Several weeks ago, I wrote an in email seeking answers for why I always seem
to lose at video blackjack despite the fact that the right game is
statistically just about even. I had several thoughtful answers and really
appreciated them.
After I thought this over, I realized that perhaps my betting scheme was
probably at least partially to blame. Sometime in the past, I got into the
habit of making larger bets when I was ahead and increased the size of the
bets as I got further ahead. Occasionally, this worked ok. Based on
reading and thinking about it, I realized that I was probably over-betting.
What I typically did with the larger bets was to quickly decrease my
winnings back to zero so that most of the time, I am really playing in a
losing situation. Sometimes, I would exacerbate the problem by making too
large of bets down to the point where I lost much or all of my stake. I
recently ordered some pricy programs from Casino Verite to run simulations
to see what my long term return should be with video blackjack. I should be
able to tinker with my play to maximize my return. I suspect that I am not
going to be able to change my return by more than say 0.1 %. My guess is
that the return will be between 99.6% and 99.8%
I recently visited my son and daughter-in-law in the San Francisco Bay area.
I, of course, drove instead of flying so that I could gamble a little both
ways as I live in Boise, Idaho. I came out ahead at video blackjack on the
way to Oakland and didnt do too badly on the way home. I decided to play a
little video poker instead of video blackjack after a day of gambling. I
was playing at a progressive full pay Jacks or better machine. The maximum
play was 20 nickels or $1. Nothing much was happening and I was deciding
what to do. Up popped three high diamonds toward a royal flush. The right
play with the cards I had was to keep the three cards towards a royal. I
drew and looked at the two new cards expecting them to be crap as usual.
Instead they looked to fill in my royal. I had to look at the pay table to
believe that I had really filled out a royal flush. The progressive was set
at $942 and I havent had a win of more than ¼ of that in the past. I am a
low rollers low roller. I went crazy and it was really exciting. I am
still showing my friends my royal which I took pictures of on my cell phone.
After the hand pay, I still had money on the machine-I didnt know the
payoff would happen like this. I decided to double my bets with video
blackjack and either get back to even or lose the current stake and quit.
Lucky fools, this time me, can sometimes win. I got on a winning streak and
within about ½ hour was even. I quit for the trip and walked away a winner
for both video blackjack and video JOB.
Thanks again for your help and support!
Rick
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