Blackjack players can be a thoughtful lot, always pondering the deeper mysteries of the game they love. That's no surprise in a game that requires knowledge and strategy.
That quest for knowledge has led many players to their keyboards. In three decades of writing about gambling, I've received hundreds of questions from blackjack players.
Here are a few of the most intriguing among frequently asked questions by blackjack-playing readers.
Is Playing Online Better Than Playing in a Live Casino?
Question: The blackjack tables are my first stop any time I go to a casino, and I've been going a long time. Lately, I've been playing online, more and more since it was legalized in New Jersey.
I hold my own regardless of where I'm playing, but is one better than the other? Might I get a better game online, or are the games pretty much the same?
Answer: There are a collection of pluses and minuses here, and in the end whether it's better to play blackjack online or in live casinos depends on your needs, your level of play and personal preferences.
One big plus for playing online is that you can have a basic strategy card next to you or an a separate tab on your browser while you play. Familiarity with basic strategy is essential, but if you're fuzzy on some details, you can use the chart to help you.
Some jurisdictions, including Nevada, allow you to look at a basic strategy chart while you play in live casinos. Others, including Illinois, do not.
But even where consulting a chart is legal, you'll encounter some resistance from the dealer and from other players if you do so too often and slow down play. Once at a Las Vegas casino, I saw a player pull a strategy chart out of his shirt pocket a few times. Finally, he reached for the chart, and the dealer said in a bored tone, "The card says hit." He wanted the game to move along.
There's no such resistance when you consult a chart on your own online.
Some players like playing online because they don't have to interact with other players, or watch players who think they know they game verbally bully others over perceives mistakes. Others go the opposite way, preferring the social aspects of a live game.
If you count cards, live games are your bread and butter. Many online games dealt by a random number generator electronically reshuffle for every hand, and that makes it impossible to count cards.
Also, online games move much faster than live games. In most online games, there's no waiting for other players to make decisions. Bets are settled automatically, with no time taken by a dealer in paying winners and collecting losing bets. Faster games favor whoever has an edge, and that's almost always the house.
If you do play online, take care not play too fast and overbet your bankroll. Take time to make your hit or stand decisions. Take a deep breath before clicking to start the next hand. Take breaks. Speed is not the object of the game.
Is Counting Cards Illegal?
Question: I know casinos don't like you to count cards and they consider it cheating. I've seen players escorted out of casinos. But is it illegal to count cards? Can you be arrested?
There are a lot of books and information on the web that teach you how to count, but I wouldn't want to risk it if they could send me to jail.
Answer: Card counting is not cheating, nor is it illegal in the United States. That's been tested many times in court, and no American court has ever held card counting to be illegal. Such cases are almost never brought to court anymore since the principle is so well established.
Counting cards is using information that's freely available. Counters track the balance of high cards and low cards that have been played. If more low cards have come out, that leaves a greater proportion of high cards in the remaining deck. That makes blackjacks more likely, and counters raise their bets.
There's nothing wrong with using that information as long as it's gathered via observation and mental processes. However, if artificial means are used, that's a problem. It is illegal to use a computer to process the information and tell you when to raise your bets.
Although the practice is not illegal, casinos can bar for counting cards. They can stop you from playing, they can evict you from the premises.
Not all casinos will go for a full ban on every counter. I've known players who have been told, "Hey, you're too tough for us. You can play any other game in the house, but don't come back to a blackjack table." That's what happened in a highly publicized incident in 2014 when actor Ben Affleck was told by the Hard Rock casino in Las Vegas that he was too good a player but was welcome at any game but blackjack.
I've also known players who have been thrown out of their hotel rooms and told any further attempt to enter the building would be regarded as trespassing.
Casinos are allowed to go that far because courts have held casinos to be private clubs that can bar any player for any reason.
The prime reason they would bar a player is because if the player is sharp enough, card counting works. Allowing good card counters to play can make a dent in revenue. Affleck wasn't banned because he was cheating or because his actions were illegal. He was banned because he could hit the casino where it hurts: right in the bankroll.
So no, counting cards is neither cheating nor illegal. But casinos can evict you if they catch you counting.
Is There a Flaw in Basic Strategy?
Question: Recently, I've heard some people talking about how blackjack basic strategy is somehow flawed and that flaw has been making players lose for decades. There are even whole websites dedicated to finding the flaw. Is it true, is basic strategy wrong?
Answer: While you might have heard it only recently, the idea of the basic strategy flaw has been around for decades. The story goes that when basic strategy was first developed in the 1960s, there was a mistake in the calculations and that that mistake has been passed down for years with most people never realizing the error.
That's just an old gambling myth and is not at all true. Basic strategy was not calculated just once; it has been calculated thousands of times by different mathematicians and verified again and again. It has even been analyzed, and sometimes slightly changed, for every single rule variation, ensuring that players have the best chance to win.
The reason the myth of the basic strategy flaw persists is that many people do not quite understand what it does. If you play blackjack basic strategy, you cut the house edge to under 1%, and sometimes much less depending on house rules.
However, basic strategy does not give you an edge even if you play perfectly. You'll win more often if you play basic strategy than if you just try to play by feel, but over the time, the house will take its share.
Players expecting basic strategy to make them winners every time are disappointed and search for strategy flaws. But to get an edge, you need more advanced play, such as counting cards.
