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Thread: Pros and Cons of playing 2 hands

  1. #1


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    Pros and Cons of playing 2 hands

    I have been reading more and more that BJ APs are playing 2 hands off the top of a new shuffle. Being that 85% of my play is done heads up on a shoe game, what would be the benefit of going to 2 hands?

    Does playing two hands in + RC all the way to TC-2 (wong out) essentially give you 2x more HPH?
    Does playing 2 hands help you reach n0 2x faster?
    Does playing 2 hands double RoR?
    If I were to start playing 2 hands in the beginning of a shoe, what can I expect over the next few thousand hours of play compared to 1 hand?
    If I consider playing 2 hands; would I switch to 1 hand in > +2 TC to save all the 10-A cards for one hand and get 50% of the cards distributed, or would I stay with 2 hands and continue to get 66% of the cards distributed? If I stay with 2 hands I'd be running through the +TCs much faster than I would be playing heads up. Does it make sense to stay at 2 hands considering the fact that dealers win more hands in +TCs..


    Thanks,
    OC2
    There is no glory in practice, but without practice there is no glory . -Unknown

  2. #2


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    I remember reading somewhere that it gives you a variance reduction of 30% so essentially you can play 2 hands at .70 of your bet for the same risk of ruin. Obviously then you would have the higher average bet with the same risk which would equate to more hands per hours etc.
    Last edited by mushin; 05-01-2015 at 10:32 AM.

  3. #3


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    I am going to try to answer some of these and might be incorrect but here it goes. I think if you are playing 2 hands but already factored that spread into everything then obviously nothing is going to change. If you for example have a 1-4 spread with 25 as your 1 unit bet then the No will be cut in half if you play 2 spots spreading 25 -100 at both spots. I believe your ROR (no goal and no time contraint) would remain the same. Not sure about your other questions, but in high TC i would assume that you should stick with 2 hands since you want more money on the table. Also, if you play 2 hand and then drop it to one hand in high counts, that alter the cutting N0 in half by playing 2 hands. Might be completely wrong, but this is my understanding.

  4. #4


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    Pros: More EV

    Cons: More variance and heat.

    That about sums it up.

  5. #5


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    You will not reach n0 2x faster, but it will be faster.

    Playing two hands will much more than double your RoR if you simply add another hand at max bet. You can scale your bets back to account for this. I think in Wong's professional blackjack he uses a 75% rule.

    Ex. If you max at one hand of $100, you can go to two hands of $75.

    Running a quick CVCX it triples RoR (.2% to .6%) on a S17DD 75%Pen with a $10k BR with $5 units.

    Ev jumps from $21.48 to $34.82 with the second hand.

    N0 goes from 88xx to 66xx

    For equal EV to our 1x100 we could max at 2x45, it would lower our RoR to .1% and lower N0 to 83xx.

    This is playing 1 hand throughout the shoe vs two. No wonging.



    Don't drop a hand when the count gets high.

  6. #6


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    Just buy CVCX. BTW N0 is rounds not hands.
    "Everyone wants to be rich, but nobody wants to work for it." -Ryan Howard [The Office]

  7. #7


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    Quote Originally Posted by RollingStoned View Post
    Just buy CVCX. BTW N0 is rounds not hands.

    My Mac doesn't work with CVCX.. and I'm not buying another computer after spending nearly 3k on one 3 months ago, nor am I installing any type of boot camp on it.

  8. #8


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    Quote Originally Posted by hitthat16 View Post
    Pros: More EV

    Cons: More variance and heat.

    That about sums it up.
    Playing two hands decrease the N0 which makes it interesting because playing two hands increases the variances.

  9. #9


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    Playing two hands is always better than one. In DD games, I start with two hands and as long as it's neutral or positive, stay with it. Thus I effectively get 1-8 spread (2 hands of $100 as max bet, one hand of $25 at negative counts) and a lot less heat.

  10. #10


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    It depends how much you're betting on each hand at each count when deciding whether betting 1 hand or 2 hands is better. In negative counts, betting 2x25 is better than betting 1x50 even though both total $50. In positive (+EV) counts, betting 1x400 is better than 2x200 - even though both total $400. Strictly from an EV perspective (not taking into account variance, heat, ROR, etc.). The only time it does not make a difference is on the very last hand of the shoe -- since there are no more cards that need preserving.
    "Everyone wants to be rich, but nobody wants to work for it." -Ryan Howard [The Office]

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by RollingStoned View Post
    It depends how much you're betting on each hand at each count when deciding whether betting 1 hand or 2 hands is better. In negative counts, betting 2x25 is better than betting 1x50 even though both total $50. In positive (+EV) counts, betting 1x400 is better than 2x200 - even though both total $400. Strictly from an EV perspective (not taking into account variance, heat, ROR, etc.). The only time it does not make a difference is on the very last hand of the shoe -- since there are no more cards that need preserving.
    The way to bet 2 hands is not to divide your single bet in half and bet each half on a different spot. If you are card eating in a negative situation you want to bet as small as you can get away with. If you have an advantage you bet 2 spots each at about 75% of your on spot bet. This keeps RoR about the same and gets more money on the table. If you are heads up you gets the same amount of money out per card this way and if there are others at the table you get more money out per card used. If you aren't heads up it can be better to let others eat the cards in a disadvantage situation.

  12. #12


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    Quote Originally Posted by Tthree View Post
    The way to bet 2 hands is not to divide your single bet in half and bet each half on a different spot.
    He never said that.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by bjarg View Post
    He never said that.
    No he didn't but I felt he either implied it or his answer would mislead some to believe that. I felt it better to explain how most bet 2 hands than to state examples of how not to bet two hands. RS's point is valid but if you understood why it is valid you wouldn't be asking the question. So shouldn't replies be geared toward helping those that don't understand gain a better understanding? Combining his post with what I added was intended to accomplish this goal.

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