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June 07 THE FINESSEA FINESSE IS AN ATTEMPT TO WIN A TRICK WITH A LESSER CARD. This technique has been a standard part of many card games such as Bridge and Whest. Suppose you need two tricks to fulfill yourcontract or to set the opponents. You are coming down to the end of a hand. You hold the Ace and Queen of hearts. Your partner, who has already made his bid, leads the eight of hearts, your right hand opponent plays the nine in normal cadence (we will come to the topic of hesitations later in this section). What do you do? If you take your Ace, you will lose the Queen to the King no matter which opponent holds the monarch. Your partner probably does not hold the King as he already has made his bid and would not under lead that card. Another indication is his lead of a heart, whichis probably a neutral suit. Your best chance (50 percent) is to play the Queen. If the left hand opponent has the King you would have lost it anyway. However, if your right hand opponent has the King, the Queen will win the trick, and you will score your Ace on the next round of hearts. Although 50 percent is not a guarantee, it is far better than 0 percent. Should you hold the same A—Q combination in spades your Likelihood of winning two tricks with a successful finesse is guaranteed. Finesses come in all types and shapes. There is the common (A-Q) specimen, as well as the rare “ruffling” variety (K-Q-J opposite a void). Suppose you hold K x or K xx of a suit. Partner has already made his bid; you are in need of one more trick to make yours. A lead from your left hand opponent is ideal — as you will get to play the King in fourth position or duck if the Ace shows up. If your partner or right hand opponent leads this suit, and the Ace does not appear, you must play the King. If you play small your left hand opponent may win the trick with the Queen; thus, your best chance is to play the King. Why? Well, if your left hand opponent has the Ace, your King was dead anyway. If your partner has the Ace your King is the winner (it is unlikely that your partner held the Ace in this situation as he has already made his bid). The key is your right hand opponent — and if he holds the Ace, your King wins. If your right hand opponent leads a small card of this suit, an exception to the “second hand low” adage applies. At this point, you must play the King and hope that your left hand opponent does not hold the Ace. There are also situations in a close contract where the play of the King will promote the Queen for your partner if he happens to hold her. If the Ace and Queen are on your left, your King would be dead anyway unless yourleft hand opponent grabbed the Ace earlier in the hand. We cannot always expect our opponents to do our work for us. There are instances where we will win (“free” finesses) and these usually occur when the left hand opponent underleads his honor cards and allows you to score a King or A—Q combination. Thcrc is an impulse to grab your top tricks and sometimes this is correct especially if you are avoiding bags. However, there are many situations where you will need to manufacture a trick, andfinesse is a convenient way to accomplish this. Here is a table of finessing scenarios and the proper card to play Assume a small card has been led, and it is your turn to play. December 20 UNCONVENTIONAL BLACKJACK GAMESTEN WORST PLAYING ERRORS
It is amazing how many players who are familiar with correct basic strategy are reluctant to make certain indicated plays. Whenever you don’t follow the basic strategy playing rules, you will lose money in the long run. Yes, you may guess right occasionally, but if you follow your own imperfect intuition you will always end up losing more than you gain. The ten hands listed below seem to be the ones most often played incorrectly. Hit an A A against a dealer 10. This hand should always be SPLIT. No matter how you look at it, a hand of 2 or 12 is not good. So, why are some كازينو players reluctant to split? Because they get only one card on each ace. What they don’t understand is that the house allows only a single hit because it is such a strong play. It is exactly the same as getting one card when you double down on an 11, which is a good play—except that with split aces you have two good plays. Stand on an A 6 against a dealer 7. Always HIT this hand. Unless the dealer busts, the best you can do is a push. However, with a 7 showing, the dealer will bust only 26% of the time. When you hit you cannot bust and you may improve the hand. Never stand. Stand on an A 7 against a dealer 9. Always HIT this hand. Why hit a perfectly good 18? Because, contrary to popular belief, 18 is not a good hand, especially when the dealer shows a 9 or better. With a 9 upcard, the dealer will bust only 23% of the time and will beat your hand over 50% of the time. You must try to improve your holding. Never stand. Stand on an A 7 against a dealer 10. Be sure to HIT this hand. Another perfectly good 18? Of course not! Not when the dealer will win over 56% of the time. Hit it! Stand on a 9 9 against a dealer 9. Always SPLIT this hand. If you stand on this 18, it is no different than standing on an A 7: The dealer will beat you more than 50% of the time. Splitting gives you a better chance of winning. Hit (or stand) on an 88 against a dealer 10. Always SPLIT this hand. No matter what you do, it is a loser. Normally, a 16 is the worst hand you can get. At least, when it comes as a pair of 8s, you have the opportunity to improve it slightly. Of the available options, splitting loses - the least money—even though you doubled the bet! Hit (or stand) on an 88 against a dealer ace. Always SPLIT this hand. This is essentially the same situation as above, and splitting is your best option. Hit an 11 against a dealer 10. DOUBLE this hand. Getting a count of 11 in the first two cards is a winning situation. That’s when you take advantage and double down, just as the basic strategy tells you to do. Stand on a 12 against a dealer 3. HIT this hand. This is also a losing hand, but you will limit your losses when you hit, although not by much. Stand on a 12 against a dealer 2. HIT this hand. Just like the above hand, you must take a hit to limit your losses. October 09 WINNING FUNDA OF CASINOWinning Strategies in Blackjack
Tables 10 and 11 are read as follows: We determine the block located to the right of the number (or numbers) representing the player’s hand and under the dealer’s up card. If the block is shaded, the player should not surrender. If the block is white, without any number on it, the player should surrender. If the block is white, with a number on it, the player should surrender only when the running index is greater than that number.
Assume, for example, that the player follows the strategy given in Table 11, that he has hard 17 and that the dealer’s up card is an ace. In this case he should surrender. If the dealer’s up card is a 10, he should surrender only if the running index is 21 or more.
No Hole Card Games
In no hole-card games of type I the player should proceed as follows: When the dealer’s up card is 2, 3,4, 5, 6,7, 8, or 9
the playing strategy remains unchanged. When, the dealer’s up card is
ten or ace
the following modifications should be made to the strategy given previously:
do not split (8, 8) against a ten or ace; do not split (9, 9) against an ace; do not split (A, A) against an ace;
split (A, A) against a ten, only if the running index is greater than or equal to —20;
do not double on ten against a ten or ace; double on 11 against a ten only if the running index is greater than or equal to 40;
do not double on 11 against an ace. In no hole-card games of type II the player should follow the strategy given earlier in this chapter.
THE PLAYING STRATEGY FOR SINGLE-DECK GAMES
As in the case of the basic strategy, there are a number of differences in the playing strategies, for multiple-deck and single-deck games, corresponding to a point-count system. Strictly speaking, many of the critical indices change when the number of unseen cards changes. Nevertheless, we do not intend to give new sets of critical indices and to recommend that the reader learn them. For various reasons, this would not be justified. The player should use, in general, the indices in the tables given for multiple-deck games. Some of these indices have been rounded so that they correspond better to various situations one encounters in actual games. In any case a few of the critical indices for multiple-deck games are listed in the third column of Table 12. They should replace the corresponding ones in the tables for multiple-deck games. For example, assume that the player has hard 12 and the dealer’s up card is a 2. The corresponding critical index for multiple-deck games is 9. The index for single-deck games is 12.
August 18 AN IIRRELEVANT OVERVIEW OF CARD COUNTINGMany years ago, I realized that the fastest way to make money from card counting would be to open my own casino. Unfortunately, my $300 savings was not sufficient seed capital for this venture. I did the next best thing-I started selling inside information to other players. I set up a network of professional players, mathematicians, and computer experts to share facts, experiences, and research, and started publishing a quarterly technical journal. But, I never stopped playing the game for fun, mostly for "nickel" ($5) chips. In the past few years, my connections with professional blackjack teams and big-money players have enabled me to play a lot more at higher stakes, but the game has remained just that for me, and the challenge still means as much as the money.
I wouldn't advise any new blackjack enthusiast to quit work and hock his car in order to stake his million-dollar fantasy. If, as you practice basic strategy. If you have a passion for blackjack, and you apply yourself diligently, the game will likely pay you dividends in both money and enjoyment.
For me, a major joy of this game, however, will still come from discovering, analyzing, and revealing its secrets. Over the next fifteen years, I expect to see shuffle-tracking strategies expounded upon by other authors. I feel sure that "lite" strategy tables- simplified strategy charts that are easy-to-use-will gain popularity. I expect to see more running-count systems with accurate betting strategies, and further variations on my simplified methods of true count adjustments.
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