May 23rd, 2008 by Beat Casinos, How To Beat The Casinos, www.howtobeatthecasinos.com
Many casinos (online, and land-based) fear blackjack card counters - and as a result, many casinos aim to ban card counters from playing their games. Cantor Casino have taken a different stance: they not only actively encourage blackjack card counters to play their games, but they provide gaming software that will actually count the cards for you! This is very UNIQUE from my experience.
This blackjack variation is called “Statjack™”. Simply described, Cantor Casino Statjack™ is a special version of Blackjack that has been enhanced with on-screen tools to assist you interactively. The tools include counting cards as they are dealt (for you, automatically), and providing statistics that help you make better tactical decisions. Statjack™ is played with four 52-card decks. The object of the game is to get more points than the Dealer without getting more than 21 points (i.e. without going bust).
Game play in
Cantor Casino Statjack™ is identical to normal play: Each Player hand and also the Dealer, is dealt two cards. The Dealer has one card face up and one card face down (the “Hole card”).
Each card has its face value except the Jack, Queen and King, which have a value of ten, and the Ace which counts as the better of one or eleven, depending on the circumstance. If your first two cards total 21, congratulations! You have a Blackjack and will be paid 3 to 2 on your bet, although if the dealer also has Blackjack, the hand is a “Push” – you do not win but you don’t lose.
If the total of your first two cards is less than 21, you can Hit, Split, Double Down, or Stand. If you want another card, press Hit and the Dealer will deal you an additional card. You Hit when you feel your hand needs more points in order to win. But if that next card takes you over 21 points, you “Bust” and lose.
Choosing to Stand means you’re satisfied with your cards. Once you have finished playing all of your hands, the Dealer’s hand will be played out and then you will see whether you have won or not. The Dealer must draw on a hand total of 16 or less. If the total is 17 or more, the Dealer must stand, unless it is a Soft 17, in which case the dealer must hit.
So, you’ll be thinking, if the cards are counted for me, what’s in this game for the house? Surely they must lose long term? Well, there’s two things to be aware of: 1) The cards are “cut” after shuffling, and the cut card is placed at a random spot in the shoe. The shoe is reshuffled after the cut card is drawn from the shoe. Sometimes this cut might be three decks deep, sometimes it might be one. So that’s a consideration. Card counters know that the best opportunities often come along later in a shoe dealt game – you may not always get that chance here. And 2) the game offers some optional side bets on the total score of the dealers cards / players cards etc. As always, our “Beat the Casinos” blog recommendation is this: DON’T PLAY BLACKJACK SIDE BETS.
If you’re a skilled blackjack player, this game is potentially beatable (although luck will be the deciding factor on the day). Cantor Casino will accept high betting limits, so truly skilled players can really “go to war”. 
Like the other casinos promoted on my blog, I’m a player here too – I’ve played the games, I know what they’re like. And Cantor Casino offer a free 50GBP matchplay to new members too. Once you’ve placed 5000GBP worth of bets you can become a VIP and get access to all sorts of extra promotions – very worthwhile!
Visit Cantor Casino today – they’re Malta licensed, and fully backed by a very reputable and established Financial Services company. Good luck!
