How does a Casino’s edge work in Blackjack? It feels like the player and the dealer should have the same odds if they play the same (eg, always hit on soft 17).
In: Mathematics
Professional blackjack player here.
Players have many advantages that the dealer does not have. The following are true even if you’re not counting cards. They have more flexibility in choosing when to hit or stand, unlike the dealer who must hit 16 or less and must stand on 17 or more (except soft 17 depending on the rules). Players have more options too, including double, split, and surrender. And they get paid 150% for a blackjack.
However, the dealer has **one big advantage**. If a players busts, the house automatically wins that bet. It doesn’t matter if the dealer busts too. In the casino, the dealer will take away your cards and bet as soon as you bust instead of waiting until the end of the round. Around 10% of the time both the player and dealer bust. These are wins for the casino. Anything other than a bust is treated equally between the players and dealer. If you both get 18 or both get blackjack then it is a tie (a “push”).
The overall effect of these advantages on both sides is the house has an edge of about 1%. This means for every $100 worth of bets you make, the casino will get $1. And the casino actually makes more than this. Blackjack has high variance, meaning that there are big swings up and down. The casino won’t run out of money regardless of the swings, so they can keep playing indefinitely and expect their profit to approach the theoretical 1% over time. However, players usually have a limited bankroll. So they might get wiped out on a big down swing and then they have no way to continue playing to try to win some of the money back. This works to the casino’s advantage because more players end up stopping after losing a lot of money than after winning a lot of money.
EDIT: The above assumes the players are following proper basic strategy, which most do not. This increases the house’s profit even more.
I said I’m a professional. So there must be more to it than this. The player has additional advantages provided they use all the information available to them to make decisions. By counting cards, you have an approximation of which cards are left and therefore which cards are more likely to be dealt next. You use this information to bet big when the cards are in your favor, and bet small (or leave the table) when they are not. You also use this information to change your strategy to decide when to hit, stand, double, split, surrender, and buy insurance. This tips the advantage in your favor and now you have a 1% edge over the house. Come to r/blackjack if you want to learn more.
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