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Number of Decks
“Paranoia?” 

Are Fewer Decks Truly Better? 

There are many areas in life where fewer is clearly better.  The fewer nuclear bombs the better.  The fewer cars, the better the environment.  The fewer employees you have to compete with, the better chances for promotion.  The fewer times you go out with the guys, the better the chances that you don’t sleep on the couch.  The fewer decks of cards used at Blackjack, the better the odds for the player.  That last one is more a question than a statement, and it is a thought provoking question at that. 

Make no mistake; we love common sense.  It is the first tool we employ in everything we do.  Knowing that the cards don’t physically change, there is still a 1 in 13 chance that the first card out is a king in 8 decks as compared to 1. So does it truly make a difference?  There is definitely more possibilities to make hands that could never have occurred using only one deck, like a hand of 9 two’s.  We know that, but we also know that splitting was a good thing for the player when done properly, as was doubling down. If each individual card is a greater number, we would have better odds of splitting to the max, and doubling after splitting.  After saying all that, the dealer’s hand would also be likewise affected, but is this actually a bad thing, or was the difference really nothing at all? 

Everything we read was saying how terrible it was to play with 8 decks.  So, were we just going to take someone’s word for it again, like we had to for everything else, or were we going to, once and for all, prove it to everyone?  Well, we hope you already know the answer to that question. 

All Up To You 

The Playing 21 Program allows you to select the number of decks you want to use. Anywhere from 1 to 8 decks.  Not wanting to miss anything, we allow you to set the shuffle point.  You can set up the program, exactly like your favorite casino’s Blackjack game. After setting up any method of play that you want, you can run one test of millions of hands, using one deck. Go in and see how well you did.  Then, playing the same way, use two decks, three decks and so forth, until you reach 8 decks.  You should get worse each and every time, if fewer is indeed better. 

Remember, we set up the program to be the best in the entire world, so you can simulate anything.  If your local casino only allows you to double on 10 and 11 for the one deck game, set up the program that way.  How hard is that?  Simulate the game you want, and see what truly is best.  No more taking someone else’s word for the answers.  In this case, the fewer people you listen to, the better. Our program simply put; can’t lie. Finally…the bottom line. 

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