I was in Arizona playing at one of the reservations on a BJ machine. I was playing for the minimum knowing the odds would be against me, but wanting to keep my basic skills sharp. The set up of the machines were either five or six players playing against one dealer. I am wondering if the following scenario would work.
I would assume these machines are based on a random single deck card generator program. You obviously can't count for the purpose of varrying your bet because each hand is random, but you could count each individual hand for the purpose of making better decisions on hitting, standing, doubling, insurance, and splitting. In a single deck game with Vegas rules the odds are very close to being even with the house having only the smallest of advantage. If you had multiple players working as a team you could count every card dealt, and subsequently ever so slightly improve your odds. Most of these machines have a low maximum bet so you probably wouldn't be able to clean up, but it seems to me that this could work.
Please let me know where my theory is flawed if you can. It's probably not worth the effort, even if it would work, but I would be curious to know the answer. Thanks.