David’s blackjack blog !!! Blackjack !!!

To determine the effect of seating position on basic strategy players who were not counting cards, I ran computer simulations of fifty million hands with seven players at the table. The sims showed that seating position has no effect whatsoever, regardless of the number of decks in play. So, unless you’re counting cards, or using some other professional technique to get an edge, don’t worry about where you sit.

For professional players, seating position is often important and sometimes crucial. For card counters in single-deck games, the third base seat is quite a
bit more advantageous because the counter will be able to see and count more cards before playing his hand. In faceup shoe games, it’s much less important, but third base still has a bit more value for counters.

Find a spare table or level surface and leave the decks set up for a while. Return to them often and study the heights of each pile and the corresponding conversion factors. Rearrange the piles and see if you can determine the correct conversion factors when the piles are not in ascending or descending order in terms of height. Work at becoming good  enough to know the correct conversion factor with only a momentary glance at pile height. Remember, you’re going through all this because the accuracy of your true count—aside from keeping an accurate running count—is based on how good you are at sizing up the discard pile. I got blackjack jackpot playing in this manner several times.

At this point it might be worth mentioning that, for example, two decks in the discard pile will obviously result in different conversion factors depending on whether you’re sitting at a six- or eight-deck game. So, of course, you must be cognizant of  how many decks are in use— something that should and will become very obvious to you in that two, four, six, and eight-decks vary so much in size, as do their respective discard trays. After some practice one glance at the discard pile—at the cards and the tray those cards are sitting in—should create in your mind an association that will generate the appropriate conversion factor.

Realistically, the only two games where confusion could arise, if you’re not careful, are between the six- and eight-deck game. But as a serious player at Blackjack tournaments, you’re not likely to be wasting your time playing an eight-deck game if a six-deck game exists under the same roof, or in the same city. Unless bankroll considerations force you to play the lower-minimum eight-deck games, in which case you won’t be switching back and forth anyway. And four-deck games are such unique animals that they usually exist at all tables everywhere, or not at all. In other words, the message here is that a little bit of training for the game you intend on playing, or that exists at the casino destination you’re heading to, goes a long way. And the difference in conversion factors between, say, the two-and six-deck games in a locale like Las Vegas is so vastly obvious and different, that confusion between the two isn’t likely to happen.

Once you have the appropriate number of decks, find a place where you can set them up in piles next to one another, preferably where you can study the piles for some time and where they won’t be disturbed exclusive blackjack. Divide the cards into piles that increase in half-deck increments, starting with one half-deck pile. The next pile would contain a full deck. The pile after that a deck and a half, and so on.

The six-deck player should end up with ten piles ranging in size from one pile of twenty-six cards, or a half-deck, to a pile containing 260 cards, or five full decks. The set-up for four-deck training would involve seven piles ranging in size from one pile of twenty-six cards to a final pile containing 182 cards, or three-and-a-half decks. By the way, the reason we don’t bother training for any more than five decks dealt in a six-deck game, or three-and-a-half decks dealt in a four-deck game, and so on, is because modern-day dealt a blackjack is never dealt down to the last card. So, for example, in a six-deck game, you should never have to do a division based on observing five-and-a-half decks in the discard pile. (At one time blackjack had been dealt down to the last card. But your predecessors put an end to that practice long ago, unfortunately. Imagine a true count with something like eight cards remaining?)

Notice how the conversion factors gradually decrease, which corresponds to fewer and fewer cards remaining to be played. This has the effect of a smaller and smaller change on the running count, since dividing any one number by a smaller and smaller number results in less of a change poker to the original number. That’s why in a multi-deck game the most advantageous situations often end up occurring just prior to the shuffle.

On a small index card write down the conversion factor for each half-deck pile, and place the card face up in front of that pile. Begin associating the heights of each pile with the corresponding conversion factor. The goal here is to become familiar enough with the height of each pile such that the actual number of decks present becomes meaningless—your only concern is the correct conversion factor.

To be continued…

But how do we best determine how many cards remain? In order to do this game of online blackjack , we use the discard tray and work our way backwards. If we’re playing in a six-deck game and about two decks are sitting in the discard pile, then by process of elimination we know that about four decks remain in the shoe; Remember, as the number of decks in the discard tray gets higher, the number of decks remaining (and the number we use to divide the running count by) gets smaller. And a small number used to divide into any positive running count is a good sign, for it means we’ll likely end up with an elevated true count.

But rather than go through the process of elimination each and every time we need to calculate the true count, we’ll instead come to learn and use what’s called a “conversion factor.” In our case, the conversion factor represents the number of decks remaining based on the number of decks already sitting in the discard pile. The goal is to streamline the process such that with just a quick glance at the discard pile we’re able to divide the running count by a number (the conversion factor) to arrive at the correct true count of best blackjack strategy. And the only way to really become proficient at determining accurate conversion factors is to secure a good number of decks (preferably new decks or used ones in very good shape, for we’re most interested in deck heights) and simulate different amounts sitting in the discard pile. Decks of cards may be available for purchase at your local drug or dollar store, or at even better prices online where gaming supplies are sold. (Decks are sometimes available for free at casino cages, upon asking.)

For an eight-deck game, you’ll need about forty-six decks of cards; for a six-deck game, twenty-eight decks; for a four-deck game, fourteen decks; and for double deck, three decks. (Note: for single-deck blackjack, we employ other methods to arrive at the correct true count, covered in detail in Chapter Ten.)

To be continued…

At last we’ve reached the meat-and-potatoes of the entire process. Think about this for a moment: What’s the difference between a running count of +26 early on in a six-deck shoe when, let’s say, five decks remain, versus a running count of +26 much further along in a six-deck shoe when perhaps only about two decks remain? The most important difference is that there are a lot fewer cards to draw from when only two or so decks are remaining. Which, consequently, means the concentration of high cards is a lot greater. That’s a very advantageous situation for the player. Think of the “true count” as a function that takes the running count and provides a more precise picture of what’s really about to occur.

The true count is determined by dividing the running count by the number of decks remaining. As far as precision is concerned, estimate to the nearest half deck. For instance, in a six-deck game a running count of +24 with four decks remaining equates to a true count of +6 (24:4 = 6), whereas a running count of +24 with only two-and-a-half decks remaining equates to a true count of a little under +10 (24:2.5 = 9.6). So, you see, running counts convert to different true counts depending on how many decks remain.

At this point it might be worthwhile mentioning that learning the High-Low does not entail keeping a side count of aces, as is the case with many other professional level point counts. Another user-friendly facet that applies to all level one systems is that you’re never adding or sub-tracting an amount greater than one. Which means keeping a running count is almost intuitive. Whereas for a higher-level count you actually have to add and subtract quantities other than one. But you will have to divide by numbers like 1 1/2, 2 1/2, 3 1/2 and so on. That might take a little getting used to at first, but in time shouldn’t pose too much difficulty as you begin getting more and more used to doing that type of division.

To be continued…

No matter how many decks are in use, as the cards are dealt history begins establishing itself. And as you know, card counting involves using history to gain a better understanding of what cards remain. That’s best accomplished by assigning a point value to each card and then keeping a cumulative running total, commonly referred to as a “running count.”

When the remaining cards are rich enough in 10s and aces, the player has the advantage. When the remaining cards are rich in small cards, the house has the advantage. This is largely due to several reasons, most notably that the dealer has to abide by a predetermined set of rules that forces him to draw until reaching a certain total. Other factors are that the player, unlike the dealer, gets paid at lVr.i for blackjack, and that the player can take advantage of options like doubling down, splitting pairs, and surrender when available.

The first step in gaining an insight into what cards remain is to keep track of those cards that have already been dealt. As far as the running count is concerned, low cards like 2s and 5s have a point value of +1, whereas high cards like aces and all 10-valued cards (hereafter referred to as 10s) have a point count value of -1. So if an abundance of low cards is dealt, the running count will likely be positive—to reflect the fact that a lot of high cards remain. Conversely, when lots of high cards have been dealt, the running count should be negative—to reflect the fact that the remaining cards contain an abundance of low cards.