Non-Gambler wanting to give it a try

[lharry]

All I've ever played was a little Roulette. I think I want to try Blackjack. I'm going to practice online before going. Is it correct that the dealer has to hit on 17 or less?

 

Are there any other EASY table games you would recommend?

 

I'm probably only going to set aside a couple hundred to gamble away, so you can tell I'm not a "real" gambler. Just wanting a little entertainment that will hopefully last me for a few hours over the course of our cruise.

 

Thanks!

[barbatkins]

All I've ever played was a little Roulette. I think I want to try Blackjack. I'm going to practice online before going. Is it correct that the dealer has to hit on 17 or less?

 

Are there any other EASY table games you would recommend?

 

I'm probably only going to set aside a couple hundred to gamble away, so you can tell I'm not a "real" gambler. Just wanting a little entertainment that will hopefully last me for a few hours over the course of our cruise.

 

Thanks!

 

Dealer hits a soft 17 but stands on a hard 17

[innkeeper17]

All I've ever played was a little Roulette. I think I want to try Blackjack. I'm going to practice online before going. Is it correct that the dealer has to hit on 17 or less?

 

Are there any other EASY table games you would recommend?

 

I'm probably only going to set aside a couple hundred to gamble away, so you can tell I'm not a "real" gambler. Just wanting a little entertainment that will hopefully last me for a few hours over the course of our cruise.

 

Thanks!

 

Try going to

 

Wizard of Odds

 

Great website about casino play. He teaches about playing all games of chance and is well known for his advice and strategies. Its free and has practice games.

 

Good luck

[lharry]

Try going to

 

Wizard of Odds

 

Great website about casino play. He teaches about playing all games of chance and is well known for his advice and strategies. Its free and has practice games.

 

Good luck

 

GREAT! Thanks. I'll try it!

[Tutontow]

I highly recommend the wizard of odds. Make sure you print his strategy cards. As an FYI

 

Carnival uses continuous shufflers. For non counters this actually has a slight advantage for the players over a shoe game.

 

Carnival uses six decks

 

They allow double after split also known as DAS

 

They allow splitting aces but you can only take one card on aces

 

They do not offer surrender

 

Dealer must hit soft 17 also known as H17

 

Player can double on hard and soft hands

 

Dealer peeks at hold card for blackjack

 

If this doesn't makes sense it will once you go to the wizard of odds website

[DaveRRT]

if you like to interact and have fun go to the craps table. Most say its hard but its not if you keep it simple. place a passline bet and odds after the point and have fun. Also you get to throw the dice and iv had some great times with first time players.

[rics321]

All I've ever played was a little Roulette. I think I want to try Blackjack. I'm going to practice online before going. Is it correct that the dealer has to hit on 17 or less?

 

Are there any other EASY table games you would recommend?

 

I'm probably only going to set aside a couple hundred to gamble away, so you can tell I'm not a "real" gambler. Just wanting a little entertainment that will hopefully last me for a few hours over the course of our cruise.

 

Thanks!

 

Don't play blackjack unless you master the basic strategy ... You are much better off on the roulette or slots.

[Grandpaul]

if you like to interact and have fun go to the craps table. Most say its hard but its not if you keep it simple. place a passline bet and odds after the point and have fun. Also you get to throw the dice and iv had some great times with first time players.

 

I enjoy the game of craps the most too. Played right it is a good bet for the player.

[jazzlover04]

Don't play blackjack unless you master the basic strategy ... You are much better off on the roulette or slots.

 

 

Amen to that. It's all about odds not how you "feel". I had to play with the worse group of blackjack players that I have ever seen. And they were the big spenders and the first ones gone. Clueless comes to mind

 

 

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[Grandpaul]

Amen to that. It's all about odds not how you "feel". I had to play with the worse group of blackjack players that I have ever seen. And they were the big spenders and the first ones gone. Clueless comes to mind

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

It boggles the mind with some lf the things you see people do at a blackjack table. If I owned a casino they are the players that would get th biggest comps. Not the high rollers.

[davecttr]

It boggles the mind with some lf the things you see people do at a blackjack table. If I owned a casino they are the players that would get th biggest comps. Not the high rollers.

Thats half the fun of playing blackjack aboard ship :D In 22 cruises I have seen less than 10 people who knew how to play blackjack :eek:

 

ps - you can practise basic strategy at home, all you need is a pack of cards, shuffle 'em, deal yourself 2 cards and on for the dealer. Then make your decision. Do 5 shuffles a day at approx 15 hands per shuffle gives you 500 hands per week. a month or so and you should know your basic strategy.

 

Remember that different cruise lines will have slightly different rules which will slightly change your basic strategy. As above, the Wizard of Odds is the best site to visit.

[heyabbott]

Put a blackjack game on your phone or tablet. You'll learn when to hit and stay based on what card the dealer shows. After that it's easy to learn when to split and when to double. Now you are gambling for fun. You may lose in the end, but you'll be able to play a lot longer.

 

 

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[Casino Player]

Don't play blackjack unless you master the basic strategy ... You are much better off on the roulette or slots.

 

HHHHHEEEEELLLLLLLLLLOOOOO rics321: Roulette and slots are two of the worst things you could play in a casino. You don't get paid off at true odds. You don't at BJ either. The only game you actually get paid true odds is at craps. You get paid true odds on the odds portion of a Pass Line bet. You also get paid true odds on the odds portion of a Come bet. You also get paid true odds on the Don't Pass and Don't Come on the odds portion. Those are the only bets in the casino that you will get paid true odds on.

[rics321]

HHHHHEEEEELLLLLLLLLLOOOOO rics321: Roulette and slots are two of the worst things you could play in a casino. You don't get paid off at true odds. You don't at BJ either. The only game you actually get paid true odds is at craps. You get paid true odds on the odds portion of a Pass Line bet. You also get paid true odds on the odds portion of a Come bet. You also get paid true odds on the Don't Pass and Don't Come on the odds portion. Those are the only bets in the casino that you will get paid true odds on.

 

BJ is only better than roulette if you devotedly follow the basic strategy. Newbies trying BJ and playing for fun have odds close to 35% in that case both roulette and slots have much better odds than BJ and since I was advising someone who doesn't know how to play BJ I recommended slots and roulette.

 

The best plays on craps never have less than 0.4% house edge and the casino know its easy to replicate so comps are typically only 40% of the 0.4% theoretical loss and a craps player's final outcome is 0.24% house edge after comps.

 

True devoted basic strategy betting has house edge at $0.60% on a 8 deck game and if you limit that with session loss capping strategy it could be lower. That said the advantage on BJ really kicks in when we calculate that casinos consider average theoretical losses on bj at 2.5% house edge because 99.9% of the players don't follow basic strategy 100% of the time. Comps are about 40% of 2.5% and not 0.60 ... so we get about 0.40% players edge for a basic strategy following player. Lot of plays consider comps specially room comps not to have full value ... because they would most likely be unsold. However I value my comps at 100% of the value cuz I would have anyways gone on the cruise. So yes BJ has worse odds than craps if gambling is your sole aim ... but if cruising is also your aim and you value your room comps at 100% of their value then bj with basic strategy has significant odds advantage over craps. Infact over long term you end up ... significantly up. However the house may consider itself to be significant up too up ... cuz otherwise those rooms would have gone unsold and they don't get the 0.60% cash advantage on your play (all sailings have atleast 2-5% unsold rooms except holiday sailings, so cruise ships value room comps much much lower than retail prices).

Edited July 21, 2014 by rics321

[Tutontow]

Don't play blackjack unless you master the basic strategy ... You are much better off on the roulette or slots.

 

Amen