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Casinos have never claimed to run an honest game. It's common knowledge that the odds are always in favor of the house with the exception of maybe blackjack whe

Casinos have never claimed to run an honest game. It's common knowledge that the odds are always in favor of the house with the exception of maybe blackjack where the odds can theoretically be equal. I played roulette for hours at the Venetian with family a few weeks ago and we basically walked away with a ton of money, we got lucky, but they didn't say a word to us, in fact they were friendly to us and took care of us the entire time. Maybe play at a better Casino?

reducesuffering 4y ago
> exception of maybe blackjack where the odds can theoretically be equal Better than equal. Most Blackjack is -0.6% EV playing basic strategy, but with counting, each true count is an extra ~0.5% of EV, leading to big betting on high count hands with EV of 1-3%. Of course, that's why casinos kick out counters. They're literally "too good" at the game, and they don't want that.
- joshyeetbox 4y ago
  I thought casinsos started using multiple decks (like 6) and auto shuffled between games now so that counting was pretty much impossible?
  - reducesuffering 4y ago
    Multiple decks, like 6, is what I mean by "most blackjack." Yes, the 6-deck shoe is shuffled after about 75% of those decks are played. There are certain casinos that have "continuous shuffling machines" that shuffle every hand. Those are impossible to count, but rare. 6 decks, as opposed to 1 or 2, does make counting less accurate. But ultimately everything I said previously applies. Those stats are based on the current common game of 3-2 Blackjack, H17, 6-deck shoe, no continuous shuffle, and double after split.
  - vikingerik 4y ago
    Counting works fine with 6 decks. And they don't shuffle after each hand - that would slow down the game so that not as many hands will get played. Counting works but the way to profit from it is easily detected. You have to bet big when the count is favorable, and a casino will see that and stop you. The MIT Blackjack Team beat this, with the strategy to have one player at the table who would bet small while counting cards, incurring the expected slight losses to the house edge, and signal a teammate to jump in and bet big (like $5k per hand) when the count was favorable. Casinos now know to stop this - if you walk up to a table and want to bet big, they will require you to wait for the next reshuffle (or just reshuffle immediately.)

reducesuffering 4y ago

> exception of maybe blackjack where the odds can theoretically be equal Better than equal. Most Blackjack is -0.6% EV playing basic strategy, but with counting, each true count is an extra ~0.5% of EV, leading to big betting on high count hands with EV of 1-3%. Of course, that's why casinos kick out counters. They're literally "too good" at the game, and they don't want that.

joshyeetbox 4y ago
I thought casinsos started using multiple decks (like 6) and auto shuffled between games now so that counting was pretty much impossible?
- reducesuffering 4y ago
  Multiple decks, like 6, is what I mean by "most blackjack." Yes, the 6-deck shoe is shuffled after about 75% of those decks are played. There are certain casinos that have "continuous shuffling machines" that shuffle every hand. Those are impossible to count, but rare. 6 decks, as opposed to 1 or 2, does make counting less accurate. But ultimately everything I said previously applies. Those stats are based on the current common game of 3-2 Blackjack, H17, 6-deck shoe, no continuous shuffle, and double after split.
- vikingerik 4y ago
  Counting works fine with 6 decks. And they don't shuffle after each hand - that would slow down the game so that not as many hands will get played. Counting works but the way to profit from it is easily detected. You have to bet big when the count is favorable, and a casino will see that and stop you. The MIT Blackjack Team beat this, with the strategy to have one player at the table who would bet small while counting cards, incurring the expected slight losses to the house edge, and signal a teammate to jump in and bet big (like $5k per hand) when the count was favorable. Casinos now know to stop this - if you walk up to a table and want to bet big, they will require you to wait for the next reshuffle (or just reshuffle immediately.)