Blackjack Players Card
Player Buys Chips The dealer will arrange your buy-in on the felt so the cameras can clearly see the amount. Player Places a Wager At the start of a round the first thing you do is place a bet in the betting circle (sometimes. Dealer Deals Cards to Players After you place your. In some blackjack variations, players are given an option to surrender their hand when the dealer’s up card is ten or an Ace. Basically, you’re betting on the dealer having blackjack, and you can decide to. Play our free online blackjack game now and see how many games you can win! How to count cards in blackjack. Blackjack is synonymous with card counting. Many films and TV shows have been made about people winning games by counting cards and lots of players have tried the strategy. Counting cards in blackjack in four steps.
It’s easy enough to find how to play blackjack articles on the internet, but a lot of them ignore the subtler aspects of the blackjack card game’s rules.
This post is my attempt to correct that and focus more on the rules of play than the basic stuff.
At the same time, this post should be more useful for the blackjack beginner because it covers rules that other pages don’t cover.
A Broad Overview of Blackjack Card Game Rules
You play real money blackjack with the same standard 52-card deck that’s used for poker or other casino card games like baccarat. The joker is never used, and there are no wild cards in blackjack. Most casinos use multiple decks of cards, usually 2, 6, or 8 decks.
The dealer uses a blank card to signify when it’s time to reshuffle the decks, and if the casino is using more than 4 decks, the cards are dealt from a box called a “shoe.” In single deck or 2-deck games, the cards are dealt by hand.
The object of the game is to get a score as close as you can to 21 without going over. You have one opponent – the dealer. How the play of the other gamblers goes has nothing to do with your own outcomes.
The cards have point values based on their rankings. In other words, the 2 of spades is worth 2 points, the 3 of hearts is worth 3 points, and so on. The suit doesn’t affect the point scores for the cards.
Face cards – the jack, queen, and king – are each worth 10 points.
And an ace counts as 1 or as 11, depending on which is better for the player.
Blackjack Betting Rules (Cash and Chips) – How to Bet on the Card Game
Before you can play, you must buy into the game. This usually means exchanging cash for chips at the blackjack table, but in many casinos, you can play cash, too. Usually you only play cash once when you first sit down at the table, though – as soon as that first hand is dealt, the dealer will want to convert your cash to chips.
It’s important that you don’t hand your cash directly to the dealer. Lay it on the table. The dealer doesn’t want to be accused of stealing your money, which is why they have such specific procedures in terms of counting your money on the table in such a way that it can be filmed by the camera above – the “eye in the sky.”
You’ll find a placard at the blackjack table which lists the betting limits. You’ll rarely find a casino offering a minimum bet of less than $5 per hand, and $500 per hand is often the maximum bet. High roller rooms often have higher betting maximums, but it’s important to know the minimum before sitting down.
You don’t want to buy in for $300 at a $100 minimum blackjack table and wind up with only 3 chips to play with.
The Rules for Dealing Blackjack – How to Deal the Card Game
The cards get shuffled periodically at most casinos, usually when the deck has been dealt down to the cut card. In some casinos, though, a continuous shuffling machine is used. In this case, you can forget all about counting cards.
The Dealer Has Specific Rules for How to DealShe waits until everyone has placed their bets and the decks have been shuffled. Then she gives each player a card, one at a time, clockwise around the table. She also gives herself a card, face-up.
The players’ cards are dealt face-up in a game dealt from a shoe, but if the game is being dealt from the dealer’s hand, the cards are dealt face-down.
After everyone gets their first card, the dealer gives each player a 2nd card. The players either get both cards face-up or face-down, depending on the nature of the game. But the dealer’s 2nd card is always face-down.
That’s how the initial deal goes.
After that, it’s time to make game-play decisions.
Blackjack Rules for Naturals
The first thing that happens after the deal in this card game is the adjudication of “naturals”, AKA “blackjacks.”
A blackjack, or natural, is a 2-card hand worth 21 points. To get a blackjack, you must have an ace, but you must also have a 10-point card. It doesn’t matter if it’s a face card or a 10, it still counts as a blackjack if it’s 2 cards that make up a total of 21.
If a player gets a natural and the dealer doesn’t, the player immediately gets paid off at 3 to 2 odds. In other words, if you bet $5 on the hand, you win $7.50 immediately. That’s it for the hand.
Note:Some versions of blackjack only pay off at 6 to 5 odds. You should avoid such games, as they give the house a much higher mathematical edge than the standard version of the card game.
If a dealer gets a natural and the player doesn’t, the player immediately loses. But you only lose the bet. You don’t pay a penalty or anything like that.
If both the player and the dealer get a natural, the result is a push. The player gets to keep his bet, but he doesn’t get any winnings. A push is basically the same thing as a tie.
A natural only happens about once out of every 20 of your hands, so it’s common enough that you’ll see it often.
But most of the time, you’ll still have to play your hand.
Blackjack Gameplay Rules – How to Play the Card Game
So far there hasn’t been much gameplay to discuss – just betting, shuffling, dealing, and checking for naturals.
Once all that’s done, the gameplay begins, and that’s where the rules for this card game get interesting.
The player to the dealer’s left acts first, and play proceeds around the table. The dealer acts last.
The 2 basic moves in the game are to stand or to hit. To stand means to decline any additional cards and take the total you have to the showdown. To hit means to accept another card from the dealer to increase your total score.
You have no limit to the number of additional cards you can take, but you can also decide to stand at any time.
But, if at any time, you hit and get an additional card that makes your total 22 or higher, you immediately lose and the dealer collects your bet.
This is, in fact, where the house gets its edge. Even if the dealer also busts, you’re already out of the game if you’ve busted. What should be a tie in a “fair” game is a loss for the player.
Blackjack Playing Card Game Rules
But, if you play with basic blackjack strategy, the house edge for blackjack is one of the lowest in the casino. It’s less than 1% depending on the conditions of the game.
Also, this is a good time to point out the importance of an ace. Since it can count as 1 or 11, you have more flexibility in how aggressively you play your hand. That’s why your total number of points when you have an ace in your hand is called a “soft” total. It’s impossible to bust a soft total because you can always decide to count the ace as 1 instead of 11.
The Card Game Rules for Other Player Options
Hitting and standing aren’t your only options. You can also do the following with your hand:
- Double Down – This means to double the size of your bet and take one – and only one – additional card.
- Take Insurance – This option is only available when the dealer has an ace. Insurance is a side bet that the dealer has a 10 for her face-down card, giving her a blackjack. The size of the insurance bet is half that of your initial bet, and it pays off at 2 to 1. Of course, if you win the insurance bet, you lose your main bet, breaking even for the hand. That’s why it’s called “insurance.” You’re insuring your hand against the possibility that the dealer has a blackjack.
- Split – When you have 2 cards of the same rank, like aces or 8s, for example, you can put up an extra bet and play 2 hands. The starting card for each of the 2 hands comes from your hand, and you get a new card on top of each of them. You play each hand independently from that point forward.
Rules for How the Dealer Plays Her Hand
Once all the players have busted (gotten a total of 22+) or stood, the dealer plays her hand. The dealer doesn’t get to exercise judgment when playing her hand; she must play according to the house rules for the dealer.
This means the dealer must hit any total of 16 or lower. It also means the dealer must stand on a total of 17.
There’s one wrinkle, though – a soft total of 17 might force the dealer to stand, or it might force the dealer to hit. If the dealer must stand on a soft 17, that’s an advantage for the player. If the dealer hits a soft 17, the casino has a higher edge than in the other version of the game.
Once the dealer stands, the bets are paid off. If the dealer has a higher total than the player, the dealer wins the player’s bet. If the player has a higher total than the dealer, the dealer pays the bet off at even money.
If the dealer and the player stand on the same total, the bet is considered a push. The player gets his bet back, but he gets no winnings on top of it.
Conclusion
That’s my best, most complete, and simplest explanation for blackjack card game rules.
If I left anything out, let me know in the comments.
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.Card counting is a system that experienced blackjack players use to get a profitable advantage over the casino. There are many individual “counts” or systems. Many of them are named after colorful professional gamblers from times past.
The 2008 movie “21” bought card counting to the attention of the general public. It followed the true story of members of the MIT blackjack team as they won millions from casinos in LasVegas. This movie also highlighted the key challenge faced by card counters. To make a profit using these systems, you need to bet significantly more when the odds turn in your favor. Casinos are aware of this — and will quickly ban players they believe are counting cards.
This page has everything you need to know to get started with card counting. Below you will find the basics of how it works. Famoussystems, the ideal games for counters and how online blackjack can help you learn to count are also covered below.
How to count cards in blackjack
Blackjack is a game of incomplete information. Players act based on their own two cards and the single dealer up-card. Players must risk busting in many situations, even though the decisions are mathematically correct.
Small cards are the enemy of blackjack players. Values of two through six can make for the trickiest decisions. In fact, if you remove any significant number of small cards from the shoe, blackjack not only becomes easier, the player gets a mathematical edge over the house.
This is where card counting comes in.
Counters track the proportion of small cards to face cards and aces. At a certain point, the deck turns “positive.” The higher proportion of face cards means every hand played will generate long term profit for the player — not the house. This is because profit comes from doubling, splitting and hitting blackjack (natural21). All of these are more frequent when there are more high cards in the shoe.
To take advantage of this edge, counting players must boost their bet size. Without this bet size boost, money spent playing while waiting for the deck to turn positive would cancel out any wins.
There are multiple factors that affect whether a specific game is a candidate for card counting. The number of decks of cards in play, the rules on splitting and doubling down, and how the dealer reacts to a soft 17 all come into play. To get the best from counting cards, you need to find the games with the lowest house edge.
Level 3 card counting systems & true count explained
Card counting systems have three levels of complexity. The simplest systems are Hi-LoCounts. You count low cards as +1 and high cards as -1. The higher the count, the bigger the proportion of high cards to low cards.
Advantage players will increase their bets once a specific count is reached. To be sure that they have an advantage, they need to translate the current total into the “true count” first. This involves dividing the count by the number of decks still in play. If the count is +10, with five decks remaining in a six-deck shoe, then the “true count” is 10/5 = 2. This means games like double-deck blackjack are better for counting. Players do not need to play through those first decks in the shoe while waiting for the true count to be positive.
Level two and level three counting systems are more accurate. They assign +2 to some cards and +1 to others. This splits the twos and sevens from cards three throughsix, with some systems also counting nines differently. There are systems with separate counts for aces. Your bet sizes need to increase in line with the positive count — for example adding a unit every time the true count increases by two points.
Cartamundi Blackjack Playing Cards
If you are new to cardcounting, then a simple Hi-Lo Count is the place to start. Once you have mastered keeping track of the count while playing each hand perfectly and chatting with the other players, you will be ready to move to the next level.
Examples of card counting systems
The systems below range from level one to three. These are five of hundreds of possible systems, giving you an overview of how different systems vary in their complexity.
- Hi-Lo Count: This is a balanced count and is the first system that new counters use. You add one to the total for each card value from two through six — and subtract one for 10s through aces. Seven, eight and nine are neutral. You then divide this count by the number of undealt decks and round up as needed. You should increase your bets when the count is positive — betting more the larger the positive number that you count. The advantage of the Hi-Lo system is simplicity. Compared with other blackjack counts, Hi Lo card counting does lackprecision.
- Hi-Opt1 and 2: These systems were developed by LanceHumble, though they can be traced back to the 1960s. There are many more“neutral”cards compared to the Hi-Lo Count. Hi-Opt 1 uses aces, twos, sevens, eights and nines as zero for the count. Three, four, five and six are +1, and 10s through kings are -1. This system works best for single deckgames. Hi-Opt 2 makes 10s through kings -2 on the count, with +2 for fours and fives, +1 for twos, threes, sixes and sevens. Aces, eights and nines are neutral. These are accurate systems, though with single deck games rare (and closely watched), it can be difficult to find a suitable game to use them.
- Ace-Five System: You will need to double your bet repeatedly as the count increases to make the Ace-Five System work. This is a simple count, involving only aces andfives. Every time a five is dealt, you add one, and every ace you see removes one. When the count is +2, you double your bet. Increasing it again for every +2 that gets added. If the count reverts to +1 or less, you go back to your initial bet size. The key advantage of this system is the simplicity. The always-changing bet size is likely to attract the attention of casino pit bosses.
- Uston Advanced Count: Ken Uston was a famous card counter, known for his flamboyant lifestyle. His most complex system is the “Uston Advanced Count.” Aces count as zero in this system. Fives are +3; 10s through kings are -3; nines are -1; twos and eights are +1; and threes, fours, sixes and sevens are +2. As with the other systems, you increase your bets in line with how positive the count gets — keeping the number of decks in mind. This system is designed to work best with a separate count of theaces. The complexity means that it is for experienced card counters only.
- KO Counting System: This system works like Hi-Lo, with an extra feature involving the insurance against dealer blackjack bet. It counts cards two through seven as +1, eight and nine as neutral and 10 through ace as -1. You should increase your bet at +2 or more (based on the true count). At +3 or greater, the insurance side bet becomes profitable and should be taken.
Which blackjack games are best for card counting?
Big casino resorts in Las Vegas, AtlanticCity, downtown Detroit and elsewhere run a wide selection of blackjack games. At the lowest buy-ins (typically $5 and up per hand), the rules give the casino a huge edge over theplayers. Examples include paying 6:5 instead of 3:2 for blackjack, limiting doubles after splits and having the dealer hit on soft 17. These unfavorable rules can easily boost the house edge to 3% or even more. With six or eight decks, getting a true count can be difficult.
Contrast this with the best games. An ideal setup is a single deck game, with liberal splitting/doubling rules, dealer standing on soft 17, late surrender and 3:2 for blackjack. With a house edge of 0.5% orless, these games are restricted to the high-limit rooms. This type of game is most likely to be closely monitored. Suddenly increasing your bet would be an instant trigger for experienced casino staff to watch closely.
Successful counters look for games with the lowest natural houseedge. They know the basic blackjack card counting strategy perfectly, so as not to give any edge back to the casino in the form of mistakes. If you do not know how to adapt blackjack strategy to subtle differences in the rules, then you are not yet ready to learn card counting techniques.
Is counting cards illegal in the US?
Counting cards is legal, unless you are using a mechanical or electronic device to help you keep track of the cards. Casinos do not want card counters in their games. People who are suspected of counting will be asked to leave the casino. Repeat offenses can see players banned — with trespass laws coming into effect if they attempt to return.
In 1979, Ken Uston took a casino in Atlantic City to court, challenging its right to ban “skilled” players. The court found in his favor. Rather than banning players, AC casinos now implement measures to stop card counting from working. They include regularshuffling, limiting players to flat bet sizes on each shoe and not allowing players to join a game mid-shoe.
Elsewhere, casinos will quickly ban players caught counting. This was the reason that the MIT team played in pairs. One player (betting small) would keep count, then signal to the big bet player when the count was positive. This player could then join the table, betting big amounts, while the original counter continued with smaller bets.
Famous Blackjack Players
Card counting in other casino games
Very few casino games use a shoe containing several decks of cards. Casino poker variations like Caribbean stud or Ultimate Texas Hold ’em have a continual shuffle system, where a fresh shuffled deck is used for each hand. Baccarat does use a shoe, though it is not suitable for counting due to the complex scoring rules. Edge sorting is used in baccarat, though it is considered illegal in many jurisdictions.
This leaves blackjack variations like Spanish 21 and Free Bet Blackjack as the only candidates for card counting systems. Many variations of blackjack have a higher house edge than the main game. Spanish 21 removes 10s from the deck — starting the count on a negative.
Experienced advantage players use card counting to beat optional side bets. This requires a separate understanding of how each side bet works, with a counting system developed separately. Separate aces counts in blackjack can determine when the insurance against dealer blackjack bet becomes profitable.
Is it possible to count cards online?
Online casinos in regulated states have both live dealer and software-based blackjack options. They also have a range of games with different rules and side bets. Add in the game variations based on the 21 concept — and you will find a wide array of choices.
Advantage play through card counting is not possible at online casinos. Software based games use random number generator software to shuffle the cards for every hand. This means no count is possible. Live dealer games that are dealt in real time use eight deck shoes. What they do differently from brick and mortar casinos is reshuffle after around half of the cards are dealt. This makes it hard to spot situations where there is a positive true count. Add to this software that will instantly detect the bet sizing changes associated with counting.
What you can effectively do online is practice your counting skills. There are live dealer rooms at many of the biggest online casino brands, including Golden Nugget and BetMGM. You can enjoy a game and learn to keep score of the count while you play. Starting with simple systems like Ace-Five and Hi-Lo is ideal — you can move on to the more advanced systems as you gain experience.
If you live in a state with legal online casinos, make sure you keep a close eye on the casino bonus and promotion offers. You never know when a bonus aimed at blackjack players will become available.
Wrapping up: Card counting in blackjack
Card counting has been a part of blackjack since the1960s. Famous players including Humble and Uston published books on beating the house. Many of them are now considered among the classics of gambling literature.
Counting cards in blackjack gives you an edge over the house when there are relatively more high cards in the deck. This takes advantage of the player’s option to split, double down and to take insurance against dealer blackjack. Counting systems are graded into three levels, depending on their complexity. More complex systems are more accurate — though harder to use.
There is an Achilles’ heel for card counters. To make your knowledge of the count profitable, you need to significantly boost your bet sizes when the odds are in your favor. These bet size increases are a flag to casino staff to watch your play closely — which leads to card counters being banned. Card counting is not illegal, unless you use a device to help you keep track.
Online casinos are the perfect place to practice your card counting skills. You will not be able to get an advantage from them — as safeguards are in place. Live dealer casinos show a real table, making this the ideal way to find the right card counting system for you ahead of your next visit to a brick and mortar casino.