Getting in bed with someone you don't know

[kachatz1]

Got the urge to play BJ last night...

Went to Red Rock casino here in Vegas and found a double deck game with only one other player..and he was sitting at third base

So I sit down at first base, and first thing he says to me is :

- " I don't like to bust, so I never hit 16 or higher...I hope you don't mind if I play that way..."

I told him :

-"I don't like to bust either, so tonight I'll stand on anything 15 or higher"

Must have been in the cards, because we "collectively" forced lots of high cards on the dealer, and I benefitted handsomely at first base as I got a LOT of first card tens...kind of reminded me of Ellis' " TEAM PLAY" blackjack

Seemed like the dealer was busting so much, I decided to play 2 hands, and things just kept on rolling...and 3rd base With the Texas Longhorns sweatshirt and hat was just as surprised at how well he was doing...

SO, MY QUESTION IS THIS:

We're we playing " smart" , or did we just get lucky for an hour?

[brad01]

Hi kachatz, what $$ table was it and was it machine or hand shuffle?

Just interested to know how you managed to do so well as in Australia they are all CSM (one2six) and all blackjack plus rules (more odds in their favour)

Also its hard to find empty tables - they are usually all nearly full. I have stood and watched a few games and you would never be able to do that well with how they've got it set up.

[kachatz1]

Brad-

Was a $25 table, and machine shuffled, followed by a quick hand shuffle by the dealer

Monday night and all, could have just been EZ to find empty tables since after a long holiday weekend...

As for winning , I really think at least partially due to " forcing" lots of high cards on the dealer, as well as setting up first base for lots of first card being ten-cards

Never played in Australia, but it's on my bucket list to get " DownUnder".

[Guest]

Got the urge to play BJ last night...

Went to Red Rock casino here in Vegas and found a double deck game with only one other player..and he was sitting at third base

So I sit down at first base, and first thing he says to me is :

- " I don't like to bust, so I never hit 16 or higher...I hope you don't mind if I play that way..."

I told him :

-"I don't like to bust either, so tonight I'll stand on anything 15 or higher"

Must have been in the cards, because we "collectively" forced lots of high cards on the dealer, and I benefitted handsomely at first base as I got a LOT of first card tens...kind of reminded me of Ellis' " TEAM PLAY" blackjack

Seemed like the dealer was busting so much, I decided to play 2 hands, and things just kept on rolling...and 3rd base With the Texas Longhorns sweatshirt and hat was just as surprised at how well he was doing...

SO, MY QUESTION IS THIS:

We're we playing " smart" , or did we just get lucky for an hour?

Well, there was more to it than luck.

First you were playing on Monday night - a good time to play BJ.

Weekends are close to impossible because the cards get so much play. Cards generally generally don't get enough play on Monday to get overly clumped.

Plus two guys can't clump the cards. In fact they will cause the cards to get more random as the game wears on, increasing the Basic Strategy hit rate.

But the big thing was you were in a dealer breaking game - the dealer was breaking more often than one hand in 4.

This is caused by a condition we call super random. And with only 2 or 3 hands being played, the cards will stay that way.

The way to play a dealer breaking table is simply - don't take a hit that could break you. The last thing you want to do at such a table is break ahead of the dealer.

Remember, "Perfect Basic Strategy loses perfectly."

So at such a table you throw BS out the window and play "safe strategy".

Now all you have to do is keep others from getting in the game which would spoil it for sure.

But that's not hard to do on Monday night.

I've seen such games last for hours on end.