第16期 2012年5月/6月 |
#16MAY/JUN2012
61
Allblackjackplayersare familiarwithacommondilemma:
should they open one box or more than one? Onmost
blackjack tables there are seven boxes (also known as
spots), each fighting against the common enemy, the
dealer. Thequestion is, shouldaplayerput hisentirebet
in justoneof these sevenboxesor is itbetter to split the
sameamount over twoormoreboxes?
byHarry-Lee
DongWu
For experienced players who almost
always know how to play the hands they
are dealt, it doesn’tmakemuchdifference
in the long run whether they open one
box ormultiple boxes. However, the issue
of opening or closing boxes is a much-
discussed topicat blackjack tables. Is there
anypoint to thisdiscussion?
Actually, there is. Let’s take a betting
amount into consideration in order to
discuss the matter. Suppose you decide
tobet $1,000, andplay one box only. You
have one single hand competing against
thedealer’shand. Thehandon that single
boxdecideswhetheryouwin, loseorpush.
If you spread that $1,000 over two boxes,
youhave twohandscompetingagainst the
dealer’s hand. In this case, there aremore
possibleoutcomes.Youcanwinboth, lose
both,winone loseone, pushonewinone,
push one lose one, or push both. If you
spread that$1,000over threeor fourboxes,
thereareevenmore scenarios.
Wepreviouslymentioned that in the
long run, the number of boxes we play
doesn’t reallyaffectourchanceofwinning.
Thisconclusion isbasedonalwaysplaying
the hands you are dealt in certain ways,
and takinga long-termperspectiveon the
game. Aswehavediscussedbefore, every
hand youplayhas a“fair value”, and if you
play in the optimal way you will always
receive that fair value in the long run. If
weplayand think long term, the fair value
will become the overriding factor and it
will diminish theeffectofplayingmultiple
boxes. In the long run, openingmultiple
boxes is just likemultiple resultsofopening
onebox.To fullyunderstand theconceptof
fairvalue, refer to“Blackjack: theconceptof
expectedvalue”in theNov/Dec2010 issue
of
WorldGaming
, availableonourwebsite
– just type “concept of expected value”
(with thequotes) in the searchboxon the
wgm8.comhomepage.
However, there is one thing worth
mentioning. When you have a certain
amountof chipson the table,puttingallof
them inonebox isconsiderably riskier than
putting them inmultiple boxes, despite
the fact there is considerable correlation
between the results of separate boxes on
thesame table. It’snothard tounderstand
this based on our earlier analysis of the
possible outcomes of playing one box or
multipleboxes.
So what is the best choice while playing
blackjack inacasino?
Everyone is different andmy suggestion is
to dowhat suits you. If you are a frequent and
experiencedplayerwithaverysolidunderstanding
of the game, the difference in the degree of
difficulty betweenplayingonebox andmultiple
boxes is negligible. The decision comes down
to howmuch risk you arewilling to take. If you
want to lessen the fluctuations in the game (for
examplewhenyouraveragebet isarelatively large
proportionofyourbuy-in),youcandivideyourbet
intoa few small units.
Ifyouareabeginnerandnotyetvery familiar
with thegame, I suggestyouopenas fewboxesas
possible, probably just one. In this case, it doesn’t
hurttoputallyoureggs inonebasket.Thisstrategy
helpsyougainsomeexperienceeasilyandbecome
familiarwiththegame.Whenyouplaymoreboxes,
youwill be facedwithmoredecisionsandyouare
thereforemoresusceptibletomakingmistakes,and
yourchanceof losing increases.
There’s one final thing to mention in this
discussion. Sometimesaplayerwill openor closea
boxandthedealerwillgetastrongupcard(likea10
orace),whenhewouldhavegotaweakupcard(such
as a 4, 5or 6), had thenumber of boxes not been
changed.Atthispoint,playerswilloftencriticizethe
playerwhoopenedorclosedthebox.Tobehonest,
thiscriticism istotallyunjustified.Justasoftenasthis
situationoccurs, theoppositesituationariseswhere
thedealerwouldhavereceivedastrongupcardbut
getsaweakone instead.Humannaturebeingwhat
it is, players tend to remember the former situation
muchmore than the latter.
Visitourwebsitewww.wgm8.comtoreadandcommentoneveryarticle
everpublishedby
WorldGaming
.
Blackjack:
onebox
or
more?
宿醉中的玩客
Ablackjackplayer
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