[studiodekadent]

Anyone else here enjoy the game of Blackjack?

About 2 years ago I developed quite a taste for it. It's not the cheapest hobby, but it can be very very fun. I usually play in Macau where the house edges are some of the lowest in the world.

[Selene]

Sean:

You have at least one fellow Aussie since you were last here.

When I looked at your profile, I saw blackjack and had a childhood flashback to Blackjack Gum:

http://www.rauscountrystore.com/browse.cfm...CFRKLxwoddHNRkQ

However, I love the game. In Macao are there less decks so card counters can reduce the house odds?

What makes the house odds lower?

Do they have to get "hit" under 16? etc.?

Adam

And of course, welcome back, we now have infinitely more Goth's than blacks [keeping the color theme going!], as far as I know, on OL. Since the Georgia "gentleman" seems to have been convicted of being a troll.

[studiodekadent]

Selene, on Jun 4 2009, 05:18 AM, said:

However, I love the game. In Macao are there less decks so card counters can reduce the house odds?

What makes the house odds lower?

Do they have to get "hit" under 16? etc.?

Adam

And of course, welcome back, we now have infinitely more Goth's than blacks [keeping the color theme going!], as far as I know, on OL. Since the Georgia "gentleman" seems to have been convicted of being a troll.

Thanks for welcoming me back! And I'm glad you love Blackjack too.

In Macau, they use continuous shuffling machines pretty much exclusively so unfortunately, there is no card counting. But the basic strategy house edges are absolutely tiny (usually). For the most part, the reasons for this are
1) You can surrender against a dealer ten BEFORE the dealer checks for Blackjack (however you cannot surrender against a dealer ace). "Early Surrender Against Tens" lowers the house edge (relative to "Late Surrender") by 0.22% approx.
2) All casinos in Macau STAND on soft 17 (decreasing the house edge by 0.24% approx).

At the Wynn Macau, the rules are: 6 deck, Dealer Stands on Soft 17, Early Surrender Against Tens, Double Any Two Cards, Doubling After Splits Allowed, Resplitting Aces Allowed, Split and Resplit to Four Hands (6D s17 ES10 DA2 DAS Sp4 RSA). This results in a house edge of 0.08% under correct basic strategy. And the minimum bet at the Wynn Macau is about US$13 (in contrast to Wynn's Vegas places, his Macau joint is AMAZING value for money).

[Selene]

Sean:

Thanks. Was not aware what a "soft 17" was... I thought of my first "true love" girlfriend, her nickname was "Slug" mine was Frisco... my Irish Setter was named Ragnar Daneskold which really screwed up his AKA bloodline!

Yes, I read Atlas at about 14.

Soft 17 Rule

By Henry Tamburin

"I played blackjack in a casino and noticed that whenever the dealer had a soft 17 hand, he would take a card. I thought dealers were supposed to stand on 17."

As a general rule, casino rules specify that dealers must draw on "16 or less" and stand on "17 and more". In fact, it states that right on the layout. However, when the dealer's 17 contains an ace that is counted as 11, the hand is known as a soft 17 (e.g., ace, 6 or ace 2, 4 are soft 17s). And in some casinos, the rules specify that dealers must hit their soft 17 rather than stand and it will state that on the layout (this is known as the soft 17 rule).

So, what's the big deal you say. Does it really make a difference on that one hand whether or not the dealer stands or hits? Well, it is a big deal because that one slight rule change increases the casino's edge over the players by about 0.2%.

The reason that the player's expectation decreases when the dealer must hit soft 17 is that even though the dealer will bust slightly more often when he hits compared to standing on 17, the times he doesn't bust he will more often end up with a hand that totals higher than 17. The net result is the casino's edge increases by 0.2%.

Your best bet is to not play blackjack in casinos that have the soft 17 rule, especially when 6 decks of cards are used. But if you have no choice, then you should modify your basic playing strategy on these three hands (for a typical 6-deck game). They are as follows:

* Double down on 11 (e.g., 6,5) against dealer's ace upcard (instead of standing)
* Double down an soft 19 (ace, 8) against dealer's 6 upcard (instead of standing)
* Double down on soft 18 (ace, 7) against dealer's 2 upcard (instead of standing)

Sometimes new casinos come under a lot of heat from blackjack players when they implement the soft 17 rule at their blackjack tables. This was the case in a new Mississippi casino that opened with this player unfavorable rule. Critics (myself included) and players voiced their discontent loud and clear especially since most of the other nearby casinos did not have this rule. It didn't take long before the casino changed the rule to "dealer's standing on soft 17" and took out ads in local papers to announce the change.

The soft 17 rule historically has been part of the blackjack games in the downtown Las Vegas and Reno casinos. Here you'll find mostly the more player favorable single-deck (versus 6-deck) blackjack games. The casinos offer the more favorable single-deck games but then take some of that player advantage away by implementing the soft 17 rule. Still, a single-deck game with the soft 17 rule is a better game for most blackjack players than a typical multiple-deck game.

The following chart summarizes the effect of the casino's advantage over the basic strategy player when the soft 17 rule is in effect (i.e., dealer must hit soft 17). H17 means dealer hits soft 17. S17 means dealer stands on soft 17. DAS means double after pair splitting allowed. NoDAS means doubling after pair splitting is not allowed.
# Decks Rules Casino Edge
1 H17, noDAS 0.18%
1 S17, noDAS -0.01%(Player has the advantage)
1 H17, DAS 0.06%
1 S17, DAS -0.13% (Player has the advantage)
2 H17, noDAS 0.40%
2 S17, DAS 0.19%
6 H17, DAS 0.63%
6 S17, DAS 0.41%

You can see why casinos that offer single deck games usually implement the soft 17 rule. If they didn't, a typical basic strategy player would have the edge. Notice the casino's edge in 6-deck games with the soft 17 rule. Their edge is 0.63%, which is fairly high for most blackjack games.

The bottom line is that the soft 17 rule is palatable in single-deck games, but with 2-deck and 6-deck games you should try to play in casinos where the rules specify that dealers must stand on soft 17. That's the smart way to play blackjack."

Damn! That is a significant advantage!

I still prefer chess, no wind, no luck of the draw no unlucky dice -----------------and no place to hide when you beat the person.

Adam

This post has been edited by Selene: 03 June 2009 - 02:02 PM