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    Blackjack is one of the most popular card games played in casinos worldwide. It’s no wonder that the game of Blackjack has been studied by many gambling professionals. Through this intense study methods have been revealed which allow players to subtly increase their odds while playing the game of Blackjack. Many people think that Blackjack is just another game of chance, like a slot machine or roulette, but this simply isn’t the case. If you compare the odds of blackjack to other casino games that you will run into, you will find that the odds of blackjack are much better.

    The blackjack card game is very popular worldwide, and some speculate that it may just be the most popular card game ever. Blackjack is enjoyed by people in nearly every casino worldwide, and even played by many religiously online. Blackjack websites have grown in number over the years, and can offer a convenient place to play or just go for a few practice hands.

    What has made blackjack such a popular card game? One of the main reasons is that when blackjack is played properly, the house has an edge of a little less than 1%. When you compare this number to other table games at the casino, you can see that the odds of winning with Blackjack are much higher than anything else.

    With these kinds of odds, why are casinos still making money with Blackjack and not losing it? Basically, it´s because most players who play Blackjack don´t play the game properly or well enough to make a good living off of it. It´s a shame that most players give up such a great advantage just with lazy playing.

    The fact of the matter is that as a player, you can affect the odds of your Blackjack playing. Unlike real games of chance like roulette, the decisions you make during the game of Blackjack ultimately affects your odds and how many times you will end up winning your hands. It would be smart to research more about how to increase your odds at Blackjack. People have been increasing their odds in Blackjack for years, and thus their pocketbooks, too. Casinos try to spot out these Blackjack professionals, but it’s not like they can completely stop them since what they do is completely legal – it isn’t cheating in any way shape or form.

    In Blackjack, instead of the game being based on a chance set of independent events, it is dependent on the cards that have been previously played. This is the main reason why it isn’t cheating, you’re simply making smart decisions based on the cards that you’ve already seen.

    In a nutshell, the large cards left in the deck, yet to be played, favor the player. The smaller cards yet to be dealt favor the dealer. This is the main reason why card counting is important in Blackjack, and will increase your odds of winning more often than not. There’s many places with free information online that will help your Blackjack game. Take advantage of this advice, it can’t hurt.

    Find out more information about blackjack odds at online blackjack odds. A great resource for beginners to learn how to play blackjack and also for experienced players who can find out how to count cards like a professional blackjack player.

    Learning how to deal blackjack is not that difficult but you do need to remember very specific rules when you deal. Begin to deal with the player on your left. Give them a card that is face up. Deal to the next person on the right and continue around the table until you get a card. Your card goes face down. Deal one more round of cards in the same manner so each player has two cards. Yours are both face down, one on top of the other. Put the cards down and flip your bottom card over to reveal the face.

    If your bottom card shows an ace when you flip it, ask if anyone would like insurance. The insurance bet is half the amount of the original bet. If the dealer has a blackjack, it pays two to one and protects the bet. Peak underneath and if it’s a blackjack pay off the insurance bets first, then collect the losing wagers of the players. If a player has a blackjack you have an ace, then you need to ask the player if they want even money. This means that they bought insurance, pushed and get the payment of 1 to 1 for their blackjack instead of 3 to 1 like normal.

    If your card is a face card you also need to peak at the other card that is turned over. If you have a blackjack, all players lose, except someone with a blackjack. They push which means they don’t win but they don’t lose their wager.

    The players now see your cards and decide whether they want to take a hit or pass. An ace can count as one or ten. You start again to your left and if the player waves an open hand over the cards or says pass, you move to the next person. If the player taps the table, points to the table or says, “Hit me” you give them a card.

    If the total of the cards is over twenty-one the player busts. Then you take the cards, put them in a discard pile, and take the chips.

    Some games offer the option of surrender. This means the player doesn’t think they can beat your hand and ask for it. They lose only half the bet.

    Another opportunity for a player decision is a double down. Usually this occurs when a player has two cards that total 10 or 11. The player moves a stack equal to or less next to the original. If he doubles for less he indicates that also. The player only receives one card and can’t take another after he doubled down. Depending on the table rules, some allow doubling regardless of how much the first two cards total.

    If a player has two like cards, they can split. When a player wants to split, they put the exact amount down as the original bet and motion for a split with putting their first two fingers flat on the table. Deal to the hand on the left first. If the player gets an amount that he feels appropriate for a double down, he can double for less or put the exact number of chips next to that stack indicating a double.

    After the player busts or stays on the first hand move to the second. If another like card is in the first two of either split, the player can split again. There can be as many as four hands in front of the player if they split three times. Players can’t split more than three times. If the player has two aces, they may split but each ace only gets one card. Some tables allow for resplitting aces but it’s rare.

    When each player receives the number of cards they want, you flip your second card over. If your hand shows less than 17 then you must take a hit. In some cases, table rules require that the dealer take another card when they have a soft 17, that’s an ace and a six. If you bust, everyone left with a bet wins. If you get 17 through 21, you pay those with a higher amount showing and take the wager of the hands that are lower. If your score matches a player’s it’s a push and they keep their wager but don’t win.

    This article has reprint rights as long as the resource box is intact: This article was brought to you by Jason Szova – http://ProsOfGambling.com – If you would like more info on how to profit with your passion for gambling, visit http://www.ProsOfGambling.com

    A betting system is basically a way of using money management to maximize your profits. Managing your money properly is the major criteria while playing blackjack, as no technique or method can win you money unless you effectively deal with your bet.

    Most blackjack betting systems can be categorized as multiplicative, additive or linear. The Martingale system is considered to be the most widely used blackjack betting system. It was invented over 200 years ago. The system is multiplicative in nature, which means that you are required to double your bet each time you lose, on the assumption that you will eventually win and show a profit from the initial wager. However, in order to eliminate the effectiveness of this system, casinos have set table limits, which ensure that after a long losing streak you will eventually hit the table maximum limit and have to quit the game or start afresh. Also, in order to make the system work you also need a considerable bankroll.

    The Progressive Betting System, on the other hand, is the simplest and the most effective betting system. In this system, a player simply decides on a minimum and maximum bet and then bets the smaller amount after a loss and the larger amount after a win. However, this kind of betting system fails when you experience a win, loss, win, loss type of scenario. In such cases, it is advisable to bet an equal amount on each hand.

    D’Alembert is a simple linear system named after the eighteenth-century theorist Jean le Rond d’Alembert. In this system, you raise your bet by a fixed amount if you lose and lower it by a fixed amount if you win. The Anti-Martingale system requires that you double your bets after a win instead of a loss, the reverse of the Martingale system. There is a high probability of a small loss and a small probability of a huge win, as when you lose a bet you have wiped out your wins plus one unit.

    Although there are various other kinds of blackjack betting systems as well, no one can guarantee positive results. Therefore, it is advisable to rely on one’s own intuition while placing big bets.

    Black Jack provides detailed information on Black Jack, Black Jack Games, Online Black Jack, Black Jack Gambling and more. Black Jack is affiliated with Roulette Gambling [http://www.net-roulette.com].

    What’s the first thing that enters your mind when you think of MIT, the world-renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology: engineering genius, mathematical wizard, visionary, geek, hacker? If you chose any one of those, you would be correct. Mix them all together, add some smoke and mirrors, big-time anonymous investors, a dash of anarchy for good measure, and you get one of the best scams of all times—the MIT Blackjack Team—the ultimate in high stakes, genius-backed hacking! Infamy is nothing new to MIT. Some of the world’s wiliest hackers hailed from the hallowed halls of MIT; but when one gifted math professor and six gifted students banded together, they propelled organized hacking to dizzying heights and snookered organized gambling to the tune of millions! That was sweet music to the ears of millions who have left behind small fortunes in their quest to beat the casinos.

    After school club

    The MIT Blackjack team began as an after-school club held in campus classrooms where students assembled to apply their genius to card games, unwind (at least, by MIT standards), and have fun. The club eventually evolved into serious business. The team set up a complete underground system of casino mock-ups spanning apartments, warehouses, and classrooms scattered across Boston where they worked diligently to perfect their scheme. Before advancing to live play in the casino, each player had to pass a rigorous battery of tests encompassing all of the roles under simulated casino conditions, including distraction and harassment. Still, they were not ready for the big league until further honing their skills in Boston’s Chinatown before heading to Las Vegas.

    Card Counting

    Card counting, the heart of their system, is a proven winning technique. Blackjack odds offer the one opportunity for those with skill, dogged determination, and discipline to consistently beat the house. The casinos know that Blackjack is vulnerable (that smart, disciplined players actually have a fighting chance of winning), and that is why they ban the big winners and harass and threaten potential big winners.

    Casino management further understands that it takes only one or two mistakes to turn a player’s winning system into a house win, and that is the only reason that they tolerate card counting—until it turns against them. They rely on human frailties, such as lack of discipline and distraction, to return the advantage to the house.

    The MIT team used card counting as the foundation of their system; it was only one among a number of tools in their magical tool box, and even then, it wasn’t traditional card counting. It added a high-low system, based on the statistical probability of receiving high or low cards, and they added an additional technique for cutting the cards that further skewed the odds in their favor.

    Team members traveled together, seemingly as total strangers. Each assumed one of a number of well-crafted fake identities, the teams included several types of players, each member playing a well-defined role. Anonymous investors provided the stake and expected a return on their investment. One such outing netted a 154% ROI after expenses. Transporting huge amounts of cash back and forth was another obstacle they overcame with ingenuity. Cash traveled in every conceivable manner: strapped to bodies, on “mules,” in hollow crutches, just to name a few.

    High Tech vs Low Tech

    Their reign spanned a good part of the 1990s when they traveled the casino circuit with total abandon. Their $400,000 winning weekend in Las Vegas is legendary. Casino technology was not yet at a stage where it could match wits with MIT genius. At least, it had not made its way to practical application in Las Vegas, Ironically, it would be low-tech sloppiness that brought the team down in the end.

    The casinos had learned to deal with the card counters long before the MIT pikers hit the scene. When they identified a card counter, they would ensure that his play at the tables was a living nightmare, and should the card counter take the house for a large sum, they would immediately ban him. Technology in the 1990s had matured to a point where bad news traveled fast. When the card counter was detected at one casino, it became nearly impossible to escape detection at any other casino.

    Profiled MIT Blackjack Team

    Las Vegas casino bosses relied on a long-established profile of the Blackjack card counter, but since the MIT team ran counter to the profile, that also worked in their favor, helping them to escape detection. The profile assumed one lone card counter. The team’s nonchalant, seemingly random style of play also ran counter to the profile. But they were crazy like foxes—until they were no more.

    Finally, sloppiness brought them to their knees. Eventually, they lost their discipline and their cool; the well-oiled machine built with the precision of a Swiss watch began to fall apart. They began to fraternize, and not just with the usual Las Vegas temptations, but with each other—in public. A total chance spotting of the teams relaxing and playing at a Las Vegas pool blew their cover. The tale of their unraveling wound its way back to the back streets of Boston before they finally disbanded. The odds had finally turned against them, and the stakes were far too high for even the geniuses from MIT.

    The last remaining team player was escorted from the table with the parting words, “You can’t play here. You’re too good for us.”

    Blackjack Team in the News

    The tale of the MIT Blackjack Team doesn’t end with its demise. ABC, CNN, History Channel, and CBS’s 60 Minutes all picked up the story. Bringing Down the House : The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions (Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group, 2002), by Ben Mezrich, chronicles the escapades of the team from its inception to the end of the line through the eyes of team member, Kevin Lewis (not his real name). One enterprising former member currently offers seminars based on the system.

    The final irony has yet to play itself out. Kevin Spacey is producing the movie version of the book, due to be released by MGM sometime in 2006. One has to wonder if the movie will help MGM recover its losses to the MIT Blackjack Team.

    Want to learn more about Blackjack Strategy and other types of casino games? Casino Gambling Watchdogs is a collection of free articles related to online casino gambling.

    You have probably heard of Roulette Sniper, it has been around for a while and it is one of the programs I bought in one of my many gullible and desperate times. The software is designed to be used in online casinos. The roulette sniper software does not work. Online casinos use software that gives them a huge advantage and there is no way to gain an edge.

    So now there is Blackjack Sniper. This software is from the same guy and has apparently been in development for the past 2 years. The software sells for $39.95 (usually $149.99 yeah right!), but someone sent me an “invitation” to buy it for $21. I decided to give it a try, knowing I could request a refund when it didn’t work.

    I hate to crush your hopes, but Blackjack Sniper is basically just like a blackjack calculator that you can download for free from a number of places. Unless you have never played blackjack before, it will be of no use to you.

    The sales page says that the software works using perfect blackjack strategy, combined with card counting and various other techniques. All you have to do is select options and how much you want to bet and enter the cards you are dealt and it will tell you what to do. You can choose to bet progressively or not and it will adjust your wager accordingly.

    I used the software in practice play, as I do not intend losing money in an online casino. Whilst progressive betting with a basic $2 wager, the software adviced me to bet over $200 at once to make just $2 profit. Thank God I was in practice mode as I lost that bet. Without progressive betting it still had me betting huge amounts when the adjust wager button was checked. When I kept the wager the same (no automatic adjustment) I still lost over $100. I tried it at 3 different casinos and the results were always the same. Even when I won and got ahead I soon lost it all. Here is why it does not work:

    1. Online casinos select random cards from the pack as if the pack were constantly being shuffled. Therefore, card counting can never work online. It is useless to try and use it.
    2. This software does use perfect blackjack strategy most of the time, but this can be learnt very quickly for free online, by looking at strategy cards or downloading a free blackjack calculator.
    3. Progressive betting is an option that will never work for long. Online casinos work against you, so it would be very hard to come out a winner.
    4. The sales videos show the guy winning easily, but think how many videos he made before getting this one. It does not work like he says it does.
    5. Using casino bonus money is not as easy as it seems. Many casinos will not let you cash out your bonus until after you have wagered it a certain number of times and blackjack and roulette often do not count towards the wager, so you have to play, even more risky games like slots.
    6. The reason people will hype this up is because it is an affiliate program. The promoters will make money if you buy the product.

    Hopefully this review has cleared a few things up. Blackjack is a fun game to play in a land based casino and can be beaten by using card counting if they do not use an automatic shuffler, but you cannot keep beating the online casinos. Please do not waste your money on Blackjack or Roulette Sniper. I’m off to request my refund.

    http://www.MissGullible.com Get loads of tips to avoid scams and learn from Miss Gullible’s mistakes. Learn how to really make money from home without getting scammed.

    http://www.MissGullible.com
    Catherine Smith 2008