In previous chapters of this series we have applied a number of mathematical methods to improve our Blackjack decision making. Expected final scores, expected earnings and optimal actions. All safe and sound and, yet, we are still not making money at the end of the day. To improve our earnings we will need to do things differently. Consider additional information... but what information could that be?
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Blackjack 05. The dealer card
📅 2026-08-18🕐 8 mins🌎 ca🌎 en
Blackjack 04. Optimal actions
📅 2026-08-05🕐 7 mins🌎 ca🌎 en
Deciding which action is more convenient can be difficult in certain situations. Some players follow their hunches and decide on the spot. Others observe certain parameters of the game and factor them into their decision making. Regardless of our methods, how can we be sure that we are making the optimal decision? How can we tell we are choosing the actions that optimize our earnings?
Blackjack 03. Expected earnings
📅 2023-07-24🕐 6 mins🌎 ca🌎 en
Above all things, Blackjack is about making money. Our decision making is only as good as the money it makes us. To make sure we are making the right decisions, we need to understand how those decisions affect our earnings in the long run. In this chapter we will be trying to predict the earnings we can expect based on the decisions we make.
Blackjack 02. Final scores
📅 2026-07-01🕐 6 mins🌎 ca🌎 en
A key aspect that makes Blackjack decision-making difficult is the fact that we always play our hand before the dealer does. It almost feels like bidding in a secret auction, where, without knowing how much our rival will bid, we need to place a bid high enough to win. Except that our rival does know how much we are bidding. This is called the last mover advantage.
Blackjack 01. Solid decisions
📅 2026-06-21🕐 8 mins🌎 ca🌎 en
Imagine playing Blackjack with the pile of cards facing upwards. You would know which card is coming next at any time and you would never bust. You would continue to ask for the next card as long as the resulting hand has a score below 22. You would not win every hand but your odds of winning money in the long run would skyrocket.
Stadia: cloud gaming
📅 2020-06-20🕐 3 mins🌎 en
Looking for fresh entertainment? Google is here with a new gaming platform that delivers 4K and doesn't require a console. Give it a chance and try it for free in your computer by just signing up with your google account. You will be playing in 5 minutes and the graphics will blow your mind 🤯 Have a look at the screenshots at the end of the post if you still have any doubt!
Persuasion in pictures
📅 2020-06-14🕐 4 mins🌎 en
What would I know about persuasion? Well, not that much to be honest. That's why I used this confinement time to improve my social skills through Brandon Hakim's persuasion udemy course. Regardless how much I learned, I do recommend the course because it made me ponder about how people communicates effectively (and it inspired me to draw the pictures below). Here is a quick summary of the course main points. Did you already know them all?
Provinença desconeguda
📅 2020-04-27🕐 3 mins🌎 ca
Encara és petita per trobar la resposta però, un cop s'ha formulat la pregunta, ja no ha pogut deixar de pensar-hi. L'Elisabet té vuit anys i la seva experiència amb el metro de Barcelona es limita a les parades del trajecte que fa cada dia amb el seu pare de camí a l'escola. Agafen la línia groga a la parada de Bogatell i baixen a Poblenou per arribar caminant fins a Les Acàcies.
Trecember
📅 2019-12-01🕐 4 mins🌎 en
At this point in your life there might be a few things you are not familiar with: wasabi, free falling or David Lynch's movies for instance. The gregorian calendar however is not one of them. You learned it in school when you were a child, got used to it and never question it again. Brace yourselves because today the questioning day has arrived. What would a calendar with thirteen months look like?
Kanban: keep track of your goals
📅 2019-10-21🕐 3 mins🌎 en
As a software engineer I am quite used to project management practice. With it's never ending meetings, the excess of control mechanisms and the recurrent mail chains it is certainly not the most popular system between the employees. Far from perfect however, it let to some techniques that are simple and effective when it comes to goals management.
Existential injustice
📅 2019-08-28🕐 5 mins🌎 ca🌎 en
You are meeting somebody. Maybe some friends. Maybe a date. Maybe your partner. Maybe a group of people you have recently started to hang out with. The first hours go by and you are having fun. You get to a point where the situation cools down. The connection level with the others decreases. You are still talking and laughing, but it doesn't fill you in the same way past occasions did.
Four coin challenge
📅 2019-07-22🕐 2 mins🌎 en
In contrast to my abstract esoteric last post on the meaning of life, today I bring a light and enjoyable post that will make you think in a different manner; you will need to find a way to lay four coins in a row. Doesn't sound complicated, does it? Just let me add a couple of restrictions so that the word challenge on the title is not used in vain and in order for you to feel proud of yourself if you are able to find out a solution.
The meaning of life
📅 2019-07-08🕐 4 mins🌎 en
From time to time I used to wonder about the meaning of life. Or more exactly which is the goal of life. Why are we here for? If you have wondered about it too without getting to any satisfactory conclusion, I'm sorry to tell you that I don't have an specific answer. However, as the time goes by, I am less worried about finding it.
Agility... rocks?
📅 2019-06-17🕐 2 mins🌎 en
Last week we had an Agile Training in my company (Sage, in the Barcelona office). Usually I feel lazy about this kind of trainings because they focus on very abstract topics and also because the theory and practice of project management are as different as chalk and cheese, so I was expecting a boring couple of days sitting all together in a room stating the obvious and agreeing on how useful those methodologies are.