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“There are probably people who believe that such a thing as basic strategy exists, but who for one reason or another, have not been able to find a simple, clear way of learning the strategy.”
Ken Uston, Million Dollar Blackjack
Thursday at seven, right? Right. I’m sure of it.
Where the hell was everyone? I logged back onto my computer to double-check my emails. Yes, Thursday at 7. It was 7:15, and I was alone in my kitchen, nervously tapping the six decks of Bicycle cards that I’d bought earlier that day at the local pharmacy. A few more taps and I might have given up on the whole thing. Maybe I’d scoot out of my place, go downstairs, and escape for a beer at Sullivan’s Tap, a local watering hole on my block. Those thoughts came to an abrupt halt when I heard the loud buzzer of my doorbell.
First to arrive was Domenic. I invited him in, both of us a bit tentative, trying to ease our nerves by making small talk. He’d driven in from 35 miles west of the city, passionate to improve on the game that had piqued his interest. Based on his nervous energy, I wondered how he could ever possibly handle himself as an advantage player. Then again, who was I to judge? Shortly after letting this stranger into my home, the doorbell buzzed again and I peered down the stairwell to see a bigger-than-life shadow. I knew it was D.A. and somehow felt a sense of relief.
The three of us sat around my dining room table, waiting for our fourth attendee, unsure of where to begin. In addition to the cards, I had some old poker chips that my friends and I would use to play Texas hold ’em. I’d made printouts of a blackjack basic strategy chart that I downloaded from a Google search minutes earlier. By 7:30, it didn’t look like the fourth would show, so Domenic suggested that we get started by dealing out hands and trying to count the cards using the high-low counting system we’d been shown by Semyon.
Failed attempts to keep track, as well as frequent basic strategy mistakes, left us all severely frustrated and a little embarrassed. We’d hoped that it would somehow come to us naturally but the reality was that it was going to take some work. We had agreed to meet from 7 to 9 for that first practice and we had about a half hour to go when Domenic’s cell phone rang.
“Gotta take this call, fellas,” Domenic announced.
We could tell that he was speaking with his ex-wife about his children. After some back and forth, he ended the call.
“Sorry, I’ve gotta go pick up my kids. Don’t ever get married, fellas. Same time next week?”
We hadn’t discussed a second practice, but once again, without hesitation, I answered, “Sure, that’d be great.”
What was I getting myself into?
Domenic took off, leaving D.A. and me with a pile of chips and playing cards scattered across the table. It gave us a chance to talk one on one. As it turned out, D.A. had played football at an Ivy League school before moving to Boston to enroll in the MBA program at Boston University. He and his wife had relocated just a few months before. After trading our backgrounds, we realized we had quite a lot in common despite the fact that I was a few years older.
“This is pretty frustrating stuff,” I uttered, redirecting the conversation.
“Yeah, but I’m not sure how much of that was the game of blackjack and how much of that was Domenic,” he joked.
“Whadya say we start from the beginning. Maybe if we take things step by step, we can break it down more effectively,” I suggested.
“I couldn’t agree more. Want to start with basic strategy?”
“Seems to be the logical choice. It’s nine-thirty. Maybe we should meet again next week with Domenic and just work on that. I can let Domenic know through email what we’re thinking.”
Basic strategy was the place to start. Over the years, the game of blackjack has evolved and, with it, the specific rules that we see throughout casinos today. The rules can be different, even from table to table within the same casino. Most people consider blackjack to be a straightforward game with a simple set of rules. However, bust-out bets, doubling on any number of cards, 2nd chance 21, over/under, no hole card, match the dealer, hit or stand on soft 17, blackjack-payout ratios, early surrender, late surrender, multi-card surrender, surrender after doubling, re-splitting aces—these are all variations and variables that can affect playing decisions.
Today, the most common rules seen in the game are often referred to as “Strip rules.” While this blanket title is a misnomer—not all tables on the Vegas Strip are the same, and the rules-set that used to specifically define Strip rules is now all but extinct—the majority of tables at the high-end Strip hotels offer fairly standard and favorable rules. According to Pi Yee Press’ monthly subscription service, Current Blackjack News, some Vegas casinos offer blackjack with a house advantage of as little as 0.26%. These rules assume:
6-deck shoes
Blackjack pays 3-to-2
Dealer stands on soft 17
Double down on any two cards
Double down allowed after a split
Resplit aces
I knew from staring at the basic strategy chart at Semyon’s seminar that, for the most part, these were the types of tables that the MIT teams played. They offered the lowest hurdle in terms of the house edge. Basic strategy charts differ slightly depending on the set of table rules being applied, but this was to be the foundation. The worst-case scenario, I thought, was that it might make me a bit more educated for the next bachelor party weekend in Vegas. At best, a world of opportunity might open up. With no attachment to either, I began to memorize every combination of playing decisions for the player hands.
Step 1: Starting hands of 5-11
Step 2: Stiff hands, 12-16
Step 3: Soft hands, A,2-A,9
Step 4: Pairs, 2,2-A,A
Pure memorization was never my strength. Mental challenges in general, however, were. My father had always been a crossword puzzle buff and something about games and puzzles appealed to me, too. I knew I had one week to learn as much as I could and my competitive nature wouldn’t allow me to be the least prepared of the group. I emailed Domenic and D.A. to thank them for coming over and let Domenic know what D.A. and I had decided about starting from square one. Despite his unnerving energy, Domenic seemed quite deferential when it came to the two of us.
I hit send and then consulted my chart. I knew one technique for memorization was flash cards. For the next week I spent hours on those flash cards. They were on my nightstand next to my bed, they were with me in my car at stoplights, and they were at my desk at work for my lunch break.
| Player 9 vs. dealer 3 … | double down |
| Player 8,8 vs. dealer 6 … | split |
| Player 16 vs. dealer ten … | surrender |
It started to get much easier within just a couple of days. The more natural it became, the more energized I was to get better.
I can actually do this.
I flipped over playing cards, dealing two cards to myself and one card in front of me that represented the dealer’s upcard. Decision after decision after decision. Sometimes I double-checked to make sure I got it right, but more often than not I had. I was right about 95% of the time. Not bad, I thought, until I remembered what Semyon had said: 100% right, 100% of the time. I had a lot of work to do, especially if I was going to add more skills on top of basic strategy.
The following week, we reconvened at my dining room table. D.A. had done as much work as I had. At that point, he was clearly ahead of me. But the fact that someone else was passionate about getting good helped further my obsession with the game. We knew that Domenic had also worked hard but the net result was that he struggled with it. Basic strategy didn’t come as easily to him and a certain humbleness began to emerge.
“I’m sorry, guys. I’m really trying. Numbers have never come easy to me and my mind isn’t young like yours. But I’ll keep plugging away,” he said.
We both admired his tenacity and, despite the fact that it slowed us down at times, we were all committed to our shell of a “team.”
As the practice wound down it was clear that our ability to play near-perfect basic strategy had dramatically improved. We knew that with more effort we could really accomplish something. So we agreed to meet every week, sometimes twice a week, until each phase of our development was complete.
At each phase of the game that we advanced through we created small tests for ourselves. Since the MIT teams called these tests “checkouts,” so would we. The first check-out was a series of blank basic strategy grids. We each had to complete the grids ourselves, without error, within one minute. Next, we had to write out the correct basic strategy decision for 80 different random hands, without error, within two minutes. And lastly, we had to play through a 6-deck blackjack shoe without error and, even more difficult, without any hesitation in making the correct play—all while being distracted by the other two guys.
Within two weeks, D.A. and I knew basic strategy like a grade-schooler knows his ABCs. Domenic was doing much better but was still a step behind. Nevertheless, D.A. and I could wait no longer. Our confidence was peaking and we needed to move forward.
The next step was to master the running count.