.5% House Advantage

[ZMan]

If I'm using correct BS, I understand that the casino has approximately a .5% advantage. What does this mean translated to wins?

If the house had NO advantage, that would mean an even game. So I figure that would mean out of 100 hands, you would win about 50 and the house would win about 50. Is this correct? Or, actually, you would push on some, we'll say 8 out of 100 and win 46 and lose 46.

So, does a .5% advantage mean you would lose 1/2 hand more per 100 than you win? Or, lose 1 more hand per 200 than you win?

I realize that a .5% advantage is very close to even, but just wonder how that relates to win/loss.

I do realize that like flipping a coin, sometimes you'll win more than the average 50% and sometimes you'll lose more than 50%....that's why it's called gambling.

One more item: If you are playing a 6-deck shoe, about how many hands per hour would one person play? Of course, I realize it depends on the number of players at the table, but lets assume there are 7 players plus the dealer. I'm thinking each player would play around 50-60 hands per hour. What do you think? How many hands per hour would be played on a CSM since you don't have to wait on the shuffling process?

Thanks for your replies!

 

[bosco4300]

I would explain the house advantage bysaying that the .5% house edge means you will lose .5% of all money wagered. So if you play 100 hands at $1 per hand you will have wagered $100 and lose 50cents out of that $100. I am pretty new to it all so I am sure some senior members will post a much betetr explanation. Also I believe that what you were saying winning and losing hands is incorrect. I should not have bearing on the number of hands won but the amount of money wagered. I say this because when you get blackjack it pays 3:2 and double downs and so on.

 

[LeonShuffle]

The house advantage isn't in terms of hands lost, but of money lost. Out of 100 hands, I believe the totals would be somewhere around 43 wins, 49 losses and 8 pushes. The half percent means that for every $100 wagered, 50 cents should be lost, in the long run.

 

[noshoes]

there is a lot of confusion as to what 0.5% house advantage actually means. I will take a crack at it and if I am wrong then please step in to correct me.

0.5% is the number that comes up as an AVERAGE house advantage if you played through the entire deck(or shoe) with perfect basic strategy according to the rules of the game FOREVER! It's not as easily translated into expected amount of wins because you would have to take in factors like the amount of cards played per given round and how many people are in the game. That it is why it expressed as a % so you can easily apply it to your bankroll. If there was an easy way to apply to it wins and losses then someone would have figured out a bet system decades ago to take advantage of it.

 

[noshoes]

As to you question of if the house had no advantage then someone could come up with a basic strategy that would mathematically ensure that in the long run you would neither gain nor lose money.

 

[tribute]

The player would have even less expectation if it were not for 3:2 payout on blackjacks and the opportunity to split and double down. Proper basic strategy play is essential to achieve the theoretical, or, mathematical disadvantage of only 0.05 %. You also have to consider this a long term proposition. Short term results can vary either way. I think they call it standard deviation. Even a good card counter has, to my knowledge, only a 1.5 to 2.0% positive expectation.

 

[nc-tom]

If I'm using correct BS, I understand that the casino has approximately a .5% advantage. What does this mean translated to wins?

If the house had NO advantage, that would mean an even game. So I figure that would mean out of 100 hands, you would win about 50 and the house would win about 50. Is this correct? Or, actually, you would push on some, we'll say 8 out of 100 and win 46 and lose 46.

So, does a .5% advantage mean you would lose 1/2 hand more per 100 than you win? Or, lose 1 more hand per 200 than you win?

I realize that a .5% advantage is very close to even, but just wonder how that relates to win/loss.

I do realize that like flipping a coin, sometimes you'll win more than the average 50% and sometimes you'll lose more than 50%....that's why it's called gambling.

One more item: If you are playing a 6-deck shoe, about how many hands per hour would one person play? Of course, I realize it depends on the number of players at the table, but lets assume there are 7 players plus the dealer. I'm thinking each player would play around 50-60 hands per hour. What do you think? How many hands per hour would be played on a CSM since you don't have to wait on the shuffling process?

Thanks for your replies!

No reason to bother thinking about how many hands per hour you will play against a CSM machine because unless someone has a gun to your head you should never be in a blackjack game which uses a CSM.

 

[Burnsey]

CSM Machines.....?..Computer Simulation Machines.

No reason to bother thinking about how many hands per hour you will play against a CSM machine because unless someone has a gun to your head you should never be in a blackjack game which uses a CSM.

Does CSM Stand for Computer Simulation Machines.
How are they programmed?
Can you use standard card counting systems against them?
Is the edge in the programming.....like a slot machine limiter?

 

[rollem411]

Does CSM Stand for Computer Simulation Machines.
How are they programmed?
Can you use standard card counting systems against them?
Is the edge in the programming.....like a slot machine limiter?

No it's a Continuous Shuffler.

Don't know how they are programmed though.

Yes, if the penetration is good enough, but I doubt it will be.

Not at all, they just shuffle the cards continuously.

 

[SPX]

A general rule of thumb is that, on average, you should win about 44 out of 100 hands, lose about 48 out of 100 and push about 8 out of 100. This may vary slightly depending on the exact rules of the game you're playing, but this is about what you're looking at.

 

[moo321]

No reason to bother thinking about how many hands per hour you will play against a CSM machine because unless someone has a gun to your head you should never be in a blackjack game which uses a CSM.

Unless, it pays 2 to 1. Or there's a sloppy dealer. Or they're offering cashback on table game play. Or you want to land tickets to a concert, or...