Why Head-to-Head is Dead

By Carl Van Eton

Image courtesy of Flickr

Back in the days when men were men and women played slots, back when blackjack was dealt exclusively from a single deck down to the last card, everybody who knew anything agreed that playing head-to-head against the dealer was the only way to go. In the first place, more players meant less rounds in favorable situations. Situations which you might have waited hours for in order to jump your wager. In the second place, once you finally reached the promised land and encountered a plus deck, you didn't want the knucklehead  playing first base to get the no-brainer you were betting on. Thirdly, if the house was foolhardy enough to deal all the way down to the bottom of the deck and you were fortunate enough to have the table all to yourself, there were some devastating tactics made possible by the technique known as end-play. The only downside to such a scenario was that if you were flying solo, your act had better have been damned good. After all, the pit boss had nobody to look at but you.

The Good, The Bad and the Studly

By Carl Van Eton

Image courtesy of Big Game Blackjack

Of all the sports available in this world, blackjack is certainly one of the strangest. In all other sporting pursuits, be it baseball, football, golf, tennis or poker, the best players in the world not only get to bring home the bacon, their pictures are plastered on everything from magaziness to cereal boxes. Yet in blackjack, the best of the best are forced to act like spies not yet in from the cold, hiding their identities and their intentions behind numerous facades, the penetration of which would mean their swift ejection from the game. Like the cold warriors of yesterday, once identified, a card counters days are numbered.

There's No Such thing as a FREE Lunch

By Carl Van Eton

While it doesn't hurt to deposit $5,000 or so in the cage and draw marker after marker, contrary to popular belief, you don't have to be a high-roller to get comped. Getting your fair share of complimentary services (rooms, food, show tickets, front row seats, limos) is not reserved exclusively for black action ($100) players. Green and even red action is sufficient to get you some of the goodies if you know how to work the pit boss. (That's right, kiddies, just like the difference between a tinhorn and a professional card player, there are indeed more than a few tricks to milking the pit for comps.)

Tricks of the Trade

Image courtesy of commons.wikipedia.com

Comped players, like blondes, invariably have more fun. However, unless you are prepared to sit at a table for hours on end grinding out those quarter ($25) bets until the cows come home, don't be surprised if the pit boss looks down his bulbous nose at you after accessing your rating only to inform you that "Your play does not warrant" that dinner for two, or those fight tickets you had your heart set on. Depending on which part of the country you frequent, comp policies vary from town to town and even from casino to casino.

Boot Camp for Blackjack

By Carl Van Eton

Image courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org

Okay, troops, so you think you got what it takes to be a Player? I don't mean no sniveling, bed wetting, mama's boy of a GAMBLER! What I'm talking about is a tough as nails, never say die, lean, mean card counting machine. Well, you better get one thing straight, recruit. If you're going to make the grade and get your stripes you're going to have to live, eat, drink, and breathe this game. You're going to have to make this the single most important thing in your life. Because when the artillery is pounding and the bullets are flying, there's only one thing that's going to stand between you and defeat. And that one thing is D-I-S-C-I-P-L-I-N-E. What did I say? I CAN'T HEAR YOU!

You Can't Win Them All

By Carl Van Eton

Image courtesy of Vimeo.com

You’re familiar with the old adage, “You can’t win them all.”  Well, that saying applies doubly in the casinos.  First of all, there is the matter of selecting the right game to play.  By that, I mean if your game of choice is governed by a random trial process where one outcome has no effect on the next, your ability to beat these games is limited at best.  Sure, you might be on a craps table just in time for a monster roll that nets thousands of dollars.  But if you record every win and loss, you will find out over time that all those little losses will more than overcome any occasional dice windfall.

The same goes for roulette, especially if you play an American wheel with 2 house numbers.  The average house edge for every bet on an American wheel is 5.26%.  So, while you may find success in any given hour of play, should you continue to wager on the wheel, sooner or later the math will out and the worm will turn.

Nobody's Perfect

By Carl Van Eton

Image courtesy of Big Game Blackjack

As I have pointed out to players time and again, it doesn't matter how high of a mathematical
advantage a card counting system may purport to offer.  A multi-parameter advanced point count with a 1.5% player's edge sounds great on paper.  But if you have to perform a myriad of mental gymnastics to achieve it, what good is it going to do you.  That 1.5% advantage is based on perfect play.  I hate to break it to you, but nobody's perfect.  Even I make a mistake or two from time to time.  I'm only human.

What Happens in Vegas

By Carl Van Eton

Image courtesy of en.wikipedia,org

With casinos being available in every state in the lower 48 with the exception of Utah, you would think that Las Vegas would have lost some of its luster.  But that’s not the case.  Of course, when you think about it, there are more casinos in Las Vegas than in the rest of the country combined.  If you count all the bars, stores and other places that offer slots, there are currently more than 1,700 licensed gambling establishments in the greater Las Vegas area.  You will find it hard to sit down at a bar that doesn’t have a video poker machine built into it there.  Some tourists have been known to drop their bankroll before ever getting out of McCarran Airport, since it too offers slot machines.

There's No Such Thing as a Sure Thing

By Carl Van Eton

Image courtesy of Flickr.com

Casino players the world over are always looking for "The Sure Thing."  That is, a wager or betting system that will guarantee that they and not the house come out ahead of the game.  The problem is that while there are ways to gain the upper hand over the house in blackjack by counting cards, most players don't seem to want to bother taking the time to master the art.  

Who can blame them.  Card counting takes weeks or months of dedicated practice, practice, practice, just to be able to sit down at a table without getting blown away by the dealer.  Any of you who have tried to count cards in the distraction-rich environment of a casino, know that this is no simple task.  Not only are you required to count up to 8 decks of cards, you are required to make strategy and wagering decisions all in the time it takes the dealer to put 'em down and pick 'em up.