Hello /adv/.
I want to learn how to win at Black Jack. I already know the charts that give you the best probability of winning based on the dealer's up card and all that, but I would love to be able to sit down at a table and have a lot of confidence in my skill and knowledge of the game.
I'm going to be taking a vacation in Reno in a couple weeks, and I suddenly have this deep urge to learn how to count cards and apply it. I love the concept of Black Jack, and I feel like I would have way more fun at casinos if I knew how to play the system. The only thing I know about counting cards so far is that it's pretty much legal, very few people do it, and you can get yourself into some trouble with the casino if you make it way too obvious that you're doing it.
I really want to get good at 21. Also, where would be a good place to practice?
You can get good but casinos are fucked up man. They will shut you down if they suspect you're counting cards(or winning too much)
>>16863853
Yeah, that's exactly what I've been reading. And from a business standpoint, they're perfectly within their rights to refuse to let smart players sit at the tables, and conversely, a player is perfectly reasonable to try and take back some of the odds stacked against them.
What I want to learn is the basics of applying your card counts to your play, and then to learn some subtleties about keeping suspicion low. I'm not looking to scam a casino out of a huge amount of money, but like I said, I WOULD love to be known as the guy who knows what he's doing at casinos.
I have plenty of fun at casinos and I can make $100 last for several nights, but I mainly just sit there and lose my money very slowly while I try to have enough free alcohol to pay it off. I'm not actually good at it. I'm very excited to look into this though.
just fyi actual card counting isn't like in the movies where if you know how to do it you can just walk into the casino and break the bank, casinos typically stack decks 6-8 high on blackjack tables. I know for a fact that the Atlantis Casino in Reno does this, they do have a table that only stacks 2 high but its a $100 minimum per hand and who's rich enough for that shit?
Even with 2 high decks you're still gonna end up losing plenty of hands and if you can count cards it simply tilts the advantage a couple of percent into your favor so you need to use a huge amount of money and time to grind out a small "guaranteed" win.
>>16863822
even with counting cards, it is still a probability
you can count perfectly and still lose money, the positive probability is meant for long term profit, and the people who did it were in the casinos for more than 8 hours a day like it is a full time job
also check the rules beforehand, and use a calculator from online to correct the chart you have
also, did you try to count them irl? i tried it a cuople of times for fun and it is way harder than what it appears to be
>>16863894
>you need to use a huge amount of money and time to grind out a small "guaranteed" win.
Ahh, I see. So in other words, you potentially spend a bunch of money over the course of the shoe to gather information, and then you make your money by betting huge if/when you know the probability starts leaning in your favor?
That certainly doesn't sound as glamorous as it appears on the big screen. Still, though, I could see myself betting the minimum $5 hands and then increasing to something like $20 when the shoe is rich. I'd prefer not to risk losing much more than $100 in one night (since, as I said, I mainly just use BJ tables as a way to get shitloads of alcohol for super cheap), but I love the idea standing a reasonable chance of walking out of there each night a good $100 richer.
Keep in mind, getting as much alcohol as possible while losing the least amount of money (or even making some) is still my main objective here, so I'm basically just looking for a way to confidently stretch my dollar as far as it can possibly go rather than having to sit at video black jack, which is what I normally do.
>>16863937
yeah I tried it once as well and it was way harder than I thought it would be just to do a modest amount of counting, so these days I just stick to the $5 tables using the basic strategy and just try to enjoy myself rather than make my fortune
>>16863948
>So in other words, you potentially spend a bunch of money over the course of the shoe to gather information, and then you make your money by betting huge if/when you know the probability starts leaning in your favor?
yep that's the general idea, mind you though you can still easily get fucked when the cards are in your favor.
That type of card counting actually works much better in baccarat than blackjack, a game which always seemed to me like pure luck with no strategy at all but I was talking to some guys who are really big into it the other day and they were telling me how card counting is a really big deal.
>>16863822
Card counting - basically, the more high cards there are left in the deck, the more likely the dealer will go bust - was discovered in the 1970s, and all professional casinos immediately took steps to counter it, mainly by using multiple decks (making it harder to count) and shuffling more often (keeping any imbalance from developing).
Now only the most expert and experienced card counters have even a rough chance of getting an edge by counting, and the casinos have gotten very good at spotting them and blackballing them.
Play for fun and for the fantasy that you have an edge. But don't expect riches.
>>16863822
Im a dealer and our casino has one of the best odds of blackjack, my advice is dun do it. Just don't even try, and if you do leave when you lose a set amount or leave when you win a set amount.
