Games for Money

Ideally when you go into a casino you want 100% depth in the shoe.  Obviously that maximizes your advantage over the house when you count; this is especially true when you are using sidecounts.
But that’s not reality.  At best - at absolute best your depth will be 85% into the shoe.  Most likely you’ll end [...]

Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino
Address: 4150 North State Road 7
Hollywood, Florida 33024
Phone: 866-2-Casino
Directions: Take I-95 to Stirling Road. Go West to State Road 7 (441). On the South West Corner of the intersection.
http://www.seminoletribe.com/enterprises/hollywood/casino.shtml
The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino is run by the Seminole Tribe of Florida with the famous “Hard Rock Cafe” blended [...]

The Red Seven count is probably the easiest counting system and the most efficient of the low-level counting systems. It works simply:
Ace and 10 are valued at -1
2, 3, 4, 5, 6 are valued at +1
the red 7s are valued at +1
This counting method results in what’s called an unbalanced count - in [...]

Some time ago I posted a small chart outlining the odds of a dealer making certain hands in a single-deck game.
But it’s for a single-deck game. Where I usually play, most games are either 6 or 8 decks, so I should post the odds for those games:
For the 6 deck game:

Final:17
18
19
20
21
“Natural”Blackjack
Bust

Up card:2
14.0%
13.4%
13.0%
12.4%
11.8%
n/a
35.4%

3
13.4%
13.1%
12.5%
12.1%
11.5%
n/a
37.4%

4
13.1%
12.4%
12.1%
11.6%
11.2%
n/a
39.6%

5
12.2%
12.2%
11.8%
11.2%
10.8%
n/a
41.8%

6
16.6%
10.6%
10.6%
10.2%
9.7%
n/a
42.3%

7
36.9%
13.8%
7.8%
7.9%
7.4%
n/a
26.2%

8
12.9%
36.0%
12.9%
6.9%
7.0%
n/a
24.4%

9
12.0%
11.7%
35.2%
12.0%
6.1%
n/a
22.9%

10
12.1%
12.1%
12.1%
36.8%
3.8%
7.7%
23.0%

Ace
18.8%
18.9%
18.9%
18.9%
7.7%
30.9%
16.7%

And for [...]

There’s been a lot of talk recently since the Mohegan Sun has decided to start using the new blackjack tables from a company called MindPlay in Bellevue, WA, just outside Seattle. MindPlay has been purchased by Bally’s, so you know where they stand.
The tables from MindPlay/Bally’s track everything. EVERYTHING. ALL cards played, [...]

I could give a primer on counting cards, or even simple, basic strategy. But I think the best place to start with a look into blackjack is to look at what traps to avoid:

Not splitting 88 vs. 10. Two hands starting with 8 is substantially better than facing off against the dealer’s 10 [...]

The single-deck blackjack game is practically extinct. You may find a few games here and there, with lousy tacked-on rules to draw in people. Maybe the casino will re-shuffle at 1/3 depth, or maybe even re-shuffle after each hand(!). In any case, it’s still possibly an available game, and the basis of [...]

A lot of counters think the continuous shuffling machines are the bane of life’s existence. To hear some tell it they’re worse than pit bosses.
But a smart counter would investigate the math of the machines before they make a decision. And oddly enough, the reason you don’t want to play at a [...]

I recently wrote that card counters can be barred from playing in Vegas. Anywhere in Nevada, actually. And if you don’t move you’ll be arrested for trespassing.
Ken Uston was involved in a court case with an Atlantic City casino that required New Jersey not bar anyone for their skill. (In Nevada, you [...]

I was poking around some sites and I was practicing a little card counting (always work on those card counting skills!!!!!!!!) and I came across the blurb about how Nevada casinos can toss anyone for any reason, blah blah blah.
But then it hit me. That’s a state law. I’m not in Nevada. [...]