How many cards per hand, average?

Katweezel

Well-Known Member
Has someone some figures for these:
What average can be expected for 2-card hands?
What averge can be expected for 3-card hands.
Ditto for 4,5,6, and 7-card hands?

Let's call it for 6 or 8-deck shoes with 75% pen, like is average for Aus.
Appreciate any help.
 

kewljason

Well-Known Member
Average cards per hand for player 2.71

Average cards per hand for dealer 2.91 (but this number drops to 2.78 if playing heads up)
 

Katweezel

Well-Known Member
kewljason said:
Average cards per hand for player 2.71

Average cards per hand for dealer 2.91 (but this number drops to 2.78 if playing heads up)
Thanks kj. My q was not clear. I was trying to say how many two-card hands can be expected, how many 3-card hands can be expected... and so on.
 

bj bob

Well-Known Member
It can vary...

Between rule changes. H-17 requires the dealer to hit more , therefore the ratio changes as well. I believe Norm or Fred (or both) had written something regarding the exact total for either.
Now that I'm thinking about it, DAS would affect the average total for the player, as well as D-10.
 

Peter JF

Active Member
QFIT said:
I was after some statistical information on the number of card dealt per hand, on average, for a heads up situation. This was the closest I got to getting the information but still does not answer the question really. Does anyone know where I can get some percentages on the average numbers of cards dealt head to head? Clearly this would start at four, then five (in case dealer or play draws one), then six (in case dealer draws two, both draw one, or play draws two), then seven etc.... clearly there are combinations here and would need maybe simulation software to work this out. However, from the simulation software I have seen I don't see this information, although of course it mush be in there somewhere if only these stats were kept.
Also, as per the link above, this will likely be affected by the running count and by number of decks etc. I would be looking to base on say 6 or 8 decks with Las Vegas rules. Does any one have this information source or able to calculate it?
 

Dummy

Well-Known Member
In general for BJ 2.7 cards are used per spot per round including the dealer. Playing heads up the dealer will not play out his hand if you have already got a BJ or busted out. This would slightly lower the average for the dealers spot. So I would say under 5.4 cards per round playing one spot heads up.
 

DSchles

Well-Known Member
Peter JF said:
I was after some statistical information on the number of card dealt per hand, on average, for a heads up situation. This was the closest I got to getting the information but still does not answer the question really. Does anyone know where I can get some percentages on the average numbers of cards dealt head to head? Clearly this would start at four, then five (in case dealer or play draws one), then six (in case dealer draws two, both draw one, or play draws two), then seven etc.... clearly there are combinations here and would need maybe simulation software to work this out. However, from the simulation software I have seen I don't see this information, although of course it mush be in there somewhere if only these stats were kept.
Also, as per the link above, this will likely be affected by the running count and by number of decks etc. I would be looking to base on say 6 or 8 decks with Las Vegas rules. Does any one have this information source or able to calculate it?
FWIW, I have never seen this statistic anywhere, nor have I seen the question ever asked before. May I know why you want to know this?

Don
 

Peter JF

Active Member
DSchles said:
FWIW, I have never seen this statistic anywhere, nor have I seen the question ever asked before. May I know why you want to know this?

Don
Well Don I gave a more detailed elaboration of this but it seems that it has not been posted. It is more involved that this as it is for checking if it is worth working on a kind of more basic kind of simple count method heads up. I think I will make a new post about this because it seems like there is no answer coming here unfortunately. Maybe I need to spread it more widely as I think someone will have the ability to calculate this with the right BJ calculator.
 

DSchles

Well-Known Member
Peter JF said:
Hi Norm, do you have the same information but for the length of dealer hands? And also how it varies with count? Maybe I could run with that as a first pass of what I am looking at right now.
You can surely "run with it," because a) the number of cards in the dealer's hand doesn't vary enough with the count for it to matter, and b) what you're doing isn't going to lead anywhere, anyway.

Don
 

JJP

Well-Known Member
If the number of spots playing stayed constant throughout the shoe, couldn't this number be used to get a more precise number of decks in the discard tray (assuming one counted the number of hands)?
 

DSchles

Well-Known Member
JJP said:
If the number of spots playing stayed constant throughout the shoe, couldn't this number be used to get a more precise number of decks in the discard tray (assuming one counted the number of hands)?
Can't imagine why you'd think that. The 2.7 is an average. Use it and you will be "ballpark" correct. Learn to accurately eyeball the cards in the discard tray, and you can be as precise as your motivation to be correct leads you.

Don
 

Peter JF

Active Member
JJP said:
If the number of spots playing stayed constant throughout the shoe, couldn't this number be used to get a more precise number of decks in the discard tray (assuming one counted the number of hands)?
It could be yes of course, however it is another count to have in mind rather than just estimating as Don says in his reply. Also note that the 'average' cards per hand will vary with the count as you can see in QFIT link here https://www.qfit.com/book/ModernBlackjackPage431.htm

If you don't to have to estimate the remaining decks, then use an unbalanced count that means you can just focus on the count rather than modifying the running count to the try count by division of number of remaining decks. There are quite some number of unbalanced counts out there as you are probably aware. That automatically takes into account the number of decks remaining. I think the KO Count is the most popular of that variety.
 
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JJP

Well-Known Member
I'm not opposed at all to the importance of eyeballing the discard tray, nor is the conversion to a true count any issue. I do believe our brains are hard wired to visualize full decks, so estimating half decks is a bit more tricky. I was thinking it could possibly be used a backup, not only to confirm what we see in the tray, but as a way of figuring decks remaining in terms of half decks. Maybe it would be a waste of time, although a part of me is curious enough to test it a few times to see how it translates to the visual observations. I'm also not one of the younger players on here, so I don't have as much confidence in my vision as others may have in theirs.
 
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