Blackjack by DC

I feel better. I have been working hard in the past few days, and have earned back the money I blew off. I got my credit card statement and it hurt - I honestly feel like sobering up is the way to go here. I’m turning this blog into me fighting my gambling problem, I’m affraid.

Anyway, the thing is — I still have quite a lot of knowledge — who knows I’ll write some articles one day — the kind that explains the game, but also warns those who start playing it…

Blergh.

I just gave in. Lost $400 playing blackjack online. I can’t believe I cracked, and I was close to crying. At some points in a man’s life, he should get help. I’m getting a sick feeling here that I’m more of an addict than I thought I was, which is not the road I want to follow in life. I don’t mind being slightly hooked. I do mind when a man my age feels sick, close to crying, after not being able to keep a promise he made to himself.

Bingo is popularly known as a game of chance like other gambling online game. This game is full of fun and is often played to pass the leisure time because in bingo, the chances for winning this game are larger than any other online game. The bingo played in UK has slight difference to the American Bingo and to that of bingo played in Australia in terms of tickets or calling has slighter difference.

If you have selected to play UK online bingo then you need to find a site which also deals in pound apart from only dollars. The enthusiastic game bingo has originated from the lottery game known as ‘Lo Giuoco Code Loto’, which was played in Italy in sixteenth century. In 1929, a game Beano was played near Atlanta by using Cardboard sheets, rubber stamps and dried Beans.

The great Edwin Lowe conducted a similar new game who got inspired by watching that game. He suggested that the winner of Beano has to call ‘Bingo’ despite of ‘Beano’ and therefore, bingo originated. Bingo game is a pure form of fun which is played by large number of enthusiast all over world to maximize their pleasure and entertainment. Online bingo has taken the game into the 21st century!

I’ve been playing online, FOR FREE. I feel like the smallest little donkey idiot ever. I downloaded this trainer game, and have been hooked trying to make prime decisions only.

I’ve had moment in which I disagreed with the software consistently. Guess my game WASN’T perfect. I mean — BASIC STRATEGY SHOULD BE SIMPLE, no? :p

Meh — I need a hobby.

I’ve been doing anything but gambling for over two weeks now, and I’m still ok. Been holding out quite a lot, and actually even drove past a casino and NOT WENT IN. It’s always tough for me to drive past one and just keep driving — it’s almost like my body wants me to move into the direction of the shiny lights…

Anyway, still doing ok. Playing some low-stakes poker home games amongst friends as the only form of gambling — and seeing as that’s in a game I pretty much beat on a 75% win-session basis I feel pretty confident that’s not gambling.

Oh well — wish me luck, hope not to gamble in March at all — we’ll see how long I hang in there.

2008 has been tough. I’ve been playing my regular game, and I’ve been consistently losing money over the first 7 weeks of the year. It’s painful to see your bankroll get drained, and it’s painful to see your twentieth 11-double down against a 5 or a 6 get beaten by a bank making 21. It’s tough, it’s frustrating, it’s gambling.

I’ve decided to take a break until the end of march. I’ve got plenty of other sources of income, and it’s probably the only thing that can calm me as at this point I feel I’m close to compulsive behavior. Wish me luck – I’ll need it!

Blackjack is fun in the casino’s — it really is, but, just like poker — there’s quite the range of possibilities to enjoy a game of blackjack in your own home… It’s obviously not the most legal activity in most countries if there’s real money involved — but as long as you keep it private, you should be ok.

Anyway, what you need:

• One or more decks of cards
• A table
• Casino chips (poker chips)
• Maybe even a blackjack table lay-out

I suggest using a single deck setup for homegames. It allows for more suckout and makes card counting way easier. It does mean cards should be shuffled, which could slow down the game somewhat. If you want to play at high velocity — use multiple decks.

And… have fun!

Using free online blackjack games to learn the finesses of the game can be a good thing — but sometimes it’s even better to use trainer software to really finetune your game and lean basic strategy by heart. I’m working on an extensive list of online and desktop free blackjack games to allow all of our readers a good free way of upping their skills — but I might need some help…

If you know of specific blackjack trainer games (free!), and want to make sure I include them in my list — holler at me using the comment system. I’ll make sure to add any relevant link!

Being a semi-professional gambler it’s always hard going through periods of cold play. My first week of 2008 was a cold one — and it pretty much started with a hand I never expected to lose…. I’ll run you through it:

3 players at the table, I’m playing 3 boxes — all in front. Two other playes both play a single box — one is behind me on one of the boxes.

Cards come out — I’ve got:

- A/A
- 7/3
- 6/6

Dealer’s upcard is a 6.

Yay — that’s excellent news! I split the aces — and in the casino I’m playing that means ONE card extra only — no blackjacks. I get a 7 (18) and a 9 (20). Not awesome — but good enough against a six.

Second box is an obvious double down. I get a ten. 20.

Last box isn’t too tricky — i split my sixes. First card: 5. I double down on 11 and get a 3. 14.  Second split six gets a 4. I double down on ten and get a 10.  20.

At this point, there’s a good deal of money on the table due to all the double downs and the splits.

Dealer goes:

6-10-5.

I’ve seen this happen before (it still hurts but oh well), but that seemed to be the start of a cold run for me. I went on to lose more than I wanted to that night — and have decided to take the second week of January off from playing blackjack and play some low-stakes poker… Let’s turn the tide!

This is quite an interesting video considering Fox being the source. The interview about Mike, a former MIT Blackjack team member, a bunch of geniuses counting cards in Vegas…

The MIT team is now banned in a lot of casinos, which is sad…

Good to see mike stressing the basic strategy… It’s SO important, even when card counting!