Beating 8 deck Blackjack

Hi guys, this is my first post on the wizard and I am hoping someone can help me out. I would like to know the best strategy for attacking 8 deck bj at my nearby casino. Their rules are : -8 decks -S on S17 - no DAS - double on any 1st 2 cards -can re split to 3 hands -no re split aces -no surrender -bj pays 3:2 .... I am fairly new to blackjack but I have basic strategy memorized and I have been practicing my but off counting cards (hi low) I am wondering if counting cards would be effective against these rules ? Another thing is they use cut cards at approx 6 decks in (removing 2 decks). I have also wondered if counting works with these cut cards in play? Please help me become a better player and earn some extra dough to pay for next semester! -thanks

What's your bankroll? That's an incredibly important first question.

My bankroll is at $15,000, I was thinking about a spread of 1-12 playing $5 min tables my max bet being $60

Quote: jket25

My bankroll is at $15,000, I was thinking about a spread of 1-12 playing $5 min tables my max bet being $60

Holy crap that's a good bit of change for that spread. If you don't get any heat you should make money.

Do you think counting is the best way then? I'm just iffy on it due to the 8 decks and cut card , I feel like that might hurt my odds while counting

Do you think 4,000-5,000 is a more reasonable bankroll for this spread ?

Quote: jket25

Do you think 4,000-5,000 is a more reasonable bankroll for this spread ?

More bankroll is always better. Basically your Risk of Ruin is pretty low with that bankroll spreading 5-60, which is a good thing! You should spread higher, if possible. No DAS is a weird rule to have at an 8 deck game, especially a S17 8 deck game. I have never seen a S17 8-deck game, to be honest.

You are playing with an advantage, assuming everything you say is true and you are competent. Not sure how much of an edge, though. 75% pen is pretty bad for 8 deck.

Quote: AcesAndEights

More bankroll is always better. Basically your Risk of Ruin is pretty low with that bankroll spreading 5-60, which is a good thing! You should spread higher, if possible. No DAS is a weird rule to have at an 8 deck game, especially a S17 8 deck game. I have never seen a S17 8-deck game, to be honest.

You are playing with an advantage, assuming everything you say is true and you are competent. Not sure how much of an edge, though. 75% pen is pretty bad for 8 deck.

That might be the trade off for a 5 dollar min game with s17.

Your bankroll is adequate, but the game is pretty weak. You have an edge, but it's small. Your N0 is sky high.

It's a good game to practice and hone your skills, but not a good money maker.

See you at the tables, man.

I would say...
1.) learn Basic Strategy perfectly
2.) learn Hi/low perfectly
3.) Keep your decisions reletively simple (hit 2-card 16 vs. 10, but stand 3-card 16, DD 9 or Soft 18 vs. 2, 11 vs Ace, etc.) don't go that extra mile at +EV, build confidence
4.) Spreading 5-60 at a game with an EV of -0.6% isn't gonna win much... like maybe 60 units ($300) in 50,000 hands. But is a good solid way to get involved. A better Stand soft-17 game is on the East Coast, with DAS, Split 4 handed, and Surrender (EV -0.35%). The 8-deckers on E. Coast are 75-85% penetration.
5.) The cut-card has little effect (maybe 0.02%) on 8 decks. You will find that generally a shoe will stay good or stay bad longer than games with 2 decks. When bad leave. When good stay.
6.) Keep this little rule in mind... don't raise your bet until you win at the better "level", and then limit it to a double-up. But ALWAYS reduce the bet when the score indicates to do so, and always make the correct bet when reducing.

Thanks everyone for the replies, those rules you describe sound nice! Way better than here, I do my playing in WV not a whole lot of selection here. Im assuming that's AC where you describe? Another question I have is "wonging" doesn't seem like it will work very well at this casino due to the small number of tables, so should I sit at the beginning of a new shoe, keep count , and bet accordingly right off the bat? Or should I not fluctuate my bet until half way through the shoe or so for penetration?

"at this casino due to the small number of tables"? Are you effectively limited to a single location? I feel that even a rather tame 5-60 spread would eventually garner heat, maybe even just on principle, if you clock enough hours there.

Quote: Venthus

"at this casino due to the small number of tables"? Are you effectively limited to a single location? I feel that even a rather tame 5-60 spread would eventually garner heat, maybe even just on principle, if you clock enough hours there.

That is a good point , the best strategy I can think of is to try and go at different times of day , different days of the week , there is another casino I could play at in OH, but their advantage is higher than here, I figured it to be 0.67% , I'm new at BJ but that seems like a high house edge

Quote: jket25

Hi guys, this is my first post on the wizard and I am hoping someone can help me out. I would like to know the best strategy for attacking 8 deck bj at my nearby casino. Their rules are : -8 decks -S on S17 - no DAS - double on any 1st 2 cards -can re split to 3 hands -no re split aces -no surrender -bj pays 3:2 .... I am fairly new to blackjack but I have basic strategy memorized and I have been practicing my but off counting cards (hi low) I am wondering if counting cards would be effective against these rules ? Another thing is they use cut cards at approx 6 decks in (removing 2 decks). I have also wondered if counting works with these cut cards in play? Please help me become a better player and earn some extra dough to pay for next semester! -thanks

if you're doing it for fun then good luck and I hope you make a ton of dough! but if that last sentence is true you shouldn't play...

i remember when Foxwoods had 8D/S17 games that allowed DAS & had fantastic pen...pretty sure it doesn't exist there anymore & most of their games are H17 :-(

Quote: kitties666

i remember when Foxwoods had 8D/S17 games that allowed DAS & had fantastic pen...pretty sure it doesn't exist there anymore & most of their games are H17 :-(

In PA the games are S17. Some places have 8 decks and some have 6.

Have you ever played in WV?