I’ll be your tour guide as we take in the sights and sounds of a modern-day casino at ground level and I’ll tell you about blackjack rules. As we walk, I’ll try to add as much commentary as possible on how what we see relates positively or negatively to the advantage player interface.
Imagine it’s a warm, balmy night in late August. Seagulls are flying high in the air above - white dots against the dark backdrop of a clear sky interrupted only by a large superstructure rising up out of the marshland before us. A slight breeze blows in off the ocean. Did I say “ocean”? Where else can we be but in Atlantic City, New Jersey, right?
As we walk through the doors of AC’s newest casino, the first thing that captures our attention is the decor. Indirect lighting, columns, and a spacious landscape combine to offer a cuttingedge, post-modern blanket of visual stimuli.
Then we see them - rigid shapes aligned in rows, military style. Solid forms with blinking lights and colored glass. Steadfast soldiers in waiting, with anxious people standing before them. The mechanical sound of moving levers gives way to a whimsical melody as reels with bars and fruit and various logos spin and then stop in programmed succession. We can play blackjack there.
Archive for February, 2008
The guy in seat number four slams the table with his fist. We move on there. Nobody likes being watched while getting massacred.
The lesson here is that emotions run high at the blackjack odds table . So to best blend in you must smile and “celebrate” a decent win, and likewise show obvious disappointment upon losing. As ridiculous as this might sound, when I first started playing in casinos for blackjack, I didn’t get “mad enough” at times, probably because I knew that in the end I’d end up a winner. That’s a common mistake made by rookie card counters. Get mad when you lose and smile when you win. Look around for examples of how to act - good ones are everywhere. Of course, don’t overreact. Nothing bombs more than someone pretending to be either elated or disappointed.
Actually there is one thing more detrimental than a phony act. And that’s hanging around for longer than you should, otherwise known as “wearing out your welcome.” Had we actually been playing all this while, it might have been time to move on - for any number of reasons ranging from how many units we were up or down to the sudden interest of our friendly pit boss in the way our bets seem to rise and fall. Nothing is better than preserving your longevity. And that’s exactly what we decide to do when time start playing blackjack.
The amount of your bankroll should be determined by the kind of machines you intend to play. If you want to play $5 reel slots, then your bankroll should reflect that. If you want to play higher limits than that, then your bankroll should be proportionally higher. If you plan to play $1 reel slots, or the video slots games which may be nickels but require you to play $2.25 per spin (45 coins) or more, then your bankroll should adjust to that. In addition, whatever your intended action, your bankroll should be adequate to withstand fluctuations, not only in your fortunes as you play, but also in your decisions concerning the kinds of games you will play. For example, you may have decided to play $1 reel slots on this trip and allocated your bankroll for that action. But when offering a Progressive Jackpot you get to the casino, you discover that the kinds of machines you wanted to play are occupied, unavailable, or no longer there. Now what? Your bankroll should have a “slush” factor, allowing it to withstand the necessity for such on-the-spot decisions. What if you saw another kind of machine and decided to play that instead? Your bankroll should be adaptable to such deviations from your initial starting strategy.
So how do you arrive at the bankroll figure? Hard to say. It’s different for each player Special blackjack. You know yourself and your circumstances. I don’t know you or your circumstances. Therefore, all I can do is offer you guidelines, with the hope that you will have learned enough in this book so that you can intelligently adapt this guideline to your specific situation.
