Readers Q&A #39

Dear BJInsider.com Expert Guide,

The following question was asked by

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Would you even split 8,8 vs 10,A with following rules
1) No hole European Rule - 6 Decks - DAS
2) Late Surrender
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Best regards,
The "Ask the Pro" Staff

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Dear Greg,

Because of the no-hole European rule, your best play is to surrender the 8’s against the dealer’s 10 or ace. I doubled checked this point with our math wiz Michael Schackelford and he agrees. Regards,

Henry Tamburin

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Dear BJInsider.com Expert Guide,

The following question was asked by

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can you give me the odds or the house advantage in multiple action blackjack.
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Best regards,
The "Ask the Pro" Staff

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Dear Marion,

The house advantage in Multiple Action Blackjack over the basic strategy player is the same as it would be in traditional blackjack (ie. there is no difference). Normally the house advantage depends on the playing rules. For a 6 deck game you can figure the house edge to be 0.3-0.5%.

Regards,

Henry Tamburin
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Dear BJInsider.com Expert Guide,

The following question was asked by

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Henry, I enjoy reading your columns on a regular basis. I was scanning the message boards on BJ21.com today and I ran across a man by the name of Walter Thomason. He advocates a positive progression technique that he says has worked very well for him. In one of his posts he claims some well noted blackjack players/authors have witnessed his play among the names listed was your name. Do you know of this man, or is he a fraud ? If you do know of him what do you think of his play. I've run some limited 'sims' on his progression technique and I see no positive results from it yet he says it works in the casinos. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Jayel
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Best regards,
The "Ask the Pro" Staff
Dera Jayel,

Yes I know Walter, yes I’ve watched him use his positive betting progression in play, and no he isn’t a fraud. On the two occasions that I watched him play (high limit blackjack game in a strip casino) he won a considerable amount of money using his betting system. I can’t argue with short term success but I’m a mathematician by background and I am not convinced that his betting system can change the player’s expectation in the long run.

Regards,

Henry Tamburin

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Dear BJInsider.com Expert Guide,

The following question was asked by

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Hello Henry,

My colleagues and I play a friendly weekly blackjack game with a rotating dealer. We know the game enough to enjoy it but get bogged down on some dealer rules regarding soft hands. Can you explain multi-ace soft hand dealer rules? That is, if a dealer has A, A, 10, we presume the dealer has a 12. When the dealer has A, A, 9, we presume the dealer has 21. Is the following rule correct: "On any dealer soft hand under 17, the next card does not bust the dealer." That is: A, 5, 7 is a 13. A, 4, A is a soft 16. Is this correct?

Thanks,

- Juan
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Juan,

Hopefully, this will help. Always count the ace as 11 in your hand unless by drawing the hand goes over 21. Then count your ace as 1. As long as your hand has one ace counted as 11, the hand is soft. If it contains an ace counted as 1 (or no aces) the hand is hard. For example A,A is soft 12. Draw a 10 and it is a hard 12. With A, A, 9 the dealer has a soft 21. In all casinos dealers must hit with soft 16 or less and stand on soft 18 –21. With soft 17, some casinos require the dealer to stand and others to hit (it’s to the player’s advantage if the dealer must stand on soft 17). Taking your examples, if the dealer has A, 5 it’s a soft 16 and he must draw. By drawing a 7, the hand is converted to a hard 13 and the dealer must draw again. If the dealer has an A, 4 , he has soft 15 and must hit. If he draws another ace he still has a soft hand but it’s soft 16 and he must draw again.

Regards,

Henry

Dear BJInsider.com Expert Guide,

The following question was asked by

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What are the odds of
a dealers getting blackjack in a 4 deck CSM ??
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Best regards,
The "Ask the Pro" Staff

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Dear Josie,

Roughly, you’ll get a blackjack about once in every 21 hands (4.76%). Don Catlin, a blackjack theoretician reported in the Summer 2001 issue of Chance & Circumstance that the probability of getting a blackjack in a 4-deck CSM game is 4.7566% (by calculation) and after a 100,000,000 hand simulation obtained 4,758,284 blackjacks or a BJ probabililty of 4.7583%.

Regards,

Henry Tamburin

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Dear Jim,

Regards,

Henry Tamburin

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Dear Michael,

Regards,

Henry Tamburin

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Dear BJInsider.com Expert Guide,

The following question was asked by

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are there any california indian casinos which offer a good single deck blackjack game?
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Best regards,
The "Ask the Pro" Staff

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Dear Gfiscus,

Barona Casino in Lakeside (San Diego) offers a good single deck game where the dealer hits on soft 17 (h17), double after pair splitting (das) is allowed as well as late surrender ($25 minimum). The Golden Acorn casino (east of San Diego) also has a decent single game (s17 and das) (minimum is $10). A third fairly good single deck game is offered at San Manuel Casino (San Bernardino) with s17 but players can only double on two card 10 or more.

Regards,

Henry Tamburin