Actually, the strategy "works" if you have an infinite amount of money. But if you have an infinite amount of money, you don't need a strategy at all.

My friend came up with that fantastic idea on his own in high school. He still has a day job that doesn't involve math or living in Las Vegas by a pool.

Your going to win some hands. Dealers are not going to win 100% of the time.

whoa

Tell ya what JB. I'm going to Vegas in a couple of months and I'm more than willing to try out your strategy.

Thing is, I don't want to do it with my money. I know all the proper plays in blackjack (that MIT card is wonderful) I'll give you everything I win. I'll just take the free liquor.

Just let me know how much you are willing to send me and I'll be more than happy to test the sucker out.

I just lost $3,000. Thanks a lot, jb.

meh, just double your bet now. it's so simple.

I don't have to try jumping from a plane without a parachute to know that it is a stupid idea.

Good point! I just need to make a quick stop at the pawn shop.

sell your body to the night

You must suck to lose that many hands in a row. Just kidding :)

So you lost 9 to 10 hands in a row. wow

Sometimes it just good to walk away from table if you having that bad of luck.

You got to know when to quit and try something else.

For some reason this post highlighted this thread for me and made me lol.

But if you walk away, you won't make money.

Double down, now!

I enjoy this thread. Kenny Rogers wants to see you in the alley jb.

That Kenny Rogers makes a damn good bird.

I like chicken

I forgot to add. If its a push don't double. Bet the same previous bet.

This exhibit is hilarious. Good work.

It was an instant LOL moment for me as well.

His response is right though. If you are stupid enough to use that strategy, your best bet is to walk away from the table for awhile. Then read a few books and practice with some computer simulations before you go back.

So if I push, my odds aren't as good that I'll win the next hand? I mean, I've lost four hands in a row and then pushed, shouldn't I be due for a win?

odds ok still.

You didn't lose or win on that hand. So just bet the same again that you previous did.

Like I said the dealer is no way going to win 100% of their hands. and their is know way you going to lose 100% of your hands.

If your people are losing 100% of your hands, then they need to study more on blackjack and learn how to play it.

Ah yes I have fond memories of the Martingale betting system. Two days before I turned 21 a buddy of mine was telling me that he had a buddy who constantly made money at black jack with this system (maybe his buddy was jb). He said just bring $120 to the $5 tables and double your bets every time you lose. It was a can't miss opportunity. You NEVER lose 5 hands of black jack in a row.

Now I had never played black jack before. This sounded like a fantastic idea. So on my 21st birthday we head out to the local casino. My $120 (which was a decent amount of money to me at the time) in tow. I sit down at the table with my reference card and my $120. My first 5 hands later I am walking away from the table with no money. 10 minutes into my first ever casino trip and I was broke. In addition to having since learned the math and resoning behind why the strategy does not work, I have also put the method into real world practice. To sum up, it blows.

I would not advise this strategy to anybody that is new to blackjack.

Learn the game well first.

Ok. I'm back guys. Took longer than I expected because I had to sell my car as well. Now I'm down $12,000. JB, What I do next?

WTF?! Now you tell me this!

You should have walked away down 6,000. The luck obviously wasn't with you today.

No offense dude, but this strategy is for experienced blackjack players only.

edit: nevermind, I see the master beat me to the punch...

You are right, the dealer will lose ~45% of the time if you play right. Of course that means you lose ~55% of the time...

Home equity loan. Tell them you are buying a car. Your wife will never know and won't care once you buy her that fine mink coat with your huge winnings!

This thread is becoming a free-for-all now.

What would really be great would be if we could all get together, connect all our computers to a lot of other ones, and be able to do research and actually find out about this sort of thing. You know, some kind of inter-network system that people like us could use to actually learn what is actually correct, rather than just spouting off on what we think might be correct. That would be so cool... then stuff like this wouldn't even have to happen.

this thread is pure gold.

Haven't you guys seen the movie "In America"? It worked fine there!

Anyway, just this Friday night, some people were telling me that you should employ a strategy similar to this, but not as extreme -- simply that you should raise your bet after losing, and lower it after winning. They said it was based on "regression to the mean" which sounded to me like a fancy way of trying to assert that the events weren't independent.

I don't own a house, but I know this guy who knows this guy who loans money sometimes. I'll take out a little extra because i'm clearly due, that way i win even more than $5 in the end. Plus I need to recoup enough to get my stuff out of pawn now. If I lose ...well...the luck wasn't with me today. Wish me luck!

Tongue-in-cheek I'm sure, but amazingly the casinos have figured out how combat such a fantastic system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marting...ette_system%29

"Unfortunately, none of these practitioners in fact possessed infinite wealth, and the exponential growth of the bets would quickly bankrupt those foolish enough to use the martingale after even a moderately long run of bad luck."

Modern casinos generally have table minimums and maximums to prevent players from doubling their bets more than five or six times, rendering the martingale system obsolete.

This system is fool proof. Take out as much he'll lend so you can make more money faster.

And nearly $3,000. What's the correct move now?

Okay, I'm officially a convert. I love this thread now.

leave and learn to play the game

This will stay with me forever.

Forever.

I'm waiting to hear some slots strategy. How do you find the "hot" machines?

Duh, it's the one where someone just got up and walked away from.

Or with adequate charting you can pick the ones that haven't hit in the longest. They are due!

This is the best strategy since Cocky and Funny.

I had no idea this would happen, honest.

Screw the slots. I want some strategy on how to maximize my take on those quarter pusher arcade games.

First go to a nickel machine. If you lose there, jump up to a quarter. Keep going to slots of increasing value, until you win. Guaranteed to win money -- only reason people don't do it is because of all the running around to different machines.

If you miss on your first attempt drop two quarters in at the same time on your second attempt?

jb,

Were you John Daly's personal gambling advisor?

This thread was the quickest I've seen a mathematical exercise turn into an (un)intentional comedy routine.

My "favorite" gambling strategy is... take all your gambling money (whatever, you can afford to lose) and bet it all on your favorite game of chance with the closest to 50/50 odds. No matter the outcome you stop gambling. This way you avoid the "house" taking your money in the long run, if you won the bet.

Instead of doubling up when you lose, you should triple up. That way when you win you cover your loses and make a profit too!