Optimal Betting in Casino Blackjack III: Table-Hopping

N. Richard Werthamer

International Gambling Studies, 2008, vol. 8, issue 1, 63-75

Abstract: The casino blackjack technique usually called back-counting, or 'wonging', consists of beginning play ('entry') at a table only after an indicator of favourability exceeds a certain threshold. The back-counter is also advised to leave the table at a threshold of unfavourability, most usually after entry (here termed 'exit') but sometimes also before entry (here termed 'departure'). I have analysed these thresholds previously and obtained optimal entry and exit criteria based on maximizing the total cash value of the table between successive shuffles, recognizing that only some of its rounds are actually played. Here I extend and complete that investigation to include the value from a second, freshly-shuffled table, played after either departure or exit, until the first table is reshuffled; this extension is here termed 'table-hopping'. An optimal departure point arises in table-hopping that does not appear when considering only a single table. Optimal table-hopping offers an important incremental advantage to its practitioner, here quantified for several representative game conditions, sufficient to make attractive several well-camouflaged betting methods.

Date: 2008
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DOI: 10.1080/14459790701870142

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International Gambling Studies is currently edited by Katie Donnelly, David Marshall, Bronwyn Stuart, Alex Blaszczynski and Jan McMillen

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