For
the player who's not interested in just minimizing
losses, but wants to pull off a spectacular coup (perhaps
using the maximum boldness strategy suggested in page
2), knowing how to count cards will allow him to place
a bet when the house advantage is nonexistent, or,
provided he is patient, when he actually has the edge.
Wait until the count has become very positive or very
negative, above or below at least 20. The more extreme
the count the higher your advantage. Such situations
aren't all that common; this will probably only ever
occur in the last few hands of a shoe. Depending on
how fast the games is dealt, how many decks are used,
and how many cards are dealt, you might have four
to ten opportunities in an eight-hour day. In this
situation, you will have a very slight advantage over
the casino (somewhere between 0.1 and 0.5 percent).
You can then place a wager of whatever size you want
with the knowledge that chance is on your side. This
is the only casino games in whi-h you would be able
to do this. Other games, such as roulette and craps,
never give you an advantage. A online blackjack games
player can detect situations in which he has the edge
over the house, but to prevent detection he must not
raise his bet too drastically, or he will be thrown
out of the casino. This won't happen to you at Online
Baccarat Games, since very few people know how to
count cards at this games.
Finally, in a game with a 4 percent commission (or
less), counting cards is not worthwhile. In this situation,
the player bet will only very rarely be more favorable
than the banker. |
With
only a few players left, your starting requirements
are wide open now, so your poker play should be loose
and aggressive before the flop. After the flop, the
realities of the cards are overwhelmed by the perceptions
and psychologies of the players, making deception
and aggressiveness crucial. Put on your best poker
performance and have fun going after the big prize.
A no-limit Hold'em match among a handful of good players
is an amazing sight to behold. Human factors become
preeminent, and mathematics recedes into near trivial
significance. The hands that these players play with-and
win with-defy everything that you know about good
basic strategy. That is because the decisions that
these players make have very little to do with any
math and depend almost entirely on what they think
their opponents will do in specific situations.' The
bluffs become more audacious, and deception gets integrated
into every decision that is made. Finally, because
so much can be at stake with the fall of a single
card, luck often plays a large role in crowning the
winner.
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