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Musings

  1. Musings: Don’t casinos know this stuff?

    I received an e-mail from a major AC casino yesterday asking for the effect of the H17 rule. Not a complex new side bet, or esoteric rule, but one of the most common, published rules in the Blackjack world. I received an e-mail from a large Asian casino last week asking if I would analyze the play of a Baccarat player they believe was using a strategy from a popular Baccarat book. I didn’t respond as I don’t work for casinos.

    But, what struck me odd is that major casinos would even
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  2. The Obligatory “If I ran a Casino” Post

    The goals of the casinos and of the advantage players are in conflict. The casino wants every dollar the player has and the player wants every dollar the casino has. If either party gets what it wants, neither side wins. It is necessary that both sides make money to keep the casinos in business and keep the mystique of the game alive. So, this is my attempt at triangulation.

    My suggestion is that the casino offer a rather poor set of rules, 8 deck, dealer hits soft-17, double after
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  3. What Are the Ethics of Advantage Play?

    Is advantage play ethical? There are actions that some players have taken that are clearly unethical – sneaking extra chips onto a bet when doubling, bending cards, hidden cameras, and other such cheats. This is actually rare these days. What I am talking about is normal advantage play, as follows:

    Wonging: If you only enter a shoe only when the card count is in your favor, and/or exit when it is not, then you leave unaware players with worse odds then they would normally expect. They
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  4. A rather disturbing conversation

    Follow-up to the previous post. I got a phone call from one of the long-time names in the Blackjack field. He had been talking to networks about a Blackjack-based TV show. He had a major network interested. Until the lawyer for the network claimed that card counting is illegal. (Not the brightest of networks also famous for saying many other inane things.) Of course, no court in any country in the world has ever ruled card counting as illegal. How can you make thinking a crime?
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  5. The Campaign to label Blackjack Card Counters as Cheaters

    We have all seen it before, casinos have long attempted to call Blackjack card counters crooks, cheats, thieves, etc. Card counting is simply the correct way to play. Why would anyone purposely ignore the cards that have been played? You certainly wouldn’t ignore the cards in Bridge or Gin. But, their campaign has been effective as can be seen by those repeating the casino libel. I thought I’d start a list of the offenses:

    • November 2007, KLAS TV Las Vegas said
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About Blackjack: The Forum

BJTF is an advantage player site based on the principles of comity. That is, civil and considerate behavior for the mutual benefit of all involved. The goal of advantage play is the legal extraction of funds from gaming establishments by gaining a mathematic advantage and developing the skills required to use that advantage. To maximize our success, it is important to understand that we are all on the same side. Personal conflicts simply get in the way of our goals.