Archive for January, 2010

The Origin of Blackjack

by Roderick on Saturday, January 30th, 2010

[ English ]

The casino game of black jack was introduced to the United States in the 1800’s but it wasn’t until the middle of the twentieth century that a system was developed to beat the house in black jack. This material is going to grab a quick look at the birth of that strategy, Counting Cards.

When betting was approved in the state of Nevada in 1934, black jack sky-rocketed into recognition and was most commonly gambled on with 1 or 2 decks of cards. Roger Baldwin wrote a dissertation in 1956 which described how to lower the casino edge founded on probability and performance history which was very bewildering for individuals who were not mathematicians.

In 1962, Dr. Thorp used an IBM 704 computer to refine the mathematical strategy in Baldwin’s paper and also developed the 1st card counting tactics. Dr. Thorp authored a book called "Beat the Dealer" which outlined card counting techniques and the tactics for lowering the house edge.

This created a huge increase in Blackjack competitors at the US betting houses who were trying to implement Dr. Thorp’s strategies, much to the awe of the casinos. The strategy was difficult to understand and difficult to carry through and therefore expanded the earnings for the betting houses as more and more people took to playing twenty-one.

However this massive growth in profits wasn’t to last as the players became more sophisticated and more cultivated and the system was further improved. In the 80’s a group of students from MIT made counting cards a part of the day-to-day vocabulary. Since then the casinos have brought in numerous methods to counteract players who count cards including (but not limited to), more than one deck, shoes, shuffle machines, and rumour has it, complex computer programs to read body language and detect "cheaters". While not against the law being caught counting cards will get you barred from many brick and mortar casinos in vegas.

The Future of Chemin de Fer Card Counters

by Roderick on Thursday, January 28th, 2010

The question being pondered today is what will be the future of card counters in chemin de fer. are the days of counting cards over? Many believe so.

Automatic shuffle machines are being utilized in casinos today which makes shuffle tracking or counting cards unlikely. The land based casinos are going to place shuffle machines at the tables.

It is stated that in locations like atlantic city, video cameras are being used to look at the skill of the players and intelligent black jack tables that tracks gamblers hands and strategies utilizing magnetized chips.

The Nevada State Gaming Commission, an agency that ensures fair gambling has ruled that betting houses may not adjust the games in a way that would alter the frequency of the payouts. Since then, many Nevada casinos train their croupiers to count cards and shuffle whenever they want, and also a wide variety of casinos keeps information on card count, including names and pictures to try and keep them from playing the game.

So what will be the future of this black jack "battle"? is it just beginning or will it before long reach a resolution? Despite all their most recent tech, political and monetary influences, I have reason to believe there is still a chance for a happy result. With in excess of 25 states in the United States allowing chemin de fer games, there are more money making prospects for card counting than back in the good old days.

Why are the Blackjack Odds so Good?

by Roderick on Thursday, January 21st, 2010

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As a good bettor of blackjack odds are good, in particular when in comparison to other casino games. The the game of chemin de fer is so famous some even say that it’s the most loved card game. It’s bet on in almost all countries all over the world in real life casinos as well as on the net. The blackjack webpages have really grown in numbers in the past few years, and now it has become even more popular to participate in it from the blessing of your house than at a physical casino.

How come twenty-one is so acclaimed? The main reason that chemin de fer is so strongly embraced and admired all over the globe is that when gambled on carefully, it has a house edge of less than one percent, which is the lowest house advantage of any table game. So with such low odds, why are casinos – in the real world as well as on the web – not squandering money to the gamblers? Well, the most obvious reasoning behind this is almost certainly that the game is not bet on competently or good enough by almost all of the gamblers. It is really a pity that players can squander such huge edge to the casino by lump playing. The reasoning behind why this card game has such excellent odds is that, contrary to other games such as craps and roulette is that in black jack the selections you make as the game progresses, will affect the house edge. You see

  • in roulette every spin is a separate event
  • in craps every throw of the pair of dice is also an independent event

But in black jack, rather than being a card game based on independent single events, each hand is dependent on the cards that have already been dealt so that big cards left in the shoe will favor the bettor while lower cards will favour the house. This is why card counting is so vital for coming out on top in chemin de fer. You basically have to memorize what cards remain in the deck.

To a large extent, blackjack results are based on your actions as a bettor and not just on luck. Yourchances to win in this casino game are much better than the luck based casino games. So the secret to winning at blackjack is to keep track of the cards. As soon as you master this – you can begin a pleasant and fun chemin de fer odyssey.

Twenty-One

by Roderick on Friday, January 15th, 2010

[ English ]

Chemin de Fer also called 21 is possibly the most favoured games gambled on on betting house tables. The game uses 1, 2, four, six, and 8 decks of cards. A croupier holds and deals out the cards in single and double deck games, more than two deck games are ordinarily dealt out of a tray like box, referred to as a "shoe."

The game is built on basic arithmetic calculations. If the total of the competitor’s cards is higher than the dealer’s cards while not exceeding twenty-one the competitor is the winner. On the other hand if a player’s hand goes over 21 that is referred to as a "bust" and he immediately lose.

In hand-held games, the cards are kept facing down. The players can pick up the cards, whereas in the ’shoe games’, players aren’t permitted to touch the cards that are faced up to him.

Chemin de fer is a card game based on dependent actions, wherein larger cards left in the deck give the advantage to the gamer and the smaller denominations favor the dealer. The excitement of the card game is in the changing of advantages between gamblers to dealers.

Since the gambler has the advantage to take action first, he has the option to hold a hand that has the potential of going over twenty one. However if the player and the dealer both bust, the player loses. Thus bettors are advised to understand how to play their cards correctly and ensure the best outcome, which is centered on the mathematical plan.

The card game of black jack is extremely easy to understand and even consists of the application of a basic strategy guide at the table for reference, and thus with little effort the competitors can take right decisions.