Hi and welcome to our series of educational videos
that are designed to make you a smarter gambler. My name is Steve Bourie
and I'm the author of the American casino guide which is the number one
bestselling book in the US on the subject of casino gambling and travel
and the only book that comes with more than one thousand dollars in casino coupons
if you want to know more about me or my book be sure to visit my website at
americancasinoguide.com
in this video I'll be speaking with gambling expert Michael Shackleford
who is also known as the Wizard of Odds
and I ask him all about blackjack We videotaped his interview with Mike in
Las Vegas in September 2010
and I'm sure that it will help to answer many of the questions that you have
about blackjack
and how you can be a long-term winner at the game What is the object of the game of
blackjack?
The object of blackjack is to get more points than the dealer without
going over 21. How is the casinos mathematical advantage determined in
blackjack?
The casino gets its advantage in blackjack
because the player has to act first if both
the player and the dealer bust the player loses
now how is the house advantage calculated in blackjack you might ask
it's very calculated can be done a number of different ways but basically
you need computers
to either simulate a game or run through every single combination of the ways the
cards could play out
assuming the player plays correct strategy and
under most common sets of blackjack rules
with basic strategy the house advantage is gonna range anywhere from about
0.25 percent all the way past two percent
for horrible games like those that pay six to five on a blackjack
Is a single deck game always better for the player?
The number of decks is very important in blackjack
the fewer the number of decks: the better the odds for the player
however be careful the casinos know
that the players know that so they're trying to trick the players
with single deck games that pay only six to five on a blackjack
it's much better to play an 8 deck game that pays 3-2 on a blackjack
than a single deck game that pays only 6-5 in other words what that they pay on a
blackjack
is much more important than how many decks they use
What are some rule variations
and how do they affect the casinos advantage? The rules have a lot to do
with the house advantage in blackjack and the rules vary significantly from casino
to casino and table
from table within the casino the most important thing the players to look for
with good rules is that they pay 3-2 on a blackjack
if they don't walk away makes no difference what the other rules are
once you find a 3-2 game then it's
good the fewer the decks the better if you can play a double deck game
that's better than a six deck game and other good rules
to look for are does the dealer hit or stand on a soft 17
it's to your advantage if the dealer stands on a soft 17
it's good if they let you double after a split it's good if they let you
surrender
it's good if they let you resplit aces Can you explain what a continuous
shuffler is
and how it affects the game? A continuous shuffling machine
is a time-saving
shuffling device that was invented so that
the dealers don't have to shuffle the cards every single time they reach the
cut card
The way a continuous shuffler works is after
the dealer has dealt around they will
scoop up all the cards put them in a little pile and feed them into the
shuffling machine
there are usually five decks of cards in the shuffling machine
and the Machine will randomly place those discards back
into the shoe. Another question I get asked a lot
is are the odds a worse in a continuous
shuffle game Actually
the odds are a little bit better just a little bit better
in a continuously shuffled game it's mathematically complicated to explain
why
however the player should also keep in mind
that because the dealer isn't taking breaks to shuffle the cards there's
going to be more hands per hour likely
in a continuously shuffle game and that's going to be more
money that you can expect to lose per hour
What is basic strategy? Blackjack basic strategy
is a strategy that tells you the mathematically correct way to play
any player hand and any dealer
up card it looks like this to use it
you would look up your hand going down this way across the dealers up card this
way
for example say I have an ace in a seven or soft 18 a dealer showing
a 10 most players with incorrectly stand on that hand saying well an 18 is
good enough
but you look at the chart and It'll say say H for hit so the odds favor hitting in
that situation
Any good blackjack player should memorize this basic strategy
once you memorize this you can cut the house advantage down
under good rules to about 0.25 percent considering the comps you're gonna get
from the casino
it's like free entertainment Can a player be a long-term winner
using a progressive betting system? Well first let me explain what a progressive
betting system is
the most common one is called a martingale and the way that works is
every time you lose a bet you double your bet the next time
so let's say you start with a dollar bet you lose then you bet two you lose then bet four
you lose that you bet 8 you lose that you bet 16
and then let's say you win that, you would win 16
but you will have lost 8, 4, 2 and 1 which add up to fifteen
so no matter with the martingale as long as you eventually hit a win
you're always going to net one dollar for every single win
sounds good no because no matter how much money you have
its eventually gonna happen that you hit that string of losses
and you don't have enough money to double again now a lot of players
falsely believe that
these that these betting systems like this win
because most of the time they do but the
day that you can't double your bet that last time
is gonna be the day that you have given back
everything that you ever won up until that point computer simulations have
shown
that no betting system can
survive the long-term they can't not only can betting systems not
overcome the house advantage they can't even dent it and please
no matter what you do never pay
for a book or a website that is selling betting systems these are all charlatans
and scam artists they do not work over the long run
How can a player be a long-term winner at blackjack? Probably the most common
way is through card counting which
absolutely does work ther are a lotta movies about it and books about it
the basic principle is is that when the remaining cards in the shoe are rich in
tens and aces
the odds favor that player when the remaining cards are rich in small cards
the odds favor
the dealer so the players going to bet more
when the deck is rich in good cards and he's going to make adjustments to his
strategy
to um to hit less and double more in the situations when the deck is
rich in the good cards. Can a player be a long term winner using basic strategy?
the basic strategy is great you can cut down the house advantage to
0.26 percent under liberal strip rules however
you can't overcome the house advantage with basic strategy
alone
the casino is always going to have a slight advantage
so the player should not count
on winning long-term with the basic strategy
however if the player factors in
comps and tournament invitations and other niceties
that the casino gives you much like in video poker you can come out ahead
with the basic strategy Does it matter where you sit at the table?
One question I get a lot is does it make any difference where you sit at the
blackjack table
whether it be first base or the first player to act or third base the last player
somewhere in the middle
the odds make absolutely no difference
another common myth is that the third baseman
controls the game for all the players and if he makes a bad play
its gonna up cause everyone to lose that's
absolutely a myth the odds
are the same no matter how the third baseman plays his cards
Since blackjack is a game of skill if you are at a table with a lot of bad
players
does it affect your odds of winning? Blackjack
is absolutely a game a skill however
what matters is your skill what the other players are doing makes no
difference
at all it's a common myth that bad players at the table
cause everybody to lose absolutely not true you could be playing
with the world's worst blackjack players
and its not gonna make any difference to you
over the long run Does it matter if you play at a full table or an empty table?
Mathematically speaking the odds don't matter whether you're playing
at a full table or the or an empty table
however at a full table you're going to be getting a lot fewer hands per hour
so if you're trying to minimize your expected losses per hour
then it's better to play a full table if you want a lot of hands per hour
obviously you should be playing by yourself
now when the casinos calculate comps
they go by average bet and time played
so if you're trying to get the most
comp mileage out of your play, play at a full table
because you're gonna be betting less money but still getting the same benefit
as a player
playing by himself Should a player ever taken insurance?
Unless you're counting cards absolutely never
take insurance the house advantage on the insurance
is 7.7 percent it's a lousy bet
and before you ask don't take insurance or even money
even if the dealer has an ace up
it's still a lousy bet try to get the full 3-2 pay out
now there is an exception for card counters if somehow you know
the remaining cards are rich in lotsa tens then insurance can become a good
bet
but if you have no idea if you're not tracking for that always
decline insurance What is your best advice for blackjack players?
My best advice for blackjack players
is to seek out games with good rules
3-2 in a blackjack preferably double-deck
preferably the dealer stands on a soft 17 you can look up
the house advantage for any set of blackjack rules on my website
and there's lots of other books and sources that give you that information
as well
then you should play good strategy
the basic strategy is a great place to start
this will cut down the house advantage to a very
thin amount if this is too complicated I have something on my website
wizardofodds.com called
the wizard simple blackjack strategy which is just
about 16 rules of thumb
that will get you very close to the
house advantage that you could get with the basic strategy
Would you suggest going to comedian Jimmy JJ Walker
for blackjack advice? no problem they don't know but thank goodness
I came in the professional is here leading the way
Your best piece of advice rather blackjack players? Never hit on 12 that's
a cardinal sin
never hit on 12 ever never. Absolutely not.
How can people people learn more about you and your work? If you want to improve your
odds in any casino game I welcome you to visit my website wizardofodds.com
it'll show you the correct strategy to at least a hundred different casino
games
or you can buy my book gambling 102 which will show you how to play the most
common casino games
Don't forget that you can see more of our educational gaming videos on our
YouTube channel
just go to youtube.com/americancasinoguide