Blackjack Banker

• The banker and each of the players has a hand of cards, and adds up their values. The player wins if the player's total is closer to the target than the banker's total. Blackjack or Twenty-One, in which the aim is to get as near as possible to 21, but not more than 21.
• The banker must continue rolling a die until his/her total equals 17 or greater. If the banker busts (goes over 21), all players with 21 or less win. The banker wins all ties, with the exception of a 'Blackjack' roll with 2 dice. That's an automatic winner. Note: A Blackjack score is not the same as a total score of 21. A dealer can tie a '21.
• Most rooms pay 6:5 on black jack and use 8 decks and will deal out 6 decks. So normally not a good spot for card counters. But I was wondering if anyone knows how the far the edge can tip towards the dealer depending on how negative the deck goes and if it is a good idea to wait for the deck to go negative and player bank.

A Banking Team for Player-Banked Blackjack

Winning at Blackjack, then, is a simple matter of calculated risk. Given your total and the dealer's shown card, what is the most likely result that can occur? The answer, as always, is: it depends. But in Blackjack, the variables are much less than for games such as Roulette and the best strategy can be predicted. If the player hand stood pat, then the banker hand follows the same rules as the player hand. But if the player took a third card, the rules for the banker get more complicated, and they’re based on the banker hand’s total and the value of the player’s third card, as follows: The banker hand always gets a third card if the hand’s total is 2.

Blackjack Bankers

Question from a Reader: Some of the Indian reservations here in Northern California now offer player-banked blackjack. Table limits go up to $100 at one such casino, and $200 at another, at least on the few visits that I’ve made to these places. Most players bet in the $5-25 range most of the time, even when the table limit is higher, but still it takes a pretty healthy bankroll to bank one of these games. I’ve seen dealers bust a few times in a row at a crowded table, breaking a bank in a few minutes, just by minor bad luck.
There are not many card counters at these tables, and much of the blackjack play is pretty atrocious by Nevada standards. I have taken to banking these games fairly regularly, and with great success. I must admit, however, that the bankroll swings are enormous. I’ve had more than one losing night, though I most certainly win most of the times I’ve banked.
Here’s my question: I have been talking to some friends who are card counters about combining bankrolls with me to go after these games with a “team” approach. In other words, if four of us would each put up $5,000, we could play off of a $20,000 combined bankroll.

It seems to me that if we were each banking a different table, we could play off of the common team bank with all of the positive aspects of blackjack team play. We would get into the long run faster. One player’s losses would likely be hedged by the other players’ wins, etc. Is my thinking right on this? In a sense, a well-financed banking team would almost be like being a casino ourselves! Am I right?

Blackjack Bankroll Management

Answer Regarding Blackjack Banking Teams

Yes, you most certainly are right. Playing off of a common bank should cut your short term risk and flatten the wild fluctuations you’ve been experiencing.

Your scheme to “take over” the tables is very similar to what some teams of professional players did in Arizona a few years ago when “social” gambling in bars was legalized. The Arizona bar gambling, unfortunately, became quite overrun with cheats on both sides of the table, primarily due to a complete lack of gaming controls.

Blackjack Bakery

My understanding of these California Indian reservation casinos, with player banked blackjack, is that the games are somewhat more regulated, and more closely monitored by the casino personnel, than were the Arizona bar games.
But be careful. Anytime you gamble with large amounts of cash in relatively loose blackjack games, controlled more by players than by casino personnel, professional cheats will be tempted to get in on the action. Be especially careful if players are allowed to handle their cards, or if dealers are allowed to use varying dealing procedures.
Also, if you are offering limits of $100-200 per hand on blackjack games you are banking, your suggested $20,000 bankroll could prove to be too small if a lot of players decide to play table limits. As long as most players are betting in that $5-25 range, with a smattering of larger bets, you shouldn’t have a problem affording the negative fluctuations. One table full of high rollers, however, could put you out of business in no time flat, just due to normal fluctuation. ♠
For more articles on team play and player-banked games, see the Blackjack Forum Professional Gambling Library.
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