Need help to caclulate house advantage plz

R

Royam

Well-Known Member
I'm trying to figure out the house advantage for a given set of rules, not sure I do it right though:

Six decks in play (-60)

Ties are pushes (0)

BJ pays 3 to 2 (67)

DB on 9, 10, 11 made of 2 cards only (-27); DB after split allowed (8)

Resplit allowed (4), including for aces (3)

Can hit only once after splitting aces and getting 21 this was is no BJ (?)

Insurance (not clear, probably only when hole card is ace) pays 2 to 1 (?)

Total: - 5

Is is how I am supposed to do? If so, this means that the game is not great, right? Is it still worth playing?

Royam
 
R

Royam

Well-Known Member
Ok, thank you.

Yes, I took the numbers from "Professional Blackjack", at least as much as I could (not easy to find exact equivalents).

Using the site you suggest, I get:

Base Rules, 6 decks: - 0.52
S 17: 0
D9: - 0.091
RSA (SPA3): 0.069
DAS/SPL3: 0.142
NS: 0
BJ2:1: 2.266

Total: 1.866

Don't really know how good/bad it is though... Btw, is it normal that insurance has such a heavy weight in the balance??? I was not aware it was that important...

Royam
 
A

Abraham de Moivre

Well-Known Member
Almost correct.

Insurance has no weight (0.0) when calculating the house edge, since according to basic strategy you should never take insurance.

You have the figure for blackjack paying 2:1 instead of 3:2 which adds over a 2% advantage.

Your ending number for that set of rules (blackjacks paying 2:1) is positive, meaning you have an off the top advantage simply by playing basic strategy.

Typical house edge for 6 decks is usually around the -.4% neighborhood.
If the number was positive the house would lose money to basic strategy players.
 
R

Royam

Well-Known Member
I'm tired...

Ok, I must be very tired, because I first did not notice i had I copy-pasted the 2:1 ratio (without even checking) instead of the usual 3:2. This explains the 2.266 that I found very high.

Then, when I wanted to express my surprise about this, I used the word "insurance" instead of BJ. Sorry for the confusion!

Anyway, if I remove this 2.266 that I added by mistake, the house edge is 0.4, exactly as you said. So this means it is a decent game, not fantastic but still beatable with basic strategy and counting cards, right?

Now, to get back to your comment on insurance, you meant for a 0 count, right? Then you're supposed to take insurance in a 6 decks game when the count reaches 3.0 (hi-low) or 3.3 (havles)?

Thanks for your assistance,

Royam
 
A

Abraham de Moivre

Well-Known Member
You are correct taking insurance

You take insurance when the count says to take it. What you calculated was the basic strategy house edge, basic strategy never takes insurance, so insurance has no effect.

If you count well, bet the proper amounts, and use the I18 + a couple more indexes to vary your play, you can probably get a 1% to 1 1/2% edge (subtract the house edge of .4%) and you have about a 1% advantage on your total amount bet.

The problem, and the factor you haven't mentioned, is "how deep do they deal into the shoe?" If they are cutting off more than 1 1/2 decks, then the game isn't beatable. Much better would be a cut off of about 1 deck or less.

The deeper they consistently deal into the shoe, the more advantage you will obtain. If they shuffle after only dealing out 4 decks, then the game isn't beatable.
 
D

deZerTomB

Active Member
double on 9,10,11 bad
rsa good
das good
I don't know anywhere you can get insurance with a dealer anything other than an ace up. They'd probably take your money if you insisted.

But you missed the most important point,penetration. At least for me, but I only play pitch DD.

But if they won't let me double on anything, I wouldn't play there too often. That's a lot to give up. And a sure sign of bad overall odds through the rest of the joint.
 
D

deZerTomB

Active Member
better yet, go to bj21 and get the sample current bj news or go ahead and subscribe to get the current one.

house edge is listed for every casino, along with location, #decks, pen, min, max, rules. Saves a lot of leg work.
 
A

Abraham de Moivre

Well-Known Member
That won't help

If I'm not mistaken, he is not playing in the US, probably playing in South America. The shoes with restricted doubling sound familar.
 
R

Royam

Well-Known Member
You are right... *PIC*

Thank you for all your answers.

I am currently in the US but will move to Europe in a couple of months, so I am prospecting...

From what I could find on the casinos' websites, it does not look all too good:
- db on 9, 10, 11 only,
- 6 deks only,
- and as it is in Europe, I fear it will be a no hole card where you lose all db and split bets on a dealer blackjack,
- they also sometimes charge you to access the bj pit,
- you sometimes got to show passport and they'll take your name before playing,
- etc...

As you both rightfully pointed out, I also forgot the importance of pentration. If it's not good, I don't know if I should even bother playing, with all the above mentioned disadvantages...

Royam
 
R

Royam

Well-Known Member
Thanks for corrections

I amended my table. I did not include the strategy number for 8 v. 3 because it is outside the range I have decided to learn for a start (-1 ... + 6).

I made the table because I find it much easier to learn from a colorful table than from the tiny columns in my books. Also too many strategy numbers confuse me. And I did not like the way Wong writes only "6" in a cell, it's not clear at first sight what to do below or above 6. I trust my mind to remember what to do better if I can visualize "s 6 h" (meaning stand below and hit when 6 or above).

Royam
 
R

Royam

Well-Known Member
Anyway, what do you think of the mentioned rules?

The picture was posted by mistake (I thought it would appear in my profile only), and it made a diversion from my real question: what do you think of the rules I mentioned?

Royam
 
R

Royam

Well-Known Member
Good, that gives me hope!

I'll go and check out what the penetration looks like when I am there.

Thank you.

Royam
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top