I'm looking for a Blackjack Analyzer Program?
First of all I should emphasize that I am not interested in counting cards, at least not yet.
I am looking for a program that will run millions of hands and I can develop my own basic strategy based off of these results. I have some questions as to the accuracy of some of the basic strategy charts. I am aware of websites where I can imput rules and they will produce a basic strategy chart. This is NOT what I am after.
Secondly I would like to enter a betting strategy. not based on the count of the cards, but if I win or lose a hand I would like to adjust my betting.
Thank you for your help.
Primetime College Football: Bearcats vs Bulldogs
This game goes down on the ESPN2 network and it features the University of Cincinnati Bearcats taking on the Fresno State Bulldogs at Bulldog Stadium.
Under the direction of coach Pat Hill, who incidentally took a pay cut during recent negotiations on his contract, the Bulldogs are a perfect 6-0 when opening a season at home and have won five straight season openers overall. Last season the Bulldogs finished 8-5 and 6-2 in WAC but lost, 35-28, to Wyoming in the New Mexico Bowl.
The Bulldogs will have to answer the question on how will the offense replace running back Ryan Mathews, the NCAA’s leading rusher? Early indications is that Fresno State will run a running back by committee till someone separates themselves from the rest of the pact. The Bulldogs can hang their hat on the fact that they return senior quarterback Ryan Colburn, 2,459 yards 19 touchdowns 11 INTS, but if things get shaky for Colburn coach Hill could turn to Derek Carr, the younger brother of former Fresno State standout David Carr.
Fresno State defense brings back five of it’s top tacklers from last season which includes linebacker Ben Jacobs, who is just two tackles short from 300 for his career. Jacobs led the defense with 106 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 3 fumble recoveries, 3 forced fumbles and 3 blocked kicks. Defensive end Chris Carter was responsible for 5 sacks on a defense that was 119th in the nation in that category.
Cincinnati ushers in a new ear with new head coach Butch Jones, who came from Brian Kelly’s old school Central Michigan after he left for Notre Dame. The Bearcats keep the new era going at quarterback Zach Collaros, 1,434 yards 10 touchdowns 2 INTS, who takes over full time duty after Tony Pike went onto the NFL. The Bearcats went 12-0 and where the Big East Champions but where demolished by Florida, 51-24, in the Sugar Bowl. Playing a big role in Collaros success was wideout Armon Binns who collected 61 catches for 1,191 yards and 11 touchdowns as he started every game. Running back Isaiah Pead lead the conference with 6.7 ypg and it acumalted into 9 touchdowns.
While the Cincinnati offense brings back as many as 11 starters, the defense is barely half as experienced with just 6 players who has started at least one game. their pass defense watched as opponents threw for 230.2 ypg, ranking them 78th nationally. some of that could have been because those opponents were constantly trying to play catch-up and had no choice but to put the ball in the air. However they also allowed 143.8 ypg on the ground.
The Bearcats won the first and only meeting between these two teams just last year, coming up with a 28-20 victory at home.
PICK: Fresno State Bulldogs
Dirty Little Secrets
Why do casinos split tournament prizes into half cash and half promo chips? Simple: they get to promote tournaments with large prizes when, in fact, they give away less than the advertised amount in cash.
There are secrets the casino bosses would rather that you not know. Here are a few of them.
“$50,000 first place Blackjack Tournament Prize.”
That’s what it stated on a postcard I received from a local casino that was hosting a blackjack tournament. however, when you read the fine print, it said the $50,000 top prize “will be distributed in $25,000 cash and $25,000 in promotional chips.”
Sounds good—so what’s the secret? well, the promotional chips (also known as “promo chips”) that the casinos give to the winners can’t be cashed out. they must be wagered, usually on any bet that pays even money (e.g., blackjack, pass line in craps, bank or player bet in baccarat, etc.). The vast majority of promo chips can be used only once, meaning that when you bet them, win or lose, the casino keeps the promotional chip. therefore, the promo chips have an expected value of roughly half their face value, or in this case, $12,500.
Why do casinos split tournament prizes into half cash and half promo chips? Simple: they get to promote tournaments with large prizes when, in fact, they give away less than the advertised amount in cash.
“I’m sorry Sir, But you Can’t Play Blackjack.”
The card counter makes a big score in a casino, without any heat. He comes back to the same casino a few months later, and after playing only a few hands, he’s told he can’t play blackjack anymore. What’s going on here?
The secret is that if a casino suspects a player is a card counter, it may replay the tape of his playing session after he leaves to determine his skill level. if the analysis of his play confirms he was card counting, the next time he shows up to play they’ll nail him. That’s why card counters nowadays have to be very cognizant not only of the floor supervisors who are watching the game, but also of the personnel in the casino’s surveillance department that are taping the game. (There is an interesting book about how to beat casino surveillance written by a former casino surveillance supervisor and card counter, Vinny DeCarlo. For details, go to www.bjinsider.com/cs).
“These Shufflers Don’t Change the Odds.”
That’s what I overheard a pit boss telling a high roller when he inquired about a new automatic shuffler that the casino was using (the dealer was placing the discards into the shuffler after each round, rather than into a discard tray). The shuffler was a continuous shuffling machine (known as a CSM).
What the pit boss was saying was almost correct. It’s true that CSMs don’t increase the house edge. (Actually, the house edge decreases slightly with a CSM due to the absence of the “cut card effect”—but that’s a story for another time.) however, what the pit boss didn’t tell the high roller is that the casino can deal about 20% more hands per hour using a CSM, compared to a conventional automatic shuffler. Unless you are card counting, the casino will have the edge on every hand, and when they deal more hands per hour, your theoretical hourly loss will also increase by 20%. therefore, CSMs negatively impact all players and should be avoided.
“We Offer Single-Deck Blackjack Games”
You’ll see billboards, marquees, and newsprint advertisements screaming about a casino’s newly implemented single-deck blackjack games. The reason that casinos like to promote single-deck games is that historically, they offer players better odds than multiple-deck games, and therefore, management hopes that the single-deck games will attract more players.
But here’s the secret: on most single-deck games nowadays, a winning blackjack hand is paid at 6-5 or 7-5 rather than at the traditional 3-2. A 6-5 payoff increases the house edge in a single-deck game by 1.39%, and a 7-5 payoff increases it by 0.46%. Some casinos are also paying 6-5 on double and six-deck games (yikes!). Before you buy in at any single-deck blackjack game, ask the dealer what a blackjack hand pays. if she says “6-5,” say “thank you” and walk away from the table.
“You Can’t Lose when you Take the even Money.”
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard blackjack dealers and floor supervisors tell that to players. even though what they say is correct, here’s the secret they don’t reveal.
When you get a blackjack and the dealer shows an ace, the casino will gladly pay you even money on your wager before the dealer checks his hole card to see if he has a blackjack. But here’s the catch. Over time, you will win roughly 4% more money if you decline the even-money proposition when it’s offered to you. The reason? More often than not, the dealer will not have a blackjack and you will get paid 3-2 for your natural, rather than even money. sure, sometimes he’ll have the ten and you’ll wish you had taken even money. But in the long run, this is a sucker bet that will cost you money and make the casino more money (which is why they go out of their way to offer players this option).
“Double-Deck Game”
You glance at the blackjack table and see a dealer with two decks of cards in her hand, pitching them to players. So, you take a seat at what appears to be a double-deck game. right? not always.
In their paranoia over card counters, some casinos implement a fake double-deck game. Here’s how this secret works. The game is actually a six or eight-deck game. after the cards are shuffled, the dealer picks off two decks and deals the cards with them. What appears to be a double-deck game is actually not a double-deck game. if you see this scam, voice your complaint to the floor supervisor (loudly so other players will hear you), and then walk away.
“Single-Player Video Blackjack Game.”
You’ll often find a video blackjack game as one of the options on video poker or slot machines. The betting limits are usually much lower than the regular table game, which makes video blackjack games attractive to low-rollers.
How can the casino afford to offer the game? Here’s the secret. if you check the playing rules, you’ll see that a blackjack often pays 2 for 1. So what’s the big deal, you ask? A 2 for 1 payoff means that, when you win, you get back a total of $2 for every $1 you wager. in other words, a 2 for 1 payoff is the same as a 1 to 1 payoff. Paying only even money on a blackjack boosts the house edge by over 2.3%. thanks, but no thanks.
“The House Edge On Spanish 21 Is the Same as It Is For Blackjack.”
This is another piece of “advice” I overheard a casino supervisor tell a player who was contemplating playing Spanish 21. What the supervisor was saying was almost right; now here’s the secret that he forgot to mention. Spanish 21 playing rules are much different from the traditional blackjack playing rules; therefore, the basic playing strategy is different. if you sit down and play Spanish 21 using the traditional basic strategy for standard blackjack, you will be hammered. if you want to play Spanish 21, you should learn the basic playing strategy for that particular game.
Casinos have other secrets and in a future column, I’ll reveal more of them.
Tamburin’s Tip of the Month
Here’s a secret to confuse your opponents in a blackjack tournament on the all-important last hand. if you’re betting ahead of your opponents, instead of placing one or more chips of the same color (i.e., denomination) in your betting circle, bet a “rainbow” of different-colored chips. For example, if you want to bet $1,000, don’t put one $1,000 chip in your betting spot. Instead, make it more difficult for your opponents to figure out how much you’ve bet by placing a stack of different-colored (denomination) chips in your betting spot (that totals $1,000).
This last-hand betting technique is legal and it often results in your opponents over or under-betting because they couldn’t estimate how much you had bet (which could give you the edge to winning the round). Just remember that in blackjack tournaments, you should stack the chips that you want to bet outside of your betting spot first, then slide the entire stack into the betting circle.
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Henry Tamburin is the editor of Blackjack Insider Newsletter (www.bjinsider.com), Lead Instructor for the Golden Touch Blackjack course (www.goldentouchblackjack.com), and host of www.smartgaming.com. For a FREE three-month subscription to his blackjack newsletter, go to www.bjinsider.com/freetrial.com. to receive his free Casino Gambling Catalog, call 1-888-353-3234 or visit www.smartgaming.com.
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Simple Java String Encryption?
So I recently made a fun little game of blackjack using java and swing and all that. I have the option to save the game data (user's name and bankroll), which simply writes the two into a text file in a specified folder. This then allows me to pull the two out of the text file, whenever the user wishes to open a saved game.
Now the problem with this, is that you can easily go into the text file and change everything (including how much money you have). This way, the next time the player loads the game, he has whatever amount of money he wrote in. I'd like to get rid of this problem in some way.
I was thinking about jumbling the words and numbers in the string around. but I know that it can't really be random, cause then I wouldn't be able to unjumble them later on when reading the text file to open a saved game.
So I'm looking fro some ideas, be it pseudocode or full code, on a way that I can save the game onto a text file in a way that I can then unjumble (unencrypt) later on
Save it as a byte stream instead of a text file.
Most people don't now what an 8-byte character is should they manage to even look at the data on screen.
It's pretty much up to you, the programmer, how the data is stored and then retrieved to human readable form.
You can think of the 8-byte as a char. You could token your data's line into words, add a special char for psuedo lines and another special char for psuedo white space.
Then you write the data to file as a single column of words using [word+psuedoSpace+'r'] and the last word of the original line gets psuedoReturn.
To make your program platform neutral you use:
String lineRET = system.getProperty( "line.separator")
// that way, if the file comes from Linux, Mac or Window, the proper character is inserted or read correctly.
The Crytography API is illegal to use outside the territorial boundaries of the United States. I don't know why, but that is the case. there are many games online, including PigLatin that are okay to use for all programming situations.
So, you would have to know all this anyway, before you consider scrambling. And, there's nothing hard about it. It's just humans are more comfortable writing / reading text files.
How to win at Blackjack – Basic strategy and card counting
If you’ve ever been in a casino, you know that the odds favor the house. If they didn’t, casinos would not stay in business long. So, it is a fact that most of the time, people leave the casino with less money than they went in with. However, for those who want much better odds at winning, Blackjack is your game.
Blackjack, when played with basic strategy, only offers the house about a 1% advantage – less if played well. this makes it the game to play for the best chance of winning. Most casinos will use multiple decks (usually 4-8) called a shoe. this will up the house advantage closer to the 1% mark.
What is the basic strategy? Basic strategy is the complete set of optimal decisions on a hand of Blackjack. In English, this means that, depending on your card total, whether it is a hard or soft total or doubles, you play a certain way depending on the dealer’s face-up card. and if you play that way every time, the house will only have about a 1% advantage over you. where you actually make money is knowing when to bet more and when to bet the minimum. I will get to that below. For example, if you have cards totaling a 12 that are not pairs, then you should only hit if the dealer is showing a 2,3,7-A and stand on 4,5,6.
Like I said above, you make money knowing when to bet more and when to bet only the table minimums. this is achieved in several different ways, the most notorious of which is card counting. Card counting, when done in your head and without the help of any device, is legal and not considered cheating. However, if you are caught counting, casinos take a dim view of it and have the right to ban you from their facility. So, if you want to count cards, be sure to only do it mentally.
Card counting is not difficult. If you can add 1 and subtract 1, you are good to go. the trick is to do it quickly and accurately. there are several counting systems out there, but the typical system applies a point score for each card rank. start out with 0 for a freshly shuffled shoe. For each face-up card from 2-6, add 1; for each 7-9 don’t add anything; for each 10-A, subtract 1. the higher your count, the more tens and aces are left in the shoe and the better your chance of drawing a ten or ace. a player may even double down on a high count because the chances of drawing a ten card are much greater. Basic strategy reduces the house advantage to less than 1% while counting, if done correctly, can give the player an advantage over the house up to 2% being typical.
Learning to count cards quickly and accurately is to take a couple of decks, shuffle them together, and as quickly as you can, turn them over and count them. If you get to the end, your count should be 0. If you know someone who plays Blackjack successfully, ask them to teach you their secrets. above all, practice.
A wonderful product which has helped me win consistently at Blackjack in our local casinos is Blackjack Secrets. Be sure to check it out.
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Help! i'm playing this online murder mystery game, and i need answers to these 6 gambling questions?
okay, in order to get to the next level in this game, i need the answers to these questions. please help. they are:
1. at some online poker websites, ______ is the term for a free poker game that requires no money. (starts with a b)
2. name the type of black jack game that uses all of the cards in a deck. (named after an animal)
3. in the casion game Roulette, what do you call the numbers immediately to the left and right of the winning number?
4. in the casino game Party Poker, what is the highest ranking poker hand a player can be dealt?
5. The drug Viagra shouldn't be taken after eating solid food that contains alot of _____?
6. The drug Hydrocodone is the generic ingredient in what brand of pain killer?
thank you soo much!
1. play money or play chips.
2. Pontoon – but don't think so
3. Neighbors
4. Royal Flush
5. ?
6. ?
Help! i'm playing this online murder mystery game, and i need answers to these 6 gambling questions?
