Advantage gambling is a term of art relating to any bettor who attempts to attain a legal edge or advantage before placing a wager. This practice is also known as advantage play, and a gambler who participates in this practice is known as an advantage player. This website encourages responsible gambling and is intended solely for those who are of legal gambling age. If you believe that you may be a problem gambler call 1-800-522-4700. Follow me on Twitter.
Card counting may be the most famous advantage play (AP) method, but it also provides a low edge to players. Even as a skilled counter, you're only looking at between a 1% and 1.5% advantage over the house.
With that said, some prospective APs aren't satisfied with a 1% edge. Instead, they want to pursue a form of advantage gambling that provides much bigger profits.
The problem for beginning APs, though, is that everything beyond card counting is much tougher. You pay for larger edges by dedicating more hours due to fewer lucrative opportunities.
Even if you have aspirations of gaining the biggest possible advantage over casinos, you should definitely start out by counting cards. This guide explains why by comparing card counting to other AP strategies.
How Does Card Counting Work?
Professional gamblers have devised a number of card counting systems over the years. These systems vary based on their difficulty level and the advantage they provide.
As with any system, you begin by counting every card that comes out of the shoe. Your goal is to assign each card a point value based on its grouping.
Here are the different groupings and card values with the Hi-Lo system:
- 10 through ace (high cards) = -1
- 7 through 9 (neutral) = 0
- 2 through 6 (low cards) = +1
The Hi-Lo is a balanced counting system, meaning your count will be zero at the end of a shoe. Therefore, you must account for the number of decks to get your 'true count.'
To do this, you simply need to divide your running count by the estimated number of decks in the shoe. Assuming you have a count of +4 and two decks are left, for example, your true count is +2.
Finally, you need to raise your bets when the count is positive. You can use the following model for deciding when and how much to raise your wages:
- Start by developing a unit size.
- Anywhere from 4x to 6x the minimum bet is a nice unit size (e.g. $25 on $5 table).
- Raise your bet 1 unit (e.g. $5 to $25) each time the count increases by one past +1.
- +2 true count = 2 units ($25 bet)
- +3 true count = 3 units ($50 bet)
- +4 true count = 4 units ($75 bet)
- +5 true count = 5 units ($100 bet)
Increasing your wagers is key to capitalizing when you have an advantage. Meanwhile, you should bet the table minimum whenever your true count is +1 or less.
Deck penetration is one more worthwhile card-counting concept. This term refers to how much of the shoe is dealt before the dealer shuffles. Simply put, you want as much deck penetration as possible. The further you go into the shoe, the more accurate your count will be.
Many casinos differ on the amount of penetration they allow. You generally want to look for casinos or tables that allow at least 75% deck penetration.
You can see that counting cards isn't overly difficult. Once you thoroughly master the advice above, which shouldn't take long, you should practice your counting abilities.
Here are a few good ways to do this:
- Deal cards to yourself.
- Use a free online card counting trainer.
- Count cards for fun while playing at live dealer casinos.
- Visit a land-based casino and count off to the side.
- Count while playing low-stakes blackjack without raising your bets.
Other Advantage Play Options
Card counting draws the most publicity among AP methods. But as you'll see below, there are several other options for making guaranteed money at the casino.
I won't cover these methods in as much detail as I did with counting. However, I'll at least give you the basic jest on how these strategies work.
Caribbean Stud Collusion
Caribbean Stud is typically one of the toughest games to beat in the casino. It features a lofty 5.22% house edge even when you use perfect strategy.
But you and a group of players can beat this game by colluding and sharing your hole card information. This strategy will give your team enough information to make better informed bets and gain up to a 2.38% advantage.
The next factor you need involves a silent method of sharing how many aces, kings, and matches (cards matching the dealer's up-card) your team has. These are the most critical cards when deciding if you'll raise in a hand.
Caribbean Stud collusion is one of the tougher AP strategies to pull off. Plus, it doesn't result in much more of an advantage than card counting. If you're still interested, though, you can learn more about it here.
Chasing Bonuses
Most online casinos offer deposit bonuses. Some of these bonuses can provide a long-term advantage when you play things right.
The main aspects that you must look for when seeking profitable bonuses is a combination of the following:
- A bonus that features low playthrough (a.k.a. rollover)
- An offer that doesn't restrict many games from meeting playthrough
Regarding the first point, you must satisfy rollover before cashing out bonus funds. The lower the rollover, the less you need to risk before officially obtaining your bonus money.
Game restrictions either exclude or increase the playthrough for games with high return to player (RTP). For example, an online casino might increase rollover from 20x to 80x for all slots with 98% RTP or higher.
Here's an example of what combination you need to profit from a bonus deal:
- A casino offers a 100% match bonus worth up to $200.
- You deposit $200 and, thus, qualify for a $200 bonus.
- Rollover is 30x.
- 200 x 30 = $6,000 must be wagered
- You play a slot with 98% RTP that's not restricted in any way.
- 6,000 x 0.98 = 5,880
- $5,880 + $200 = $6,080
- You'll theoretically earn an $80 profit.
I should stress that these are merely theoretical profits. Even with an advantage, you could still lose money while satisfying rollover.
Another problem with chasing bonuses is that only so many opportunities are available. Therefore, you're not going to win lots of money with this method.
Hole Carding
Most table games feature hole cards, which are dealt face-down. These cards can come in one of three forms:
- Player hole cards – Only you can see the face-down cards dealt to you.
- Dealer hole cards – Nobody except the dealer can see these.
- Community cards – Although these cards can be used by any player at the table, they remain face-down until a certain round.
You're only supposed to see face-down cards in one of these scenarios. Therefore, you're acting on incomplete information in many casino table games.
Hole carding provides a chance to see face-down cards and gain more info. This technique involves trying to see hole cards as a dealer pulls them out of the shoe, or during any other opportunity that arises.
The biggest factor that you need to pull off hole carding involves an inept dealer who keeps flashing their face-down card values. You must spend quite a bit of time looking for such a dealer.
Assuming you do find one, though, you stand to gain a huge edge. Mississippi Stud, for example, offers at least a 50% advantage to expert hole carders.
Shuffle Tracking
Shuffle tracking is an added step to card counting. It begins with counting a shoe and continuing to count until the dealer stops to shuffle.
At this point, you must determine which part of the deck is positive and negative. Here's an example:
- The dealer stops to shuffle cards after dealing five out of eight decks.
- You end the shoe with a -3 count.
- This means that the three undealt decks feature a +3 count.
Once you know which part of the shoe features a positive count, you visually track the relevant card clumps. Your goal is to figure out where the positive clumps fall into the shoe. With this information, you can raise your bets whenever the positive clumps come out in the next round
Shuffle tracking is definitely tougher than card counting. It not only requires you to keep an accurate count but also have great visual observation skills.
However, you'll definitely benefit by adding shuffle tracking to the mix when you gain experience as a counter. You could hold nearly a 7% advantage over the house with this technique.
Why Is Card Counting Best for New APs?
Outside of hunting for bonuses, card counting gives you the smallest edge out of any major AP technique. That said, you'll be grinding out profits while trying to evade casino detection.
Card counting, on the other hand, is relatively easy to get started with. If you've read through this entire post, you already know the basics.
Furthermore, you don't have to search for a diamond-in-the-rough dealer like with hole carding. Instead, you'll find plenty of countable games in major casino destinations.
Of course, you may eventually yearn for bigger edges. But I strongly suggest that you stick with card counting until you feel more comfortable with advantage gambling.
Conclusion
Counting cards isn't as glamorous as it seems when consider its relatively low advantage. Even if you're a great counter, you can only look forward to around a 1.5% edge.
Nevertheless, card counting is definitely the best point to launch your AP career. It's relatively easy to learn and doesn't require any rare conditions to work.
You can use counting as a feeler for whether you truly like advantage gambling. If so, you may branch out into more lucrative gambling pursuits later on.
Advantage gambling, or advantage play, refers to legal methods, in contrast to cheating in casinos, used to gain an advantage while gambling. The term usually refers to house-banked games, but can also refer to games played against other players, such as poker. Someone who practises advantage gambling is often referred to as an advantage player, or AP. Unlike cheating, which is by definition illegal, advantage play exploits innate characteristics of a particular game to give the player an advantage relative to the house or other players. While not illegal, advantage play is often discouraged and some advantage players may be banned by certain casinos.
A skillful or knowledgeable player can gain an advantage at a number of games. Card games have been beaten by card sharps for centuries. Some slot machines and lotteries with progressive jackpots can eventually have such a high jackpot that they offer a positive return or overlay when played long term, according to the gambling mathematics. Some online games can be beaten with bonus hunting.
Sports and horse betting[edit]
Sports and horse betting can be beaten by placing arbitrage bets, which involve placing bets at different bookmakers who are offering different lines. Many online sports books now offer bonuses like free bets or free money. These bonuses usually come with a stipulation that the bettor place a certain number of bets. For example, a site may offer a bettor $50 free if they deposit $100 and place a total of $1000 in bets. These can reduce the vig taken by the house or even offer the bettor a small advantage.[citation needed]
Another form of advantage can be found by betting the 'middle' on a sports event. This situation occurs when two bookmakers are offering different lines on the same event, or if a bettor has placed a bet and the bookmaker changes the line. The bettor simply takes the most favorable lines at each bookmaker, and if the result of the contest is between the numbers, or in the 'middle', then the bettor wins both bets.
For example, Bookmaker A lists the Jets to be a 4-point favorite over the Bills. Bookmaker B has the Jets as just a 2-point favorite. The advantage player may bet the Bills +4 with Book A and then the Jets -2 with Book B. If the Jets win by 3, the advantage player collects on both bets. If the Jets win by either 2 or 4, the advantage player collects on one winning bet and the other 'push.' And if the Jets win or lose by any other total, the two bets cancel out, leaving the advantage player to pay only the vigorish on the bets. Given typical 10-cent lines, a middle need only win 1 time in 21 to break even, which is a realistic goal – the middle is always a plausible result since it is based on the actual strength of the teams. Middling is an example of line arbitrage.
Special offers[edit]
Using special offers provided by bookmakers it is possible for a skilled bettor to put the odds in their favour. Special offers may include; cashback on specific events, enhanced odds and comp points. To profit from these specials, a skilled bettor will use betting, laying and dutching[1] to create their own book on an event that may not guarantee profit but will still put the odds in their favour instead of the bookmaker(s) involved. Sign up bonuses are also classed as special offers and can be used in a similar way to lock in a profit regardless of the result using the principles of matched betting.
Betting exchanges[edit]
Betting exchanges offer advantage players a chance to make a larger profit than possible with bookmakers because exchanges charge commission only on the net winnings[2] in a particular betting market. One way to make money on the exchanges is 'trading' - in the above example, the Jets might be a favorite decimal odds of 1.90 to defeat the Bills. If a 'trader' thinks these odds too long he may bet $1000 on the Jets, and should he prove correct and the odds on the Jets get shorter, 'lay off' by laying, say, a $1016 bet against the Jets at 1.87. If the Jets win, he collects $900 on his bet on the Jets and pays out approximately $884 on the bet he laid against the Jets. If the Jets lose, he loses his $1000 stake on the Jets but keeps the $1016 stake on the bet he laid against the Jets. Either way, the 'trader' makes a $16 profit and he will pay a commission only on that profit (usually not more than 5% or 80 cents in this example) for a net profit of $15.20 regardless of the result. Of course, if the odds go the wrong way the 'trader' may lose money but most exchanges do not charge a commission in the event of a net loss.
Blackjack[edit]
Blackjack and other table games can usually be beaten with card counting, hole carding, shuffle tracking, edge sorting, or several other methods. The players most skilled in these techniques have been nominated to the Blackjack Hall of Fame. Some video poker games, such as full pay Deuces Wild, can be beaten by the use of a strategy card[3] devised by computer analysis of the game and often for sale in casino gift shops. And similar to the Blackjack Hall of Fame, there is an internet 'Video Poker Hall of Fame'.[4]
Poker[edit]
Poker can offer a long-term advantage to a skilled player because it is played against other players and not against the house. The casino usually takes a rake (commission) or a time charge. Whether a poker player can win enough from the game to cover the rake and make a profit depends, aside from the rake level, not only on the player's skill, but also on the opposition's lack thereof - the degree of difficulty can vary widely from casino to casino. Tables with relatively easy opposition are referred to as 'soft.'
There is another advantage to playing poker as opposed to games where play is against the house: since the house has no direct interest in the outcome of a poker game, successful poker players can operate openly without risk of being banned by casinos.
While in the short term luck primarily determines a poker player's results, over the long term the skilled player will invariably profit if playing against weaker competition. A player can profit from their skill in many ways. For example, by understanding pot odds and implied odds, a player can assess whether it will be profitable to chase a flush or straight draw. Identifying exploitable patterns in an opponent's play also gives the skilled player an edge. For example, a weak opponent might almost never bluff, or might bluff far too often. Or an opponent might make huge bets only as bluffs, and make smaller bets with good hands (or vice versa). If a skilled player notices these patterns in an opponent's play, he or she can make better decisions when facing a bet from that player.
In live settings, some players will take advantage of tells, that is, opponent facial expressions and mannerisms that may give away information about the strength of the player's hand. Skilled players use all available information (not only an opponent's actions earlier in a hand, but also his or her actions during previous hands) to assess which action will be most profitable, be it a call or a fold, a bluff or a bet for value.
Other ways to gain an advantage[edit]
Dice control[edit]
Experts disagree about whether or not an advantage can be gained at some other games. One example is dice control. Authors Stanford Wong[5] and Frank Scoblete[6] have stated that by setting and throwing the dice in a certain way players can alter the odds at the game of craps enough to gain an advantage.
Pachinko[edit]
In the Japanese game of pachinko, there are numerous purported strategies for winning, the most reliable of which is to use inside information to learn which machines have the highest payout settings. Because of the 'Stock', 'Renchan', and tenjō systems, it is possible to make money by simply playing machines on which someone has just lost a huge amount of money. This is called being a 'hyena'. They are easy to recognize, roaming the aisles for a 'Kamo' ('sucker' in English) to leave their machine in a favorable mode.
Angle shooting[edit]
'Angle shooting' is another type of advantage play. Despite 'angle shooting' being legal, it is possibly an unethical way to beat casino games. One way to get an advantage at a casino is 'hole carding' where a player tries to look at the dealer's hole card in blackjack and then uses that information to play their hand differently.[7] This clearly gives an advantage to the player since knowing your opponent's cards reduces the risks involved in the game. Taking advantage of incorrect payouts is another example of angle shooting. For example, if an inexperienced dealer pays 2 to 1 on a blackjack instead of 3 to 2, not correcting him or her is also taking advantage of an incorrect payout.[8]
'Angle shooting' can also happen in poker. For instance, in no-limit poker a player may hide high denomination chips behind stacks of low denomination chips, giving off an appearance that their stack is less powerful than it really is. Another example is making an illegal move, which the player may later declare void if it suits them. While angle shooting is seen as 'fair game' in games against the house, it is heavily frowned upon in games where players compete with other players, as it ruins the table atmosphere, makes the game less appealing to novice players, and is not in the spirit of the game.[9]
Advance Gaming Booster
Casinos and playrooms continually create new rules to defeat angle shooting techniques.[9]
Comp hustling[edit]
Comp hustling can be another form of advantage gambling. Players, known as comp hustlers or comp wizards, who play games with a low house advantage or low bet size such as penny slots, can get more than their expected loss in free items from the casino.[10] Many advantage players also take steps to maximize the comps they receive from their play.[11]
Roulette wheel[edit]
Roulette wheels with manufacturing defects or uneven wear may land on some numbers with a statistically significantly greater frequency. It is sometimes possible, through large numbers of observations, or noting patterns of wear on the wheel's surface, to determine when this is the case and bet accordingly.[12] Physician Richard Jarecki was able to exploit this to great effect at European casinos in the 1960s and 1970s.[12]
Advantage Gambling Roulette
Hazards[edit]
Casinos sometimes take measures to thwart players who they believe pose a threat to them, especially card-counters or hole-card players. However, some casinos tolerate card-counters who do not bet large amounts, who are not good at counting, or who do not use a large betting spread.
Some countermeasures include shuffling when the deck is favorable to the player, imposing betting limits, 'backing off' players by asking them not to play blackjack any more, or asking a player to leave the casino. In New Jersey, a player may not be asked to leave a table for counting cards, although the house may still impose betting limits or shuffle sooner.
Players caught counting cards or hole-carding ultimately may find themselves listed in the Griffin Book and become unwelcome in most casinos.[citation needed] The Griffin Book was sued,[13] but there are other substitutes today.
Advance Gaming Pc
In the past, video poker and skillful progressive slot machine players were rarely ejected for winning, but the practice is common today.[14] They may have their comps reduced or eliminated.[15]
Skillful sports bettors, known as 'sharps', may have their betting limits reduced and may not be allowed to take advantage of bonuses at online sports books. Instead, skillful sports bettors may rely on 'runners' to place and collect their bets.
Pros Of Gambling
Craps players are often stopped from playing if the dice fail to bounce off the back wall of the table.[16]
Advantage players abide by the established rules of the game and thus, in most jurisdictions, are not regarded as committing fraud against the casino. So, while they may face the above casino-imposed sanctions, they are able to operate without the threat of criminal prosecution for their behavior. This is not the case in all jurisdictions, however, and some advantage players have reported more aggressive countermeasures being taken even in well known gambling locations like Monte Carlo.[17]
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ^'Arbitrage - Dutching - Introduction'. The Gambling Times. Archived from the original on 31 July 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
- ^'Commission'. weebly.com. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
- ^'Video Poker'. Wizard of Odds. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
- ^'vpFREE Hall Of Fame'. west-point.org. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
- ^Wong, Stanford (2005). Wong on Dice. Pi Yee Press.
- ^Scoblete, Frank (2005). 'Beat the Craps Out of the Casinos. Bonus Books.
- ^Uston, Ken (1992). Million Dollar Blackjack. Carol Publishing Corporation.
- ^'Blackjack Dealer Error'. Blackjack Forum (Online ed.). Summer 2007.
- ^ ab'Angle Shooting | Poker Terms | PokerNews'. www.pokernews.com. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
- ^Rubin, Max (June 2001). Comp City. Huntington Press.
- ^Scott, Jean (January 1998). The Frugal Gambler. Huntington Press.
- ^ abSlotnik, Daniel E. 'Richard Jarecki, Doctor Who Conquered Roulette, Dies at 86', The New York Times, August 8, 2018
- ^'Griffin book producer files for Chapter 11, citing suit'. Las Vegas Sun. 13 September 2005. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
- ^'Lion Tales: Fall of the Roman Empire'. brodietech.com. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
- ^Dancer, Bob (March 1, 2003). Million Dollar Video Poker. Huntington Press.
- ^Brokopp, John. 'Dice Control - Fact or Fiction'. Casino City Times.
- ^'Interviews - Semyon Dukach - MIT Card Counting Team Captain'. ThePOGG. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
