Party Blackjack

[waldo027]

I'm sure there has been a lot of talk on this forum about Party Blackjack. I just started playing a week ago and I understand all the basic strategy, and I've started to teach myself to count cards. I'm 20 years old and turn 21 in less than a month, so I have yet to play in a casino. I have a few questions about playing Blackjack on Party.

1) I've been betting $5 a hand and I'm up over $400 over the past 3-4 days. Is this an enormous upswing? Should I quit playing for now to avoid crashing and burning?

2) Party's site says they play with 8 full decks, but I never hear any sounds or anything to indicate that they are re-shuffling the cards. Is it the kind of thing where they put the used cards back into a little slot, which creates an infinitely long deck?

3) From what I've heard, even if you use perfect strategy, the house still has an advantage over you. Why is that? Does it have to do with the fact that one of the dealer's cards are hidden?

4) Using perfect strategy and card counting, is Party Blackjack beatable?

[threeonefour]

have you read anything about card counting? its sounds like you don't know what you are talking about at all.

as for the party info. the cards are shuffled after each hand or maybe it was after 1 deck of cards or so. i can't remember but its irrelevant at any rate. its not profitable even with counting because you never get enough penetration.

if you don't understand why perfect basic strategy is unprofitable given a certain rule set for blackjack then you really should stay far away from the tables until you educate yourself on how the game works.

[Kerth]

Quit playing Party Blackjack if you like money.

[Double Down]

Rather than being crass and insulting you like other posters, I'm going to give you some advice.
Basic strategy still gives the house the advantage because using a simulator, one could figure out exactly what the EV is in every possible situation, as well as the odds of the situation arising. Plugging it all in, at most casinos, based on a rule change here and there, playing perfect basic still leaves the player at a disadvantage of anywhere from .18%-1%.

Not to insult you at all, but if you were not aware of things such as the nature of why basic strategy yields the house % it does, you may not have been learning to count cards the correct way either. There are several good websites that could show you how, I don't know any off hand, but www.bj21.com is the best forum for blackjack. There are also several good books out there. Professional Blackjack by Stanford Wong is a good book to get you started on the basic hi-lo, and it also has a good breakdowns on all sorts of facts and figures.
Good luck.
Oh! And yes, Party BJ is not beatable because there is not enough penetration. Even though you don't hear a shuffling sound, the cards still randomize after 52 cards have been dealt.

[threeonefour]

[ QUOTE ]
Rather than being crass and insulting you like other posters, I'm going to give you some advice.
Basic strategy still gives the house the advantage because using a simulator, one could figure out exactly what the EV is in every possible situation, as well as the odds of the situation arising. Plugging it all in, at most casinos, based on a rule change here and there, playing perfect basic still leaves the player at a disadvantage of anywhere from .18%-1%.

Not to insult you at all, but if you were not aware of things such as the nature of why basic strategy yields the house % it does, you may not have been learning to count cards the correct way either. There are several good websites that could show you how, I don't know any off hand, but www.bj21.com is the best forum for blackjack. There are also several good books out there. Professional Blackjack by Stanford Wong is a good book to get you started on the basic hi-lo, and it also has a good breakdowns on all sorts of facts and figures.
Good luck.
Oh! And yes, Party BJ is not beatable because there is not enough penetration. Even though you don't hear a shuffling sound, the cards still randomize after 52 cards have been dealt.

[/ QUOTE ]well i would like to apologize if i came off as an [censored]. it was not my intention but the OP shouldn't be playing blackjack given his level of knowledge and that is what i was trying to get across.

the above post is accurate though but i would like to point out that the single biggest advantage the house has in blackjack is that it acts last. meaning if you bust and the dealer busts, the house still wins. the player has a plethora of advantages namely, the ability to split, double down, not play according to some algorithm (vary your play based on the dealer's upcard), surrender, getting paid more on blackjack. all these relatively small advantages however do not compensate for the advantage of acting last. that is basically why the house has an advantage in BJ using only basic strategy

[RxCowBell]

Card counting won't be productive on PPBJ. They use 8 decks and shuffle after 10% of the cards are used. With 10% used, you play 11 hands at the very most (neither player nor dealer ever hitting) before all cards become live again. Sample size there is too small for any long-term effect on EV.

It never says when it's re-shuffling; the 416 cards are just recompiled and randomized into one 416-long string without notification.

I actually hate PPBJ. If you're up now, I strongly suggest stopping and waiting until you're 21 and hitting a casino. I can't find it mathematically possible to actually have the edge, despite perfect play.

[viper930]

you cant count cards on party blackjack, thats why its -ev whatever you do. do not play party blackjack

[tomdemaine]

[ QUOTE ]
you cant count cards on party blackjack, thats why its -ev whatever you do. do not play party blackjack

[/ QUOTE ]

nit