Thanks

[Daws1089]

USFMD,

Great question on when to walk away. Obviously its a personal choice, but I have two different philosophies. For the actual casino, if I get up over $100 quickly I'll keep going. But if I ever get to $250 i go home. If I have played for an hour or so and I'm up something like $70 or $80 I'll also drive home. Sometimes I'll walk around or go watch a friend play roulette or something and then come back to play some more.

The reason $5 bets do not work with my strategy is because I use the 2,2,3,4,5,6, etc. strategy. Meaning you must start with a 2 unit bet. So I start with $10 ( $5 unit as a 2 unit bet is $10). So you always bet 2 units, but once you have won 2 bets in a row of 2 units you can increase to 3 units, and if you win increase to 4 units and continue this until you lose a hand. Then retreat back to the 2 unit bet. The reason you can't do $5 and then $5 is because 1. for your 3 unit bet most casinos dont let you bet $7.50 which is the 1 unit increase from 2 units ot 3 units. and 2. because if you bet $5, and then $5 , on your 3rd hand you'd be betting $10 (b/c they don't allow $7.50). So if you use the strategy you dont profit from winning 2 hands in a row. 5, 5, and then if you lost the 3rd hand you would be even. Whereas, if you played $10, 10, and then lost your third hand with a bet of 15, you woul still profit $5 from the 2 wins in a row. Thus, why you can't bet with $5.

If they let you do 7.50 then you are golden, I've just never seen it, that's all. I only play $20 a hand when I play online so I don't really bring a bankroll. Its whatever I have in my account. And I'll just say that $20 bets are not going to ruin my bankroll. If you had $1,000 in your account I'd play with like $10 hands. Unless your account was solely for casino use. My account is for sportsbetting mainly, but I do play online casino sometimes.

Let me know how bodog works out. best of luck.

[USFMD82]

I gotta read that blackjack thing some more, I don't recall seeing that system (2,2,3,4,5,6)in there. and do you just keep going on that or at 6 you start over again?

Have yu picked up anything else along the way? Ill have to start out small times I couldn't imagine doing one hand at $20 at this point, and having a bankroll of about $1,000 might take a while, that's about half of what I make a month!

Either way Ill head to the casino soon and give this a try on the video blackjack see how it goes and report back what I find out.

Looks like Bodog is out for the moment, my bank has them blocked :(

[USFMD82]

When they say Hit, do they mean keep hitting?

Ex. Dealer has 7 showing
I have 8 and 7, and I hit getting an ace giving me 16, I hit again and busted out, was that the right play, I think I will keep playing for play money till I have this down pat its pretty interesting though!

[Daws1089]

yes that is correct. Hit until you get to 17 in that scenario. here is the link to the strategy I use exclusively.

http://www.predictem.com/blackjack/strategy.php

its called the up and pull method.

When I first learned this strategy when I got to 5 in a row I would automatically revert back to the beginning. But now I just ride it out and keep increasing until I lose. I once won 11 in a row. In the casino I sometimes use a pyramid. When I got to my 5th win in a row and won, then I went back down to 4 unit bet, if i won again back to 3 unit bet and then if i won again bakc to 2 units and then just started over. This method and the first one of stopping after 5 in a row allow you to save a lot more of your profit.

One thing I've picked up is to use the surrender option if they offer it. It will save you a ton of money. Read the surrender tab in the blackjack section to learn when to use it.


Just start small if you can't bet too big. $2 or $4 bets are fine. Start with 100 or so and if you make $10 stop. or 20 stop. Its about the discipline. Make sure you learn the basic strategy of blackjack of when to hit, double, split and surrender first. You should see some improved results.

[USFMD82]

Well, just got back from the casino (Tampa Bay Seminole Hard Rock), I printed up a little cheat sheet off the main rules laid out in the strategy section (I didn't go to the other tips the other people offered but I will incorporate those in next time). They have live blackjack at my casino unfortunately the min is $10 a hand, to rich for my blood..

So I sat at the Multi game machine (Poker/Keno/BJ) and put a 20 in and was playing $.25 bets, I also didn't get a chance to read the money management strategy so I just stuck to 2 unit bets for the most part. I will say the machine I was on must not of liked me, I went through numerous bouts where it would get a blackjack back to back, and the machine offered no split, no double down and no insurance option. So I cashed out at $10, and walked, I had noticed a "Multi-Play Blackjack" machined by the stairs, figured id give it a go.


I put in the money and went to the screen betting $.25 again only I noticed what it means now by "Multi-play" I was playing 7 hands per bet making my $.25 bet a $1.25 per deal, I was wary at first but hey its only $10. an you make the decisions per each hand.

At this point I should mention my mother was with me as well and she was playing Blackjack as well.

So, I am going by the strategy, and Im doing pretty good, this is where I should of read the money management strategy I was sticking to 2 units per hand *willy nilly as it would be called) and had gotten up to $30. I said hmm im doing good ill hit it up to 3 units, well I crashed quickly, and was out, but all in all, using the strategy I definitely bought myself much more time on a $40 investment while I lost it all, I did get much more playing time out of it then any other machine on the floor doing the multi play. I will continue to read up on the strategies and work more on my strategy card. So it was a loss of $40 but me and my mother were in the casino for 3 hours on the $40 and we netted 300 loyalty points during this time which is VERY good seeing as how I was watching people to the left and right of me sit down and over 10 minutes lose 100 and have nothing to show for it, at least I will get comped something in the end (my parents get free hotel stays all the time.

So in conclusion, the strategy if anything delayed my losing and if I used better money management I could of A walked away with profit or walked away with at least something, but it was definitely better to have something there.

Looks like I could use something like this, anyone know where I could get one that tells you for 1-3 decks?
EDIT: This site lets you auto generate a strategy based upon the decks and certain options, also has a neat free video trainer that tells you if you were right or not (but of course even f you played right you dont win always) MODS sorry if posting this is against rules, please let me know and I will remove it.
Blackjack Basic Strategy Calculator

<b>(Link Approved by Admin)</b>

Also, I really liked having the Dealers % of busting, is there something out there that gives the players %of busting? it would be cool to have something like that on my PDA to use while playing BJ

Well, that's a long enough post I think... more to come Im gonna start putting aside some money to get to $300 saved up to play some live BJ at the $10 table

[Daws1089]

good stuff. Keep reading everything and practicing. You should know exactly what to do immediately when any hand comes up. Know what cards to split, when to double and when to surrender. It should be like clock work. When you are practicing try this. If you forget, have the predictem blakcjakc section open in another window and refer back to it to check and see if you made the right move. If you like reading, maybe pick up a book on blackjack. You will get it, just keep at it.

[USFMD82]

Finally got on Bodog, I was looking on there, It looks like they have many of the same strategy there.. I am curious why they offer this information, wouldn't it make everyone chances of getting crazy money form them easier?

Anyone know how many decks the sites are supposed to be using? as I understand the strategy changes form one deck to more. Daws, any updates, still doing good with blackjack?

[Daws1089]

Only update I have is that I went to the casino one night last week. I brought $240 and played $10 hands. I was treading water for awhile and then went on an awful run either pushed or lost 15 hands in a row. I was ready to puke but I stuck with it. At this point I was down to my final $30 of the $240 I brought. I somehow battled back and about an hour later I was up to $250. So I left. Imade $10 for the night lol. I had a couple 4 win streaks and a 3 win streak soon after my horrible 15 loss streak so the money started to come back quick. online I've lost a little over the last couple weeks. Doubling down has killed me lately. It always seems to be the different maker. If you get good cards when you double down you usually do well and if you get aces and or 4's when you double down it usually heads south real fast.

[USFMD82]

Well, i have been doing well with this so far, not a size able increase, but playing 1unit =$5 using the 2,2,3,4... I have amassed about $120 over 3 sessions on bodog, nothing big but better than losing :).

so the "video blackjack" at my local casino, I believe i have found some machines that are a bit better on the house odds but still sticklers, i gotta keep checking to see if BJ is 1:1 or not. but you mentioned that these machines are not rigged? In other words you hear of tight and loose slot machines, can they make the Video Blackjack play tight or loose as well? in reading up on some sites as I understand it the biggest beef on the Video blackjack is that many pay even for BJ and then so many options are gone like the surrender or the double down on any feature, but I cant find any information relating to the other aspect I mentioned.

Either way thank you for authoring this thread Daws as it has certainly drummed up my interest in BJ, I just am surprised that not everyone plays with basic strategy. and then I wonder I was watching live tables last night, people making idiotic calls, that surely must screw up your chances to win, I would guess you have better odds playing 1-1 with a dealer at a high limit table (over the course of an hour I saw only one play play at the $25/hand table) so you are not prone to everyone's mistakes or is this a misnomer?

[Q-Unit]

nice discussion!

I agree, the doubling down aspect is definitely the difference maker, really determines your streak and bankroll all at once.

any thoughts on insurance? sometimes B.Strategy dictates that taking insurance is smart, but in general, I never take it regardless...

[Guest]

Playing the correct way is key to not losing big, what do you think the influence is of other people at the table?

[Daws1089]

I've never taken insurance. Read the insurance page on predictem within the blackjack section. It really explains why it is not worth it.

As for the loose and tight machines I guess that is possible. I feel like when I go to the casino early in the day on a weekday I have an easier time winning than, say if I were to go at midnight on a friday night. But it could just be coincidence.


Playing one on one can be deadly in a casino. Online it works, but I was told not to play one on one in a casino. But I guess it is no worse than playing with 3 others who have no idea how to play.

I always play with one or two of my friends who know how to play. This way everyone is on the same page.

[USFMD82]

Quick update, Still going strong, haven't had a losing session on Bodog yet, sure its coming soon. I have decided if I lose 5 in a row or 1/3 of my bank I will stop playing for the night and do something else on the other side, when I'm winning if i bring in 5 in a row (using the 22345 system, I would be betting $25) I stop playing then or when I'm up around $50 or so. practicing this, I am up about $300 so far, and its not correlated at all but my poker game has gotten much better don't know if its me or the cards at Bodog. you still playing with $10 units or have you upped it? any other stories or lessons you have learned, I have not taken insurance once since reading that page and Ive seen it be BJ about 4 times out of about 15 so yeah its a sucker bet. best hand so far

$15 bet dealer showing 6 I get A,A split them and get 2 blackjacks!

Having the strategy really helps out, I have yet to take this to a live table for the reason I mentioned, I dont have it memorized as well I worry about other peoples idiotic play screwing up my chances

[Daws1089]

Ive had several brutal sessions on betus recently. Frankly, it has gotten the better of me on a few occasions. I didn't stop when I should have, but I'm working on it. I'm human. I played with $20 online still. I am going to incorporate a few rules into my online BJ game. If I lose 400 in one sitting I MUST stop or if I win 6 in a row I MUST stop. So these are similar to your rules usfmd, but a little different. I've been down more than $500 in one session before and came back to win $400 in the same session so it is possible to comeback after going down, but I'm going to avoid that now. Football is coming so need to tarnish the bankroll you know?

On another note, I went the casino this weekend. I cashed in for 320. Random, I know, but thats what I brought so I put it all in.I treaded water for awhile about 30 minutes and then by about an hour I was up $50. I went on a pretty good run of a couple 3 wins in a row and I got a 6 in a row and I ended up leaving while up $170. I was up $250 at one point and continued to play. This strategy is proof that you can beat the game. This was the 9th time I've visited the casino in 2009 and it was the 8th time I either won or broke even.

Congrats to you usfmd for practicing. I hope it continues to work out for you. Lately I've been doubling down less to control the fluctuations of the game.

[USFMD82]

so your playing $20 units meaning following the 2234... system you bet $40 or your actually playing 10 units?

I have stuck to the $5 units so far so each bet is always $10 so far that's what seems to work for me.

I have come back form some tough ones as well, but I never let myself slide below 1/3 of what i start with, but there is some merit to your statement but the way I see it, if I leave its easier to make $100 back next few times I sit down then it is to make back $300.

I just am amazed how well it is going so far, that I don't know why more people don't do this, when i go to Vegas in November, I will likely have a hard time finding a table that gives me all the nice options I get on BODOG (Surrender, split any, double down after split.

One that was weird thought, I had blackjack and they dealer had ace card it asked me if i wanted insurance but there was no way for me to not take insurance.