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- Sep 3, 2003
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- UK
I wonder why microgaming keep their hands off from multiplayer games.With MG graphics and reputation it would have been superb to be able to play with other players online.
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bethug said:dirk and them same people want to run to this forum say the games is fixed and they cant even play![]()
I run this forum. What be you sayin'?

bethug said:jpm, i like when people cant play, i know for a fact the casino will have money to pay me![]()
jpm said:I don't really believe in the wizard's view on bad players at your table. I think they do affect your game, at least in the short term. Over the long term (thousands of hands or more), I'm sure the affect probably becomes negligible, however, most of us don't have the bankroll to survive that long with a bad player screwing up the table. I've had it happen too many times at land based casinos to think its not going to affect the table.
jpm said:I don't really believe in the wizard's view on bad players at your table. I think they do affect your game, at least in the short term.
GrandMaster said:You don't have to believe the Wizard :notworthy, he is still right. Your play does not affect the other players' expected win or loss. It affects the outcome of individual hands, but not the expectation. Sometimes the deviation from correct strategy makes no difference, sometimes it will save you by causing the dealer to bust when he would not have busted otherwise, but people don't tend to thank 3rd base when this happens.
How? Would you mind to give me an example? I do know that the short term and the long term expectation are the same. If the house has an advantage, he will have the advantage be it 1 or 10,000 hands. The more hands we play, the more likely the outcome will "converge" to the expectation.jpm said:That's what I said, I agree when it comes to EXPECTED return, but since it is a short term game in that scenario, it certainly affects your actual return. If everyone was playing thousands of hands, it'd probably even out, but the bad player will bust out before then and will take some other players on the table down too.

hhcfreebie said:How? Would you mind to give me an example?
If it were this situation (where the next card was a 3), you would say that third base was lucky, and congratulate yourself on playing correctly. jpm said:Sure, real simple. I've had it happen many times at land based tables (which is why I'd never play multiplayer online). You've got one bad player that has no clue what they're doing sitting either before you or after you in the deal, doesn't seem to matter their position, and they are typically hitting when they shouldn't (like whenever they have less than 17, regardless of dealer up card), or splitting when they shouldn't. You play your hand the way you should, (doubling, hitting, standing) and you end up losing a hand you should have won because the bad player misplayed their hand. Either they pulled the card you needed or pulled the dealer's bust card away with their misplayed hit or split.
I know, I know, the card position is all random, blah blah blah. But do a quick calculation on where the cards would have fallen if they played their hand properly, and you usually see that the outcome would have been reversed had they played it right. On RARE occassions I've seen a misplay result in the dealer busting, but much more often its improved the house's advantage to have the bad player at the table.
Obviously the house always has the advantage, but the bad player is affecting my actual return. And since they probably only last for maybe a couple of dozen hands or so, there's no time for it to even out. Its just a big sigh of relief when they finally bust out and leave. I think typically its someone who's just visiting the casino for fun, etc and just plays at the cheapest table they can find ($5 at the casinos I frequent). Because of this, I'll play at the next level table ($10 or maybe $15) to avoid the 'newbie' player. Don't know if this happens online though, since I won't play multiplayer BJ online.
Other games like Let it Ride, 3 card poker, or Caribbean Stud aren't affected by the 'bad player' because the only decision is play or don't play. But I prefer to play these one on one in the hope of a better chance of getting winning hands (as in let it ride, if I have a king and 3 other players at the table do too, then the dealer will never flip one to make my hand a winner. But if its just me, then there's 3 more kings that could come out of the deck to help my hand).
gfkostas said:I went yesterday to Gala casino in London and when I joined the table i was told off by some players that I should not join when they are in the middle of the shoe.Like I will affect the outcome of the game.....BS!They also don't like see hits on 16 because they believe that 4,5,6 wont help you but in reverse it will help dealer to bust.They really pissing me off all these mindless players :mad
jpm said:at some of the land based casinos I frequent, the high roller tables all have signs saying 'No mid-shoe entry'. Those are $100 minimum tables, so I don't really blame them for wanting to keep things status quo.
dickens1298 said:By the way - I've seen high limit players do irrational moves (such as split tens), and kept a win streak alive by doing so. As they say, it's better to be lucky than good.
jpm said:I've never disputed the statistical or theoretical aspects, but if you've ever played at a table where this happens, you'd know it absolutely affects your actual return. As I said in my earlier post, on RARE occassions I've seen a misplay result in the dealer busting, but much more often its improved the house's advantage to have the bad player at the table.
jpm said:gfk, at some of the land based casinos I frequent, the high roller tables all have signs saying 'No mid-shoe entry'. Those are $100 minimum tables, so I don't really blame them for wanting to keep things status quo. Sometimes when I get bored or run out of my gambling money for the day, I'll go an watch these guys bet (and lose) hundreds & hundreds per hand. All done without a word from the players or dealer, just hand motions. Doesn't seem like as much fun as a low limit table with people cheering each other on and a dealer hoping to bust his own hand. That's the kind of dealer I enjoy tipping.

gfkostas said:That's not the case for at least 80% of London casinos.It's ridicullous to have people preaching you like THEY KNOW how to play BJ.I'm there to play my money and what ever I do is none of their business.If the manager comes im sure i will win the case or be moved to an other private table for my satisfaction![]()
GrandMaster said:Individual hands will be affected, of course, but the average effect is 0. You may have selective memory, you are more likely to remember when another player's play affected your hand negatively.
Let me restate it. Imagine that you have observed which cards have been played, and then you have two table for each of possible combination of dealer's hole card and order of cards of the remaining deck. At one of these tables you have a player who stays, at the other you have a player who hits. Then you average the results over the two sets of tables, and the average will be the same.
Clayman said:The ONLY reason casinos post "No mid-shoe entry" signs is to protect themselves from card counters who would otherwise "wong-in" in positive counts. Nothing at all to do with "maintaining the flow" or some such other nonsense.
A corollary is that often, if you choose to skip a hand while seated at the table, you will not be allowed to play another hand until after the shuffle.
GrandMaster said:Don't be too harsh on them, these are the people who keep the casinos in business.![]()
For those who still believe that other people's play affects them, I recommend that they check the Optional Stopping Theorem for Martingales (nothing to do the martingale betting system), here is a reference on the webYou do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.. It is heavy duty mathematics, but you can also do calculations by hand for particular cases if you assume that there are only a few cards left in the deck.

jpm said:No arguement the average effect will eventually be 0, but as I said, either the bad player's bankroll or your own won't live long enough to even out. Its always a very small sample. And the negative play is probably a more vivid memory as well.
gfkostas said:In UK you can have up to 3 different bets from 3 different persons in one hand.The person who place the first bet has the responsibility for the hand.
jpm said:Who gets the first new hand on a split in this scenario? The player or piggybacker? In other words, is the p.b's hand played first or second?
Clayman said:Actually, assuming that when the primary player splits and the "piggybacker" has the option of splitting his hand or not, and, if he chooses not to split, his hand becomes the first "post-split" hand, a nice opportunity for collusion between primary and "piggybacker" exists.
For instance in 8,8 vs 10, since EV of 16 vs 10 < than EV of 8 vs 10, when the primary player splits, the "piggybacker" has the opportunity to turn a 16 into a free 8.
If the front better bets small and is willing to make sacrificial plays, while his friend the "piggybacker" bets big, a gain of 0.2% on the HA is possible, mostly involving splitting plays.
sw2003 said:Could you explain a bit better please? I don't see why both of them shouldn't split the pair of 8's given that you already said the EV of 8,8 vs 10 is bigger than 16 vs 10?

The piggybacker does not change anything for you, unless he distracts you or you have disagreements over the correct strategy. It is the piggybacker who is risking his money on your skills.jpm said:I'm sure if you made enough of a fuss about it, they would tell the pb to find someone else to play behind though. Personally, I wouldn't allow it unless it was a friend of mine.
Here's another question, not sure if anyone knows this, are your comp points based on just your bets, or yours + a pb if one is playing behind you?
ukcroupier said:Piggybacking will generaly only occur when there's a full table (although some idiots do it even when there's a seat).
Clayman said:Can you, or anyone, say whether piggybackers currently have the option of not splitting along with the seated player?
sniff sniff