Canadian in a Cruise Ship casino..

[Rickleester]

Months ago I cruised on Celebrity's Millennium through the eastern Caribbean. The layout of the casino is reportedly the same on all their Millennium class ships.

I found one hand dealt single deck game that had 6/5 blackjack and h17.

No midshoe entry.

$5 - $200 bet limit.

The play would go as follows:

1 person playing - get 5 rounds dealt before shuffling.
2 persons - get 4 rounds dealt before shuffling.
3 persons - get 3 rounds dealt before shuffling.
4 persons or more - get 2 rounds dealt before shuffling.

Since this was my first time as a Canadian who has never seen single deck, I just had to try the game. It was a little difficult to remember the strategies with h17 since I am so used to s17.

My main playing strategies were as follows:

1. Played 2 spots of $5 at the start of each new deck.
2. If the count went negative, dropped to 1 spot of $5 for the next round, or Wonged out completely and just watched.
3. If the count went positive, raised my bet according to TC.

No dealer heat, no supervisor heat- in fact, at one point, I had $200 on the spot, got double deuces vs dealer 6, split, got another deuce, resplit, and had $600 on the table, the dealer busted, and I won $600...the dealer and supervisor were delighted and said I should be in her high roller room.

There was some ploppy heat from one guy - he was obnoxious to everyone and at times complained I wonged out, saying I should stay in and "take it like a man". I wanted to take him out back and toss him overboard, but he'd probably float for days with his soft underbelly.

I met some of the nicest dealers on board, plus I met some fun young players, one of whom was a lovely girl who was just getting her first internet show. The rest were old farts like me, after all it is a cruise.

RESULTS
My results were a net win of US$1700 after playing about 3 hours per night for seven nights.

My winnings did not cover the full price of the cruise, but it sure paid for the overpriced Bordeaux and Burgundies that I ordered off the Special wine list during dinner..and my first bottle of Dom Perignon, which was lovely and light bodied with medium complexity and long finish.


RICKLEESTER

P.P.S. Millenium's Service is top notch, food is very good for a cruise, and I highly recommend the Spa area for relaxing and the massage is a must do option.

 

[Brock Windsor]

I found one hand dealt single deck game that had 6/5 blackjack and h17.
No midshoe entry.
$5 - $200 bet limit.
The play would go as follows:
1 person playing - get 5 rounds dealt before shuffling.
2 persons - get 4 rounds dealt before shuffling.
3 persons - get 3 rounds dealt before shuffling.
4 persons or more - get 2 rounds dealt before shuffling.
Since this was my first time as a Canadian who has never seen single deck, I just had to try the game. It was a little difficult to remember the strategies with h17 since I am so used to s17.
My main playing strategies were as follows:
1. Played 2 spots of $5 at the start of each new deck.
2. If the count went negative, dropped to 1 spot of $5 for the next round, or Wonged out completely and just watched.
3. If the count went positive, raised my bet according to TC.
No dealer heat, no supervisor heat- in fact, at one point, I had $200 on the spot, got double deuces vs dealer 6, split, got another deuce, resplit, and had $600 on the table, the dealer busted, and I won $600...the dealer and supervisor were delighted and said I should be in her high roller room.
There was some ploppy heat from one guy - he was obnoxious to everyone and at times complained I wonged out, saying I should stay in and "take it like a man". I wanted to take him out back and toss him overboard, but he'd probably float for days with his soft underbelly.
RESULTS
My results were a net win of US$1700 after playing about 3 hours per night for seven nights.

Single Deck 6/5 Blackjack, shallow pen and H17? Are you sure you were playing at an advantage counting that game? Even with a 40:1 spread that would be a tough game to beat.

 

[SilentBob420BMFJ]

Months ago I cruised on Celebrity's Millennium through the eastern Caribbean. The layout of the casino is reportedly the same on all their Millennium class ships.

I found one hand dealt single deck game that had 6/5 blackjack and h17.

No midshoe entry.

$5 - $200 bet limit.

The play would go as follows:

1 person playing - get 5 rounds dealt before shuffling.
2 persons - get 4 rounds dealt before shuffling.
3 persons - get 3 rounds dealt before shuffling.
4 persons or more - get 2 rounds dealt before shuffling.

Since this was my first time as a Canadian who has never seen single deck, I just had to try the game. It was a little difficult to remember the strategies with h17 since I am so used to s17.

My main playing strategies were as follows:

1. Played 2 spots of $5 at the start of each new deck.
2. If the count went negative, dropped to 1 spot of $5 for the next round, or Wonged out completely and just watched.
3. If the count went positive, raised my bet according to TC.

No dealer heat, no supervisor heat- in fact, at one point, I had $200 on the spot, got double deuces vs dealer 6, split, got another deuce, resplit, and had $600 on the table, the dealer busted, and I won $600...the dealer and supervisor were delighted and said I should be in her high roller room.

There was some ploppy heat from one guy - he was obnoxious to everyone and at times complained I wonged out, saying I should stay in and "take it like a man". I wanted to take him out back and toss him overboard, but he'd probably float for days with his soft underbelly.

I met some of the nicest dealers on board, plus I met some fun young players, one of whom was a lovely girl who was just getting her first internet show. The rest were old farts like me, after all it is a cruise.

RESULTS
My results were a net win of US$1700 after playing about 3 hours per night for seven nights.

My winnings did not cover the full price of the cruise, but it sure paid for the overpriced Bordeaux and Burgundies that I ordered off the Special wine list during dinner..and my first bottle of Dom Perignon, which was lovely and light bodied with medium complexity and long finish.


RICKLEESTER

P.P.S. Millenium's Service is top notch, food is very good for a cruise, and I highly recommend the Spa area for relaxing and the massage is a must do option.

you realize that game has a house edge of 1.5% right?

 

[Rickleester]

House edge was high..

..I knew 6/5 and H17 were formidable opponents. Did not know the exact edge, and so I thank you for the specific advantage. In future I will factor the 1.5% edge into my consideration if I ever come across another table like that.

Well, then I suppose that at T3 the game has about even advantage, no?

And, what surprised me about single deck was how high the true counts can go. Dividing by a fraction of a deck (or multiplying by its reciprocal) was a new experience.

RICKLEESTER

 

[SilentBob420BMFJ]

..I knew 6/5 and H17 were formidable opponents. Did not know the exact edge, and so I thank you for the specific advantage. In future I will factor the 1.5% edge into my consideration if I ever come across another table like that.

Well, then I suppose that at T3 the game has about even advantage, no?

And, what surprised me about single deck was how high the true counts can go. Dividing by a fraction of a deck (or multiplying by its reciprocal) was a new experience.

RICKLEESTER

T3?

 

[RG1]

..I knew 6/5 and H17 were formidable opponents. Did not know the exact edge, and so I thank you for the specific advantage. In future I will factor the 1.5% edge into my consideration if I ever come across another table like that.

Well, then I suppose that at T3 the game has about even advantage, no?

And, what surprised me about single deck was how high the true counts can go. Dividing by a fraction of a deck (or multiplying by its reciprocal) was a new experience.

RICKLEESTER

With 3/2 BJ you gain about 0.5 advantage for each +1 TC up until it is favorable to take insurance. After it is favorable to take insurance you gain 0.7 advantage for each +1 TC. Most of that 0.5 to 0.7 is because it is more common to get a 3/2 payoff from BJ, when you only get 6/5 payoff each +1 is worth less.

I'm not completely sure, but I think your break even point for 1.45 casino advantage would be about +5 TC. Each +1 worth about 0.2 before you should take insurance, about 0.4 after. Therefore, even at a +7 on this game you only have about a 0.75 advantage, less than what you can get on a 6 deck, S17 game with +2 TC (0.88 advantage).

You only get a +7 on single deck with 50% pen about 2.25% of the time. You get +2 on a 6 deck, 75% pen about 16% of the time.

Your advantage for one hand on the 6 deck can go up to 3% at +6, 4% at +8 or even higher. While your topped out on the single deck 6/5 at about 0.75 or 1.00.