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Craps Strategy by Mark Pilarski
• Keep your emotions
under control. The dealer is only the messenger of fate.
Don’t take you’re losses out on him.
• Always remember you
can win. You didn’t bring $100 to a casino to play
with and lose. If you are losing at a particular table,
set a three-losses-and-you-move routine.
• Focus on the dealer
and his up card, not your neighbor’s cards. If other
players at the table are upsetting you with their
playing strategies, you can move.
• Drinking and gambling
do not mix. Players have been known to lose thousands
waiting for their free drink.
• You must have
discipline, so set loss limits and win goals.
• Only bet what you can
afford to lose. Rent, car payments and other day-to-day
expenses have no place in a casino.
• Even the small
blackjack player deserves to be rewarded for her play.
There is nothing wrong with asking for a free breakfast,
lunch or something smaller like a deck of cards or a
pair of dice. But since pit personnel are most likely
not tracking your play, you will need to ask.
• Most players don’t
even consider the rules before they sit down and play.
If you don’t know the rules or any of the playing
stratagies of blackjack, learn the game on a 25-cent
video blackjack machine. A five-dollar blackjack game
should not be your classroom.
• When you feel tired,
it’s time to call it quits, or at least take a break
and rest for an hour or two.
• Compared to a single
deck, a two-deck game handicaps your play -0.35%, four
decks, -0.48%, six decks, -0.54% and eight decks -0.58%.
As you can see, it is always to your advantage to play
on a game that offers the fewest decks. Also note, the
house edge goes up substantially when you go from one
deck to two, but the change is less dramatic as you add
more decks. How much is this costing you in dollars and
cents? If you were to play 100 hands per hour at $5 per
hand, each -0.1% would cost you approximately 50¢ per
hour. Playing on a game with two decks versus one deck
will cost you $1.75 per hour, with each additional deck
costing you increasingly more.
• Smart blackjack
players always play in a casino that offers the best
rules. To avoid hostile playing conditions in blackjack,
look for the following combination of rules that are
favorable to the player:
a single deck game
surrender, both early and
late
double down allowed on
any two cards
double down allowed after
splitting pairs
multiple pair splitting
allowed, plus resplitting aces
dealer stands on a soft
17
deep deck penetration
Are reading this and
playing blackjack without a basic strategy card? Well,
since you are a regular to this web site, allow me to
send you a laminated Blackjack Strategy Card—FREE.
Yes, those same ones you see in gaming publications and
casino gift shops for up to $5 can be yours at no cost.
All I ask is that you send a self addressed stamped
envelope (SASE) to: Winners Publishing, ATTN: BJ
Strategy Card, P.O. Box 1234, Traverse City, MI 49685
It’s this web site’s
way of saying thank you for stopping by. Enjoy, Mark
Blackjack Strategy
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