Luckymove

Thread Rating:

1. Online Casino Blackjack Real Money

This blackjack calculator will help teach you the correct play to make for every scenario possible. Our advanced algorithm allows you to customize different table rules so you can make the best informed decision to beat the house. The table below shows optimal strategy for typical online casino rules - 4 to 8 decks, dealer stands on soft 17, player may double any 2 cards, double after split allowed, and dealer peeks for blackjack. Blending colors occur when the difference in expected value between strategy.

4	3 votes (16.66%)
3.875	7 votes (38.88%)
3.75	1 vote (5.55%)
3.5	1 vote (5.55%)
pi	1 vote (5.55%)
3	2 votes (11.11%)
2	2 votes (11.11%)
1	No votes (0%)
0	No votes (0%)
I keep confusing Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff.	1 vote (5.55%)

18 members have voted

For 1 deck, H17, DOA, MGP's BJ CA gives the following for the hand A455,
Stand EV = -0.5501846064283
Hit EV = -0.5540797403871
It follows that it is correct to stand.
Reminds me of 7,7 vs. T.
Because it may be useful if you want to do this by hand, for the hand AA455 (draw an Ace to the previous),
Stand EV = -0.5818621384778
Hit EV = -0.6320326846602
I am certain that MGP's program is recursive, meaning that it computes the current hand's EV based on the EVs for the exact hand compositions in all future decisions from a given starting hand. That's pretty much how you do it anyway.

By the way, JB's calculator doesn't agree with that second set of numbers that you quoted. For One deck, H17 and 554AA vs 10, JB's calculator gets STAND = - 0.547553 and HIT = - 0.627072.
I agree with Teliot and Redjack that one needs to do the calculation in a way that anticipates and optimizes the decisions in possible multicard hands that result from the current hand. That is how I have always done it on my personal 'calculators' over the years and is precisely the point I have been trying to make.
But my impression (apparently misstaken) was that this calculator wasn't using composition-dependent optimal strategy in the recursion when calculating the return on HITTING. See my post, immediately following, to JB.

I think I understand -- you don't like how the return for hitting is based on recursively optimal strategy because it assumes the player has optimal strategy memorized for every possible situation, which of course cannot be the case.
When I first started writing the blackjack calculator, I considered tackling hitting by using a 'hit until soft X or hard Y' (or 'hit until X' if no soft total is possible) approach, because it seemed simpler and more informative.

JB - I just noticed this post of yours. Sorry I didn't see it sooner.
If your calculator's determination of the return on HIT is indeed based on 'recursively optimized strategy' then I absolutely agree with what you have done. I agree with you, RedJack and Teliot that the calculator should indeed show the maximum theoretical return based on 'perfectly optimized play.' IMO, the issue of whether or not a player can memorize the detail strategy rules is not relevant -we all memorize a tremendous amount of stuff in our lives (The Star Spangled Banner, names and stats of professional athletes, etc) and we have the option to memorize strategy rules in BJ to whatever level of detail we want.
I somehow developed the impression from the Wizard's initial post in this thread that your calculator was using Basic Strategy rules (i.e., HIT on 16 vs 10) rather than composition-dependent rules (i.e., STAND on 5-5-4-A-A vs 10) in its recursively-optimized logic. If you are indeed using composition-dependent optimal decisions in calculations on the return for HITTING, then I drop my objections and apologize for raising such a dust storm. You have done a very nice job with the calculator.
As I understand it, the last frontier in BJ mathematics would be to work out a method for handling split pairs analytically (rather than Monte Carlo.) This is clearly a very hard problem and I think your use of a look-up table to utilize the Wizard's former work is a 'best-available' work-around and a prudent decision.

What I am saying is
when you have a 5-5-4-A you have an initial decision: you can either hit it or stand. Let us call this Decision A.
If you hit it,one of these things will happen:

you get a 7,8,9 or ten-value card and you bust.

or, you get a 6 and make a 21 and either stand or hit again (Decision B)

or, you get a 5 and make a 20 and either stand or hit again (Decision C)

or, you get a 4 and make a 19 and either stand or hit again (Decision D)

or, you get a 3 and make an 18 and either stand or hit again (Decision E)

or, you get a 2 and make a 17 andeither stand or hit again (Decision F)

or, you get an Ace and make a 16 and either stand or hit again (Decision G)

Now clearly, whenever the normal player makes a 17-21 in BJ they decide to stand -that is so second-nature that we don't even think of it as a decision. So Decisions B through F are always STAND
But what about Decision G? What would you do if you hit 5-5-4-A vs 10 and received an Ace? Would you stand on your 16 (5-5-4-A-A)? Or would you hit it? I claim that which way you go on Decision G will be be the determining factor in determining what is optimum for decision A.
Basic Strategy says that a player should hit a hand 12-16 versus 10 and to keep hitting it until you make a 17 or higher. That is 'Hit Until 17.' Because JP assumes Basic Strategy in his calculator, he calculates the EV or return for HITTING a 5-5-4-A vs 10 with the assumption that when receiving an Ace and making a 16 (5-5-4-A-A) the player will follow Basic Strategy for Decision G and HIT the hand a 2nd time.

Online Casino Blackjack Real Money

JB's calculator follows the same methodology for a simple hand such as 10-2 vs 10. The calculated return for HITTING a 12 vs 10 assumes that the player will continue to HIT until 17 or HIGHER. So JB's calculated EV's for hitting the 12 vs 10 assume that if the player gets a 2 and makes a 14 that he will HIT again and keep hitting until reaching 17 or higher. That is standard methodology and is used in the other 2 on-line calculators and in the calculations underlying Appendix C.
Obviously, I don't agree with this. By your way of thinking, if you have a Hard 5, a 2-3, vs. a Dealer 10 then you have ONLY two options- 'you either stand, or you hit, that's it. ' By my way of thinking, the best option is usually 'Hit Until 13' for a hard 5 vs. 3.
The Wizard has already stated that J.B. is using the assumption that Basic Strategy rules are assumed to be followed in calculating the return on various kinds of strategy options. And my original point was that this methodology ground-rule causes a problem on this particular hand 5-5-4-A vs 10 because it is better to HIT the 5-5-4-A (Vs STAND) only if the assumption is that the player will stand on their 16 in the scenario in which he/she receives an Ace.
I disagree with your logic on multiple decisions.
The 'decisions' you listed A-G, those are not decisions, those are possible outcomes resulting from your decision on either hitting or standing on your hand of 5,5,4,A. When given the decision on your hand, you only have the choice to hit or stand, and the outcome of your decision is unknown (as you listed A-G).
Basic strategy does not tell you to hit until 17, it gives you the correct decision based on your hand verse the dealers hand. It tells you to stand on 17 and above simply because the EV on standing is greater than the EV on hitting. Say you have a 13, the BS tells you to hit, if you get a 2 and make a 15, the BS tells you to hit again and so on. The BS does not tell you to hit until 17 on a 13, it tells you it is correct decision to hit a 13, and based on the outcome of that decision, it tells you to either hit or stand.
Similar logic can be applied to your 2,3 vs 3 example, the BS tells me to hit that hand. Based on the outcome of that decision, BS tells me to hit again or to stand. Again my choices on a 2,3 is either to hit or stand (assuming you don't double), that's the only 2 decisions you can make at that moment. 'Hitting until 13' is a desired outcome of the particular hand, it may take multiple decisions to achieve.

Something I noticed playing with the calculator..
If you select J and A, against a dealer J - standing has a +1 EV.
But the interesting thing is hitting apparently has a + 0.1 EV. How would hitting have a positive EV?

TwelveOr21,
Well, if you hit, you're hitting on a hard 11 vs. the J, so why wouldn't the EV be positive?
Dog Hand

• Page 4 of 4

Wizard Recommends

• €1500 Welcome Bonus
• €100 + 300 Free Spins
• 100% Welcome Bonus

Introduction

Live dealer blackjack rules vary quite a bit. All are dealt from a shoe, with about 50% penetration. I think nobody allows re-splitting any pair. In other words, one split only. Most stand on a soft 17. The most variable rules seem to be on surrender and the dealer peeking for blackjack.

Special mention should be made about the Ezugi game, where early surrender against an ace is allowed. The effect of this rule variation is a reduction in the house edge of 0.39% to a low 0.11%. Personally, I think they don't understand what they are doing and this rule won't last once they realize how beneficial it is to the player.

It is difficult writing live dealer software reviews when I don't have access to play or watch the games. This was the case with Ho Gaming and Vivo Gaming.

As to the appearance of the table and dealer, please refer to the screenshots at the bottom of the page, especially for Usoft.

Odds Comparison

The following table shows the configurable rules, to the best of my knowledge, at various brands of live dealer studios. An explanation of the column headings follows the table.

Live Dealer Blackjack Comparison

Brand	Play	Decks	Soft 17	DAS	Peek	Surr.	Edge
Amaya Software(Live)	Redbet Casino	8	Hit	No	No	No	0.71%
Asia Gaming(Blackjack)	18bet	8	Hit	No	Yes	No	0.62%
BetConstruct(Blackjack)	Lucky31	1	Hit	Yes	Yes	Yes	0.43%
Evolution Gaming(Live Dealer Blackjack)	Guts Casino	8	Hit	No	No	No	0.72%
Evolution Gaming(Infinite Blackjack (with six-card Charlie))	Guts Casino	8	Hit	No	Yes	No	0.45%
Extreme Live Gaming(Blackjack)	Mr Green Casino	8	Hit	No	Yes	No	0.62%
Ezugi(Unlimited)	Hello Casino	8	Hit	Yes	No	No	0.35%
Ezugi(Blackjack)	Hello Casino	8	Hit	Yes	Yes	Yes	0.11%
FashionTV(Blackjack)	VIP Stakes	8	Hit	Yes	Yes	Yes	0.41%
Gameplay Interactive(Blackjack)	NetBet Casino	6	Hit	Yes	No	No	0.46%
HO Gaming(Blackjack)	InterCasino	8	Hit	No	No	No	0.6%
LuckyStreak(Blackjack)	Sloty Casino	8	Hit	Yes	Yes	No	0.49%
Net Entertainment(Common Draw Blackjack (Live Dealer))	Guts Casino	6	Hit	Yes	No	No	0.59%
Net Entertainment(Live Beyond Live Blackjack)	Guts Casino	6	Hit	Yes	No	No	0.59%
Playtech(Unlimited Blackjack (Live Dealer))	BitStarz	8	Hit	Yes	No	No	0.5%
Usoft Gaming(Blackjack Unlimited)	Playhub Casino	6	Hit	Yes	Yes	Yes	0.43%
Visionary iGaming(Blackjack)	Sloto'Cash Casino	6	Stand	Yes	Yes	No	0.69%
Visionary iGaming(Early Payout)	Sloto'Cash Casino	1	Stand	Yes	Yes	No	0.69%
Vivo Gaming(Blackjack)	BitStarz	8	Hit	Yes	Yes	No	0.5%
Wirex Gaming(Blackjack)	8	Hit	Yes	No	No	0.56%
Xprogaming(Blackjack)	Betadonis	6	Stand	Yes	No	No	0.54%

Column headings:

• Brand: Live dealer studio and in some cases the particular game.
• Decks: Number of decks used. Penetration tends to be about 50% everywhere.
• Soft 17: What the dealer does with a soft 17.
• DAS: Is double after a split allowed?
• Peek: Does the dealer peek at hole card for a blackjack. In cases where there isn't a hole card, the value in the table indicates if the player will lose his original bet only (yes) or everything (no) if the dealer eventually gets a blackjack. Sometimes the dealer will peek only under 10 or under an ace. Possible values are:
  • Yes = Dealer always peeks with either a 10 or ace up.
  • No = Dealer never peeks. Player will lose all money bet doubling and splitting if the dealer gets a blackjack
  • Ace only = Dealer peeks only under an ace up. If no hole card is taken, 'ace only' means the player will lose his original bet only if the dealer gets a blackjack starting with an ace up, but everything if starting with a 10 up.
  • 10 only = Dealer peeks only under a 10 up. If no hole card is taken, '10 only' means the player will lose his original bet only if the dealer gets a blackjack starting with a 10 up, but everything if starting with an ace up.
• Surrender = Can player forfeit half his bet and not play the hand? This option is generally offered only after the dealer peeks for blackjack, but in the Ezugi regular game (as opposed to unlimited), the player may surrender before the dealer peeks.
• Edge = House edge

Screenshots

Asia Gaming.

FashionTV.

Ho Gaming.

Evolution Gaming.

Wirex.

In the Usoft game, the dealer will flash when any player gets a blackjack.

Blackjack Early Payout and regular blackjack by Visionary iGaming.

Blackjack early payout and conventional blackjack by Net Entertainment.

Written by: Michael Shackleford