Chipping away at MD BJ rules?

The process is underway in Maryland to alter the good BJ rules: expect casinos to soon implement a lot of H17 BJ - hitting on soft 17. A final regulatory step is pending.

Still an open question to me how bad H17 is for the recreational gambler* - IMO it does increase the variance due to increased doubling in BS, but how much increased variance is it? The cost in HE is not outrageous.

The bigger issue here is whether we will see increased 'chipping away' at the good rules. I think so.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-blackjack-rules-20150618-story.html

*it's bad for APs, who need the difference in HE and who do not want the increased variance

Quote: odiousgambit

The process is underway in Maryland to alter the good BJ rules: expect casinos to soon implement a lot of H17 BJ - hitting on soft 17. A final regulatory step is pending.

Still an open question to me how bad H17 is for the recreational gambler* - IMO it does increase the variance due to increased doubling in BS, but how much increased variance is it? The cost in HE is not outrageous.

The bigger issue here is whether we will see increased 'chipping away' at the good rules. I think so.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-blackjack-rules-20150618-story.html

*it's bad for APs, who need the difference in HE and who do not want the increased variance

They've been trying this in Pennsylvania as well. It adds about 0.22% to the house edge, not a deal breaker in itself. The basic strategy player will lose an extra 22 cents for every $100 wagered. For the counter, that 0.22% shrinks as the count rises and that's when the most money is out.

I would urge everyone to learn the basic strategy differences for H17 and use them no matter how counter intuitive they may seem. Trust the fact that someone has done the work and figured this out for you.

It's interesting to compare this change in various countries. The same happened in the UK (with the relaxation of the rules) but very few casinos hit soft 17, probably because it's fairly easy to get to another casino nearby. However, from what I read, the US has adopted a price difference, play low stakes we'll hit s17, play high we'll stand. I've seen a few casinos in Europe that have a Euro 5 pit (for Friday night) and they offer a Blackjack-Like game which has terrible rules such as 6/5 Blackjacks; I also saw the same in Melbourne. Conversely I read on a thread recently that Macau has gone the other way offering games with more liberal rules.

It's a marketing decision whether casinos can get away with worse rules when most recreational players at the weekend won't even notice the changes. If one looks at Freebet and other variants which add more "fun", they have an even higher House Edge and have proved popular.

For the recreational gambler the extra 0.2% house advantage makes very little difference. They're already giving up the house advantage plus another 0.75% to 1.5% (depending on their skill). So if they're giving up 1.5% total to an s17 game they're only giving up 1.7% on an h17 game. This is the primary reason why 6/5 doens't perform as well in increasing the casino hold as the on paper edge increase might suggest it would.

The best way for a casino to increase it's drop is to attract more and bigger action. Good rules, good comps, good promotions, and a fun atmosphere with lots of action is the best way to to that. The best way for a casino to increase it's hold percentage is to encourage players to play longer and to adjust procedures to maximize hands per hour dealt.

Casinos seem to avoid both of those obvious methods.

Quote: 1BB

Quote: odiousgambit

The process is underway in Maryland to alter the good BJ rules: expect casinos to soon implement a lot of H17 BJ - hitting on soft 17. A final regulatory step is pending.

Still an open question to me how bad H17 is for the recreational gambler* - IMO it does increase the variance due to increased doubling in BS, but how much increased variance is it? The cost in HE is not outrageous.

The bigger issue here is whether we will see increased 'chipping away' at the good rules. I think so.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-blackjack-rules-20150618-story.html

*it's bad for APs, who need the difference in HE and who do not want the increased variance

They've been trying this in Pennsylvania as well. It adds about 0.22% to the house edge, not a deal breaker in itself. The basic strategy player will lose an extra 22 cents for every $100 wagered. For the counter, that 0.22% shrinks as the count rises and that's when the most money is out.

I would urge everyone to learn the basic strategy differences for H17 and use them no matter how counter intuitive they may seem. Trust the fact that someone has done the work and figured this out for you.

Not to undermine whoever just revived this old thread.
But still......
I heard 1BB talking.....
Talking about BJ rather than the occasionally inconsistant suspensions/bannings that apparently caused him so much personal pain, personal pain for reasons I'll never understand.
I find the world to be an amazing place.
I find even the simple game of BJ breathtaking.
But I'm just 2F. I am what I am....