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I am 20 and I have just started playing blackjack. Your site has been extremely helpful, in the past two weeks I have gone through all the lessons and have done all the homework. I am counting five decks, ten times a day and I am also practicing game situations regularly. Tomorrow, I am hoping to try my luck at the local casino with my new knowledge. Now I think I can count without a problem at the casino because the dealers are extremely slow especially the ones covering the early shift. However, I would like to ask you a question about penetration which I am not certain of. Now the dealer at the casino puts the cards from the discard tray into the shoe after every hand so does that mean that to calculate my true count, I would always have to divide by five as they use five decks. Please help me
I have bad news. The game you describe is using a continuous shuffle machine, which means that recently used cards can re-appear in the game immediately. Since the deck composition does not change over time as it does in a non-CSM game, this game cannot be beaten with card counting. You will need to find games that do not use a CSM to be able to count cards. (To specifically answer your question, you would indeed always divide by five, but you would also need to zero out your running count after each and every hand, because the entire five decks is essentially reshuffled constantly.)
I do have a question, After calculating the true count, will you continue counting with the true count or the running count? for example:
1 deck is been played in a 6 deck shoe, and the running count is 5, you divide 5 /5 = a true count of 1. after the dealer begins to deal again, will you continue the running count of 5 of start with the true count of 1?
Just as the post above says… The number of spots in play, plus the number of rounds dealt, equals six. If three spots are in play, they will be dealt three hands between shuffles. If there are four spots in play, they will get two hands between shuffles.
Playin 8 deck shoes in Canada. Use an app on my phone that tracks the count by using volume up and down. Dont have to pull my phone out for anything. Vibrates when conditions are suitable for a big bet. App keeps a running count and true count as it counts down the cards. Phone screen looks blank while program runs
This app would be illegal in the US, and is likely illegal in Canada too. Besides, card counting is not rocket science. Just use your brain, leave your phone alone, and avoid legal trouble.
I use another app for baccarat aswell and run it as I bet behind people when conditions are ideal. App keeps a running tally of cards played with suggested play for next deal. Usually I wait for 2 or 3 losses in a row before I wager. Extremely lucrative and very accurate.
A baccarat app is worse than useless. You cannot beat baccarat by counting cards, and anyone who tells you otherwise doesn’t know what they are talking about. Go read Peter Griffin’s analysis of the topic. And if you think that waiting for 2 or 3 losses before betting is “extremely lucrative and very accurate”, you have some expensive lessons coming your way. Actually, given your two posts today, I would bet that you are the developer of these snake-oil apps. Don’t bother touting them here. We know better.
Been counting for about 3 months now, Getting better every day! Your strategies cards r really helping! My guestion is, the casinos i play BLack jack in use a six deck shoe. When they change dealers in the middle of the shoe. The new Dealer always burn the top card. Should i count theis card is a minus or neutral. Since i never see the card. Thanks.
hello, i have a question. when I play how Blackjack Strategy Trainer I win about 80% but in real play with the same rule and strategy I lose. Can you explain? Thanks Sam
Hi Blackjack, great put down! You mentioned playing in Asia. Is there any place on that continent where one can still find non-CSM games – manual shoe with manual or automated (not CSM) shuffle? Macau and Genting (Malaysia) gave up manual shoes in a complete surrender to CSM several years ago. (And, further,Genting has only 4 BJ tables left outside VIP in a major shift from BJ to Pontoon).
Don’t know if Korea and Philippines have made a similar switch. I bet newbie Singapore too follows Malaysia’s lead as Genting is from there and Sands are the ones who first proliferated CSM as a standard in Macau.
Back to Macau: everyone fell in line with Sands and their CSMs, even the former monopoly casinos of Stanley Ho – by what almost looks like tacit cartel-like agreement. Not even one of those proliferating casinos seems to have cared/dared to break to differentiate themselves! Maybe because the main custom switched from the more knowledgeable Hong Konger regulars over the weekend to a constant churn of one-off raw Mainlanders any day of the week).Caveat – don’t know about those hidden away VVIP rooms though.
So any list of still manual shoe blackjack casinos in Asia that you know of will be much appreciated.
Hey Blackjohn, Fallsview outside of the VIP room does have quite a few automatic shuffling machines (ASM not CSM) but manual-shoe games – like the ones Ken mentions about the US. Check the table games hall at the far end from the VIP room. Unlike the fully manual tables in VIP they are not hand shuffle, but not CSM either. The machine merely has the role of automatically shuffling the stack vertically instead of the dealer doing it the manual way.. The rest is the same as a manual game – cut, reshuffle card, loading in the empty shoe – except it’s an 8-decker (VIP room fully manual tables are 6 decks). The gap between shoes barely leaves time for a toilet break.
Beware – a small handful of low seated tables with ASM and low min bets of $5 -10 are “Blackjack pays 6/5” or something equally avoidable. In all other tables (CSM and ASM) in that hall the regular min bet is $25 but at very busy times or if all seated players request and pit boss goes along they can get hiked to $50 or even $100 – existing players’ min bets get grandfathered till they quit the table but limited to one hand each.
I played live one night. Lost 20k, bout 73% of the cards were 7 or lower so every time i doubled i would get a 2 or 3 45% of the time at almost even time, so i ADJUSTED!! I stopped Doubling, keep hitting the 10 or 11 n get to 21 the hard way but I watched 32 cards come out n only 3 pictures, right!?.. Wasnt mad that i lost, but watched the next 60 cards come out, n told the dealer to watch with me., 8 picture cards came out, he started shaking his head i jus looked, shook my head n went about my buisness. End if the day ” i dont have to cheat to win, so i didnt like being cheated to lose”. Learn from this post cause Discipline is Key ?
Dear Sir
I am 20 and I have just started playing blackjack. Your site has been extremely helpful, in the past two weeks I have gone through all the lessons and have done all the homework. I am counting five decks, ten times a day and I am also practicing game situations regularly. Tomorrow, I am hoping to try my luck at the local casino with my new knowledge. Now I think I can count without a problem at the casino because the dealers are extremely slow especially the ones covering the early shift. However, I would like to ask you a question about penetration which I am not certain of. Now the dealer at the casino puts the cards from the discard tray into the shoe after every hand so does that mean that to calculate my true count, I would always have to divide by five as they use five decks.
Please help me
I have bad news. The game you describe is using a continuous shuffle machine, which means that recently used cards can re-appear in the game immediately. Since the deck composition does not change over time as it does in a non-CSM game, this game cannot be beaten with card counting. You will need to find games that do not use a CSM to be able to count cards. (To specifically answer your question, you would indeed always divide by five, but you would also need to zero out your running count after each and every hand, because the entire five decks is essentially reshuffled constantly.)
I do have a question, After calculating the true count, will you continue counting with the true count or the running count?
for example:
1 deck is been played in a 6 deck shoe, and the running count is 5, you divide 5 /5 = a true count of 1. after the dealer begins to deal again, will you continue the running count of 5 of start with the true count of 1?
You always track the running count. You convert to true count for betting and playing decisions, but resume your count with the current running count.
what does “it deals to the rule of six” mean? I am translating a paper and I don´t know how to put it in Spanish.
Thank you in advance.
Just as the post above says… The number of spots in play, plus the number of rounds dealt, equals six. If three spots are in play, they will be dealt three hands between shuffles. If there are four spots in play, they will get two hands between shuffles.
Playin 8 deck shoes in Canada. Use an app on my phone that tracks the count by using volume up and down. Dont have to pull my phone out for anything. Vibrates when conditions are suitable for a big bet. App keeps a running count and true count as it counts down the cards. Phone screen looks blank while program runs
This app would be illegal in the US, and is likely illegal in Canada too. Besides, card counting is not rocket science. Just use your brain, leave your phone alone, and avoid legal trouble.
I use another app for baccarat aswell and run it as I bet behind people when conditions are ideal. App keeps a running tally of cards played with suggested play for next deal. Usually I wait for 2 or 3 losses in a row before I wager. Extremely lucrative and very accurate.
A baccarat app is worse than useless. You cannot beat baccarat by counting cards, and anyone who tells you otherwise doesn’t know what they are talking about. Go read Peter Griffin’s analysis of the topic.
And if you think that waiting for 2 or 3 losses before betting is “extremely lucrative and very accurate”, you have some expensive lessons coming your way.
Actually, given your two posts today, I would bet that you are the developer of these snake-oil apps. Don’t bother touting them here. We know better.
Been counting for about 3 months now,
Getting better every day!
Your strategies cards r really helping!
My guestion is, the casinos i play BLack jack in use a six deck shoe.
When they change dealers in the middle of the shoe. The new Dealer always burn the top card.
Should i count theis card is a minus or neutral. Since i never see the card.
Thanks.
Ignore any unseen cards, so treat it as neutral. It is as if that card was behind the cut card, never to be used.
K thanks alot!
why isn’t there any index for pair of 10s?
I have no idea why there was no data for the pair of 10s in GameMaster’s chart. I’m guessing it was accidentally removed during editing at some point.
I have added in the missing line on the matrix page. All set now.
(Split TTv5 @ +5. Split TTv6@ +4.)
Thanks for catching that!
hello,
i have a question.
when I play how Blackjack Strategy Trainer I win about 80%
but in real play with the same rule and strategy I lose.
Can you explain?
Thanks
Sam
Ever consider the times you may be HELPED by someone’s bonehead play?
tends to even out over time, I’d think.
Hi Blackjack, great put down! You mentioned playing in Asia. Is there any place on that continent where one can still find non-CSM games – manual shoe with manual or automated (not CSM) shuffle? Macau and Genting (Malaysia) gave up manual shoes in a complete surrender to CSM several years ago. (And, further,Genting has only 4 BJ tables left outside VIP in a major shift from BJ to Pontoon).
Don’t know if Korea and Philippines have made a similar switch. I bet newbie Singapore too follows Malaysia’s lead as Genting is from there and Sands are the ones who first proliferated CSM as a standard in Macau.
Back to Macau: everyone fell in line with Sands and their CSMs, even the former monopoly casinos of Stanley Ho – by what almost looks like tacit cartel-like agreement. Not even one of those proliferating casinos seems to have cared/dared to break to differentiate themselves! Maybe because the main custom switched from the more knowledgeable Hong Konger regulars over the weekend to a constant churn of one-off raw Mainlanders any day of the week).Caveat – don’t know about those hidden away VVIP rooms though.
So any list of still manual shoe blackjack casinos in Asia that you know of will be much appreciated.
Hey Blackjohn, Fallsview outside of the VIP room does have quite a few automatic shuffling machines (ASM not CSM) but manual-shoe games – like the ones Ken mentions about the US. Check the table games hall at the far end from the VIP room. Unlike the fully manual tables in VIP they are not hand shuffle, but not CSM either. The machine merely has the role of automatically shuffling the stack vertically instead of the dealer doing it the manual way.. The rest is the same as a manual game – cut, reshuffle card, loading in the empty shoe – except it’s an 8-decker (VIP room fully manual tables are 6 decks). The gap between shoes barely leaves time for a toilet break.
Beware – a small handful of low seated tables with ASM and low min bets of $5 -10 are “Blackjack pays 6/5” or something equally avoidable. In all other tables (CSM and ASM) in that hall the regular min bet is $25 but at very busy times or if all seated players request and pit boss goes along they can get hiked to $50 or even $100 – existing players’ min bets get grandfathered till they quit the table but limited to one hand each.
I played live one night. Lost 20k, bout 73% of the cards were 7 or lower so every time i doubled i would get a 2 or 3 45% of the time at almost even time, so i ADJUSTED!! I stopped Doubling, keep hitting the 10 or 11 n get to 21 the hard way but I watched 32 cards come out n only 3 pictures, right!?.. Wasnt mad that i lost, but watched the next 60 cards come out, n told the dealer to watch with me., 8 picture cards came out, he started shaking his head i jus looked, shook my head n went about my buisness. End if the day ” i dont have to cheat to win, so i didnt like being cheated to lose”. Learn from this post cause Discipline is Key ?