Machine Blackjack

If you are new to video blackjack, the first thing that you want to do prior to sitting down at a machine is understand exactly what you and the electronic dealer are attempting to do. You initially receive two cards, and you can be dealt as many additional cards as you would like. The goal is to get closer to 21 without going over than. Machine learning and blackjack. Contribute to tliggett/blackjack development by creating an account on GitHub. Blackjack is the automotive frame straightening machine for yo. Watch the Blackjack Frame machine in action on this twisted and bent frame of this Ford F-150.

Blackjack is one of the oldest games in the casino. It has been around in some form or another since the early 1600s.

Centuries ago, nobody could fathom that machines would be shuffling blackjack games one day. However, this scenario has come to life in the form of continuous shuffling machines.

Casinos use continuous shuffling machines (CSMs) to take pressure off the dealer and help speed up games. But they also turn off a portion of their players when using these machines.

Certain gamblers have misconceptions about CSMs that include everything from rigged games to a much higher house edge.

Should you share the same concerns? I’ll clear up this matter by covering more on CSMs along with why they’re so misunderstood.

What Is a Blackjack CSM?

A continuous shuffling machine features an opening at the top where dealers can insert clumps of cards. It has numerous slots located inside of it that serve as card holders.

This machine shoots played cards into the slots in a random manner. Once it has finished putting all of the cards into random slots, the machine pushes the clump to the top.

The dealer takes this card clump out of the machine and continues dealing. Therefore, they never need to completely stop play to shuffle a shoe (two or more decks).

Instead, they only briefly pause to grab played cards and insert them into the CSM. This process keeps games running more smoothly and without lengthy brakes.

Why Casinos Love Continuous Shuffling Machines

More and more casinos are adding CSMs to their tables. You can see the main reason why these machines are spreading throughout the blackjack world below.

Faster Games

Under normal circumstances, a dealer needs to stop a blackjack game and shuffle the cards. They typically do this after between 60% and 75% of the shoe has been dealt.

This stoppage can last for several minutes. The dealer must separate the pile into different clumps and riffle through each one.

The casino appreciates a well-shuffled and random blackjack game. But these stoppages also cost them money.

The house holds the edge over any recreational blackjack and wants faster games to capitalize on this advantage. A CSM allows casinos to deal around 20% more hands per hour.

More Profits

The exact amount that casino stand to make from faster blackjack tables varies based on different factors. A dealer’s speed and how many people are the table also play a role.

Simply put, though, gambling establishments want as many hands dealt as possible. They can win thousands of dollars more each day with continuous shuffling machines in the mix.

Here’s an example to illustrate how much casinos will earn with machine-dealt games:

Table without a CSM:

• 3 people are playing.
• 80 hands are dealt per hour.
• The average bet size is $25.
• 80 x 3 x 25 = $6,000 in betting action
• The house edge is 1.5%.
• 6,000 x 0.015 = $90 in winnings for the house

Table with a CSM:

• 3 people are playing.
• 100 hands are dealt per hour.
• The average bet size is $25.
• 100 x 3 x 25 = $7,500 in betting action
• The house edge is 1.5%.
• 7,500 x 0.015 = $112.50 in winnings for the house

Stops Card Counters

Casinos definitely don’t like card counters. A skilled counter gains an advantage over the house and makes guaranteed profits.

Professional players put a serious dent in casinos’ profits. However, continuous shuffling machines render card counting impossible.

Card counting needs deck penetration to make profits. Their positive count is much more accurate when 70% of the deck has been dealt versus just 20%.

The latter waits this long to shuffle, because they don’t want to stop the game frequently.

But the dealer doesn’t need to stop action to shuffle with CSMs involved. Instead, they can just grab a pile of cards every so often and throw them into the machine. As a result, card counters never get adequate deck penetration.

Common Misconceptions about CSMs

In their ideal world, gambling establishments would fill blackjack tables with continuous shuffling machines. They don’t do this everywhere, though, because not all of their customers approve.

Certain players absolutely refuse to play at tables with these machines. The same group often has the following common misconceptions about CSMs.

Machine Craps

Raises House Edge

The average player will lose more money at tables with a continuous shuffling machine. Therefore, they may feel that these machines raise the house edge.

Machine Craps In Las Vegas

In actuality, a CSM lowers the house advantage by 0.014%. As a recreational player, you have a slightly better chance to win each hand at a machine-dealt table.

The reason why people lose more in these games, though, is due to the game speed. They see more hands per hour and are exposed more to the house advantage.

Earlier, I showed how a casino’s profits go up when a CSM is in play. The reverse is true for players, where they lose more money with machines involved.

Rigs Games for Casinos

It’s understandable that some gamblers mistakenly believe they face worse odds with continuous shuffling machines involved. The latter speeds up the action and causes more losses.

However, a much bigger misconception is that CSMs somehow rig the game. Those who believe this feel that the machine is somehow programmed to give the casino better odds of winning.

This same logic relates to slot machine myths. Many players believe that casinos can easily rig slot machines.

Gamblers have always had a mistrust of anything dealing with machines, because they can’t see the innerworkings like with a blackjack game

Casino stand to lose much more, including their license and hefty fines, if they were caught using a biased CSM (if such a thing even exists). Therefore, you don’t have to worry about casinos cheating.

Should You Play at Tables with CSMs?

Your individual preferences will determine whether you play at a blackjack table with a continuous shuffling machine.

You can see that there’s nothing to worry from a house edge or rigged-game perspective. Assuming you don’t mind the thought of a machine-based game, then you won’t mind playing at these tables.

However, you may also seek a more-classic blackjack feeling. A CSM doesn’t achieve this traditional aspect.

Instead, it makes games feel more robotic. If you like the atmosphere almost as much as the action, you should definitely look for hand-shuffled games.

The increased losses might also turn you off from these tables. Again, the quicker game speed will lead to increased losses on average.

You can win more money by studying basic blackjack strategy. But you also must deal with the more-realistic fact that you’ll lose when considering the house edge.

What’s Your Alternative in Blackjack?

Continuous shuffling machines may be slowly invading the gambling world. However, you don’t have to settle for these games.

Some international gambling destinations, on the other hand, feature CSMs at the vast majority of their tables. Macau and Monte Carlo are two of the most-notable casino hotspots that fall into this category.

You should definitely avoid these places when you’re trying to avoid continuous shuffling machines. The good news, though, is that the majority of the gambling world still offers plenty of hand-shuffled tables.

That said, I advise that you do research before playing blackjack in a prospective gambling destination. This research will ensure that you don’t visit a gambling hotspot and get a nasty surprise.

Conclusion

The point of this post isn’t to sell you on playing at tables with continuous shuffling machines. Instead, I merely want to show that CSMs aren’t as bad as some players think.

These machines don’t give the house a bigger advantage—they actually decrease it. They also don’t rig games to give casinos stronger odds.

You can expect a fair game with CSMs involved. However, you’ll also be more exposed to the house edge when considering that more hands will be dealt per hour.

Furthermore, you might like the feeling of being at a table where the machine shuffles cards. In this case, you should definitely seek out a traditional blackjack table.

Card counting is a system that experienced blackjack players use to get a profitable advantage over the casino. There are many individual “counts” or systems. Many of them are named after colorful professional gamblers from times past.

The 2008 movie “21” bought card counting to the attention of the general public. It followed the true story of members of the MIT blackjack team as they won millions from casinos in LasVegas. This movie also highlighted the key challenge faced by card counters. To make a profit using these systems, you need to bet significantly more when the odds turn in your favor. Casinos are aware of this — and will quickly ban players they believe are counting cards.

This page has everything you need to know to get started with card counting. Below you will find the basics of how it works. Famoussystems, the ideal games for counters and how online blackjack can help you learn to count are also covered below.

How to count cards in blackjack

Blackjack is a game of incomplete information. Players act based on their own two cards and the single dealer up-card. Players must risk busting in many situations, even though the decisions are mathematically correct.

Small cards are the enemy of blackjack players. Values of two through six can make for the trickiest decisions. In fact, if you remove any significant number of small cards from the shoe, blackjack not only becomes easier, the player gets a mathematical edge over the house.

This is where card counting comes in.

Counters track the proportion of small cards to face cards and aces. At a certain point, the deck turns “positive.” The higher proportion of face cards means every hand played will generate long term profit for the player — not the house. This is because profit comes from doubling, splitting and hitting blackjack (natural21). All of these are more frequent when there are more high cards in the shoe.

To take advantage of this edge, counting players must boost their bet size. Without this bet size boost, money spent playing while waiting for the deck to turn positive would cancel out any wins.

There are multiple factors that affect whether a specific game is a candidate for card counting. The number of decks of cards in play, the rules on splitting and doubling down, and how the dealer reacts to a soft 17 all come into play. To get the best from counting cards, you need to find the games with the lowest house edge.

Level 3 card counting systems & true count explained

Card counting systems have three levels of complexity. The simplest systems are Hi-LoCounts. You count low cards as +1 and high cards as -1. The higher the count, the bigger the proportion of high cards to low cards.

Machine Blackjack

Advantage players will increase their bets once a specific count is reached. To be sure that they have an advantage, they need to translate the current total into the “true count” first. This involves dividing the count by the number of decks still in play. If the count is +10, with five decks remaining in a six-deck shoe, then the “true count” is 10/5 = 2. This means games like double-deck blackjack are better for counting. Players do not need to play through those first decks in the shoe while waiting for the true count to be positive.

Level two and level three counting systems are more accurate. They assign +2 to some cards and +1 to others. This splits the twos and sevens from cards three throughsix, with some systems also counting nines differently. There are systems with separate counts for aces. Your bet sizes need to increase in line with the positive count — for example adding a unit every time the true count increases by two points.

If you are new to cardcounting, then a simple Hi-Lo Count is the place to start. Once you have mastered keeping track of the count while playing each hand perfectly and chatting with the other players, you will be ready to move to the next level.

Examples of card counting systems

The systems below range from level one to three. These are five of hundreds of possible systems, giving you an overview of how different systems vary in their complexity.

• Hi-Lo Count: This is a balanced count and is the first system that new counters use. You add one to the total for each card value from two through six — and subtract one for 10s through aces. Seven, eight and nine are neutral. You then divide this count by the number of undealt decks and round up as needed. You should increase your bets when the count is positive — betting more the larger the positive number that you count. The advantage of the Hi-Lo system is simplicity. Compared with other blackjack counts, Hi Lo card counting does lackprecision.
• Hi-Opt1 and 2: These systems were developed by LanceHumble, though they can be traced back to the 1960s. There are many more“neutral”cards compared to the Hi-Lo Count. Hi-Opt 1 uses aces, twos, sevens, eights and nines as zero for the count. Three, four, five and six are +1, and 10s through kings are -1. This system works best for single deckgames. Hi-Opt 2 makes 10s through kings -2 on the count, with +2 for fours and fives, +1 for twos, threes, sixes and sevens. Aces, eights and nines are neutral. These are accurate systems, though with single deck games rare (and closely watched), it can be difficult to find a suitable game to use them.
• Ace-Five System: You will need to double your bet repeatedly as the count increases to make the Ace-Five System work. This is a simple count, involving only aces andfives. Every time a five is dealt, you add one, and every ace you see removes one. When the count is +2, you double your bet. Increasing it again for every +2 that gets added. If the count reverts to +1 or less, you go back to your initial bet size. The key advantage of this system is the simplicity. The always-changing bet size is likely to attract the attention of casino pit bosses.
• Uston Advanced Count: Ken Uston was a famous card counter, known for his flamboyant lifestyle. His most complex system is the “Uston Advanced Count.” Aces count as zero in this system. Fives are +3; 10s through kings are -3; nines are -1; twos and eights are +1; and threes, fours, sixes and sevens are +2. As with the other systems, you increase your bets in line with how positive the count gets — keeping the number of decks in mind. This system is designed to work best with a separate count of theaces. The complexity means that it is for experienced card counters only.
• KO Counting System: This system works like Hi-Lo, with an extra feature involving the insurance against dealer blackjack bet. It counts cards two through seven as +1, eight and nine as neutral and 10 through ace as -1. You should increase your bet at +2 or more (based on the true count). At +3 or greater, the insurance side bet becomes profitable and should be taken.

Which blackjack games are best for card counting?

Big casino resorts in Las Vegas, AtlanticCity, downtown Detroit and elsewhere run a wide selection of blackjack games. At the lowest buy-ins (typically $5 and up per hand), the rules give the casino a huge edge over theplayers. Examples include paying 6:5 instead of 3:2 for blackjack, limiting doubles after splits and having the dealer hit on soft 17. These unfavorable rules can easily boost the house edge to 3% or even more. With six or eight decks, getting a true count can be difficult.

Contrast this with the best games. An ideal setup is a single deck game, with liberal splitting/doubling rules, dealer standing on soft 17, late surrender and 3:2 for blackjack. With a house edge of 0.5% orless, these games are restricted to the high-limit rooms. This type of game is most likely to be closely monitored. Suddenly increasing your bet would be an instant trigger for experienced casino staff to watch closely.

Successful counters look for games with the lowest natural houseedge. They know the basic blackjack card counting strategy perfectly, so as not to give any edge back to the casino in the form of mistakes. If you do not know how to adapt blackjack strategy to subtle differences in the rules, then you are not yet ready to learn card counting techniques.

Is counting cards illegal in the US?

Counting cards is legal, unless you are using a mechanical or electronic device to help you keep track of the cards. Casinos do not want card counters in their games. People who are suspected of counting will be asked to leave the casino. Repeat offenses can see players banned — with trespass laws coming into effect if they attempt to return.

In 1979, Ken Uston took a casino in Atlantic City to court, challenging its right to ban “skilled” players. The court found in his favor. Rather than banning players, AC casinos now implement measures to stop card counting from working. They include regularshuffling, limiting players to flat bet sizes on each shoe and not allowing players to join a game mid-shoe.

Elsewhere, casinos will quickly ban players caught counting. This was the reason that the MIT team played in pairs. One player (betting small) would keep count, then signal to the big bet player when the count was positive. This player could then join the table, betting big amounts, while the original counter continued with smaller bets.

Card counting in other casino games

Very few casino games use a shoe containing several decks of cards. Casino poker variations like Caribbean stud or Ultimate Texas Hold ’em have a continual shuffle system, where a fresh shuffled deck is used for each hand. Baccarat does use a shoe, though it is not suitable for counting due to the complex scoring rules. Edge sorting is used in baccarat, though it is considered illegal in many jurisdictions.

This leaves blackjack variations like Spanish 21 and Free Bet Blackjack as the only candidates for card counting systems. Many variations of blackjack have a higher house edge than the main game. Spanish 21 removes 10s from the deck — starting the count on a negative.

Experienced advantage players use card counting to beat optional side bets. This requires a separate understanding of how each side bet works, with a counting system developed separately. Separate aces counts in blackjack can determine when the insurance against dealer blackjack bet becomes profitable.

Is it possible to count cards online?

Video Blackjack Machines

Online casinos in regulated states have both live dealer and software-based blackjack options. They also have a range of games with different rules and side bets. Add in the game variations based on the 21 concept — and you will find a wide array of choices.

Advantage play through card counting is not possible at online casinos. Software based games use random number generator software to shuffle the cards for every hand. This means no count is possible. Live dealer games that are dealt in real time use eight deck shoes. What they do differently from brick and mortar casinos is reshuffle after around half of the cards are dealt. This makes it hard to spot situations where there is a positive true count. Add to this software that will instantly detect the bet sizing changes associated with counting.

What you can effectively do online is practice your counting skills. There are live dealer rooms at many of the biggest online casino brands, including Golden Nugget and BetMGM. You can enjoy a game and learn to keep score of the count while you play. Starting with simple systems like Ace-Five and Hi-Lo is ideal — you can move on to the more advanced systems as you gain experience.

If you live in a state with legal online casinos, make sure you keep a close eye on the casino bonus and promotion offers. You never know when a bonus aimed at blackjack players will become available.

Wrapping up: Card counting in blackjack

Blackjack Machine For Sale

Card counting has been a part of blackjack since the1960s. Famous players including Humble and Uston published books on beating the house. Many of them are now considered among the classics of gambling literature.

Counting cards in blackjack gives you an edge over the house when there are relatively more high cards in the deck. This takes advantage of the player’s option to split, double down and to take insurance against dealer blackjack. Counting systems are graded into three levels, depending on their complexity. More complex systems are more accurate — though harder to use.

There is an Achilles’ heel for card counters. To make your knowledge of the count profitable, you need to significantly boost your bet sizes when the odds are in your favor. These bet size increases are a flag to casino staff to watch your play closely — which leads to card counters being banned. Card counting is not illegal, unless you use a device to help you keep track.

Online casinos are the perfect place to practice your card counting skills. You will not be able to get an advantage from them — as safeguards are in place. Live dealer casinos show a real table, making this the ideal way to find the right card counting system for you ahead of your next visit to a brick and mortar casino.