I am sitting here today, on the front lines, in my never ending war with the Casinos. Today the front is at the Black Jack table.
Good day to all you gamblers, in whatever time zone you may be in. May the Lady of Luck grace all you Pilgrims, and your stacks of money grow like Jack's bean stalk.
It is our belief that the serious BJ player falls into one of three categories.
Category # 1 is the card counter, or , as the pit bosses like to say, “the advantage player”. Let me simply say that there are numerous books written on this method of play. Quite simply, the bettor tries to compute when the deck will favor the player. He does this by counting high and low cards (7, 8, and 9 are neutral cards and are not part of the count) until the count indicates that the deck is rich in face cards. At this point, he raises his bet drastically, in anticipation of being dealt the face cards which he perceives as about to come. This, immediately, raises a “red flag”. He will not only draw the attention of the floor man (pit boss), but surveillance (the “eye”) will also realize what's going on. Ordinarily, they will let a player get away with this method for a few hands; But if the player starts to consistently win with the count, the floor supervisor will “back him off” the table saying they don't allow “advantage” players. More than likely, he will be told to leave the Casino. Problem with this system, that the books seem to forget, is that the count is just as favorable for the dealer. The dealer stands to have just as much chance of being dealt the face cards as the player. To my way of thinking, you might just as well flip a coin, and bet money on each flip, heads or tails. As I said, there are numerous books on this method of play; If numbers are your forte, then this strategy might be for you. Go to Amazon, at the top of this page, and “spring” for a book. Those of you Pilgrims, who are into numbers, will surely find some very interesting books on this style of play.
As for yours truly; It's not for me. I can, just as easily, keep track of the cards, the same as I do in Poker or Gin Rummy, without the numbers thing. My betting would also be more consistent, without the steep ups and downs.
In a few days we will cover the other two categories of this game; And I know you ladies will find them quite interesting.
My Martini (Beefeater's, of course) awaits. Back in a couple of days.
Comments (0):