Month: November 2010

Betting Progressions and Blackjack

When playing blackjack you always want to go into playing with a playing strategy and a betting strategy. And while basic strategy is an easy to use playing strategy, not all pieces and parts of blackjack strategy are that simple. But some players think all parts of blackjack strategy should be easy. These would be the players who fall into using betting progressions, calling it a betting strategy.

Let

Atlantic City Online Blackjack

I can understand creating an online blackjack variation named for Atlantic City. After Las Vegas it is the biggest city in the United States for casinos. And we do have an online blackjack variation called Vegas Strip Blackjack, named so for Las Vegas. So I suppose Atlantic City Blackjack does not surprise me now that it has shown up in the online casino world: Atlantic City Blackjack has recently been released by Cyrptologic to some of their partner online casinos.

Now while I am not a fan of blackjack variations, I will admit that Vegas Strip Blackjack is not too bad of a variation. This comes from the fact that the dealer will peek to see if he has blackjack when he has a ten-value card or Ace showing; this increases your blackjack odds since not peeking increases the house

Blackjack Makes Brushing Up on Your Math Skills Fun

For most people math ends when we get out of school, be it high school or college. Other than basic adding, subtracting and multiplying we do not really use much math. And with all these nifty apps for mobile devices we almost never do basic math anymore. But blackjack can help you brush up on your math and make it fun at the same time in two ways.

First there is the basic math that is inherent with blackjack

Bad Beat Blackjack Progressive is Sneaky too

And I thought that insurance was being sneaky. It has nothing on Bad Beat Blackjack Progressive by DEQ Systems Corp. DEQ has spent the last five years creating and designing a new electronic side bet that can be built into blackjack tables.

Shall we compare the two and see just how sneaky Bad Beat Blackjack Progressive is.

First we will look at insurance. Insurance is offered when the dealer has an Ace showing, and essentially is a side bet on whether the dealer

What Makes Vegas Strip Blackjack Good

I will admit it. I am a fan of Vegas Strip Blackjack. For those of you that are just now getting into blackjack, this is not some drinking version of blackjack in which you get to take your clothes off. Clothes stay on. Vegas Strip Blackjack is actually one of the most common types of blackjack out there, and it can be found in a great many brick and mortar casinos and in the majority of online casinos.

While the majority of the rules are the same, Vegas strip does have some variations to its rules.

For starters it uses only four decks. While this is not as good as a single deck game, it is a better than the more common six and eight deck blackjack games. Playing with only four decks adds 0.06% to your blackjack odds.

Another good rule is that the dealer must stand on all 17s

Pennsylvania

Right now blackjack at the new Pennsylvania casinos is at its best. Players are currently enjoying a house edge of 0.4% if they play according to basic strategy, which is lower than the typical basic strategy blackjack house edge. But such a house edge may not last, and speculation is already building on what will change.

With the opening of any new casino, the games are highly likely to have more player favorable rules and therefore lower house edges. This is done primarily to bring new players in and get them comfortable with the casino in hopes that they will return even if the rules change.

And the rules almost always change.

When the Gaming Control Board of Pennsylvania fist set down the blackjack rules, they did so with the intention of meeting a few months after the casinos had been open to discuss possible changes. The few months is drawing to a close, and member of the Gaming Control Board are not commenting on the possibility for changes to the blackjack rules.

And naturally the casinos are not going to mind changes to the blackjack rules as long as they are favored in the changes, which is likely. The casinos will present and promote the potential of gaining more through taxes with changes to the rules. And the need for revenue was the whole reason for legalizing casinos and blackjack and other table games in Pennsylvania. So I am guessing that if they learn that they could make more for changing a couple of rules, I am willing to bet they would make the changes.

So the state would get more revenue. The casinos would get a lot more in profit. And blackjack players would be left will less money in winnings in the long run.

What rules would be changed?

The Wizard of Odds is banking on them allowing dealers to hit soft 17s and that the natural blackjack payout be changed from a 3-2 payout to a 6-5 payout. The change in payout alone would increase the house edge by 1.4% alone. But both rule changes combined would raise the house edge to 1.9%. Again, that is if you are playing according to basic strategy, and with rule changes like that on the horizon, you had better be playing according to basic strategy.

Now no rule changes have been made yet. But gaming professionals have seen rules change after a casino has been open for a few months, and they have seen which rules change the most often. This is what makes them think that the good blackjack rules Pennsylvania players are enjoying now could be shuffled along for house friendly blackjack rules.

If you live in Pennsylvania you had better get your blackjack in now should the rules change.

Blackjack Strategy Specifics: Your 11 vs. the Dealer

How do you play your 11 if the dealer has an Ace showing? We are going to say that you are playing Vegas Strip Blackjack and the dealer has checked for a natural blackjack and does not have it. Which 11 is stronger, yours or his? And how do you play an 11 versus an Ace?

If you look at your basic strategy chart because I know you have one, you will see that you do not double down on a hard 11 against Ace despite doubling down on against all other dealer up cards. And there is a very good reason for this.

As a player you would think that your 11 is stronger than the dealer