Blackjack Games to Avoid: JUST SAY NO TO THESE RIPOFF GAMES AND WARN OTHERS
6 to 5 "blackjack"
Most visitors to casinos play blackjack or other games for entertainment and do not thoroughly study the games. While there is always a chance of winning in the short run, it has been said that the built-in casino advantage is the "price of the entertainment" for the recreational player. But with the 6:5 short payoffs on blackjacks, the price is too high.
Let's assume you go to a movie once a month, and pay $8 for a ticket. Suddenly, the theatre increases its ticket price to $64. Would you still go to that theatre, when other similar theatres would charge you only $8? Or would you take your business to one of the $8 theatres? By playing single deck blackjack that pays only 6 to 5 on blackjacks, you are doing the same thing as patronizing the $64 theatre.
The casinos are taking advantage of the myth among casual blackjack players that "single deck games always offer better odds for the players." This is simply NOT true with the 6 to 5 game. Normal blackjacks pay 7 ½ to 5, or more commonly referred to as 3 to 2. The house advantage on a normal single deck game is 0.18%. The 6 to 5 game has a house advantage of 1.45%, more than eight times the advantage the casino has on a normal single deck game
This isn't merely a matter of shuffling incomprehensible numbers around. Stanford Wong, author of Professional Blackjack, explains: "The math is easy. If the player gets paid 3:2 on a blackjack on a $10 bet, the player gets paid $15. If the player gets paid 6:5 on a $10 bet, he gets paid only $12 for a blackjack. That is a difference of $3, which might not seem like much. During a normal-speed blackjack game, the player averages five blackjacks per hour, meaning the player is shorted 1.5 bets per hour. In the case of a $10 bettor, he is being shorted $15 per hour!" (Las Vegas Weekly, 10/23/03)
UNLV professor Bill Thompson, who studies gaming issues, said, "This is incredibly stupid. Everybody knows blackjacks pay 3:2. Unless they're giving out free bottles of whiskey to everyone who sits down at the table, I don't know why anybody would play this game." (Las Vegas Sun, 11/13/03)
The house edge in a normal six-deck shoe is about 0.63%, much worse for the player than a normal single deck, but not nearly as bad as the single deck 6 to 5 ripoff game.
Continuous shuffling machines
These nasty devices require the dealer to insert the used cards from each round back into the machine, instead of using a discard tray as is normally done. The effect is that of playing against a virtually infinite deck. Every round is played "off the top of the deck," when there is a 100% chance that the unskilled player is at a disadvantage. Also, because there is never a break for shuffling, the machine increases the speed of the game by about 20%, so the typical player will lose 20% more money in the same amount of playing time or lose all of his or her money significantly more quickly.
This information is presented as a public service by BJ21.com, the leading source of blackjack information.
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