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111-417: A standard 52-card deck is used. The game may be played with anywhere from one to eight decks, with an increasing number of decks decreasing the house's edge—the house's advantage begins at 3.155% with one deck but falls to 2.751% when eight decks are used. This is in contrast with some other casino card games, such as blackjack , where a higher number of decks used will increase the house edge. A close variant

222-496: A Nansen passport . But for the impending war, this would have destroyed his career; as it is, his superiors barely take note of it. He is forced to leave Milla behind when the regiment sails, as a subordinate of his, Sergeant Ernest Zimmerman, also had to do with his Chinese wife, Mae Su. After the 4th Marines are moved from Shanghai to the Philippines, he finds himself defending the beaches of Lingayen Gulf ( Luzon ) during

333-534: A baby Fairbairn–Sykes knife (to his great embarrassment), and for having killed 18 Chinese bandits in the employ of the Kempetai with a Thompson submachine gun while on an intelligence mission. Following the action in which he killed 18 "bandits," he is transferred back to the United States and enters Officer Candidate School to earn a commission as a second lieutenant . After graduating from OCS, he

444-402: A blackjack, under the condition that they still get paid if the dealer also has a blackjack. Insurance bets lose money in the long run. The dealer has a blackjack less than one-third of the time. In some games, players can also take insurance when a 10-valued card shows, but the dealer has an ace in the hole less than one-tenth of the time. The insurance bet is susceptible to advantage play. It

555-460: A captain, it is clear he was caught up in the reduction-in-force that happened to the armed services after World War II. Due to his lack of a college degree, at some point after World War II ended he was reduced in rank to captain despite having graduated from the Command and General Staff School and having more than enough time in grade to make his promotion permanent. He observed that "The Corps had

666-429: A card), "stand" (end their turn and stop without taking a card), "double" (double their wager, take a single card, and stand), "split" (if the two cards have the same value, separate them to make two hands), or "surrender" (give up half of their bet and retire from the game). Number cards count as their number, the jack, queen, and king ("face cards" or "pictures") count as 10, and aces count as either 1 or 11 according to

777-453: A certain number of hands, such as four hands (for example, "resplit to 4"). After splitting aces, the common rule is that only one card will be dealt to each ace; the player cannot split, double, or take another hit on either hand. Rule variants include allowing resplitting aces or allowing the player to hit split aces. Games allowing aces to be resplit are not uncommon, but those allowing the player to hit split aces are extremely rare. Allowing

888-417: A dealer blackjack will result in the loss of the split and double bets; the only exception is with a pair of aces against a dealer 10, where it is still correct to split. In all other cases, a stand, hit, or surrender is called for. For instance, when holding 11 against a dealer 10, the correct strategy is to double in a hole card game (where the player knows the dealer's second card is not an ace), but to hit in

999-519: A dozen of them. As a result, he is one of a very few people who can call McCoy "Killer" without incurring McCoy's wrath. Like McCoy, he is fluent in Wu, Cantonese, and Mandarin. When the 4th Marines are ordered to the Philippines, in November 1941, Zimmermann is forced to leave his Chinese wife, Mae Su, behind. She returns to her home village, bringing Major Banning's wife, Ludmilla Zhivkov, with her. Later,

1110-414: A no-hole card game. The no-hole-card rule adds approximately 0.11% to the house edge. The "original bets only" rule variation appearing in certain no hole card games states that if the player's hand loses to a dealer blackjack, only the mandatory initial bet ("original") is forfeited, and all optional bets, meaning doubles and splits, are pushed. "Original bets only" is also known by the acronym OBO; it has

1221-569: A pilot Pick suffers from a lack of maturity that repeatedly (and deservedly) lands him in hot water. He is also a ladies' man who is sought out by women, whom he frequently beds without considering the consequences. The combination of immaturity and success with the ladies results in his involuntarily volunteering for the Gobi Operation as copilot of one of the PBY-5A Catalinas . Following the success of that mission, he returns to

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1332-547: A report that directly contradicts General Charles Willoughby's report to MacArthur that all is quiet in Korea, Willoughby attempts to run McCoy out of the Marine Corps. Feeling he has nothing to lose, he contacts his former boss, Fleming Pickering, and asks him to get his report (which, never having been entered into the intelligence filing system by Willoughby, he was able to spirit out of SCAP HQ without anyone noticing) into

1443-672: A result, he is promoted to Major by General MacArthur, and decorated with the Silver Star. McCoy successfully rescues Pick Pickering three months after Pick was shot down while shooting up an enemy train and evaded capture by the North Koreans, and continues his intelligence operations in Korea. While this is happening, his wife Ernestine successfully gives birth to a son in Japan after having suffered repeated miscarriages. As The Corps' final book to date ( Retreat, Hell! ) ends with

1554-548: A retirement community for senior military officers who have never owned homes of their own. First Appearance: Semper Fi Ernest "Ernie" Zimmerman is a China Marine sergeant who serves with McCoy in Shanghai and operates with him in reconnaissance missions. He was present when a group of Chinese bandits in the pay of the Kempeitai attacked one of the convoys McCoy used as a cover for his intelligence work, killing more than

1665-528: A retirement community on the island aimed at newly-retired field-grade officers of the military. It is implied that following their retirements, the Colonel and the Gunner will form a development corporation, possibly also including Ken and Ernestine McCoy. First Appearance: Semper Fi On the train from Boston to Philadelphia, McCoy meets a friendly civilian named Malcolm Pickering ("Pick" to his friends). Pick

1776-426: A single card to the dealer, followed by an additional card to each of the positions in play. The players' initial cards may be dealt face-up or face-down (more common in single-deck games). The object of the game is to win money by creating card totals higher than those of the dealer's hand but not exceeding 21, or by stopping at a total in the hope that the dealer will bust. On their turn, players choose to "hit" (take

1887-421: A small mirror or electronic sensor used to peek securely at the hole card. In European casinos, "no hole card" games are prevalent; the dealer's second card is not drawn until the players have played their hands. Dealers deal the cards from one or two handheld decks, from a dealer's shoe or from a shuffling machine . Single cards are dealt to each wagered-on position clockwise from the dealer's left, followed by

1998-444: A table. The dealer deals from their left ("first base") to their far right ("third base"). Each box gets an initial hand of two cards visible to the people playing on it. The dealer's hand gets its first card face-up and, in "hole card" games, immediately gets a second card face-down (the hole card), which the dealer peeks at but only reveals when it makes the dealer's hand a blackjack. Hole card games are sometimes played on tables with

2109-460: A visit to Tokyo, he is contacted by Captain Ken McCoy. McCoy gives him an intelligence analysis that concludes the North Koreans are readying an attack on South Korea. General Willoughby, MacArthur's Chief of Intelligence, has informed MacArthur that all is quiet in Korea, squashed McCoy's contradictory report, and attempted to railroad McCoy out of the Marine Corps. Pickering takes the report to

2220-523: A vitally needed weather station in the Gobi Desert. He also becomes involved in investigating a possible security breach of MAGIC , the top secret communication system and Japanese codebreaking and analysis operation. It falls to General Pickering to determine if the secret has been compromised, which sends him around the world to make the determination. Being able to read the Japanese coded messages

2331-577: A weather station in the Gobi Desert . During that operation, Zimmerman is reunited with his wife and children. The family is evacuated to the United States after General Pickering uses his influence with Senator Fowler of California (a longtime personal friend) to write a private bill granting non-quota immigrant visas to the family. At McCoy's request, Ernie Sage provides the money to help set them up in business in South Carolina. Following

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2442-671: A – maybe unwritten – policy that if you were reduced in grade, you were transferred ...", which saw the McCoys sent to Japan. Between the end of World War II and the start of the Korean War, McCoy is assigned to Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers, General MacArthur's headquarters in Japan as part of its naval element, still working in Intelligence and specializing in Korea. He learns to speak and read Korean, and develops his own network of intelligence sources. Following his submission of

2553-407: Is Acey Deucey . The game only uses three cards at a time, which are ranked as in poker , with aces high. Suit is irrelevant. A wager is placed, and two cards are placed face up on the table, with three possible outcomes: The spread table is as follows: The house edge table is as follows. The spread probabilities table is as follows. Acey Deucey, also known as In-Between , Sheets , Between

2664-525: Is a casino banking game . It is the most widely played casino banking game in the world. It uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as " twenty-one ". This family of card games also includes the European games vingt-et-un and pontoon , and the Russian game Ochko  [ ru ] . The game is a comparing card game where players compete against

2775-452: Is a priceless asset to the Allies, but one which would evaporate if the Japanese realize their codes, which they consider unbreakable, have been broken. Following the war, Fleming Pickering resumes his position as Chairman and CEO of Pacific and Far East Shipping, but also establishes an airline, Trans-Global Airways, with his pilot son Pick Pickering as its President and Chief Pilot. While on

2886-415: Is a special rule for Aces . If the first card turned is an Ace the player may choose its value as either the high Ace or the low one. Low Ace is always lower than any other card, including the deuce. If an Ace comes up as the second card turned it is always considered the high Ace. If a player "Posts" on an Ace they are required to pay four times their bet for that hand. Aces also cause an automatic loss if it

2997-404: Is abbreviated "H17" in blackjack literature, with "S17" used for the stand-on-soft-17 variation. Substituting an "H17" rule with an "S17" rule in a game benefits the player, decreasing the house edge by about 0.2%. All things being equal, using fewer decks decreases the house edge. This mainly reflects an increased likelihood of player blackjack, since if the player draws a ten on their first card,

3108-412: Is advantageous to make an insurance bet whenever the hole card has more than a one in three chance of being a ten. Card counting techniques can identify such situations. Note: Where changes in the house edge due to changes in the rules are stated in percentage terms, the difference is usually stated here in percentage points , not the percentage change. For example, if an edge of 10% is reduced to 9%, it

3219-424: Is allowed. Insurance is a side bet that the dealer has a blackjack. The dealer asks for insurance bets before the first player plays. Insurance bets of up to half the player's current bet are placed on the "insurance bar" above the player's cards. If the dealer has a blackjack, insurance pays 2 to 1. In most casinos, the dealer looks at the down card and pays off or takes the insurance bet immediately. In other casinos,

3330-731: Is assigned as an officer courier for intelligence in the Pacific while working for the Marine Corps Office of Management Analysis, a special, little known intelligence group run by Lieutenant Colonel (later Brigadier General) Fritz Rickabee. While on a courier run just after Pearl Harbor, he manages to make it into the Philippines shortly before the Japanese invasion and reunites with Captain Ed Banning while assisting in

3441-429: Is at the front of the betting box controls the position, and the dealer consults the controlling player for playing decisions; the other bettors "play behind". A player can usually control or bet in as many boxes as desired at a single table, but an individual cannot play on more than one table at a time or place multiple bets within a single box. In many U.S. casinos, players are limited to playing one to three positions at

Red dog (card game) - Misplaced Pages Continue

3552-496: Is based on a player's point total and the dealer's visible card. Players can sometimes improve on this decision by considering the composition of their hand, not just the point total. For example, players should ordinarily stand when holding 12 against a dealer 4. But in a single deck game, players should hit if their 12 consists of a 10 and a 2. The presence of a 10 in the player's hand has two consequences: Even when basic and composition-dependent strategies lead to different actions,

3663-610: Is co-opted into the CIA by General Pickering, serving on his personal staff until the General, following a meeting with Director Walter Bedell Smith , the new head of the CIA, reassigns him as the CIA's Tokyo station chief. Nothing is known of Banning's career or life following the Korean War, although in Under Fire a possible path is given. The Banning family owns an island south of Hilton Head, and Banning has in mind developing it as

3774-418: Is consequently known as "late" surrender. The alternative, "early" surrender, gives the player the option to surrender before the dealer checks for blackjack, or in a no hole card game. Early surrender is much more favorable to the player than late surrender. For late surrender, however, while it is tempting to opt for surrender on any hand which will probably lose, the correct strategy is to only surrender on

3885-450: Is not a blackjack, even one with a value of 21. Wins are paid out at even money, except for player blackjacks, which are traditionally paid out at 3 to 2 odds. Many casinos today pay blackjacks at less than 3:2. This is common in single-deck blackjack games. Blackjack games usually offer a side bet called insurance , which may be placed when the dealer's face-up card is an ace. Additional side bets, such as "Dealer Match" which pays when

3996-497: Is often mentioned in the book series The Corps by W.E.B. Griffin which is set in the Pacific Theater of World War II , and follows the lives of a group of marines in special service. Griffin never explains the game in the slightest, but his characters are often playing it when they are interrupted by the war, i.e. required to stop playing to perform some duty. In 1978 a type-in program BASIC video game version

4107-479: Is reduced by one percentage point, not reduced by ten percent. Blackjack rules are generally set by regulations that establish permissible rule variations at the casino's discretion. Blackjack comes with a "house edge"; the casino's statistical advantage is built into the game. Most of the house's edge comes from the fact that the player loses when both the player and dealer bust. Blackjack players using basic strategy lose on average less than 1% of their action over

4218-485: Is regarded with contempt by all officers who know him. He worked for then-Captain Ed Banning in China before the war, but proved to be unfit for intelligence work. After writing a self-serving report on the missionary convoy mission where Corporal Ken McCoy earned the nickname "Killer McCoy," Banning sent Macklin home from China with an efficiency report, endorsed by Major Chesty Puller , that should have seen him thrown out of

4329-421: Is shot down over enemy territory after busting yet another locomotive but survives, evades capture, and returns to friendly lines, rescued by Killer McCoy. The experience, coupled with the loss of a lady war correspondent with whom he had been contemplating marriage and subsequently connecting with the widow of another Marine Aviator, seemed to finally mature him. Nothing is known of Pick Pickering's life following

4440-434: Is sometimes seen in "blackjack-like" games, such as in some charity casinos. Each blackjack game has a basic strategy, the optimal method of playing any hand. When using basic strategy, the long-term house advantage (the expected loss of the player) is minimized. An example of a basic strategy is shown in the table below, which applies to a game with the following specifications: Key: Most basic strategy decisions are

4551-480: Is the son of Fleming Pickering, owner of Pacific and Far East (P&FE) Shipping, and Patricia Foster Pickering, heir to the Foster hotel chain (allowing Pick to stay at the exclusive hotels at no cost). He is a Harvard graduate with a degree in hotel management, having learned the business from the bottom up, starting as a busboy and working up to substitute assistant manager. By his own admission, Pick can do any job in

Red dog (card game) - Misplaced Pages Continue

4662-406: Is the third card turned when the first two cards are a match, e.g. 6,6. The best spread in the game is considered to be a low Ace on the left and a high Ace on the right. This is also one of the worst hands to get as you run the risk of the third card being an Ace and having to pay four times your bet for the hand. A variation is to split the cards if two end cards are the same value. This requires

4773-644: The 2nd Marine Raider Battalion , whose unorthodox methods caused concern among his superiors. He trains for six months with the Marine Raiders in San Diego, and participates in the Raid on Makin Island . He participates in several secret missions under Brigadier General Fleming Pickering, including landing on Japanese-controlled Mindanao ; staging the rescue of two Marines manning a Coastwatcher station on

4884-503: The Brotherhood of War series. He also stages an operation in support of General MacArthur's Inchon landing , which has a great deal to do with the landing achieving surprise and succeeding. Nothing further of Fleming Pickering's life or career is known. First Appearance: Semper Fi Robert Macklin, USMC is a "generally slimy creature" and the epitome of everything a good Marine officer shouldn't be. A Naval Academy graduate, he

4995-652: The Cactus Air Force on Guadalcanal . He qualifies as a fighter ace and is decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross . He is sent back to the States to participate in a War Bond tour, following which he is promoted to captain, qualifies as an F4U Corsair instructor pilot, and is made the executive officer of VMF-262, serving under his friend William "Billy" Dunn, with whom he had flown at Guadalcanal. Unfortunately, despite his skill as

5106-611: The China Marines ) prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor . Ken has a great affinity for languages and in China learns Japanese , Wu , Mandarin , and Cantonese , which leads to his being assigned to intelligence-gathering convoys by Captain Edward Banning, USMC, the Fourth Marine Regiment's intelligence officer. His fellow Marines call him "Killer" for killing two Italian Marines in self-defense with

5217-450: The " Reno rule", doubling down is only permitted on hard totals of 9, 10, or 11 (under a similar European rule, only 10 or 11). The basic strategy would otherwise call for some doubling down with hard 9 and soft 13–18, and advanced players can identify situations where doubling on soft 19–20 and hard 8, 7, and even 6 is advantageous. The Reno rule prevents the player from taking advantage of double-down in these situations and thereby increases

5328-513: The "long course" at C&GS School. Apart from that assignment, newly promoted Major McCoy continued to work for General Pickering in the OSS until the end of the war, though. After C&GS School the only other assignment specifically mentioned was his accompanying General Pickering on the first flight of Americans into Atsugi Air Base in August, 1945 prior to the formal Japanese surrender. During

5439-499: The 1770s and 1780s, but the first rules appeared in Britain in 1800 under the name of vingt-un . Twenty-One, still known then as vingt-un , appeared in the United States in the early 1800s. The first American rules were an 1825 reprint of the 1800 English rules. English vingt-un later developed into an American variant in its own right which was renamed blackjack around 1899. According to popular myth, when vingt-un ('twenty-one')

5550-536: The British Victoria Cross , and the Purple Heart with five stars. Following the success of Operation Gobi, McCoy is promoted to the rank of Major and is ordered to attend the U.S. Army Command and General Staff course, a desirable course which usually is reserved for officers destined for great things, by direction of President Roosevelt. (Note: The Victoria Cross is an error on the part of

5661-735: The Corps. World War II gave him a stay of execution. Assigned to Quantico as a mess officer, he attempted to prevent Ken McCoy from being commissioned. Captain Jack NMI Stecker caught him at it, and the base commander advised him to find another home. He volunteered for the Marine Parachutists, earned his jump wings, and was assigned as a supernumerary officer to the First Battalion of the Para-Marines. Blown off

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5772-570: The Director of the CIA , who is skeptical of its accuracy but orders an investigation by his station chiefs. When McCoy's report turns out to be right on the mark, Pickering is recalled to active duty as a USMC Brigadier General and is named the CIA's Deputy Director for Asia, essentially the same position he had held in the OSS. He supports McCoy in establishing a secret intelligence and operations group generally similar to Mac MacMillan's Task Force Able in

5883-434: The Gobi Desert assignment in 1943, Zimmerman is promoted to Master Gunner by direction of President Roosevelt. During the Korean War, he serves with McCoy in the CIA in Korea, directly under the command of General Pickering. Like Colonel Banning, Master Gunner Zimmerman is nearing retirement. The Bannings own an island south of Hilton Head. The Colonel and Mae Su (who is something of an entrepreneuse) are planning to build

5994-582: The Japanese invasion. He is temporarily blinded and transferred off Corregidor by submarine with other seriously wounded US servicemen; fortunately, his sight returns before reaching port. Banning subsequently serves in the Office of Management Analysis and under Brigadier General Pickering in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II, finishing up the war on the staff of General Joseph Stilwell as an analyst and special cryptographer in charge of

6105-507: The Japanese-held Buka Island to resupply a Coastwatcher base; bringing in new personnel and extracting exhausted USMC personnel. He is then transferred to the OSS at Ken McCoy's request. He takes part in an evaluation mission to General Wendell Fertig in the Philippines to determine if Fertig is sane and in a position to wage guerrilla warfare against the Japanese. Following this, he is assigned to help McCoy set up

6216-512: The Korean War still raging, we know nothing of McCoy's post-Korean War life or assignments. First Appearance: Semper Fi Introduced as the S-2 (intelligence) officer of the 4th Marines in China, and assigned as McCoy's legal advisor after Ken's killing of the two Italian marines. Initially he wants to plead McCoy guilty, but McCoy refuses, and to the chagrin of the prosecutor McCoy comes up with members of William E. Fairbairn 's " Flying Squad " of

6327-650: The Korean War. First Appearance: Semper Fi Fleming Pickering, father of Pick Pickering, is the owner and chairman of Pacific and Far Eastern Shipping, a large and successful worldwide shipping conglomerate. During the First World War, he was a Marine corporal , and was thrice wounded in action during the Battle of Belleau Wood where he was awarded the Navy Cross (the Navy's second-highest award for valor and

6438-486: The Legion of Merit for his service in that role, which medal was awarded to Pickering by President Roosevelt personally. Pickering was commissioned a Marine Brigadier General and assigned as the Office of Strategic Services Deputy Director for the Pacific by President Roosevelt in an attempt to force Douglas MacArthur to permit the OSS to operate in his theater of operations. Pickering establishes Special Detachment 16 of

6549-497: The Marine Corps to deal with secret missions in the Southwest Pacific Ocean Area that are not entirely supported by Supreme Commander MacArthur. General Pickering stages the relief of an important Coastwatcher station on Buka; a mission codenamed "Operation Windmill" to evaluate the guerrilla potential of General Wendell Fertig's United States Forces in the Philippines; and Operation Gobi, the establishment of

6660-637: The Pacific theater. During this period of his World War II service he was awarded the Silver Star and his fourth Purple Heart after taking command of a destroyer when her skipper was killed in an air attack. Pickering was aboard the destroyer following service as the Acting G-2 of the First Marine Division on Guadalcanal , which volunteering for the job had seriously annoyed Secretary Knox. General Archer Vandegrift recommended him for

6771-503: The Shanghai Police as witnesses. Banning quickly becomes an integral part of the book as McCoy is slowly indoctrinated into the world of intelligence gathering. After charges are dismissed, Banning sends McCoy on convoys to "get him out of sight", and discovers McCoy has great talent as an observer and evaluator of Japanese military readiness. Also a China Marine, his relationship with McCoy changes from superior officer to peer as

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6882-499: The Sheets or Maverick , is a simple betting card game . Two cards are dealt to a player, who then bets on whether the rank of a third card will fall between those of the first two. Before the action, each player must add their ante into the pot. Two cards are then dealt face-up to one player. That player then bets from nothing to the amount that is in the pot at the time whether or not the third card will numerically fall in between

6993-446: The United States and continues to fly Corsairs for the rest of World War II, shooting down more Japanese and being shot down himself more than once. Women continue to pursue him, and he sometimes pursues them as well through the course of the series. Pick was promoted to Major while commanding a USMC Reserve fighter squadron shortly before the Korean War. At the same time, he is working as President and Chief Pilot of Trans-Global Airways,

7104-414: The airline started by his father following the end of the war. His squadron was subsequently activated and deployed to Korea. He gained a reputation for hunting enemy trains, important and dangerous targets, painting locomotive silhouettes on his Corsair to mark each kill, determined to become the Marine Corps' first "Locomotive Ace." Flying combat missions off the escort carrier USS Badoeng Strait , he

7215-412: The amount that is in the pot at the time (during the first time around the table players are only allowed to bet up to half of the pot) whether or not the third card will numerically fall in between the first two. Other regions, such as in the United States, play the game by combining two decks of cards. This adds another dynamic to the game due to the extra number of similar type cards. Beyond that, most of

7326-722: The author. Only British and Commonwealth subjects serving in the armed forces were eligible for this medal, the highest award in the British honours system for combat valour. It seems more likely McCoy would have been awarded the Military Cross or the British Distinguished Service Cross .) Following his return from establishing Station Nowhere in the Gobi Desert in May, 1943, he and Ernestine Sage were married and McCoy attended and graduated from

7437-529: The bettor picks if the next card will be higher or lower and bets. If the next card is the same as the last two, i.e. a 2, the bettor must triple their bet. The rules and specifics of the game often vary from region to region. For example in Liaoning province , northeast China the minimum number of players is 4 and each player is required to ante before the first card is turned. Two cards are then dealt face-up to one player. That player then bets from nothing to

7548-439: The bettor to ante in for two hands and the dealer would draw one more card under each of the end cards. After this, the same rules apply. Some new rules that increase payouts and betting: The game show Card Sharks is based on Acey Deucey and closely resembles the rules. In the show, two players answer high-low survey questions, and guess whether the next card is higher or lower (with duplicates counting as wrong). Acey-ducey

7659-401: The casino against dealers who steal chips or players who cheat. Recordings can also identify advantage players . When a player's hand signal disagrees with their words, the hand signal takes precedence. A hand can "hit" as often as desired until the total is 21 or more. Players must stand on a total of 21. After a bust or a stand, play proceeds to the next hand clockwise around the table. After

7770-453: The dealer busts, all remaining player hands win. If the dealer does not bust, each remaining bet wins if its hand is higher than the dealer's and loses if it is lower. A player total of 21 on the first two cards is a "natural" or "blackjack", and the player wins immediately unless the dealer also has one, in which case the hand ties. In the case of a tie ("push" or "standoff"), bets are returned without adjustment. A blackjack beats any hand that

7881-647: The dealer, rather than each other. Blackjack's immediate precursor was the English version of twenty-one called vingt-un , a game of unknown provenance. The first written reference is found in a book by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes . Cervantes was a gambler , and the protagonists of his " Rinconete y Cortadillo ", from Novelas Ejemplares , are card cheats in Seville . They are proficient at cheating at veintiuno (Spanish for "twenty-one") and state that

7992-463: The defence of a landing beach. Following an artillery barrage, McCoy carries the wounded Banning to a monastery for treatment. He makes it through enemy lines and is returned to the States. He is awarded a Purple Heart for wounds received and a Bronze Star for his performance under fire and his efforts to save Captain Banning. McCoy is next assigned to evaluate Lieutenant Colonel Evans Carlson of

8103-496: The difference in expected reward is small, and it becomes smaller with more decks. Using a composition-dependent strategy rather than a basic strategy in a single-deck game reduces the house edge by 4 in 10,000, which falls to 3 in 100,000 for a six-deck game. The Corps Series The Corps is a series of war novels written by W.E.B. Griffin about the United States Marine Corps before and during

8214-650: The dock in the assault on Gavutu and wounded in the face and the leg, he had to be pried loose from a dock piling by the corpsmen. He was sent to a hospital in Australia, where Major Jake Dillon recruited him as a "hero" for a war bond tour because while he is a scumbag, he is handsome. After working on the second "Marine Heroes" war bond tour, Macklin volunteered for the OSS , believing he could salvage his career by so doing. A Marine major who did not know Macklin's record arranged for him to be promoted to captain, and because he

8325-719: The equivalent of the Distinguished Service Cross ). During his World War I service, he was also awarded the Silver Star, the World War I Victory Medal , and the French Legion of Honor in the rank of Chevalier, plus the Croix de Guerre . (The wound stripes he was awarded during the war were converted to the Purple Heart plus two gold stars in lieu of the second and third awards when the Purple Heart

8436-410: The first two. If the third card falls in between the two other cards, the bettor takes the amount they bet out of the pot; if the third card falls outside of the two other cards, the bettor must add what they bet to the pot; and if the third card matches the numerical value of one of the other two cards, the bettor must add to the pot double what they bet. If two cards of the same value come up, e.g. 2,2

8547-590: The foundation of future efforts to beat blackjack. Ed Thorp used Baldwin's hand calculations to verify the basic strategy and later published (in 1963) Beat the Dealer . At a blackjack table, the dealer faces five to nine playing positions from behind a semicircular table. Between one and eight standard 52-card decks are shuffled together. To start each round, players place bets in the "betting box" at each position. In jurisdictions allowing back betting, up to three players can be at each position. The player whose bet

8658-692: The ground and gives him his head. This results in McCoy setting up an intelligence operation generally similar to that of Mac MacMillan in The Brotherhood of War series. Among other things, McCoy conceives and with the approval of General Pickering carries out the seizure of islands in the Flying Fish Channel in the Inchon approaches without tipping off the North Koreans that enables Douglas MacArthur to successfully land two divisions there. As

8769-546: The hands of the CIA via his former commander, Fleming Pickering. The report comes to the attention of President Harry Truman and McCoy is retained on active duty. After the Korean War breaks out, he is co-opted into the CIA by General Pickering, who has been recalled to active duty in the Marine Corps by the President as the CIA Deputy Director for Asia. Once again, Pickering uses McCoy as his eyes and ears on

8880-488: The hawsepipe" rather than graduating from a maritime academy, having worked his way up from Ordinary Seaman to Captain himself. As improvements in cargo-handling equipment are made, they are installed in his ships and their cargo terminals. Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, then- Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox asked him to take a wartime commission as a Navy Captain, to act as Knox's plenipotentiary in

8991-624: The hotel except pastry chef, claiming he could not master handling pastry dough. After parting company, McCoy and Pick are reunited as classmates in Officers Candidate School at Quantico , Virginia . Following their graduation and commissioning, they remain in touch, occasionally being involved in the same mission. While Ken acts as an officer courier just before Pearl Harbor, Pick is accepted for flight training and attends flight school at Pensacola . After earning his wings, Pickering transitions into Wildcats and flies with

9102-564: The island of Buka ; being sent on "Operation Windmill" by General Pickering to evaluate the sanity of General Wendell Fertig and the resistance potential of his U.S. Forces in the Philippines; and setting up a weather station in the Gobi Desert urgently needed by the Navy and the Army Air Force. During the course of the series he receives a Bronze Star , three Silver Stars , the Distinguished Service Medal ,

9213-408: The last hand is played, the dealer reveals the hole card and stands or draws according to the game's rules. When the outcome of the dealer's hand is established, any hands with bets remaining on the table are resolved (usually in counterclockwise order); bets on losing hands are forfeited, the bet on a push is left on the table, and winners are paid out. If the dealer shows an ace, an "insurance" bet

9324-408: The long run, giving blackjack one of the lowest edges in the casino. The house edge for games where blackjack pays 6 to 5 instead of 3 to 2 increases by about 1.4%. Player deviations from basic strategy also increase the house edge. Each game has a rule about whether the dealer must hit or stand on soft 17, which is generally printed on the table surface. The variation where the dealer must hit soft 17

9435-672: The mineral name was transferred by prospectors to the top bonus hand. He could not find any historical evidence for a special bonus for having the combination of an ace and a black jack. In September 1956, Roger Baldwin, Wilbert Cantey, Herbert Maisel, and James McDermott published a paper titled "The Optimum Strategy in Blackjack" in the Journal of the American Statistical Association , the first mathematically sound optimal blackjack strategy. This paper became

9546-436: The most damaging to the player, causing the greatest increase in house edge. Since blackjack occurs in approximately 4.8% of hands, the 1:1 game increases the house edge by 2.3%, while the 6:5 game adds 1.4% to the house edge. Video blackjack machines generally pay a 1:1 payout for a blackjack. The rule that bets on tied hands are lost rather than pushed is catastrophic to the player. Though rarely used in standard blackjack, it

9657-507: The name stuck even after the ten-to-one bonus was withdrawn. French card historian Thierry Depaulis debunks this story, showing that prospectors during the Klondike Gold Rush (1896–99) gave the name blackjack to the game of American vingt-un , the bonus being the usual ace and any 10-point card. Since blackjack also refers to the mineral zincblende , which was often associated with gold or silver deposits, he suggests that

9768-403: The number of decks is most dramatic when comparing the single-deck game to the two-deck game, and becomes progressively smaller as more decks are added. Surrender, for those games that allow it, is usually not permitted against a dealer blackjack; if the dealer's first card is an ace or ten, the hole card is checked to make sure there is no blackjack before surrender is offered. This rule protocol

9879-562: The object of the game is to reach 21 points without going over and that the ace values 1 or 11. The game is played with the Spanish baraja deck. "Rinconete y Cortadillo" was written between 1601 and 1602, implying that ventiuno was played in Castile since the beginning of the 17th century or earlier. Later references to this game are found in France and Spain. The first record of the game in France occurs in 1888 and in Britain during

9990-472: The other rules followed by United States players are similar to those which are observed in the Liaoning province. Just about all regions play if the third card falls in between the two other cards, the bettor takes the amount they bet out of the pot; if the third card falls outside of the two other cards, the bettor must add what they bet to the pot; and if the third card matches the numerical value of one of

10101-411: The other two cards, this is referred to as a "Post" and the bettor must add to the pot double their own initial bet. If two cards of the same value come up, e.g. 2,2 the bettor picks if the next card will be higher or lower and bets. If the next card is the same as the last two, i.e. a 2, this is considered a "Post" and the player is required to pay triple the bet for the hand. In addition to this, there

10212-405: The payoff waits until the end of the play. In face-down games, if a player has more than one hand, they can look at all their hands before deciding. This is the only condition where a player can look at multiple hands. Players with blackjack can also take insurance. When this happens, it is called 'even money,' as the player is giving up their 3:2 payout for a 1:1 payout when taking insurance with

10323-507: The period between his graduation and General Pickering's involvement in the Japanese surrender, Ken and Ernie were stationed at the Marine base at Quantico, VA , where his duties were not specified but it may be assumed he was an instructor of some sort, possibly teaching guerrilla operations behind the enemy lines. Based on the fact that when the story picks up in June, 1950 McCoy is once again

10434-481: The player less than 3:2 for a winning blackjack. The following table illustrates the mathematical effect on the house edge of the number of decks, by considering games with various deck counts under the following ruleset: double after split allowed, resplit to four hands allowed, no hitting split aces, no surrendering, double on any two cards, original bets only lost on dealer blackjack, dealer hits soft 17, and cut-card used. The increase in house edge per unit increase in

10545-432: The player to hit hands resulting from split aces reduces the house edge by about 0.13%; allowing resplitting of aces reduces the house edge by about 0.03%. Note that a ten-value card dealt on a split ace (or vice versa) will not be counted as a blackjack but as a soft 21. After a split, most games allow doubling down on the new two-card hands. Disallowing doubling after a split increases the house edge by about 0.12%. Under

10656-409: The player's cards match the dealer's up card, are also sometimes available. After the initial two cards, the player has up to five options: "hit", "stand", "double down", "split", or "surrender". Each option has a corresponding hand signal. Hand signals help the " eye in the sky " make a video recording of the table, which resolves disputes and identifies dealer mistakes. It is also used to protect

10767-444: The player's choice. If the total exceeds 21 points, it busts, and all bets on it immediately lose. After the boxes have finished playing, the dealer's hand is resolved by drawing cards until the hand achieves a total of 17 or higher. If the dealer has a total of 17 including an ace valued as 11 (a "soft 17"), some games require the dealer to stand while other games require another draw. The dealer never doubles, splits, or surrenders. If

10878-421: The player's expected loss. The Reno rule increases the house edge by around 0.1%, and its European version by around 0.2%. In most non-U.S. casinos, a "no hole card" game is played, meaning that the dealer does not draw nor consult their second card until after all players have finished making decisions. With no hole card, it is rarely the correct basic strategy to double or split against a dealer ten or ace, since

10989-422: The same effect on basic strategy and the house edge as reverting to a hole card game. In many casinos, a blackjack pays only 6:5 or even 1:1 instead of the usual 3:2. This is most common at tables with lower table minimums . Although this payoff was originally limited to single-deck games, it has spread to double-deck and shoe games. Among common rule variations in the U.S., these altered payouts for blackjack are

11100-435: The same for all blackjack games. Rule variations call for changes in only a few situations. For example, to use the table above on a game with the stand-on-soft-17 rule (which favors the player, and is typically found only at higher-limit tables today) only 6 cells would need to be changed: hit on 11 vs. A, hit on 15 vs. A, stand on 17 vs. A, stand on A,7 vs. 2, stand on A,8 vs. 6, and split on 8,8 vs. A. Regardless of

11211-591: The specific rule variations, taking insurance or "even money" is never the correct play under a basic strategy. Estimates of the house edge for blackjack games quoted by casinos and gaming regulators are based on the assumption that the players follow basic strategy. Most blackjack games have a house edge of between 0.5% and 1%, placing blackjack among the cheapest casino table games for the player. Casino promotions such as complimentary matchplay vouchers or 2:1 blackjack payouts allow players to acquire an advantage without deviating from basic strategy. The basic strategy

11322-539: The story progresses. Unlike the majority of pre-World War II regular Marine Corps officers, Banning is a graduate of The Citadel , the Military College of South Carolina . When orders come down transferring the Fourth Marines to the Philippines, Banning marries his longtime lover Ludmilla Zhvikov, a stateless person (a genuine White Russian countess and daughter of a Tsarist general) traveling on

11433-495: The subsequent probability of drawing an ace is higher with fewer decks. It also reflects the decreased likelihood of a blackjack–blackjack push in a game with fewer decks. Casinos generally compensate by tightening other rules in games with fewer decks, to preserve the house edge or discourage play altogether. When offering single-deck blackjack games, casinos are more likely to disallow doubling on soft hands or after splitting, restrict resplitting, require higher minimum bets, and pay

11544-582: The two and their children become part of a caravan of American soldiers, sailors, and Marines both active duty and retired, who intend to escape the Japanese by crossing the Gobi Desert to India. Later, Zimmermann serves with McCoy in the Marine Raiders on the Makin Island raid . Following this, Zimmerman serves with VMF-229 in the Pacific during the first months of the Guadalcanal Campaign . At McCoy's request, he assists in landing on

11655-604: The ultra-secret MAGIC Special Channel. Killer McCoy arranges for Ludmilla to be brought out of China as part of Operation Gobi, and Banning reunites with her — and with his son, Edward Edwardovich Banning, whom he had never seen. At the beginning of the Korean War in Under Fire , he is a colonel in charge of Marine Barracks in Charleston, South Carolina, near retirement, and contemplating a future in real estate development on islands his wealthy family own. Like Ken McCoy, he

11766-477: The very worst hands, because having even a one-in-four chance of winning the full bet is better than losing half the bet and pushing the other half, as entailed by surrendering. If the cards of a post-split hand have the same value, most games allow the player to split again, or "resplit". The player places a further wager, and the dealer separates the new pair dealing a further card to each as before. Some games allow unlimited resplitting, while others may limit it to

11877-540: The years of World War II and the Korean War . The story features a tightly knit cast of characters in various positions within the Marine Corps, Navy, and upper levels of the United States Government. First Appearance: Semper Fi His name is Kenneth R. McCoy, the introductory character of the saga, a Marine Corporal stationed in Shanghai , China with the 4th Marines (the primary component of

11988-542: Was available, he was assigned to "Operation Windmill," the OSS's code name for the mission to General Wendell Fertig in the Philippines. Despite the objections of several officers in Washington who knew Macklin, Secretary of the Navy Knox ordered him sent on Operation Windmill. However, General Pickering, who was staging the operation, gave Lieutenant McCoy, the mission commander, permission to kill Macklin if he got in

12099-422: Was distributed via the book BASIC Computer Games . An unsold 1985 game show pilot hosted by Jim McKrell , entitled Split Decision, had contestants playing the game Acey Deucey while answering general knowledge questions. Each player picked a card to share and had their own base card, and tried to fit a card in or bust the other player. Blackjack Blackjack (formerly black jack or vingt-un )

12210-401: Was introduced into the United States (in the early 1800s, during the First World War, or in the 1930s, depending on the source), gambling houses offered bonus payouts to stimulate players' interest. One such bonus was a ten-to-one payout if the player's hand consisted of the ace of spades and a black jack (either the jack of clubs or the jack of spades). This hand was called a "blackjack", and

12321-468: Was reauthorized in 1932.) Following the war, he went to sea and worked his way up to an unlimited Master's license and several ship commands before his father's unexpected death propelled him to the position of Chairman and CEO of P&FE when he was 26. As Chairman of P&FE, he modernized the company, assigning officers where the company needed them instead of permitting them to monopolize one ship. He has no prejudice against officers who "came up through

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