Dear Mark, In blackjack, why is it that when the deck is rich in aces and face cards it favors the player? Gary C.

There are two reasons. First, blackjacks will appear more often when there is a higher proportion of aces in the deck, and as you know blackjacks pay the player 3 to 2. Second, the dealer will bust more when he has a "stiff" (12 through 16). The player, given the same opportunity, would stand on stiffs, whereas the dealer is forced by the rules of the game to hit away and hopefully bust.

Dear Mark, When you have a 16 in blackjack, would you advise surrendering against a face card? Also could you please explain the difference between early and late surrender? Sara G.

Surrender is an option in which the casinos allow players to "surrender" half their original bet total after they have examined their first two cards and have viewed the dealer up card. If the casino's blackjack rules permit surrender, jump on their offer. Let's face it, Sara, a 16 is a garbage hand faced off against a 10. The best move when dealt dealer debris is to relinquish half your bet. Never, Sara, think of surrender as giving up half your wager, just getting back half your probable loss. Early surrender permits a player to relinquish half her wager even if the dealer has a blackjack. With late surrender, if the dealer possesses a blackjack, the player loses her complete bet.

Dear Mark, Is blackjack still the number one game in Las Vegas? It seems I'm seeing fewer and fewer 21 tables and more and more slots. Grant G.

If I could be "Gambling Czar" for just one day, collecting casino profits on just one game, it would not be the casino win at blackjack but of the 25¢ slot machine. Yes, the quarter machine takes in more in net profit for the casino ($2.6 billion in Nevada) than blackjack, baccarat, craps, roulette, keno and the sports books combined. Yes, Grant, you are astute in you observations. Vegas is becoming an adult pinball palace.

Dear Mark, Besides card counters, have any other players ever been barred from playing blackjack based on certain strategies? Melvin D.

I really can't answer for every casino on why, or if, they would heave-ho a player based on playing strategies, Melvin, but how about being banned for having too much capital? It happened when Australian billionaire Kerry Packer beat the MGM in Las Vegas out of $26 million, most of it while playing blackjack. The casino finally barred him, not because he was a card counter but because he was more capitalized than the casino. When you put together a lucky streak and a player with more financial resources than the house, you've got a possibility of casino closure-permanently.

Getting bent out of shape
Dear Mark, I was listening to a radio talk show about casino gambling when a caller claimed he does well in blackjack by looking for warps. Well, the guest on the show didn't give a response because the host went to a commercial and they didn't come back to the subject. So, Mark, what is a warp? Rhonda A.

In the casino industry, we call it a "dealer tell," meaning, a dealer who gives away information that the casino believes players shouldn't possess. In this case, when a dealer checks the hole card under tens or aces, some inexperienced dealers will unknowingly bend those cards upwards. This will cause the tens and aces to have a different shape than the rest of the cards in the deck. With this information, the sharp-eyed player believes he knows the dealer's hole card by its disfigured state-which is known as "playing the warps." But believe me, Rhonda, pit bosses who aren't asleep standing up are always on the lookout for dealers who hack their cards to death, and they'll correct this transgression. How effective is this type of play? Well, if you knew the hole card, it could be very lucrative, but it still comes down to casino management's ability to monitor their pit.

Casinos Online - Internet Gambling

Blackjack Online

Dear Mark, Is there ever a time when you would double down for less in blackjack? Sal G.

Never is the correct answer. Because you only double down when you are more likely to win the hand than lose, you always want to wager the maximum amount. It is the double downs and blackjacks that take your blackjack play from the red to the black. Don't shortchange yourself in these situations.

Dear Mark, What are your thoughts regarding those shuffling machines found on blackjack games? Carrie C.

No aficionado of shuffling machines here, in spite of these shuffle mechanisms finding wide acceptance by casino operators and players alike. With a Shufflemaster, a leading industry shuffle machine, dealers do not have to waste time manually shuffling cards. From the casino perspective, time is money. The more hands per hour the better. From a player's perspective speed kills in a casino environment. The more time you are exposed to the house advantage, the more it will wreak havoc on your bankroll. I recommend finding a table with the fewest decks possible. This forces the dealer to constantly shuffle and not expose you to any casino edge while shuffling.

Dear Mark, How much edge does the casino have in blackjack? Bert B.

It strictly depends on the skill level of each individual player. Against the average Joe the casino has about a two percent edge. A hunch or superstitious player can easily give back eight percent. Depending on the rules of a particular casino, a Deal Me In reader who uses perfect basic strategy has only a half of a percent disadvantage. They also get rated and work the casino over for comps. Because many casinos give back between 20 to 40 percent of the expected win-not the actual win-in player gratuities, the Deal Me In player actually shows a positive expectation when playing blackjack.

Dear Mark On a trip to Las Vegas, I tracked each and every hand (see enclosed) that I won and lost. As you can see I lost more hands (160 losses, 142 wins) than I won. How can you write in your column that when playing blackjack the house edge is less than 1% when you lose more often than win? Jon G.

Throw your chart away, Jon. Blackjack is a horrible game if your foundation for winning is based on how many hands you actually win. Excluding ties, a player loses approximately 53% of all hands. However, the casino, bless their hearts, permits you to double down and split hands after viewing the dealer up card. This allows the player to get more money in the circle when conditions are favorable. In addition, they give you that sweet 3 to 2 payoff for a blackjack. That is why, Jon, the casino has only a half percent edge over the disciplined basic strategy player.

Dear Mark, What is the worst move a player can make with a hand while playing blackjack? Susan L.

Getting ridiculous here, Susan, it's actions like doubling down on a natural blackjack. Actually I've seen this done once with a $200 wager where alcohol got the best of this party animal. Now for the average player in the casino, it's standing on a pair of eights versus a dealer upcard of 7 instead of splitting them. A player making this basic strategy error will lose 70% of the time. Susan, you are the type of player who always plays perfect basic strategy, right?

Internet Casinos - Gambling Online