Monday, August 1, 2016

Is Blackjack Dead?

Is Blackjack dead?

Before answering that, let's consider some facts.

Traditional 21 pays 3:2 on blackjacks. That's $15 on a $10 bet. You can expect to get this about four times an hour, on average. Playing basic strategy, you can get around 99.5% payback. That is a razor thin house edge of around a half a percent.  

Horrid evil fake 6:5 Crapjack pays 6:5 on blackjacks. That's $12 on a $10 bet, $3 less. This increases the house edge by around 1.4% to a total of 1.9%.

Viewed another way, that's $12 an hour on a $10 game. Viewed even another way, they've increased the money they are going to take from you by four times.

That's why we don't like 6:5 blackjack games. Some of you may find that the cost of these games is worth it in order to view the gyrating scantily-clad dancing dealers that accompany these games.

Who else gets hot and bumps, grunts, grinds and sweats like they do? Well, maybe some of the over-buffeted Westcliff Airport Express bus drivers I've seen. But even though they also WAX, they are hardly in the same league as the dancing dealers.

And, rest assured, some of that inflated 2% house edge goes directly to associated costs such as fishnet stockings and a monthly allotment of industrial strength bikini wax, straight from Rio.

Blackjack isn't dead yet as a gambler's game, even though it seems Vegas is doing all they can to kill it, by feeding us the lower paying 6:5 evil variant instead of the traditional full pay 3:2 righteous game. The greedy 6:5 game has even started cropping up in downtown Vegas casinos at lower denominations recently.
I seek out 3:2 games like this one, and you should too.
But here's the thing.

Most casual players out there don't play optimal strategy when playing blackjack. And this potentially has a much larger effect on the house edge than getting hosed by 6:5 does.

And when they are not playing blackjack, they are often playing slots which can pretty much rape your bankroll. We're talking of payback in the 86% range for many of them.

So, whether you are playing one of the better traditional 3:2 games, or have given in to your inner slut and are playing 6:5 games to get up close and personal with the jiggle set, it makes even more sense that you should learn basic strategy to play Blackjack.

Because even with crapjack, 98% payback beats the hell out of 86% payback.

Now, admittedly, blackjack is not the same as the latest 50 Shades of Grey penny slot with its bondage bonus rounds and integrated moan-o-matic electro-probe technology.

But if you do enjoy spending a few amiable hours at the table, chatting with dealers and players, maybe enjoying the hotties, why not give yourself the best advantage you can and get the most out of the game?

I'm by no means a blackjack or a Brazilian wax expert. But if I'm going to play for any length of time, I like to get the best odds I possibly can.

For blackjack, that means learning and following basic strategy.

But how do you learn it, exactly?

This is the first in a three part series on Blackjack here at Royal Flusher World.

Part 2 Blackjack Basic Strategy Card Mysteries Revealed

Part 3 Learn Blackjack Basic Strategy the Royal Flusher Way


  1. How come Part 1 posted on Aug 1, 2016 and Part 2 posted on Mar 30, 2015?

    Things that make you go hmmmmmmnnnnnnn. LOL

    1. Jimmy Poon.

      He has powers beyond belief. The real answer is that this stuff was originally published last year, but with the new site template, and lots of new fans, I wanted to be sure to showcase it. Think of it as a box-set re-issue. :)

  2. I agree that Blackjack is not dead yet as me and my other friends play it very often whenever we get time. It is quite good casino game to play for fun. I also play it for money as well on online casinos sometimes.