Bitcasino.io Live Blackjack
May 6th, 2015 at 7:21:32 AM
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Has anyone played here before? I like being able to use bitcoins because buying in and cashing out is easy. Here's the rules they have in place for Blackjack
8 Decks, ~50% penetration
Double any two cards
Double after split
No hitting split aces
No resplitting
Dealer stands on all 17s
I understand that counting is hard (some would say useless) vs a 50% penetration however I've been doing pretty well using REKO (unbalanced, I begin increasing my bet at +23 up to the point of the table max if I'm +35 or higher). This could just be variance and luck but I've gone from 300 mBTC (approx $75) to 1394.71 mBTC (approx $329.75) in a few days. Obviously many shoes don't get to a very high count with 50% pen, but I've had some get to +44 before the cut card.
If anyone knows of a better live game that accepts bitcoin buy in and cash out then I'd love to hear about it. I don't wan't my money stuck in shady casino purgatory, costing me half my winnings to send me a moneygram or check.
8 Decks, ~50% penetration
Double any two cards
Double after split
No hitting split aces
No resplitting
Dealer stands on all 17s
I understand that counting is hard (some would say useless) vs a 50% penetration however I've been doing pretty well using REKO (unbalanced, I begin increasing my bet at +23 up to the point of the table max if I'm +35 or higher). This could just be variance and luck but I've gone from 300 mBTC (approx $75) to 1394.71 mBTC (approx $329.75) in a few days. Obviously many shoes don't get to a very high count with 50% pen, but I've had some get to +44 before the cut card.
If anyone knows of a better live game that accepts bitcoin buy in and cash out then I'd love to hear about it. I don't wan't my money stuck in shady casino purgatory, costing me half my winnings to send me a moneygram or check.
May 6th, 2015 at 9:00:53 AM
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A little more info,
They have 3 Blackjack tables that I've seen. Only one of them has a low minimum (10 mBTC min 400 mBTC max) the other two have a much higher minumum (100 mBTC min, 1000 mBTC max).
Theoretically, you could back count and only get in on high count hands. The software discourages this by making you lose your seat if you set out 2 hands and if you're just watching, the software will blur after sometime and make you reload the room (losing count during). If you had another account logged into all three tables, you could simply watch and keep count and then jump in with your betting account and make the big bets. It seems like teamplay would possibly work.
They have 3 Blackjack tables that I've seen. Only one of them has a low minimum (10 mBTC min 400 mBTC max) the other two have a much higher minumum (100 mBTC min, 1000 mBTC max).
Theoretically, you could back count and only get in on high count hands. The software discourages this by making you lose your seat if you set out 2 hands and if you're just watching, the software will blur after sometime and make you reload the room (losing count during). If you had another account logged into all three tables, you could simply watch and keep count and then jump in with your betting account and make the big bets. It seems like teamplay would possibly work.
May 7th, 2015 at 7:18:47 AM
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Welcome to the forums, David.
Unfortunately this is pretty much a broken record. Please review the last few pages of blackjack threads and you'll see person after person posting about an online live game. Bitcoins, in my opinion, make this game that much worse as you have to transfer funds in and out of bitcoins before you can have cash; it's another layer of complexity.
Now to the blackjack. Any and all success you've had is wild luck variance. The math is done in the other threads for you, but basically it's 'nearly' impossible to make money at these horrible games. The bankroll and variance would be through the roof. You'd need like a $100k bankroll to have a $100 or $200 big bet and you'd have to get that big bet out as soon as you have ANY advantage at all. The swings would be ridiculous. Team play is pretty much all the same. What's the difference from you just playing an counting? You're giving up .5% of a min bet when you play. That's pennies compared to your big bet. You might make an extra buck or two an hour from employing your "team play" but you're going to give up half your winnings then (which for the most part would be wild variance luck until you hit a healthy number of hands and can actually expect some positive return).
Bottom line... These horrible penetration games online can be played for fun, and that's about it. You're diluting yourself if you think you can "beat" these games and that you're the "favorite" when playing.
Unfortunately this is pretty much a broken record. Please review the last few pages of blackjack threads and you'll see person after person posting about an online live game. Bitcoins, in my opinion, make this game that much worse as you have to transfer funds in and out of bitcoins before you can have cash; it's another layer of complexity.
Now to the blackjack. Any and all success you've had is wild luck variance. The math is done in the other threads for you, but basically it's 'nearly' impossible to make money at these horrible games. The bankroll and variance would be through the roof. You'd need like a $100k bankroll to have a $100 or $200 big bet and you'd have to get that big bet out as soon as you have ANY advantage at all. The swings would be ridiculous. Team play is pretty much all the same. What's the difference from you just playing an counting? You're giving up .5% of a min bet when you play. That's pennies compared to your big bet. You might make an extra buck or two an hour from employing your "team play" but you're going to give up half your winnings then (which for the most part would be wild variance luck until you hit a healthy number of hands and can actually expect some positive return).
Bottom line... These horrible penetration games online can be played for fun, and that's about it. You're diluting yourself if you think you can "beat" these games and that you're the "favorite" when playing.
Playing it correctly means you've already won.
May 7th, 2015 at 8:00:28 AM
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bitcoin casinos to me seem like a nightmare overall.. the lack of regulation and ability to tell if a game is what they say it is can spell out disaster for assuming you can count during it and it winds up just being a CSM. Also I think i saw you mention this, but there are only 3 live blackjack tables?! how is that possible? Do you have the ability to pick a table from a lobby or does it just randomly assign you one? Overall I'd avoid this like the plague and advise you do the same.. unless this is all just a trick to advertise your casino here and get us all to click the link... in which case I say "touche sir"
May 7th, 2015 at 8:14:31 AM
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Quote: RomesBottom line... These horrible penetration games online can be played for fun, and that's about it.
I agree with Romes. I have seen similar games where on top of the advantage of a live shoe, there was a very simple, non-complex shuffle being done by hand. I suppose it would be beatable, but the variance would be huge. The casino also didn't peak for a natural with a 10 showing.
I concluded that trying to beat that game wouldn't be like trying to find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it'd be more like trying to find a bucket of quarters at the end of the rainbow. There are better opportunities out there, i think.
But congrats on your good run.
"Rule No.1: Never lose money. Rule No.2: Never forget rule No.1." -Warren Buffett on risk/return
May 7th, 2015 at 8:34:54 AM
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All of their tables are shoe games with very basic shuffles. See my screenshot at this link
You pick your table from a lobby. There are two 100 mBTC min games and one 10 mBTC min game.
I've seen about 4 times so far that the dealer has placed the cut card deeper than she should have, probably 60-65%. One time, the dealer errored while dealing the cut card. The pitboss came over and unjammed the cut card from the scanner and the dealer must not have realized that it was dealt. She went on to deal almost the entire shoe before the pitboss came back over, pretty angirly. Still one more time, the dealer seemed to ignore the cut card and dealt about 6 hands deeper.
My reasoning attempting to count and have an edge at this game was that I'm using an unbalanced system anyhow. (I haven't got to the point that casino play is comfortable yet, I live 5 min from a casino with pretty good BJ rules). Anyhow, using REKO, with a count of over +33, I would still be making my maximum bet, regardless of shoe penetration.
In any event, I'm at least getting counting practice.
You pick your table from a lobby. There are two 100 mBTC min games and one 10 mBTC min game.
I've seen about 4 times so far that the dealer has placed the cut card deeper than she should have, probably 60-65%. One time, the dealer errored while dealing the cut card. The pitboss came over and unjammed the cut card from the scanner and the dealer must not have realized that it was dealt. She went on to deal almost the entire shoe before the pitboss came back over, pretty angirly. Still one more time, the dealer seemed to ignore the cut card and dealt about 6 hands deeper.
My reasoning attempting to count and have an edge at this game was that I'm using an unbalanced system anyhow. (I haven't got to the point that casino play is comfortable yet, I live 5 min from a casino with pretty good BJ rules). Anyhow, using REKO, with a count of over +33, I would still be making my maximum bet, regardless of shoe penetration.
In any event, I'm at least getting counting practice.
May 7th, 2015 at 8:38:44 AM
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Just to touch on the bitcoin aspect, I think transferring money to and from a bitcoin wallet is MUCH easier than transferring to and from a casino that requires moneygram or wire transfers. To get my money out of the casino I just have them send my balance to my bitcoin address and it's instant. Then my bitcoin wallet has a cash wallet built in, so I can convert to USD instantly as well.
