Blackjack - NCL Epic

Hi there,

Just a quick question for anyone who has been on the epic this summer so far! I'm certainly not a big gambler but enjoy playing blackjack once a year while cruising! Last year blackjack paid out 2:1 on $6 tables- can anyone confirm if this is still the case??

Thanks!:)

we were on the Epic in December. The $6 table only paid 6:5.

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the $6 table always pays out less. and you get hacks that dont know how to play.

i stick to the $15 tables and usually have good luck (although this last cruise on breakway i lost my shirt!).

the $6 table always pays out less. and you get hacks that dont know how to play.

 

i stick to the $15 tables and usually have good luck (although this last cruise on breakway i lost my shirt!).

What's it got to do with you how someone plays.

Oh that's right, I bet you're one of these that thinks you're an expert and if someone doesn't play"correct" it impacts on the table.

Well that's just plain wrong. I've been playing for the best part of 30 years and I can tell you for a fact that playing with six decks and cutting the cards in the shoe a third of the way down creates a totally random deal.

So if someone wants to sit down have some fun and split his/her 10's then let them. You should be more concerned with a table that pays 6/5 instead of 3/2 or has the dealer hit on a soft 17.

So if someone wants to sit down have some fun and split his/her 10's then let them.

right, which is why the folks "having fun" and doing stuff like this usually are at the $6 table because its small money. but when i have $25-$50 a hand down, i dont want to be on a table with people who play like this. i dont go to have fun, i go to win.

ive seen people hit on 17 at the $6 table. ive also seen people who think the point of the game is to get exactly 21. ive seen people who think you play against others at the table vs. playing against the dealer.

I wonder when it changed..definitely paid out 2:1 in June 2016! Guess I'll be graduating to the 15$ tables!

I wonder when it changed..definitely paid out 2:1 in June 2016! Guess I'll be graduating to the 15$ tables!

Are you sure you weren't playing Spanish 21, or whatever the ship tries to call it?

Do they use continuous shuffle machines ?? I can never win when a CSM is used.

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Not 100% on whether a CSM is used but I'm thinking so!

Are you sure you weren't playing Spanish 21, or whatever the ship tries to call it?

Definitely Blackjack! :confused:

they were all auto shuffle on breakaway.... used to be they only used auto for the $6. on the Sun, the $25 and up tables were still manual shuffle. i much prefer that.

Definitely Blackjack! :confused:

I wonder when it changed..definitely paid out 2:1 in June 2016! Guess I'll be graduating to the 15$ tables!

If a casino paid 2:1 on blackjack, depending on other rules and card shuffle, the player has an edge of about 0.4 and up to 2.0, so I am with the other posters who are having trouble with this type of payout. The odds on most (all?) blackjack tables for insurance is 2:1 for a dealer blackjack (after an ace is shown as dealer's first card). Can this be what you remember?

If a casino paid 2:1 on blackjack, depending on other rules and card shuffle, the player has an edge of about 0.4 and up to 2.0, so I am with the other posters who are having trouble with this type of payout. The odds on most (all?) blackjack tables for insurance is 2:1 for a dealer blackjack (after an ace is shown as dealer's first card). Can this be what you remember?

I remember the first time I played Spanish 21. It was actually called Fun 21 or something stupid like that. I didn't know and thought it was blackjack. I was getting paid 2:1 on blackjack and even just getting to 21 with any amount of cards. I was re-splitting aces and always given the chance to surrender or double down at any point. I thought, "this is the greatest game ever created. Why does a casino allow it to exist and why am I not winning huge amounts of money?" It took me a while to realize there were no tens in the deck.

hmm... I checked with my boyfriend who was also there as was starting to doubt it myself! Definitely was 2:1 on blackjack! Perhaps it was a promotion that week...I guess we'll never know!!

I remember the first time I played Spanish 21. It was actually called Fun 21 or something stupid like that. I didn't know and thought it was blackjack. I was getting paid 2:1 on blackjack and even just getting to 21 with any amount of cards. I was re-splitting aces and always given the chance to surrender or double down at any point. I thought, "this is the greatest game ever created. Why does a casino allow it to exist and why am I not winning huge amounts of money?" It took me a while to realize there were no tens in the deck.

Ahh, the good old days of not knowing odds and playing whatever fun game the casino had set up for me to lose my money at lol...yes Spanish 21, Caribbean Poker, War, and who can remember what else I played to contribute to build the fancy hotels lol? Now, I have wrecked it all by letting the accountant side of me talk me out of the latest wacky games.

hmm... I checked with my boyfriend who was also there as was starting to doubt it myself! Definitely was 2:1 on blackjack! Perhaps it was a promotion that week...I guess we'll never know!!

Well, now I have to bone up on my basic blackjack strategy plays. Boarding the Epic on the 18th so hoping the casino folk get the crazies and put on a 2:1 bj promo. And to think I was ready for my cruise lol.

Well, now I have to bone up on my basic blackjack strategy plays. Boarding the Epic on the 18th so hoping the casino folk get the crazies and put on a 2:1 bj promo. And to think I was ready for my cruise lol.

Heres hoping!! I'm studying up in prep for our 2nd of July sailing! One final summer before I myself enter the world of accountancy and get put off!

Oh that's right, I bet you're one of these that thinks you're an expert and if someone doesn't play"correct" it impacts on the table.

Well that's just plain wrong. I've been playing for the best part of 30 years and I can tell you for a fact that playing with six decks and cutting the cards in the shoe a third of the way down creates a totally random deal.

First off, I totally agree that $6-15 Blackjack is for fun. If you win a couple hundred great, if not, oh well fun was had.

Now when you play the $50 and up tables almost everyone there is there to make money. With that being said you are expected to play the correct way. More than likely everyone at the table will be more than willing to help you out if you have a question with a hand.

It does not matter if you are playing with six decks cut thin or one deck cut down 2 cards, percentages are percentages. If x number tens are left in the deck versus the number of cards left there is a percentage for that and vise versa. It is a lot more complex than just counting cards. With that being said, yes you can definitely be hitting or standing at the wrong time. This not only effects your hand but all of the players hands at the table. Now the more decks that a dealer starts with the lower the chance of a really favorable percentage being in the players favor. On average I see about one shoe in 20 being really good percentage wise for the player with six or more decks. When that magic percentage number comes into play you can bet that I will do everything I can to stop a player from making the wrong play. I have even paid the players bet so they did not make the wrong play.

A casino will never give 2:1 on Blackjack. It is just not in their nature to offer a game where there is no house edge. I can guarantee that it would be difficult to get a seat at a table with 2:1 odds. Anyone in the know will have those seats locked up for most of the trip.

Now, what you may have seen or played was the Blackjack tournament. In tournament play blackjack is paid at 2:1.

A casino will never give 2:1 on Blackjack. It is just not in their nature to offer a game where there is no house edge. I can guarantee that it would be difficult to get a seat at a table with 2:1 odds. Anyone in the know will have those seats locked up for most of the trip.

 

Now, what you may have seen or played was the Blackjack tournament. In tournament play blackjack is paid at 2:1.

I know for sure it wasn't a tournament! I was new to the game and was definitely getting plenty of assistance from the lovely lady sat beside me! That said it was difficult enough to get a seat!

I wont anticipate the same pay-outs this time!

One last thing on the 2:1. Right in the middle of the table in big letters it says "Pays 2:1 on INSURANCE Pays 2:1". Maybe that is where the confusion is. If not I hope you put in the time and made a bundle from the casino error.

I have been playing BJ for a long time and I play to win. If I see players doing stupid things, not necessarily the wrong thing, I get up and leave the table. It kills me to see players split tens or picture cards. You never split a winning hand.

As for the payout of BJ is 3:2 on real tables. On ships at the $6 table it's 6:5. I've never seen 2:1 odds. And I don't see what all the fuss is about the odds of BJ. How many BJ's do you get in a shoe. I could go two or theee shoes and not get BJ. You make money by doubling when you can and splitting at the right time. And that's why I don't sit at a $6 table. People are there to have fun, I play to win.

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Heres hoping!! I'm studying up in prep for our 2nd of July sailing! One final summer before I myself enter the world of accountancy and get put off!

Thanks this thread (even though it is driving us odds obsessed gamblers crazy lol). Two ahh moments for me, the first being the silly gambling days and now the entering articling (slavery?) work with the big firms. Or are you leaving articling and actually doing accounting? (Oops, my apologies if articling isn't done in Ireland.) In any case, have a great cruise and a great career!

Cheers! Roehl

not only is NCL paying 6:5 on low stakes tables (vs 3:2), now it is becoming prevalent in Vegas as well. You definitely should read the info posted at the table before playing

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