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Pastimes : Gamblers--can you make a living? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Solon who wrote (15)	7/2/2005 1:04:44 PM
From: redfish	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 113

"This is a gambler's fallacy." One that is particularly annoying when some dude starts making faces at you at the blackjack table. Learning the most favorable decision odds-wise for each hand in blackjack is pretty easy, but I get bored unless I play a "hunch" every now and then. If it infuriates someone who believes in that particular fallacy so much the better. Not that I haven't gotten some good advice from old timers who've been playing for decades, but at least it is polite advice intended to be helpful.

To: Solon who wrote (15)	7/2/2005 1:38:08 PM
From: SI Dave	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 113

>>I also double on tens against a ten when the dealer has checked and found no blackjack. Firstly, I automatically have the superior chances for getting a 21 with an ace. Secondly, I have as much chance as he/she of getting 17 to 20 on my only allowed pull. We both have an equal chance of getting 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. (as I said--he already has from 12 up to 20. In the 12 to 16 range we are both in trouble but he MUST draw while I MUST stay. I haven't played blackjack for years, but that seems like very sound reasoning to me. Might have to try that out. >>the free odds in Craps takes the normal 1.41% down to .85%--a great situation--but it does tend to confuse betting strategies which I have not found a good way around yet. You can leverage the house edge even lower in casinos that offer higher multiples on fee odds bets. For example, if a casino offers 20x odds, instead of placing a you can do a put bet with full odds. Put 5/9 $5 flat + $100 odds pays $155 Place 5/9 $105 pays $147 Put 6/8 $4 + $80 odds pays $100 Place 6/8 $84 pays $98 I didn't do the math, but my recollection is that taking 20x odds takes the overall vig down to around 0.3%.

To: Solon who wrote (15)	7/4/2005 12:20:39 AM
From: Mark Marcellus	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 113

I also double on tens against a ten when the dealer has checked and found no blackjack. Firstly, I automatically have the superior chances for getting a 21 with an ace. Secondly, I have as much chance as he/she of getting 17 to 20 on my only allowed pull. We both have an equal chance of getting 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. (as I said--he already has from 12 up to 20. In the 12 to 16 range we are both in trouble but he MUST draw while I MUST stay. That doesn't seem right. The dealer is showing a 10. If you start with a 12-16, your best play is to draw another card, and that would still be true if you make 12-16 on your third card. Losing the option to take another card when you draw a 2-6 on your double seems to me to be a definite disadvantage. Blackjack odds are confusing, and I'm no expert, but I doubt that the elimination of the possibility of a dealer blackjack is enough of an advantage to make up for that lost option.