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Deal Me In: Why would anyone be at a 6:5 table?15 January 2016Dear Mark: Using basic strategy, I am a firm believer in never taking even money on a blackjack. I detest games that offer a 6:5 payout vs. the normal 3:2. If one is forced to play a 6:5 game due to availability, is it still correct not to take even money on a 6:5 blackjack using basic strategy? Herb C. I begin with Pilarski’s rule #5: Never sit at a 6:5 table. Rule #9: At a 3:2 table, never take even money/insurance. Let’s begin with even money: Players who are risk-averse, or proverbially put, “plus valet in manibus avis unica quam dupla silvis,” which loosely translated from Latin means, “A bird in the hand is worth more than two in the woods” tend to always take even money. They figure this maxim points out that by passing up even money for your blackjacks, you risk losing a sure thing. I also recommend NEVER playing 6:5 Blackjack. Using the math of the game, and using a 3:2 payoff as a baseline, a reduction to 6:5 payoffs on blackjack increases the house edge by 1.39 percent. Here’s the thing, Herb. Giving an additional 1.39% back to the casino is humongous, making it a larger percentage return than the entire house edge on the rest of the game. Furthermore, because the math for an even money payoff on a 6:5 game isn’t advantageous for the casino, the even money option is typically prohibited on a 6:5 game. Although I haven’t personally seen it offered, if you come upon it, then I am neutral on taking an even money payoff. Although its expected value (EV) is even, the casino still has a sizable edge over your play. My best advice, Herb, is to let the casino pay their own light bills, and for you to take the 6-5 game out of your gaming repertoire altogether. Dear Mark: Are you allowed to ask a dealer if he or she is running hot or cold? Jenny S. Of course, you can, Jenny. Just ask. As to whether that information will do you any good on a randomly shuffled game, sorry, it won’t. Besides, whatever answer you do get from a dealer doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be getting the truth. For example, if a dealer is standing on a dead game, arms crossed in a standoffish position, it is a certainty he or she will say HOT! That uninterested stance is a dead giveaway that the dealer doesn’t want to be bothered. Likewise, some dealers will recognize a player from the past – for instance, a non-tipper – and will articulate, unequivocally, how HOT they are, hoping the inquiring player will move along. Personally, I always found it amusing that most players would NOT wander off to avoid the wrath of my dealing when I told them “I’m hot,” but instead, saw me as some gambling conquest to be made. “OK, Buddy, take your best shot.” Yet, in the end, I’d beat them hardheartedly, but not because of my averred “I’m hot” reference. Their eventual beatdown was always based on the combination of the math of the game and their poor play. Gambling Wisdom of the Week: “Taunting the odds is a little sexy, a little dangerous, and straddles the line between unimagined success and nauseating failure.” – Chad Millman, The Odds |