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True story, or true confession: I spent a month as a card counter. Ooooooh, sounds glamorous, doesn't it? Picture me in something slinky, cool eyes glittering as I faced the stony faced dealer across the table. The pitboss would finger the key to the safe nervously as I calculated the moves. With a slight shrug of my shoulders, I'd scrape my cards across the green felt for one last hit. 21! I would then quickly gather my winnings to sport away in my red convertible, cool desert wind ruffling my hair as I drove away, laughing gleefully.

Despite numerous self-congratualatory books on this very subject, the reality is nothing like that. Actually, dealers are pretty friendly people, if overworked and underpaid. The casinos themselves tend to be a bit smoky, and not very glamorous at all once you sit down (although the free virgin daiquiris they would comp me were nice) And you hardly know the exact moves when you count, you just keep a running tally of the likelihood of certain cards being in the deck. It's no more challenging than accounting. But not as profitable: at bets of $5 to $25, I barely cleared $7.50 an hour. I suspect that the "big money" winners (like the MIT guys who wrote that recent book) were mostly lucky, had huge bankrolls, and, to be honest, were possibly endowed with selective memories. Trust me on that--I found I always remembered winning more than I really did. Once I eliminated my expenses (tips for the dealers, food when I didn't have it comped), I really was barely at minimum wage.

Why did I get into this sordid life? Well, I was at the end of a job in Laughlin, Nevada and waiting for another to start. Laughlin is a resort town, and pretty enough as casino towns go-

But, as I said, the old job was winding down, and I didn't want to rent an apartment. I ended up staying at the cheapest place I could find, the Golden Nugget casino. Out of boredom (summer heat makes daytime activities hard there), I learned to count (Stanford Wong's Professional Blackjack book was my bible). Although I didn't win that much, I was able to spend a few hours a day engaged in pleasant chat with tourists and dealers. I got to know the pitboss, and ended up getting most of my stay there for free, as well as the odd lunch or two. And when it cooled down, I could walk fairly safely along the riverbanks, dodging drunken revelers and enjoying the bright lights of the casinos. At night, you can't see how dingy they really are.

So, anyway, I got another job, went back home to Southern California, and gave up my Jane Bond lifestyle whee But I've found the old skills are pretty useful here in Gaia. If I don't chat, I can clear a couple of thousand gold in an hour at the Casino. Of course, since I WILL chat, I rarely acheive that. Still, our wedding doesn't look like it will be underfunded, and we should be able to get prezzies for everyone. mrgreen

There are a few Gaia guides to Blackjack, but most of them miss the essential point: the main profit from Gaian Cards comes from selling tickets. Even with perfect counting in a good game, I could barely get a 2% edge. That added up over time, but it's dwarfed next to the 100% profit you get for selling a ticket for 2 gold. So the essential idea with Cards is to play fast, and not lose too much.

I thought it would help folks if I wrote a "Blackjack For Dummies" guide that gave them rock simple rules. Unlike the tables I've memorized, memorizing my guide would take 5 minutes. Now, unlike the strategy I use, it would technically be a losing strategy (probably about a 5% house edge, on par with roulette). But the 100% retail would more than make up for it.

So anyway, this morning, I wrote the guide, posted it and promptly got it moved to the Chatterbox Recycle Bin. *sigh* You know, I really have to wonder about the moderators sometimes. Silly chatter stays in these forums all the time, but I keep seeing interesting threads get moved to inappropriate, low traffic forums. But to be fair, the mods are volunteers and probably don't have the time to look at threads too closely.

Anyway, since this is my journal, I can do what I like within the TOS, so here goes the guide. Let me know if it helps!

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Ok, here's V's blackjack strategy for Dummies.

This is NOT an optimal blackjack strategy. If you want that, go here:
The Definitive Gaian Blackjack Guide

However, since tickets sell for 2 gold each, really, the main thing is for you to not lose more than half your money when you play (because you'll double your money when you sell them). The following strategy gives the house a little less than a 5% advantage, which means that if you play for 100 tokens, you'll end up with 95 on the average. Since you get bonuses for beating the dealers, you'll actually end up ahead.

The important thing is to use a strategy that you will play accurately and quickly. Hopefully, the following will do that.

I will assume you know the rules for Cards (look at the Cards sticky if you don't). The big thing to realize is that some hands are "soft", which means that they have an Ace that counts for 11 in them. For example, an Ace and a 5 is a "Soft 16", and a 10 and a 6 is a "hard 16". If you hit and get a 7 or more, the soft 16 will NOT bust (the ace will now count for only 1, and now you'll have a hard 13). This is VERY important.


Strategy:

Dealer shows a 7,8,9,10 (or any other face card) or Ace
HIT until you have a HARD 17 or better, or a SOFT 18 or better.
STAND on a HARD 17, 18, 19, 20, 21; or a SOFT 18 (but see below for doubles), 19, 20, or 21

Dealer shows a 2,3,4,5,or 6
HIT until you have a HARD 12 or better
STAND on a HARD 12 or better (yeah, I'm being redundant, but this is for dummies mrgreen )

When do I double?
DOUBLE on 11

That should get you going. Cheat when you feel like it.

If you're comfortable with that, add the below. But don't use the below rules if you can't remember them or they slow you down.

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Advanced strategy for doubles :
DOUBLE on 10 versus a dealer 2, 3,4,5,6,7,8,9
DOUBLE on 9 versus dealer 2,3,4,5,6
DOUBLE on SOFT 12-18 versus dealer 4,5,6

When do I cheat? (semi-advanced)
If you have a hard 12 or better, and the dealer shows a 7 or better, peek at his/her/its card.
If the dealer's total is 17 or better, HIT until you match or beat that.
If the dealer's total is a HARD 4, 5, 6, 12, 13, 14, 15, or 16, STAND
Any other total, HIT until you have a HARD 17+ or SOFT 18+

What about the Dealer's Cheats? (advanced)
If the Dealer's cheat bar is full:
For Russell don't double
For Jinx and Cardbot hit until you have a HARD 17+ or Soft 18+

That's pretty much it. Now, no flames about this not being the best strategy. I know that. But the important thing is a strategy that won't slow you down. If an optimal strategy makes you win 1000 tickets, but it takes you twice as long as a strategy that wins only 750 tickets, the second strategy will win 500 more tickets in the same amount of time.