I had a trip to take not related to gambling. There was a casino nearby. I knew that if I gave them some action, I could get a comped room and possibly a meal or two. I figured if they had at least 8/5 Bonus (99.166%), I was money ahead by staying at the casino. […]
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Safety Precautions
I usually play by myself and sometimes will eat a meal at the casino. When I do, I always bring along a book to read while dining. Sometimes the book is a novel. Sometimes it is non-fiction – perhaps a book by a future guest on the podcast. But eating by myself without a book […]
A Look at the Blackjack Apprenticeship Boot Cam...
Colin Jones is a former leader of the “Holy Rollers” blackjack team and has founded blackjackapprenticeship.com as a way of helping players learn to play. He’s been a guest on GWAE a number of times. Several times a year, Blackjack Apprenticeship runs a two-day “boot camp” in Las Vegas. This is a $3,000 intensive training […]
It’s All About the Quads
In February, I was playing 25¢ Five Play Multi-Strike 9/6 Jacks or Better at the South Point. This is a 99.79% game, played for 100 coins ($25) at a time. With the normal 0.30% slot club, the knowledgeable player has a small advantage all of the time. In February, however, there were always two casino-wide […]
An “Advantage Play” I Detest
What is an advantage play? While I have never heard a precise definition, generally it is when you use your intelligence, knowledge, or guile to gain an advantage over some other person or group. The term is most often used in discussions about beating a casino. Counting cards at blackjack is a common advantage play. […]
Two Cards or Four? When Does It Matter?
Consider the following two hands in games where you get your money back for a pair of jacks or better: A♠ K♠ Q♥ T♦ 5♣ and A♠ K♠ Q♥ T♦ 5♠. There are games where the correct play in both hands is AK; games where the correct play is always AKQT; and games where in […]
Ed Thorp’s Wife
Ed Thorp is one of the fathers of blackjack card counting. Recently he made a nice donation to the Blackjack Ball, which ensures the continuance of the ball even after it’s founder, Max Rubin, passes away. As a partial thank you, Max told Thorp that he could invite his entire family to this year’s Blackjack […]
The Twenty-Third Annual Blackjack Ball
The Blackjack Ball is an annual institution where about 100 of the world’s best gamblers meet up, socialize, drink too much, and compete against each other. The 2019 version occurred a few weeks ago. The first order of business after two hours of drinking and socializing was to vote for the newest member of the […]
A Question from a Reader
Many of you know that, in addition to being posted on bobdancer.com, my columns are published on the gamblingwithanedge.com website. This site allows for readers to post comments. One recent comment by someone who used the name “Jerry,” read as follows: This is off-topic but I wanted to get your opinion on VP for […]
So What?
The Las Vegas Advisor publishes a “Question of the Day” every day. People send in questions and the LVA gets someone knowledgeable to answer each question. Often video poker questions are shuttled my way. In a recent QOD, someone noted that they were quarter NSU Deuces players at Green Valley Ranch Casino, which is run […]
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