Brothes Matews slots and blackjack gamblers` blog

At the time the IGRA passed, there were already Indian casinos operating in Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Washington.
In 1989, the Mohawks opened three casinos on their reservation in upstate New York with four- and six-deck blackjack games and betting limits up to $200. Despite the IGRA, local authorities and the FBI immediately closed them down. The state had no argument with the blackjack games, but insisted the casino had no right to operate slot machines. The casinos immediately reopened and prepared for a long legal battle over their rights as a sovereign nation. It got ugly. There were shootings and vandalism. But in the end, as had been the case everywhere else, the Indians won.
In 1990, both Minnesota and Wisconsin Indian reservations began opening casinos with little opposition from authorities. State officials were beginning to realize that it was useless to fight the Indians on this issue. The public supported the Indians and the media made the outside officials look bad if they attempted to interfere with the Indians’ peaceful casino operations. Today, both Minnesota and Wisconsin have more than a dozen Indian reservation casinos.

Although there were always religious and moral crusaders in every community who opposed gambling, it was obvious that the majority of the people in the states where the Indians opened their gambling operations supported the Indians’ casinos, and many were their customers. Also, the Indians were standing on very firm legal ground in claiming the right to open casinos on their reservations. By federal law, the Indians were “sovereign nations” and not bound by most state laws on their reservations. To deny the Indians’ rights to casinos as a form of free enterprise would require that the U.S. government break yet another treaty with the Indians.

Hitting/Standing playing free blackjack

A7 versus Ace-Hit if the true count is less than +1

It’s a good Blackjack Trainer for everybody
Hard Doubling Down
11 versus 10 - Hit (don’t double) if the true count is less than -4 10 versus 9-Hit (don’t double) if the true count is less than -1 9 versus 5 - Hit (don’t double) if the true count is less than -4 9 versus 4 - Hit (don’t double) if the true count is less than -2 9 versus 3 - Hit (don’t double) with any negative (running) count 8 versus 4-Double down if the true count is +7 or higher
Soft Doubling Down
A8 versus 3 - Double down if the true count is +6 or higher A8 versus 4-Double down if the true count is +3 or higher A8 versus 5 - Double down if the true count is +2 or higher A7 versus 2-Double down if the true count is +1 or higher A7 versus 3 - Hit (don’t double) if the true count is less than -2 A5 versus 3-Double down if the true count is +5 or higher A5 versus 4 - Hit (don’t double) if the true count is less than -2 A4 versus 4 - Hit (don’t double) with any negative (running) count A3 versus 5 - Hit (don’t double) if the true count is less than -1 A2 versus 5 - Hit (don’t double) with any negative (running) count A2 versus 6 - Hit (don’t double) if the true count is less than -1

We circle back around to our favorite pit of blackjack tables with the best blackjack strategy, and come upon a young Asian betting between $500 and $2,000 per hand. Back to business. Both the floorperson and the pit boss are watching intently. That’s a great situation for the card counter - playing a game in which you are far from the biggest player on the table, or in a pit with really heavy action at a table other than yours. Use blackjack rules: Hit or Stand. In that scenario, attention almost solely focuses on the bigger player and not on you - a great opportunity to ply your trade as anonymously as possible.

In the Introduction, I touched briefly on what is required to play blackjack at the professional level. And earlier in this chapter, we talked about how slightly start playing blackjack more red jellybeans than black jellybeans represents the card counter’s advantage over the casino. But let’s not forget about the basics. Learning the best possible way to play each hand, otherwise known as Basic Strategy, is the first step on the road to becoming a pro. The next step involves learning how to actually count the cards by assigning a point value to each, and then keeping a running total.

Before we go on, let’s tackle somewhat of a misnomer. Card counting isn’t that difficult in casino games. What it does take is perseverance, along with a good deal of practice. In college, I went through four years of electrical engineering. Now that was difficult. (At least to me it was.) But card counting? In fact, if I had to guess, I’d say that most people have the mental capacity necessary to become professional-level players—and good ones at that. Whether or not these same people have the perseverance or discipline necessary is probably the bigger question.

To be honest, I don’t understand why more people don’t. What I find amazing is the number of players who have obviously mastered Basic Strategy, but do nothing to further improve their game. Over the years I’ve had the pleasure of playing alongside physicians, entrepreneurs, investment bankers—businessmen and -women of all types—bright people definitely capable of winning in the long run about online casino blackjack. And yet when the count goes negative, these same people often are, unknowingly, “betting the ranch.” I see it time and time again. And, of course, when the count goes through the ceiling, they’re usually betting the table minimum. It never fails: a classic example of just not being aware of what’s going on behind the scenes.

Among slot machines, this is similarly so. There are some very well established brand names among manufacturers of slot machines. In this book, I have identified those which I consider to be the best and therefore the standard by which you can judge any slot machine, its performance, its pay program, and its potential for your profitable play. One of the secrets of successful slot play is the acquisition of knowledge regarding slot machine manufacturers and their products. Then you will be able to begin your machine and game selection by first identifying the brand names of the machines and games. Once you have done that, you will gain the standard by which to compare the other games on the casino floor. There will be many machines and many games. Some of them will look the same, or be very similar to the brand name, like that peanut butter example above, but may not play or pay quite as well. By simply being able to recognize the brand name of the machine or game, you will be well on your way to making intelligent and informed decisions.

This is closely tied in with the above item. Slot Machine and slot game selections are often influenced by the manufacturer of the game and machine. It’s the same principle as the one you may be familiar with from shopping at the market or discount store. For example, you may plan to buy a certain kind of peanut butter, but you see a generic or store brand instead, and buy that. It looks the same. It spreads the same. But it doesn’t quite taste the same. What’s the difference? Well, the most immediately apparent difference was the price. You probably saved a few cents by buying that store brand. You read the label on both jars of peanut butter, and the list of ingredients was the same. They may both say “contains whole crushed peanuts,” but the product you bought, for those few cents less, just doesn’t taste right. Most often the reason for this is—as far as peanut butter is concerned—that the quality of the peanuts is different. Like anything which grows, there are levels of quality. These levels of quality extend not just to the original peanut, but also where it was grown, what were the soil conditions, how often was it necessary to “medicate” the plant by spraying it with pesticides, growth additives, and so on. Then, how well was it roasted, ground, and prepared? How long has it been since it was bottled and shipped? And so on. All of this influences the final taste of this product. So while the brand name product may have consistency in quality, and hence taste, the generic or store products may vary widely in quality and taste, because they may use ingredients from a wide variety of sources, regions, and quality. This doesn’t mean that such generic products are always bad. Not at all. Many are just as good, if not better, than their counterparts. This example simply means that, sometimes, based on your personal knowledge and experience, it is more profitable to look at the brand name first, and then compare the other similar products to that standard.

To be continued…