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Electronics Enter the Players’ Arsenal

Electronics Enter the Players’ Arsenal
During this same time period, Keith Taft began developing the first concealed blackjack computer, and by 1972, Keith had started using a computer in the Nevada casinos to play “perfect” blackjack. Nevada had no laws at that time prohibiting the use of devices at their tables. Keith’s first computer weighed fifteen pounds. He went on to develop dozens of concealable computers and other electronic devices over the next two decades, ever smaller and more powerful. By the mid-’70s, Keith and his son, Marty, had met Al Francesco, and they would be putting together teams of players using computers to beat the blackjack tables.

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The casinos’ fear of counters, and the failure of John Scame to provide any workable protection from the threat, opened a huge market for Robert Griffin’s services. Griffin was essentially telling the casinos that they did not need card-counting experts on their staffs to identify counters at their tables. Griffin would compile the names and photos of counters from all of the casinos in Las Vegas, updating his mug book monthly, and the casinos simply had to subscribe to his service to get the book. Just about every major casino in Las Vegas subscribed.

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Playing Together While Playing Apart in Blackjack (Part 3)

An excellent benefit of team play, mentioned earlier but worth expanding on a little more at this point, is that several counters playing at the same time get into the Blackjack bonus offers “long run” a lot more quickly than any individual counter playing on his or her own. In other words, the results begin to look a lot more like the mathematics a lot sooner, which helps to smooth out those inevitable negative swings. In a similar way but on a larger scale, the casino is a living, breathing example of being virtually immune to adverse statistical fluctuation. Multiple casino games operating at the same time all contribute to a shared bottom line. For instance, if a player hits a particular roulette table for a lot of money, it’s likely that the table would show a loss for the day in question. But the combined result of all the roulette tables in the casino that day would likely still produce a positive bottom line.

In the end, the effect of an advantage applying continuously should ultimately prevail, thanks largely to what mathematicians call the Law of Large Numbers, which very much applies for a team of card counters all playing at a positive expectation. In everyday language, that means the losses posted by one or even two team members spin the reels would likely be offset by the team’s combined results. Even a counter suffering through a severe negative swing gets a break. Playing alone, the poor unfortunate might have thrown in the towel. But instead he can revel in the success of the group as a whole and perhaps, more important, live to play another day.

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Count Signals in Blackjack Team play

Because advantage blackjack play entails having a predetermined betting strategy, the Big Player can place his first bet after being called into a game based on the call-in signal alone - without even knowing the count. That’s because the “come on in” signal is made only when a certain count threshold is reached, and should involve a specific amount. Certainly all communication signals are important, but communicating the count from spotter to Big Player is where the money train begins and ends. Typically, a spotter would call in a Big Player and soon after communicate the count, followed by the number of aces, if applicable. A specific sequence of signals should be established ahead of time (and practiced) to avoid any chances of miscommunication.

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Playing Together While Playing Apart in Blackjack (Part 2)

Teams using this approach don’t even have to play at the same time, or in the same casino. In fact, team members using this approach should avoid playing in the same casino for several reasons - the most obvious being that it doubles team exposure. It also shrinks the available playing field. For example, casinos for blackjack that offer eight-deck games on the main casino floor sometimes offer a few six-deckers with elevated minimums in the baccarat pit. Having one team player at one table in the bac pit may leave only one or two tables available for a second. The logistics of situation like this should be avoided.

Team meetings are necessary and fun, to share experiences and information on beatable and not-so-beatable games, or to comment оn where heat is rampant and where it isn’t according to set of blackjack rules . But probably the most important reason to meet, especially early on after the formation of a new team or bank, is to review group finances. A team just beginning that encounters a rocky start might want to adjust betting levels some if that option was agreed upon at bank formation playing free blackjack . Of course, the only way such a decision could be made would be if a meeting were called to share up-to-date results among team members.

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Playing Together While Playing Apart in Blackjack (Part 1)

Another team approach involves playing together in one sense while playing apart in another. This is a lot less complicated than Big Player team play, in that interaction among team members is virtually nonexistent - except in one small but very important way: behind the scenes several counters share a joint bankroll.

Sharing a bankroll allows each counter to make larger bets. In fact, each counter can play as if the entire bankroll were his, assuming each counter upholds the same risk of ruin percentage and plays with the same level of proficiency. A third counter of equal ability contributing the same amount to the joint bank would allow all three to again increase their betting levels while maintaining the same risk of ruin - and substantially increase earnings potential. And the total amount won doesn’t just equal three times the original counter’s expectation - it’s three times each counter’s original expectation, or the number of players on the team squared times any solo counter’s expectation.

To be continued…

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Communication Signals in Blackjack Team play

These can be of any kind, as long as discretion is maintained. In a few instances some may be developed that might suggest, just by nature, the desired bit of information being communicated. For instance, I’ve often used rubbing my eyes as a way to signify the desire to “call it an evening.”

It’s natural, especially late at night, and it’s also something people do when they’re tired. Of course, you must be careful not to rub your eyes at just the wrong moment. The last thing you want to do is have a spotter start to get up from a table just as the true count goes through the nearest bubble.

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