| As he confidently strolls into the crowded casino, he eyes an empty seat and quickly sits down. He pulls out a couple hundred bucks, places it on the layout, and asks the dealer for chips. The dealer smiles as she pushes the stack of red and green chips toward Joe. He places one red chip in the betting area and anxiously awaits the cards to be dealt by the dealer. "Sir, this is a $10 minimum bet table," says the dealer to Joe. Embarrassed, Joe looks around at the other blackjack tables but doesn't see any empty seats. He hadn't plan on betting at the $10 level, but what the hell, he came to play so he adds another red chip to his original bet and he's in the game. Joe knows a little playing strategy but he generally plays based on the flow of the cards and intuition. And on this trip he can do no wrong. Every time he doubles down, he gets a picture card. Every time he takes insurance the dealer has a blackjack. And every time the dealer has a 16 and draws, she busts. Yes, this is going to be a very good weekend. But unexpectedly he begins to lose. On one memorable hand he watched in disbelief as the dealer drew a 5-card 21 to beat his 20. On another, he losses because of a "bonehead" play made by the third base player. On still another he watched in disbelief when the dealer gave him an ace on his 11 double down hand. And he thought for sure he was going to win a hand that he split and then doubled down on both splits with the dealer showing a 6 upcard. Joe made good on his double downs on both hands and sat with a 19 and 20. The dealer showed a 6 and flipped over a 10 for a 16. Joe couldn't remember the last time the dealer broke, so she was long overdue. His heart sank as she turned over a 5 for a 21. His first $200 bankroll is history, so Joe pulls out a couple more hundred-dollar bills and throws them on the layout. There is no way this dealer can keep getting cards like that. Instead of betting $10 a hand, he now ups his betting level to $25 a hand. "After all," he thinks, "I'm due to start winning." Where it took Joe maybe an hour or so to lose the first $200, it only takes him 30 minutes to lose the second $200. That's all the cash he allocated for gambling for the weekend, but he wasn't about to walk away a $400 loser. So he tells the dealer to hold his seat while he heads over to an ATM machine. Within seconds he has more cash. "This," he says, "will get him back even." You probably know the ending to this horror story. By the time Joe drags his tired body away from the blackjack tables, he's lost big time. What's worse is that he blames his losses on bad luck, the stupid play of other players, and the unbelievable luck of the dealer. He can't wait for his next trip so he can get even. There are plenty of Joes out there playing blackjack with virtually no chance of winning. Of course, once in a while they will get lucky and make a big score, but over time they will lose that plus a lot more. What's sad is that it doesn't have to be like this at all. Blackjack is the one casino game where skilled players can cut the casino's advantage to zero or even swing the odds in their favor. At the minimum with just a little effort, you can cut the casino's edge to less than 1%. To accomplish this you need a Game Plan that includes a strategy of where to play, how to play, how much to bet, and, most importantly, when to increase your bets. |
Tiger 1 home gamble1 gamble2 gamble3 gamble4 gamble5 gamble6 gamble7 Casino and other Advertisers |
||