Bluffing is OK but
strategy is better
Dear Mark,
I enjoy your writing and just received your BJ
Strategy Card, but I am not
sure how to read the Playerıs Hand portion. I assume
the 8-16 means total
value of my two cards, and I understand the 2ıs etc
at the bottom. But, what
is the A2-A9? Also, do I assume a hit on any total
less than eight? As you
can tell, I am a beginner. George B.
Thanks, George; glad you enjoy the column. And
actually, beginner questions
are the best ones, as the concept of this column
from the start was, and
still is today, Gambling 101: gaming education for
the innocent and trusting
among us.
Blackjack is a game that many play, but few play
well. The solution for the
rank-and-file is to go at all times armed with a
basic strategy card, and
use it mercilessly.
Basic strategy is nothing more than the
mathematically best way to play your
hand against the dealerıs "up card." Playing your
hand correctly will bring
the house advantage down to less than one percent.
Since you cannot control
how the cards fall (the luck factor), you must focus
on what you can
controlhow to play them.
As for your lingo question, "A2-A9" represents an
Ace and a two, an Ace and
a three, an Ace and a four, etc. through an Ace and
a nine. And on your
second question: "do I assume a hit of any total
less than 8?" I gather you
are asking whether you should elect HIT for any hand
totaling less than 11.
The answer to that, George, is YES. Always hit your
hand to at least a 12,
and then what do you do? You REFER TO YOUR BASIC
STRATEGY CHART on what to
do next.
Say for example, you have hit your eight, and caught
a six for a total of
14, with the dealer showing a six. You would STAND.
Another example would be
if the dealer had a face card showing, and you hit
your eight and got a
seven. With a total of 15 against a face card, you
would HIT again.
Dear Mark,
The announcers for the Travel Channel use the terms
bluff and semi-bluff.
Could you please explain the differences? Are they
not really the same, or
is a semi-bluff just a bluff but with less money?
Melba H.
A bluff and a semi-bluff are only very distant
cousins, Melba, not
distinguished by the amount of money at risk.
In poker, Melba, there are generally two ways to win
a hand. One is for your
opponent to fold, conceding the pot; and the other
is for your opponent to
call your hand and then wince when you prevail in
the showdown.
A bluff is a bet or raise when you have little
chance of winning the pot if
called. With a bluff, you have only one way to win:
your opponent folds.
A semi-bluff is a bet made when you have more cards
to come, and although
you might not have the best hand right now, you have
some outs if you are
called. An "out" is a possibility that cards can
turn up on the next round
that could turn your hand into a possible winner.
For instance, you have two
spades in the pocket (your hand) and two on the
board. Here, you might
semi-bluff hoping to catch another spade on the turn
(Fourth Street) or the
river (Fifth Street).
Iıve got to ask, Melba: with that lovely name, are
you more frequently
referred to as Peach or as Toast?
Online Gambling quote of the week: "Surely you have
something better to do with
your time than play poker. I suggest a walk outside,
volunteering at a
homeless shelter, or listening to Bach. " - Chris
Ferguson
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