'll reduce each wager down to the basic bets and then start back up with increases of one chip per grouping on each winning spin. Then two or three winning spins later you can again throw in a Regression bet. Just taking the Double Street groups as an example, I'll lay out a possible Series for just the Double Streets   based on a decent winning streak which encompasses scores on all of the groupings:

a.    3 chips   4 chips   5 chips   3 chips 
7 chips   4 chips   6 chips   8 chips

That example used both the 'Up and Pull' and two Regressions.

Work these Series out at home before you try them at the tables, especially the part of regulating your bets in the middle of a streak cause you wanna hit that hot roll at least once per day.

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Blackjack gambling system

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Blackjack gambling system By now you should be familiar with the Theory behind both the basic Action Number System and the Action Number Sequence Number 2 methods. You'll be adding your own set of spin offs and that's the power of these plays. You can adjust the Series to go either aggressive or conservative. If your Bankroll allows it, each Session could start with a higher amount per grouping and after a win you would revert to the Regression System.

Start with this outlay:

1.     Bucket    2 chips
2.     Double Street (4-7)    4 chips
3.     Quad Bet    3 chips
4.     Quad Bet    3 chips
5.     Double Street (31-34)    4 chips

A winning number would result in the next spin calling for a reduction of one chip on 2 3 4 and 5 above, with the Bucket bet staying at 2 chips. Whether you win or lose, on the next spin a profit is guaranteed. But have your decisions ready:

1.    If loss occurs start all over with basic outlay of 2 4 3 3 4
2.    If win occurs start your 'Up' and 'Pull'  method

Starting with the above amount of chips, look at what your profit would be if any of the groupings showed:

Now you can swing into either Regression or 'Up and Pull' and then move into your predetermined Series. Sure hope you're catching this very important message.
Even if you started with a Regression bet after the first win, you won't get a toothache as punishment if you incorporate another Regression bet along the way, as you bang out another four or five victories.

Remember the curse of lmus Pressit? He feels he must continue to press his bets. When he loses, he leaves a lot of chips hanging out on that layout and never seems to take advantage of both small and long streaks. And that's what does in all stupid gamblers.

When the end of your Series comes and come it will  I'd like you to have a bushel of chips to show for that Series and only a handful of chips for that dealer to sweep off the table.

Go back a couple of chapters and read this system again. It ain't a bad one to start with.

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Side count of aces

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Side count of aces The most powerful card in the deck is the ace ? cause it can be used as one or eleven. Secretly, everyone hopes for the ace to pop up in their hands, and rightfully so. Put an ace in every hand you play during a session of Blackjack and it would be odds on that you'd win money that day.

OK, so if it's such a powerful card, why not keep a running count on just how many aces are left in the shoe. There are two different methods for counting aces, to coincide with the number of players at a table:

a)    Full table of seven players,
b)    Two or three players at a table.

Start with a full table of seven players, plus the dealer.
To complete a hand of Blackjack it takes an average of 31/2 cards per hand. With a full table, you have eight hands being dealt, giving you approximately 28 cards being used. That's a half deck.
Since a half deck constitutes 26 cards, you are safe to figure that in that particular hand you should have seen two aces pop up.
In two hands there should have been four aces coming out of that shoe - because there are four aces in a deck and two hands will give you approximately a full deck being used - when seven players are in action.

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I'm looking to see when that shoe shows an imbalance of aces, either from the plus or minus side. So when I play at a full table, or back count from a standing position, it is very easy to keep a side count of aces.
Take a handful of red and white chips that act as your counter. When a hand is started, place a red 'chip to the side to indicate a half deck. Each time an ace shows, add a white chip. If the laws of probability fall as they should, there would be two white chips for every red one.

Suppose three hands are dealt, giving you 3 red chips off to the side. And suppose in those three hands only 2 aces showed (2 white chips). There should have been six aces.
That means there are four extra aces banging around in that shoe. Your chances of getting Blackjack has increased because of those extra aces. So has your chances of using an ace to double down or to split.

In other words, the chances of getting more money against the dealer has taken a turn in your favor. The Money Management article covers my betting increases in this situation, so I won't go into that right now. But you can see how good it is to know when there are extra aces in that shoe.

OK, now go to the other side of the coin. Three hands are dealt, cause you have three red chips in that pile. Six white chips should be there.

But alas and alack, there are I I white ones in that group. That means five extra aces slid out of that shoe. I'd like to slide off my stool
The chances of getting aces has declined, along with your chances of getting Blackjack. Also your double down opportunities with ace/two, ace/three, ace/four, etc.

Naturally the betting on subsequent hands will decrease and this'll be banged around later, but dwell on these situations for a second. Who the heck wants to play at a game where the chances to get powerful hands has been so curtailed?
Counting aces is an easy thing to do and the information has a dual purpose:

1)    You know when your chances of getting an ace has increased,
2)    You know when your fighting a shoe with a
        shortage of those aces.

Give a look. You're sitting in a six deck game and your running count has reached 16, indicating the shoe is poor in tens. Your side count of aces indicates a negative 5, based on the decks that have been used and there are only two playable decks left in the shoe. Hey, baby, even Daffy Duck would realize he's in hot water. Options are to bet the smallest amount possible or leave that table. Do you have the guts to leave that table with the odds stacked very, very high against you??? I wonder…

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An Alternative to Wonging

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In Beat the Dealer, Ed Thorp says he started out with 1:10 bet variation. When that attracted too much attention, he cut back so that his big bet was a smaller multiple of his small bet. Most authors since Thorp have written as though 1:4 was large enough. I took small bet variation to the extreme in Professional Blackjack , recommending flat bets and Wonging.

It is also possible to get away with the other extreme — to use bet variation, and lots of it. You might be able to get away with one hand of $25 on the worst situations and have two hands of $200 or more on the best. In casinos where bets over $100 attract too much attention, you might be able to get away with $5 to $100.

Bet variation is tolerated better now than it was in the 1970s. Perhaps this is due to the increased number of Asian customers in casinos now. In Macao and other countries in the Orient, huge bet variation is the norm; if the table limit is 10 to 2000 in local currency, most customers seem willing to bet 10 for a starter and progress to 2000 if they hit a winning streak. If casino employees see enough poor players use huge bet variation, then a card counter using big bet variation can blend right in.

The trick to getting away with big bet variation is to do it in other than a mechanical, by-the-numbers way. For example, you might occasionally pop out a big bet on the first round after a shuffle. If you are going $25 to two hands of $200, for example, you might sometimes bet one hand of $100 or more on the first round. If you bet $100 on the first round, then you might go up to $200 or drop to $25 on the second round, depending on the count. Thus you get a $25 to $200 spread on the second round. Cutting back from $100 to $25 does not seem to attract attention. If you had bet only $25 on the first round you certainly would attract attention betting $200 on the second round!.

Try to avoid any sort of a pattern. For example, if you realize that for the last ten minutes you have been betting only one or two green chips each hand because the count has not gone very high, you might pop out five greens on the first round after the shuffle. Your expected win is negative on that one bet, but it buys you the ability to bet five or more green chips on the next good count.

Do not use bet variation in a mechanical manner. If the count calls for a big bet, just grab a handful of chips and place them in the circle. If you want to bet $200 and have you are betting quarters, for example, you may actually have $200 out there, but if you did not grab exactly the correct number of chips you might bet $175 or $225. People do not seem to pay as much attention to how much you bet as how you bet it. You would probably get more attention carefully counting out $150 than by quickly grabbing a handful of chips that happens to total $225.

A side benefit from betting odd amounts is more dealer errors. For example, once I bet $55 in $5 chips and was allowed to insure the whole bet for just $25. The dealer thought I had bet an even $50.

Bet what you can get away with rather than trying to bet an optimal amount that depends on the count. If the count is negative, try to bet the least you can get away with. If you have an edge, try to bet as close to the optimal amount as possible with the constraint that you want your bet size to look natural to whoever is watching.

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Online blackjack strategy

Hi Everyone, here's a great article written by Steward E. Ellwell, It describes a simple but powerfull online Blackjack system. Always hoping to help ya beat the house, your friend VP

How to Win Money with a Good Online Blackjack Strategy!
by Stuart E. Elwell

There are complicated formulas you can try and learn in order to beat the odds at online blackjack. The tips below are an attempt to simplify this online blackjack strategy process so that anyone can quickly grasp the best strategy to play online blackjack and start to win money.

FREE WINNING ONLINE BLACKJACK STRATEGY:

This online blackjack strategy can help you to start winning money at online blackjack without trying to memorize hundreds of card combinations and what you have to do for each scenario. In my opinion this is unnecessary. Simply understanding the below basic blackjack strategy rules is all you need to learn. This way it will quickly become a natural way of playing without many hours of grueling practice.

The basic winning online blackjack strategy rules are: If the bank has a 2 to 6 you should stand on 12 upwards. If the bank has 7 to 10 (or an ace) try and get 17 to 21 and stand if you manage to get within this range. Always split when you get two aces or two eights, and always double your stake when you get 10 or 11 and the bank has a 5 or 6.

That's basically it. Below is a little more in depth explanation, read it if you wish - but make sure you read the CAUTION in the last paragraph before joining any online casinos!

WHY YOU SHOULD STICK TO THESE ONLINE BLACKJACK STRATEGY RULES:

To play online blackjack and allow yourself the maximum potential to win you have to be aware of the percentage odds for and against you. By this I mean you need to play logically, taking into account what the odds are of you getting the card you need on the next hit.

The best way to do this is to sort it out in your mind by simplifying the deck. The cards are simply 1 to 9 plus four 10's. Although there are 52 cards in a deck, and in a real-life casino several decks are shuffled together, the odds are still the same. So it is in online blackjack. You can have as many decks as you like, and shuffle them together all you want, at the outset of play the percentage odds are the same.

Now I know there is such a thing as card counting, but when you play online blackjack (i.e. at an online casino) obviously this strategy cannot work. So I shall ignore it here. However there are certain mathematical equations you do need to observe in order to stand the best chance of winning when playing online blackjack (or playing at your local casino too).

ONLINE BLACKJACK STRATEGY - THE PERCENTAGES:

The chance of any online blackjack number being turned over is 7.7%. In other words there is a 1 in 13 chance of hitting any particular number EXCEPT for the number 10 which has a 31% chance (4 in 13).

Obviously, what numbers your first two online blackjack cards are will dictate the odds of you busting with the next card. When you get 12 upwards with your first two online blackjack cards you should always stand (unless it is a soft number of course i.e. with an ace). This is because even with 12 there is a 31% chance you'll bust. Or even if you don't bust you will be no better off unless you get a online blackjack card that takes you to the count of 17-21. So even on 12 you will need a 5,6,7,8 or 9 to make it worth the risk, but there is only a 38% chance of that happening (i.e. it won't work 62% of the time). So to hit on anything higher than 12 would be even more risky.

However there are some exceptions to this online blackjack "standing on 12 upwards" rule. This is particularly important when the online blackjack bank has an ace. This is because the bank is much less likely to bust so it's best to try and get between 17 and 21. Also when the bank gets a 10 there is a 61% chance it will get a 7 or higher (including ace) and so not bust. Of course this means there is a 39% chance it wont get these cards but even then there is a chance it won't bust even on the third card or fourth and so on. So you should try to get between 17 and 21 without busting if you can.

If the online blackjack bank gets a 7, 8 or 9 you should also try and get 17 to 21 for the same reasons as explained above but to a lesser degree.

Always double your stake when you get 10 or 11 and the bank has a 5 or 6 because the odds are very much in your favor that you will win this bet for the majority of times unless you are being very unlucky in your online blackjack strategy.

Finally always split a pair of aces and a pair of 8's as part of your online blackjack strategy. Aces because two is a bad number to have, but two aces is the best case scenario as you stand a good chance of winning both hands (unless the bank has an ace also). Split two 8's because 16 is a terrible number so you may as well try for two decent hands instead due to 8 by itself not being a bad card.

Give the above online blackjack strategy rules a try at your online casino without using real money and see how you get on.

A last word of CAUTION: Don't join ANY online casino until you check it is NOT blacklisted here.

Good luck!

Stuart E. Elwell

© Copyright 2004 - Stuart E. Elwell - All rights reserved.
You have permission to publish this online blackjack strategy on the Internet providing it is not altered in any way (including this notice)

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Online Blackjack numbers

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Winning at casino gambling

If every single person who walked into a casino set a 10% return factor on their bankroll, you would see some serious head shaking by the casino bosses.

Do you realize that approximately 70% of the people who gamble in a casino are ahead at one time or another during the course of a day? Furthermore, of the 70% of the people who do get ahead, 90% of them kick the money back in. In other words, they get ahead, but instead of walking away, they play on and on, looking for bigger kills.

Getting ahead is not hard. But the amounts of money that people want to win is just out and out preposterous. The stark reality of losing money does not hit you until you leave the casino and head for home. It finally dawns on you that you were ahead a couple of hundred dollars and gave it all back. Worse than that, you gave back the money you came with, and just to put a little icing on the cake, you used your line of credit at the casino for an additional $500, and that also went down the drain. Your day ended with a tidy little deficit of $1000. Add to that the amount you could have won, maybe $300, and you have a swing of about $1300. And now you also have to worry about paying off that marker.

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You think this doesn't happen? If you had your house mortgage with you, that probably would have been thrown into the fray.

Everything loses its perspective when gambling comes into play. Money becomes chips. People who put $251 in the Sunday church collection, make $5 bets for dealers who are complete strangers. A guy who won't buy his wife a new refrigerator, gets ahead $200 and bets $100 a hand on the next two deals.

Who are you kidding? Where's the control with these people? Nowhere!! They have no control, no discipline.
I sit at Blackjack tables and see guys get a couple of hundred dollars ahead, and pour it right back to the casinos.
Learning how to win means exactly that. As soon as you get ahead an amount of money, based on your starting session money, there is no way in the world that you should leave that table a loser.

Most people have heard of Pete Rose, the first baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies. He is renowned for having great hustle, desire, and for the fact that he is trying to overtake Ty Cobb for the total number of hits in a career.
to get ahead, and smart enough to run with the profit.

Learn how to win! I don't care how much it is.

The amounts can increase as your starting bankroll increases. For now, learn how to get ahead, and get out of the casino with the profit. After awhile it will be second nature.

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Variations in Basic Strategy

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Basic Blackjack Strategy Variations In the beginning of the book you saw my Basic Strategy chart and by now I expect you to know it inside out, backwards and forwards. And now that you do, you'll be required to make...  ...instant adjustments to that chart, based on the running count.
 Let's start with the easiest example I can think of: the breaking hand vs. the dealer's up card.

If every person playing Blackjack in a casino would conform to this basic rule, the intelligence level of all players would shoot sharply skyward. This is the biggest mistake of most Blackjack players:
a) They will NOT hit the breaking hand against that dealers standing hand of 7 thru ace.
That simple move is killing more players than any other standard move. When you have 12, 13, 14, 15, or 16 you MUST hit. Since the average player is not a counter, they have to look at every deck or shoe as if it were neutral.
Then comes the counter and his logical approach to the game, based'on his running count. He knows exactly when an imbalance will set in.
The count climbs to 57, only about two decks left in the shoe and you're dealt a ten/four. That deck is rich and you're likely to catch a ten.
You now adjust your strategy and stand with that fourteen. That's because your chances of breaking has increased, due to the richness of that deck or shoe. Why hit into a rich shoe, where you have a strong possibility of getting whacked with a ten?
That's the single most powerful adjustment in strategy and this move alone will save you countless losses, when you perfect counting.

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There's a Basic Strategy variation chart that cobres these moves. Skip ahead a couple of pages and take a quick gander at it. Go down to where the players hand is a fourteen vs the dealers 7 through ace. Normal strategy says hit.
Keep sliding across the page to where it indicates the count is 52 or higher. The decision is to now stand. That's because the shoe is rich and chances have swung over to the possibility that you'll catch a ten and break. You don't have to be a genius to realize you should back off and stand with that breaking hand.
This is the edge the counter has and it is basically my own personal reason for card counting. It's a tremendous tool in the hands of a sharp player.
As you drift through the upcoming chapters, I'd like you to see what I'm trying to get across. When that deck reaches a strong determination of rich or poor you immediately zero in on the adjustments to your play.
This is not hard to do, but you must WANTto be a winner. I can teach you how to win, but each one of you must have it banged into your head that it is the only purpose for your gambling. To win...
As Irene Cara tells you: "What a Feeling!!!"

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How to play blackjack

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How to play blackjack The roughest table in the house, that's what it is. Getting a good long streak in blackjack is harder to come by than any other game on the floor. People play it because they love the game and think it is beatable just because they can count to 21 and can name the four suits in a deck, without a prompter card.  Well, I might as well go all the way back to square one with an explanation about the game, in the chance that a couple of you are getting your feet wet for the first time. In the last chapter I gave you the Basic Strategy Chart and explained that it was the breakdown of all possible combinations you can be dealt and bow to handle them.

There is room for seven players at the table and after you buy in, the dealer will give you chips with usually a value of $1 for white chips, $5 for red chips, and $25 for green chips. The $100 chips are usually black. Any other denomination that you yourself might use is on the casino's color chart. But if you're into those higher amounts, what are you reading an article on basic blackjack strategy  for??

The game begins when you place a chip, we'll say $5, in the space provided in front of you. Some casinos will have the dealers deal from their hands, and this would usually be a single deck game, while other casinos go for the shot method explained above.

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 Whatever the dealing procedure, players are forbidden to put their hands on the cards, either face down with both of them or one face down and the other up. In Atlantic City, the dealer deals both cards face up and players are forbidden to put their hands on the cards. This is to eliminate any chance of a player marking the cards.

The dealer then gives herself a card down, a card up. This up card is the one we base all of our betting decisions upon, because it is the only one we can see. The dealer then starts from her left and plays out each person's hand, before moving to the next spot. You do not speak to the dealer regarding the drawing of a card or not drawing.

If you want a card, you make a sweeping motion toward yourself, either over the cards or on the table next to your hand, to indicate: "Give me a card." You do this each time you want a card. When you no longer want a card, you wave your hand over the dealt cards, indicating to the dealer that you are done.

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Variations of the Blackjack Chart II

After the countless hours of participation and looking at people logical side of it, and applying the realization that most people in a casino play with short or scared money, my decision to hit the 16, rather than split, was a rather easy thing to accept. When the shoe has not reached a determination of rich or poor, then I suggest hitting the 8-8 rather than splitting.
In layman's terms, it is saying that I would rather lose $5 seventy seven percent of the time, than lose $10 sixty two percent of the time. And I feel very strongly about this. What's your theory? One way or the other, make your decisions and stick to it.
Maybe this one little example shows you how strongly I feel about minimizing losses.

g) 8-8 VS DEALERS ACE: Definitely go for the hit, rather than the split, for the reasons stated for the move against the 10. But there is another reason. I am a firm believer in the power of the ace. When I have one of them, I'm happy, and when I have two, the tendency is to start counting my profits.

On the other hand, when the dealer shows an ace, a sinking feeling pops into my gut. And I'm sure you feel the same way. So let's do something about it. Get past the hand and keep your losses down. To do that, simply take your hit and concentrate on the next hand. Splitting the eight gives you $10 at risk, with 8 vs ace and 8 vs ace. Strong feeling towards taking a hit.

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h) 8-8 VS DEALERS 9: Same type of thinking as the two eights vs the dealers ten. I hate splitting those eights and now match up against his nine on two separate hands. Going in, he has the edge on both of my hands, when I split. My chart says to hit those eights and get on to the next hand. Take a minute, put your thinking cap on and see which way you are leaning.

There you have eight moves that I have made towards changing the basic strategy approach that I showed in my Blackjack book. A lot of these changes are from actual playing, and some input was based on my obligation to take into consideration the fact that most people (aside from the professional gambler) do not play enough hands of Blackjack, to allow the laws of probability to set a pattern.

Think you may come around to my thinking on all of these changes.
Before you make your decisions, look deeper into my explanations and try to grasp the reason I give for these swing overs.
You don't have to tell me that every book ever griten is in complete disagreement with my theories, I'm well aware of it!

I don't give a rat's tail what other opinions are. I am trying to give you a different look at Blackjack and backing off when the dealer is holding the hammer. It's the way I play, and it is both effective and rewarding.

When you’re face to face with your adversary and he has the bigger muscles “tis better to turn and run Hawai and live to breathe another day.”

These examples fit that mold. Take the smallest loss you have open to you and wait for the chance to have the hammer.

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Blackjack Dealer Checking Hole Card

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Blackjack Dealer Checking Hole Card At most casinos, the dealers do not check hole cards under 10s. This practice was started by Howard Gross-man at Nevada Palace in East Las Vegas in May of 1981... ...but did not really catch on until started at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in November of 1982. Before, blackjack dealers at all casinos in Nevada checked hole cards under 10s as well as under aces. Here is a reader's letter from 1980:
I would like to compare experiences with other players on the value of toking. I find that with the right dealer it is extremely useful to toke, perhaps especially on the big bets for oneself. When there is a 10 up it is very common for there to be an involuntary gesture concerning the strength of the hand. The eyes sparkle happily for an instant, the jaw tightens almost imperceptibly (oh-oh, better hit that 16), etc. If the benefits concerned only the toked hand, I guess it would not be profitable business, but they tend to flow over onto all the hands, at least in some cases.

This is a letter from Daniel Forbes from back when blackjack dealers checked hole cards under 10s:
I keep a book on dealers and their helpful hints. The coldest, cruelest dealer can change with a toke or two, if the toking is done properly.

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Many blackjack dealers can spot a card counter almost as fast as we counters can spot each other, and it is human to want a piece of the action. If a dealer continuously hollers "checks in play," "green action," "black in play," "doubling (or hitting) soft eighteen," etc., your active life span as a blackjack player is diminished. On the other hand, a dealer who quickly bypasses your humble sixteen to expose a hidden 4 under his 10 is giving you a big edge over the house.

An example. I located a dealer who gave unfailingly accurate hole-card information, even when floor people were watching and I was betting the table maximum. It was easy money. When the relief dealer came on, she knew I was a toker and was very friendly. In the midst of a high count, I was playing two hands at the table limit and she showed a 10.I had two stiffs. She exhorted me to "go for it!" and I did, busting both hands. When she turned over a 3,I was devastated! I quickly cut my bet size and bet small until the first dealer returned. Later, I told the first blackjack dealer what had happened. She must have talked with the second dealer because the second dealer is now a little smarter, the shift makes more tokes, and I am slaughtering the place. Give me dealer help and I will give up counting and still do very well, thank you.

Now you understand why casinos have had their blackjack dealers stop checking hole cards under 10s. Marvin French says:
A friend impressed a lady Strip casino dealer so much that she was peeking at all the down cards in order to help him. Her toke was a dinner at a nice restaurant.

Blackjack dealers who voluntarily disclose the values of their hole cards in exchange for tokes are cheating. They risk being fired and they risk being arrested. Whether the customer is risking arrest in such a situation I do not know. I have never bought a dealer's help, will never do so, and would not advise any of my readers to do so.

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Blackjack betting strategy - Sequence 2

There is one option play. In the case of a score on the Bucket, you can increase all groupings, except the Bucket, by one chip and 'Pull' 8. Every subsequent winning spin in that Series should call for one chip increase on each grouping. For the more aggressive player   you can adhere to the following:

a.    Three consecutive hits: Increase each grouping by one chip
b.    Next 3 consecutive hits on any grouping: Increase each by two chips on each subsequent spin
c.    Next 2 consecutive hits on any grouping: Increase each by four chips
d.    After 8 straight hits, I would start regressing the bet on each grouping by one chip each

You can see that one decent streak a day will kick off a nice return. Digest the 'Up and Pull' wagers and if you do not agree with them, make the adjustments that you're comfortable with. That advice is for you people who don't like increasing your bets by one chip at a time but would prefer a more powerful outlay of chips.

That is your choice, but be sure you've decided on the increases well before you sit at the table. Now I didn't just give you the right to attack the table with a gun and whip, or tell you that it is okay to just go crazy with your bets.

But if you'd like to become aggressive on maybe the third hit, you could increase your Double Streets by two chips instead of one. After two more hits go up another three chips on each Double Street and two chips on the other groupings. There are so many variations of moves, that it'd be a boring exercise to list them all. But that is where each of you get the chance to make up your own Series and 'Up and Pull' moves.

You know where I stand very conservative!

In fact, if you so desire, you can pop a Regression bet into your Series on the fourth win. At that time you'll reduce each wager down to the basic bets and then start back up with increases of one chip per grouping on each winning spin. Then two or three winning spins later you can again throw in a Regression bet. Just taking the Double Street groups as an example, I'll lay out a possible Series for just the Double Streets   based on a decent winning streak which encompasses scores on all of the groupings:

a.    3 chips   4 chips   5 chips   3 chips 
7 chips   4 chips   6 chips   8 chips

That example used both the 'Up and Pull' and two Regressions.

Work these Series out at home before you try them at the tables, especially the part of regulating your bets in the middle of a streak cause you wanna hit that hot roll at least once per day.

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Big Bet at the Shuffle

What catches my attention? Pullback of large bets at the shuffle! Here are my suggestions for various ways to handle this situation without attracting unwanted attention.

1. Let the bet ride and suffer the consequences.
2. Occasionally pull back a large bet and replace it with a smaller one, not necessarily your minimum.
3. Replace a big bet with a small one, and then add another chip after the cut. This can give the impression you think it is a good cut and this will be your lucky hand.
4. Replace your bet with a stack as tall or taller, but of smaller chips and thus of less total value.
5. Pull back your bet and use the pause in action to restack all of your chips as if counting your money.
6. Take your bet back at every shuffle, and make a new bet only after the cards are cut and ready to be dealt.
7. Leave the table.

Another reader says:
I tried Fritz's ideas about what to do with a big bet at the shuffle. I drew back my bet as the dealer started to shuffle, and when he was about through I bet one chip. If he gave me the cards to cut, I advanced one more chip with an audible click. In one case, with a full table, I was given the cards to cut shuffle after shuffle by an entranced dealer.

John Speer adds:
Perhaps this conspicuous action could also be avoided if one made a habit of pulling back the entire bet after every win before placing the next bet.

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Supervision

Do not worry if a pit boss camps at your table. In many casinos this is the customary procedure at any table with big bets. The only problem with having a pit boss assigned to your table is almost all dealer errors will be caught.
When a new pit boss comes to relieve the old one, the exiting pit boss generally tells the new one how much each player has bought in for. If you think they are talking about you, you are right, but fear not. The bosses keep track of how much you buy in for and how many chips you walk away with, but I have never seen the information put to any use except to decide whether to offer you a free meal.

Sometimes a boss will grab a handful of discards and examine them. Sometimes the backs will be examined, sometimes the fronts, and sometimes the sides. Generally the boss is looking for marks. Maybe s/he is checking to see if the cards have been used enough and should be replaced. It is rare that a pit boss will examine the discards to find the count.
One caution: If a pit boss examines the discards at your table, watch those cards! If the boss turns around and removes the cards from your sight, get up and go at the shuffle! The reason is that while the cards were out of your sight they might have been replaced by a like number of small cards, and thus aces and 10s will be scarce after the next shuffle. This is cheating and it is rare, but it can happen. No pit boss should ever remove cards from your sight. Even if a card is torn and must be replaced, everything should be done openly.

What do you do when a boss recognizes you from a previous trip and calls you by name? Smile, and act happy to be recognized. Act like the boss is your friend. Act like you want him to pay for your dinner. Come to think of it, that might be a good way to act toward pit bosses even if they do not recognize you.

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Seing Cards Faster

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Blackjack Dealing Peter Giles says: I enrolled in dealer's school to see what I could learn to aid my game. I found that many break-ins are very nervous and overanxious. I discovered a new trick for this kind of dealer. If you move your cards forward as though you were getting ready to scratch for a hit, they will often start sliding the top card forward in anticipation. As most schools teach their students to tilt the deck back (so card-markers cannot see the marks), it is often easy to get a peek at the top card. A little training with a tachistoscope and nothing can slip by you — burn cards, bottomcards, hole cards, top cards — if it is flashed before your eyes, no matter how quickly, you can pick it up.

As a tachistoscope is primarily an educational tool, it can be obtained at educational supply houses. It is a fairly simple instrument — basically a slide projector with a timing device, accompanied by a screen.
When I started using a tachistoscope, I knew Utile more about blackjack than that it existed. This was somewhere in the mid-sixties. I was on a mission of conquest, as usual, and the enemy was myopia. I had heard that Aldous Huxley had become nearly blind — he could read the large E on the standard eye chart at three feet — and had acquired 20-20 vision by the use of some very simple drills designed to relax and make proper use of the involuntary muscles in the eyes. Somewhere in the mid twenties a man by the name of William Bates decided that modern optics was on the wrong track. He came to the conclusion that almost all visual problems were psychological in nature, and he spent most of his life proving it. Huxley contacted his chief disciple, a woman by the name of Margaret D. Corbett. With her help, he corrected his vision.

My vision was not that bad, but I was very interested in the prospect of throwing away my glasses. I read Huxley's book on the subject, The Art of Seeing, and came to understand why I was near-sighted. The book is an excellent work on the relationship of vision to psychology, and anyone who wants to correct his vision should read it. Unfortunately, the book does not really tell you how to do it. So I picked up Corbett's Help Yourself to Better Sight. With this book and my tachistoscope as aids, I managed to function quite well without glasses in about three months. However, more time was necessary to make the changes permanent. As the drills were very tedious and time-consuming, I relaxed my discipline and in a few months had to resort to wearing glasses again. If you want the effects to be permanent, you must continue with the exercises that brought them about for about another year or two. I got bored.

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Getting back to blackjack, a player with glasses cansee just as well as a player with normal vision. Their mutual apparatus is about equal. But there was a side benefit to using the tachistoscope. Even though I settled for glasses, I found that I could still pick up an image with enormous speed. I manage to see my share of hole cards.
The distinction to be made is between accuracy and quickness. A tachistoscope will not help you to see better; it will help you to see faster. It does not matter whether or not you wear glasses. As the cost should not be high, the only question is whether or not it is worth the time. For a professional who plays a lot, wants to round out his game, and take advantage of every opportunity, I highly recommend its use.
Many counters use flash cards to help learn strategy variations. It would be possible to make up a set of tachistoscope cards to flash on the screen. However, the present material, which usually consists of words and phrases, suffices. If you can improve your speed in picking up a word or phrase, you will find that you can pick up other things faster too. You are developing a technique that is general to use in specific circumstances.

It does not really matter what you flash on the screen. If you can pick up words in l/250th of a second that you could see before in 1 /10 of a second, you will find that this ability carries over to any object you happen to be viewing during the course of everyday life. All you have to do is keep moving the timing device a little each day (or week). When you conquer one speed, move on to the next.
All you have to do is look at the screen. Do not try to get faster. Rely on time. If you try, it will slow you down. You are trying to make an improvement in an involuntary mechanism, and at best, any voluntary action on your part will get you nowhere. Keep your timer set at a speed just above your capacity at the moment, always forcing the involuntary mechanisms to perform just a little bit better. Do not try to make rapid jumps overnight. Be patient. In a week or two you will see some improvement. In a month or two you will be patting yourself on the back. Sooner or later you will start seeing subliminal flashes at the movies telling you how much you love popcorn. You will be able to watch the cocktail waitress and still pick up the burn card in your periphery. When you are satisfied with yourself, keep watching the screen for a little each day. The longer you watch it, the less you will lose when you stop watching it.
An eye doctor says:

I have some information on what Peter Giles is talking about. I am an eye doctor and I specialize in visual therapy, which includes reducing nearsightedness and improving people's perceptual skills and abilities. Two other doctors and I did a visual scan on the Atlanta Braves baseball team, checking all of their skills. We also work with some professional football teams. We use tachisto-scopic exposure in tiaining them to see quickly and accurately and take in a whole picture all at once. So I am quite familiar with tachistoscopes. I have designed some visual therapy instruments.
Here is a technique for learning to catch glimpses of cards using a deck of cards instead of a tachistoscope. Take one card and without looking at it, turn it over and place it in the middle of the deck. Hold the deck design side up. Riffle through looking at the upper left hand corners. You can either slow down or speed up the riffling of the cards to suit your own particular skills. You can get where you can expose that one face-up card for just a fraction of a second and catch it. Sometimes you can even getit subliminally. For example, if you riffle through and you think you may or may not have seen the card, just make a note of the first card that comes into your mind. Then riffle through again but slower and see if the card you noted is not the card that is face up. You only saw it fleetingly and it registered on the subconscious rather than on the conscious mind.

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The Dealer's Mistakes

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Blackjack Dealer Marvin French says: Three times I got to play my hand after the dealer's hole card was exposed. First a dealer peeked under a 10 and flipped over a 4! We all have experienced the "double dip" look at a 4 in the hole under a 10, but this is the first time I have seen the 4 turned over. I was playing two hands. The first, with a toke, totaled nine. I could not double down, so I hit and caught an ace. The second hand was fourteen, so I stood. Instead of me breaking, the dealer broke and I won.

The second time was at the MGM. A super-fast dealer did not wait for me to double after splitting 7-7 against her 6, when I caught an ace on the second 7. She flipped up her hole card, a 10, before I could even blink. I screamed for the pit boss, who let me double down. When the dealer broke I won.

The third time was at Sundowner. I wanted to double down on ten against an ace because of a high count. I stupidly laid my hand face down as I reached for my wallet. The dealer thought I was standing and turned over her hole card, a 4. The pit boss was understanding and said I could stand, hit, or double. I doubled, and this dealer also broke.

Cover Plays
If you are playing blackjack in a casino in which the dealers check hole cards under 10s, tells are a possibility; that is, you may be able to learn about the hole card under the 10 by watching the dealer closely after s/he checks under the 10. For this reason, most casinos no longer have their dealers check hole cards under 10s. But in case you encounter such a situation, here is a story from Peter Giles:
I had 4-4 once when the pit boss was watching the game. The dealer had 10 up and I read her for 9 or 10 in the hole. I laid my two cards side by side on the table for a split. I got about halfway out with my chips and then stopped. "Wait a minute," I said, "I think I'll double down." Then I stopped again and finally threw in my cards. "I surrender," I said. The pit boss laughed — as well as the other players and the dealer. Someone said, "Go get 'em, Tiger!" I acted embarrassed. But I smiled when the dealer showed twenty.
Later, when the pit boss was watching again, I had a four-card soft twenty-one. I looked at the cards as though I were trying to add them up. I finally threw them in for a bust. The dealer dutifully placed them under my chips for me.

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Dealer Errors
A reader says:
For my last 150 hours of play in Atlantic City, playing two spots per round, I received a grand total of two gifts. Both times, against different dealers, I surrendered $75 bets, handing the dealer $12.50 in chips. The dealers were so grateful for my help that they left my $75 untouched.

Bosses on Commission?
A reader asks:
Do pit bosses or any pit personnel receive a commission or bonus based on the profit of their particular pit? They all seem to be very concerned over anyone with even the slightest win!
Pit bosses get salaries, and the dealers get salaries plus tips. Many pit bosses are afraid of getting chewed out if their pits lose. Many dealers are afraid of getting chewed out if their tables lose. Casino employees have no job security.
Some casino managements are more enlightened. They strive for a friendly, relaxed atmosphere. Their pit bosses are happy if you win and sympathetic of you lose. These casinos get more customers and make more money.

Biorhythm
A reader asks:
Have you checked your "biorhythm" against winning and losing days? If yes, what were the results?
I checked and found that my winning and losing days do not run in regular cycles. If the biorhythm theory is valid you cannot prove it by my wins and losses.
Predicting wins and losses is just like predicting stock market ups and downs — you know they are going to happen but you never know which is going to happen next. You can look back and see cycles, but you cannot project these cycles into the future.

Grossman Wins
Howard Grossman wrote this in 1981:
On the blackjack scene I can offer two interesting items. The first is the fact that my play coupled with Peter Griffin's single-deck double-exposure strategies has stunned the Las Vegas "21" machine society. The play against the slot machines netted my friend and me about $10,000 between the $1 and 25-cent slots in about two months. The "Wide Open" machines have since been changed or removed. Now the player can double only on ten or eleven and no splitting allowed of mixed 10s. I have been barred at two places from playing these machines.

The second item is even more exciting. I am playing a $40,000 challenge match against the Nevada Palace. It started Wednesday, 5-13-81, and will continue until I win $40,000 or lose $40,000 or more and wish to give up. The rules of the match are a one-deck game, dealer hits soft seventeen, with all the other standard options. I can bet anywhere from $100 on one hand to two hands of $400 each. The dealer deals three rounds and then must shuffle. As of Friday, 5-15-81,1 am up $18,500. There will be some local media coverage of the match and I hope the Nevada Palace will get some good publicity.
(later)

The Nevada Palace match lasted four days and I won almost $25,000. As my win steadily rose the owner became very tense and realized he had made a losing deal. The end result was that he hired me as a consultant and host at a nice salary.

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