John Lewis: blackjack education per AOL

[John Lewis]

The home page on AOL tonight features a piece on Las Vegas.

The following is their advice blurb on blackjack:

Inside Scoop Playing Blackjack? Remember This...

*You?re not trying to get 21. You?re trying to beat the dealer. [why can't we get simple, no nonsense advice like that on this site?]

*Double down on 11. You rarely have a chance to increase your bet in Blackjack, so take advantage of it whenever you can.

*Blackjack is all about streaks. When you?re on a winning streak, it might be a good idea to bet more. When you?re losing, your best bet is to bet less. Don?t try to win back all of your money at once or you just might lose twice as much.

*Stay away from two-deck Blackjack. While you can actually try to count cards (never let the House catch you doing that!), the odds of winning decrease since there are fewer low-number cards for the dealer to draw. [this makes sense -- there are a lot more small cards in a 6 decker]

*Tip the dealer by placing a chip above the betting circle. The dealer only gets it if you win the hand, and it brings good Blackjack karma. If you lose, the house gets the chip--but it?s a small wager that can increase your cosmic odds.

Viktor, please archive!

[Illusion]

> *Tip the dealer by placing a chip above the
> betting circle. The dealer only gets it if
> you win the hand, and it brings good
> Blackjack karma. If you lose, the house gets
> the chip--but it?s a small wager that can
> increase your cosmic odds.

Blackjack karma? Cosmic odds? That?s like saying if all the people in Asia sneeze at once it will knock the earth off its axis sending us toward the sun.

Not that I am against tipping dealers, But I don't want to get in to that discussion.

[Praying Mantis]

> *Stay away from two-deck Blackjack. While
> you can actually try to count cards (never
> let the House catch you doing that!), the
> odds of winning decrease since there are
> fewer low-number cards for the dealer to
> draw. [this makes sense -- there are a lot
> more small cards in a 6 decker]

That's why I quit playing DD games. I got tired of all of those games specifically setup just to catch counters.

They also forgot to announce that in a DD game you will get less blackjacks because there are less aces.