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Thread: challenging author-ity

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    Lightbulb challenging author-ity

    If it's a ticket to Mars you fancy, the academics at M.I.T. may well be your go to boys. But when it comes to playing cards, 'Blackjack' in particular, their intellectual aptitude for 'game theory' may still be best suited to socio/military application.

    The word author-ity, for those who may not have given it too much thought, alludes not to the last word on any given subject, rather to the first word, i.e. its origin. 'Basic Strategy' - or 'B.S'. for short - is the modern day bible for blackjack players ('true believers') worldwide, however it may be contraindicated as an actual solution to the problems presented by the authors of this ancient game.

    It is said that it is not so much the answers that are important as it is coming up with the right questions, to which the correct answers are but the natural, if eventual, by-product. To wit, I would pose the following (simple) query, absent the answer to which I would suggest that one cannot begin to have even the vaguest (coherent) notion of what is going on in this game, let alone a workable solution.

    In the game of '21' the designated valuations to the J,Q,K do not continue to ascend from the ten (odd, considering their royalty) 11,12,13., rather they flat line out at 10,10,10. How come? Clue; it is not to accommodate those players who would await their gathering, as the linear elite might conTENd! (grin)

    Good luck,

    Hobs

  2. #2
    Random number herder Norm's Avatar
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    Blackjack likely originated with the Sicilian game seven and one-half. It had a 40 card deck with no eights, nines or tens.

    • Aces always count as "1" and face cards count as "1/2".
    • The goal is to get as close as possible to 7 1/2 without busting instead of 21.
    • The dealer and the players are each dealt one card face up instead of two cards.
    • Each player, in turn, can hit, stand, surrender, or double-down just as in Blackjack.
    • If the player draws a pair of three's, two's or Aces, they may be split.
    • The dealer must draw to 4 1/2 and stand on 5.
    • The dealer wins all pushes (ties).


    Most likely, face-cards had the same rankings because that's how the game worked out. Or perhaps the inventor hated royalty and thought of them as having less value than their "subjects". In any case, history doesn't matter. What matters in an analysis of this type is what, not why.
    Last edited by Norm; 05-19-2015 at 11:41 AM.
    "I don't think outside the box; I think of what I can do with the box." - Henri Matisse

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    History in many cases reflects the mediums used at the time. This arrangement of numbers is not linear math, such as the random number programmers of today feed into their computers. Garbage in, garbage out. The mathematical nature of this game is numerology, not linear. The reason the J,Q,K are 10s is that, for the purposes of this game they are actually 1+0 = 1's. (1o 1o 1o 1o 9 8) 7 (6 5 4 3 2 1). The reason is (not so) simply that this game is in part a balance beam of the A-K. 13 numbers, six on either side of the 7 that when added together each side = the name of the game (21). Arabic numerology 10 = 1+0 = 1. M.I.T. not bad math, just the wrong math.

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    Random number herder Norm's Avatar
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    Please, not with the random number generators don't reflect reality nonsense. And, as much as numerology may provide interesting quirks -- it is otherwise irrelevant. Besides, none of what you said is true in my world since I use a radix 16 number system: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, f, g, j, k, q, w. (FiberGlass Javelins Kill Quite Well.)
    "I don't think outside the box; I think of what I can do with the box." - Henri Matisse

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    Hmm . . . a nod Is as good as a wink. I rest my case. At least I got the title right. Out.

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    Random number herder Norm's Avatar
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    Guess I lost that debate.
    "I don't think outside the box; I think of what I can do with the box." - Henri Matisse

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    I like to wait and see what a new poster has to offer. I think he will start to tell Don how wrong he is next.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Norm View Post
    Guess I lost that debate.
    LOL. A waste of time and bandwidth. But you tried.
    Opinions and Commentary on the Gaming Industry: The Bear Growls

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    You notice I'm just watching. Just a troll with nothing to offer.

    Don

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    Quote Originally Posted by DSchles View Post
    You notice I'm just watching. Just a troll with nothing to offer.

    Don
    We always knew you were up to no good.

  11. #11


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    That's right folks, move along now, move along. Nothing to see here.

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