Advanced playing other than counting?
January 22nd, 2016 at 9:48:17 AM
permalink
I'm new to this forum so forgive me if this is addressed somewhere else.
I've been playing BJ for a couple years and I'm rock solid on basic strategy. I was wondering if there are other techniques other than counting that would improve my games. I've read on other websites about not hitting the 16v10 if your 16 is made up of 4's and 5's (45 rule) and casually watching shoes for a lot of high cards coming out at once or a lot of low cards coming out at once for you to make a decision to walk away or sit down and play.
Curious if anyone has any comments about those two techniques and if their is any other advice to offer.
I've been playing BJ for a couple years and I'm rock solid on basic strategy. I was wondering if there are other techniques other than counting that would improve my games. I've read on other websites about not hitting the 16v10 if your 16 is made up of 4's and 5's (45 rule) and casually watching shoes for a lot of high cards coming out at once or a lot of low cards coming out at once for you to make a decision to walk away or sit down and play.
Curious if anyone has any comments about those two techniques and if their is any other advice to offer.
January 22nd, 2016 at 9:55:25 AM
permalink
Quote: Shicks02I'm new to this forum so forgive me if this is addressed somewhere else.
I've been playing BJ for a couple years and I'm rock solid on basic strategy. I was wondering if there are other techniques other than counting that would improve my games. I've read on other websites about not hitting the 16v10 if your 16 is made up of 4's and 5's (45 rule) and casually watching shoes for a lot of high cards coming out at once or a lot of low cards coming out at once for you to make a decision to walk away or sit down and play.
Curious if anyone has any comments about those two techniques and if their is any other advice to offer.
What you are describing is 'sort of' card counting. I think if you could be observant enough for that, you could do the Wizard's ace-five count and do better. Look that up at his wizard of odds dot com site.
the next time Dame Fortune toys with your heart, your soul and your wallet, raise your glass and praise her thus: “Thanks for nothing, you cold-hearted, evil, damnable, nefarious, low-life, malicious monster from Hell!” She is, after all, stone deaf. ... Arnold Snyder
January 22nd, 2016 at 1:45:59 PM
permalink
Hey Shicks, and since it's only been a couple weeks, welcome to the forums =p.
There are a few little things you can do to add on to your basic strategy game, such as not hitting your multi-card 16's, not hitting 16's if you see a couple 5's on the board, not hitting 3 card soft-18's, etc... but these honestly will do "basically nothing" for you. If the HE of the game is -.5% then playing all of these PERFECTLY might make the house edge -.49999%, which is essentially the same as -.5%.
The only way to really change the game or to boost your game to the next level is to count. If you're really against it, you could take a stab at just watching for a bunch of little cards then betting bigger on the next hand, but even this is dangerous considering if you're in a pretty deep negative count you could see numerous rounds of little cards and still not hold any kind of better advantage.
Not to mention if you're willing to put in the extra effort to learn these one off plays in order to try to have a better game you're just about the same off learning to count. It would only take a couple weeks if you practice appropriately and it's a skill you'll have for the rest of your lifetime. You don't have to "make big bucks" and you can play so that you NEVER have any heat or get kicked out. Some people learn to count just so they can have a simple 1-4 spread and "break even" while earning comps. Point being, after learning the skill you'll have the rest of your life, what you do with it, is up to you =).
And if you're interested... Wouldn't you know it someone ;-) put together 3 A to Z articles that cover everything you need to at least be a winning player. Check them out if you're interested and feel free to ask any questions on their comments or PM to me:
https://wizardofvegas.com/articles/A-to-Z-Counting-Cards-in-Blackjack/
https://wizardofvegas.com/articles/A-to-Z-Counting-Cards-In-Blackjack-2/
https://wizardofvegas.com/articles/A-to-Z-Counting-Cards-in-Blackjack-3/
There are a few little things you can do to add on to your basic strategy game, such as not hitting your multi-card 16's, not hitting 16's if you see a couple 5's on the board, not hitting 3 card soft-18's, etc... but these honestly will do "basically nothing" for you. If the HE of the game is -.5% then playing all of these PERFECTLY might make the house edge -.49999%, which is essentially the same as -.5%.
The only way to really change the game or to boost your game to the next level is to count. If you're really against it, you could take a stab at just watching for a bunch of little cards then betting bigger on the next hand, but even this is dangerous considering if you're in a pretty deep negative count you could see numerous rounds of little cards and still not hold any kind of better advantage.
Not to mention if you're willing to put in the extra effort to learn these one off plays in order to try to have a better game you're just about the same off learning to count. It would only take a couple weeks if you practice appropriately and it's a skill you'll have for the rest of your lifetime. You don't have to "make big bucks" and you can play so that you NEVER have any heat or get kicked out. Some people learn to count just so they can have a simple 1-4 spread and "break even" while earning comps. Point being, after learning the skill you'll have the rest of your life, what you do with it, is up to you =).
And if you're interested... Wouldn't you know it someone ;-) put together 3 A to Z articles that cover everything you need to at least be a winning player. Check them out if you're interested and feel free to ask any questions on their comments or PM to me:
https://wizardofvegas.com/articles/A-to-Z-Counting-Cards-in-Blackjack/
https://wizardofvegas.com/articles/A-to-Z-Counting-Cards-In-Blackjack-2/
https://wizardofvegas.com/articles/A-to-Z-Counting-Cards-in-Blackjack-3/
Playing it correctly means you've already won.
