Many of you who are involved in casino games must have faced the problem of finding best rules let me tell you the guideline for selecting the best rule.
The guideline is to always seek out the best rules. Options such as surrender double any two cards, or double down after a split always favor the players. Any restrictions or negative changes to the "normal" standard rules hurt the player and help the house, such l,lS hitting on soft 17 or not being able to double down on any two cards The third principle is penetration, or how deeply the cards are dealt before shuffling. In my mind, this is the most important of the three main criteria. Stanford Wong was one of the earliest authors to point out how critical this factor was to card counting. Good rules usually don't make up for mediocre penetration. For example, if a casino offers a six-deck game with all the bells and whistles (surrender, double down on anything, resplit aces) but only deals out half the shoe (three decks) before shuffling, it would be a waste of time for any serious player.
On the flip side, even a game with lousy rules can become a magnet for card counters if they deal deeply enough. Reno is a great example of this. Many clubs commonly allow doubling down on only 10 or 11 and then make it even worse by hitting on soft 17. Both of these restrictions hurt the players, yet the combination of single deck blackjack with deep penetration can potentially become a very strong game, despite the bad rules.
So with those three principles (number of decks, rules, and penetration) in mind, let me explain how I decide where to play. I typically go wherever I can achieve the highest return per hour of blackjack play. The best rules normally are found wherever a glut of casinos provides plenty of competition. This forces owners to offer more favorable options in order to grab their share of the gaming market, because many gamblers are surprisingly astute about what they want in a blackjack game and will vote with their feet if a casino has bad rules.
Historically, Las Vegas and Atlantic City have been good picks for basic-strategy players who are looking for the clubs with the thinnest house edge. They normally stand on soft 17 and allow players to double on any two cards.
Other clubs around the world also imitate these big boys, but there are many variations. In less-frequented Nevada border towns like Laughlin or Jean, they usually hit on soft 17. Mississippi is split into two sectors much the same way as Nevada, with the Gulf Coast typically using Strip rules like Las Vegas and the northern part of the state hitting on soft 17 like Reno. While it is true that many small-town casinos are a waste of time, occasionally a gem arises out of the desert sand. Wend over (on the Utah border) is a challenge to get to, but has rewarded its adventuresome explorers with one of the strongest single-deck games on the planet over the last two decades.
Common sense would assume that pros only visit the clubs with the very best rules, as the difference can be half a percent or more. That axiom would be accurate for basic-strategy players. Yet as stated earlier, there are other factors besides good rules for card counters. The trick comes in learning how to juggle all three variables (penetration, number of decks, and rules) to size up the best opportunity for your blackjack buck. With experience comes better judgment and discernment on this issue. I feel one of the biggest reasons novice card counters fail to win any serious money is because they play inferior games. You absolutely have to be ruthless in this category if you want to succeed.
