There are now hundreds of sites that claim to tell you "How to Win at Blackjack." Nearly all contain progression or other money managment schemes they claim the "casinos don't want you to know" and promise easy money. Perhaps what we need is a new site titled "How to Lose at Blackjack" and include discussions of all the bad advice given on playing BJ. Ironically, it would contain a lot of the same info as the the How to Win sites.
> There are now hundreds of sites that claim to tell you
> "How to Win at Blackjack." Nearly all
> contain progression or other money managment schemes
> they claim the "casinos don't want you to
> know" and promise easy money. Perhaps what we
> need is a new site titled "How to Lose at
> Blackjack" and include discussions of all the bad
> advice given on playing BJ. Ironically, it would
> contain a lot of the same info as the the How to Win
> sites.
You mean like this one?
Blackjack Scams
Mayhaps. I was thinking more along the lines not of scams but famously bad advice. Like the dealer must know what he's talking about since he's been dealing for 30 years. Or money you have won is the casino's money. What brought it to mind was reading the HowStuffWorks BJ article. In a quick reading I saw eight errors.
Avoiding scams is one thing, but educating ploppies could be dangerous? They are the ones that feed all the money to the casinos. If Ap's start educating in that way, the casino might feel that AP's are taking money from them in two ways? If everyone started playing BJ correctly that might compromise what good games are left.
If someone wants to learn a skill and doesn't want to make sure their info is valid, that's their problem? They are the balance in the whole deal.? Might be wrong, but just a thought.
they'll become educated enough to demand better rules, or at least know the bad ones to stay away from. Just because the masses know good games, it doesn't mean that they are going to play any better or lose any less money. They are ploppies for a reason, and very few of them cross the line to become an educated player.
Bettie
> Avoiding scams is one thing, but educating ploppies
> could be dangerous? They are the ones that feed all
> the money to the casinos. If Ap's start educating in
> that way, the casino might feel that AP's are taking
> money from them in two ways? If everyone started
> playing BJ correctly that might compromise what good
> games are left.
> If someone wants to learn a skill and doesn't want to
> make sure their info is valid, that's their problem?
> They are the balance in the whole deal.? Might be
> wrong, but just a thought.
Good point. Learn a new angle everyday!
> Mayhaps. I was thinking more along the lines not of
> scams but famously bad advice. Like the dealer must
> know what he's talking about since he's been dealing
> for 30 years. Or money you have won is the casino's
> money.
Ah, you mean well-intentioned scams. I could still see that fitting into the blackjack-scams.com site. But if there was enough content to build a whole new site, that'd be great too.
> What brought it to mind was reading the
> HowStuffWorks BJ article. In a quick reading I saw
> eight errors.
At least - it was obvious that the author had only the most basic knowledge of the topic. Fortunately, the Wikipedia articles on blackjack and card counting are much better. (And if they're not, you can correct them.)
> Avoiding scams is one thing, but educating ploppies
> could be dangerous? They are the ones that feed all
> the money to the casinos. If Ap's start educating in
> that way, the casino might feel that AP's are taking
> money from them in two ways? If everyone started
> playing BJ correctly that might compromise what good
> games are left.
As Bettie said, ploppies are ploppies for a reason. Books explaining basic strategy have been around nearly half a century. Hell, some casinos sell basic strategy cards in their gift shops. I've even seen a copy of Wong's Basic Blackjack in one casino gift shop.
Fortunately (for us), ploppies don't believe in basic strategy. They have their own strategies, and believe that the only way to win is to get lucky, catch a hot streak, etc. Of course sometimes they actually manage to win, variance being what it is, and then they become completely convinced that their way is right and everyone else (and all the books, etc.) is wrong.
These people built Las Vegas.
> As Bettie said, ploppies are ploppies for a reason.
> Books explaining basic strategy have been around
> nearly half a century. Hell, some casinos sell basic
> strategy cards in their gift shops. I've even seen a
> copy of Wong's Basic Blackjack in one casino gift
> shop.
The "Holland Casino" in Netherland (all CSM) have a flyer,prospect for basic strategy in their game explanation,
claiming, that you have better odds for winning, following BS. But most ploppies anyway don`t take card when dealer has 5 or 6, but how much hurt the ploppies staying 16 vs 7?
I think it doesn`t matter to them.
> The "Holland Casino" in Netherland (all CSM)
> have a flyer,prospect for basic strategy in their game
> explanation,
> claiming, that you have better odds for winning,
> following BS. But most ploppies anyway don`t take card
> when dealer has 5 or 6, but how much hurt the ploppies
> staying 16 vs 7?
> I think it doesn`t matter to them.
Not too many years ago, the Las Vegas Club actually gave hotel guests their room keys in a little folder that had a basic strategy card printed on it.
Most ploppies do not trust basic strategy ("That card was made by somebody that owns a casino!"). Variance plus selective memory has them convinced that their "system" is better ("I've been losing less since I started always standing on 16.").
I actually had someone tell me once, with a straight face, (I am not making this up!) that since even with perfect basic strategy the house still has an edge in most games, the only way to beat the house is to not use correct basic strategy.
I suppose there is a sort of twisted logic to that. :-)
> they'll become educated enough to demand better rules,
> or at least know the bad ones to stay away from. Just
> because the masses know good games, it doesn't mean
> that they are going to play any better or lose any
> less money. They are ploppies for a reason, and very
> few of them cross the line to become an educated
> player.
> Bettie
since I belong to the camp that believes ploppies, or more generally non educated blackjack players, can be educated to an extent that they can distinguish good and bad games I think we need to be creative about finding ways to reach this group, or at least a small portion of it. we know only a small portion of bj players ever join the ranks of bs or higher level, no idea but is 5% a good guess? that leaves 95% lambs to the casinos. what percentage of that group would be necessary to reach in order to influence the type of games the casinos offer? probably not much so sites like what has been proposed sounds like a great idea. an extension could be something like "blackjack for dummies"(although I personally find those books distastful in title)........no math required. as stated above all they need to know is simple things like how to read a table layout and what it means. how layouts with different rules can impact their "chances" of winning. I think wong sells a basic strategy card that has a list of bj scams on the back. something like that, minus bs, but what I mentioned above could be a nice inexpensive thing to passout to interested parties or include on the site as a copyable file. most of us either have relatives or know many slot junkies. ever notice how they can tell you exactly where the best machines are in the house? I have friends who will drive 2 hours out of their way to play the slots because they swear the payouts are more fair.
I know this may sound corny and border on the "save the world" mentality" but I think the proposal in this thread is a very realistic way of campaigning for better rules.
for starters would it be possible to create a temporary room for others to express ideas about how to reach this group? we need to know what makes these people tick, why are they attracted to the game, what would influence them to seek out a better game? what kind of knowledge do they require when making decisions? once we get a profile of what makes this character tick then how do we go about educating them?
I know many of you will have a good laugh with this post, many won't even get this far in the text before closing, but when the good games are no longer available we will only have ourselves to blame if we continue to sit around with our fingers crossed everytime casinos evaluate ways to increase profits.
The reasoning that I hear the most from people is,
"It's a 50/50 chance, you either win or lose." They would rather give themselves credit for a great gut instinct on a few plays that they will always remember (as Parker points out, selective memory) rather than stick with the ups and downs of long term winning. Even tho the guessing road is worse. If they have to remember anything like BS, then it becomes work. That takes the "fun" away from it.
That's why, as has been pointed out before, slots do so well. No thinking involved.
Your average person, in my opinion, hates to give credit to someone or something else for any good that comes from a decision they made. Their ego won't let themselves talk about how someone else contributed to their winning. As far as losing goes, they aren't capable of understanding it's part of the game.They would much rather talk about how, "Well my luck just wasn't there today." Rather than understand that it is going to happen no matter how you play. Either way, they want to take credit for whatever outcome occurs.
"One had rather malign oneself than not speak of oneself at all."
- Duc de la Rochefoucauld
> "One had rather malign oneself than not speak
> of oneself at all." - Duc de la Rochefoucauld
Rochefoucauld also said:
"It is great folly to wish to be wise all alone."
I think we are better off educating the public than keeping "secrets."
Blackjack Scams
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