Single deck experience blogged

For the next ten days, I'll be playing at the best single deck game available on the Internet, and I'll be posting my daily results in the BlackjackInfo Blog.

The game is at Pharaoh's Casino. It's single deck, S17, DA2, DAS, and the dealer peeks under tens and Aces. All that adds up to a 0.11% player advantage with basic strategy. Read more at the blog.

 

About playing online

I've played at lots of online casinos, probably close to 200 by now. I know for sure I was cheated once at a place called CasinoBar, which was later proven to be not dealing a fair game. But that's really the only problem I've had. I've cashed out at plenty of these places, and I've never once been stiffed. I once thought I had been stiffed when the casino closed owing me a small amount. About 5 months later, I got a check in the mail from a company that was settling the outstanding payments for that place.

Are there places that will cheat, or find any excuse they can to not pay you? Sure, there are plenty of rogue outfits out there. But, I firmly believe that if you stick to brand-name places, you'll get a fair game and you'll be paid if you win. Read the terms and conditions for any bonuses carefully as there is usually lots of fine print for any free money you get.

The really profitable days of online play are gone now I'm afraid. In my first year of play back in 2000, I made $50,000 playing online because of the lucrative signup bonus offers. Last year I think I made about $5000.

The game I describe above may have a player edge, but don't expect to get rich playing it. The money that remains to be made online is still in signup bonuses, promotions and tournaments.

It's not for everyone. You're bound to run into losing streaks that will make you wonder if the game is fair. Next time you are having a bad losing streak at a land-based casino, consider how skeptical you would be if you were playing online. It's just human nature. But, FWIW, I've logged several million dollars of online action, and my results look just like one would expect from a fair game.

One last item: If you see an ad for a casino on any of my sites, that's a stamp of approval from me. I turn down ad requests almost every day from places I'm not sure about.

 

I have a hand tally counter or clicker that I use to keep track of hands played. When I'm playing for bonus wagering requirements, I use it keep track of total action. Every $10 I bet gets a click. Double down? Click again. Bet $30? Click 3 times. It's a handy tool for that purpose. My computer is upstairs at my house, but my wife can always tell when I'm playing bonuses. Click click click.

As for the other stats, I'm making tally marks on paper when either me or the dealer get blackjack. I'm also noting my low points and high points of the session. I don't normally keep track of things like that. I'm doing it only for the blog.

If you choose to play, I hope you're as lucky as I have been so far. I'm on a nice run there.

 

I covered that to some extent in my blog entry on the final day. The $50 max, and the shuffle every hand mean that your possible profit is under $15 per hour. That, and the mind-numbing boredom of playing basic strategy for 270 hands an hour should keep this game from being exploited by many.

I also expect that if you started logging 10 hours a day at it, they would finally cut you off. I think this game is a reasonable loss leader for them, and they probably make money off of 90% of its players as well because of strategy mistakes.