What Do You Want?

26 March 2024

By Frank Scoblete

What do you want to do with your casino playing? Here are some answers to that question:

QUESTION:

I want to make a living playing blackjack and roulette. What about that? My friends think I am crazy. But isn’t it possible?

FRANK ANSWERS:

Possible, maybe. Probable? No. Let’s see.

If you can count cards at blackjack in the hustle and bustle of the casino, make the proper playing choices and bet sizes based on the size of the edge for you or the size of the edge against you, and not allow the casino bosses to know how good you are, you might have a chance.

Is it easy? No. Otherwise every blackjack player whoever played would be counting cards but so few are. It’s a skill, a tough skill to get right and play appropriately in the casinos.

Now roulette? Today’s wheels are almost perfect and the techniques that allowed some players to hammer the casinos are not really much use today.

Biased wheels? Big numbers? Sadly, you would be hard pressed to find such things. And you cannot rely on good luck to help you master the “little wheel” which is the meaning of the word roulette.

Some folks say they can watch the ball spin around the wheel and they can predict with accuracy where it will land at a frequency that makes them money. I tried it once and almost barfed all over the table! So, I’ll withhold judgement on this aspect of beating roulette. If you think you can do it, well, give it a try. But stay somewhat clear of me.

QUESTION:

Aren’t the dealers the experts at the games? Why bother studying at home when you can ask the dealers how to play your hands in blackjack and other card games and what are the better bets at craps and roulette and so on? It seems stupid to put time into the strategies for the games when the dealer is right there and can tell you what to do. Am I wrong in this?

FRANK ANSWERS:

The dealers – sorry to say – are not universally the experts at the games. Their knowledge ranges considerably. They ar4e, after all, dealers, not necessarily players.

There are those who really understand what there is to understand about all aspects of the games they deal. They could help you greatly – if they were allowed to constantly tell you what to do in this or that situation. I don’t know of any casino that allows the dealers to play all the hands a player gets at blackjack or what bets are best at craps or roulette.

However, many dealers are expert at dealing but don’t really understand the games? Blackjack dealers might have no idea of how to play this or that hand. Some craps dealers don’t know which are the best bets a player should make. (This I know from almost 40 years of asking questions.)

Keep in mind that a dealer is a dealer, not a fellow player. An occasional question here or there might be okay – you see this in Pai Gow Poker at times – but an ongoing advice situation? I doubt any dealer would do it or be allowed to do it.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Frank Scoblete’ books are available from Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Kindle, e-books, libraries, and bookstores.