They call it gambling for a reason. It's because it's NOT a sure thing, unlike what many gamblers seem to think. So let me make this perfectly clear before you read one more word of this article. Over the long haul, you CAN'T beat the casino. I don't care if you're a magician. They have the odds in their favor for each game. However, that doesn't mean that you can't, on any given day, go there and come home a winner. These few tips will help you get an edge at blackjack. You might want to make note of them.
At the top of the list, and this is a have to learn to card count. I don't care if you use a simple system like assigning minus 2 for each ten value card and plus 1 for each non ten value card (ace through 9). While it's not the most accurate system in the world, it can give you a good enough idea of when a shoe is rich enough to jump into...which leads us to my next tip.
You don't want to sit down at a blackjack table where the shoe has just come out. It is neither rich or poor and you will have absolutely no edge at all. You want to go to a table, preferably with at least 4 people playing, wait until a new shoe comes out, and then start charting the table. The reason you want at least 4 people is because that way, more cards come out and you have a better chance of reaching a rich shoe count. This is where you have more ten value cards in the shoe than other cards. The reason this gives you an advantage is because you have more of a chance of hitting blackjack and the dealer has more of a chance of busting on bad hands (up cards of 3, 4, 5 or 6) Once the shoe is rich (I prefer a count of 27 for an 8 deck shoe) then you sit down at the table and play.
My last tip, and this is something that so few people do, is to tip your dealer. Now I know you're probably thinking that I've lost my marbles because after all, you're there to win give it away. But hear me out. Your dealer, believe it or not, is human. He appreciates you throwing him a couple of $5 chips once in a while. What will this do? Let me put it this way. Some dealers have been known to display pretty telling tells to patrons who tip well. Read in between the lines and you'll know what I'm talking about. This can give the player an enormous advantage if he knows what the dealer's down card is. Okay, got it? Tip your dealer.
I can't stress the fact enough that gambling is hard. More people walk away from the casinos broke or at the very least down a ton of money than they do up. The reason is simple. The games are made so that the house has the edge. Believe what you want. If this wasn't true, casinos wouldn't be in business. However, if you take these few simple tips and use them when playing blackjack, you give yourself a decent chance of going home with more money in your pocket than what you started with.
To YOUR Gambling Success,
Steven Wagenheim
At the top of the list, and this is a have to learn to card count. I don't care if you use a simple system like assigning minus 2 for each ten value card and plus 1 for each non ten value card (ace through 9). While it's not the most accurate system in the world, it can give you a good enough idea of when a shoe is rich enough to jump into...which leads us to my next tip.
You don't want to sit down at a blackjack table where the shoe has just come out. It is neither rich or poor and you will have absolutely no edge at all. You want to go to a table, preferably with at least 4 people playing, wait until a new shoe comes out, and then start charting the table. The reason you want at least 4 people is because that way, more cards come out and you have a better chance of reaching a rich shoe count. This is where you have more ten value cards in the shoe than other cards. The reason this gives you an advantage is because you have more of a chance of hitting blackjack and the dealer has more of a chance of busting on bad hands (up cards of 3, 4, 5 or 6) Once the shoe is rich (I prefer a count of 27 for an 8 deck shoe) then you sit down at the table and play.
My last tip, and this is something that so few people do, is to tip your dealer. Now I know you're probably thinking that I've lost my marbles because after all, you're there to win give it away. But hear me out. Your dealer, believe it or not, is human. He appreciates you throwing him a couple of $5 chips once in a while. What will this do? Let me put it this way. Some dealers have been known to display pretty telling tells to patrons who tip well. Read in between the lines and you'll know what I'm talking about. This can give the player an enormous advantage if he knows what the dealer's down card is. Okay, got it? Tip your dealer.
I can't stress the fact enough that gambling is hard. More people walk away from the casinos broke or at the very least down a ton of money than they do up. The reason is simple. The games are made so that the house has the edge. Believe what you want. If this wasn't true, casinos wouldn't be in business. However, if you take these few simple tips and use them when playing blackjack, you give yourself a decent chance of going home with more money in your pocket than what you started with.
To YOUR Gambling Success,
Steven Wagenheim
