So, the basic tips I've found are this... feel free to add your input on them as well as disagreements or anything else you care to add. I'm playing on an online type situation so none of the deck tips apply as the amount of decks used and when they're changed are unknown.


Tips
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Never take insurance unless you are counting cards.

Never split 10's.

Always split Aces and 8's, no matter what the dealer's showing card is. (I've head if the dealer showing card is an ace to not split on 8's)

Double down on two card combinations totalling:

* 9 if the dealer's up card is 3, 4, 5 or 6
* 10 if the dealer's up card is anything but a 10 or an Ace
* 11 if the dealer's up card is anything but an Ace.

Always stand on hard 17 or higher if the dealer's showing card is 7 or lower.

Always stand on hard 13 through 16 if the dealer's showing card is 6 or lower, but hit if the dealer's showing card is 7 through Ace.

Always stand on hard 12 or higher if the dealer is showing 4, 5 or 6.

Hit a hard 12 if the dealer's up card is 2, 3, 7 or higher.

Hit until you have at least 17 against a dealer's 10.

Hit a soft 17 against a dealer's 10.

Standing on 17 and lower relies entirely on the dealer's busting to win. Since you cannot bust a soft hand with just one hit, do the following:

* Hit soft 13 through 17 against a dealer's 7 or higher
* With hands of three or more cards, always hit soft 13 through 17
* Double down with two-card soft 13 through 17 against a dealer's 5 or 6. (You can only double down with your first two cards)
* Double down soft 17 against a dealer's 3
* Double down soft 15 through 17 against a dealer's 4
* Most players will stand on soft 18, but you may find that in the long run you will be better off to hit a soft 18 if the dealer's up card is 9, 10 or Ace , stand on soft 18 if the dealer's up card is 2, 7 or 8, and double down if the dealer shows a 3, 4, 5 or 6
* Always stand on soft 19 or higher.

I go with gut feeling and try not to screw my buddy next to me...thats if he/she is playing.

Get one of those cards that tells you what to do and follow it. You can get them in the gift shop at all casinos. Here is an example of what it looks like:

http://www.markpilarski.com/bj.html

It tells you to hit stand split or double for all card combos
The casino will let you use it at the table but memorize it if you can. Try to sit at a table with as few ppl as possible as most ppl don't know what the hell they are doing and do stupid shit that will screw you (splitting tens, hitting a 15 when the dealer is showing a bust card, standing on a 16 when dealer has 7 or up showing etc.) Everything you posted looks correct to me. Also, don't go to tables that have autoshuffle machines. Blackjack is one of the best games to play in Vegas because if you follow basic strategy it reduces the houses edge to less than one percent. I did well when I was out there playing basic strategy and so did my Dad. good luck!
Ian

I like to double down on twelve. Usually freaks the dealer out the first time I do it.

I like to double down on twelve. Usually freaks the dealer out the first time I do it.



Id probably change tables if i was sittting next to you http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Jer, it is catching on isn't it http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/bounce.gif

btw, i was told always to split aces and eights

Jer, it is catching on isn't it http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/bounce.gif

btw, i was told always to split aces and eights



Yeah, it is. It fucked me last night too. http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

I started off with a grand and worked my way up to about $1,500 following the guidelines and realized if I tripled my bet when I lost mathematically I couldn't lose. I would start off with a buck and if I won... be up a dollar. If I lost, I would go to $3 and if I lost again, $9 and then $27.... $81and so on. This worked very well for several hours and I made around five hundred bucks. Then my world came to an end and I realized why that limit was there. After $81 I had nowhere to go but $200 since that's the limit. I would bet the $200 and lose... then not knowing what to do I would dump the same $200 down again and lose... and again... and again. Well, before I knew it I was down. Big time. Thinking it was because I doubled down on the second hand and thinking it caused me to run out of room too quickly I started again and swore off doubling down. It went well for a few hours again and then it all came tumbling down.

Long and short of it is I lost my grand. Just wondering how people are able to make money consistently. At the login it shows the high winners for last month and there are four and all four won $19k. Is this just to get people like me to piss their money away thinking they can do it or how do people make this kind of money??

Gambling http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/cussing.gif

i think jer needs an intervention


btw the gambling posts in the football forum and the ones here i think he may have a problem http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

i think jer needs an intervention


btw the gambling posts in the football forum and the ones here i think he may have a problem http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif



Haha... I didn't have a problem until I lost a thousand dollars. Now I have a problem. http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/bounce.gif

playing online?

playing online?



Si.

This thread has nothing to do with my Vegas thread because I have no desire to gamble with the sharks in Vegas. I'll get pwn3d.

I like to double down on twelve. Usually freaks the dealer out the first time I do it.



Doubling down on 12 is for wimps. http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

When we were in Vegas for New Year's a buddy of mine was kicking so much ass at the Blackjack Table that he threatened to double down on the next 14 he got. Well, he got 14 and told the dealer he wanted to double down... She did NOT see the humor. http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/nono.gif They argued for a few minutes and finally she let him double down... he got a good card and she busted! All this while he was sitting last at the table. http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/spit.gif We were all winning so we thought it was pretty damn funny. He did it another 4 or 5 times and only lost ONCE. It pretty much turned out to be the highlight of the trip...

http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif

black jack is best played early in the am. alone at the table. one on one with the dealer. learn to count and back bet also. back betting is one of the more common betting techs,just like your tripling.. but dont triple theres no need. only need to double your bet. 10,20,40,80,160.. so when you do win youre up 10. the whole point is to ensure every winning hand you go positive from your starting point. if you lose 5 hands in a row you either really really suck or you shouldnt be playing. double down EVERY time you should and can be. played properly you can win some decent coin. ive turned 200 into almost 2000 in couple of hours.. gotta get lucky and play smart http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif

black jack is best played early in the am. alone at the table. one on one with the dealer. learn to count and back bet also. back betting is one of the more common betting techs,just like your tripling.. but dont triple theres no need. only need to double your bet. 10,20,40,80,160.. so when you do win youre up 10. the whole point is to ensure every winning hand you go positive from your starting point. if you lose 5 hands in a row you either really really suck or you shouldnt be playing. double down EVERY time you should and can be. played properly you can win some decent coin. ive turned 200 into almost 2000 in couple of hours.. gotta get lucky and play smart http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif



Doubling your loss ensures that you do get back the money you lost and that makes sense. So, you would win hands and that would be the keeper money and the ones you lost you would eventually get back assuming you don't lose five hands in a row. I may have to try that out. Since the table is one dollar minimum I would only be winning one dollar at a time but would leave myself more room for Eff ups should I lose several in a row (which is what ultimately did me in last night when I was tripling the loss).

Jer, it is catching on isn't it http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/bounce.gif

btw, i was told always to split aces and eights



Yeah, it is. It fucked me last night too. http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

I started off with a grand and worked my way up to about $1,500 following the guidelines and realized if I tripled my bet when I lost mathematically I couldn't lose. I would start off with a buck and if I won... be up a dollar. If I lost, I would go to $3 and if I lost again, $9 and then $27.... $81and so on. This worked very well for several hours and I made around five hundred bucks. Then my world came to an end and I realized why that limit was there. After $81 I had nowhere to go but $200 since that's the limit. I would bet the $200 and lose... then not knowing what to do I would dump the same $200 down again and lose... and again... and again. Well, before I knew it I was down. Big time. Thinking it was because I doubled down on the second hand and thinking it caused me to run out of room too quickly I started again and swore off doubling down. It went well for a few hours again and then it all came tumbling down.

Long and short of it is I lost my grand. Just wondering how people are able to make money consistently. At the login it shows the high winners for last month and there are four and all four won $19k. Is this just to get people like me to piss their money away thinking they can do it or how do people make this kind of money??

Gambling http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/cussing.gif



i was up $400 dollars.........then i started getting greedy and now im down $400 http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif


oh well, shit happens

Doubling your loss ensures that you do get back the money you lost and that makes sense. So, you would win hands and that would be the keeper money and the ones you lost you would eventually get back assuming you don't lose five hands in a row. I may have to try that out. Since the table is one dollar minimum I would only be winning one dollar at a time but would leave myself more room for Eff ups should I lose several in a row (which is what ultimately did me in last night when I was tripling the loss).



if you play by the basic rules back betting can work quite well. my buddies old boss swears by it. He'd go to vegas with 20k, and with a set goal of making 20k. fly in get there around midnight. find a table by himself and play all night. then fly out in the morning. Last time he wanted to win enough to buy a new a Honda CRV I believe. He payed cash for it later that week. Just play textbook blackjack and you should be ok.

as for only a dollar at a time.. playing by yourself you can play what,, 3 hands a min? if you got a few hundred to start. try playing 2-5 / hand.

+1

+1



+1 what? Is someone working on a post count?

I always count the dealer's shown card as his number and scope the cards around the table.

For instance: if I have an 11-15 and the cards on the table are all high, I usually take the chance and hit my cards. Then sometimes I'll stay at 14 and watch the dealer bust. I usually don't hit above 15, depending on the table.

I always count the dealer's shown card as his number and scope the cards around the table.

For instance: if I have an 11-15 and the cards on the table are all high, I usually take the chance and hit my cards. Then sometimes I'll stay at 14 and watch the dealer bust. I usually don't hit above 15, depending on the table.



+1...Playing by the book will get you quite far. It allowed me to play in Vegas for 5 hours on $50. But you also have to keep an eye out on the cards. If a lot of high cards are coming out, and you've got a middle hand, I usually take a hit. Worked fairly well.

Call me a ignorant, but what does the person's playing before you have to do with how they can screw you over? Someone mentioned playing last at the table. I would that that would be advantageous since you see more cards come out...?
Someone mind explaining?

Oh - and why split 8's? What if the dealer is showing a 9?

Call me a ignorant, but what does the person's playing before you have to do with how they can screw you over? Someone mentioned playing last at the table. I would that that would be advantageous since you see more cards come out...?
Someone mind explaining?

Oh - and why split 8's? What if the dealer is showing a 9?



I dont' know, but I will f*ck with the table and sit out for a hand or two. Sounds odd, but it screws with the rotation and it helps for a steady losing streak at one table.

God man I hope I don't jinx myself talking about it. The last time I went to Puerto Rico and the boat in Cocoa I came up the last four times (two trips to PR, two trips on Sterling). Knock on wood. I'm up about $1,000 in all my gamblings.

[QUOTE]
Call me a ignorant, but what does the person's playing before you have to do with how they can screw you over? Someone mentioned playing last at the table. I would that that would be advantageous since you see more cards come out...?
Someone mind explaining?



To see what cards are on the table. Like what I mentioned before. someone can get a feel for their cards by reading the table. If all the cards are high on the table and say you have a 13, your chances of busting are lower.