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Blackjack Insider Newsletter, April 2005, #63
A WORD FROM HENRY
We've got an exclusive interview with Kevin Blackwood, author of the book Play Blackjack Like The Pro's. Kevin has won one million dollars playing professionally over the past 20 years and he shares his secrets for success. You'll also enjoy reading Eliot Jacobson's article on the hurdles to become a winning blackjack player. Be sure to grade yourself on his "ten obstacles" quiz. Our insider The Suit, describes what steps the floor takes to determine if you are an Advantage Player. Dan Pronovost continues his series on advantage play craps with a tool that you can use to prove whether or not you can get the edge at craps. Scott Michael's visited the casinos in St. Louis and reports on the blackjack (and video poker) playing conditions there. . Likewise, Alene Paone and Frank Scoblete provide an update on blackjack playing conditions in Atlantic City and feedback from one of their AC correspondents. Oh, oh, Barfarkel (a.k.a. LV Pro) is at it again! We've got his latest trip report to Sin City containing his adventures on (and off) the tables. If you play poker you need to learn how to "read the board." Check out Bill Burton's All About Poker column on this. Kenneth Smith takes a break from his usual tournament strategy articles and instead shares his experience chasing a profitable promotion at a table game called Mississippi Hold'Em (you are going to enjoy reading this story). And believe it or not LVBear offers a praise (rather than his usual rants), this time for the new management at Binion's. I've summarized the status of the World Series of Blackjack and Kenneth Smith has a summary of the upcoming blackjack tournaments.
Three quick reminders. The weekend of April 16 and 17 I'll be teaching the Golden Touch Blackjack course featuring Speed Count in Las Vegas. There are just a few openings left so if you are interested in attending call 1-866-946-2421 or register online at www.goldentouchblackjack.com. In May I will be giving a seminar on advantage blackjack, and Dan Pronovost on advantage craps, at the Gambler's Jamboree at Casino Windsor in Ontario. Go to www.gamblersjamboree.com for the complete schedule of seminars (over 40 of them) and to register (BJI subscribers get 10% using the above link). And finally, you don't want to miss watching the exciting conclusion of the World of Series of Blackjack that will air on GSN on Friday evening April 22 and repeated on April 23, 24 & 26. One player wins a quarter million dollars on the turn of one card!
If you come across an unfamiliar blackjack term in one of our articles or reports, see our Blackjack Glossary: www.bjinsider.com/questions_glossary.shtml
E-mail subscribers can also read each month's issue online at our web site: BJI Issue #63, April 2005.
Henry Tamburin
Editor
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River Belle Online Casino
I've reviewed the playing rules for three of their American-style blackjack games offered by River Belle and asked Dan Pronovost to compute the house edge using his Blackjack Audit software program. Here's the low down. Their Vegas Downtown game uses two decks with H17, DAS, pair splitting up to 4 hands, aces can be split once and one card to each split ace. The house edge using the basic playing strategy calculates to 0.4256%. Their Vegas Strip game uses 4 decks of cards with s17, DAS, plus the same rules as above for pair splitting. House edge in this game for the basic strategy player is only 0.4053%. Finally their Atlantic City game uses 8 decks with the same rules as their Las Vegas Strip game except they allow late surrender. House edge is 0.4783%. So, all the good blackjack games at River Belle give the house less than a 0.5% edge.
| Game | Rules | Casino house edge over player |
| Atlantic City | DAS, S17, DblAny, late surrender, 8 decks | 0.4783% |
| Vegas Downtown | DAS, H17, DblAny, 2 decks | 0.4256% |
| Vegas Strip | DAS, S17, DblAny, 4 decks | 0.4053% |
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INTERVIEW WITH KEVIN BLACKWOOD by Henry Tamburin
"Get the inside scoop on how Kevin Blackwood became one of the most successful high stakes blackjack player in our time and learn about his recent experience in the World Series of Blackjack..."
Read the complete interview.
"Why do intelligent and thoughtful people lose at blackjack? Somewhere along the learning process they do not achieve at the "A" level and decide their ability is good enough. Whether they lack decent books, decent teachers, opportunity, cash, or talent, they have come up on the short end of excellence. They head to the casinos with "a little learning" and that is most certainly a dangerous thing..."
Read Jacobson's complete article.
"Yes, I know card counting and other advantage plays are not illegal. Yes, you are smarter than the average bear! Yes, you are only using your brain to get the advantage. But casinos in many gaming jurisdictions can still ask you to stop playing and leave for no reason..."
Read The Suit's complete article.
"Can anyone honestly get an edge over the casino playing craps?" Before I answer this question, let me start by saying that this is a very controversial subject, and will raise the shackles of many 'experts' (maybe even you, fine reader!). But before you judge too quickly, please be fair, and read the analysis presented here..."
Read Pronovost's complete article.
"So once more my car cruised through the desert night toward Sin City for a week-long card counting vacation. I had revenge on my mind. My last trip in December 2004 had resulted in a loss of $2,400 - fully twenty percent of my long hard-won bankroll. I had started with $12k, and had spread from $10 to a high of $150 at red tables and 1-6 in quarters at green tables. Despite having only $9,600 left for this trip, I chose to keep the same spread, unit size and max bet, and to not reduce my stakes. I had a hunger to win my money back and this seemed like the quickest and most efficient way to accomplish it..."
Read Barfarkel's complete article.
"Around town, the blackjack games are unplayable upon first glance and the video poker offerings are generally substandard. But if the advantage player looks closely enough, opportunities can be located and profits can be made..."
Read Michael's complete article.
"Last month Frank related his horrible experience with horrible fluctuations at blackjack. This month, we have some really nice news. As many of you know, we rely on our Atlantic City correspondents to keep us filled in about many of the events and games in AC all month long so that our reports are as accurate as we can make them. Here's one we received from one of our correspondents..."
Read Scoblete's and Paone's complete article.
"When I was in school there was a sign hanging on the classroom wall that read "Reading is Fundamental." It was good advice for the classroom and its excellent advice in the cardroom as well..."
Read Burton's complete article.
"You never know when or where opportunity may arise in the casino. It's always a good idea to keep an open mind about where an advantage can be found and this month's article illustrates just that. Read on to see what kind of recent promotion had me pulling an all-nighter at the tables..."
Read Smith's complete article.
"The management contract with Harrah's has expired, and owner MTR Gaming is now managing Binion's in Las Vegas (formerly known at the Horseshoe). My observations there have been a pleasant surprise..."
Read The Bear's complete article.
"I've summarized the status of the World Series of Blackjack 2005 through seven rounds and the schedule of the remaining shows including the semi-final and final championship round where one player will win a cool quarter million dollars..."
Read Tamburin's complete article.
Check out the schedule of blackjack tournaments by region in our Blackjack Tournament Report.
A DANGEROUS THING by Eliot Jacobson
ANATOMY OF A BACK OFF by The Suit
CRAPS FOR PROFIT: THE MATH OF DICE CONTROL by Dan Pronovost
LAS VEGAS TRIP REPORT- FEB. 2005 by Barfarkel (a.k.a. LV Pro)
ST. LOUIS BLACKJACK REPORT by Scott Michaels
ATLANTIC CITY BLACKJACK REPORT by Alene Paone and Frank Scoblete
ALL ABOUT POKER- READING THE BOARD by Bill Burton
WHEN A BAD BEAT IS A GOOD THING by Kenneth Smith
THE BEAR GROWLS by LVBear
WORLD SERIES OF BLACKJACK 2005 -STATUS by Henry Tamburin
BLACKJACK TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
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