Strolling Through The casino on the way to the poker room

[BigSkiRace]

I was walking to the poker room at Turning Stone the other day usually I keep my head down and walk swiftly towards the poker room, but I noticed they had a new game actually I found its been there for a while I just never noticed it, called casino war, it seems like it would be a pretty easy game to do a hi/lo count like blackjack and when the deck gets hot, make a big bet, any thoughts....any one who does this? This game plays with 8 decks, and has like 7 spots for 7 people, there is a war wager and a tie wager, I would assume the tie wager that pays 3:1 is a sucker bet, and the war wager you should surrender before "going to war"

[playersare]

http://www.wizardofodds.com/casinowar

[bpb]

Any counting system in war would be useless. You are comparing the value of two cards. The composition of the shoe is irrelevant.

Counting works in blackjack because the rules make the composition of the shoe important.

[BigSkiRace]

I dont understand...expand

[The Goober]

Think about it this way - what would make the deck "hot" in war?

[Thythe]

[ QUOTE ]
Think about it this way - what would make the deck "hot" in war?

[/ QUOTE ]

Exactly, in blackjack if all that is left are high cards, that bodes well for the player. Conversely, that would not help at all in War.

[CORed]

[ QUOTE ]
I would assume the tie wager that pays 3:1 is a sucker bet, and the war wager you should surrender before "going to war"

[/ QUOTE ]

I played a little Casino War in Vegas several years ago. Then the tie wager was 10:1. It's a sucker bet at 10:1. At 3:1 it's a bend over so about 50 of us can gang rape you bet. I think it's the worst bet in the casino, with the possible exceptions of Keno and the Big6 wheel.

Actually, you are incorrect about surrendering. Going to war is actually better, because you either win (or sometimes win double) if there is a second tie when you go to war. In any event, I don't think there's any way to beat this carnival game. It doesn't really matter whether the deck is rich in high cards or rich in low cards, since you are playing your card against the dealer's card. Eight decks is worse than six, too (more ties).

[Photoc]

[ QUOTE ]
Going to war is actually better, because you either win (or sometimes win double) if there is a second tie when you go to war.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not entirely correct.

Bet 5.00, tie hand. Put up another 5.00 to go to war. You win, you get a TOTAL of 5.00. If you tie again, you get 10.00 for your 10.00 bet. The house actually keeps 5.00 if you win the "war" instead of paying 10, they pay 5.

[TStoneMBD]

ive never played war in the casino before, so know little about it.

however, if you can bet on whether or not you will see a tie or not, then the deck obviously becomes hot and cold.

if youve gone through 4 decks and not seen an ace then its far more likely that youll tie with each getting an ace.


is this right?

[playersare]

[ QUOTE ]
if youve gone through 4 decks and not seen an ace then its far more likely that youll tie with each getting an ace.

[/ QUOTE ]
you might be able to reduce your risk slightly by keeping track, but you couldn't possibly overcome the 17-35% house edge on the tie bet in the long run.

even the best BJ counting systems ever devised are only worth about 2-3% +EV.

[CORed]

[ QUOTE ]
Bet 5.00, tie hand. Put up another 5.00 to go to war. You win, you get a TOTAL of 5.00. If you tie again, you get 10.00 for your 10.00 bet. The house actually keeps 5.00 if you win the "war" instead of paying 10, they pay 5.

[/ QUOTE ]

That is what I meant (I didn't state it as clearly) as I understand it, some casinos only pay 1 bet (5.00 in your example) for the tie on the "war" It is still better to go to war than to surrender, because you will win the "war" more than half the time, whether they pay 1 bet or 2 for the tie. It's still a -EV carnival game. I don't think there's any practical way to beat it. If it's dealt deep enough, there might be times late in the shoe when a 10:1 tie bet becomes +EV (lot's of cards of the same rank left) but you would probably have to keep exact track of cards dealt and wait for hours for the situation to come up. With a 3:1 tie, I don't think the tie bet would ever be favorable, unless the shoe is dealt to the last few cards.

[CORed]

With a 10:1 tie bet, I think you would occasionally get an advantage, if it's dealt deep. With a 3:1 tie, I doubt you would see a +EV situation once a week, unless they are dealing to the bottom. Even at 10:1, I imagine it's pretty rare. You would have to wong the game to have any chance of making money, an I imagine the hourly rate would be pitiful, unless you were making huge bets. I don't know if you could get away with watching the casino war table for hours and then jumping in with a huge tie bet, and I'm sure there are better opportunities in the casino even if you don't play poker.

[Photoc]

The average is a 1 1/2 - 2 deck cushion in the back of the shoe, just like BJk.

[joshman1204]

I always thought casino war was a joke after I saw it in the movie vegas vacation!

[Photoc]

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I always thought casino war was a joke

[/ QUOTE ]

It is a joke, nuff said.

[i wanna be me]

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At 3:1 [casino war] is a bend over so about 50 of us can gang rape you bet.

[/ QUOTE ]

hahaha!