Black Jack strategy and Rules

Last night my wife wasn%26#39;t home, so I decided to try something.

I played over 3 hours of Black Jack, with me as the dealer, and 6 imaginary players.

3 players followed all the BJ Rules (that I know), when to split, when to double down, when to hit or not hit.

The other 3 players did the same, except, they never hit on 15 or heigher.

The results kinda surprised me.

1- Dealer had more black jacks than any other individual player!!!!!

2- players won 65% of the splits

3- Players lost 62% of the double downs

4- This is the most surprising result

The 3 players that played more conservatively, and NEVER hit on 15 and above, won more hands that players who followed the rules. Dealer was going over, more often in those cases.

Do you think it was just my luck yesterday, or playing safe and not hitting on 15 and above (regardless of dealers open card), makes some sense?

What about you? Do you follow every rule in the books or you have your own rules, based on your experience?

I am going to Vegas on Tuesday, and like to try something NEW

Black Jack strategy and Rules

Did you use 6 (8?) decks with an automatic shuffle-machine?

Black Jack strategy and Rules

MusicMan, love what you do with your idle time!! Regardless of what your ';experiment'; showed, you would have to do it for many, many more trials for it to have any relevance. It%26#39;s really just anecdotal. Basic strategy is based on millions of trials to eliminate expected variances. Also it adjusts depending on rules and decks etc...see wizardofodds.com

I%26#39;d say you would have to do much more than 3 hours for a real test. Ask the wizardofodds.com about it. It%26#39;s all mathematical so he can tell you but my advise is to follow your strategy card and enjoy yourself.

In a short term trial, anything can happen. I%26#39;ve seen players make tons of money on field bets at the craps table, even though it%26#39;s got a large house edge.

The reason to follow correct strategy is not because it will improve your winning percentage at any one particular seating. It%26#39;s because it will improve your winning percentage over the entire course of your blackjack-playing career.

In a three-hour time span, a player could make tons of ';incorrect'; decisions and still win if he or she gets lucky.

I used 6 decks, and no, I didn%26#39;t have a machine for shuffling, LOL

I know its not a scientific experiment, because I only played for 3 hours, but we usually play less than that on any Vegas table.

Anyways, I did not mean that my experiment proved anything, I simply wanted to know if any one of you play with your own rules that is different from the ';books%26#39;

Like Stratton says, anyone can play any way and win in the short term. In fact they usually sit at my tables. Regardless, I%26#39;m not going to try and create some ';hunch'; strategy that goes contrary to the math. In reality, all the times one plays over all the months and years of visits is one long session mathematically. And please MusicMan, don%26#39;t venture into split 10%26#39;s territory!!!! Please!

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut!

You get a star for the day MusicMan for your passion of the game,

I salute you.

Yep, I follow the rules. and also have some of my own. But the key

is to stick with it. Do not play by your gut, alot of people play the luck factor.

Underpar,

The only thing i tried was playing safe and not busting, by hitting on 15 or 16, I am not that stupid to even experiment splitting 10s, LOL

MusicMan, if you are asking whether I ever deviate from basic strategy, the answer is yes. But I usually only do that if the count appears to be strongly for or against me.

MM, of course the hit on 16 (against a dealer 10) is the tough one. Glad to see you know the odds are in your favor to do so. Albeit very, very small. Surrender is a better play statistically btw.