Select Casino
A casino can be selected by one of three methods, included database, maps or TrackJack.
Included Casino Database
Ø CV contains 1170 Blackjack rule sets for 740 casinos. (Many casinos have more than one set of rules depending on the table.) The rules have been reproduced by permission from the Spring 2001 issue of Blackjack Forum magazine. Blackjack Forum is a quarterly forum containing the most recent thinking of the experts in casino Blackjack. If you wish to obtain more information on Blackjack Forum you can contact the publisher, Huntington Press at www.huntingtonpress.com.
Ø The upper part of the casino selection screen allows selection by map. Maps are described in the next sub-section. The bottom of the screen allows selection by casino game. Open up the Explorer type list of casino rules and drill down until you find the rule set that you want. You can set the playing options for the game to the rules at the selected casino by clicking on a desired rule set and on the OK button. If you wish to examine the rules first, click on the RULES buttons. Note, the CANCEL button cannot be used if you are a new player and have never selected a casino.
Ø Select Table - Most casinos provide more than one set of Blackjack rules. If you move from one table to another, the rules often change. This is particularly true if the number of decks changes. If the Casino File contains more than one set of rules for the casino that you have selected, then the Select Table screen appears. This screen displays the different rule sets. For each rule set, the number of decks, the penetration, the number of tables and any special conditions are shown. Penetration refers to the percentage of the deck dealt before shuffling. The larger the percentage dealt, the better. This is of interest to card counters. Special conditions includes unusual rules like multiple action or over/under. These rules are always restricted to specially allocated tables because the felt has different markings. The ADV column is a calculation of the player advantage for these rules using basic strategy. A negative number indicates that the casino has the advantage.
TrackJack
TrackJack is a new online Web-based directory of casino conditions. The advantage of TrackJack is that many people are constantly updating the database. You can subscribe to TrackJack at www.advantageplayer.com. If you are a subscriber, click on the TrackJack button. You can locate and load the rules into CV directly from the Internet.
