Blackjack Strategy: Splitting Fours

March 10th, 2010

To split or not to split, that is the question. Whether ‘tis wiser in the mind to suffer through a low hand in quest of outrageous fortune, or to take a second bet against the dealer and by doubling beat them… Okay, let me stop now because Shakespeare must be rolling over in his grave. I’m really sorry, Will.

It is a tough question in blackjack. When you have a pair, should you split or not. A lot of people are timid about splitting pairs because you have to double your bet and some people don’t like to put extra money on a hand. However, in certain situations it is the right call that gives you the best odds of making money at the blackjack table.

This time I am discussing what to do if you have a pair of fours. If you are dealt a couple fours, you should only split if the dealer shows a five or six. If the dealer has anything else as an upcard, you should take a hit.

Blackjack basic strategy takes into account that there are better odds of drawing a 10-value card than a card with any other value, since 4/13 of the cards are worth 10 points. If you have a pair of fours, that gives you a total of eight. If you were to draw a 10, that would give you a total of 18, which is difficult for a dealer to beat. Since 18 is a good hand and taking a hit gives you good odds of having an 18, keeping the fours together and drawing another card is the wise strategy.

If the dealer shows a five or six, however, the percentages say to split your fours. That is because if the dealer shows a five or six, he has a good chance of having a stiff hand (12-16). A dealer cannot stand on a stiff hand, so they have to draw, which will usually result in the dealer busting. Therefore, since the dealer has a good chance of losing, doubling your bet is a good idea. If the dealer busts, then it doesn’t matter what hand you have as long as you don’t bust.

Sometimes in blackjack you try to maximize your hand, while at other times you play off the hope that the dealer has a bad hand. You don’t need a good hand to win at blackjack; you only need a hand better than the dealer’s. That goes for splitting pairs, too.

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Blackjack Strategy: Splitting Threes

March 10th, 2010

Breaking up may be hard to do, but sometimes it’s necessary. For instance, if you have a pair of threes they may look so cute together with their matching numbers, but it may be wise to split them apart. Okay, so that was a terrible segue. I apologize, but it’s hard to be clever in each pair splitting article.

One of the most overlooked aspects of blackjack basic strategy is the strategy for splitting pairs. Knowing when to split your pairs and when to leave them alone will help you make as much money as possible at the blackjack table.

If you have a pair of threes, whether or not you split that pair depends on what card the dealer is showing. If the dealer has a two through a seven as an up card, then you should split your pair. If, however, the dealer has an eight or better, you should hit.

Blackjack basic strategy is all about playing the odds and there are better odds of drawing a 10-value card than a card of any other value. Therefore, if you have a pair of threes, that is a hard total of 6, but if you hit you have a good chance of giving yourself a hand of 16. Since 16 is a stiff hand that has a high probability of busting if you hit and being outdrawn if you stand, you do not want to end up with that number.

If you split the pair, though, you end up with two hands starting out with a three and you have a good chance of improving those hands. Threes aren’t exactly phenomenal cards to start your hand with, but it is worth it to avoid the high possibility of getting a stiff hand if you don’t split.

If the dealer shows an eight or better, though, you do not want to split. That’s because if the dealer shows an eight or better, he has a good chance of having a hand of 18 or better (assuming the high odds of a 10 in the hole). An 18 or better is very difficult for you to beat, so in that situation you do not want to double your bet. If the dealer has an 18 or better, it’s unlikely that you can improve either hand to a point where it can beat the dealer, for that reason, you want to keep the bet where it is and hope for the best.

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Blackjack Strategy: Splitting Twos

March 9th, 2010

Splitting pairs is an important part of blackjack basic strategy, but it’s one that not a lot of people know. Or even if they know what to do, they don’t necessarily know why. That is why I’m taking the time to go through the strategy pair by pair so you can be better prepared when you are dealt those cards. Earlier today I wrote about splitting aces. Here’s what to do with a pair of twos.

If you are dealt a pair of twos, what you do depends on what card the dealer is showing. Before making a decision, look at the dealer’s up card. If the dealer shows a two through a seven, you should split your pair of twos. If the dealer shows an 8 or better, you should hit.

The reason for this is that basic strategy takes into account the high likelihood of the dealer having a ten in the hole. Since there are more 10-value cards in the deck than any other value, assuming a 10 in the hole is playing the odds. Therefore, if the dealer shows a two through a seven, there is a high probability that he has a stiff hand (12-16). If the dealer has a stiff hand, he must take a hit and after doing so, he has a high probability of busting. Therefore, splitting your twos is good strategy because it gives you two hands (and therefore twice the wager) going against a dealer hand that is likely to lose.

If the dealer shows an eight or better, however, you might be in trouble. Again, keep in mind the likelihood of the dealer having a 10 in the hole.  That means a dealer showing an eight or better has a good chance of having an 18 or better. Those hands are difficult to beat. For that reason, you don’t want to put extra money on the hand.

What it all comes down to is that twos aren’t great cards, so whether you split or not has little to do with whether you like your cards and a lot to do with whether or not you think the dealer has bad cards. If the dealer seems to have a stiff hand, you want to split so you can double the wager, thinking that he will bust. If he does, it doesn’t matter what your hand is. If the dealer seems to have good cards, you don’t want to double your bet, so you would avoid splitting the twos.

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Blackjack Strategy: Splitting Aces

March 9th, 2010

Splitting pairs is an important part of blackjack basic strategy. Many beginners will learn when to hit and when to stand, but don’t memorize the strategy for splitting pairs or doubling. By excluding those beneficial moves, though, you increase the house edge to 10%. Playing with proper basic strategy, including when to split and double, however, can reduce the house edge to as low as 0.5%. Therefore, knowing when to split pairs is essential. The first hand that we will cover is a pair of aces.

An ace is the most powerful card in blackjack because it is the only card that is adaptable. The player can decide to make the ace be worth one point or eleven, whichever is more beneficial. By default, an ace will start out as an eleven unless it would cause you to bust, since you want a higher hand total. However, once you draw a card that would cause you to bust, that simply makes the ace a one and turns your soft hand into a hard hand. The power of an ace is that when you have a soft hand, it is impossible for you to bust, so there is no risk in trying to improve your hand.

That is not the only benefit of having an ace, though. With an ace, it’s possible that you will draw a natural blackjack, which is an ace and a 10-value card (making 21 points with two cards). A natural blackjack is the best hand in the game and it pays out 3:2. Since there are 4 different cards that have a value of ten (Jack, Queen, King, 10), when you start a hand with an ace you have a 4/13 chance of drawing a natural blackjack.

For these reasons, any time you have a pair of aces, you should always split them. It makes no difference what card the dealer is showing. Together that hand is nothing but a soft 12 (with one ace as an eleven and one ace as a one). Twelve is a stiff hand that is likely to bust but is also likely to be outdrawn by the dealer. By splitting the aces, though, you take one weak hand and turn it into two hands that have the potential to be very strong. Even though you have to double your bet to split, turning one bad hand into two probable good hands is always worth the risk.

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Blackjack Mistakes: Counting Cards Online

March 8th, 2010

As time goes on, the technology advances exponentially. Some people adapt to these advances quickly, while others are left behind. I still buy CDs and am happy to do so (for one thing, they sound better), but a lot of the kids download all of their music today. On occasion, they even pay for those songs!

Casino gambling is another thing that has changed over time. It’s most evident in electronic games like the slot machines and video poker. However, even the game of blackjack, which in its standard table version is virtually unchanged from its original version, has adapted over time. Thanks to the internet, many people now play their blackjack online, which is great because it’s convenient and cheaper than visiting a brick and mortar casino. However, you can get into trouble if you are a card counter and try to apply the same techniques online.

It’s common for experienced blackjack players to try to count cards when they first start playing online blackjack. After a while, the smartest players figure out on their own that it isn’t working. To save those players some time and to clue in some players who might not have figured it out, let me tell you a secret. This is so important that the sentence gets its own paragraph:

Counting cards does not work for online blackjack.

Notice that the above is an absolute, definitive statement. There is no “usually,” “sometimes” or “maybe.” It will never work. Why? Because the outcome of drawing a card is not dependent on the shuffling of a deck of cards. It is dependent on a random number generator.

A random number generator (RNG) is a computer program that uses a complex algorithm to select a sequence of numbers hundreds of times every second. Depending on when you hit a button to take a card or when the computerized “dealer” takes a card, the RNG selects what card it will be. Unlike in casino blackjack, the outcome of that card is totally random and completely independent of every other card that is dealt.

Once a card is dealt, the RNG goes back to work and selects the next card. It does not take into account the last card that was dealt or the card before that. Therefore, in essence it’s the same as re-shuffling the deck after each card is dealt. It doesn’t matter whether you prefer a Hi Lo Count, a KO Count, shuffle-tracking or whatever. There is no card counting strategy in existence that can predict the outcome in online blackjack. You can never tell when the deck is rich in tens because it is never rich in tens and, strictly speaking, there isn’t really a deck at all.

The good news, however, is that blackjack basic strategy works just as well online as in brick and mortar casinos. So memorize your basic strategy, forget about card counting, and have some fun online.

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Blackjack Variations: Matchplay 21

March 8th, 2010

Variety is the spice of life. That’s what my wife always tried to tell me back in the 70’s when she was going through her “swinger phase.” We made a lot of lasting friendships during that time, though, so I can’t complain. However, I can’t help but notice that none of our kids look like me…

Anyway, for those who love variety in their casino games, blackjack has what you need. I write about blackjack for a living and still rarely a week goes by in which I don’t learn about a blackjack variation that I didn’t know existed. Today I’m writing about matchplay 21.

Matchplay 21 is a popular blackjack variation that can be found in both land-based and online casinos. The rules and strategy for the game as basically the same as in traditional blackjack, except that there are bonuses for a number of different hands. Also, it is always played with two decks but with all of the tens removed. There are still the face cards (Jack, Queen, King) that are worth ten points, though.

By removing the tens, your chances of drawing a natural blackjack, which pays 3:1, are reduced. However, your odds of getting some of the bonuses are increased. In matchplay 21, the players compete against the dealer as normal, with the players getting two cards face up and the dealer getting one hole card and one up card. In this blackjack variation, the dealer must stand on a soft 17.

While a two-card blackjack pays 3:1, a hand of 21 with five cards pays 3:2. A hand of 21 composed of six cards pays 2:1. If you have a hand of 21 using seven cards or more, that pays 3:1.

Most of the bonuses in this game are all about the sevens, though. A hand that has a six, seven and eight pays out 3:2, as does any combination of three sevens. Three sevens in the same suit pays out 2:1. A combination of six, seven and eight in all spades has a payout of 3:1, as does three sevens in all spades. The big bonus, however, is the “matchplay 21,” after which the game is named. For this bonus, the player has to have three sevens while the dealer has a single seven. If that happens, the payout is 40:1. Not too bad. Obviously, that doesn’t happen a whole lot, though.

While I still prefer the traditional game of blackjack and will always remain true to it, sometimes you just need a break from doing the same thing and want more variety in your life. Occasionally playing other games isn’t wrong; it’s just keeping your options open and doing what it takes to keep you happy. At least, that’s how my wife would have seen it. We’re fine now, though. The 70’s, however, that was a rough time.

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Blackjack Variations: Triple 7s

March 5th, 2010

Just when you think you have blackjack all figured out – you learned basic strategy and counting cards – they start throwing all of these variations at you to confuse you. There are blackjack variations like Spanish 21, pontoon and extreme 21 commonly found at brick and mortar and online casinos. Some online casinos have up to 40 different blackjack variations. Today’s variation that I’m covering is triple 7s.

Triple 7s is played as a side bet to a traditional game, which means you have to play strategy for normal blackjack as well as bet on whether or not you will be dealt any sevens and take a shot at the progressive jackpot. The house edge on this side bet is over 30%.

In most ways, triple 7s plays the same as traditional blackjack. You should still play the same basic strategy and bet the same as in a normal game. One difference in the game is that both of the dealer’s initial cards are dealt face up, rather than having a hole card. In this blackjack variation, you can only double on a 9, 10 or 11 and you cannot double after splitting.

The main thing that makes triple 7s different from traditional blackjack is the payouts. Aside from the regular pay out of 3:2 for a natural blackjack, there are also bonuses for having sevens in your hand. A single 7 pays 5:1 and a pair that does not match in suit pays 25:1. A pair that has the same suit pays out 50:1 and a triple 7 has different payouts depending on the house rules. A triple 7 diamond is the best hand of all and if you have that you hit the jackpot, which is a different amount depending on how many people are playing the game.

Because the house edge on this side bet is so high, it’s hard to recommend playing triple 7s blackjack. However, like progressive slots, which have a very high house edge, there is considerable potential reward to go along with the risk of this bet. It’s all a question of how much money you want to risk and what kinds of odds you are comfortable with.

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Man Sues Casino for Loaning Him Money

March 5th, 2010

In my blog I make a point to discuss gambling responsibly and taking a personal responsibility for your habits and actions, so when I heard about this case I had to write about it. A Kentucky man is suing a casino in Indiana for loaning him money while he was drunk.

Jimmy L. Vance was gambling in what was then called Caesar’s Casino (now the Horseshoe Southern Indiana) back in 2004 and lost $75,000 to the casino. What’s worse is that it wasn’t Vance’s money. After presumably losing his own money at the casino (none of the news stories say), Vance took credit advances for the $75,000 in several installments. Vance says he remembers borrowing the first $20,000 but not the rest.

Vance has not paid the money he owes and is suing the casino for taking advantage of him. According to Vance, the casino loaned him money when he was clearly inebriated and, therefore, not of sound mind to make a decision to borrow money. Vance’s lawyers are arguing that if he was drunk he cannot legally enter into a contract with the casino. Therefore, the loan contract would be null and void and he would not owe the casino a thing. His lawyers also state that surveillance videos clearly show that Vance was intoxicated.

The casino argues that he was fully functional and didn’t sway or stagger. They say he seemed fine while playing blackjack, walking the casino floor and talking to the dealers and cocktail waitresses. If the casino wins this case, they could seek up to $225,000 under Indiana law, which includes what Vance currently owes, interest and legal fees.

One of the issues at question is whether the casinos can legally offer a loan to a player who is drunk. Some see that as taking advantage of someone who is vulnerable. Others believe that it is the responsibility of the player to make their own decisions, including how much to drink. Most states, however, can charge a bartender for serving alcohol to someone who is intoxicated and hold them legally liable if there is an alcohol-related incident, such as DUI. It’s not a stretch for the same concept to be applied to a casino giving out loans. Similarly, several players have sued casinos for allegedly taking advantage of their gambling addiction, but so far none have been successful.

This case is kind of a he said-she said and I don’t know the truth, but I will tell you this. You should never take a loan from a casino. Ever. If you don’t have the money to gamble with, you have no business gambling. You should only gamble with money that you can afford to lose and if you need a loan to gamble, this is obviously not the case. Aside from that, the only advice I can give you is to be careful how much alcohol you consume in a casino, because the more you drink, the worse your decisions get.

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Machine to Help with Problem Gambling

March 4th, 2010

Gambling, whether it’s done in a brick and mortar or online casino, can be a fun way to spend your time if you are responsible. Like many forms of entertainment, including sporting events, movies, theme parks and more, it costs money to play your favorite casino games. One difference, though, is that you don’t necessarily know how much it will cost you ahead of time. That’s where budgeting and planning how much to spend ahead of time comes in handy.

Some people, however, have a hard time doing that and even if they do plan, in the excitement of the moment have a hard time walking away when they should. That is a form of problem gambling, an ailment that afflicts too many players worldwide. Now there is a machine available that can help people manage their money more effectively.

A Canadian gaming company called TechLink has introduced the Responsible Gaming Device, which is made to be used in brick and mortar casinos, though it is likely that an online version will be available soon.

How it works is this: Casinos purchase a machine, called Gameplan, and install the software for that device on their gambling machines. Players purchase the Responsible Gaming Device, which can be plugged into the casino’s machines. That Device identifies the gambler and all of the conditions that have been selected.

The machine allows the player to select certain limits, whether it’s a maximum amount of losses during a time period, a certain amount of money wagered, or any other similar limit and is notified when those limits are met. The device then locks the player out and no more bets can be made. If necessary, the player can also use the device to exclude themselves entirely, which is basically a self-blacklisting.

Though this would be easy to incorporate into machines like slots and video poker, I don’t know how it could be used, if it can, for table games like blackjack. For that reason, I think the software is better suited for online casinos. That way it could be applied to every game and it could refuse to let the player make a deposit or play any games once the limit is met.

Ideally, everything that this machine accomplishes would be done by the gamblers without any help. Setting your own limits before you start playing is wise and it’s the easiest way to make sure you don’t spend too much. However, for people who have a problem with compulsive gambling, this machine is a great idea and will eventually help a lot of people. I, for one, am excited about it.

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Girl Scout Leader Stole Money to Play Blackjack

March 4th, 2010

When I was young, I was in the Cub Scouts. I never graduated to the Boy Scouts because I didn’t have fun as a Cub and didn’t feel that it was worth my time. That was mostly because my troop leader sucked. What makes a scout leader suck? Well, if you never schedule activities for us to do and on the rare occasion that you do schedule something, you cancel at the last minute, that would qualify. Stealing the cookie money to fund gambling would also fit the bill, I believe.

That is exactly what a Girl Scout troop leader in Minnesota is accused of doing. Joleen Hopkins of Mendota Heights, Minnesota allegedly stole $8,214.22 from her troop. After the girls went to all of the trouble of bothering and harassing every single person who walks in and out of Wal-Mart until they gave in and bought cookies, Hopkins is said to have taken the money for her own purposes.

Hopkins allegedly wrote herself checks from the troop’s bank account and used that money to play blackjack at a local casino, pay bills and buy sports equipment for her kids. So I guess she’s just a good ol’ soccer mom who needed a little extra money. No harm in that, right? So she stole from the Girl Scouts. No one likes them, anyway, right?

It turns out that the justice system doesn’t feel that way. Hopkins has been charged with six counts of theft, with three of them felonies. If convicted, Hopkins could receive up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. What’s worse, as a result of her actions, that particular Girl Scout troop broke up. Now who am I supposed to buy cookies from?

Just last week I reported on a restaurant manager stealing from his company to fund a night of blackjack. Hey, at least Hopkins didn’t offer to pay the scout troop back with blackjack winnings!

I think the moral of the story here is clear: Don’t give money to Girl Scouts because you’ll only be funding a degenerate gambler…Wait, I don’t think that’s it. The moral is if you have to steal from others to have enough money to play blackjack, you have no business gambling. Blackjack and other casino games are meant to be played with your extra or disposable income – income that you use for trivial things like entertainment. If you don’t happen to have any of that, you don’t need to be gambling!

Honestly, I don’t know how Hopkins even thought she would get away with this. You know that saying “it’s as easy as taking candy from a baby?” That saying is deceptive, because in reality, taking candy from a baby and getting away with it is very difficult. For one thing, the baby will cry. Then you have everyone staring at you and wondering why you made the baby cry. Anyway, the same goes for stealing Girl Scout cookie money. Did she expect the Girl Scout headquarters to just think, Gosh, I could’ve sworn that troop sold about $8000 worth of cookies. I guess not, though, because they didn’t turn in any money.

So maybe the moral of the story is this: Joleen Hopkins is an idiot. Allegedly.

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