Blackjack Questions

[pepmoney]

Hey all! This is my first post, and I've done some searching, but perhaps you could answer my question again (if in fact it has been asked before).

I recently started into the online gambling scene in August at Club Dice without doing too much research into what is a good and bad casino. Had a good run, took about $900 from them in a couple days playing live blackjack. Payout was a mess, faxing docs to them numerous times, so I had heard about Casino Tropez in some of my surfing around and gave them a try. Still playing there and enjoying it, and payouts are about a week to get back to my Firepay account (which seems to be rather long). I have some questions though, that I thought I would ask the experts' advice on:

I hear people badmouthing Playtech casinos. Is there a reason for this? I have not had many complaints in the few months I've played them, and I've played three (Club Dice, Tropez, and recently Diamond Deal). I just wondered why the bad taste in some members' mouths over this software.

On a related note...is there a better casino out there that provides live Blackjack? Playtech casinos are the only places I've found that offer this technology, and even though I want to trust video BJ systems, I have a hard time. Live blackjack also gives me a better feeling of being at the felt in a real casino (well, minus the comp drinks and cocktail waitresses!)

Could someone provide some wisdom and advice here? And basically, has anyone had significant enough wins playing video BJ that would ease my fears? I'm a pretty serious blackjack player, but living in Ohio has really limited my options as far as land casinos go. I'd love to practice and play on a regular basis online, and hopefully earn the airfare towards hitting Sin City.

TIA!

 

[KasinoKing]

Hi, welcome to the forum!

I think you'll find most people's problem with Playtech (and RTG) is not to do with the fairness of the software but with the unacceptably slow payments & unnecessary requirement for faxing ID. Many people (including me) feel that this fax-back fiasco is just an excuse for the casino's to delay paying out.
I know it's not fair to tar all Playtechs & RTG's with the same brush, but although there are a few that pay quickly with minimal fuss, they are by far the minority.

My personal opinion is go for Microgaming or Cryptologic casinos; very rarely ask for I.D. and all the one's I've tried pay very quickly (2-3 days max). Some even do 'instant' withdrawals!

As for fairness? Hmmm. None of us can ever be 100% certain about this, and runs of 'bad luck' always leave us questioning the software. But at the end of the day I think the vast majority of online blackjack probably is fair.
(I've been playing online for 5-years)

Hope that helps. No doubt others will add their views.
Good luck.

 

[pepmoney]

Thanks KK. Any personal favorites for MG casinos? Also, does anyone know the rules that the software follows on these? For example, does the software simulate a deck, or merely randomly generate cards each deal? I'd love to find a place that runs through a deck (or shoe) before starting over again.

 

[vinylweatherman]

So would I!!!

Thanks KK. Any personal favorites for MG casinos? Also, does anyone know the rules that the software follows on these? For example, does the software simulate a deck, or merely randomly generate cards each deal? I'd love to find a place that runs through a deck (or shoe) before starting over again.

I doubt you will find an online video version that runs through a shoe! Card counting comes to mind!
More interestingly, how does the live BJ at Playtech work, if this is from a shoe then we could card count with card counting software and possibly beat the odds over time. Surely Playtech have thought of this?

 

[winbig]

I doubt you will find an online video version that runs through a shoe! Card counting comes to mind!
More interestingly, how does the live BJ at Playtech work, if this is from a shoe then we could card count with card counting software and possibly beat the odds over time. Surely Playtech have thought of this?

I used to play the live BJ via playtech months ago, and can say it's definately from a shoe. I forget how many decks though. That, combined with the amazing amount of time they spend to try and get you off your game (paying attention to the other dealers more than the game itself, talking freely with the other dealers, etc), one would have plenty of time to keep an active count...lol The only variation I've seen with their live BJ and a B&M casino is they pull the burn card, and burn 1-10 more cards based on the value of the first burn card. Penetration is usually fair. The one thing I really didn't like about it is that the "cards" (they're probably say 7-8"x3") are not shuffled in front of you. They're shuffled behind the scenes and brought out when the old shoe is finished.

I don't know if they've ironed the bugs out, but I had one hell of time with it...I ended up going back to the automated games because of it. What would happen is the game would not "reset" itself. They would reset it on their end, but the cards on my end would not clear, and my win would NOT be credited back. It's quite funny to see a dealer pull 30! LOL...The casino in question on that was diamonddeal. After days of going back and forth with them, they finally did credit my account that I was out...winnings & bets on the hands that I actually did win on.

Here's a sample....dealer shows 46! Everyone wins!? LOL

 

[pepmoney]

I'm not sure of the number of decks in the shoe. I've spent a fair amount of time playing the live BJ on a few Playtechs, and although they don't "shuffle", they cut the deck down and restack it in a different order a couple of times. As far as keeping a running count, it's entirely possible. While this may be assumed as my intention, I merely asked due to my untrusting nature towards anything video. I suppose being a software engineer has its drawbacks in that I imagine too many "what-ifs" instead of enjoying the game. Anyway, Diamond Deal was enjoyable for the time I played there. Came up about $150, but then decided to go and cancel it and blow it all in what I can only assume was my greedy side taking over. As far as the bugs to Playtech's live software, it's not 100% flawless, but those strange things you've seen with the dealer's 40+ hand have not occured for me.