Online Blackjack Casino Formula

Counting is Not Enough

Many card counters believe that as long as a game is called "blackjack," and is being offered by a legitimate casino, they can win by applying their counting systems. But the fact is that while some games can be beaten by card counting strategies many can't, and table conditions make the difference. I've written two books on this subject already, my first two books, The Blackjack Formula, and Blackjack for Profit, plus five technical reports: "Beat the I-Deck Game," "Beat the 2-Deck Game," "Beat the 4-Deck Game," "Beat the 6-Deck Game," and "Beat the 8-Deck Game." The first two books are now out of print, but the reports have been recently updated and are available
I will attempt to update and condense some of the most important information from these site and reports so that you may choose your games wisely. There are simple guidelines you can follow that will help to keep you from throwing your money away in unbeatable games.

Table Conditions

First, let's define table conditions. There are four distinct conditions of any blackjack game that directly affect the profit potential for card counters:
1. The number of decks in play: In U.S. casinos, this may range from one to eight.
2. Rules: There are about a dozen common rule variations and dozens more uncommon variations in U.S. casinos.
3. Crowd conditions: You may be the only player at the table, or one of as many as seven.
4. Depth of deal, or deck penetration, between shuffles: Anywhere from 2% to 90% of the cards may be dealt out.
Let's go through these conditions one at a time. The Number of Decks in Play First considers the effect of the number of decks shuffled together.
All other conditions being equal, single-deck games would be the most profitable for card counters. The more decks being used, the less profitable the game becomes, not only for card counters, but for basic strategy players as well. A single-deck Vegas Strip game (blackjack pays 3 to 2, double down on any two cards, and dealer stands on soft 17), is pretty close to being a break even proposition for a basic strategy player. With four or more decks in play, and the same set of rules, the house has about a 1/2% edge. Use this chart to estimate your basic strategy (dis)advantage due to the number of decks in play:

The Rules

The second condition you must consider is the set of rules used in the game. Some rules, notably those that offer more options, favor the player, assuming he applies the correct strategy. Among those options are surrender, doubling after splitting allowed, and re-splitting aces allowed.
Those rules that limit the Australia Casino player’s options, such as doubling down on l0s 11 only, or no re-split, are disadvantageous to the player.
Some rules neither limit nor offer options to the player, but alter the dealer's procedure. An example of one such rule would be dealer hits soft seventeen. That's disadvantageous to the player. An advantageous dealer rule, used occasionally in short-term special promotions, would be "blackjack pays 2 to 1."