How does online blackjack REALLY work?

[dickens1298]

I've noticed during Crypto games that I would occasionally receive two cards of the same suit and same value back-to-back (eg queen of spades followed by another queen of spades). I realize that it's statistically possible.. just highly improbable.

So... is online blackjack truly a scenario where a virtual deck is shuffled? Or are there preset criteria to determine the percentage win/loss for the casino? Or is the casino software essentially blind to suits and ten-value cards since they're all equivalent in blackjack?

Any thoughts?

[hhcfreebie]

So... is online blackjack truly a scenario where a virtual deck is shuffled? Or are there preset criteria to determine the percentage win/loss for the casino? Or is the casino software essentially blind to suits and ten-value cards since they're all equivalent in blackjack?
Any thoughts?

Yes, no and no.
If you suspect their random number generator is not random, you can copy/past your playlog here and let others tell you how likely certain event is.

[dickens1298]

Yes, no and no.
If you suspect their random number generator is not random, you can copy/past your playlog here and let others tell you how likely certain event is.

I'm not questioning the randomness of the cards - I AM wondering how faithful the results would be to an actual deck. Allow me to clarify:

Let's assume an extreme example and create a one-deck game. In this game, I have drawn a ten of spades and a six of spades (16). The dealer has drawn a jack of spades and a queen of spades (20). Playing basic strategy, I hit.

The odds of me hitting safely are 20/48. The odds of me hitting and busting with a ten-value card are 13/48. Let's say the random generator has me hitting a ten-value card (somehow seems to happen to me a lot at times... )

Now here's the rub(s):

(1) Does the computer remember that the ten, jack, and queen of spades have already been played, and hence will deal a ten-value card other than those three? And if so, would it keep track thusly in a six or eight-deck shoe game?

(2) Or does the random generator calculate the probability per CARD, and not per its value? In short, instead of noting that the odds of hitting a 5 would be 4/48, it would assess the odds of hitting a 5 of spades at 1/48, a 5 of diamonds at 1/48, and so on? And if so, does it still keep track through the course of a shoe game?

(3) Or are the shoe games on Crypto (not MG - I've actually "seen" MG "shuffle" the shoe) actually continuous shuffle situations? That would make sense actually....

BTW.. Crypto's web site didn't have any information to enlighten me..

[hhcfreebie]

Let's assume an extreme example and create a one-deck game. In this game, I have drawn a ten of spades and a six of spades (16). The dealer has drawn a jack of spades and a queen of spades (20). Playing basic strategy, I hit.

The odds of me hitting safely are 20/48. The odds of me hitting and busting with a ten-value card are 13/48. Let's say the random generator has me hitting a ten-value card (somehow seems to happen to me a lot at times... )

Now here's the rub(s):

(1) Does the computer remember that the ten, jack, and queen of spades have already been played, and hence will deal a ten-value card other than those three? And if so, would it keep track thusly in a six or eight-deck shoe game?

(2) Or does the random generator calculate the probability per CARD, and not per its value? In short, instead of noting that the odds of hitting a 5 would be 4/48, it would assess the odds of hitting a 5 of spades at 1/48, a 5 of diamonds at 1/48, and so on? And if so, does it still keep track through the course of a shoe game?

(3) Or are the shoe games on Crypto (not MG - I've actually "seen" MG "shuffle" the shoe) actually continuous shuffle situations? That would make sense actually....

BTW.. Crypto's web site didn't have any information to enlighten me..

(1) I think so, otherwise it would be NOT a real Black Jack game. Cryptologic offer single deck BJ game. I bet players would shout "rigged" if they see 2 spade queen on the screen.
(2) I think it's per card, and it make sense to me because it's easier to program this way. In muti-player BJ they don't shuffle every hand so they do have to track which card has been dealed. Just like single deck BJ, if someone has seen more than 6 spade queen been dealed before a shuffle, he/she won't be pleased.
(3) For single player game it's shuffled right after every hand. For muti-player game it's shuffled once awhile. I don't remember the penetration of the decks.

[rainman]

(1) I think so, otherwise it would be NOT a real Black Jack game. Cryptologic offer single deck BJ game. I bet players would shout "rigged" if they see 2 spade queen on the screen.
(2) I think it's per card, and it make sense to me because it's easier to program this way. In muti-player BJ they don't shuffle every hand so they do have to track which card has been dealed. Just like single deck BJ, if someone has seen more than 6 spade queen been dealed before a shuffle, he/she won't be pleased.
(3) For single player game it's shuffled right after every hand. For muti-player game it's shuffled once awhile. I don't remember the penetration of the decks.

I don't know about the penetration but probably less than or equal to 50 percent. They play through about 3 decks approx. which kinda sucks but for online better than every hand.

[dickens1298]

(1) I think so, otherwise it would be NOT a real Black Jack game. Cryptologic offer single deck BJ game. I bet players would shout "rigged" if they see 2 spade queen on the screen.
(2) I think it's per card, and it make sense to me because it's easier to program this way. In muti-player BJ they don't shuffle every hand so they do have to track which card has been dealed. Just like single deck BJ, if someone has seen more than 6 spade queen been dealed before a shuffle, he/she won't be pleased.
(3) For single player game it's shuffled right after every hand. For muti-player game it's shuffled once awhile. I don't remember the penetration of the decks.

Is there any information out there to confirm this, or is it an educated guess?

[DealerBusts]

Crypto's multiplayer BJ deal about 25% of the deck (2 decks out of 8). If you read the help section, they usually tell you about how often shuffling occurs for the different BJ games.