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Deal Me In: Reader catches discrepancy in blackjack basic strategy

28 March 2014

Dear Mark: I noticed on your audio that you advised standing on nines versus a dealer’s two. However, your strategy card that was included with the audio shows splitting (SP) nines against a two. Please clarify. Also, is always hitting, and never splitting fours, the appropriate play? Rita C.

I believe, Rita, you are referring to a 15-second segment on my Hooked on Winning audio where I gave some simplified rules if you were not in possession of a blackjack strategy card. I stated that adhering to those few simple rules can bring the house edge down to approximately one percent. One was a tip where I suggested you should “stand on 9s against a dealer 2.”

When I first recorded Hooked on Winning 18 years ago, I initially worked off a blackjack strategy card that recommended splitting them 9s except when the dealer shows 2, 7, 10, or an Ace. I later found that view of standing on 9s against a 2 in the minority on the multitude of cards I possessed when it came to splitting 9s. Subsequently, when creating my own strategy card to go along with my audio product, I changed the advice to split those 9’s to go along with the majority rather than stand in this situation.

Nice catch, Rita, although I did make a correction in a column more than a decade ago when but one other reader, like you, caught it.

As for hitting and never splitting 4s against any up-card, you are correct. I recommend just whacking it every time.

Dear Mark: When playing on a slot machine, does it make a difference if I put in a $100 bill instead of in increments like $5, $10 or $20? Sylvia L.

It doesn’t matter, Sylvia. The odds remain the same regardless of the amounts or the denominations of your deposits in the machine. This holds true for all video machines. That said, Sylvia, if you are always reaching into your purse for a $5 bill, you are not physically engaged with a one-armed bandit that has a huge built-in house edge against you. As a result, feeding a machine constantly stops, at least for a mere moment, the casino from keeping “up to” 20¢ of every dollar you circulate through it.

Dear Mark: We always learn something when we read your column and very much appreciate what you pass along. Thank you! We enjoy video poker, so, is there a better way to play smarter? Bob and Lois

Because video poker can be a positive expectation game, it is the one video machine offered that really gives the player a chance to get the best of the casinos. A caveat to that statement is that you must select the best machines, and, just as important, know which cards to hold.

What you never want to do, Bob, and you too Lois, is let the casino floor be your classroom. So, allow me to recommend my favorite book when it comes to video poker.

For the average player struggling to understand and apply the proper strategies for video poker, my pick for an easy-to-grasp, straightforward book is "Victory at Video Poker" by Frank Scoblete.

Once you learn to distinguish the decent paying machines from the dogs, and then apply the proper strategies for the hands that you are dealt, you will watch, with pleasure, the direction your hard-earned money starts flowing.

Gambling Wisdom of the Week: “The first rule of poker, whether you play by western or eastern rules, is put up or shut up!” – Henry Fonda, A Big Hand for the Little Lady (1966)
Mark Pilarski

As a recognized authority on casino gambling, Mark Pilarski survived 18 years in the casino trenches, working for seven different casinos. Mark now writes a nationally syndicated gambling column, is a university lecturer, author, reviewer and contributing editor for numerous gaming periodicals, and is the creator of the best-selling, award-winning audiocassette series on casino gambling, Hooked on Winning.
Mark Pilarski
As a recognized authority on casino gambling, Mark Pilarski survived 18 years in the casino trenches, working for seven different casinos. Mark now writes a nationally syndicated gambling column, is a university lecturer, author, reviewer and contributing editor for numerous gaming periodicals, and is the creator of the best-selling, award-winning audiocassette series on casino gambling, Hooked on Winning.