It has taken over six years, but blackjack and other table games are finally coming to Pennsylvania casinos tomorrow. Earlier this year, Pennsylvania’s state legislature passed a bill allowing 700 tables to be put in their casinos. Governor Ed Rendell then signed the bill into law. Tomorrow, the first 202 tables will arrive and be put into service.
With the addition of table games to the Pennsylvania gambling industry, people in the area won’t have to go as far as Atlantic City, New Jersey if they want to play blackjack. Rivers Casino and the Meadows Casino have already completed testing of their blackjack tables under the supervision of the Pennsylvania Gaming and Control Board. Thousands of players took part in the trial runs, while gaming officials kept a close watch on the event so make sure everything runs smoothly. The first full implementation of table games in the state starts tomorrow.
Aside from blackjack, the state’s casinos will also have poker, roulette, craps, baccarat and more. The state has already made $165 million in the last fiscal year in licensing fees from ten casinos for the privilege of offering table games. In the new fiscal year, which began this month, the state hopes to make an additional $15 million in licensing fees as well as $75 million from a 16% tax on revenue from the tables.
Governor Rendell said that the 미니게임사이트 casino expansion is “good for the people of Pennsylvania” and various casino operators have said that, while people like playing the slots, most of their customers are excited about the addition of table games.
With blackjack and other table games coming to Florida and now Pennsylvania, here’s hoping that many more states in America follow suit.
If you don’t live in the United States or don’t live near any casinos and want to play blackjack, there are plenty of online casinos where you can play your favorite game. Online blackjack offers the same fun and skill of the traditional game with the added bonus that you can play with the comfort of your own home and tipping is not expected.
Blackjack Strategy: Never Split a Pair of Tens
Blackjack basic strategy is important if you want to lower the house edge for the game to an acceptable level. If you’re reading this blackjack blog, you probably already know that. Sometimes people deviate from basic strategy, though. This is done because they forget the real strategy and because they use flawed logic to come up with what they think is the answer. On occasion, they also do so because they think that basic strategy is wrong.
One common mistake that makes me cringe is when people split a pair of tens. You should never split a pair of tens, but people do. When they do, it is based on what would otherwise be good strategy. Tens are good cards to start a hand with. In fact, next to an ace, it’s the best card to draw with your first card. The thinking then is if you have a pair of tens, you can split it and you will have two hands starting with a ten, which is twice as good.
People who succumb to that type of thinking forget to do one simple thing: add their cards. A pair of tens equals a hand of 20, which can only be beaten by a hand of 21. Needless to say, a hand of 20 is a great hand to have and you don’t want to give it up. But what are the odds if you do?
Starting a hand with a 10, you have a 1/13 chance of improving your hand, since only an ace would give you a 21. You have a 4/13 chance of ending up with another hand of 20 (by drawing a 10, J, Q or K), which is what you had before splitting the pair. That leaves a 9/13 chance that you will end up with a hand worse than 20.
That is for one hand. By splitting a pair of tens, you’re starting two hands with a ten, which means both hands have a 69% chance of ending up worse than where you started. With that in mind, it is clearly a better idea to stand, take your hand of 20 and hope to beat the dealer. After all, only a dealer 21 can beat you and a dealer 20 will only tie you. You win against any other dealer hand.
As always, basic blackjack strategy works in online casinos as well as the brick and mortar variety.
