Stump them at blackjack

15 April 2017

By Henry Tamburin

If your friends think they know the ins and outs of blackjack, here is a little quiz to (hopefully) stump them.

QUESTION: For every 100 hands that you play, using proper basic strategy, how many will you bust?

ANSWER: You will bust about 16 hands on average out of every 100 hands played, using proper basic strategy.


QUESTION: What is the more profitable hand for a blackjack player, a two-card hand that totals 11 or a pair of aces?

ANSWER: The 11 is more profitable. It has an average net expectation of +0.176, whereas the pair of aces is +0.160.


QUESTION: What was the name of the famous flamboyant professional blackjack card counter who was interviewed by Harry Reasoner on the TV show “60 Minutes”?

ANSWER: In 1961 Kenny Uston appeared on “60 minutes,” and he was the first player to demonstrate on national TV how card counting works.


QUESTION: If the dealer has an ace up card, what is the chance she will have a 10 in the hole for a blackjack?

ANSWER: The dealer will have the 10 roughly 31% of the time (that’s about four times out of 13).


QUESTION: You can overcome the casino’s edge in blackjack by using a progressive betting system. True or false?

ANSWER: False. Progressive betting systems will not alter your long-term expectation in blackjack.


QUESTION: Who invented the first personal blackjack computer, and what were the names of his famous computers?

ANSWER: Keith Taft invented the blackjack computer. His second-generation computer was named “George.” (It was smaller and it had more memory than his original brass computer.) George also used a vibrating signal, like a buzzer, rather than the LED lights housed in the player’s eyeglasses to transmit the strategy information to the player. Taft’s third-generation blackjack computer, which contained updated software, was named “David,” and it was sold to other blackjack players for $1,000.


QUESTION: Who invented blackjack team play?

ANSWER: Al Francesco (aka Frank Schipani, Frank Salerno) invented the concept of blackjack team play. With his ingenious ideas, Al and his teams were able to use card-counting strategies to win millions of dollars at blackjack without being detected by the casinos.


QUESTION: You will win 50% of your blackjack hands. True or false?

ANSWER: False. If you ignore the 9% of the hands that tie, you can expect to win about 48% of the hands dealt to you.


QUESTION: Blackjack card counting is illegal. True or false?

ANSWER: False. There is nothing illegal about using your brain when you play blackjack.


QUESTION: If the dealer hits soft 17 in a six-deck game, you have a better chance of winning with a two-card total of hard twelve versus a dealer’s up card of two, than you do with a two-card hard total of 12 versus a dealer’s up card of three. True or false?

ANSWER: False. Against a 2, your expected value is -0.25, and against a 3 it’s -0.23.


QUESTION: The exploits of a famous blackjack card counting team were recently made into a movie (“21”). What was the name of this team?

ANSWER: MIT Team. The team was made up of students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, better known as MIT.


QUESTION: Where is the Blackjack Ball held every year, and who hosts it?

ANSWER: The Blackjack Ball is a gathering of blackjack experts, authors and professional players who meet every year at a secret location. The host is Max Rubin.


QUESTION: Which casino houses the Blackjack Hall of Fame?

ANSWER: Barona Casino in San Diego.


Henry Tamburin, Ph.D. is the editor of the Blackjack Insider e-Newsletter (www.bjinsider.com) and host of smartgaming.com.