Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

A couple years ago I went to vegas for New Years and I had the privileged of learning how to play BlackJack properly from Don & Lori, who not only write on this wonderful blog but happen to be great help at the tables too.

Now I like BlackJack but there has not been a convenient way to practice, until now. Apple has a fantastic app store for the iPhone/iPod Touch and one of the free apps is 21 Pro. I had been searching for an app and tried a couple out, 21 Pro is the way to go. This is the simple convenient way I had been looking for.

Besides the basics of betting and giving you two cards the game also has game history, built in card counting that follows your game, and a cheat card in case you need to brush up on strategy.

I get to practice Don’s Hedge Ecomonics on my phone, it doesn’t cost me a penny, and I can make sure I practice not spliting 10s (thanks Don and Lori). All in all it is a great app, It doesn’t let you play multiple hands at the table but that is me being nit-picky. Lucky for me I get to put my practice to good use, 7 nights in the caribbean, won’t be free but hopefully I’ll have a better chance at the tables now!

So now you are a Blackjack expert.  You have taken what I talked about in the first part of this strategy and now are looking for the payoff, right?

Great, so let’s get into it and talk about getting rated.

One of the main reasons why I love Blackjack is it’s a game that involves people.  As you know from a previous post on tipping, having people involved when you are gambling is always a good thing.   When you are doing well, having a good time and generally in good spirits good things are going to happen.  This is where getting rated comes in.

Every time you sit down you need to put your player’s card on top of the money you are changing for chips.  Now if you are not playing @ $25 per hand then this really doesn’t matter as your play will not be rated highly in a lot of places, or not at all in others.  But if you are; then now you are in business.

So now you are getting your money “washed” and the dealer is calling over the pit boss to get your play in the system.  This is where the amount that you buy in at plays a roll in the calculations.  Getting rated early and often is the key to elevating your status and ultimately getting your piece of the RFB (Room, Food and Beverage) pie. The formula is a rough one, but basically it boils down to the amount that you sit down with, what your average bet is, how long you play, and what you leave with.  

Since you are going to be gambling anyways, you might as well start getting some of the comps along the way.  Those start with small discounts on food and better room rates.  As you move up the ladder, you will get free nights and they will even start giving you money to play with.  It’s a beautiful thing.

You should use your card every time you do anything, but when you are playing at the tables there is more opportunities for good things to happen because it’s the pit bosses who are actually determining what kind of player you are.  I have had pit bosses in the past put in larger starting amounts, long play times and just generally helping the players like me out.  This is not going to happen every time you sit down of course, but if you are practicing Good Karma, then good things will happen for you too! 

So saddle up pards and let’s get that cocktail waitress over, I need a drink!

It seems like such a non issue, but your interaction with your blackjack dealer is critical.  They can certainly make a tough session easier and a great session even better. 

I have another post on Karma that I am cooking up, but I can tell you that a properly toked (tipped) dealer can certainly make a difference in your session.  I can not tell you how many times I have been overpaid, paid on a tie, or just paid on a loss by a dealer who was looking out for yours truly.

Now I am not saying that they are actively trying to get fired, or that I am running some confidence game with a ring of dealers in Vegas or anything.  That’s just not the case.

What I can say is that I have made eye contact with a dealer on a number of occasions as they made a simple mistake, and they just keep moving the game forward.  You see, they don’t care if you take every last chip from their tray.  It’s not their money, and many of them will tell you just that.  So think of it as a bank error in your favor, just like in the monopoly game of your youth.  Only this time its real money and it’s nice when it happens to you.

I can also tell you how many times I have been shorted; and that would be only once.  It was an honest mistake and we had moved on to the next hand when someone else mentioned it.  The dealer felt terrible and wanted to roll the game back and called the pit boss over and everything.  I told her it was fine and that things happen, and they do.  But I can honestly say they are much more likely to benefit you than not.

Of course it helps if you are tipping like you should (more on that in another post) and if you are at a table with a dealer that is friendly and engaging.  So let’s get to it!

5. Caesars Palace –

We play in the “old” pit in the Forum Casino near the hotel registration area.  This is where you have the best odds for playing and the dealers are generally much older and are really the salt of the earth.  A lot of them have been dealing for years and many of them have stories of Vegas from “back in the day”.  I have had many great times in this pit just listening to some vintage Vegas vets turn a card or two.

4. New York New York–

This used to be a young a hip place to play that was a bit too smoky at times.  That was fine because the dealers were fun and we used to pull a lot of money off of the tables.  However they are currently going through a renovation and everything looks like crap right now.  There is almost no gaming floor left, and they didn’t have a lot to start with.  Hopefully they can make a comeback for next year’s poll, but as of right now they are 4th purely on legacy.

3. The Venetian –

As our level of play has increase over the years, we have found ourselves playing more and more in the Venetian, which is a good thing.  There are so many tables that you never have to hunt around to find a home.  They rate your play pretty well and the dealers have for the most part been great; fast when you need them to be and slow when it’s hurting.  A class act all the way.

2. Harrah’s –

This one tugs on the heart strings as you never forget your first.  Lori and I stayed at Harrah’s for New Year’s in 2003 and it was the right fit for us.   They had lower limits and some of the nicest dealers around.  We were in Vegas for like 6 days (way too long when you have no concept of money management) and they all knew us on the 2nd day by name.  Lori was actually sick that trip and I still remember Arlene asking me about how Lori was feeling.  It was startling and I remember her to this day, some 5 years and 30+ Vegas trips ago.

1. Wynn - 

Now I don’t think that I have won a dime at the casino from the moment it has opened, but I love playing there.  Everyone (and I mean everyone) is so damn nice that you just want to kill yourself.  Everything just smells good and everyone looks good.  Not that it should matter, but a well put together dealer just sets the mood just right.

So there you have it.  Lori and I don’t play downtown or at local casinos so it’s not a definitive list by any means.  But for the average Vegas visitor going to the strip, you can not beat the group for the best dealer experience around.

Remember, results may vary and check with your doctor before starting any vigorous activity. 

By the title of this post one would assume that I am actually a winning blackjack player and I can honestly tell you that I am not.  What I am is a guy who can extend my play and occasionally pull a nice hunk of change off of the table.  Blackjack is a game of ebbs and flows.  The crucial element is to know when to get your winnings off the table when you can. 

The reality is, to be a truly profitable blackjack player you have to either be a card counter or not play at all.  Since we are not trying to get thrown out of a casino, let’s assume that you are not going to count cards and you will in fact belly up to the table and plunk down your hard earned cash.  Trust me, it’s even more fun when you know what you are doing!

To start, I am going to assume that you know basic strategy.  If you don’t, or need a quick refresher, you can go to this site that lays out everything you need to know to get you to the point for which we can start talking.

So let’s get started.

In order to understand the nature of this game you have to think about it as a 50/50 proposition.  If you play basic strategy you will have a great opportunity to win the individual outcome or hand.  Now just like a coin toss, sometimes you are going to win and sometimes you are going to lose.  But within a session there are streaks, and it’s those streaks that you have to exploit.

Before I get too far along I want to set the circumstances for which you should be playing.  You need to find a table that is the highest limit that you are comfortable with.  Meaning, if you can afford to sit down at a table with $300 or $400 then you can play at a $25 level (or $50 if you are frisky).  The reason for this will be explained later.  You must also try and find a table that has a manual dealer shoe.  It should look something like this:

This is key because you will need the break in the action.  Blackjack is a very fast game and when it’s going bad you will be thanking the gambling Gods when the dealer has to yell back to the Pit Boss, “shuffle check!”  It’s also important because basic strategy assumes a certain amount of decks (of cards) in the shoe.  If you are playing on a table with an automatic shuffler, things are constantly changing.  So consquently the times that the cards are favoring the players are often greatly diminished.  Plus there are other theories on that, but I won’t get into them right now.  Just look for a table with a shoe and you are in.

So now you have a table and some people who look like they know what they are doing and you are ready to play.  As I said before, this game is a streaky one and you have to ride the good streaks and get off when it’s going bad. And that brings me to the heart of the strategy: betting.

The key to Blackjack is the betting; more to the point hedging your bet. I can not stress this enough.  You have to be able to take your winnings and constantly push up your bet for the next hand.  Not everything, but a good amount because when you are on a roll you want to maximize your output.  When you are losing you are only ever losing the table minimum.  This is why you must find the table and limit that you are comfortable with.  Let me illustrate.

You sit down at a $25 table with $400.  (The $25 limit is a piviotal one because that is the level when the Casinos actually start to pay attention to your play.  I will elaborate on that in another post, just know that getting rated is a very good thing.)

Your first bet is $30, I know you are saying that you want to bet the min, but trust me on this one $30 is the bet.  Now something crazy happens and you win.  Awesome, congratulations!  You are a winner!  Now the dealer is going to pay you $30 right next to the $30 you just bet.  Great. So for your next bet you put $50 out in the circle. At this point you have pulled $10 of profit off of the table. Here it is broken down:

$400 - $30 = $370 at the start of the first hand.

$30+$30+ 370 = $460 after winning that first hand.

$460- $50= $410 at the start of the second hand.

Things are now cooking and you win the next hand. Now you win $50 and that is paid out right next to your $50 bet.  The next hand out, you increase your bet to $75.  Now you have completely covered your initial exposure of $30 (your original bet) and a total profit of $5.  But wait, you still have that $75 bet for the next hand.  If you win that next hand you are really playing with the house money!  That is pure profit and all sorts of great things happen at this point.  You keep this pattern going until you get to $125; at that point you increase your bet at $50 per consecutive win.  When you get to $250 then you can increase your bet by $75 or $100 (a “check”) until the cows come home!

It’s important to understand that at any time you lose you take you bet down to the minium of $30.  There will be a large temptation to put a big bet up there after you have lost a hand where you had $150 bet, but don’t.  You are throwing your profits away because just as quickly as you can win 5,8,10 hands in a row you can certainly lose that many.  So the key is to only lose a small amount when you are losing and win as much as you can when you are winning.

So many times I have been playing with people who always bet the minimum and never increase their bet.  They will win 10 hands in a row and actually end up losing all of their money because they will just keep playing and playing and eventually lose it all back to the casino.  The game is basically a coin flip, so when you are on the plus side, you really need to be taking advantage of the situation.

This brings me back to the importance of that dealer shoe.  You need that chance to actually win.  You need the opportunity to have that break in the action and reassess.  When you have made a good profit you should leave.  There are so many blackjack tables in Vegas that there is no reason to be married to any one table.  If you have been taking a beating, maybe it’s a good time to grab a snack or something.  Move to a new location and start again.  This game is like a wave; you always want to get out when you are going up and don’t stay too long or it will all come crashing down.

This is obviously going to be a multi-installment post.  More on this to come.