22-05-2021

Beat The Dealer Blackjack Strategy

MISTAKE 2: NOT USING BASIC STRATEGY. Playing blackjack is not a guessing game, where sometimes you hit your 16 against a dealer’s 10 upcard, and for whatever reason, other times you stand. The mathematically correct way to play every hand has been determined by brilliant mathematicians and this strategy is known as the basic playing strategy.

  • Using the blackjack basic strategy card to win We’ve said this before and we’re going to repeat it like a broken record: master the basic strategy first. The basic strategy provides a mathematical set of moves that will put your hands in an optimal standing against a dealer card.
  • Thorp is the author of Beat the Dealer, which mathematically proved that the house advantage in blackjack could be overcome by card counting. He also developed and applied effective hedge fund techniques in the financial markets, and collaborated with Claude Shannon in creating the first wearable computer.

Blackjack Strategy

When playing any type of game, you are definitely ‘on it to win it’. This is true as well when it comes to playing the game of blackjack. Before attempting to sit on the table or open the game client, you should have that mindset and commitment to win and beat the house edge. But how do you win in the game that requires a bit of skill and an element of chance? How do you lower the house edge to your advantage?

To make it happen, it’s best that you are aware of the basic blackjack strategies and learn how to use a strategy at the right moment, in appropriate situations. Listed below are some of the popular blackjack strategies played by most enthusiasts, and sample situations where you can pull it off.

Surrender Strategy

There are some moves or strategies that are used in the game of blackjack, but there’s one that gets the most divided talks- surrender. Well, it’s understandable why many players are critical about this strategy. For a start, the name of the strategy is questionable and negative. Imagine, you are asked to surrender your hand.

For many blackjack players, this move is unthinkable because the main object when participating in a game is to win and beat the house. This option (or strategy) may have some negative connotation but keep in mind that it actually makes sense in special situations and if played right. So how does the surrender option in blackjack works? Here’s a sample situation that describes a surrender:

After considering the value of the hand and the up-card of the casino dealer, you realized that you have a small chance of winning. The brightest option is to forfeit the hand which requires the surrender of half the wager made. There are two ways on how you will communicate your decision:

  • In traditional brick-and-mortar casinos, you may need to verbally announce to the casino dealer that you want to take advantage of this offer
  • In other casinos, the use of hand signals may be required to show intent to use the surrender feature

Whatever option is selected by the player, it’s the job of the dealer to remove half of the wager and remove the two cards on the table and place these placed in the discard tray. In short, when you take advantage of the surrender option, you give up the right to play the hand, and you automatically lose half your wager.

Now, there are two ways on how you can play your surrender in the game of blackjack- you can opt for the early surrender and the late surrender.

How to play the early surrender in blackjack

This is a popular offer in many casinos operating in Asia and Europe. As the name suggests, this option is enjoyed much earlier even before the dealer has checked his hand for a possible blackjack. Given a chance, players should consider the early surrender as this is more favourable and gives players a better chance of winning.

If you choose an early surrender against an Ace, your chance increase by 0.39 per cent, and surrender against a 10, it’s 0.24 per cent, boosting it to 0.63 per cent when playing with a six-deck s17 blackjack game.

In case an early surrender is offered in the table, the following hands should be surrendered:

  • If it’s against an Ace, surrender hard 5 to 7 plus 3s, and 12 to 17, including 6s to 8s
  • Against the dealer’s 9, surrender hard 10 to 6, but skip 8s
  • Against the dealer’s 10, surrender hard 14 to 16, include 7s and 8s

How to play late surrender in blackjack

In the late surrender, you will be able to enjoy this option if the dealer has already checked his card for blackjack. If the dealer’s hand is already a blackjack, then this option is no longer made available, and the player will lose the bet unless it’s a blackjack as well. If you decide to use this option, the house edge is reduced by 0.07 per cent when playing multi-deck games.

What a surrender means in the game

Taking the surrender option has a lot of benefits on top of the reduction of the house edge. If you take advantage of this offer, you get a chance to stabilize your bankroll, and you may limit your losses on the table.

Some will say that surrender is a fool’s move when it comes to playing in the blackjack table. These are baseless notions; if you think that it’s the right move to play, then choose a surrender to protect your bankroll.

Pair Splitting Strategy in Blackjack

This is one strategy that is not properly understood and analyzed by many players. Some players do not take advantage of this offer, and for others, they split their hands with no reason or benefit for it. This should not be the case because the strategy of splitting is designed for players who also want to reduce the house edge.

What are the casino rules for splitting a pair?

The rules for splitting are easy to understand. If you are given two cards of the same value, you have the option to separate these into two hands. For example, if you bet $6 and you get a pair of 3s, then your single hand has a total of 6. Under the casino rules, you can play the hand as 6 and get extra cards, or you can split the 3s into two hands.

If you want to activate this option, you simply put another equal bet next to the original bet in the layout. This means that you need to place another $6 beside the original wager, and not on top of it. This serves as a signal for the dealer that you want to split the 3s, and you want to play 2 hands. In basic blackjack rules, you will need to play first the hand to your right.

How to play pair splitting

Before you take advantage of pair splitting, you should know first the number of cards used and the existing game rules. After getting all these details, then you can consider the following suggestions before attempting to split:

  • When playing in a single-deck with NDAS, you have 3-3, and the dealer’s up-card is 7.
  • When playing in a double-deck game with DAS, you have 4-4, and the dealer’s up-card is 5.
  • When playing in a six-deck with DAS, you have a9-9, and the dealer’s up-card is 5.
  • Do not split if playing with a double-deck game with NDAS holding 4-4 and the up-card is 5.

Why does splitting work for many players?

There are some reasons why splitting can work for you:

  • With splitting, you can win more on average using a bold strategy, or
  • Lose less money on average using the defensive strategy, or
  • You can easily turn a losing hand into a winning one using an offensive strategy

Below are a brief description and differences between the bold, offensive and defensive blackjack strategies.

Bold Blackjack Strategy

In this strategy, you are already in the position to win, and when you decide to split, you will win more money.

Defensive Blackjack Strategy

This requires betting more on the table to cut losses. This may seem like a complex approach to splitting, but it makes sense in the long run. The rationale behind this move is that even though you will lose money over a long time when you split defensively, you will lose more if you don’t split.

Offensive Blackjack Splitting Strategy

This is the most recommended strategy when it comes to splitting since you have a chance to turn a losing hand into a winning position.

As a general rule, splitting in the game of blackjack is one form of strategy that can allow you to turn a losing position into a winning one. Keep in mind that in splitting, you can earn more money in most splits, but may end up with less on other splitting decisions. This is a critical strategy that every player should be aware of before they attempt to play for real money, or before they play against experienced players.

Doubling Down in Blackjack

Did you know that when playing blackjack, you can only stand to win roughly 47 per cent (not including the ties) of all the hands given to you? Now, if you do the math, it only means that in the long haul, you are at the losing end of the game. But there’s a way out of this predicament, and that’s through the use of a doubling down strategy in blackjack.

How the double down strategy works

In the double down strategy, the player is given a chance to double the bet in exchange for a stand after getting one more card. The extra bet is placed in the box next to the original bet. When playing in brick and mortar casinos, you may need to put the extra chips beside the original bet just outside the betting box, and pointing to it with one finger.

What are the rules of the casino when completing a double down

When the casino dealer allows you to double down, it only means that you can double the bet in exchange for another card. In most casinos, the dealer will allow players to double down on any two-card combination, but some casinos may restrict this option to specific hands. You can get the best deals if you can play in a casino that allows you to double down on any pairs.

Wherever you play, you need to remember that there are two variables that should be in play when considering this strategy. First, you need to consider the total value of your hand and the dealer’s up-card. Whenever possible, you need to double down if you are holding a hard 8, 9, 10, or 11, or you own a soft 13 (A-2) through 18 (A-7).

You need to consider a defensive approach when playing blackjack because you need to assume that the dealer’s hand will consistently beat your hands. The idea behind doubling down is to adopt an offensive strategy at the right time when the casino dealer has a big chance of busting or you have an edge over the dealer’s hand.

Doubling on soft hands has its benefits, but many players often do not understand these. When doubling down on soft hands, the intent is not to outdraw the casino dealer, but to earn money.

Double down on at least 3 cards

There are some casinos that allow players to double down three or more cards. For example, you have a 5-3 and get a 3 for a value of 11; you can still double down after drawing the third card. If this is made available to you at the table, you can gain 0.2 per cent.

Double down for less

The main idea with double down is that you double the initial wager made. But there are some casinos that allow you to double down at a lesser amount. This means that if your original bet is $20, you can double down with less than this amount. While this is allowed, keep in mind that experienced players do not recommend this step. The problem with doubling down for less is that it will not allow you to maximize your gains.

If you are serious about blackjack, then it’s important that you understand the concept of doubling down. If used the right way, a doubling down strategy can help you reduce the casino edge and win more money.

Pros and cons of doubling down

The double down strategy allows you to place an extra wager if your hands have a good chance of winning. To pull off this kind of strategy, you need to double your bet, which means that you will risk more given the information in front of you. There’s also a chance to double down on a split pair, provided that the casino allows it.

For example, if you have a 10-10 and the dealer shows 3,4,5 or 6, then you can split the 10s, double down on both hands and hope that you will get a 21 on both.

The problem with doubling down is that you will face some risks. Keep in mind that the dealer still has the edge and it has more information about the hand. This is the reason why the casino always maintains that edge over players. And if the hands are tied, the player can only count on a return of the stake.

Hit and Stand Strategy When Playing Blackjack

When playing blackjack, the last decision that you will ultimately consider is whether you should hit or stand. This is that part of the game that challenges many players and often leads to losses when executed the wrong way.

If you are new to this card game, then it’s important that you know the basic casino rules when it comes to hitting and standing. Here are some of the rules related to hitting and standing to keep in mind:

  • When you decide to hit, it means you will draw another card
  • If you stand, it means that you are satisfied with the value of the hand
  • You are allowed to stand or hit on any card with a value of 21 or less
  • It is your job to signal to the dealer if you want to hit or draw using signals agreed by the body
  • There are appropriate signals to use when are the cards are dealt face up or face down
  • If you decide to take a hit and the value of the hand exceeds 21, your hand is busted, and you lose your bet
  • The moment you order a stand, it will complete your hand for that round

What should you know about hard hands?

When playing blackjack, the worst hand values that you can form are the hard 12 through 17. This is because you will lose more hands than win in the long haul. The only exception is when playing in an S17 game with at least two decks when a 17 against a 6 is a winner. In short, all these hand values are expected to lose. To put it in perspective, it’s expected that you will lose 4 hands in every 10 hands.

With this obstacle in mind, how does a blackjack player win and become confident when playing the game? Since there is no way that you can change the cards, what you can do instead is to follow the basic strategies when it comes to hard and soft hands.

Insurance and Even Money Strategy for Blackjack

As a player, you should also need to learn more about the insurance or even money strategy. These side bets introduced in the game to protect players against the dealer’s blackjack. The decision to bet on the insurance or even money should be made before you will act to surrender, split, hit or stand.

What are the basic rules when playing insurance?

As soon as the dealer announces an Ace up card, he will ask the players if they want to make an insurance bet. This is optional and is separate bet in which you will bet that the hole card of the casino dealer is a 10 or picture card.

As part of practice, the amount of bet that you can make on the insurance is half of the original bet placed. If after the insurance bet it was found out that the dealer has a 10 or picture card, it means that:

  • Your insurance bet will earn 2 to 1 odds, or you win the amount equal to the original bet made

But if the dealer announces that it’s not a 10 or picture card, then:

  • You lose your insurance bet, and play resumes.

What are the basic rules when playing for even money?

Even money comes into place if the dealer shows an Ace for an up-card and the player has a blackjack. If this is the case, the casino dealer will then ask if you will take an ‘even money’.

If you agree, the dealer will pay even money on the wager made, and the cards will be removed from play. This means that the dealer will pay you first even before he will take a peek at the cards. In short, the even-money arrangement is similar to making an insurance bet if you have a blackjack.

  • Although blackjack is widely popular, many players and enthusiasts are known to misplay the hands
  • To ensure that players will have a better chance of reducing the house edge and winning, it’s important they should have a strategy in mind
  • If players want to reduce the casino edge to less than 1 per cent, then it’s important that they learn a few strategies related to surrender, doubling down, splitting, and standing and hitting
  • There are two kinds of surrender that can be used in blackjack- the early and late surrender
  • You are allowed to split the hand if you receive identical values, say two 4s or two 5s
  • In doubling down, players are given a chance to double their wager
  • An insurance bet can be made if the dealer shows an Ace, and the amount of wager is half of the original wager

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Card counting is one of the most famous advantage-play methods in gambling. In fact, a number of Hollywood movies include card counting scenes or are based entirely on this technique.

Skilled counters can gain anywhere from a 0.5% to 1.5% edge over the house, which leads to good profits over time.

Given card counting’s fame, the mainstream population and even many blackjack players themselves think that this is the only way to gain an edge.

But the truth is that you don’t have to count cards to beat blackjack. Instead, you can use one of several other advantage-play techniques to win.

I’m going to discuss how hole carding, shuffle tracking, ace sequencing, and edge sorting can help you beat the game. I’ll also discuss if any of these advantage-play methods are better than card counting.

Hole Carding

Blackjack dealers at North American casinos deal themselves one face-up and one face-down card. The face-down card is referred to as the hole card because it’s not visible to players.

The dealer is the only person at the table who sees the hole card, because they check for a natural blackjack before players act.

Beat The Dealer Blackjack Strategy

Given that you don’t see the hole card, you’re basing blackjack decisions on incomplete information.

Basic strategy helps you narrow the gap between the house and yourself. But you’re still at a slight disadvantage when using perfect basic strategy.

Enter hole carding: an advantage-play technique that involves spotting the dealer’s hole card. If you see their hole card, you can gain up to a 13% advantage.

Any dealer who consistently offers players a chance to see this is called a “flasher.” These dealers, through one mistake or another, allow players to gain a big advantage by flashing their hole card.

The best way to spot these dealer flaws is by sitting in the right seat and paying close attention to every hand.

Most players don’t pay attention to when the dealer peeks for blackjack or deals themselves the hole card. But by doing so, this gives you a tremendous advantage at a flasher’s table.

Spotting the dealer’s face-down card when they peek for a blackjack is called “first-basing” or “third-basing.” Spotting the hole card when it’s slid under the up-card is called “front loading.”

Many hole-carders sit at first base, which is the first seat to the dealer’s left. This gives you the best chance at seeing a right-handed dealer’s hole card.

The other popular hole-carding seat is third base, which is to the dealer’s immediate right. This is the best spot to see a left-handed dealer’s face-down card.

It also helps if you can gain a vantage point closer to the table felt. The more level your eyes are with the table, the better chance you have of seeing the hole card.

Shorter players have an advantage in this regard because they’re naturally closer to the table felt. Taller players often lean back to improve their vantage point.

Of course, the key is to do so in a subtle manner. Being obvious about leaning back or slouching draws attention to your hole-carding efforts.

Another thing that you need to be careful of is over-using your advantage. Sometimes you should ignore the info you gain when using basic strategy because some plays look too suspicious.

Here’s an example.

  • Your first two cards total a hard 8
  • The dealer’s up-card is a 10
  • You see that the dealer’s hole card is 2
  • The optimal play is to double down against the dealer’s 12
  • But no regular player is going to make this decision because they’re not supposed to have this info

The last thing that you want to do is continue taking advantage of plays like this, especially when your dealer is a consistent flasher.

If the casino finds out that a dealer is consistently flashing cards and helping a player(s) win, one of two things will happen.

  • 1. The dealer will receive better training
  • 2. The dealer will be fired if flashing becomes a consistent problem

In either case, the work you put into finding a flasher goes out the window. And this is hardly worth taking advantage of a few suspicious plays that you should let go.

Players need to think long term and realize what kind of profits they can make by continuing to play at the dealer’s table. Avoid decisions that are too far outside the bounds of regular strategy.

It’s hard to find a consistent flasher. Casinos train dealers on how to deal without giving players a chance to see their hole card.

Nevertheless, some dealers either don’t pick up enough skills in training or become lackadaisical over time.

The best place to start when looking for flashers is casino-heavy cities like Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and Reno. This enables you to bounce from casino to casino within a single shift.

Odds are that you’re not going to find a flasher within your first few hunts. But once you do find one, note what shift they work and make it a priority to play at their table.

Shuffle Tracking

In the 1960s and ‘70s, Las Vegas casinos began implementing shoe games. The idea was to hinder card counters by forcing them to count through multiple decks in each shoe.

Casinos thought that they solved their card counting problem with shoe blackjack tables. But card counters merely adjusted their strategy, and other techniques such as shuffle tracking were born as well.

Shuffle tracking refers to tracking specific cards, or a sequence of cards, through multiple shuffles. Shuffle trackers monitor where 10s and face cards (a.k.a. high cards) are throughout the coming rounds.

Much like card counting, the goal is to bet more when the shoe is abundant in high cards. When used properly, shuffle tracking is much more effective than counting.

But this technique is also very difficult to use, because you must know an advanced strategy on top of card counting.

The basic idea behind shuffle tracking is that shuffles aren’t random, and you can track certain cards after a shuffle.

You might think, “Can’t dealers just shuffle more to make decks more random and stop shuffle trackers?” But many casinos don’t like their dealers wasting too much time with shuffles, because this slows the game and lowers profits.

Blackjack dealers commonly use a “zero shuffle,” where cards are separated into piles, with the shuffling only being done between the piles (i.e., the dealer grabs two piles and riffles them). This means that the ace of hearts, for example, would have a high chance of only being in one or two sections of the shuffled shoe.

Card counting comes in because you want keep track of the count in different discard sections. I’ll start this explanation by looking at the point values assigned in the Hi-Lo counting method.

  • 2 through 6 = +1
  • 7 through 9 = 0
  • 10 through ace = -1

You can use other card counting systems with shuffle tracking. But the Hi-Lo is a popular counting strategy that’s easy to use.

As you may know, high cards favor the player by improving their chances of getting a natural blackjack payout. This advantage comes from the fact that players get either a 3:2 or 6:5 bonus with a natural.

Meanwhile, low cards reduce the dealer’s chance of busting out while they try to reach a hard 17. Anything that increases the dealer’s odds of winning is bad for players.

The premise is to make higher bets when the shoe is rich in aces and 10-value cards (i.e., positive count) and bet the table minimum when the shoe contains more low cards (i.e., negative count).

The overall positive or negative count is referred to as a “running count.” But Hi-Lo system users convert this into a “true count,” which accounts for the number of unplayed decks in the shoe.

Here’s an example:

  • Your running count is +8
  • There are 4 decks remaining
  • 8/4 = +2 true count

Card counting and shuffle tracking come together when players have a good idea of what card values are left in the shoe based on their count. If they can take this a step further by visually tracking high cards and finding them bunched together, they gain an even greater advantage.

One big benefit of shuffle tracking is that it’s harder to spot than card counting.

Sure, you’re still increasing bets during favorable situations. But your increased bets come in a shorter span once 10-value cards and aces emerge in clumps.

Another advantage is that you can gain up to a 50% advantage with perfect shuffle tracking.

No player will have this edge all of the time. But an expert shuffle tracker may gain between a 10% and 30% long-term edge, depending upon the dealer and shuffling style they’re using.

The downside is that shuffle tracking is extremely difficult to pull off. You not only need to keep a good count, but also follow the deck with your eyes and understand how high cards will disperse after shuffles.

Be prepared to practice for quite some time in order to become an expert shuffle tracker. Even then, you need to be good enough to pull this off with a high degree of certainty.

In other words, some players fool themselves into thinking that they’re gaining an edge, when they’re really not doing anything special.

Another drawback is that not every casino trains their blackjack dealers in a shuffle that can be exploited. Some casinos use a 2-pass shuffle, where they go through two rounds of riffling and restacking.

2-pass shuffles make it harder to track cards during a shuffle. Ideally, you want a one-pass shuffle to cut down on the randomness of the shoe.

One more point worth making is that you can’t shuffle track with a continuous shuffling machine (CSM). That said, look for hand-shuffled shoes with one-pass shuffles.

Ace Sequencing

Ace sequencing is a different type of card tracking, where you try to remember what cards are on top of the ace in the discard pile. You then make larger bets when you see these cards come out in hopes of being dealt an ace.

Like shuffle tracking, ace sequencing is a difficult pursuit. The best ace trackers can remember up to a dozen card sequences in each shoe, thus greatly improving their chances of catching aces.

If you know that you’re likely to be dealt an ace, you can gain up to a 50% advantage on the house. When you’re dealt an ace, you have a 31% chance of getting a 10-value card and completing a natural blackjack.

But becoming a great ace tracker is hard because there’s not many materials on the matter – unlike with card counting. Additionally, it takes a while to learn how to properly execute this concept.

Ace sequencing begins with watching discard segments so that you can guess what clumps might appear intact after a shuffle. You also want to watch where aces go into the discard tray, so that you have a good idea on when an ace will be dealt in a segment.

Finally, you want to remember 2-3 cards that are placed on top of the ace in the discard try. Dubbed “key cards,” these are what you watch for after the deck is shuffled.

You then increase your bet when you see the key cards and can anticipate an ace being dealt.

But keep in mind that ace sequencing is just like shuffle-tracking in that it doesn’t work when your table has a CSM.

Edge Sorting

Edge sorting is an advantage-play technique that was popularized by poker pro Phil Ivey. Along with his partner Cheung Yin Sun, Ivey won over $20 million collectively from Crockfords and the Borgata.

Lawsuits ensued, and the court sided with both casinos on the matter. But this was only after Ivey’s case was heavily scrutinized by casino security.

That said, it’s theoretically possible for blackjack and other card players to win money with edge sorting.
This technique involves spotting flaws on card backs and using this information to predict card values before they’re revealed.

But you can’t just walk into the casino and expect to find a flawed deck to take advantage of. Instead, you need to know about design flaws in specific manufactured decks and determine where these decks are used.

This is how Cheung was able to help Ivey win millions of dollars. She analyzed a purple Gemaco deck for hours and became good at spotting the design flaws.

These flaws often come in the following form.

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  • One side of certain card backs will feature half-diamonds on the edge
  • Other cards may have full diamonds on the edges
  • These flaws are easiest to spot when the flawed side is rotated towards you
  • The goal is to figure out which values have an irregular diamond pattern on the back

Edge sorting works best when cards are rotated 180 degrees because this makes it easier to see the diamond patterns. This is why Ivey specifically requested that cards be rotated 180 degrees under the guise of superstition.

But Ivey is a high-stakes gambler who can make these kinds of requests. The average player doesn’t have this sway and won’t have a chance with edge sorting.

Unless you’re a high-stakes blackjack player, then you can’t gain an advantage through this technique through special requests. Even when you can make these requests, casinos will be on guard due to the fame associated with Ivey’s case.

Do Any of These Advantage-Play Methods Beat Blackjack?

Blackjack Beat The Dealer

All of the blackjack advantage-play techniques covered above can give you a greater edge than card counting.

You can gain up to a 50% advantage in the case of both shuffle tracking and ace sequencing. Hole carding can also give you a nice edge worth up to 13%.

I can’t find exact figures on what advantage a player can gain with edge sorting. But based on how well Ivey did, I’m assuming that you can earn over a 20% advantage with it.

Compared to all of these techniques, card counting is a much tougher grind. The average skilled card counter only gains a 1% advantage.

This means that you’ll experience almost as many losing sessions as you do winning ones. Because of this, card counters need large bankrolls worth $30,000 or more to survive variance with any degree of certainty.

But the good thing about counting is that it’s easier to pull off than any of the methods I covered above. Furthermore, you can find more blackjack games that are susceptible to card counting.

Contrast this to hole carding, shuffle tracking, ace sequencing, and edge sorting, where you need much more specific conditions to win.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t try these advanced strategies. This is especially the case with hole carding, shuffle tracking, and ace sequencing, which work with great success in the right games.

But be aware that you’ll need to put in more work with these techniques to properly use them.

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Conclusion

You’ve likely heard stories of card counters getting kicked out of casinos. In fact, the movie 21 dedicates multiple scenes to the casinos’ pursuit of the MIT Blackjack Team.

Blackjack Strategy Sheet

The same holds true of any other blackjack advantage-play method you use, whether it be hole carding, shuffle tracking, or edge sorting.

Casinos are private establishments that can refuse service to blackjack players. And if they determine that you’ve gained an advantage in any form, they’ll ask you to leave.

This makes it important to blend in and act like a normal player if you do gain an advantage. If your edge is large enough, you might even consider messing up a few plays just to look like an average recreational player.

Above all, make sure that you have an advantage first. Then you can concentrate on a persona to use to avoid casino detection.

But before you embark on a quest to become a pro, I recommend playing some low-stakes blackjack while you figure the game out.

You can use basic strategy while keeping an eye on the dealer’s hole card, flawed decks, or shuffle-tracking opportunities. This is a nice way to transition from being a regular player to getting an edge on casinos.

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