Strategies for Casino Games.
POKER.
- Building and protecting a bankroll. Once you decide
to allot a certain (limited) sum of money to bankroll
your poker play, your goal is to to build it and protect
it so that you can continue playing. One strategy
is to start at small games and build up your winnings
enough for you to graduate to bigger ones, if you
wish. The bankroll is there to cover swings of fortune
so that you always have enough to play aggressively
when the situation so demands.
- A tight playing style.
- Fold on marginal hands.
- Bet aggressively on promising ones.
- Play with calculation.
- Do not allow your emotions to dictate your play.
- Knowing when to quit.
- Reading the opponents' styles(and minds).
- Keeping the opponents from reading your style(and
mind).
- A strategy for riding out the inevitable run of
poor luck that will appear from time to time before
good luck reappears.
On-line games have characteristics quite different from
live play. These are:
- You can quit while you are ahead whenever you want.
- You can't read your opponent by looking at his body
language.You read him by observing his bidding and
folding pattern.
- On-line games are much faster.
- You can use an odds calculator to help.
CRAPS.
A venerable dice game.You play against the house; luck
predominates in determining the outcome of your game.
A throw of two dice can yield a total of any number between
2 and 12- that is,elven possible outcomes. The mathematical
chances of each outcome is as follows:
- 2 or 12 1:36 each.
- 3 or 11 2:36 each.
- 4 or 10 3:36 each.
- 5 or 9 4:36 each.
- 6 or 8 5:36 each.
- 7 6:36.
Mathematically the House has the edge in the long term,
but who can predict luck? So scout around to see who offers
the best odds- and enjoy!!
BLACKJACK.
Because blackjack has an element of player choice, players
can reduce casino advantage to a small percentage by playing
basic strategy. This determines when to hit or to stand,
and also determines when to double down or split. Basic
strategy is based on the player's point total and the
dealer's visible card. There are slight variations depending
on the house rules and number of decks.
Dealer's face-up card
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 A
Player
(Total)
17-20 S S S S S S S S S S
16 S S S S S H H SU SU SU
15 S S S S S H H H SU H
13-14 S S S S S H H H H H
12 H H S S S H H H H H
11 Dh Dh Dh Dh Dh Dh Dh Dh DhH
10 Dh Dh Dh Dh Dh Dh Dh Dh H H
9 H Dh Dh Dh Dh H H H H H
5-8 H H H H H H H H H H
(Holding)
A+8/9 S S S S S S S S S S
A+7 S Ds Ds Ds Ds S S H H H
A+6 H Dh Dh Dh Dh H H H H H
A+4/5 H H Dh Dh Dh H H H H H
A+2/3 H H H Dh Dh H H H H H
A+A SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP
10+10 S S S S S S S S S S
9+9 SP SP SP SP SP S SP SP S S
8+8 SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP
7+7 SP SP SP SP SP SP H H H H
6+6 SP SP SP SP SP H H H H H
5+5 Dh Dh Dh Dh Dh Dh Dh Dh H H
4+4 H H H SP SP H H H H H
2+2,3+3 SP SP SP SP SP SP H H H H
The above is a basic strategy table for 3 or more decks,
dealer stands on soft 17, double on any 2 cards,
double after split allowed, dealer peeks for blackjack,
and blackjack pays 3:2.
Key:
S = Stand
H = Hit
Dh = Double (if not allowed then hit)
Ds = Double (if not allowed then stand)
SP = Split
SU = Surrender (if not allowed, then hit)
Casino and Dealer Advantage
in Blackjack
The house gets an advantage by the dealer being the last
player to act. All other players have already made their
decisions and could quite possibly bust before the dealer
has his turn.Also, the player has a bankroll far more
limited than the casino.
Probability of Busting on a Hit
The following odds chart shows the blackjack odds of busting
if you hit:
Hand Value % Bust If You Hit
21 100%
20 92%
19 85%
18 77%
17 69%
16 62%
15 58%
14 56%
13 39%
12 31%
11 or Less 0%
Player Advantage vs. Dealer Up Card
The second column in this odds chart shows the dealer's
chance of busting, depending on the up card that he is
showing. Note that the dealer has the highest chance of
busting when he is showing a 5. The third column in this
chart shows the player advantage of using basic strategy,
compared to each up card the dealer is showing. You can
see that the player has the highest advantage of 23.9%,
when the dealer is showing a 5. When the dealer is showing
any card that is 9 value or higher, the player is in the
negative advantage range.
Dealer Dealer Player
Up Card Bust % Advantage %
with Basic Strategy
2 35.30% 9.8%
3 37.56% 13.4%
4 40.28% 18.0%
5 42.89% 23.9%
6 42.08% 23.2%
7 25.99% 14.3%
8 23.86% 5.4%
9 23.34% -4.3%
J,Q,K 21.43% -16.9%
A 11.65% -16.0%
Refinements over Basic Strategy.
Calculations have been made on the effects of removing
cards from a deck
Card % favor
to player.
2 0.40%
3 0.43%
4 0.52%
5 0.67%
6 0.45%
7 0.30%
8 0.01%
9 -0.15%
10 -0.51%
A -0.59%
The table shown above leads to the immediate conclusion
that since the cards of all players are in sight it is
possible to infer which cards have been "removed" from
circulation.So if the rest of the deal is from cards richer
in 9 and above, there is a small edge to the players:
conversely, if the cards to be dealt are now richer in
the lower cards, the edge to the House increases.All that
is necessary is to count the cards,a practice disallowed
in all casinos.But if the counting can be done in one's
head, without attracting the attention of casino officials,
the odds can be tilted in the player's favor. The players
simply increase their bets when the odds improve.
Counting systems have been devised from the simplest to
quite complicated methods to better the odds in favor
of the player.The "Hi-Lo" system is one of the simpler
methods and is described below:
Hi-Lo System
The Hi-Lo system is one popular card counting systems
for blackjack. A point value of +1, 0, or -1 is assigned
to every card dealt to each player, and the dealer's up-card.
Aces and 10-point cards are assigned a value of -1. Cards
7, 8, 9 each count as 0. Cards 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 each
count as +1.
Card: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10-K A
Points: +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 0 0 0 -1 -1
If player 1 is dealt a 3 and 9 (+1, 0), player 2 has a
10 and a 5 (-1, +1), player 3 has a 7 and a 2 (0, +1),
and the dealer's upcard is an Ace (-1), the running count
in a single deck would be +1.
All a counter using the Hi-Lo System must do is add and
subtract by 1 and keep a true count of the deck.A positive
count is in the Player's favor. It is best to look at
two cards at once and figure out the combined count for
each hand.This is a very simple system but if you play
it right, you can get good results.
To become a proficient card counter in blackjack when
you are at the casino it is important to practice at home.
Try using the Card Counting Tutor on line to practice
in a realistic situation. Keep track of the running count
using the hi-lo system. When you finish the deck, the
count should be at 0. When you can get through the entire
deck in 30 seconds with no problems, you have become quite
proficient.
ROULETTE
This is a gane of pure chance.The House has a mathematical
advantage of 1/37 for single-zero tables and 2/38 for
double-zero ones.No method or system has been designed
to change the odds(other than the installation of a flawed
wheel).In elctronic games numbers are thrown up by a Random
Number Generator (one would need to investigate whether
the Generator was truly random)!!
Seriously, all you need to do is to trust Lady Luck and
have your fling. |
