THAT LOVELY ACE

By Henry Tamburin

The most important card for blackjack players is the Ace. Do you know why? Read on to find out.

The first and foremost reason that the Ace is important because you need an Ace to make a blackjack hand, which pays you a bonus of a half-bet meaning you get paid 3 to 2 instead of 1 to 1 (the 3-2 payoff assumes the dealer doesn’t have a blackjack also). Why, you may wonder, is this so important? Simply because when the dealer gets a blackjack, he only collects your initial wager (assuming you don't have a blackjack), whereas when you get the blackjack, you get paid the half-bet bonus. The latter benefits all players because the bonus payout on the blackjack reduces the house edge for all players by about 2.3 percent. (This is one of the few perks that blackjack players have over the dealer.)

Another reason an Ace is important to players is because when you are dealt an Ace in your initial hand along with a non-Ace card, you can draw a third card and never break. Suppose you are dealt an Ace-6. You have a soft 17, and you could draw another card and never bust because you have the option of counting the Ace as one. For example, if you were dealer an Ace-5 and you drew a 6, you can count the hand as 12 and depending on what the dealer's upcard is, you could either stand or draw again.

The Ace is such a powerful card for players, that most casinos will only allow you one draw card to each split Ace. Some casinos will also allow players to resplit Aces should you draw an Ace to one, or both, split Aces. This is a favorable rule for players.

You know that in each deck of cards there are four Aces. So if you were to play, say, a two-deck game, you know that right after the shuffle there are eight Aces in the two decks. Likewise in a six-deck game, there are 24 Aces. In a six-deck game, you would expect to see four Aces for each deck played. But what happens if less, or more, Aces show? Can we use that information to boost our odds of winning? The answer is yes.

Here's an example of where I'm going with this. Let's suppose you are playing a single-deck game. You sit down, make a bet, the dealer shuffles the cards, and during the first round you count four Aces on the layout. In other words, four Aces were dealt by the dealer in that first round and it doesn't matter who got the Aces, the point is that all four Aces have been removed from play. Now the dealer is ready to deal the next round. How much would you bet? I hope you said as little as possible. Why? Since all the Aces have played, your chances of getting a blackjack on the next round is nil therefore you shouldn't be making a big bet.

Suppose instead you didn't see any Aces on the first round. Now how much would you bet in the next round? If you are smart player, you should bet more because the chances of you getting a blackjack, and the potential bonus half-bet payout, have increased.

Now to you see where I'm heading? If you are a basic strategy player, you can reduce the house edge and play an even game by watching and counting those Aces. When you haven't seen as many Aces in the early rounds as you would expect (using the baseline of four Aces per deck), this would be a good time to bet more.

Casino gambling expert and mathematician Alan Krigman recently studied the impact of the Ace on the house edge and came to this conclusion: there are instances where the player can get the edge just by monitoring the number of Aces played and comparing it to the number of decks played (and assuming the ten-valued cards remain in their original proportions). For example, in an eight-deck game a player would have the edge if fewer than four Aces are gone after two-decks are played, or fewer than eight when three decks are used-up (for his complete study see the April issue of Blackjack Insider Newsletter at www.bjinsider.com). This simple technique of just monitoring the Aces played can be used by recreational players to reduce the house edge and even swing the edge in their favor.

There have been simple card counting systems that have been developed based on the Ace. Ken Uston, a famous blackjack card counter, proposed the Ace-Five count in his classic book, Million Dollar Blackjack. You add one to your count for every five you see and subtract one for every Ace you see. When the count goes positive it indicates an excess of fives over Aces has been played meaning the reverse is true in the unplayed cards (i.e. an excess of Aces over fives) and therefore the player should bet more. Likewise, when the count is negative, the house has the edge, and the player bets small. Depending on the rules, it's possible for the player to have a small edge over the house (or at least reduce the house edge to zero) using the Ace-Five count.

Blackjack expert and author Fred Renzey, summarizes his Ace-Ten Front Count in his excellent book, Blackjack Bluebook. Renzey tracks not only the Ace but also the ten-valued cards. You basically bet the minimum for the first two decks of a six-deck shoe and count the number of Aces and ten-valued cards. If a small number of Aces and tens appear during the play-out of the first two decks compared to what you expect, you have an edge and should bet more for the rest of the shoe. Likewise, if you counted a lot of Aces and tens during the play of the initial two-decks, you don't have the edge and you should continue to bet the minimum for the rest of the shoe. Renzey also recommends observing the first two decks being played as a spectator, then jumping and playing if the number of Aces and tens seen is rather low. Overall, the Ace-Ten Front Count will easily reduce the house edge to zero and again, depending upon the rules, it can give you a slight edge over the house. For more details on the Ace-Ten Front Count, consult Renzey's book.

The next time you play blackjack, pay attention to those Aces! It is a key card that can give you the winning edge over the casino.