The Gravy Train
Remember that implementing good money management skills and learning how to play optimally only gets you halfway to where you want to go. The other part of your ticket consists of successfully hiding your acquired knowledge and skills, because the casinos will not hesitate to bar you from playing once they realize you can beat [...]
The Macho Mentality
The lure of playing beyond one’s limits is sometimes difficult to ignore. Some blackjack players feel a sense of superiority when they are placing the highest wagers at a table. Others feel that they have a leg up on weaker players whenever they deign to explain some aspect of the game to them. Some are [...]
The Luck/Chance Quandary
Not understanding the difference between “luck” and “chance” has cost gamblers plenty over the years. Part of the problem lies in semantics, while part comes from just plain ignorance. When the French say, “Bonne chance!” they really mean “Good luck!” Luck and chance refer to fortune and probability respectively. Luck is not a commodity that [...]
The Psychology of Blackjack
There are several interesting blogs about the psychology of gambling. At least one professor of psychology has theorized that there is a stronger human motive toward “play” than there is toward “work.” If this is true, then the game of blackjack oilers the promise of complete fulfillment in this sense, since it is certainly a [...]
Counting on Cruises
It has been my experience that cruise ships are generally oblivious to counters. I have been on several of these floating resorts that have made no attempt whatsoever to discourage blatant card-casers. I have often stood around the tables, jumping in and out of games with bets of any size, or simply asking to be [...]
Do’s and Don’ts
The following DO and DON’T lists will help you avoid arousing the suspicion of eagle-eyed pit bosses and conscientious dealers, thereby allowing you to stay in the game and ply your skills:
DO stash chips away in a pocket or purse surreptitiously, especially when winning.
DON’T ever use a betting range of more than ten units, no [...]
Casino Credit
Most casinos are happy to provide you with a “line of credit” for any amount you wish, as long as you have enough money in your bank back home to cover it. There is no fee for this service, and it can usually be in place within twenty-four hours after filling out the application. There [...]
101 Playing Tips
The following general blackjack tips are meant to shore up the playing strategies and skills of all players regardless of their competence levels. Although most of the tips do assume some knowledge of counting, novices and expert counters alike can benefit from the assorted advice, which is presented here in no particular order.
1. Follow [...]
MBS Practice Exercises
Learning MBS is a slow, tedious process, but well worth the effort. Try to be patient with yourself. The following exercises were specially designed for your MBS practice. In each case, the relevant Hi-Low TC is listed. Always assume that you are playing shoe games that follow the rules normally found, but where surrender is [...]
Modified Basic Strategy Chart 5 (MBS-5)
The table below indicates when to surrender Since no casinos offer “early” surrender any more, surrender always means “late” surrender nowadays. When offered, TC surrendering nearly always takes precedence over every other possible play. More and more casinos are allowing the surrender option, since it is usually an extra moneymaker for them when used by [...]
MBS-4
For those very serious readers who may be interested, however, a fairly extensive MBS-4 table is included below. It was compiled by collating information from a wide range of reputable sources. Where discrepancies between various tables occured, the integers finally chosen were “averaged” to arrive at the compromised figures shown on the chart. A conscious [...]
MBS-3
The following table (MBS-3) is probably enough MBS for most players to learn. It shows all the correct playing indices for TC’s that range from 5 to +5, and this represents over 95% of all TC’s normally encountered in any six-deck shoe game.
Modified Basic Strategy Table 3 (MBS-3)
For Hi-Low TC’s from [...]
