It was just last week that we reported a blackjack player taking an Atlantic City casino for just under $6 million and now we are reporting $15 million won in the City? Well, thankfully for the city, the winnings are by the same individual who is now known as Pennsylvania resident Don Johnson, a 49-year-old CEO of a Wyoming-based company that is linked to horse racing computer based software.

Johnson was able to take $4.23 million from Caesars Atlantic City as well as nearly $1` million from Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa last December before winning $1.8 million throughout March and April and went on to win $2.25 million during two nights in April. He went on to take Tropicana Casino and Resort in Atlantic City for $5.8 million in a 12-hour duration in which he caused the casino to be at nearly a $2 million loss for the month. All that being said, over the course of about six months, this Pennsylvania man won just over $15 million.

He says that he has been banned by a couple of casinos in Nevada – Harrah’s and Caesars – as well as Atlantic City’s Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort and Resorts Casino Hotel. Some reports state that this CEO, who started betting on blackjack about 15 years ago at 25 bucks per hand, was making bets of up to $100,000 per blackjack hand.

Johnson denied being part of any MIT related team and would not talk about his blackjack strategy with the Press. “I’m not breaking any laws,” he said. “I’m beating them with my own skills.”

Can you teach me? Please?

This huge win pulled the Atlantic City Tropicana casino down as they were at an ultimate loss because of this huge win when the profits for the casinos in Atlantic City were laid on the table. The casino was at a loss of $1.8 million for the month of April at the blackjack tables.

Despite the fact that the casino reported the lowest profits of all casinos in Atlantic City, revenue was down about seven percent all around. This is the 32^nd month in a row that the casinos in this vicinity have seen gaming revenue declines. The last time the City saw any growth in terms of gambling revenue was back in August 2008.

Casinos in Atlantic City have been dwindling down for some time now. The Division of Gaming Entertainment in new Jersey says that the casinos have dropped from $311.5 million to $289.4 million from last year to this year.

Mark Giannantonio, the casino’s CEO, said, “We ran very unlucky.” The CEO is being replaced by Tony Rodio, a veteran gaming exec, but it has been said that there is no connection in his dismissal with the loss the casino took in April.

Depending on where you play, the rules will vary. For example, some casinos will require that dealers stand on a soft 17 while others will require that the dealer hit. The below multi-deck blackjack strategy is for when the dealer does stand on a soft 17 and surrender is permitted.

Dealer Stands on Soft 17 Strategy

Hit or Stand

Always hit on a hard 11 or lower.

Always hit on a soft 17 or lower.

Always stand on a soft 19 or higher.

Stand on a soft 18 unless your dealer has a 9, 10 or an Ace then you should hit.

Stand on a hard 12 if the daeler holds a 4, 5 or 6 – otherwise, hit.

Stand on a hard 13, 14, 15, and 16 if the dealer has between a 2 and a 6 – otherwise, hit.

Double

If the dealer shows 3-6, double your hard 9, soft 17 and soft 18.

Double your soft 15 or soft 16 if the dealer shows between 4 and 6.

Double your soft 13 or your soft 14 if the dealer shows a 5 or 6.

Double a hard 10 unless the dealer shows an Ace or 10.

Double a hard 11 unless the dealer has an Ace.

Split

Never split your 5′s or 10′s but always split your 8′s and Aces.

Split your 2′s and 3′s when up against a 4-7 from the dealer.

Split your 4′s if the dealer has a 5 or 6.

Split your 6′s if the dealer has a 3-6.

Split your 7′s if the dealer shows between 2 and 7.

Split your 9′s if the dealer has 2-6 or an 8 or 9.

Surrender

If you have a hard 16, assuming that it is not a pair of 8′s, then you want to surrender if the dealer has a 9, 10 or an Ace showing.

If you have a hard 15, surrender if the dealer shows a 10.

Dealer Hits on a Soft 17 Strategy

Double on a soft 18 if the dealer has a 2.

Double on a soft 19 if the dealer has a 6.

Double on 11 if the dealer has an Ace.

Surrender 15, 17 and a pair of 8′s if the dealer has an Ace.

A Few Other Tips

As with standard single-deck blackjack, insurance is also not recommended with multi-deck blackjack. If you count cards, then multi-deck blackjack isn’t for you. It can be very difficult to keep an accurate count and you are at significant risk of losing a load of cash.

This is very clever by the casinos you may say but the players have a counter strategy. Card counting is utilised by increasing the bets to large amounts when there are lots of high cards remaining in the shoe used by the dealer. The players keep a running count of how many low cards compared to high cards remaining in the deck and then when the count is in their favour they increase their bets. When done correctly, this puts the mathematical edge into the players favour. Casinos obviously hate this strategy because in the long term they are the losers.

In all blackjack games and indeed any casino games if you, the player, are deemed to be unprofitable for the casino (i.e. you win) you can be barred from the games. It is difficult to disguise the counting as it is obvious at what point your bet increases and a pit boss may be watching and keeping count also to spot any would be card counting players before they start to win. At any time you can be asked to leave or simply told you may no longer play blackjack. The casinos are under no obligation to allow you to continue playing; they are a business after all.

What is paradoxical about the casinos and their approach to card counting is that in America, and indeed some casinos in the UK, you can buy books teaching you how to card count from the casino merchandise shops. There was a high profile court case where a player was banned from playing at a casino and funds were seized because the casino said the card counting was cheating. The casino was forced to pay back the money taken from the player when it was discovered that he had bought the Blackjack strategy book from the casino shop!

There are instances when card counting helps the casinos win. In the short term, casinos can profit from a card counter because the actual edge for card counters is minimal, around 1%. Increasing the bets by a large amounts means real losses can be large if the dealer continues to hit nice cards. Any poker players reading this article knows that occasionally opponents hit the miracle one card to win. When the odds are only 1% in the players favour it is easy to see the casinos can still hurt you despite you playing a perfect Blackjack card counting strategy.

The casinos also profit from card counters making errors. Players must be able to play the standard optimal blackjack strategy, keep the count then utilise the right bets when conditions allow. They must maintain the count and be able to reduce their bets when conditions are no longer in their favour, when the count returns to normal levels. This requires discipline. If you add the emotional aspects of either winning or losing large amounts during this time card counting is not easy and not suited to everyone. This is why casinos watch a card counter and once it is decided that they are able to utilise the strategy correctly to win, only then do the casinos look to stop you playing.

If you do decide to count cards, follow the advice to the movie “21” and do plenty of practise sessions at home. Money can be made, but the casinos will probably ban you if you win too much.

By Malcolm Clarke

Professional Mickey Rosa (Kevin Spacey) is the leader of the team and uses his role as Professor of Mathematics to find students with the necessary skills to master and utilise his strategy. It turns out that Rosa is a former hustler of Blackjack, but we do not learn why he does not play until later in the movie. His excuse of “I used to play, now I’m retired” does not seem to ring true, and we learn why later.

The group are thwarted by Cole Williams (Laurence Fishburne) who is a tough old-school security man for the casinos that uses violence to dissuade card counters from plying their trade in his casinos. The casinos, however, are using new technology to catch card counters and he faces a struggle to survive, making him ever more desperate to prove his worth before time runs out.

As the group implodes thanks to the other big player Fisher becoming jealous of Campbell’s natural ability and skill, Ben takes a loss and the more ruthless side of Mickey Rosa comes out. Campbell, aware that casino securities are catching up on his strategies asks for one last trip, with Rosa as the other big player. But all is not what it seems, for everyone. The ending is satisfactory and the film ending suggests there will not be a sequel. It is not a biopic of the MIT blackjack team, more of a drama based loosely on the documented live events.

The movie was critically slammed for not providing a true image of gambling using card counting techniques. It made the edge look a lot larger with the count showing the team winning and winning easily. There was no mention of the card count and the true count and casinos actually welcomed the movie as it gave a distorted view of card counting. However, with a budget of $35 million the film grossed $157,000,000 making it an extremely successful movie at the box office. One criticism of the characters were they were too egotistical and real gamblers would not behave the way they do. However, the film does play on the exuberance of the young players involved getting carried away so their behaviour, in my opinion, is realistic when placed into the context of the film.

Jim Sturgess acts the role of the vulnerable and starry eyed Campbell extremely well. It is no surprise he has gone on to further acting success. Spacey is accomplished and ruthless as Professor Rosa. Kate Bosworth plays the experienced worldly wise character of Jill who loves the game well and the supporting cast are all able to play their slightly caricature-esque roles very well indeed. Laurence Fishburne, famous for his role as Morpheus in the Matrix Trilogy, is a convincing villain, but it is a testament to his acting ability we still empathise with his reasons for his violence. Although not a true depiction of gambling in Las Vegas, this movie is entertaining and full of good acting.

Anyone who is a fan of poker, Las Vegas, gambling or Blackjack and casino games will enjoy this movie. In fact, anyone who enjoys an engaging film with a good ending will find this movie satisfying. I would give this movie a five star rating, if we gave ratings.

By Malcolm Clarke

You heard the news back in February, right? The Nevada State Gaming board issued a warning about the iPhone card counting application and it was deemed illegal for use in that state. There are several devices available; however, they are not permissible for use in Gaming States. You can use your mind to count cards, you just can’t use any electric devices to count cards, and this includes any application you download to your mobile phone. Counting cards, keeping track of what cards have been played in the deck, is a way of increasing your odds of beating the house at blackjack.

Then there is what’s known as shuffle tracking, this is a method where a player tracks certain cards or a cycle of cards during a string of shuffles. This technique is used in conjunction with counting cards, again upping your odds of beating the house.  Bring out the ace, ace sequencing that is, and you’ve just upped your ante again. Ace sequencing is making the determination as to when an ace is going to be played; this is sister to shuffle tracking. When a player can determine that the first card obtained is an ace, strategically the advantage of having a strong hand is supported at 50.43%. Those are pretty good odds and the player can then raise the bet. Now let’s visit Card Steering, brother to shuffle tracking and ace sequencing, simply put card steering is a maneuver where the player knows where a specific card is located in the deck and uses this information to decide their next move; hitting or standing incorrectly or correctly.  It’s not such a simple game of mathematics anymore, is it?

Getting back to using your mind, but no other source to up your odds of winning blackjack, what about Blackjack psychology? This is very serious business, not to be taken lightly; it’s a well known science in blackjack’s world. Emotions, body language and facial expressions could reveal to other’s your lack of experience and knowledge about the game, thus, exposing your weakness. One must remain in control by training their mind to stay focused. Fear is another factor in the success or failure of blackjack, if you conjure negative thoughts of losing, or focus on the ‘what if’s', you could very well lose control and that could cost you. What about the arrogant or conceited blackjack player? Being in this state of mind could cloud your judgment. Enjoy blackjack in the current moment, real time, if you focus on that last hit that cost you, surly you’ll lose control.  Blackjack psychology might be intimidating, counting cards, tracking, sequencing and steering cards would seem daunting to most…..

This brings us back to technology on the blackjack market. Right now you can purchase several devices to assist you with blackjack, whether it’s a strategies calculator, a Avalinxs 21 PRO Blackjack application, Apple’s iBlackjack,  WebTopia’s card counter or even a visit to MIT’s Blackjack VT site, which will teach you the aforementioned mathematical and scientific techniques, it seems as if Blackjack’s time will eventually bring down the house. With all of this technology available and changes in current gaming laws, the question begs to be answered; are we in the final countdown to the end of blackjack?

It all started when an American Indian run casino in California informed a casino in Nevada regarding the illegal use of a card counting application available in iPhone. The application in iPhone known as HiLo, can work in the most unobvious ways. It can be executed very stealthily, without alerting anyone in its proximity. The screen is usually shut when the application is in use and the player is alerted by vibration of the cell phone.  The application runs in an off screen mode. The user should be well versed in using the keys, as with a gentle tap on the virtual buttons, the application begins its execution.

Casino owners now realize that it is not only the competition in their business which they have to manage, but also handle blackjack cheaters using technology to make high monetary bets. It is difficult for them to detect the usage of technology, sometimes due to the miniscule size of the device and sometimes because of the stealth mode of execution. They need to roll out policies to control the use of card counting technology which is difficult, since it works in an oblivious manner. It becomes essential for them to have a suspicious approach towards players who are frequently seen touching their apparel. Even though possession of cell phones is considered legal in casinos, there are policies governing their usage. Casino owners are wary of players who stick their hands in their pockets. Strict action is taken in Casinos when any is found guilty of using cell phones.

Counting of cards in a blackjack game is an arduous task amidst the countless distractions in a casino. However, one can try and keep the card count committed to memory, but the use of sophisticated gadgets is not allowed. This technology aided card counting method can convert an average player into a card shark. The worse aspect of this entire scenario is that it is difficult to detect which players are using devices, due to the sophisticated features offered by most of them.

Various counteractive measures have been taken by casino owners such as automatic shuffling of cards with the help of electronic machines. Under the Nevada law, using a device in a legalized gaming center is an offence punishable by court of law. Offenders can be imprisoned for a period between one year to six years. The other alternative is a fine of $10,000 for first time offenders.

Casinos like the idea of using a continuous shuffling machine for blackjack whereas the players dislike the practice.  Casinos make some good points for the continuous shufflers citing fewer instances of card counting, speeding up the game by decreasing shuffling time, and reducing costs by using fewer decks of cards in the shoe.  Just a quick side note – card counting is not illegal; it’s simply not well-received by casinos because it purportedly gives players an advantage.  While casinos like using the continuous shuffling machines, the dealers have expressed their dislike for the machines because shuffling was considered “down time” for dealers mentally and now they get fewer breaks during the game.

The blackjack continuous shuffler works by mixing cards just played/used back into the shuffler with other unused cards.  It sort of randomizes the cards up and down and you never know when a just-played card might pop up with new cards.

Blackjack players feel as though the continuous shuffling machines (CSMs) reduce their odds of winning in a couple of different ways.  First, the speed with which cards can be shuffled increases the speed of the game and gives players less time to strategically make their bets and plays.  Other concerns by players concern what they consider as casino fairness.  To those players, anything that changes the basic outcome of the game may represent an ethical change in the fairness of expected odds. But challengers of that concern point out that by introducing card shufflers, the cards that surfaced to be played during a round of blackjack actually were more random than those hand-shuffled.  They argue that the CSMs actually improved the game.  There is a school of thought that the introduction of continuous shuffling machines turned the game into one less of strategy and more of luck.

There are some rumors out there that some players have figured out a way to “cheat” the system of CSMs by regaining the ability to count cards using something called micro-counting, but there’s not enough of evidence out there at this point to prove or disprove their theory.

There are also books and newsletters out there researching whether or not the use of continuous shuffling machines give casinos an edge against the basic strategy player and studies have also been performed to respond to critics.  The studies’ results showed only a slight change in results in using CSMs vs. hand-shuffling.

Blackjack is about getting as close as possible to 21, right?  Not really.  The main purpose is for the player to simply beat the dealer’s hand.  Standing is advisable depending on your own hand and the dealer’s card that’s showing on the table.

Does the dealer impact whether you win or lose?  Are they good luck or bad luck?  No, it all has to do with the choices made by the player.  The dealer is just the one dealing the cards and following the rules of the house and has nothing to do with the choices of the individual players.  There’s no such thing as the cards in the deck or the dealer being in your favor or against you.

You shouldn’t play at a table with inexperienced players because their bad decisions impact your ability to win, isn’t that true?  Not necessarily.  It really doesn’t impact the game because it all depends upon the individual decisions of the individual players. Sometimes the table wins, sometimes the tables loses no matter whether the players are experienced or inexperienced.

Another myth is that you can offset your losses or win by taking the insurance.  It doesn’t work.  Taking insurance while having blackjack will cost you 13% profit earned in each blackjack you draw. To be at a break even point with insurance is only possible when you will guess the cards one out every three times.

Some folks follow the myth that by hitting their own hand, a player might win the game.  In reality, though, by not hitting your hand, you could also win.  Basically, you just need to follow the guides that casinos provide in terms of when to hit and when to stay depending on what number you’re standing at and what card the dealer is showing.

One of the most popular myths is that players should assume take the strategy of assuming the dealer’s hold card is a ten or face card.  The fact is that there may be four times as many tens in a blackjack deck as any other card but there are still over twice as many cards that aren’t worth ten. Statistically, there is a 70% chance that the dealer’s hold card is not a ten.

The last myth we’re going to explore is the one that you have to be good at math to be successful at blackjack.  All you really have to be able to do is keep track of high cards and low cards and perform basic addition.

There are many things that vary and change in every variation of the game.  It is of the up most importance to for the player to be on top of the rules.  This knowledge can result in being a successful player, or a loosing player.

So, with no farther delay, let’s turn you into an informed player.  Below, we are going to list the style of Blackjack.  We are not going to discuss all the rules of the games.  The whole purpose will be to touch on the different variations.  Having this knowledge increases your odds of winning.

•    Classic Blackjack

The origin of the game is in France.  The game originated around the 1700s.  The rules are: Single Deck, Ace and a ten value card amount to Blackjack paying 1.5 to 1,   Dealer must stand on soft 17, Insurance is half of players bet.  Here is the purest form of the game.  The rules are simple and not much to remember.  This style is probably your best bet to play.  The probabilities of odds being against the player go up with other variations.  If you want to make money this is the game to be in.  To qualify this statement I myself have seen fortunes come and go.  In the past, I was employed as a Blackjack Dealer.  This was my choice of play wager.

•    Multi Deck Shoe

The Game has all the classic rules.  Nothing much notable is worth commenting on concerning the rules of the game.  What is worth commenting on is that the game is a House game.  There are four decks in a shoe.  The game has many more combinations for the house to arrive at twenty one.  Your odds are impacted in a negative effect.  I have dealt the game to customers in Reno, Nevada.  Unless you’re a very lucky player.  I was taking your money for the house.  Beware of this style of Blackjack.

•    Casino House Variations

These are those variants that are imposed on the game of Blackjack, from the house.  The purpose is two fold.  The first purpose is to label the game as their (The Houses) game.  This gives them credibility with the uninformed. The second purpose is to separate you from your money.  I was a Blackjack Dealer for various Casinos’ in Reno, Nevada.  I can tell you I would attend gaming meeting with the casino I was employed by, to monitor and tactically figure out the best variants for House benefit.  Beware of these variants.  But if you just have to play the House game then know the rules well.  Study the game.

Well, as we come to the close of this article, I wish you good luck and fortune.  I hope that the information provided has been informative for you.  Make it your business to know the rules of any game you play.  Then, compute the odds of probability in your favor and wager accordingly.