This is my third post on playing blackjack. Ideally you should first read "By the Book, then "The advance technique for the Double Deck", and finally this one.
The principles of when to bet large and when to bet small and how to play your hand are the same with the 4 and 6 deck shoe as they are with a double deck. The difference though of course is you have far more to keep track of.
Here are some simplifying techniques to keep you on course.
A shoe is much more difficult to shuffle than single or double deck. If two 3 of diamonds are displayed on the table - remember the cards before and after it. If two 6 of spades pop up a few hands later - remember the cards dealt before and after that. After the deck is shuffled if two 3 of diamonds and two 6 of spades pop up - Based on what you taught yourself from my "Advance playing techniques" post you know how to wager the next hand. The presents a different type of mental skill. When going up against the shoe you place more focus on memorization than actual "card counting" as done with the single and double deck. You wager based on how the tag cards are combining with one another to help identify the make up of the deck.
Now comes identifying the table to play at. Again you want the sharp seasons versus the shuffle deck. 20 years ago Vegas made this easy. The casinos cheated all the time. It's been over ten years since I witness this happen in Vegas. But many of you play your blackjack outside Nevada. Fact is nobody has more ethics than a Vegas casino owner, you might get lucky and go up against a cheating casino. If so keep your mouth shut and just take their money. Why would it be good news if your casino is a cheat? A skilled blackjack dealer or "Mechanic" understands human nature. When someone bets and lose they bet a little more. When someone bets and win they "manage" their money like the good books tells them and protect their profits.(Have I mention I don't believe in money management crapolla?). Anyways what the Mechanic will do after collecting the cards is make three hand movements. The first pulls the players cards apart by stretching them out to supposedly get a clear view prior to paying or collecting. The second is to swipe through the hands after money is settle. In this swipe all the 10s are pushed towards her discard pile. In the second swipe the remaining cards are swept to the discard pile. (or vise versus) And in fact the next hand dealt it will be vice versus. What she is doing is creating strong seasons. Knowing when the dry spell hits the player will keep upping his bets. A good mechanic can easily create a 5 hand losing streak. do this often and she will bust out the whale. But this is the table YOU WANT to sit at.
The mechanic makes your job easy. You will see the wet and dry seasons. You will know when to let your winnings roll and to tighten up on your loses. Just don't bet bigger than the whale their busting out.
