I am curious to know from the counters out there.....
What is the most positive expectation per hand game of blackjack that you have played in the last 5 years?
By most positive expectation, I mean for a card counter (not a bs player).
... average expectation or highest expectation hand or highest 'next-hand' expectation? G
My highest EV per HAND was probably at a shoe game where I was backcounting and only playing at a TC of +3. Unless you include the use of match play and free ace coupons.
For EV per HOUR it's either the great DD game, or a tournament where the casino added a bunch of money and the other players were all ploppies (won $1,000 in 4 hours, but am not sure what the EV was).
You may want to specify a style of play and whether you are including things like coupons and tournaments in your question.
6DK, S17, DAS, ESR, RSA, and Draw to Split Aces. Unlimited session lengths, no back-offs. 18:1 spread maximimum. Cash back comps for playing time (plus other comps).
Jan-Feb, 1999.
... not counting special promo games, Belterra in Indiana had an excellent single deck, S17, DAS game where they were originally dealing about 60% on average. Some dealers even dealt deeper. It was a great game while it lasted.
At one time, four decks, 5 card total 21 or under option to win half bet, early surrender against any up card, double any two, no double after split, I was told a basic strategy gave a .54 positive expectation, counting gave a phenomonal return. I should know ;-)
that is, 150% minus dealer's blackjack
and many many times of...
first card Ace, 50%
first card Ten, 13%
2 to 7 for the dealer, 10%-20%
of course these happened only once a while
...by sequencing
I've heard about sequencing in books but you never hear of anybody talking about actually using it or how it's done,can you briefly explain how this is done and the pros and cons?
You may not have an appreciation for just how easy it is for casinos to institute counter measures to foil almost any method of advantage play. The harder information of this type is to find the better. You can get info and learn if you're determined. But nobody wants this to be a school for casino employees.
have been fully briefed on the flaw.
Everyone has heard of the ace sequencing concept if "J,Q,K,A" is dealt the previous shoe, next shoe the will follow the same sequence.
No secret.
It's more likely the reason most card counters(including myself)dont comment about ace sequencing is because it is a risky intervention that we choose not to follow,,,not because it's a secret way to riches that casinos dont know about.
Do you really feel because you write down a sequence of cards on a pen that these exact cards will come out of a shoe in the same order again? The dueces and nine might not even be the same cards. You would also have to have a perfect situation with no margin of error. Not only do these cards stand a glim chance of coming out in the exact sequence but they must be dealt to the dealer at the EXACT time and interval in order to stand a chance of getting the ace at first base. This condition may not happen after months of touting around a pen and pad.
Too risky and time consuming for me my friend.
DD that is precisely why only 14
Posted By: Frank Stanton on 7 October 02, 2:19 p.m. in response to: no one is going to post that sort of thing here (DD')
have been fully briefed on the flaw.
Brief is the appropriate terminology too. BTW, is that +14 or -14?
Chip
Here's what I did. I learned a good memory system and practiced until I could memorize an entire deck of cards in order. Then I extended this to be able to memorize two decks. Continuing in this fashion, I practiced until I could memorize the order of eight decks and instantly recall it going forward or backward from any card. Once you can do this in a noisy casino environment then you are ready to play. Some people use more simplistic methods such as just keeping track of certain cards to locate an ace, but I find knowing the order of an entire shoe is helpful, assuming the shuffle is cooperative. By the way, it takes a lot of practice, but it isn't as hard as it sounds.
or something similar?
How many hours you practiced before you
could memorize 52 cards in real casino?
One casino I played for about 100 hrs totally,
there were 2 times that the dealer had
forgotten to shuffle!...you could bust the
dealer every single hand.
Your story is quite amazing, but these superman abilities you perform are all but useless in a real casino. Of course if you can find a dealer that never shuffles that's another story.
I did not say ace sequencing did not work. I'm sure it does once in a while. I suppose it takes much risky patience.
At least sitting around waiting to see a dealers hole card is not as risky, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the opportunity.
Imagine, 14 selected individuals have passed the Frankie "the flaw" test and been allowed into the secret world of Flawdom. What an incredible honor this must be! It has been leaked from one of the members that in addition to being among the select few, they are required to wear leisure suits and sunglasses while playing. This in order for the other cult members to recognize each other at the tables. It was hinted that a secret, 5-minute handshake is also required, but this could not be verified.
These 14 individuals now carry the knowledge that (should it be released into undesirable hands), would change the world of blackjack as we now know it. Imagine how their leader Big Frankie must have agonized over this selection process. The casino drop would fall by double digits (according to Frankie), should "the flaw" info be released into public hands. How special these 14 people!
have been fully briefed on the flaw
Captain Stanton using his military style verbiage to excite everyone, and ensure to us that appropriate seeds have been planted for the flaw to live on.
One can only hope that Frankie continues his study of the fallacy of well known statisticians and enhances the flaw system into the incredibly powerful tool it has become. His Frankness of course has been on a perennial 30+ year losing streak, and is now only catching bust hands...could it be there is a flaw in the flaw?
Please stay tuned for an insulting response from the illustrious leader of the Famous Fourteen...Frankie "the flaw" Stanton.
BTW your Flawness, didn't you just have a birthday and turned 70? If so, Happy Birthday Frankie.
Wow, you ask a question and then you respond to my helpful reply with a know-it-all attitude. If you know everything, why are you asking! One thing though, you're wrong. You don't need a dealer who doesn't shuffle, you just need a dealer who doesn't shuffle well. I'm not going to discuss what exactly defines "shuffling well" but you can figure it out if you think about it. That's the trick behind sequencing in any form. Much as with shuffle tracking, some shuffles can be beaten while others cannot. The cards aren't going to come out in the exact same sequence everytime but, given the cards you can see in play and recently played cards, you can figure out where you are in the sequence and if you're close to anything valuable like Ts and As. I'll leave it to you to figure things out from there. But, seeing as how you have to have everything explained to you, I don't like your chances. Also, sequencable shuffles are about 25 times more rare than trackable shuffles so, good luck with that.
Ace sequencing works like this. Standing behind some players like a backcounter, an ace tracker uses his pencil and pad to keep track of aces in relation to non-aces
Can't imagine the pit allowing someone to stand behind the table and write down the cards; sounds like a recipe for a quick 86 to me.
