MYTHS OF BLACKJACK (1)
Now that you know what Blackjack is, you should know what Blackjack is not. These myths have clouded the thinking of many potential winning Blackjack players. Each myth will be completely shattered by the time you master this site. After you read these myths you are ready to become a more skillful player, practice your skills at free blackjack casinos.
MYTH No. 1 You need luck in order to win at casino Blackjack.
This is completely false. Blackjack is the only casino game in which the player can actually get a permanent, long-term, mathematical advantage over the house using his or her own skill. True, over a few playing sessions, you may win or lose more than your advantage will dictate. But the long-term player who knows how to play the game according to this site will realize exactly the percentage of profit that is associated with whatever strategy from Posts Six through Nine the player uses.
There is no need to prove this in casino play if you are skeptical. Learn one of the strategies, then play a few thousand hands at home, keeping track of the results. Or, if you have a computer at your disposal, as I do, let the computer do the playing. Either
way, you will show a profit after playing this many hands.
MYTH No. 2 You have to be a mathematical genius in order to learn how to win at Blackjack.
This idea started after mathematics professor Edward O. Thorp published his best-selling Beat the Dealer in 1962. Thorp did have a very complicated strategy in his site called Ten Count. The press and other media focused on his being a professor and came to the conclusion that only an extremely intelligent person with a mathematical mind could win at Blackjack. This is now totally erroneous.
Thorp’s 1966 edition of Beat the Dealer introduced a very simple point-count system where the player keeps track of large cards and small cards only. Being smart enough to count by Is up to plus or minus 10 is enough. I have taught a ten-year-old girl and a twelve-year-old boy, on one holiday weekend, to play a winning game using the methods from Posts Six and Seven later in this site. Anyone can learn to win.
MYTH No. 3 You have to have a photographic memory in order to learn to win.
I am often the “absent-minded professor.” No photographic memory, or anything approaching such a memory, is needed. The most difficult part of learning to win is memorizing the Basic Strategy for playing the various possible hands. And for most people, all that’s needed is a few hours of memory work.
You aren’t memorizing the cards as you see them, you are merely counting the cards as they go by. If you can remember a single number, then you can track the cards. Post Six also contains hints in memorizing the Basic Strategy to help you shorten your study time.
MYTH No. 4 Dealers deal too fast for players to keep track of the cards.
While some dealers do deal extremely fast, they can never deal faster than you can play. That’s because no dealer can deal past you until you give the signal that you wish to stand. Some dealers will try to get you into their rhythm of play by starting slowly and gradually speeding up, but you control the way you play your hand. He can never deal too fast for you to keep track of the cards.
MYTH No. 5 It is impossible to win playing against four or six decks because there are too many cards to keep track of.
Four or more decks all mixed together do seem formidable to play against. But it is not more complex, it only takes longer to keep track of 208 cards compared to 52 cards. It is also somewhat more fatiguing, because you don’t rest as often. In a single-deck game, the dealer shuffles up, giving you time to rest. In a game of four decks or more, shuffling is more infrequent.
The complexity of tracking cards is the same. There are no different types of cards to track in a multiple-deck game, only more cards. You still track the cards with a simple plus-1 or minus-1 count, the same as in a single-deck game. If you are worried about maintaining your concentration long enough in a multiple-deck game, buy four decks and intermix them. If you practice keeping track of the cards, your counting will quickly become an almost effortless skill.
