BS Practice Exercises
Work through the following three practice exercises, which increase in difficulty from normal to complex, until you make absolutely no mistakes. None. The answers should come to your mind quickly and effortlessly. The beginning total for each hand is always on the left, and the dealer’s up-card is on the right. The BS answer is shown following each example. Do not take this exercise lightly, nor dare to ignore it altogether. You may think you know BS perfectly, so prove it to yourself by covering the answer column with a sheet of paper and jotting down the correct letter codes. Check your results after each group of ten.
The way to make learning most effective is to cover the answers with your finger and expose them only after you finally decide upon each response and actually say it out loud. This sort of immediate reenforcement has been scientifically tested and proven to be the most beneficial in facilitating learning of this type.
Start slowly. Think carefully about the correct BS play for every individual example. Speed is not as important as accuracy at this point, or even later on under actual playing conditions, for that matter. As with almost everything, the more you practice, the easier the job becomes, and therefore the faster you can get at it without losing accuracy. Try to imagine that you are sitting at a blackjack table, having placed your chips in the betting area, and that these are the cards you have just received, in the order they are listed in the exercise.
It has been proven conclusively that people generally play as they practice, so take your practice sessions seriously. You might even choose to make the appropriate “stand” or “hit” hand gestures as you are required to do in a real casino. Try to visualize matching your imaginary bets on required doubles or splits with additional chips. Once you completely master the normal BS practice exercises, proceed to the more complex three-card hands.
The abbreviations used in the exercises are the same as those used in the BS chart earlier in this blog.
When you can run through the above practice charts fairly quickly without any mistakes, the next step is to move from the abstract to the concrete. (Notice that in exercise 3 you had no option to surrender, split, or double, because after receiving three cards these choices are eliminated.) Since you are now completely comfortable with all BS plays, get a deck of cards and deal yourself at least a thousand random hands while acting as both player and dealer. To prove to yourself that playing according to correct BS actually works, keep a “win/loss” tally sheet to record the results.
Without counting cards, there is no justification for varying the size of your bets. In fact, if you do, the results will be less true due to the fact that you will lose or win more arbitrarily. Just bet one unit, whatever amount you choose it to be, for each hand.
In this exercise, whenever you get a blackjack, credit yourself an extra half-unit on your tally sheet to represent the 3-to-2 payoff that you would receive. Although nothing can help you much when you receive a disproportionate number of stiff hands, the larger the number of trials, the truer the results will be. Be aware that luck, good or bad, can be a big factor in short-term blackjack and easily skews normal results one way or the other, but rest assured that correct BS plays will prevail in the long run. Taking normal fluctuations into account, you should end up with substantial winnings most of the time. The proof of playing proper BS is in the proverbial pudding, so help yourself!
Learning and practicing at home is much easier than in a busy casino. In the beginning, especially, you don’t need the usual distractions found there. Nearby slot machines paying off, a crowd of boisterous players whooping it up at a craps table only a few feet away, the glitter from the flashing lights and mirrors in your eyes, the too-loud piped-in music or local entertainment, and the scantily clad cocktail waitresses constantly offering free drinks these are only a few of the interruptions that you may well have to deal with and must learn to handle in stride. Remember that it can take months, and many practice sessions, to master BS completely. Although there is no substitute for actual experience, more learning can take place in less time in the quiet comfort of your own living room or study area.
Dealing yourself hands, acting as both player and dealer, is an excellent way to practice. If you find that you are weak in some area such as soft hands, make up a gaffed deck that has an extra ten Aces and ten fewer T’s in it. “Loading” your practice deck in various ways can emphasize any particular problem upon which you need to concentrate. Home practice is much easier on the wallet, too. Before putting up real money, you may be wise to hone your skills on one of the excellent blackjack games available for use with your personal computer. If you do, try to get one that at least simulates most of the actual playing conditions that you can expect to encounter in a real casino. The better games allow the player to change the rules, the number of decks used, the number of players at your table, etc. Some even allow you to practice your card-counting skills, by keeping track of the cards as they are brought into play. You need this sort of positive reinforcement regarding the use of BS play, because it will build your confidence and help sustain you through those inevitable losing streaks all of us must endure from time to time.
