The following blackjack abbreviations and acronyms are used throughout this book and are typical of those used in the literature. When evaluating a game, you should assume Las Vegas Strip rules which include double on any first 2 cards, re-splits to 4 hands, dealer stands on soft-17, insurance allowed and, of course, a natural blackjack pays 3. . Eight-Deck with H17, DAS, LS, and RSA. Eight-Deck with H17, DAS, LS, RSA and 6-5 payoffs for blackjack. Free-Bet Blackjack game dealt with six-decks, H17, and DAS. That's quite a cornucopia of blackjack games in one casino, and you'll find a similar mix in most other casinos. Blackjack definition: 1. A type of card game played for money 2. A short, thick metal stick covered in rubber or leather. Resplit Aces (Rsa) The unlimited ability to re-split aces. Many casinos set a limit to the number of times that aces can be split. Rfb An abbreviation for complimentary Room, Food, and Beverage. Rgb The acronym for Rec.Gambling.Blackjack, a usenet newsgroup. Rider Bet The bet made by a player (the 'Rider') behind another player's bet.
Contents
- Yearly salary of a professional blackjack player
What is the salary of a professional blackjack player? It's a common question I hear, but what would seem like a simple enough question actually has a fairly complex answer. First of all, the term 'blackjack player salary' isn't quite appropriate. Professional blackjack players don't make a set amount of money every month like a salaried employee does. Playing blackjack for a living is more like owning your own business or working for 100% commission. Therefore different professional players make different amounts of money based on many varying factors. Some of the more obvious factors being the stakes the played at, the amount of time spent playing and the skill level of the player. There are also many less obvious factors involved in determining how much money a professional player will make. I'm not going to cover all of them here, but just a few of these additional variables include the quality of the blackjack games played, the card counting system used and the size of the player's betting spread.
The 'Salary' (Income) of a Pro Blackjack Player
Blackjack Rsa Meaning Key
Blackjack Player EarningsEvery blackjack player has a theoretical 'expected value' of their play. When you bet $100 on a hand, you're going to win or lose $100 (assuming you don't push, double, split, surrender or get a blackjack). However, over time there's an average value of that hand. In card counting, high positive counts create a positive expected value for a card counter and negative counts create a negative expected value. Knowing this, and knowing how to take advantage of this, is the foundation of how professional blackjack players are able to make money.
So exactly what is the total overall expected value for a professional blackjack player? Check out the examples below to get an idea. For simplicity I'm going to do some rounding off and I'll assume only one hand is being played with all counts being played through (no backing out on negative counts).
# of decks: 2
Rules: S17, DA2, DAS, no RSA
Stakes: $100 units
Betting Spread: 1-5 ($100-$500)
Penetration: 68%
Counting System: Hi-Opt II with Full Indices
Hands/Hour: 180
Expected Value = $390 per hour
# of decks: 1
Rules: H17, DA2, no DAS, no RSA
Stakes: $50 units
Betting Spread: 1-4 ($50-$200)
Penetration: 7 Rounds (heads up)
Counting System: Wong Halves with Illustrious 18 Indices
Hands/Hour: 200
Expected Value = $285 per hour
# of decks: 6
Rules: S17, DA2, DAS, LS, no RSA
Stakes: $50 units
Betting Spread: 1-10 ($50-$500)
Penetration: 80%
Counting System: Hi-Lo with Sweet 16 & Fab 4 Indices
Hands/Hour: 220 (heads up)
Expected Value = $275 per hour
Needless to say, changing any of the variables listed would alter the expected value of an hour played. Now let's assume for simplicity that a professional blackjack player played each of these scenarios for 5 hours per week. That's a respectable 15-hour work week (nice, right?). Here's what the 15 hours per week would yield in theoretical expected value…
(5 hours X $390) + (5 hours X $285) + (5 hours X $275) = $4,750 per week
$4,750 X 4 weeks = $19,000 per month
Yearly Theoretical Earnings from Playing Blackjack
Okay, so in this example you're looking at $19,000 per month, which would then be $228,000 per year if you played for 12 months. These numbers are theoretical, meaning that your reality will not be exactly there. Megabucks slot machine winners. You might overshoot your theoretical (gotta love that) or you might fall short (not as fun). However, if you play enough hours it all pans out over time, or at least your results will be in the ball park of your theoretical earnings. Getting it all in cash is nice too.
If you're contemplating a career as a professional blackjack player, you have to understand your own personal circumstances. You might play more or less hours than this. You might play higher quality or lower quality games. You might not have a very high skill level or you might play at higher or lower stakes. You also need to know what kind of bankroll can handle these levels of action, but that's not something I'm going to get into here. This is just a teaser to show you the potential of a skilled blackjack player rather than a guide on how to actually reach these numbers. If you want to know everything that goes into being highly successful, you're going to need to do more than just read a few pages off a website. You might want to consider my next blackjack class. I apologize for the shameless plug, but whether you want to become a professional player or just make some extra cash on the weekends, my class is definitely a smart investment.
Good Blackjack Rules or Penetration – Greater Impact on Card Counting?
Contents
- Good Blackjack Rules or Penetration – Greater Impact on Card Counting?
There are many conditions in blackjack that make a game more or less profitable for card counting. Two of the most important conditions are the blackjack rules of the table and what is referred to by card counters as the dealer penetration. When counting cards you're looking for the best combination of the two in order to maximize the expected value of your play.
Let's start by defining what we mean when we talk about 'good blackjack rules' and 'good dealer penetration'. I will then go through a quick analysis of which condition is more important in maximizing your profit potential. As always, my main focus in blackjack is increasing profits.
Good Blackjack Rules
H17 or S17 – This refers to the dealer hitting or standing on Soft 17. We prefer the dealer to stand.
DAS – This refers to a player's ability to double after splitting. If you split your 8's and get a 3 to make 11, you want to be able to double down on the 11.
RSA – This refers to the player's ability to resplit aces after an initial splitting of aces. If you split a pair of aces and get a third ace, you want to be able to split that into a third hand.
LS – This refers to a player's ability to surrender. Surrendering allows you to forfeit your hand and get half of your bet back without playing out the hand. This is commonly used when on a player's 16 versus a dealer showing a 10.
Contents
- Yearly salary of a professional blackjack player
What is the salary of a professional blackjack player? It's a common question I hear, but what would seem like a simple enough question actually has a fairly complex answer. First of all, the term 'blackjack player salary' isn't quite appropriate. Professional blackjack players don't make a set amount of money every month like a salaried employee does. Playing blackjack for a living is more like owning your own business or working for 100% commission. Therefore different professional players make different amounts of money based on many varying factors. Some of the more obvious factors being the stakes the played at, the amount of time spent playing and the skill level of the player. There are also many less obvious factors involved in determining how much money a professional player will make. I'm not going to cover all of them here, but just a few of these additional variables include the quality of the blackjack games played, the card counting system used and the size of the player's betting spread.
The 'Salary' (Income) of a Pro Blackjack Player
Blackjack Rsa Meaning Key
Blackjack Player EarningsEvery blackjack player has a theoretical 'expected value' of their play. When you bet $100 on a hand, you're going to win or lose $100 (assuming you don't push, double, split, surrender or get a blackjack). However, over time there's an average value of that hand. In card counting, high positive counts create a positive expected value for a card counter and negative counts create a negative expected value. Knowing this, and knowing how to take advantage of this, is the foundation of how professional blackjack players are able to make money.
So exactly what is the total overall expected value for a professional blackjack player? Check out the examples below to get an idea. For simplicity I'm going to do some rounding off and I'll assume only one hand is being played with all counts being played through (no backing out on negative counts).
# of decks: 2
Rules: S17, DA2, DAS, no RSA
Stakes: $100 units
Betting Spread: 1-5 ($100-$500)
Penetration: 68%
Counting System: Hi-Opt II with Full Indices
Hands/Hour: 180
Expected Value = $390 per hour
# of decks: 1
Rules: H17, DA2, no DAS, no RSA
Stakes: $50 units
Betting Spread: 1-4 ($50-$200)
Penetration: 7 Rounds (heads up)
Counting System: Wong Halves with Illustrious 18 Indices
Hands/Hour: 200
Expected Value = $285 per hour
# of decks: 6
Rules: S17, DA2, DAS, LS, no RSA
Stakes: $50 units
Betting Spread: 1-10 ($50-$500)
Penetration: 80%
Counting System: Hi-Lo with Sweet 16 & Fab 4 Indices
Hands/Hour: 220 (heads up)
Expected Value = $275 per hour
Needless to say, changing any of the variables listed would alter the expected value of an hour played. Now let's assume for simplicity that a professional blackjack player played each of these scenarios for 5 hours per week. That's a respectable 15-hour work week (nice, right?). Here's what the 15 hours per week would yield in theoretical expected value…
(5 hours X $390) + (5 hours X $285) + (5 hours X $275) = $4,750 per week
$4,750 X 4 weeks = $19,000 per month
Yearly Theoretical Earnings from Playing Blackjack
Okay, so in this example you're looking at $19,000 per month, which would then be $228,000 per year if you played for 12 months. These numbers are theoretical, meaning that your reality will not be exactly there. Megabucks slot machine winners. You might overshoot your theoretical (gotta love that) or you might fall short (not as fun). However, if you play enough hours it all pans out over time, or at least your results will be in the ball park of your theoretical earnings. Getting it all in cash is nice too.
If you're contemplating a career as a professional blackjack player, you have to understand your own personal circumstances. You might play more or less hours than this. You might play higher quality or lower quality games. You might not have a very high skill level or you might play at higher or lower stakes. You also need to know what kind of bankroll can handle these levels of action, but that's not something I'm going to get into here. This is just a teaser to show you the potential of a skilled blackjack player rather than a guide on how to actually reach these numbers. If you want to know everything that goes into being highly successful, you're going to need to do more than just read a few pages off a website. You might want to consider my next blackjack class. I apologize for the shameless plug, but whether you want to become a professional player or just make some extra cash on the weekends, my class is definitely a smart investment.
Good Blackjack Rules or Penetration – Greater Impact on Card Counting?
Contents
- Good Blackjack Rules or Penetration – Greater Impact on Card Counting?
There are many conditions in blackjack that make a game more or less profitable for card counting. Two of the most important conditions are the blackjack rules of the table and what is referred to by card counters as the dealer penetration. When counting cards you're looking for the best combination of the two in order to maximize the expected value of your play.
Let's start by defining what we mean when we talk about 'good blackjack rules' and 'good dealer penetration'. I will then go through a quick analysis of which condition is more important in maximizing your profit potential. As always, my main focus in blackjack is increasing profits.
Good Blackjack Rules
H17 or S17 – This refers to the dealer hitting or standing on Soft 17. We prefer the dealer to stand.
DAS – This refers to a player's ability to double after splitting. If you split your 8's and get a 3 to make 11, you want to be able to double down on the 11.
RSA – This refers to the player's ability to resplit aces after an initial splitting of aces. If you split a pair of aces and get a third ace, you want to be able to split that into a third hand.
LS – This refers to a player's ability to surrender. Surrendering allows you to forfeit your hand and get half of your bet back without playing out the hand. This is commonly used when on a player's 16 versus a dealer showing a 10.
Poker supplies sydney. These are the main blackjack rule variations you will encounter, but it's certainly not all of them. We're going to assume you're getting the full 3:2 payment on blackjack and you can double any two initial cards dealt.
Blackjack Rsa Meaning Dictionary
Preferred Rules: To get the best of these rules, you want the dealer standing on Soft 17 and you want to have the DAS, RSA and LS options available to you.
Good Dealer Penetration
'Dealer penetration' is blackjack terminology used for describing how deep a dealer will deal into a deck (or multiple decks) before reshuffling. This is a critical concept in card counting. Penetration is determined by where the dealer places the cut card and it varies from casino to casino. A deeply placed cut card will show you a higher percentage of the cards in a shoe, therefore giving you more information to work with when tracking the count. It also causes high counts to occur more frequently and last longer. For basic strategy players, penetration really doesn't matter. For card counters, the deeper the penetration, the more profitable the game will be.
Preferred Penetration: Typically a 6-deck game that deals 4 out of 6 decks is considered to have 'poor penetration'. Dealing 4.5 decks out of 6 before shuffling would be 'average penetration'. A casino that shows 5 full decks out of 6 before hitting the shuffle card has 'good penetration'.
Blackjack Rsa Meaning Synonyms
Therefore if Casino A is dealing 4 out of 6 decks before shuffling and Casino B is dealing 5 out of 6 decks before shuffling, Casino B is going to be a much more profitable game for card counting assuming the rules of the tables are similar.
Greater Impact: Rules or Penetration?
Often the choice comes down to this… Do you go play at a casino that has all the best rules but poor penetration, or do you go for unfavorable rules with good penetration? Although you want the best of both, what if you have to decide between the two? Let's take a closer look at the relative performance under different rules and penetration levels.
Blackjack Dealer Penetration
Here we see the relative profitability of three different sets of rules at four different depths of penetration. For this example I've kept the parameters simple and consistent. I'm using a 6-deck game with a Hi-Lo card counting system, 70 hands played per hour, 4 players at the table and an optimal betting ramp from 1-10 units with no back counting or backing out of negative counts. Manipulating any of these parameters will obviously change the chart somewhat. This chart would also look different if we analyzed a single deck, double deck or 8-deck game instead of this 6-deck game.
Conclusion: You can see that if you have terrible rules on a game, you better have good dealer penetration if you want to make money. If you have great rules you can be a little more forgiving when it comes to the shuffle point. Then there's the middle ground of semi-decent rules and average penetration. The lesson to be learned here is that to be a successful card counter you really need to know how to analyze the quality of a game. There are also many other blackjack conditions to consider such as the level of casino heat you will get at different betting levels with different betting ramps. Hopefully I'll get a chance to cover some of these other issues in a future post. For now I hope this helps to clarify the decision between good rules and good penetration. Now go hit the tables and make some money!