The "WHY" Behind Basic Strategy for Blackjack - Tip Tuesday 9 

Thanks!! ♠️

Cuppa times maybe😢

It always loses, just not as fast as a regular player. Only perfect basic strategy+counting+deviations+ betting gonna win

Appreciate it! Never thought someone would send me something for free. But I truly hope this is a win for my viewers. You don't need to get a felt, they have cards, trays, shoes, chips, literally anything blackjack or poker! :) I know I'm going to use my own code to get more stuff! lol

I'm just one guy... a math teacher who likes numbers, playing cards :)

😅😅😅

-8

-3 right?

Thanks!! Many videos to come! Finished the major of the table tonight! It is awesome!

I see where you might think that would make sense, but trust me, that it doesn't. To prove it, run a simulation and check out the results. It will be substantially worse negative EV than basic strategy alone.

Thanks for the math, your logic is very clear and them accusing you with cheating and calling the pit boss is actually validating your point. You might be right, we should do the whole math behind it.

Sure. I do a lot of the WHY on my Instagram Channel as well.

Literally just filmed it... kinda. I talk about it in my true count video coming out tomorrow, hopefully.

You bet!

Basic strategy still applies, regardless of how many decks are in the shoe.

Thats a counting cards issue/worry not a BS worry.you need to always play perfect BS

Nah, please stay away from all 6:5 tables

Correct, you're wasting your time and money at 6:5 tablets.

What does a 6 to 5 table mean?

Rules, Yes. number of decks, rarely. With the exception of single deck, I don't think I could name more than 3 differences from. A double deck to 6 deck. Can you?

It depends on table rules. For games where the dealer is required to stand on a soft 17 (S17 Game), you should stand S18v2 & S19v6. On a table where the dealer is required to hit a soft 17 (H17 Game), you should double S18v2 & S19v6. You might also want to know the third and final difference in the charts happens in the case of an 11vA. You should hit in an S17 game and double in an H17 game. Given the spirit of the video, I'll try to explain the differences. 1) S18v2 [S17 vs H17 game] In an H17 game, the dealer is forced to draw more often than they would otherwise. This usually helps the casino since the dealer ends with a stronger total, but it can also increase the odds that a dealer busts. Because a 2 is rather low, the dealer will likely have to draw multiple cards during their turn. While not exactly likely, it is possible that the dealer draws a combination of cards that sum to 4 and an ace. Again, this isn't very likely, but it turns out to be enough to tip the scales. In an S17 game, the dealer wouldn't bust with these cards. This is important because your decision to take another card (if you double) is unlikely to help your hand. In fact, it will probably make your hand worse. For that reason, we choose to stand. In an H17 game, the dealer would be forced to draw again in the scenario that they have a 2 as their up card and then draw cards summing to 4 and an ace. Since the odds of the dealer busting are higher, we use this chance to double our bet. We don't care as much that our hand may get worse by taking a card because the chance of the dealer busting is greater than it was before. If that happens, our hand total won't matter. Admittedly, the difference between these two actions (as calculated using the hand calculator tool on Wizard of Odds) is only a fraction of a penny for each dollar bet, a very minor difference that happens to be enough to have a tangible impact on which decision is the absolute best one for the purposes of basic strategy. 2) S19v6 [S17 vs H17 game] From the previous example, we know the dealer is more likely to bust in an H17 game than an S17 game. As it turns out, the odds of the dealer busting with a 6 showing in an H17 game are high enough to offset the potential harm that we cause to our hand by doubling a 19. We are likely to win whether we choose to double or not, but doubling allows us to receive an even greater reward when we do. In an S17 game, however, the odds of the dealer busting with a 6 showing are just about low enough that we're better off preserving the showdown value of our hand than risking that equity in order to increase our bet. This change in basic strategy matters more than the last one since the probability of the dealer getting a soft 17 (the only case where the hand would play put differently) is higher with a 6 showing. The dealer needs only to reveal an ace as their hole card. 3) 11vA [S17 vs H17 game] If the dealer (showing an ace) happened to draw to a soft 17, we know the odds of them busting would be greater in an H17 game. As in both other decisions above (#1 & #2), the tradeoff between increasing our bet and improving/maintaining the equity of our hand is affected by this small change in the probability that the dealer busts just enough to warrant a change in play. In an S17 game - when the dealer is less likely to bust - we want to have the flexibility to hit again: our hand total will matter when the dealer chooses to stand on a soft 17. Thus (following basic strategy), we should hit until our hand total is in the range of what we might expect the dealer to have when they stop taking cards.

12 vs. 2 or 3 is a hit because the dealer is more likely to make a hand than you are to bust your 12 by hitting. 10-10 is a stand as you will win the majority of the time with your 20. Note: At higher counts there are deviations when all these hands' decisions chance based on the count.

Must not like math...

@@A1-BJ I like to bet as much as I can against the dealers worst cards. Everyone knows splitting 8s against a 10 is a sucker bet. Have you ever even seen the movie 21...?

@davedavester9060 have you ever run a simulation? The math says otherwise.

What? Hold?

A continuous shuffler or the ones that shuffle and we cut?

@chrissoto7301 I won't play at all on a continuous shuffle. But I also don't trust the ones we cut. At the end of the night at casinos that close, those shuffle machines can put all the cars back in order A through king at the push of a button, .. that being said I don't think they are setting the cards up so that they know every hand, but I do think they could shuffle them in patterns that are more favorable to the casino. I don't know exactly how but I'm sure a computer does. I can play at home, for example, with 3 decks randomly shuffled and through hundreds of times dealing come out very consistently Winning and losing 50% of the time, so why is it that at a casino you go bust so often? And why do you lose 5-10 hands back to back fairly often. That almost never happens if you play at home, Try it if you haven't. And Another thing, why do you suppose they spend thousands on shuffle machines when they have dealers that are perfectly capable of shuffling?

Conspiracy 🔎

There is no ‘changing the cards’. You need to remove superstitious thiught process from your mind if you want to count cards.

@DanCole06 I don't think they remove cards but the shuffle machines are definitely capable of shuffling in patterns. What is the reason they use them? How about that?

They are canceled cards from the casino. My new videos don't have them.

@@A1-BJ 👍 np, just curious

🤪

Not worth risking double the money (by splitting) when the dealer has an eight. You're better off losing one bet instead of two and moving on to the next hand.