OT - In answer to several PMs I’ve received re: black jack
“ I regularly play blackjack with 2 friends.”
While sharing the Vegas experience with friends can be memorable and fun,
it doesn’t lend itself to playing your best black jack.
Black jack is a game played against the house (casino).
It requires that you be able to concentrate completely by
mentally reducing outside stimuli to a minimum.
Playing with friends at the same table is always going to be full
of interaction distractions.
“They always win and I mostly lose, yet we all use
the same basic strategy printed up in gambling magazines.”
This could merely be due to pure luck on their part,
or it could be that you’re unwittingly making strategy errors.
Most casual players believe that they play perfect Basic Strategy
when if fact they don’t.
First, quickly write down the Basic Strategy as you remember it.
Now, check it against the written form.
Have you remembered it all? Perfectly?
If not, you’ll need to study some more.
Even if you have remembered it completely and correctly, you may
not have it so thoroughly memorized that you can play it under
pressure in a casino.
Make yourself a set of flash cards - this sounds almost too simple
to be effective, but it is the best way to make your playing decisions automatic.
Since your decision making for any “stiff” hand (you have a hard 12 thru 16)
is easy enough for everyone to memorize, you will not have to make
flash cards for those hands.
The flash cards will only be necessary for the 17 hand decisions which
require that you either split or double down.
Make the cards any size that’s easy to carry wherever you go. You’ll pull
them out and recite the correct play every chance you get - you can even
take them to Vegas - just don’t bring them to the table.
All the flash cards are designed this way:
Write the hand total in large numbers and the answer in very small numbers
in the lower left corner (if your right handed).
Look at the first flash card. Your thumb should be covering the “answer”.
Recite the proper Basic Strategy for that card. Check to see if you are correct.
Look at the card and repeat the correct answer over and over again.
Move on to the next card.
These are the flash cards you’ll need to make:
11, 10, 9, AA(ace/ace), 9/9, 8/8, 7/7, 6/6, 3/3, 2/2, A8, A7, A6, A5, A4, A3, A2
For example, on the 10 card, the “answer” is 2-9, which means that you should
double down if the dealer has a 2 through 9 showing.
With a few days of serious practice, you should be able to go through
the flash cards 3 times in 60 seconds.
Then take four or five decks of shuffled cards and deal yourself hands.
Don’t even think about betting as this is simple more Basic Strategy practice.
Deal yourself two cards and a dealer up card. State the correct Basic Strategy
play and keep doing this. You don’t finish the hand, you simple keep dealing
yourself two cards, a dealer up card, and state the correct play.
Basic Strategy must become automatic.
You may have difficulty with soft doubling, most people do.
To gain more card practice, remove the 8’s 9’s and 10’s from the decks and deal
with the remaining cards.
And keep practicing with the flash cards every moment you can.
Another excellent method to extend your playing time is to divide
your bankroll into “session money”.
I’ll try to get around to that in the next day or so.
FLACK |
