I had 20 here and the dealer busted with 22 so pretty clean result, for people who play both online blackjack and live dealer, do you stick to the same basic strategy every time? Or do you find yourself playing a bit differently online because the pace is so much faster?
I’m not arguing with the math, but would it be fair to say, with bets like this, I’m actually degrading the hand by hitting, but I’m still likely to win, and the fact that I’m winning double makes it worth it? H17 shoe game. I’ve only tried it a few times and it rarely works out for me, maybe just variance.
After seeing some of the top salaries of countries like Portugal, Uk, Germany, Italy and other Visa-free countries, it seems like a 2 month card counting trip through vegas, Missouri, and Louisiana every year as a medium stakes AP can put them into the top 1% bracket of their respective homelands. Also tax free if you don't leave a paper trail. + unemployment government benefits and free health insurance. They also get more cover for being foreign.
Just like the title says I stood on every hand I was given no matter the value or the up card dealer was showing and the results are actually insane. Truthfully I didn’t expect it to go this well but it does make me question everything about the book. Out of 40 hands I pushed 5 times I won’t 18 and I lost 17. Leaving me with a net profit of 1 hand. At first it didn’t look well I lost 8 in a row (typically right?) but the fact I ended up on profit is kinda crazy to me. It makes me really consider the whole “ dealers face down card should always assume it a 10 “ basically math actually dis proves that theory given there is more 2-9 cards then there is face value cards.
Not at all am I recommending this or would I ever do this at a real table with other players but has anyone else tried this and if so I’d love to know your results to calculate more data.
I've been getting into counting and the part I hate is that practicing means staring at a screen. So I built a voice-first simulator that reads out the entire game while the phone stays in your pocket. This means I can practice Hi-Lo counting while I’m just walking around to build the habit.
The problem is I don’t really know any other real counters IRL, so I can't tell whether it’s actually a good idea. The people using it now are friends and family and almost all of them tap the screen instead of talking to it. They use it way more than I expected, but spoken commands are less than 3% across 43K hands played.
As a counter, would you use something you could talk to with the phone in your pocket? Or is that solving a problem you don't have? If you'd rather answer after trying it: https://pracjack.com/ (no account needed)
EDIT: I am a recreational basic strategy player. Not an AP.
But that’s basically how it’s been for me as of lately. The variance has just been killing me for the past six months. Once the shoe starts getting really bad, I tend to pessimistically start guessing, out loud, the outcome of the next hand, and I almost always end up being right.
Dealer is showing a 4 and I have a 10? I’m gonna double this and I’m probably going to get a 2 or a 3 and the dealer is gonna draw to 21… I’ve got a 12 against a dealer 10? Watch this, the shoe is gonna sh*t out a 10 and I’m going to bust, and the dealer is going to have a 5 or 6 underneath. Oh, great! I got 2 aces! I’m gonna split them and end up getting a soft 13 on both of them or something like that and the dealer is going to draw to 19 or 20. All right, I’ve got a 17 against a 6, the dealer is probably going to draw to 18.
Just stuff like that. And I almost always end up being right about it in some way. Has anyone else done this, or has experienced this?
I built this because every "free blackjack trainer" I could find was either a bare strategy-chart quiz or an affiliate site whose real goal was funneling you to a real-money casino.
It's a full 2D walkable casino floor (React + TS + Vite on the frontend, Node/Express + Postgres on Railway) — you walk up to a table and play it. 14+ games (blackjack variants, craps, roulette, baccarat, video poker, Texas Hold'em with a Sit-and-Go mode, keno, sic bo, a few social card games), each with a learn-mode lesson, a live strategy hint, and a trainer quiz, plus daily challenges and an achievement system.
The constraint I designed around from day one: chips are never for sale and never cash out, in any form, ever. No loot-box framing, no "buy more chips" dark pattern. Free accounts get a daily cap on trainer questions; a $4.99/mo Pro tier removes the cap and turns off ads — that's the entire monetization surface.
Built solo. Happy to answer anything about the stack, the anti-dark-pattern design calls, or the walkable-floor approach — genuinely curious what people think of the "practice casino" framing vs. a plain strategy quiz.
Im not going to include the link to the website as per the rules but if you are still reading and interested just look up Table-Edge. if you have any comments, questions, concerns, or just recommendations please let me know
Well the title pretty much sums it up. I was playing rated at my local, up a couple hundred when the count jumped. I throw out $250. I get dealt 7,4 for 11, dealer is showing 6. Cut card comes out, so last hand of the shoe. A couple players make decisions and then the dealers relief dealer taps them on the shoulder to let the dealer know they are there. It comes my decision and I of course double down. I get dealt an Ace for 12 (of course). Dealer turns over a 3 for 9 and then a face for 19. He turns and looks at me and says 21! And promptly pays me. I just blink a couple times in shock and then the new dealer comes in. I immediately color up and leave.
How long should I wait to return? Should I be prepared to pay them $1000 next time I return? I really like this place and I have had some cheap mispays before but this is another level. Still a little in shock and paranoid.
If everyday people can easily use advanced video analysis tools, it makes you wonder what kind of multi-million dollar surveillance software casinos are running. They definitely have the tech to spot patterns instantly.
It feels like the days of relying solely on a pit boss watching the tables are fading fast. Has anyone noticed an uptick in quick backoffs lately, likely due to automated tracking and computer vision?
I’m not gonna lie if I don’t have a shit load of money out there and I see dealer 5 or 6… I’m here to gamble, I’m splitting those 10s. But boy when it goes left does the table hate me 😂.
Anyone know the table minimums and rules for blackjack at Ontario Casinos?
Ideally looking for a Casino with 6 or 8 deck with 25 or under table minimum. Ideally some place with surrender but I assume thats hard to find.
2010, Greektown Casino, Detroit. A Michigan regulator's officer stated the ban reason on the record: I was an "advantage player." No device, no team play at that table — my head and my money.
I took back chips I believed in good faith were mine. They charged me with larceny.
The prosecution offered a plea. I refused. They came back with a second offer — one that would have left me with no conviction at all. I refused that too, because a deal isn't a verdict. On February 25, 2011, the Court acquitted me at a bench trial.
Then I sued the state for its own records. Lost at the trial court. Won on appeal — a published decision, Arabo v Michigan Gaming Control Board, 310 Mich App 370 (2015). Courts were still citing it this year. I carried the constitutional question to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined the case. Somewhere along the way I ended up listed by name as a creditor in the City of Detroit's bankruptcy, which tells you how long this road was.
Full disclosure so nobody has to ask: I eventually built a course and a documentary out of all of this. I'm not linking either here — this post is the story, and the counting arithmetic itself is free on my site with no account anyway. Ask me anything about the case, the count, backoffs, or what your rights actually look like the day it happens to you.
An adaptation of Miss Brown’s autobiography is coming out.
I'm working on a small project and I'd rather ask people who actually play than guess at what matters. No link, nothing to sign up for, and I'm not selling anything.
Do you track what you play at all? Spreadsheet, notes app, a bit of paper in your wallet, or nothing?
Do you know your number for the year? Not a guess. And if you do, did knowing it change anything about how you play?
What do you wish you'd written down and didn't? A table you found and couldn't remember where, a machine that was paying, what the rules were somewhere, a handpay you needed at tax time.
Any answer helps, even a one liner. Happy to post back what I learn if people are interested.
There's really nowhere else to discuss this, since no one on any investing focused forum is going to grasp the concept easily. For the full timers here, how do determine how you split BR and investments? I have a hard time allocating more of my capital toward retirement since there's kind of always something to use it for, and even though I've been a steady buyer for years I can just see that I'm still sitting on too much cash in one of the most costly periods to hold cash we've seen.
I realize this is a murky question with no right answer, just curious how some of you approach it in your own finances.
Got dealt a natural here which was nice, I noticed app blackjack moves so fast that its easy to make dumb clicks though. Do any of you slow down and follow basic strategy every hand or just go by feel?
I know this type of post is over-done but I gotta shoot my shot. I decided to build a blackjack game, and actual game with progression, not a simulator or calculator. There is both a leveling and a prestige system, along with store items that don't cost real money. There's an in-game guide for those that desire such a feature but it's disabled by default.
Daily rewards and paid daily challenges fund your re-buys, ads are entirely optional and rewarded. I have been playing it non-stop and wanted to share with people who might like it. If you care to check it out...
Available on Android, available on iOS in Public Beta through Apple Testflight. If you're on Android comment below I got some free chips promo codes. Unfortunately none of iOS users until it's out of public beta.
Thanks for your time. Good luck in your future games, real and simulated.