Wizard's Blackjack strategy with H17 instead of S17
I love the Wizard's Simple Blackjack strategy. While I was looking at blackjack appendix 21 I realized the strategy must have been made with S17 in mind. The "Incorrect plays" table has only 26 rows, when by my count the Wizard's strategy has 30 incorrect plays when compared to a H17 basic strategy chart. This is assuming 4+ decks, DAS, late surrender. Three of the four extra incorrect plays are when dealer shows A*. So my question is:
1. Does the Wizard's Strategy change at all for H17? In either case, what is the new error rate vs. basic strategy?
2. What would an "Incorrect Plays" chart look like for H17? I enjoy the chart a lot because I can memorize just the most useful deviations and not bother learning the ones that are only a tiny bit worse than the Wizard strategy. I don't have the math acumen to figure out whether those four extra incorrect plays are very costly or not.
Thanks!
(*Specifically, they are hard 15 v A, 11 v A, 88 v A, and soft 19 v 6)
Quote: theoHello,
I love the Wizard's Simple Blackjack strategy. While I was looking at blackjack appendix 21 (https://wizardofodds.com/games/blackjack/appendix/21/) I realized the strategy must have been made with S17 in mind. The "Incorrect plays" table has only 26 rows, when by my count the Wizard's strategy has 30 incorrect plays when compared to a H17 basic strategy chart. This is assuming 4+ decks, DAS, late surrender. Three of the four extra incorrect plays are when dealer shows A*. So my question is:
1. Does the Wizard's Strategy change at all for H17? In either case, what is the new error rate vs. basic strategy?
2. What would an "Incorrect Plays" chart look like for H17? I enjoy the chart a lot because I can memorize just the most useful deviations and not bother learning the ones that are only a tiny bit worse than the Wizard strategy. I don't have the math acumen to figure out whether those four extra incorrect plays are very costly or not.
Thanks!
(*Specifically, they are hard 15 v A, 11 v A, 88 v A, and soft 19 v 6)
Incorrect plays increase the house edge and a higher house edge will cost you more money. The more you play the more it will cost you. If you play with any regularity the best thing you can do for yourself is learn full basic strategy. You'll be glad you did.
I don't know what an incorrect plays chart would look like for H17 but I'm guessing it's probably the same as S17. Print the full basic strategy for S17 and H17 from the Wizard of Odds site so you can compare them. You'll see the six hands that are played differently. To the four you've listed add A7 vs 2 and hard 17 vs A.
One reason I'm suggesting you learn basic strategy from the beginning is that unlearning incorrect plays at a later time could make things more difficult. Keep in mind that most casinos will allow you to refer to your basic strategy chart at the table so there is no reason to make an incorrect play while you are learning. Don't worry if the pit boss asks to see it. He probably just wants to see if it's the right one for the game you are playing. If it's not he may or may not tell you so if he has a smirk on his face double check. If you only play a couple of times a year I'll certainly understand if you'd rather not learn basic strategy but still bring the chart to the table.
Good cards to you and welcome to the forum!
Quote: 1BBIncorrect plays increase the house edge and a higher house edge will cost you more money. The more you play the more it will cost you. If you play with any regularity the best thing you can do for yourself is learn full basic strategy. You'll be glad you did.
I don't know what an incorrect plays chart would look like for H17 but I'm guessing it's probably the same as S17. Print the full basic strategy for S17 and H17 from the Wizard of Odds site so you can compare them. You'll see the six hands that are played differently. To the four you've listed add A7 vs 2 and hard 17 vs A.
One reason I'm suggesting you learn basic strategy from the beginning is that unlearning incorrect plays at a later time could make things more difficult. Keep in mind that most casinos will allow you to refer to your basic strategy chart at the table so there is no reason to make an incorrect play while you are learning. Don't worry if the pit boss asks to see it. He probably just wants to see if it's the right one for the game you are playing. If it's not he may or may not tell you so if he has a smirk on his face double check. If you only play a couple of times a year I'll certainly understand if you'd rather not learn basic strategy but still bring the chart to the table.
Good cards to you and welcome to the forum!
I understand that by using the Wizard's strategy I am increasing the house edge. However I (like most BJ players) am a casual player. I don't want to carry a card around like a dork and I don't want to memorize 30 different specific hands when the simple strategy is much easier to recall and I'm much less likely to mess it up.
Put it this way: it is more fun for me to use a more general strategy like the Wizard's strategy than to try to memorize each and every cell in the basic strategy. It makes the decision making much faster and I am less likely to mis-remember: the Wizard's strategy can be boiled down to a few basic rules that apply to all hands, whereas the basic strategy has many "exceptions" that are hard to memorize.
Even so, if I start playing a lot of BJ and want to get more serious, I can alter the Wizard's strategy by going down the list of "incorrect plays" and incorporating the correct plays into my strategy, fixing the "most incorrect" ones first.
I ask for an updated strategy and/or table because I am a low roller and do not have access to S17 tables.
Quote: theoI ask for an updated strategy and/or table because I am a low roller and do not have access to S17 tables.
The thing is, the "Wizard's simple strategy" already has a bunch of mistakes. Throw in an additional 4 misplays on an H17 table and you're not increasing the edge all that much, if you're already non-committed to learning full BS. For that reason, I'm guessing the Wiz intended that strategy to be "universal" if you will.
You seem to have a handle on the differences between BS and WSS since you were looking at appendix 21. So you could easily develop your own "simple strategy" for H17 if you were so inclined. Or just write those 4 additional exceptions or something.
