Play single-deck
If you choose to play single-deck, you’ll be playing in a fishbowl. You will be scrutinized. So your act has to be a good one - correction, has to be a great one.
What can be done to decrease the amount of scrutiny? Well, we have to keep track of the cards - that’s the very essence of what we’re doing. Really, the only alternative is to scale down the betting some, perhaps spreading from one to four units or, at a maximum, one to six units and no more.
A decent spread is obviously still a necessity, to uphold the fundamental logic of betting more when you have the advantage and less or not at all when you don’t. But we can’t put out the big spreads achievable in multiple-deck games and some blackjack odds table - like 12:1,14:1, or more. It’s just impossible to suddenly put that much money out onto the table and get away with it for any length of time. In fact, spread like that on single-deck and you’ll be escorted to the door more quickly than you can say the words, "positive expectation" and can play blackjack .
So use the true count in the same way you would for multiple-deck, only top out at four to six units depending on circumstances such as scrutiny from pit personnel, length of time you expect to be at the table, etc. Hopefully, this will keep you below enemy radar or at a minimum buy you enough time to do some damage and move on.
Deviations for Single-Deck
I’ve mentioned a few times earlier how single-deck blackjack is more of a finesse game than its multiple-deck counterparts. For that reason, deviations from Basic Strategy play a somewhat more significant role. The tables below highlight a few more deviations that the single-deck player might want to add to those presented in Chapter Eight.
As we all know by now, single-deck blackjack is a unique animal called blackjack . First and foremost, the game has to be offered. Second, the rules that apply shouldn’t negate too much of the achievable advantage. A third point, worthy of mentioning yet again, is how closely single-deck blackjack is scrutinized. And last, but certainly not least - although not related to single-deck only but definitely applicable - the earnings potential for many variations to Basic Strategy is negligible, specifically those with very high thresholds or those that apply when betting the table minimum. For all of the above reasons, I minimized the following data in a number of ways. For example, indices for pair splitting were not considered because in some casinos doubling after splitting is allowed, while in others it isn’t. That would mean having to learn two sets of numbers - for pair splitting alone - to be completely accurate in all cases. Another example is omitting some soft doubles - more specifically, those pertaining to doubling on Soft 20. Think about it for a moment: would we really want to double a Soft 20 at a single-deck game while under scrutiny? Probably not - unless your idea of a good time is getting backed off or barred. Mine isn’t, so I’ll pass on those as well.
