Casino Blackjack: What To Expect If You've Never Played
In Blackjack, you are dealt 2 cards. Their point value (numbered cards equal their face value, face cards equal 10, aces can equal 1 or 11) is added together, and the object is to get closer to 21 than the dealer's hand without going over. Going over 21 is known as busting. You don't have to beat anybody else's hand, and your aim isn't really to get 21, it's just to beat the dealer.
The Table
Blackjack tables in a casino are shaped like half-moons and arranged around a central area called the pit, where the pit boss, who monitors the games, stands. When you want to find a game to join, you'll need to look first at the signs that tell the limits -- the minimum and maximum bets allowed for that table. The sign is usually posted to the dealer's left, saying something like, "Minimum $10, Maximum $1000." This means you must bet at least $10 on each hand you play. If it's too much, look for another table. $25, $10 or $5 minimums are typical, but the most crowded tables will be those offering $3 or $2 blackjack, which not every casino has. Next, look at the green felt of the table itself. It will say, printed on the felt, "Blackjack Pays 3 To 2," and either "Dealer Stands On 17," or "Dealer Hits on Soft 17." So now you know how the dealer will behave with every hand, since he or she has to follow this rule. Also on the felt will be a circle or box at each seat. This circle or box is your "spot," where you place the amount you are betting on that hand.
Take any empty seat. The seat to the dealer's immediate left is called First Base, and the one to the dealer's right is called Third Base or the Anchor. There are no rules about who must sit where. (If a dealer is at an empty table, you can sit there, too, play one-on-one and perhaps find it easier to ask questions than if other players were present.) If play is going on, you must wait until the hand is finished, then you can "get change," that is, have the dealer convert your cash into chips. The amount you convert is called your "buy-in," and is usually 10 or 20 times the amount you will be betting per hand. So if the table minimum is $5, (and if that's what you're going to bet) you probably should buy in for around $50 or $100. Nobody says you have to spend all that; you can take your chips and leave after any hand. When you ask for change, put your cash on the table in front of you, but definitely not in the betting spot, or the dealer might take this to mean you are wagering this whole amount on ONE HAND, so put it outside the circle, on the dealer's side. The dealer will scoop up the money, and return to you chips in denominations that make sense for the limits of that table, but you can have him break it into any amounts. You'll notice he must take the cash from the table, not from you, because he is not permitted to take anything from a player's hands for reasons of security. And now you have to begin obeying the player's rules for touching, which vary according to how the cards are dealt: face-up or face-down.
Here's The Deal
The cards for low-limit tables will most likely be dealt from a "shoe," a device allowing the dealer to slide out one card at a time. These hold, usually, 6 or 8 decks of cards. Higher stakes tables frequently deal from a single deck, or two decks together. Everyone places his first bet in his own betting spot, and then the dealer, going from First Base to Third, (from dealer's left to right), deals out two cards to all players and himself, and one of his will be face down. If your cards are dealt face-up, you may not touch them -- you don't need to, anyway, and it's a security measure -- or you'll be given a warning by the dealer. If you earn repeated warnings, you may be asked to leave, so watch it! If, in a face-up game, you want another card, you are required to use hand signals so there is no mistake. Either point at your cards and say, "Hit," or tap the table in front of your cards -- make a note of how others are signalling, before your game. Once you've placed your chips in your betting area, you should leave them alone until the hand is resolved.
If the cards are dealt face-down, you pick them up in one hand only and hold the cards over the table. Indicate you want a hit by scratching gently with your cards on the table felt; this third card you leave lying face-up on the table. If you've decided to stand, slide your 2 cards under the chips you've bet, gently and again with one hand.
If you're in a single deck game, the dealer will shuffle and then offer one of the players a colored plastic card to cut the deck with. The player puts it somewhere into the deck, the dealer uses it to lift the deck apart, put the halves in reverse order, and then he will place another colored plastic card about two-thirds of the way down the deck, to indicate the point at which the deck should be shuffled, and another underneath the entire deck. You'll see the dealer take the first card or two from the deck or shoe and just put them aside. This is called burning the card, and it's done in case of a poor shuffle, or to ensure that no alert player saw the first card. Burnt cards go into a discard tray, same as the used cards of each hand.
Now for the game itself! If you were born lucky and get an ace and any card equalling 10, you've got a "natural," which is blackjack on your first two cards. As the print on the tabletop tells you, you've just won 150% of what you bet -- unless the dealer happens to have blackjack too, in which case it is a "push," and you don't win anything, but also don't lose your bet. Other bets pay usually 2 to 1.
When the dealer has 16 or less, he has to take a card; when he has 17 or over, he has to stand. However, if one of the cards in that hand of 17 is an ace, it's called a "soft" 17 and if the rule written on the table says so, he has to take a card. The dealer counts his ace as 1 or as 11 according to whichever prevents his going bust, naturally. This too is not his decision.
Splitting
If you have a pair of any card, you might choose to Split, which is to play them as two hands. There are numerous reasons to; for instance, if you got two 7s, you'd have 14, which can be a disappointing hand, or even worse, two 8s, and both these hands are rather low to win as they stand but easy to go bust if you chose to hit. If you create 2 new hands out of them, you get 2 fresh chances for a better total. To split in a face-down game, you'd put these cards on the table in front of your betting spot face up, and place a bet equal to the original bet in your circle, near the second card. (Don't put these separate bets on top of one another, or mixed up.) If it's face-up, you'd point to your cards, say, "Split," and place the additional bet in your circle. The dealer moves the two apart and lays down a card on each of these new hands, which get played from right to left. If you get a blackjack now it pays just even money. If you are splitting aces (and some experts recommend you always split aces), some casinos let you have only one additional card on each of the aces. Sometimes you may get another pair and want to split again. Many casinos will not allow this, or just not let you resplit aces.
Doubling Down
Another thing you may want to do is double your bet when you've got 2 cards totalling 9, 10 or 11, and the dealer's faceup card is not an ace. (Study Blackjack Basic Strategy to know when it's favorable to double. Right now we're simply going to run through the possible moves.) Treat the cards in the same manner as when you split: face-up, point to your cards, saying, "double," while placing the additional bet in your circle; face-down, place both cards on the dealer's side of your betting circle turned up so the dealer can see you have the appropriate total, and place your additional bet next to the original one. You will receive one more card, no more. Some casinos allow you to double down only on 11.
Insurance
If a dealer's first card is an ace, he will ask each player if he wants "insurance," which is a side bet on whether the dealer will get a card that gives him blackjack. The player bets half the amount of his hand bet on a spot on the table that says Insurance. It pays 2 to 1 if the dealer does get blackjack. Suppose you happen to have blackjack on this hand yourself. If the dealer does, it ends in a push and you will not win. Many people believe that taking an insurance bet when they have blackjack cuts their losses, ensures they win something. However, correct basic strategy systems call for declining all insurance bets -- unless you're counting cards and have a fair idea of the dealer's chances. Insurance bets are just that: insuring against failure. They cut your losses some, but they do not maximize your winnings. If you play consistently to maximize your wins, you do not need insurance.
Now, you really should read as much Basic Strategy as you can handle, the method designed by mathematicians to reduce (and in its pure form, eliminate) the edge the house holds. The original Basic Strategy, made useable by Edward Thorpe, is based on probability, and produces winning play over time. The difference that makes a player excel is how much of the strategy he is able to learn, and carry out.
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