With the Oscar’s Grind betting system the player begins with a single unit-if that hand is won, the player has turned a one-unit profit, and the series ends. If the player loses a hand, the wager remains the same until another hand is won, at which point it’s increased by one unit. According to the theory of Oscar Grind blackjack strategy you cannot lose in the long run. Playing Like Professional Blackjack Players – it’s Easy! The whole idea of Oscars Grind is to Grind away. No offense,but you lost $350 and quit. You entered a marathon and quit when you were trailing after five miles. You had tested it plenty of times and had seen how volitile it is,but got scared when using real money. Oscar’s Grind is not bad. The player will be able to get small wins in the short run. There is little chance of big wins or big losses. However, there are some drawbacks to this system. Oscar’s Grind sometimes referred to as Hoyle’s Press is a fairly easy positive progression betting system with a low-risk rate. The betting strategy is devised to exploit the potential of the winning streaks and control the damage caused by the consecutive losing hands.
I get questions about Oscar's Grind from time to time, usually from people who want to suggest that there is a more than coincidental similarity between Oscar's variation on the money management theme and my own.
The two methods are as alike as an apple and an orange (both grew on a tree, both are spherical and have pips, both taste good and...that's about it).Oscar's Grind Blackjack Betting System
I have always enjoyed the story of the origins of the Grind, which legend has it was created by a crusty old geezer who played just craps and used a stubby pencil to record the result of each roll in a battered notebook. Too many adjectives!
I'm more inclined to believe that like card counting, Oscar's creation is encouraged by the casinos because most people mess it up, and when they do, they lose more money than they probably would otherwise.
The idea as I recall it from Tom Ainslie's book How to Win in a Casino is to freeze the bet after a loss, add one unit after any mid-series win, and revert to a minimum bet after recovering prior losses for the series, plus one unit.
Oscar's Grind System
If the next bet in a series would exceed 20 units, it's Game Over and back to a minimum wager, and that's the part that makes me suspect that 'Oscar' was actually a casino employee with evil intent!
A 1-20 spread has zero chance of winning in the long term, with or without following the OG rules. That's an absolute factual fact. With the loss limit removed, 'Oscar' does marginally better than a random bettor on a winning streak and can stay ahead for a good long while with a decent bankroll.
Against the BST blackjack data set, for example, OG earned about 5.0% of target betting's win to date while racking up more than 50% of my method's overall action. That translates to a greater risk with a far lesser reward.
Mr. Ainslie's description of Oscar's Grind makes no provision for a win progression, which seems to me strangely short-sighted unless there is an ulterior professional motive. Incorporating +1u after an opening win, continuing until a loss, then freezing the bet per the standard rules and playing on until the loss is recovered +1u, pumps OG's win by more than 30% while increasing the action by less than 10%. Why not do it?
OG is a progressive betting method, of course, so it wins more often than not. It's just not a very good progressive betting method!
A simple Martingale does much better, my version of a Martingale is more effective than the original, and target betting knocks them all into the proverbial cocked hat (one of these days, I must look that one up!).
Now seems as good a time as any to revisit the topic of which games to tackle with target betting.Blackjack is by far the preferred option because of its low net house edge and the extra profit opportunities offered by double-downs and splits and 3-2 payoffs for naturals (never play at a layout offering 6-5, unless you are stuck at the last blackjack layout on earth).
Field betting at craps is a great place to start a series and take a break from blackjack, because of the x2 payoffs for 2 and 12 that are still x2 and x3 in some casinos. The negative odds are more than 5x blackjack's with x2x2, so you should never let the bets get too high before bailing out for a safer game.
Baccarat is the #2 option, but you should never, ever bet on Banker. That so-called '5 percent' commission is one of the great lies of gambling because it can easily swallow all your winnings and leave you in the hole in spite of your best efforts. I'll be posting more about that one of these days, with the help of the baccarat data sets from Lee Jones and Lorenzo Rodriguez (all 300,000+ of 'em!).
Roulette is a wonderfully streaky game best played (in my opinion) with the 'wobble' method of picking black or red, odd or even, or whatever - never 'inside' bets. Wobble is from WBL which in turn means Win Before Last, or as the French have it, avant derniere (or is it the other way around? I can never be sure!).The big problem with roulette, of course, is its 5.26% house edge. So, again, kick off a new series (or several) at roulette if you must, but always back off before the NB gets out of hand, and take your LTD/NB numbers to a more player-friendly game.
Just don't rely on old Oscar, may he RIP. Mr. Ainslie claims to have paid for several gambling trips to the Bahamas with that method. Guess he's just a lucky cuss...?
An important reminder: The only person likely to make money out of this blog is you, Dear Reader. There's nothing to buy, ever, and your soul is safe (from me, at least). Test my ideas and use them or don't. It's up to you.
_
If you are on a quest for the perfect betting system that will not only up your game but also make you the talk of the town and an absolute Blackjack legend, look no further – you journey ends right here, at least until someone develops a system that will surpass the 99.9% success rate of Oscar’s Grind Betting method.
Extremely popular among Blackjack players, the system was originally designed for the game of craps, and it represents a Positive Progression betting strategy introduced to a gambling scene by a craps player known as Oscar. According to some rumors, “Oscar” is actually an alias assumed by a group of players who took it upon themselves to perfect the system and make it suitable for those who are patient and disciplined enough to go after smaller but consistent winnings.
How to Implement Oscar’s Grind Betting System
Unlike some Negative Progression systems that are extremely complex to master, Positive Betting principles are much more easier to implement; most of all Oscar Grind, which not only falls under exceptionally efficient betting strategies but also has a rather straightforward and simple structure, making it a painless lesson to learn.
The system starts with the player betting the minimum unit. If the hand is successful and the player wins, the follow-up bet will be increased by the same amount (each increase is by one unit only) and the stake doubled. The losing hand, on the other hand, will not provoke any betting increase and the player will continue gambling the previous wager amount until the next winning hand.
The crucial element of Oscar Grind Betting System is setting the goal at winning only one betting unit and never going over. For example, if the Blackjack session had the following pattern (L being a losing hand and W a winning hand) the player is down one unit and the stake size is two units:
L – L – W– L – W – W – L – W – L – L – W – L
Although the main principle of the system is to raise the bet during the winning streak, increasing the bet by three units would potentially result in the profit of two units, which disrupts the principles of Oscar Grind Betting system. At this point, the player has to make sure the profit does not go over one unit and the stake needs to be kept at only two units.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Oscar Grind Betting System
The major advantage of Oscar Grind is the discipline and control, which in turn keeps your balance in check for prolonged time periods – particularly useful when sitting at the Blackjack table. Losing a substantial amount of money is practically impossible with this strategy unless you are tempted to cheat the system and go for winnings over 1 unit.
On the other hand, time and patience that should be invested in Oscar Grind will not appeal to all Blackjack players. The payouts are moderate (unless you hit a long winning streak) and the pace is slow and steady. Even so, combining this particular strategy with card counting and other basic Blackjack tactics can produce hours of (profitable) fun, despite its low intensity and methodical approach.