Reading your opponents’ faces is important in playing blackjack. Mistakes can be made every now and then but you will be fine if you commit lesser mistakes compared to your opponents. It is, therefore, essential to learn the expert way of playing to avoid mistakes. If you know how to play correctly, you’ll have an advantage of winning or you will keep a balance of your winnings and losses. But if you want to have an edge over the dealer, then you surely need to monitor the cards. Although you are playing against the house in blackjack, it surely pays to know the other players’ strategies.
Blackjack experts would tell you that in whatever game you play, you have to monitor your competition just like in sports. If you know what to expect from them, you will have more information to use in playing the game. An example is the no-limit texas hold’em, a game that focuses more on the personalities at the table than the cards being dealt. Although tournament blackjack does not involve much bluffing, it is still important to know some information about your competitors. If you only give attention to how your opponents play, you will have a better chance of winning as often as you could.
Be sure to monitor even the early hands of the game because doing so will already give you an idea of the character of your opponents. Find out, for instance, if the player in seat one bets a minimum every hand or the one in seat two uses negative progression or the person occupying seat three correlates with other hands at the table. Your own analysis can help you later in the game.
Meanwhile, expert blackjack tournament player Ken Einiger, offers some tips when playing in a tournament. Upon taking your seat, Einiger recommends looking around the table and checking out the other players. Know them as much as possible. Do you know the other players? Do you have any idea about their playing habits? Do they place big bets at the start of the round or are they the conservative type? Is there a player that you have to look out for?
In casinos, it’s natural for some players to show some bad behavior like throwing cards or cursing when they don’t get a good card in blackjack. However, world blackjack champion Einiger said players must observe etiquette when playing in a tournament. He stressed respect for the people around, avoiding foul language and not drinking too much alcohol before the game. Some casinos may allow smoking and drinking and some tournaments may allow talking among players. However, it’s best to stick to the rules if you don’t want to be ejected from the game and the casino as well. You can try some practice online by playing on a reliable poker site like Judi Online.
If talking among players is allowed, be wary of comments and questions you may get from other players. An example, if one player bets $450 and the person next to you comments “I’m not sure what that person just bet. What do you think?” it’s better not to help him. If a player looks at you and says “I’ve got $3,400 chips, how many do you have?” don’t give out any information. Just say that you’re new and don’t know how to count your chips or you can simply say “thank you.”
Movies on casino gambling have been made in the past and have raked in millions of dollars. Another addition to the list is the upcoming film “21” which revolves around the popular game of blackjack. The thriller film, set to begin shooting by February in Boston and Las Vegas, will star Jim Sturgess and Japanese-American special effects artist Masi Oka of the NBC TV series “Heroes” playing a supporting role. Producing the movie are Kevin Spacey, Dana Brunetti and Michael de Luca while Robert Luketic will be directing it.
The film “21” is based on the best-seller book of Ben Mezrich titled “Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions.” People who are avid players of blackjack should be familiar with this movie. The main character is Kevin Lewis, a junior M.I.T. student, who joined an underground blackjack club together with his five classmates and managed to win millions of dollars in casinos across America. The club focuses on blackjack counting cards and beating the system of major casinos around the globe. Lewis’ blackjack team composed of math geniuses traveled weekly to Las Vegas, Atlantic City and other gambling areas and bet as much as 50 thousand dollars for every hand.
With the guidance of a former MIT professor and an obsessive blackjack player who was able to come up with a system of verbal cues, body signals and role-playing, the group of young card counters developed a system for playing and winning big in casinos known as “spotters” and high-stakes rollers. While their other classmates were studying hard in laboratories and libraries, Lewis and his team led a glamorous life enjoying VIP treatment in casinos including complimentary suites, meals, tickets to boxing matches and partied with showgirls and celebrities. The casino managers made sure to give them the perks to keep them coming back. Lewis and friends, using 20 different aliases and disguises, posed as children of rich Asian businessmen as casinos are usually less doubtful of Asians shelling out huge sums of money compared to just a group of white youngsters.
The team succeeded in their goal and took three million dollars from some of the world’s best casinos in less than two years. This angered casino owners who later hired private investigators to follow Lewis and his team and take revenge. A violent revenge ensued one fateful day when the young MIT wizards were followed home from Vegas to Boston.
If you like thriller films on gambling like Ocean’s 11 and 12, then you must see this movie when it hits the theaters.
