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Picking up an edge in blackjack is not easy. Unlike poker, you don?t have as much information to read before you make your decision, therefore a lot of depends on instinct at the table.

The one thing though that has been proven to be useful in relation to success in the game is card counting. This is the ability to remember as many of the cards that have gone before you as possible. It is a difficult skill to master, however, the more your practice, the better you become at it.

The problem a lot of new blackjack players have is they have an imagine of card counting as having a photographic a mind where you remember every last details that has gone by. This is not the case, and it would be very difficult for even the best players in the world to identify all the cards that have gone by. Fans of blackjack should remember this.

Instead, card counting is about remembering small but important details. For example, if you can recall that there has been a series of high numbers recently from the pack, you may be more inclined to twist on a middle total such as 14. Of course there is no guarantee that a low number will come out, but you would be concerned about twisting if there had been a run of low numbers before this hand. Bear this in mind when playing in an online casino UK.

When you first look to pick up the skill, be realistic with the number of cards you will aim to remember as a target. The past five cards is a good starting point, you can then gradually increase that number as you get better at counting the past cards.

If we were playing poker against Pete the Passive Poker Player then it wouldn?t really matter if we were holding pocket aces or seven-deuce off suit. So what are the factors that influence the value of our hand?

Card Rankings

We may seem a little contradictory here, but if you wasn?t playing against Pete the Passive Poker Player all of the time then card ranking is very important when determining the value of your hand. Quite simply you will never fold pocket aces pre flop but would rarely open with seven-deuce off suit.

How Good Are You?

If you are an excellent poker player then you can play more hands against your weaker opponents. If you are not very good at poker then you need to be playing fewer hands against better opponents. Therefore your hand values change dependent on your own personal skill level when compared to the skill levels of the players in your game.

Table Dynamics

There are a wide variety of different situations that may be present on the table that will affect your hand values. A good example is when you find yourself in a game against a short stack specialist. Against these types of players you have a pretty good understanding of what their shoving hand range will look like and therefore this will influence the value of the hands you choose to play against this type of opponent.

If you don’t have much Blackjack experience, it can be daunting stepping up to the tables for a game. You can, however, hide the fact of your inexperience very simply by remembering these straightforward rules. (Note – the rules of BlackJack will differ from area to area and from casino to casino, but the general principles are the same. When in doubt, ask!). A typical BlackJack table seats a dealer and up to 7 players. Starting with the dealer, the first seat on his left is ‘1st Base’, while the first seat on his right is referred to as 3rd Base. In front of each player’s seat is a betting square, printed on the felt. Right in front of the dealer is the chip tray, while on his left is the deck (a.k.a. shoe) and next to that is the’ minimum bet sign’, which tells you how ‘expensive’ the table is. As a beginner, you will want to stick to the low bet tables to keep any losses under control. On the dealer’s right is a money drop slot. This is a security feature – casinos don’t really trust their employees, and all cash and chips are deposited here to prevent ‘leakage’.

Next to the drop slot is what’s known as the ‘discard tray’. Play starts after the dealer shuffles the cards, the deck is ‘cut’ by a player using a ‘marker card’ (NOT the bare hand), and finally the dealer ‘burns’ a card (or throws it away in order to ensure randomness). Before the cards are dealt, you make your bet by placing chips or cash into the betting box. Be aware that you can sit out a hand or 2 if you like – maybe you need a break, or the dealer is just on a lucky streak. Note that if the casino is busy, you may be asked to give up your seat so another punter can take your place (or alternatively resume the game yourself). If you really don’t want to play, just get up and vacate the seat – you can always come back later!

When all players who want to play in this round have placed a bet, 2cards will be dealt to each player going from left to right. Some casinos deal the cards face down. Elsewhere the cards are dealt face up, in which case NEVER touch them – the assumption if you do is that you are cheating! The dealer deals himself 2 cards – 1 down and 1 up. Card values are, as everyone knows, 10 Jack Queen and King are worth 10, an Ace is worth 1 or 11, all other cards are worth their face values. In noisy casinos, be prepared to use hand signals to indicate whether you want to hit or stand.

How do you indicate ‘hit’? If the cards are dealt face down, flick the cards gently across the felt 2 times. If the cards were dealt face up, point at the cards with your finger in a jabbing style. You can nod your head to emphasize the desire for a hit. If you’d prefer to stand, move your hand horizontally from left to right (palm down) to indicate ‘no’. Always keep your hands a few inches off the table to avoid suspicion. If you like, you can emphasize the stand by shaking your head ‘no’ at the same time.

Should you play single or multiple deck games? Only in Vegas do they still play single deck, and the tables are usually full – it is much easier for amateurs to ‘count’ in a single game, and keep the odds pretty fair, which explains their popularity. Multiple deck games will usually be based on even number of decks (up to 8 decks in the shoe at a time). Multiple decks allow the dealer to deal more hands per hour (less shuffling etc), which makes them more profitable for the casino, and they reduce the chances of a player ‘counting’. Dealers HAVE to follow straightforward rules, and must hit if they have 16 or less. On the other hand, if the dealer has 17 or more, he MUST stand, except in some smaller casinos, where he can hit on a ‘soft 17’.

You as the player can do anything you like, standing or hitting as it suits you. If you get a BlackJack (an Ace and a ten right off) you win 1 and a half times your bet. You can only double down on 2 card hands totaling 9, 10, or 11 (a very few casinos allow doubling on any 2 card hand). If your cards were dealt face down and you want to double, turn them over and put them on the dealer’s side of the betting square. Otherwise point to them and say ‘double’ when it’s your turn. You will have to put an equal amount of chips next to those already in the betting box (NEVER put new chips on top of old chips – it looks like cheating!). You will get one new card.

Splitting is kind of similar – cards dealt face down need to be turned over and placed them a little apart. Otherwise point at them and say ‘split’ when it’s your turn. Place an equal amount of chips in the betting box near the other card (remember, NEVER on top). You are now playing 2 hands exactly as normal (unless you just split two aces in which case you only get one card – a 10 would be good!. If it is a 10 the hand isn’t a BlackJack, meaning you only get the standard odds of 1/1 and not 1/1.5 as you would for a ‘natural’ BlackJack. Be careful how you split – it is possible to end up with 4 or 5 hands simultaneously! Likewise, it’s probably not good to split two 5s – you will be replacing a hand that is great for drawing on or doubling down on with (probably) 2 poor hands. Insurance only happens when the dealer’s face up card is an Ace, when the dealer will ask the players if they want insurance (he won’t know what his face down card or ‘hole’ card is at this point, so you won’t be able to read his expression for clues). Insurance means that half the player’s bet is placed on the ‘insurance’ semicircle printed on the felt. If the dealer gets a BlackJack the player wins the the insurance bet but loses the original bet meaning a zero hand because insurance pays 2 to 1. If the dealer does not get BlackJack, the insurance bet is lost and the hand is played normally with the remaining half bet. Don’t bother with insurance unless you are trying to card count (take it when the number of non ’10’ cards to 10s drops below the 2 to 1 margin). You may also come across ‘Surrender’ – it’s not widely used, but there are 2 versions you may find, ‘early surrender’ and ‘late surrender’.

Early surrender means quitting on 2 card hands if you don’t like the dealer’s up card (e.g. a ten or court card). Surrendering in this way will give you a small extra advantage whcih is why casinos don’t like it. Late surrender means waiting until the dealer checks for BlackJack, at which point if he doesn’t, you may decide to surrender. As we say, not very common, so ask before joining the table whether you can or not. And that’s it! Stay cool, and don’t panic, and nobody will guess you are a casino newbie!

Quick, can you tell me what are the five worst playing rules for blackjack? If you don’t know them then the next time you play blackjack you might just be bucking higher than normal odds. So let’s review these bummers to be sure you never play in a game that has them.
Blackjacks pay Even Money

This one stinks. Normally the casino pays 3 to 2 when a player gets a blackjack hand (and the dealer doesn’t also have blackjack). Getting paid 1 to 1 may not seem like a big deal but it is because the casino’s edge goes up by 2.3% (ouch).

Normally blackjack games that offer an even money payoff also have several other player favorable rules as a come on. A good example is SuperFun 21, which is offered in many casinos in Las Vegas. The game uses only a single deck of cards with liberal rules such as surrendering anytime including after hitting, doubling, or splitting. But the liberal rules do not come close to negating the 2.3% edge the house enjoys when it pays even money on blackjack hands. The bottom line is be very cautious when a casino only offers even money on a blackjack.
Blackjack pays 6 to 5

Oh come on, no casino would pay 6 to 5 for a blackjack hand you say? Well guess what? Walk up and down the strip in Las Vegas and you’ll find this game all over the place. The come on is that it’s advertised as a single deck game, which usually implies a good game for the player. But getting paid 6 to 5 on a blackjack is a much worse deal than getting paid the normal 3 to 2. How much less? For every $10 you bet and get a blackjack you’ll get paid $3 less. This increases the house edge by 1.2%.

What’s ironic is that these same casinos that offer this 6 to 5 abomination game also offer plenty of multiple deck games with a much lower house edge (partly because blackjacks are paid at the standard 3 to 2). Yet the last time I visited Las Vegas I observed all the 6 to 5 single deck tables packed with players while the multiple deck tables where much less crowded. I finally asked one player who had quit playing the 6 to 5 single deck payoff game why he choose to play it rather than the better multiple deck game. His response was that he thought 6 to 5 was a better payoff than 3 to 2. So much for the math skills of the average blackjack player (which is probably why the casinos in Las Vegas are blazingly getting away with offering this game to clueless tourists).
Doubling Down only on 11 or 10 or just 11

Often you’ll see this rule in single deck games where a player is restricted to doubling on a two card 10 and 11 (or just 11). This means you can’t double down on 9 or any soft hand (that’s not good). The house edge goes up by about 0.7% when you can only double on 11 and by 0.25% when you are restricted to just doubling on only 10 and 11.
Using 8 decks of Cards

Compared to a single deck game, the casino’s edge increases by 0.61% when 8 decks of cards are used. You would need several liberal rules to offset the 0.61% edge to make the game playable. At the minimum make sure the dealer stands on soft 17 and doubling after pair splitting is offered (ideally also late surrender).
Dealer Hits Soft 17

Many casinos (especially on the Las Vegas strip) have changed the dealer rule regarding soft 17. It used to be pretty standard that dealers must stand on all 17 hands (which includes a soft 17 hand). Nowadays, however, more casinos are changing to hit soft 17. That’s not a good change for the player because the casino edge increases by 0.20%. Given a choice you are better off playing where the rules require that dealers must stand on soft 17.

Probably the worse blackjack rule that I ever saw was dealer winning all ties. Yes, I know that’s the way you play it with your buddies when you get together for a friendly game of blackjack and poker. But in a casino, you should never play any blackjack game where the dealer wins ties. The standard casino rule is when your hand totals 21 or less and the dealer ends up with the same total, it’s a tie or push and you don’t lose or win your bet (but remember that a dealer blackjack hand beats a player’s three or more cards 21 hand). By winning tied hands the casino edge zooms by about 9%.

There are two things to keep in mind when you play blackjack. First, there has never been a game with exotic rules that has a lower house edge than the standard game. So before you decide to try a SuperFun 21 or other ‘new’; game you better check the rules.

Secondly, you should always try to pick your games carefully so that the overall mix of rules leads to a casino edge that’s as low as possible for the game you are playing (this of course assumes you know the basic playing strategy – if not, learn it!).

Dan Pronovost showed the effect of each rule on the house edge in his excellent article, Picking the Right Game, that appeared in issue #35 of the Blackjack Insider Newsletter (www.casino.com/newsletter/blackjack/archive/). This article is a good starting point to be sure you understand the impact a rule has on the house edge.

Often casinos will introduce new rules or games in their blackjack pits. An example is the new game Blackjack Switch, which recently had a trial run in Atlantic City and will soon be launched in casinos there and in Las Vegas (it’s also offered on the Internet). In this game you must play two hands and you are allowed to switch the two top cards. That very favorable player rule is offset by this new rule – when the dealer has 22, all player hands of 21 or less push (instead of win). So is the favorable switch rule offset by the very unfavorable push 22 rule? The answer is I don’t know at the moment but I’ve got several blackjack mathematicians working on this as we speak to determine the overall impact on the player (we hope to have it all unraveled in the next issue of the Blackjack Insider Newsletter).

That’s it for now. Stay positive and make sure you know the rules before you play.

By Henry Tamburin