Casino Blackjack Conditions

[theriac]

Yeah, I just can't get into the roulette mind set. Like everyone, I hope to win when I gamble and the house edge is so much less on BJ than other games in the casino. I DO like to play craps, but I'm not very good or quick at it yet AND I have had my payouts taken by other people when the table was crowded. When I tried to explain that the money was mine, it resulted in a HUGE argument. I have found that the people at the craps table are VERY passionate about everything :)

 

Find a craps table where everyone is miserable and only bet don't pass the line. The table isn't hot and you're betting with the house then. Also you can take your chips and leave whenever and usually no one else is betting that way so it's easy to keep track cause everyone knows you're that guy.

 

Roulette is about insurance and patterns. I'll bet and wait 10 spins before my next bet. There's somewhat of a strategy to it, and luckily other people's play won't affect it.

[harrd0517]

Do the blackjack tables use the $2.5 chips or do they have $1 chips and quarters to pay blackjacks?

[angela12345]

.... Like everyone, I hope to win when I gamble and the house edge is so much less on BJ than other games in the casino...

 

.... but even with a continuous shuffled 8 deck game the casino vig is only 0.69% which is almost certainly the best game in the ship casino assuming they only allow single odds on the craps table....

 

They do NOT 'only allow single odds' on the craps table. We just sailed Pride less than 2 months ago and I played 2x odds behind every Pass Line point, so I know they at least allow 2x odds. If you play the odds behind your pass line and come bets, craps definitely has the best odds in the casino. I'm not a 'high roller', in fact, I typically look for tables with low minimum bets, play the minimum bet, and then put the bulk of my bet in the odds ... $5 with 2x odds = $15 total on the roll, whereas $25 with 2x odds = $75 on the roll.

 

The house advantage of the pass line & come bets is only 1.41%. When you make an odds bet you will lower the house advantage more. A pass line bet with single 1x odds will have a house edge of .85%. A pass line bet with double 2x odds has a house advantage of .61%.

 

I don't know what the limit is for odds bets on Carnival, but as you increase your odds bet to 4x 5x 6x, you also decrease the house advantage. Some places allow 10x or 20x odds. I understand there are even some that allow 100x odds !! Too rich for my blood ... I don't want to chance losing $500 odds behind a $5 craps bet, lol.

[angela12345]

Plus, as theriac said, craps is Fun. Everyone is cheering & happy for others winnings. Unless you're "that guy", haha !

[CharlesKru]

Carnival caps the odds behind on Craps at 2x.

 

They will however let you bump your passline bet, thus allowing you to bet more behind. Not exactly the smartest move statistically, but they allow it.

[stobe1]

Did I miss the post where someone was berated for not knowing how to play blackjack?

 

And yes - not playing the game properly affects the outcome of the game. I see it all the time. If the dealer is showing a bust hand and the guy next to me has a 14 and hits and he busts by taking a high card that the dealer should have had, that changes the dynamic completely.

[jakesnana]

Did I miss the post where someone was berated for not knowing how to play blackjack?

 

And yes - not playing the game properly affects the outcome of the game. I see it all the time. If the dealer is showing a bust hand and the guy next to me has a 14 and hits and he busts by taking a high card that the dealer should have had, that changes the dynamic completely.

 

Check out post # 21.

[stobe1]

Check out post # 21.

 

That's what I'm referring to. Who was berated? Unless he meant that in a general sense and didn't mean someone on this board berated a novice player.

[Tutontow]

Did I miss the post where someone was berated for not knowing how to play blackjack?

 

And yes - not playing the game properly affects the outcome of the game. I see it all the time. If the dealer is showing a bust hand and the guy next to me has a 14 and hits and he busts by taking a high card that the dealer should have had, that changes the dynamic completely.

 

Do a google search on "does wrong play affect blackjack"

 

First let me say bad players drive me nuts. Not because they cost me money, they make me money just as often, but because they are too lazy or too dumb to learn the game, which in todays internet age is much easier than when I started playing.

 

Let's think about this. The proper play is to surrender a hard 16 against a dealers 9,10 or ace. So if the casino offers surrender we should not hit our 16 we should turn our hand in and get one half of our bet back.

 

So if we are on a table that offers surrender we don't bat an eye when the player doesn't hit his 16 against a 10 but in a casino where they don't offer surrender if drives us nuts when they don't hit.

 

I have used a Blackjack trainer name Casino Verite. This software has over 500 options. You can program how each player plays, including never bust, basic strategy, mimic the dealer and on and on. You can also program it for full auto play. You can program perfect basic strategy, counting etc. Set it for 50,000 hands and walk away. Then you can analyze the results. Having lousy players at the table and people jumping in and out has no effect on the outcome.

 

Yes, if you sat down for 10 hands it might affect you, good or bad but if you are going to play for and hour or in my case four it will not affect you.

 

One quick story. Sailing on The Liberty 3 months ago. The guy at third base is losing his shirt. He buys in for another 2k and says man I am getting beat up. Then he starts sweating every hand and moaning and groaning. Finally he splits his tens and loses both hands. I finally couldn't take it and said the way you play I can see why you are losing your behind. He gets angry to the point of making me uncomfortable. I apologize. The next thing you know his dumb play saved the table three hands in a row and it came when I was pressing my bet.

[stevefrisco]

I've never been berated but have seen it done and I get ashamed of the person doing it.

 

However, it annoys the heck out of me when I'm playing a shall we say "advanced" strategy and someone questions my decision on deviations from basic strategy such as not hitting 15 and 16 against 7-10 in certain situations or people getting mad/jealous when I correctly take insurance with any hand because it is an +ev play in certain situations.

 

Y'all can be cool with giving up an edge but maybe just maybe there is a method to another player's madness, in fact even in a 6 deck game there are certain situations where it is correct to split a pair of 10s. I don't do it because all pit bosses know the saying "only idiots and counters split 10s". Moral of the story...think long and hard about quesioning a person's play.

[stobe1]

I've never been berated but have seen it done and I get ashamed of the person doing it.

 

However, it annoys the heck out of me when I'm playing a shall we say "advanced" strategy and someone questions my decision on deviations from basic strategy such as not hitting 15 and 16 against 7-10 in certain situations or people getting mad/jealous when I correctly take insurance with any hand because it is an +ev play in certain situations.

 

Y'all can be cool with giving up an edge but maybe just maybe there is a method to another player's madness, in fact even in a 6 deck game there are certain situations where it is correct to split a pair of 10s. I don't do it because all pit bosses know the saying "only idiots and counters split 10s". Moral of the story...think long and hard about quesioning a person's play.

 

God bless, ya man! You got cajones that I don't have if you're splitting 10s. I'm not a pro by any stretch of the imagination. I have to ask, and I ask this not to undermine you but because I'm legitimately curious -- under what circumstances would you split 10s? That's basically a winning hand. Unless you've counted into the 6 deck stack and the dealer has a 16 and you're 99.9% positive he's going to flop a 10 or a face card, why else would you split 10s? I'd be looking at you like you had 2 heads along with the pit bosses as well! :D

Edited May 1, 2015 by stobe1

[stevefrisco]

Using the hi/lo count system it is profitable to split 10s against a dealer 5 or 6 when the true count is above +6. The faceup blackjack basic strategy actually calls for splitting 10s against hard 15s and 16s no matter the count. One of the most positive bj experiences I ever had was on the Breeze last summer or fall when I was playing with a lady who obviously knew the strategy behind it and when I asked her - to be courteous - if she would mind if I split the 10s and she was kind of annoyed I even asked haha. She was an ob-gyn and we bonded over the ridiculousness of carnival not letting my pregnant wife drink or smoke in moderation. She was a really great lady and we hope to cruise with her again. One love Dr. Shabazz!

[JCJR]

... If a person wants to double on a hard 12 against a dealer 6, don't complain. The next card could be a 10 or it could be an 4 which would save the table if the dealer had the elusive "10 under there". Nothing is worse than playing at a table of experts who berate the other players directly or indirectly because they don't play according to their losing strategy card. Yeah it sucks when the noob take the dealer's bust card but despite what you all may believe, blackjack is not a team game and we all leave with the money in front of us, not some table pool.

 

Well said. Player beware. Find another table were you can play alone and complain at the dealer or sit in the last seat so you can not hit and put the cards back in the same order so the dealer can bust. This is the same thing if a player going before does not hit on 15 or 16 and the next card doesn't suite you.

[eltati61]

Hi Jamman, We will be sailing on NCL Getaway, see your online. Igo in the casinos once in a blue moon, just wondering if dealers on NCL hit or stand on soft 17?

[kurukthemal]

I am headed on the Ecstasy in a few weeks and started to look into this again because I really like playing blackjack. Here is what I found on the Wizard of Odds website, which is a pretty rational and mathematically oriented review of gambling.

 

"Although the CSM gets a lot of criticism from players the truth is that it actually lowers the house edge. To prove this I ran large simulations both with and without a cut card under typical blackjack rules. The following table shows how much the house advantage is reduced by the use of a continuous shuffler compared to a cut card game.

 

CSM reduction in House Edge

 

Number of Decks - Reduction

1 - 0.113%

2 - 0.063%

4 - 0.034%

5 - 0.028%

6 - 0.020%

8 - 0.014%

 

 

However, it must also be stressed that the CSM allows the dealer to deal continuously, increasing the number of hands dealt per hour. For the basic strategy player, this will result in a greater expected loss on an hourly basis. In actual casinos I have only seen these machines used in shoe games however the effect is the same on the Internet where it is common to see games shuffled after every hand in all numbers of decks. The effect of shuffling after every hand and the use of a CSM are the same."

[taxwiz]

I'll be taking a Carnival cruise with a St Maarten port stop. I'm looking for a casino, preferable in the Phillipsburg area that offers decent playing conditions. Can anyone help? Thanks.

[AmberTeka]

Does anyone know if the minimum bet at the Roulette tables was still $10 min. Has it gone back to $5 or $6 minimum?

[Richjoxyz]

I was on a gambling ship out of Florida many years ago and there was a drunk kid playing fourth base, or whatever you call the last position. He was betting BIG...anywhere from a couple hundred to one thousand per hand.

 

His strategy was NEVER HIT! He never hit...EVER! He would stay on a 6!

 

He walked away $18K ahead! I am not recommending this of course, and obviously I did okay too, as the dealer was busting a lot.

 

I have learned not to get too worked up when other players don't play by the book. If it gets bad, I leave, but it is their right to play however they want.

Edited September 20, 2015 by Richjoxyz

[poppadaddycruiser]

"Risk losing a limb or two"..?

 

LOL. Are you living in 1975?

[ravenjls]

Just curious, how did you all learn the ins and outs of playing blackjack or craps without playing at a casino setting.

[Bases5]

Slot point and table points are separate things. For example (ymmv)

If you almost have enough slot points for a DOU card (drinks on us)

and almost have enough table points it's no good. They are not

combinable.

Drinks on Us card

 

Slots are 1500 points 1 point for every $2.50 played

 

Table game 200 points

To earn the 200 required points for the DOU card it would take:

 

 

 

 

 

$15 per hand x 16 hours

 

$25 per hand x 8 hours

 

$50 per hand x 4 hours

 

$100 per hand x 2 hours

 

 

 

 

On your current cruise, if you play table games, as you play, check with the casino host or the pit boss as they can check you play and see if you have earned a Drinks On Us Card. Biggest advice is to check early and check often so you don't miss out on any free drinks!

 

CCL is now transitioning in a new tracking system fleet wide for table players by 2016

 

 

Currently available on all the newer ships, the dealer swipes your card upon initial buy-in.