After trying to teach a few pirates (through in-game chat) how to turn their cheat cards into mucho gold at Padres, I decided to write it all down as a PiratesOnlineForums tutorial.

I've made some updates, adding some more information, a couple more tips, and rule #8.



Rule #1: "DON'T WASTE YOUR CHEAT CARDS ON POKER" or, "Why cheating at blackjack is better than cheating at poker."
In order to win a hand of Poker, there has to be AT LEAST nine cards on the table. That's two for you, two for an NPC, and five in the middle of the table (the three flop cards, the turn card, and the river card). And if there's only two of you that haven't folded yet, the pot is usually much smaller than if all three of the NPCs stay in the hand, and then you have at least THIRTEEN cards on the table. With only 52 cards in a deck, that gives you about a 1 in 5 chance of your cheat card being somewhere else on the table, and you end up in jail. Well, you can actually see about five cards (half the cards on the table), so it actually only gives you a 1 in 10 chance if you are paying attention. HOWEVER... To win big in Poker, you not only have to have a great hand, but another player has to have a great hand too, in order to get them to bet high. If there are two kings (a spade and a club, for example) in the middle of the table, and you decide to pull a third king (hearts) from your cheat collection to make three of a kind, and the NPC next to you is raising you 40 gold every turn, there's a REALLY good chance that he has a king, and since there's only two kings left in the deck (a heart and a diamond), there's nearly a 50% chance he's got the exact same card you do, and that you're going to jail instead of winning.

All of that adds up to this: DON'T WASTE YOUR CHEAT CARDS ON POKER. It's usually too risky, and they are worth a lot more gold if you use them to play blackjack.

When you play blackjack, there are only about 6-10 cards on the table by the end of the hand, and you can see ALL but a couple of cards (the dealer's hidden card, plus any card he needs to hit). Especially if you follow Rule #2. Your chances of getting caught cheating are much less than at poker. In blackjack, whether you win big doesn't depend on the NPCs having a good hand, and there's no risk of the NPC having exactly the same card as you do.

There are pirates that make some pretty good gold playing poker, but that's because they are really good at poker, not because they are cheating all the time. And if they are cheating all the time, that's too bad, because they're probably only making 200 gold per cheat card, instead of the 500 they could be getting over at the blackjack table, and a lot faster too! That's another reason why cheating at blackjack is better than poker. The games go a lot quicker, allowing you to win (or lose!) a lot quicker.

(Note: if you are going to cheat at poker, don't go for pairs or three of a kind, instead cheat to get a flush or a straight. There's much less chance of the NPC having the same card as you with those hands.)

Rule #2: ALWAYS SIT DOWN TO THE LEFT OF THE NPC.
This is also to the right of the dealer. When you sit down, if you find that you are seated to the right of the NPC and to the left of the dealer, stand up and quickly sit back down. This will usually result in you being seated on the other side of the table, where you want to be. The reason you want to sit in one of the chairs on that side of the table (in "The Ratskellar," you should be facing toward the bar with your back to the wall) is because the cards are dealt clockwise, and you want to be able to see ALL of the cards the dealer gives the NPC before you choose your cheat card. If you sit where the dealer deals your hand first, there's a chance after you pick your cheat card, that the NPC is going to get the same card when he "hits." Sitting to the left of the NPC reduces your chances of getting caught cheating.

Rule #3: DON'T PLAY WITH FRIENDS (OR STRANGERS).
ONLY cheat at blackjack when it's just you, the dealer, and the one NPC. Any additional players sitting at the table increases the chance of the same card you've picked to cheat with showing up in their hand, and you lose all your winnings and go to jail. If another player sits down at the table, just stand up and either wait for them to leave, go to Skulls Thunder (the other tavern), or change servers to find an empty table. If you are teaching a friend to play blackjack, DON'T CHEAT. Just play regular blackjack (and be ready to lose ;-).

Save your valuable cheat cards until later. Showing off can be expensive and embarassing when you end up in jail. ;-)

Rule #4: STAND UP OFTEN, (also, play in "The Ratskellar" instead of "Skulls Thunder")
My rule-of-thumb is that I stand up any time I've won 2000 gold (sometimes more often than that). If you get caught cheating, you lose all your winnings since you last sat down at the table. I learned this the hard way by losing over 6000 gold the first time I got caught. For now, you just have to stand up and then sit right back down**. I don't always do this. Sometimes I go over to the poker table and play one hand of poker. This allows me to check my cheat card inventory (I don't play the cheat cards, I just check to see what I have). It might even be a good idea to quickly write down all the cards you have on a piece of paper. The poker table gives you a lot more time to decide what you are going to do each turn, so it is better to check which cards you have at the poker table than at the blackjack table. I also do this because maybe in a future update, Disney will change it so you can't just stand up and sit back down at the blackjack table to reset, but that you have to go do something else to reset your "starting gold" amount when you sit down at the table.

** There have been recent reports that you no longer can simply stand up and sit back down to preserve your winnings. Perhaps you need to go play a hand of poker, or leave the tavern and walk back in. I hope you don't need to switch servers. If anyone can report in this thread more specifically on which of these methods help you preserve your gold when you get caught, please post. Thank you!

If you decide to play blackjack at Skulls Thunder, because someone else is already in the Ratkellar (and you don't want to change oceans), you can take an inventory of your cards by betting only 2 gold, and losing the hand. Of course, it's always a bummer when you only bet 2 (instead of 495), and the dealer gives you blackjack! :laughks2:

Rule #5: BET 495 GOLD (Don't Bet 500 gold).
This isn't really a rule, but just my opinion. I haven't collected enough raw data yet to statistically prove this, but many of us that play blackjack are certain the dealer also cheats, a lot. I think that the dealer cheats more often when you bet the max amount. I seem to win a lot more when I bet 490 or 495, than when I bet 500. This makes sense since anyone who is betting the max is "confident" they are going to win, which also means they are probably cheating. ;-) My theory is that the dealer has been programmed to cheat more often when players bet the max. My only real losing streaks at blackjack have happened when I was betting the max and I wasn't using cheat cards, which brings us to rule #6.

Rule #6: QUIT WHILE YOU STILL HAVE AT LEAST SIX CHEAT CARDS LEFT.
This is an approximate number. Sometimes you have duplicates (like three cards that are all two of spades). This means quit while you still have five or six UNIQUE cards left in your inventory. I usually wait until I have 20 cheat cards to make it worth my time to play blackjack, because I'm going to quit when I still have six cards left. The reason for this is that it only makes sense to cheat if you have enough options that you can make 21 often. If you only have one or two cheat cards left, and you keep playing blackjack, waiting for the RIGHT cards to show up for you to use your cheat cards, you're not really cheating, you're just playing blackjack. Anyone who plays blackjack at Padres can tell you, if you don't cheat, you are eventually going to lose your gold. Why? Well, because the dealer is also probably cheating, but also because most people KEEP playing when they are winning, but only STOP playing when they have either lost everything, or have lost more than they can tolerate. In other words, winners tend to play until they become losers, but losers just end up quitting.

In order to cheat effectively, you need to have enough options to fix each bad hand. Don't worry, you'll be back, and those last six cards will be worth MORE if they have another dozen friends with them.

Rule #7: SET A BOTTOM LIMIT OF GOLD (Know when to quit).
Before you start playing, decide how much gold you are willing to lose, and keep that limit. Don't believe yourself when you tell yourself "one more hand and my luck is sure to turn around!" or "I can win everything I've lost back in just a few hands!" It may be bad luck, it may be that the dealer is cheating, it may be that you're not as good at blackjack as you think. Whatever the reason is, you are LOSING, so QUIT PLAYING when you cross your bottom limit. If you have 10,000 gold, and you don't want to go below 6,000, QUIT WHEN YOU REACH 6,000. Go do something else. Go earn more gold or more cheat cards. If you don't quit now, you'll probably leave with only 2,000 (or even zero) gold instead of 6,000.

There are four times you should quit cheating at blackjack: (1) When you've hit your lower limit of gold, (2) when you're down to about six cheat cards left, (3) when you've got enough gold for that war ship you're trying to buy, or (4) when you decide to go do something else (turn off the game, help a friend, plunder ships with a crew, work on a quest, etc.)

Rule #8: START WITH AT LEAST 4,000 GOLD.
In Blackjack, you can have winning streaks and losing streaks. By cheating you win a lot, but you still lose sometimes. If you are following the "make 11 and double down" rule, and you are betting 495 gold, that means that if the dealer wins (and he will sometimes, because he cheats too), you lose 990 gold. If that happens three times in a row, you lose 3,000 gold. A few times I went in with 10+ cheat cards, thinking I'd turn my 2,000 gold into 6,000 or more. Instead I ended up losing it all. Why? Because I couldn't absorb a little bad luck. One time I had 2,600 gold. I lost one hand, won the second, and then I lost two double-downs in a row. That left me with only 600 gold. I lost one more hand, leaving me with a little more than 100 gold. If you can't bet, you can't win. I was forced to go get gold the hard way, plundering. 4,000 gold probably provides enough padding that even if you start by losing a few hands, you'll still have enough gold for a comeback (using your cheat cards, of course!)

Rule #9: KNOW HOW TO PLAY BEFORE YOU CHEAT.
Some people already know how to play blackjack, meaning they know when to hit and stay, based on their own cards and the dealer's card. There are statistics tables that can tell you the best option. Though it's common in Las Vegas to use FOUR decks of cards at a blackjack table, I'm guessing that "Pirates of the Caribbean Online" uses just one deck of cards (otherwise, how would the dealer know you cheated when the same card shows up twice?), and I think the dealer shuffles the deck every hand. Here's a good table that you can print out that will tell you statistically the best play to make. Learn how to use this table, and you will be INSTANTLY good at blackjack! Unfortunately, you will still lose playing blackjack in POTCO, because the dealer cheats. To consistently win at blackjack in POTCO, you need to be good at blackjack AND good at cheating.

http://i421.photobucket.com/albums/p.../bj_4d_h17.gif

In Pirates blackjack, there's no "insurance" and no "charlies," so you don't need to worry about those rules.

If you are new to blackjack, read the Disney player's guide to learn the rules of the game, and play fifty hands at the minimum bid (two gold) to see how you do without cheating (write down how much gold you have before your fifty hands, and how much you have after). This is important because after all, you're playing blackjack to cheat, and you're cheating to get gold. If you're losing gold because you're making bad decisions without cheating, you'll also be losing valuable cheat cards because you'll be making bad decisions when you cheat too! Nonetheless, even if you know VERY LITTLE about playing blackjack, I think you can still make a lot of gold with the following these rules and using only the "cheat to make 11, then double down" method.

Those are the rules. The rest are "tips" on how to make the best hand. The first tip "make 11 and double down" is the key to winning lots of gold:

"Make 11 and double down."
I do this EVERY time the dealer has a six or less showing. If the dealer has a seven or greater, it's still OK to "make 11 and double down," though your odds of winning are less, because the dealer is probably not going to bust. When the dealer has a seven or greater, sometimes I'll just hit instead of double down, just so I don't lose as much when I lose. Of course I also don't win as much when I win either. :-) The blackjack strategy table (link in Rule #8) suggests that you should double-down EVERY time you have 11. Maybe you should trust the table instead of me. I'm just a wimp and afraid to double down when the dealer looks like he has a good hand, because I think the dealer cheats sometimes, and that changes the odds.

"Make blackjack with every ace."
This may be obvious, but anytime you get dealt an ace, swap in a ten or a face card. You'll use most of your high (10,J,Q,K) cheat cards this way.

"If you have 20, don't cheat."
Don't get greedy and blow a cheat card on a hand that is probably going to win anyway. TAKE ALL THE NON-CHEAT WINS YOU CAN. If the dealer is showing a seven, and I have eighteen, I stay instead of cheating. I guess this rule could also be "only cheat when you will probably lose." If you are probably going to win the hand without cheating, save your cheat card for when you really need it. Following this rule can sometimes be frustrating, because the dealer cheats. He gets a 21 WAY TOO OFTEN when I have a 20, but in the long run, you'll make more gold if you save your ace to make blackjack when you have only one card worth ten, instead of two.

"Sometimes it's OK to cheat to tie."
Let's say I'm running low on cheat cards, and I don't have any fives left. The dealer gives me a six and a ten, and the dealer is showing a seven. Normally I would want to trade the ten for a five, and then double-down (hoping for 21 that would beat his likely seventeen). Another option is to trade my six for the seven, just to prevent my losing the 495 I just bet. A tie is half a win, and really, I just did win 495 gold that I would have lost if I had just stayed or hit and busted. So sometimes, when I'm getting low on cheat cards and I can't "make 11 and double-down," I will "cheat to tie" instead.

"Remember you are going to lose some."
Just remember that you are going to lose some hands, and it's OK to lose. EVERY hand has some risk that you will lose, even when you get dealt blackjack WITHOUT cheating. How can you lose even a sure-thing blackjack? Well, because you didn't cheat on that hand, you probably didn't stand up from the table, and there's a chance you will get caught cheating on the next hand, and lose the winnings from your blackjack hand when you get sent to jail. Remember, EVERY time you cheat there is a small chance you will get caught. Your goal is to win a lot more than you lose when you get caught. Following these rules and tips should help protect you from all of the "little risks" that together add up to a big risk if you don't follow the rules.

"TP from jail."
So you got caught cheating eh? Well, since you are on Padres, you're all the way up in Fort Dundee, which is a long run back to the tables. Instead of running all the way back, just kick open the door, hit "M" to pull up your map, and click to teleport to "Padres del Fuego." You'll teleport to some random place, usually not far from the tavern. I think this works even if you haven't yet earned the teleport totem to Padres del Fuego, since you're already on the island.

"Catch yourself cheating."
This tip will save you some time and 100 gold, and works for poker as well as blackjack. If you have swapped a card, and you notice the exact same card shows up in the dealer's or another player's hand, before the dealer "notices" you cheated, quickly click "leave" and stand up from the table. If you do this before the dealer catches you, you will not get fined and you will not go to jail, and you can sit back down and continue playing (though I'm usually nervous at that point, so I go play a round of poker before I go back to blackjack).

OFxZeppers suggested this tip:
I tried this trick, and it took a little practice, and you have to remember exactly what cheat card you used, because the confirmation box blocks your view of your cards.

Ironhawk suggested that instead of clicking on the "Leave" box, you can have your finger ready over the ESC key to quickly leave the table. This seems easier than clicking "leave" and then "yes" in the confirmation box, but whatever method you choose, it's important to pay very close attention to the dealer's cards, and catch yourself before the dealer does. It can save you a lot of time and gold.

"Swap early"
This applies for poker as well as blackjack. The sooner you swap a card, the more likely it is to be successful. In blackjack this isn't a big deal, unless you've already hit twice (you now have four cards), and you think "hey, if I swap X card with Y, I'll have 21!" Don't waste your card here, because you may not even be successful. The swap on your first turn is almost always successful, and the swap on your fourth turn is usually unsuccessful (which means that though you didn't get caught, you still wasted a valuable cheat card). In poker, that means you should usually try to cheat right after the flop (three cards in the middle of the table). On the 4th and 5th card, you have a good chance you will be UNSUCCESSFUL, so in blackjack, it's never worth it to swap late, and in poker, its only on that rare "royal flush" or some other crazy hand that it's worth a try to swap late.

Swap your card during your first or second turn on that hand, or not at all.

"You can use your extra 2s and 3s cheating at poker."
Sometimes a pirate (especially at lower levels) ends up with a lot of extra 2s and 3s in their cheat cards. Instead of playing more hands of blackjack, waiting for the perfect hand (an 8 or 9) to use them (you could lose a lot of gold to that cheating dealer waiting for the "perfect opportunity" to cheat), just take all those extra 2s and 3s over to the poker table and use them there. I averaged about 250 gold per cheat card with nothing but about twenty 2s and 3s. I only got caught cheating once.

Yeah, I know this actually contradicts Rule #1: "DON'T WASTE YOUR CHEAT CARDS ON POKER." I guess this is an exception to that rule. Here's why: the NPCs tend to fold if they have a really bad hand (the first two cards dealt), especially if you "raise to 40" on the first round. So by starting EVERY hand with a "raise to 40," you can usually get all the NPCs holding 2s or 3s in their hands to fold. That greatly reduces your chance of getting caught cheating at the end of the round when everyone shows their hidden cards. It takes more time, but you can win a lot of hands with three-of-a-kind or two-pairs with that extra 2 or 3 you slipped into your hand after the flop. The 2s and 3s are also great for completing a flush.

Since this guide is actually about blackjack, see this thread for help on knowing when to cheat in poker:
http://www.piratesonlineforums.com/f...95&postcount=7

"How to get more cards."
You can earn cheat cards several ways (borrowed from Remi Boncoeur):
I seems to me that Navy and EITC soldiers drop the most cheat cards. Undead skeletons drop some, but not as much, and non-human creatures drop less. I did seem to get a lot of cheat cards from fly traps recently, though it's probably just a coincidence. Actually, I'm not sure that Navy and EITC soldiers drop more cards, maybe it's just that they are easier to find in groups (on ships, on patrol in the forts and mines, or running drills in the Kingshead field), so you end up killing a lot more of them at a time, which would end up producing a lot more card drops.

So if you want cheat cards, work on the Navy at the forts or at Kingshead. I always end up with a nice stash of cheat cards after a session of working up grenades or my staff at Kingshead field. So Kingshead is best for getting cards, but the forts, and even the mines, are pretty good too. The same goes for boarding ships, or really anywhere there are Navy or EITC guys. If you're a higher level pirate and working your weapons in Tormenta Cave, those two stumps on Outcast Island, or undead raiders in Padres Catacombs, you'll get a lot more kings and aces. But by that time, you've probably got your war fleet and all the pouches, belts, and barrels you need, so it's not as important.

Actually, the best way to get cheat cards it to just forget about cheat cards and go quest and plunder. After a while, when you check your treasure, you'll see you have enough cards to go convert them into some cold hard cash.

The value of the cheat card you get is related to the difficulty of the creature. Gray and Green level creatures tend to give lower cards (mostly 2s and 3s), Yellow creatures give just about any level card, low or high, and the red creatures seem to give more high cards, 9s and above. If you're getting too many low cheat cards (2s and 3s), either fight more powerful enemies, or switch to one of your lower level weapons so the creatures are yellow or red, and you will get a better variety of cards. During one of my last grenade sessions at Kingshead, all the Navy soldiers were green. I had about 20 cheat cards from that run, so I went to "The Ratskellar" to convert them to gold. I sat down at the poker table first, to check which cards I had, and they were ALL 2s and 3s except for five of the cards. The next time I went back to Kingshead, it was to work my brand new voodoo staff. Because I was using my low-level staff, all the Navy veterans were red. By the time my staff was level eight, I had a big bunch of cards, so I headed over to the tavern. This time, I only had one 2 in the whole batch, and that may have been left over from before. Most of my cards were seven and above, with a lot of tens, jacks, and queens.

The nice thing is that when cheating at blackjack, ANY card can be valuable in cheating. If you get dealt a 3 and a 9, you can either replace the 3 with a 2 (9+2=11), and double down, or you can replace the 9 with an 8 card (3+8=11) and double down. ANY card is useful, but it REALLY helps to have a VARIETY of cards, so when that ace pops up, you have a ten to make blackjack, or when that five pops up, you can pair it with a six (5+6=11) and double down. With a good variety of cards, you can turn EVERY bad hand into a good hand. I like to make sure I have at least twenty cards before I sit down to play. Even that wasn't enough when all my cards were 2s and 3s. I made a little gold with them, but in between the opportunities to use the 2s and 3s, I was losing more hands because I didn't have the 5s, 6s, 7s, and 10s to make 21 out of other the bad hands.

Following all of these rules and tips, even if you are a bad blackjack player, you should still be able to average about 500 gold per cheat card, including your losses from getting caught. If you're good at blackjack, you might average as much as 800 per card. Even including my massive loss of 6000 gold, and the times I tried to use up my last few cheat cards (not following my "quit with six cards left rule," I still have averaged better than 500 gold per card. So next time you're playing poker or blackjack anywhere but Padres (and even poker at Padres), and you really want to pull out a cheat card to win that hand, ask yourself if it REALLY is worth 500 gold just to win that hand, because 500 gold is what that card is worth if you learn to cheat at blackjack.


Here's the summary:

Rules:
Rule #1: DON'T WASTE YOUR CHEAT CARDS ON POKER
Rule #2: ALWAYS SIT DOWN TO THE LEFT OF THE NPC.
Rule #3: DON'T PLAY WITH FRIENDS (OR STRANGERS).
Rule #4: STAND UP OFTEN, (also, play in "The Ratskellar" instead of "Skulls Thunder")
Rule #5: BET 495 GOLD (Don't Bet 500 gold).
Rule #6: QUIT WHILE YOU STILL HAVE AT LEAST SIX CHEAT CARDS LEFT.
Rule #7: SET A BOTTOM LIMIT OF GOLD (Know when to quit).
Rule #8: START WITH AT LEAST 4,000 GOLD.
Rule #9: KNOW HOW TO PLAY BEFORE YOU CHEAT.

Tips:
"Make 11 and double down."
"Make blackjack with every ace."
"If you have 20, don't cheat."
"Sometimes it's OK to cheat to tie."
"Remember you are going to lose some."
"TP from jail."
"Catch yourself cheating."
"Swap early"
"You can use your extra 2s and 3s cheating at poker."
"Kingshead or the other forts are best for getting cards."

I hope these help! Feel free to comment if you agree or disagree, or let me know of any other tips you may have. I've covered everything I can think of, but I can't think of everything! Savvy?

Good luck!
:shark: Mantaraya

Thank you
 

Excellent guide, Thank You very much!

WOW! That was great! Kudos to you for such an in-depth and understandable guide.

thank you for the guide!! I'll follow it next time :bookishfj7::dancetl6:

I cheat in poker to my reasonable success: maybe stopping to figure the odds is a falacy for you, and a great mistake for me, who knows?

:mickeypiratezd4:
I've broken every one of the "rules" in that guide. I also like to cheat at poker occasionally too. I just realize that it's for fun, since on average, that card is worth 500 gold in blackjack. When I cheat at poker, I average a lot less (smaller pots, getting caught more often, etc.)

I'll also admit that I don't have as much patience with poker, especially when I'm trying to get enough gold for that war ship I have my eye on. I tend to play poker more for a little down time from sailing and fighting.

I don't think cheating at poker is "a great mistake." I just think you get less gold per card, on average. If your goal for playing is to get gold, play blackjack. If your goal for playing is to have fun and play a game, play poker. I think blackjack can get EXTREMELY frustrating if you are not cheating, since the dealer probably is. You just watch your hard-earned gold go bye-bye. I guess that's why I wrote the guide, to help people not get so frustrated when playing blackjack. You can break any of the rules I suggested and still make a lot of gold, but each rule helps a little bit, and together they help a lot.

I think someone should write a guide for poker. I slipped in a couple poker tips in the blackjack guide, and some of the stuff I wrote applies to poker as well as blackjack, but I don't think I've learned enough to write a comprehensive guide. Fortunately, there's already a lot of good stuff on this site.

:shark: Mantaray

And I would advise against double down. If I'm showing 11 and double down I will almost guarantee getting a low card. If I don't double down the odds improve to about 50/50 to getting 21. Of course I also tend to bet the max. I will have to try again betting a smaller amount.

Thanks for the guide! Major rep for that!

Mongo,

I double-down a lot, and I have a similar suspicion that the dealer likes to cheat when you double-down, though I don't think he always does. That's why I tend to double -down when the dealer is showing a six or lower, and just take a normal hit when he's seven or higher. If he's showing a low card, he has to cheat TWICE to win. He has to give you a low card, and give himself a low card too.

But I don't have enough data yet on when the dealer chooses to cheat, but like you, I'm 90% certain he cheats frequently.

My advice would be to double down on a dealer's low card, and just hit on a dealer's high card.

:shark: Mantaraya

Seems about right but you always double down on 11 no matter what. I mean your chances are pretty high of getting something at least close to 21.

In legitimate blackjack, the odds are in your favor to always double-down on 11, but the odds change in a game where the dealer can cheat, based on the algorithm for cheating. I'm guessing that the dealer can't cheat twice in a hand (both your card and his card), but can cheat once (either your card or his card). So for six and below, he can only give you a low card, or give himself the card he needs, so the odds are still in your favor to double down. But if he has seven or above showing, he can usually win the hand by either dealing you a low card or swapping his hidden card for a 10. So IF the dealer is programmed to sometimes cheat when you double down on 11, the odds may change such that you shouldn't double-down on a dealer's 7 or higher.

Did that make sense? We are playing a game where the odds are slightly different than a typical one-deck blackjack table.

I'd love it if someone started collecting data (on all hands) to figure out what the cheating-rate and cheating-triggers are for the dealer. :degen:

:shark: Mantaraya

This is a very impressive guide - and I'll be sure to test it out :D Thanks for doing the work and hope your research continues...

I tend to lose alot at a blackjack table, so they're of the essence to avoid for me. However, I'm sitting on a 4000 or so buildup with my test pirate from playing poker for about 25 minutes or so over two days.

I find it faster than plunder, less risky than blackjack (as a bust doesn't equal a bust), and funner.

What an EXCELLENT guide! Just last night from following your tipsI went from 4100 gp to over 9000 gp!

Peoples, if you play Blackjack without cheating you are TOTALLY missing the boat, arrr!

I have linked to this thread on my guild website--props to you, Mantaraya, and the next mug o' grog is on me!

YOU....YOUUUUUUUUU....are awesome.

I was wondering where I was gonna get more cheater cards....

I've never made a successful swap in blackjack actually though. It just never switched. Stands to reason anyway, as your cards are supposed to be visible I'd think, to be known as soon as you bust or what you have to be surpassed by.

oh. THATS how. i need my frigate. ill try that tomorrow. ill post here if i win anything.

Update (because pirates like to brag):

When I wrote this tutorial, I had my war frigate and my war sloop, but I didn't have my war galleon yet. So I kept track, and it turns out that of the 40,000 I needed for the war galleon, about 15,000 gold came from plundering, and the rest of the 25,000 came from cheating at blackjack. Not only that, but I had a bit of a lucky streak, and ended up with an extra bonus 7,000 gold when I went back to use the rest of the cheat cards. I only used about 25 cheat cards (for about 32,000 gold, over three different blackjack sessions), so I was averaging more than 1,000 gold per cheat card. However, a lot of that was just getting lucky hands where I didn't have to cheat (I hit blackjack a few times), and the dealer seemed to bust a bit more often than usual. I don't think you'll always have results this good when you cheat well, I know I haven't always done that well, but you can still earn a lot of gold.

But that's why we cheat at blackjack, so we win when we have a bad hand, not just when we get lucky.

:shark: Mantaraya

Edit: Well, it's a day later (after I wrote the stuff above). I gathered up 10 cheat cards and 2,600 gold, and went to Padres to get some gold. I lost it all. Dealer got 21 four times in a row (definitely a cheater!) With zero gold, I guess it's back to plundering! If you can't bet, you can't cheat! Arrrrr!

Following my own formula (very similar to this), which I tuned a little bit having read this great guide. I have easily bumped my 30+ level pirates to the 65k max level gold. With full fleets, ammo bags etc. Went from 25k to 65k in a little over an hour on each pirate.

Found when you cheat, that if you click "Leave" BEFORE you click "Stay", leave the box confirming your leaving up on the screen without confirming Yes or NO. You can now still click "Stay", watch dealers cards, if your cheat card pops up click "Yes" to leave the table immediately. if your fast enough you wont be caught cheating. 50% of those times, you'll still win, and get the gold anyways.

i tried ur tips didnt work

This is great information! Thanks!

Ben Firespinner

Please avoid posting your opinions without backing them up. Without basis for your statement, it's useless.

Because they did not work for you, does not mean the tips do not work.

These tips actually work splendidly.

If not followed accurately, or not given enough patience they will appear to have failed, but it wont be the tips that actually failed.

I can't even find an empty blackjack table, I have teleported to at least ten different servers and ratskeller and the other one had a person on it. :sadmh9:

i have rights declared by the united states constitution i have the right to express my opinion so i'm allowed to share my opinions unless there really really rude like cussing at someone

I'm afraid it is not that simple Swash - as this site is not public domain in terms of ownership (it is a private owned forum which allows the public to post) which is why there are rules which must be followed for posting.

The case was that you didn't express an opinion, just a comment - and actually were asked to express more information instead of leaving 6 word comments which did not explain the 5 w's for leaving your comment.

---

As for this guide - it totally rocks! I used 9 cards and made 13,000 in minutes! Cha-Ching! :D I played it a bit safe, stood up a few extra times maybe, but well worth it...

Now I'm gonna take Oxf's addition and play to see if it makes a difference... ;)

There's ALWAYS one other "person" at the table, an NPC (Non-Player Character). That means that when you play, there should (clockwise, if you are sitting in the correct place), the NPC, you, and the dealer.

The table will never be empty, there will ALWAYS be an NPC sitting directly opposite the dealer.

Excellent tip! I'll add it to the guide once I've tested it. I'm pretty excited to test it! I think I'm sitting on 10+ cards right now. Not ideal, but enough to run a test!

Thanks!

:shark: Mantaraya

Hey Zep,

What screen resolution do you use? I'm running it in windowed mode at 1200x1060 (I think that's the number), and the "confirmation box" blocks my view of my cards.

Yeah, I guess I already know what card I used, and I only have to watch the dealer's hand for that card, but it seems like it takes some practice. It was a little disconcerting at first, and I ran out of cheat cards before I really felt comfortable using this method, but I bet it works great with some practice.

When you double down, there is no "stay," so I suppose you have to be quick on the draw to "leave."

I'll keep at it.

:shark: Mantaraya

PS - I developed two new tips today for the Blackjack guide that I will integrate (when I add your tip into the guide too).

The first is that I recommend you have at least 4,000 gold before you start cheating, just in case you're unlucky and start with a losing streak. I've gone in with less than 3,000 a couple of times and lost it all because I couldn't absorb an initial losing streak. Lose two 495 double-downs in a row and you've lost 1,980 in gold.

The second is that sometimes a pirate ends up with a lot of extra 2s and 3s in their cheat cards. Instead of waiting for the perfect hand (an 8 or 9) to use them in blackjack (you could lose a lot of gold to that cheating dealer waiting for the "perfect opportunity" to cheat), just take all your 2s and 3s over to the poker table and cheat with them there. I averaged about 250 gold per cheat card today with nothing but about twenty 2s and 3s. Because the NPCs tend to fold if you bet on the first round, if they have bad cards, starting EVERY hand with a "raise to 40" encourages all the NPCs holding 2s or 3s in their hands to fold. I only got caught cheating once. So the new tip is Take your leftover 2s and 3s to the poker table and cheat with them there.

:piratear:

Didnt think about that, flat screens running 1680x1050, I dont recall 100% it may have covered my cards, and the AIs cards. Should work though as long as you know what your looking for (what you cheated with) and if you can see the dealers cards.

Ya, well it did for me, hehe. Got caught alot less for cheating, matter of fact, a funny note... was that I noticed alot of the times sitting back down, the dealer got blackjack on the hand immediately after (which I missed when because I stood up).

Yes, you can probably pull up the leave screen before clicking double down though. Cannot immediately recall. I do remember there were some instances you had to just be fast.

Totally agree on this one, I think this is where people think 'it doesnt work'. The old phrase... you gotta have money to make money comes to mind.

This one i'll pass on, I just dont like those poker tables, but thats a personal preference. The strategy appears sound. I am pretty good at tucking those small cards into a blackjack hand and stretching them, but its not as easy, or as sure a win. hehe

We can also use Esc to leave the table immediately.
After using cheat card i usually ready my finger on Esc key
but still got caught sometimes :piratear:
Btw, great guide Mantaray!

Yeah great guide!
Also I see that if you use a cheat card and win you usually never get caught.(at least for me)

Cool! I will have to try that out. Sounds much easier hehe.

Ok, Zep, Ironhawk and others, I updated the guide to include your suggestions, as well as adding a few lessons I've learned myself.

Keep the suggestions coming, so we can keep improving the guide!

Thanks!

:shark: Mantaraya

How do I cheat and are cheat cards spades? I still made like 2000 gold of this guide even though I didn't cheat but it thought tips to win. Thanks

i finally read the full guide i got 7k :o but i did lose sum hehe :]

heh thanks to this i went from 4k to about 7.5k from 18 cheat cards to 4.

wow good guide i realy like it

Good Guide! I knew how to play and cheat but this is a great source for better info!

I just got caught cheating. I stand up after every win. But it still took away all my previous hands' winnings. Do you have to leave Ratskellar every time now? Is it all winnings in the past few minutes? Do you have to switch servers after every win now? No more building up 20,000 per hour, if that is true. (Switching servers takes over a minute on my computer these days.)

I was able to make some decent loot in Cuba applying this methodology.....good info



Robert Darkskull
Pistols N Bladez

:cards:

wow...i guess i'll have to try this.

Awesome Guide! I'll be sure to try it on my pirate!

~PM

Is there a max number of cheat cards one pirate can hold at a time, like everything else? I have been stuck on 350 for a while just wondering if that is the max.

I believe an old post somewhere (I'd have to look...) had something about 1024 cards being the max (my memory is rusty - but I think someone at one time had over 800 cards...)

This may have changed with an update in recent times - just trying to recall :)

When I type "U" I see that I have 1192 cheat cards currently. (All the spades above 3, I got from "Black Mack" quests.)

Ah yes - the King-master of cards appears... *points to Edward* LOL :D

Great guide! I'm looking forward to trying it.

This link doesn't work anymore though. Does anyone know another that does?

The image is below...

http://i421.photobucket.com/albums/p.../bj_4d_h17.gif

The image is fixed above for the Blackjack Chart - as well as the chart is now been added to the Tutorial on the Main Page - replacing the broken link

you cant tp from jail and the bozos in ft dundee will attack, also stoping the tp. other than that, great guide, I think I'll try it

You press shift to kick the door, then instead of running out of your jail cell, use RETURN to port of call.

So, I'm ranking away...betting 2, playing it out...and I get dealt a pair of aces.

That's rare enough, that even I split it. I get a queen (21) and a ten (21) and the dealer busts. (Since they were each 21 on their own, it wouldn't let me swap a card, then try to double down on each.)

I won only 8 gold. Shouldn't that have been 10? They were both "natural" blackjack.

Anyhow, this means the highest theoretic blackjack win, you can possibly do in one hand, is 4,000 gold. That would be, bet 500, dealt a pair, split, get dealt low cards and double down on each (while the dealer busts or at least has a poor hand.)

I seem to recall getting 3,000 once, but never 4,000. Anyone ever get it?

I once split a hand several times ended up with 7 at one time so I guess max winnings really depend on how many D will let you do at once.

Wow, learn something new every day! I didn't know you could keep splitting them here, but it works. Neat!

amazing guide!!!! extensive and.... it works! thank you!

here is a screenshot

Nice guide. Thank you... I have a variation on the hands-odd table. Its simplied, but seems to work well.

blackjack_shortcut_card

Bottom line, you play based on what the dealer shows, and always assume that down card is a ten. If you're below 17 and he's above 7, you may be better off hitting.

USE the double-down! When you have 9,10 or 11 is the best time to use it. Also, if you are out of 10 cards to swap, then swap out a card to make 10 or 11 then HIT.

Cool guide, I'll try it sometime, 1st I have to figure out how to play poker, only card game I know is go fish LOL

As far as "Make 11 and double down" goes, there are two variations...

First scenario: you are dealt 12 to 19. You swap a card immediately to make 11.

Second scenario: you are dealt 3 to 10. Hit first, then swap to make 21.

For the second scenario, you miss out on the double-down, but win a LOT more often if you have a lot of cheat cards.

Also of note, with the new inventory system, you can set your "I" inventory panel to your cheat cards before you sit down...and use TAB to open and close it to see which cards you have while you are playing, before starting your swap. That way, you waste less time trying to swap the wrong suit.

I've been getting 40,000 per hour cheating (using this guide's methods) at blackjack lately.

this so awesome! thx so much for the info

I'm not sure if it has always been this way or not...but currently, it looks like you can only have up to 100 of each card.

AMAZING guide. I got around 50k in an hour! Spent all of that and some more on a War Frigate though lol.

excellent cheat guide one side note do not do the sweep/sit you will be caught every time you cheat

That's actually a false statement bartholomew. When you swap a card, if it matches any of the cards visible on the table (at the end of the hand) then you go to jail. The cutlass sweep glitch has nothing at all to do with getting caught.

Just retested all 4 variations: cutlass sweep glitch vs. no glitch, and cheat card matching vs. cheat card not matching. I only went to jail when cheat cards matched...e.g. when there were two "five of diamonds" visible.

The very first section of this guide goes over this in detail. And yes, it is an excellent guide.

Very helpful! Especially the table of odds. This is going to take me some time, I need to build up my cards collection. Thanks for the guide!

Great guide at first I kept selcting cheat cards that the dealer kept getting but after sevral tries I got used to it and this rellry good.

Wow this is great! I got 20K gold in half an hour! Thanks!

wow this is a good guide thanks!!

lol i lost 31000 gold the first time i was cout

I love this guide. 2 days ago I level'd sailing to 15, so now I must get some gold. Not to mention my cheat card deck includes 44 cards, including 8 Ace o' Spades. I have way too many aces. :D

Brilliant guide. Thanks a bunch!

I can already tell this is going to help me a lot. Good work on the guide!