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Gambling

Blackjack Basics

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So I wrote an article on blackjack that seems a bit advanced for some players who are new to both blackjack and statistical gambling. Rather than clutter the original I decided to explain some of the basics of blackjack, and the torn blackjack game, so those who want to try it don’t have to guess their way through it. If you’re interested in exploring more, consider checking out strategies and games at an Online Casino for a comprehensive gaming experience.

Now during this discussion I will presume we are always betting 100. I will use the following to talk about cards:

A = Ace
2-9 = 2-9
T = Ten, Jack, Queen or King (any card of value 10)
J = Jack, Q = Queen, K=King

Scoring and the goal of blackjack

So in blackjack each card has a value from 2-10, with Aces being special in that they count as 1 or 11 depending on the rest of the cards

Card:Ace2-910 / J/ Q/ K
Score:1 OR 112-910

Both player and dealer are dealt two cards to start, although the player only sees one of the dealers.
The player must then choose an option based on the total score of their hand and the potential score of the dealers final hand

Normally the player has two choices, either ‘stand‘ with their current total, or ‘hit‘ and get another card to add to the total. If the players total is over 21 however the player loses instantly.

When the player stands with a score under or equal to 21 the dealer then has to ‘hit’ until their total is over 16. Again if the dealer goes over 21 the dealer loses, but the player wins. Take advantage of the latest promotions from โปรโมชั่นล่าสุดของ UFABET and unlock exclusive offers and bonuses that enhance your gaming experience.

If both players manage to make a score of under 21 the highest score wins. If they have the same score then normally they ‘push’ – meaning the player does not win or lose, but gets their stake back.

Outcomes

Bust: Player has more than 21

Bust

Lose: Player has a lower total than the dealer, or a hand not as strong as the dealer

You Lose

Win: Player has a stronger hand, or higher score, than the dealer

You Won

Push: Your hand is equal in value and strength to that of the dealer

Push

Soft score hands

So a soft score is one where an ace is used at a value of 11. As a starting hand you may have A2, A3, A4, A5… A9. If we take A6 for example it can either count as 7 or 17 (although when you stand it is always the highest value that counts). These hands are good because you can hit without fear of busting, with anything of value 1,2,3 or 4 getting you closer to 21, any T giving you the same total but ‘hard’ meaning if you hit again you can bust, or anything 5-9 giving you less score.

4-card-charlie

The special hands

There are in torn blackjack 2 special types of hand.

The first is the most famous being 21 – or in torn Natural. That is an Ace and any card with a value of 10. If the player has this combination to start with they win and get paid 3:2 (100 + 150 winnings)

Natural

The second is 5 card charlie – Not often found in casinos – That is any 5 cards with a value of under 21. A 5 card charlie will beat any hand other than Natural, or a higher valued 5 card charlie. This is where soft hands have good potential, A2-6 for example can put you in a good place for that 5 card charlie, or give you 2 chances of getting to 21.

5-card-charlie

Split hands

When you are dealt two of the same card you can Split your hand. This means you pay another 100 and now have two hands to play against the dealer instead of one. If you do this at the right time though that means you can win twice as much, right?

re-split-tens

Double Down

If you are feeling lucky, or you think your cards compared to the dealers allow for it, you can double your bet and get an extra (and last) card. This can only be done when you only have two cards (if you have split your hand you can only double on the second hand). If you win you win twice that amount (400)

Double_Down

Surrender

If you are almost certain the dealer has you beat, and you still only have two cards (again not on first split hand though) you can surrender and get half your bet back (50).

Surrender

Insurance

If you have a good hand, but the dealer is showing an Ace, you might worry that he has AT. Insurance will cost you 50, but if the dealer has AT you will win 150 (covering your bet). Not great odds, you may only want to use this feature to get your merit!

poor_insure

WARNING: Blackjack is a game of luck, and even with a winning strategy in the short term you can lose big. If you are going to play only ever gamble a small fraction of the total amount you are willing to lose!

Merits

Merit Hunting

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I saw a post in the forums recently where someone had gone through a load of stats and found I was in the top 5 for merits earnt. Merits a possibly the most important thing in the game in determining the best strategy for your character. The more merits you have the more agile you can be, and the more agile you are the more merits you can earn. There are plenty of easy merits out there that some people just don’t bother getting, possibly because they don’t know they exist. Merits come at four main costs

* Energy merits
* Nerve merits
* Time merits
* Money merits

Energy Merits

Attacking, respect, bounties, revives, level up. These are the cheapest merits around, and the best place to start your merit hunting life. Revives often get a decent price in the trade chat, and even the weakest player can pick up 10m by doing the 100 bounties merit. If you are reading this blog you likely have a DP anyway, but if not that should be your first mission.

Nerve Merits

Busting and crimes. There are so many crime merits you likely won’t get them all in 15 years. If you are just starting out then they are a great way to build your nerve bar too, just keep going with whichever is the cheapest merit you can get. That doesn’t mean head straight for 10k searches for money, look at how many of which crimes you need, and work out how much the nerve cost is. The cheapest may not be the one for the lowest cost nerve crime. If you are poor you should still be able to afford BEER at $10 a pop, and always have your booster cooldown ticking.

Busting is much harder, you need dexterity, and you can only do 3-4 an hour. Go for these much later in the game.

Time merits

Travelling, commitment, jobs, education. These merits can also be earners. Flower/Drug/Plushie running whilst doing your 50 of each travel destination is a must. You can make 2m a day minimum. If you can join a cruise line job when you do these for the extra portage!

If you haven’t maxed out all the torn basic jobs and done all the merits for those.. quit your job now and do it. Also once done go for the Afronted merit (guides are in forums/wiki).

Education merits can wait, it’s much better to ensure you are going for educations that maximise your stat gains or ability to make money (depending on which you want more)

Money merits

Stocks, Networth, Item use, Point use, Gambling merits. Not always cheap, but as you get richer and more powerful the cost involved can seem small. You should be refilling energy every day regardless. If you aren’t in a war you should be using as many sfaks as possible and always have your med cooldown ticking – fill empty bags to reduce life if need be, you can sell them again.

Now there is clearly also the competition merits, and some odd-ball ones that don’t strictly in the above groups. The merits for being attacked for instance could come under the money tag, as a lot of people pay others to lose/run etc.

What to spend merits on

 

I spend most of my merits on nerve/crime exp at the moment. It’s only a little but it does help getting more nerve merits.

Initially I used all my merits on education – the benefits are huge. Then I used one of each category to pick up web of perks.

If you don’t have many merits your focus should only be on getting more. Don’t spend them if you don’t have a benefit in getting more merits. HP, stats, awareness, banking, should all be last ones you think of.

Attacking

Which stats should I train?

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Wowzers, what a fantastic question. I have seen at least 4 incarnations of the attack system on torn, and never have I ever had the stat ratio I think was most appropriate at that time.  I’ve also seen plenty of people weigh in on the subject and I always get utterly bored reading about it.

Why?

Well to be honest the reason is obvious – no one cares.

For those with huge stats there are only a small number of players you will beat or lose to based on your strategy.

For those with mid stats there are so many players you can still beat to mug, leave for exp or chain that you would be insane to think the number of players your ultimate strat is going to put you above means anything useful to you.

How do you win attacks?

The main advantage you will have against another right now is actually armour. Armour provides a huge differential in stats, and given the attacking player already has an advantage with increased damage you are a sure winning if you double that advantage with your defensive capability.

I use seratonin to gain extra HP and increase my defence ability. Expensive sure, if you can’t afford it go for pepper spray or flash bangs, they are equally effective against all players.

Pick your target well – if you don’t know there stats compare your stats, xanax and point refills, defends ratio, and you will get a good idea of whether or not you will win.

Don’t waste your E attacking someone you don’t know anything about. If they don’t have money to mug, weak stats for that level, or known stats.. don’t bother.

Stat caps and strategy

Stat gains increase as you increase your stats, up to when you reach ~50m of a stat. So make the most of it. Get each stat to 50m as soon as possible. And preferably do it in the order of your bonuses in training as gained from the sports science courses. If you are sure you want to be all about stats they are a must, as is using Xanax.

From there you again rely on your biggest bonuses for stat increases to guide you. More stats is better. If you can afford it you should also then be using Cans of Taurine or FHC (super rich only). Once you hit 1b in a stat you can look at using SEs as well.. but to be honest that is a lot of money to use on stats, you would want to be using all your energy on mugs or be backed by a huge amount of money in stocks or trading to be able to do that (I don’t even do that!) – or have a wicked gambling strategy 🙂