Newbie from UK

[dragonkidz]

I am an newbie in blackjack, well... actually I know how to play the basic, only this week I started gambling on an online casino. I was doing really well. I deposit £100 and got £100 bonus, then I was on the roll. I won £900. But I can't withdraw because the wager condition, then I was force to keep on gambling, and now I only got £20 in the deposit.

Anyway, so I have bought all the books related to Blackjack now, and looking to learn how to play properly before I deposit more money in the casino.

Can anyone suggest, if joining the BJ21 forum or the Blackjack apprentice forum is worth the money? I know this forum also got a pay section. Is it worth paying for this one?

Thanks and look forward to your advice.

[BJGenius007]

Thanks and look forward to your advice.

Never gamble in online casinos.

[Three]

This one is $3/month. The online sires calculate the rollover pretty good to make sure you loss the free money before you can cash out.

[dragonkidz]

Thanks for your advice. I read somewhere online casinos can't use card counting.

I think I will keep on practicing then go to a real casinos.

[dragonkidz]

The online casino I go to, have live dealer. I think they are using 6 decks of cards. But once they shuffle them, they than cut it in half. So we are really using 3 decks out of the 6 decks. Then they burn the first card's value, so if it is 10 they will burn 10 cards.

So is it 3 decks I am counting or 6 decks. Or it can't be counted?

[UK-21]

The online casino I go to, have live dealer. I think they are using 6 decks of cards. But once they shuffle them, they than cut it in half. So we are really using 3 decks out of the 6 decks. Then they burn the first card's value, so if it is 10 they will burn 10 cards.

So is it 3 decks I am counting or 6 decks. Or it can't be counted?

Welcome to this forum - there aren't too many regulars here from the UK (if at all).

I took a look at Grosvenor.com's live online blackjack game (based in one of the Baltic States I believe) and it looked to me as though they were using ten decks of cards - either that or those large format decks they were using weren't standard casino grade thickness. The dealer cut 50% off the back before they all went into the shoe. No advantage to be eeked out on this game.

Bearing in mind that all of the big casino chains in the UK now use Dyson 1-2-6s, where are you intending to play once you have honed your skills?

[dragonkidz]

Welcome to this forum - there aren't too many regulars here from the UK (if at all).

I took a look at Grosvenor.com's live online blackjack game (based in one of the Baltic States I believe) and it looked to me as though they were using ten decks of cards - either that or those large format decks they were using weren't standard casino grade thickness. The dealer cut 50% off the back before they all went into the shoe. No advantage to be eeked out on this game.

Bearing in mind that all of the big casino chains in the UK now use Dyson 1-2-6s, where are you intending to play once you have honed your skills?

I play on Eurogrand online casino at the moment, but I am based in Essex, so the closest one will be either Southend or Central London. What is Dyson 1-2-6s?

[UK-21]

I play on Eurogrand online casino at the moment, but I am based in Essex, so the closest one will be either Southend or Central London. What is Dyson 1-2-6s?

I think there are two casinos in Southend-on-Sea, one of which is owned by the LCI group. You might get a shoe dealt game there, but I have been told that all LCI establishments now use 8 decks, with a fairly large chunk (two decks plus) cut off the back - if you find this not to be the case in the future can you let me know? London is your best bet, and Napoleon's in Leicester Square have the best game, possibly in the whole of the Country - four decks with tables carrying a five quid min, and I've recently been told they now offer insurance on a dealer ace, rather than just even money on player snappers, which ups the odds for card counters a smigeon.

1-2-6s? Follow this link: http://www.uk-21.org/CSMs.html. These are now the standard offer on the blackjack tables at all Grosvenor, "G" and Mint Casinos up and down the country, which account for the majority of the casino estate in this fair land. At the moment I'm trying to put together a list of places that offer shoe games, but so far with little success as only one person has written to me on the subject.

Read lots and practice lots. Don't waste money on online games unless it's purely for entertainment purposes and you're content to lose what you put across the felt - which you inevitably will if you play enough. Save it up for a trip to the Smoke so you can apply your counting skills.

Good luck (and don't get busted).

[dragonkidz]

I think there are two casinos in Southend-on-Sea, one of which is owned by the LCI group. You might get a shoe dealt game there, but I have been told that all LCI establishments now use 8 decks, with a fairly large chunk (two decks plus) cut off the back - if you find this not to be the case in the future can you let me know? London is your best bet, and Napoleon's in Leicester Square have the best game, possibly in the whole of the Country - four decks with tables carrying a five quid min, and I've recently been told they now offer insurance on a dealer ace, rather than just even money on player snappers, which ups the odds for card counters a smigeon.

1-2-6s? Follow this link: http://www.uk-21.org/CSMs.html. These are now the standard offer on the blackjack tables at all Grosvenor, "G" and Mint Casinos up and down the country, which account for the majority of the casino estate in this fair land. At the moment I'm trying to put together a list of places that offer shoe games, but so far with little success as only one person has written to me on the subject.

Read lots and practice lots. Don't waste money on online games unless it's purely for entertainment purposes and you're content to lose what you put across the felt - which you inevitably will if you play enough. Save it up for a trip to the Smoke so you can apply your counting skills.

Good luck (and don't get busted).

Thanks for your information. I will check out the Southend casinos and let you know.

I think I will spend the next 6 months or 9 months to practice lots, before I go to a brick and mortar casino.

Do you know casinos on cruise ships. Are they using 6 decks?

[UK-21]

Do you know casinos on cruise ships. Are they using 6 decks?

Depends how many passengers they are designed to carry. Most have a poop-deck.

My only experience of high-seas games was one on a P&O ferry to the continent, where the gaming parlour offered the most appauling "Pontoon" game - carrying a HE of over 8%. I was told it was "just like blackjack" - no, it's nothing like blackjack.

[dragonkidz]

UK-21: There is so many Blackjack basic strategy online, and they are not all the same. Which one should I memories? Also am I allow to have a complete basic strategy open next to me while playing BJ in any casino? Sorry if they are silly questions, but I never gamble in any real casino before.

Are they any directory of all the casino in UK? I did a lot of search for UK casino, and google only showed me all the online casino.

[UK-21]

UK-21: There is so many Blackjack basic strategy online, and they are not all the same. Which one should I memories? Also am I allow to have a complete basic strategy open next to me while playing BJ in any casino? Sorry if they are silly questions, but I never gamble in any real casino before.

Are they any directory of all the casino in UK? I did a lot of search for UK casino, and google only showed me all the online casino.

It is clear you have much to learn - I would suggest that you review the recommended reading list on my site, and invest a few bob in some of the titles I've listed (I started with Arnold Snyder's "Blackbelt in Blackjack"). Answering the following questions for yourself (as a result of research and study) will put you in the picture:

How and why does a player "advantage" show itself in shoe dealt blackjack games? Why doesn't this work with online games?

What is basic strategy, why is it the cornerstone of advantage play, and why does it differ for different games with different rulesets?

Why is the position of the cut card so important to card counters?

Why is it important to ensure that you don't overbet or underbet your advantage - and "spread" your bets correctly?

+++

There are four to be going on with. I'm not going to provide the answers, you do your homework and work it out for yourself. Read lots.

If you've never been into a casino before, as there is one in your home town I would recommend a scouting trip to see what goes on, but DO NOT PLAY blackjack if you do - the aim is simply to observe the tables and learn:

How the dealer manages the table (ie deals from the left, pays out from the right).
Notice how is it that they can always reconstruct a hand if a payout is queried.
How the dealer shuffles up after each shoe.
How and where the cut card is inserted into the cards before they go back into the shoe.
Other players' deviations from the correct basic strategy for the game in question.

You can learn a lot by watching, particularly the behaviour of others at the tables. Which ones are the degenerate gamblers?


It's great fun, but don't be under any illusions that it's an easy way to make money. The card counting bit is the easy bit. Unfortunately, in the UK the opportunities to apply card counting techniques are now limited - thanks to the use of the Dysons. Don't be tempted to do anything silly and illegal, as cheating is a criminal offence under the Gambling Act 2005.

Again, good luck with your endeavours.

[Bodarc]

You have a nice web site UK-21