Well, where is it then? Haven't had a good BJ problem to get my teeth into for ages!!!! Thank you in advance Cheers Reachy
Another teaser Here is a teaser for you Min 5 Max 300 Sr allowed BR1 - 1110, bet 200 (bets 1st) BR2 - 900, bet 300 Dealer shows 2 BR1 has hard 19 - stand BR2 has (T, T) - splits, hand 1 - (T,6) and stands, hand 2 - (T,T) What is the best way to play the 2nd hand and why? Good luck
Stand I would stand, on both hands. To win you have to win both of them anyway, so you can't take a chance of busting the first split (hard 16) so why chance re-spliting T-T on the second hand. I understand that resplitting the T-T does really change the out come, (if the first hand wins on 16 than both the resplits would win), but again just the single split is enough to give you the win should the dealer bust. That would be my play anyway.
But... If BR2 stands with his two hands, he can only win if the dealer busts. If he splits his twenty to a third hand he'll still win if the dealer busts as long as he doesn't bust any of his hands. However, he has more ways to win: - Paint both tens and dealer draws out to 19. - Ace on one, ten on the other and dealer draws out to 19 or 20. - Aces on both and dealer draws out to 19 or 20. It's a long shot, but splitting the twenty to a third hand and not busting increases the number of ways to win without costing anything.
Nice job MS Good job, I wasn't even thinking about the push 19/20 combinations. I locked in to the not hitting the first hand 16 (which wasn't even the question).
Beat Me to the Punch.... MS, I was going to post basically the same response yesterday but ran out of time. This is of course assuming that this is the last hand of the round. If it were not then I would actually have to think long and hard about even doing the original split with the dealer only showing a two. It would really depend on what hand you are on. Dan
2nd Last Hand I think whether to split the original 20 on the 2nd last hand depends on whether BR2 will have position on the last hand, and how strong a player BR1 is. If other players are out of contention but still present, BR2 might have position on both hands. If he plays first on the last hand he'll need the lead. In that case he probably should split the 20 and then resplit as in the previous example, hoping for a dealer bust. It's better than waving off the 20 and hoping for a swing with the dealer drawing to 19 or 20. If he'll have position on the last hand he could wave the original 20 off because he'll likely win and maybe swing. If both win he'll at least close to within 1/2 of a bet with position. If BR1 is a strong player, BR2 is probably screwed anyway if they both win the 2nd last hand because he can't pull within 1/3 of a bet. With a lead between 1/3 and 1/2 bet on the last hand, BR1 playing first will bet 2 times the lead minus a chip, and surrender if his chance of losing the hand is greater than BR2's chance of winning. Hopefully, BR2 stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night! :laugh:
Newbie question about last hand strategy I have seen another betting strategy on this site somewhere where BR1 bets the max. bet minus 1/2 his lead plus a chip, the idea being that it covers a max bet win by BR2 and can cover a DD if needed. Can you tell me what you think the relative strengths and weaknesses of these 2 approaches are (i.e. the "2 X Lead" vs "Max Bet - Lead/2"? For example in a 1-500 game BR1 - 1250 (1/2 max bet lead) BR2 - 1000 Using the "2X lead" bet BR1 would bet 499. Using the "MB-Lead/2" it would be 376. Both bets cover the Surrender/Push option,a max bet win by BR2 and max bet DD if BR1 DD as well. Neither cover BJ by BR2 but the "2X lead" approach is tantalisingly close. If the 2X Lead were to add a chip rather than take one away the BJ would be covered but the Surrender/Push wouldn't. BR1 - 1167 (1/3 max bet lead) BR2 - 1000 2X Lead Bet - 333 MB-Lead/2 Bet - 418 What changes here is that now the "2X Lead" bet no longer covers a DD with a DD and the "MB-Lead/2" Bet no longer covers the Surrender/push. Interestingly the tipping point is a lead of 2/5 or 40%. At that point the 2 different bet calculations come out with the same bet. In either of the betting strategies if BR2 decides to take the low they cannot beat a BR1 single bet win even by DD. Any thoughts? Cheers Reachy
2 Player Exception If your lead is >1/3 bet and only two are in contention you can take the high with the option to surrender back to the low by betting double the lead minus a chip. Then if your player takes the low you surrender back to it if your chance of losing is greater than his chance of winning. If instead your player bets big you play the win both ways strategy in CTS. If more than two are in contention you're better off taking the high and covering the DD by betting max minus half the lead plus a chip. Consider betting the max, shoving it out in the circle quickly because this big and fast approach to final hand betting seems to be contagious and you might bait a player into making a less than optimal bet and play.
