Is the Art of Blackjack Lost? | Las Vegas Advisor

More and more when I play blackjack I see players hit 13 when the dealer’s card is a 6 or hit soft 18. What’s your take on the consistent poor play? Has the art of playing blackjack been lost?

[Editor's Note: As we like to do with blackjack answers, this one is supplied by Arnold Snyder. Most of you should be familiar with him by now; if you're not, look him up! He's famous.]

Much of the art of playing blackjack has been lost and this is due to the casinos having changed the game so much that most of the potential profitability from card counting has been squashed. Blackjack’s heyday was in the 1980s and 1990s. So many blackjack teams had become so successful by then that they became the subjects of mainstream newspaper and magazine articles, TV shows, and even Hollywood movies.

The general public learned to play basic strategy at a pretty decent level back when everyone was trying to learn to count cards and this really hurt the casinos. Card counters as a group had very little effect on the casinos’ blackjack profits, because there were so few proficient counters. But the basic strategy players really cut into their profits.

By the time the movie 21 came out (2008), based on Ben Mezrich’s Bringing Down the House (2002), many of the teams had been disbanded and those that remained were no longer using traditional card-counting approaches. It didn’t take the public long to discover that the casino countermeasures had made the game all but unbeatable with counting strategies.

Most pro players today, if they still play blackjack, are not using count strategies. Hole-card play is the most common approach these days to beating the game, but this isn't a strategy that college kids can practice in their dorm rooms. There are no best-selling books on how to play hole cards at blackjack, due to the immense amount of time that must be spent in casinos scouting games (and just learning to scout games) for readable dealers.

Just about anyone of average intelligence can learn to count cards proficiently, though getting away with it in the casinos takes a separate skill set. But very few people can learn to play hole cards proficiently. Most just don't have the eyes for it.

So, to the casinos’ delight, the general public has returned to playing their hunches. Just keep in mind that the poor play of others will not hurt your own win rate in the long run.

Also, although most of what appears to be poor play at blackjack is due to ignorance, some of what appears to be poor play may be due to pros employing advanced techniques. Traditional card counters would rarely hit 13 vs 6, but a hole card player (or a player using a different lesser-known technique) might be correct in making this play. So, just play your own hands correctly and don’t worry about other players’ mistakes.

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Comments

rgerman Dec-07-2017

What?

In an article complaining about players who use their gut, this is used:

"idiots play INCONSISTENTLY, as their gut plays seem to sink the whole table quicker for some odd reason."

What? Gut plays "seem" to sink the whole table quicker? That's as ridiculous as using your gut to hit soft 18.

Debra Grimes Dec-07-2017

Blackjack knowledge

Idiots and numb nuts?  Why the name calling? You're better than that, LVA.   In reality, you are surrounded by many people who are there just to have a little fun, and want to do more than sit in front of a slot machine. Before I ever sat down at a blackjack table, I read several books and memorized the basic strategy.  Believe it or not, "Gambling for Dummies" laid out the strategy the best for me to understand. Then I practiced repeatedly, to be sure I would not be shamed by other players when I actually played. It's aggravating when someone at the table doesn't know there's a strategy to playing blackjack, and therefore plays haphazardly, but it will hardly ruin my day.

O2bnVegas Dec-07-2017

Idiot play?

I stick to a basic strategy card for 4-6 Decks and Dealer hits on soft 17 (can't afford high stakes).  I suppose high stakes players avoid those conditions.  Anyway, there are circumstances where hitting soft 18 IS the play, and sometimes doubling on S18 is right.  Hitting 13 (unless A2) against dealer 6 is not basic strategy.  Some players hit anything to a dealer 6, like some keep hitting to try to make their hand add up to 21.  

Next time you see somebody hit on soft 18, ask them to explain it to you, because it may be the right play.

JimBeam Dec-07-2017

Basic Strategy Play

Keep in mind that the cards with basic strategy play give you the action with the *highest* probability but that doesn't always make it a *high* probability; a nuanced but critical difference. In other words, some of the options are really not that far from each other when you look at hitting vs. standing. I agree that hitting 13 v 6 is a losing move, you should stand. But the value of hitting may not be as far off as some people would make it to be.

Gary Thompson Dec-07-2017

Low Stakes BJ

Low stakes BJ is where the fun is happening in Vegas and not where only "Perfect Playing Basic Strategy and Card Counters" play BJ.  I am not sure where I read it, but in a six or eight deck BJ another persons play has minimal impact on your odds of winning.  I make it a point when at the low stakes BJ table to inform people that grumble when another player took the bust card, a few hands later when they get a double hand or BJ that they wouldn't have gotten that if the person did not take the bust card two hands ago.  Some times I will also ask the person berating the other player are you counting cards?  When they say no, I will say that I think the person they are berating is and that it may have been the correct play based on the card counting method they use.   People who are learning to play the game don't need other players to yell at them for not playing that "all knowing players" way.

michaest Dec-07-2017

Re-write

Well this answer is a much more informative and productive answer than the one from this morning. Thanks for the re-write LVA.

jay Dec-07-2017

No Hole

In Canada the casinos don't have a hole card. The dealer doesn't deal himself a second card until the players have completed their play.

That Don Guy Dec-07-2017

Er, you're supposed to hit soft 18...

If the dealer's up card is 9, 10, or Ace, you hit Soft 18, regardless of the size of the deck or whether or not the dealer hits a soft 17.  As a matter of fact, if the dealer shows 3-6 (or 2, if dealer has to hit soft 17) and you're allowed to do it, you double a Soft 18 - and, if the dealer shows a 6, a soft 19 as well.  Note that if you can't double on those numbers, then standing is the better play.

Annie Dec-08-2017

Good Grief, not again

I didn't see the first answer that two commenters have referred to. Apparently, Arnold Snyder's answer was so thugish that the QoD editor rewrote it and removed the objectionable  content. 

I remember some months ago an answer about gambling, probably BJ, by an expert that was so rude and brutish that I complained about it in the comments. Unfortunately,  I don't remember who the expert was. My guess is that it was also Mr. Snyder. The probability that there are two such creeps contributing to LVA is low, imo. If it was Mr. Snyder in both cases, it seems to me that as a second offense it is about time, expert or not, that Mr. Snyder not be consulted again.

Question of the Day - 07 December 2017

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