That first survey, in 1975, showed a 24 per cent difference in the ratio of winning sessions to total sessions for casinos with enough playing reported for statistical validity. Club members in the Hilton (Las Vegas Strip) won 64 per cent of their sessions, while members in the Dunes (also on the Strip) won only 38 per cent of their sessions.

There are a couple of reasons that could explain the difference, one fairly normal and obvious and the other sneaky and insidious. The first reason, as mentioned earlier, is that Blackjack has not yet stabilized as a casino game. Roulette, for example, is very stable. The only difference in the games is the “European” wheel versus the “American” wheel.

The European game has only one zero while the greedier Americans have a double-zero wheel. Craps, a game that seems to have been around almost as long as we have, shows essentially the same layout no matter where you play.

In Blackjack, each casino chooses which of the options described in Post Two it will allow and what restrictions it will place on those favorable to the player, such as doubling, splitting, or surrendering. The table below contains the options listed by effect on and importance to the player. The more significant options are at the top of each list. The best online gambling is in the trusted and popular casinos like the ones we recommend.

It was nighttime when I first saw the Las Vegas Strip. I was momentarily speechless, a condition unusual enough for me that one of my friends asked, “What are you thinking?”

I responded with the first thing that had come into my head. “This looks like somebody took one of Liberace’s jackets and made a city out of it! I haven’t seen so much to look at since Far-rah Fawcett played tennis on the Superstars competition.” I was like a kid in a candy shop with the standard worry: Underneath all that glitter, what am I going to get? In the candy shop, for every piece with a strawberry center, it seems like there are two that reveal half an ant after the first bite. Since the casinos likely hold equal perils, where do I start?

One approach to the problem is to wade on in. This might be OK for haircuts and harems, where time renews all resources, but it is an awful way to choose a place to gamble. Yet so many beginners do exactly this when they walk into a casino cold. They wade in eager to spend their money on the first table they see. “One Blackjack game is pretty much like any other,” they rationalize, “so what difference does it make?”

To the player willing to take a more sensible approach to the game, it makes a lot of difference. There are over twenty options to the “standard” game of Blackjack. Each of these affects the player advantage, sometimes slightly, often dramatically. In addition, there are important intangibles that should temper your willingness to place your hard-earned bankroll just anywhere. You shouldn’t want to wager indiscriminately any more than you would want to let a stranger carry your wallet or purse.

Without reading this post, you will be a “cradle to grave” player. You will walk into the casino a newborn innocent ready for the slaughter and walk out dead meat on the hoof. This post helps you lose your costly innocence forever, which is more fun to lose than your money. Rather than cradle to grave, your education will be “city to chair.” You bought this site, so you’ve got the right game. Now get the right place. See how you can evaluate casinos, table options, and dealers based on information available only from the International Blackjack Club.