Let It Ride
January 27, 2008
Let It Ride is a casino variation of poker, played against the casino rather than against the other players. The game’s relatively slow pace and the chance to pull back two of the three bets has made Let It Ride popular with older players and table game neophytes. At the same time, the game’s slow pace has resulted in some casino dealers nicknaming the game Let It Die. (A slow-paced game results in fewer tips for the dealer, hence the derogatory nickname.)
“Let It Ride” was invented by Shuffle Master, who owns the trademark to both the name of the game and the logo.
Basic rules
Let It Ride is a variation of five-card stud where the player wagers on a poker hand consisting of three cards in the player’s hand and two community cards in the dealer’s hand. Like in video poker, the payout is determined by the ranking of the player’s hand and the payout schedule.
Payout schedule Hand Payout
Royal flush 1,000 to 1
Straight flush 200 to 1
Four of a kind 50 to 1
Full house 11 to 1
Flush 8 to 1
Straight 5 to 1
Three of a kind 3 to 1
Two pair 2 to 1
Pair of 10’s or better 1 to 1
Please note that this is the standard payout schedule used at most casinos. Other payout schedules exist at the option of individual casinos, and appropriate strategy changes with different payout schedules.
How to Play
Bets
Each player places three equal bets in three spaces labeled (1),(2) and ($).
Optional side bets
Most casinos offer a bonus $1 bet. This bet is keyed to the final result of combining the player’s three cards and the dealer’s two cards. A winning pair is usually a push (you get your money back). To actually win money on this bet, you will need at least two pairs or better.
Most casinos offer a side $5 bet. This bet is keyed to the player’s three cards. It’s like a three card poker game. It generally pays even money for a pair. And, higher amounts for a trips (three of a kind), three card straight, three card flush, three card straight flush, and a three card royal flush of Ace King Queen.
One interesting aspect is that players who have a winner in the three card side bet are more likely to “let it ride” in the regular game. This is due to the perception that they have “nothing to lose”. (An attitude fostered by many of the dealers.) It’s left to some other reader to work out the math and post the results. One would logically expect that the casino’s advantage is huge in these two optional bets.
ORIGINAL TEXT on Optional Side Bets:
Some casinos offer an optional $1 side bet. This side bet offers an additional payout if the player’s first three cards contains a winning hand. The house edge on this bet is generally over 13%, making it one of the worst bets for a player in a casino. A more common $1 side bet is against a fixed payout scheduling typically starting with two pair (typically a $4 payout, but really only 3:1 since the original dollar is collected before the hand is dealt) or three of a kind (typically a $8 payout).
The deal
Each player receives three face down cards. The dealer receives two cards face down.
The play
Let It Ride compares the player’s poker hand with a payout chart, rather than comparing it with the other players’ hands or the dealer’s hand. The player’s hand consists of the player’s three cards and the dealer’s two cards.
Each player is required to keep the three cards in full view of the dealer at all times.
Winners are paid according to the payout schedule (pair of 10’s or better, two pair, etc.).
After looking at his three cards, each player has the option of pulling back the first bet or leaving the wager there. To leave the bet live is to “let it ride”.
The dealer then exposes one community card. The players then each have the option of pulling back the second bet or letting it ride.(they can’t add their first bet back on if they get a better hand, however.) After each player decides whether to pull back the second bet, the cards are placed face down on the designated area of the layout and may not be touched again.
The dealer then turns up the second community card and in a counterclockwise direction, turns the three cards of each player face up.
All losing wagers are then collected, and then all winning hands are paid by the dealer according to the payout schedule.
Regardless of the decision made concerning the first or second bets, a player may not take back the third bet.
Players are not allowed to show their hands to the other players, as this gives them an advantage by increasing their chances of knowing what cards the dealer is likely to turn up. In many casinos this is often not enforced at all or very sparingly. At a full table, it is sometimes difficult not to see the cards of a player on either side of you.
Strategy and house edge
Like blackjack and video poker, player decisions in this game affect the house edge. The strategy outlined below assumes the standard payout structure shown above. With correct strategy, the casino’s edge in Let It Ride is about 3.5%.
When deciding whether to let bet ride, you should pull your bet back unless you have one of the following:
* Any paying hand. (A pair of tens or better.)
* Any three cards to a royal flush.
* Any three suited connectors where the lowest card is three or above.
* Three to a straight flush, spread four, with at least one card that’s ten or higher.
* Three to a straight flush, spread five, with at least two cards ten or higher.
When deciding whether to let bet ride, you should pull your bet back unless you have one of the following:
* Any paying hand. (A pair of tens or better.)
* Any four to a flush.
* Any four to an outside straight.
* Any four to an inside straight, if the four cards are ten or higher.
An outside straight is a draw to a straight that can be completed by two different cards, like 4-5-6-7. Any 3 and any 8 will complete the straight. There are eight cards in the deck that will complete an outside straight draw.
An inside straight is a draw to a straight that can only be completed by one specific card, like 4-5-6-8. Any 7 will complete the straight. There are only four cards in the deck that will complete an inside straight draw.
Four card poker
January 27, 2008
Four card poker is a relatively new casino card game similar to three card poker, invented by Roger Snow and owned by ShuffleMaster.
The player makes an ante bet and may also make an aces-up bet. Five playing cards are dealt to the player who has to make the best four-card hand possible. The dealer is dealt five cards face down, and one card face up, a total of six cards. He also has to make the best four-card hand. After seeing his cards and the dealer’s face up card, the player can opt to fold, in which case he receives nothing, or play, by betting 1-3 times his ante.
Contents
* 1 Rank of hands
* 2 Bonuses
* 3 Strategy
* 4 See also
* 5 References
* 6 External links
Rank of hands
The best four-card hands for player and dealer will be compared according to the following ranking (from best to worst):
* Four of a kind
* Straight flush
* Three of a kind
* Flush
* Straight
* Two pair
* One pair
* High card
Bonuses
If the player has three of a kind or better, he will receive a bonus based on the ante wager as follows: three of a kind - 2 to 1, straight flush - 20 to 1, four of a kind - 25 to 1. The ante bonus is ‘automatic’ and is paid regardless of whether or not the player’s hand has beaten the dealer’s hand.
The aces-up bet is resolved independently of the dealer’s hand, purely on the rank of the player’s payout. The specific payout depends on the payout in use, with payouts for a pair of aces (pays even money on the aces-up wager) or better.
The dealer has an advantage in having an extra card from which to select the best four, and the fact that if the player folds, he will lose his ante, even if his hand was better than the dealers. The player gets return from the bonus bet payment and from the ability to raise by more than one unit one the hand is good.
Strategy
Perfect strategy for when to raise and fold is somewhat complex, but a simple strategy (shown below) has been developed. With optimal play, the ante + play bet has a house edge of about 3.36% of the initial bet.
A simple strategy (as listed on the ShuffleMaster information pamphlet available at some four card poker tables) dictates the following when playing the ante bet:
* Pair of 2’s or less, fold.
* Pair of 3’s through 9’s, bet 1x ante.
* Pair of 10’s or better, bet 3x ante.
Faro
January 27, 2008
Faro is a card game, a descendant of Basset. It enjoyed great popularity during the 18th century, particularly in England and France, and in the 19th Century in the United States, particularly in the Old West, where it was practiced by faro dealers such as Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp. It has since fallen out of fashion and is only practiced by dedicated Old West enthusiasts and Civil War reenactors.
Its name is believed by some to be a corruption of pharaoh and refers to the Egyptian motif that commonly adorned French-made playing cards of the period, though no records of any Egyptian Motif on any playing cards of that era have been found. An alternative explanation traces the name to the Irish word Fairadh (Pron. fearoo), ‘to turn’, which could have been brought to France and the UK through mass emigration from Ireland, in particular in the aftermath of the Flight of the Wild Geese, and among those of the Irish Brigade serving in France.
Faro is similar to the contemporary game of Mini-Baccarat.
Rules
A game of faro was often called a “faro bank”. It was played with an entire pack of playing cards and admitted an indeterminate number of players, termed “punters”, and a “banker”. Chips (called “checks”) were purchased by the punter from the banker or house from which the game originated. Bet values and limits were set by the house. Usual check values were 50 cents to $10 each.
The faro table was square, with a distinguished cut-out for the banker. A board with a standardized betting layout consisting of one card of each denomination pasted to it, called the “layout”, was placed on top of the table. (Traditionally, the suit of spades was used for the layout.) Each player laid his stake on one of the 13 cards on the layout. Players could place multiple bets and could bet on multiple cards simultaneously by placing their bet between cards or on specific card edges. Players also had the choice of betting on the “high card” located at the top of the layout.
A deck of cards was placed face-up inside a “dealing box”, a mechanical shoe used to prevent manipulations of the draw by the banker, and was supposed to assure players of a fair game. Many sporting-house supply companies sold gaffed dealing boxes that were designed so that the banker could cheat.
The first card in the dealing box is called the “soda” and is “burned” off, leaving 51 cards in play. As the soda is pulled out of the dealing box, it exposes the first card in play, called the “banker’s card”, which is placed on the right side of the dealing box in the other, called the carte anglaise, or English card, and simply called the “player’s card” in the United States, for the players placed on the left.
The banker draws two cards. The first is the “losing card”, and all bets placed on that card are lost by the players and won by the bank. The second card is the “winning card”, and all bets placed on that card are returned to the players with a 100% winning paid by the bank. The banker collects on all the money staked on the card laid on the right and pays double the sums staked on those on the card remaining on the left (in the dealing box).
A player could “copper” their bet by placing an octagonal token called a “copper”. Some histories claim a penny was sometimes used in place of a copper. This reversed the meaning of the win/loss piles for that particular bet. An abacus-like device, called a “case keep”, is employed to assist the players and prevent dealer cheating by counting cards. The operator of the case keep is called the “case keeper”.
Certain advantages were reserved to the banker: if he drew a doublet, that is, two equal cards, he won half of the stakes upon the card which equaled the doublet. In a fair game, this provided the only house edge. If the banker drew the last card of the pack, he was exempt from doubling the stakes deposited on that card. In most cases, when three cards remained, the dealer would offer a specialized bet called “betting the turn”. This bet offers a 4-to-1 (5-for-1) payout if the players can identify the exact order of the last three cards.
History
Faro was one of the most popular card games of the 18th and 19th centuries. Although both faro and Basset were forbidden in France, on severe penalties, these games continued to be played in England during the 18th century, apparently because it was easy to learn, quick, and when played honestly, the odds for a player were the best of all other gambling games. “Our life here”, writes Gilly Williams to George Selwyn in 1752, “would not displease you, for we eat and drink well, and the Earl of Coventry holds a Pharaoh-bank every night to us, which we have plundered considerably.”
Charles James Fox preferred faro to any other game, as did 19th century American con man Soapy Smith. It was said that every faro table in Soapy’s Tivoli Club in Denver, Colorado, in 1889 was gaffed (made to cheat). Indeed, the famed scam artist Canada Bill Jones loved the game so much that when he was asked why he played at one game that was known to be rigged, he replied, “It’s the only game in town.”
Faro’s detractors regarded it as a dangerous scam that destroyed families and reduced men to poverty, because of the rampant rigging of the dealing box.
While the game became scarce after World War II, it continued to be played at a few Las Vegas and Reno casinos through 1985.
Faro is central to the story of Tchaikovsky’s opera The Queen of Spades.
Chinese poker
January 27, 2008
Chinese poker, also called Russian poker, is a card game that has been played in the Asian community for many years. It has begun to gain popularity elsewhere because it has many features of an “exciting” gambling game:
* The rules are simple: only a basic knowledge of poker hand rankings is needed to get started.
* There is a large element of luck involved, therefore a beginner has a good chance of winning in the short term, even against experienced opponents. Poor players may not be so easily deterred by losses as they can more easily attribute bad results to their cards rather than their plays.
* More advanced players can still apply enough strategy to the game to give themselves a significant advantage over poor players.
* The game format results in frequent unexpected wins and high ranking hands.
* Only a few players are required to play the game.
Gameplay
Chinese poker is typically played as a four-person game, though it can also be played with two or three.
Playing a hand
In Chinese Poker, each player receives a 13 card hand from a standard 52 card deck. Each player then has to divide his cards into three poker hands (known as “setting”): two containing five cards each (known as “the middle” and “the back”), and one containing three cards (”the front”); the back must be the highest ranking hand, and the front, the lowest ranking hand (note that straights and flushes do not count in the three card hand). The back hand is placed face down on the table in front of the player, then the middle hand is placed face down in front of the back hand, and the front hand is placed face down in front of the middle hand. After all the players have set their hands, each player will announce in turn (clockwise, starting from the left of the dealer) whether or not he is playing his hand. All players then announce their royalties, before revealing their hands.
Scoring
The stakes played for in Chinese poker are known as units: an amount of money agreed on before the game starts. Basic scoring rules dictate that a player collects one unit from each opponent whose front, middle or back hand is beaten by his own corresponding hand. Thus, unlike most poker games, being second-best at the table is good enough to win money. In some variants players are also paid an additional unit if they win in two or three of the hands. In other variants players only get an additional unit if they win all three hands (known as a scoop). Also, due to the head-to-head nature of the comparisons, it is possible for different players to play for different stakes. For example, A and B could play for $10/unit, while all other pairs play for $1/unit. Many variations of scoring are in common use; refer to the external links for more information.
The two most common scoring systems used in Casinos today are the 2-4 scoring method, and the 1-6 scoring method.
In the 2-4 method you receive 1 unit for each of the three hands you win, and 1 unit called the overall unit is awarded to the player who wins two out of the three hands, or all of the three hands. In the event of a tie in one of the hands, then no money is exchanged for this particular hand and one player either wins both of the other hands, and collects 3 units (1 for each hand, and 1 overall), or they each win one hand and no units are exchanged (each win 1 unit, and there is no overall).
In the 1-6 method you receive 1 unit for each of the three hands you win, and 3 bonus units (on top of the three for the hands) if you win all three hands.
In the 2-4 method, Hellmuth would pay Ivey two points. In the 1-6 method, Hellmuth would pay Ivey one point.
Royalties
Royalties, or bonuses as they are sometimes called, are extra units that may be awarded to players with particularly strong hands. In some variants all royalties are worth the same amount (e.g. 1 unit per royalty). In other variants each royalty is given a different payout (e.g. 1 unit for a four of a kind in the back, and 2 units for a straight flush in the back). Sometimes only the winner may be awarded a royalty (e.g. four sevens in the back beats four sixes in the back, therefore only the player with sevens is awarded a royalty). In some games players are allowed to break up straight flushes or four of a kinds and still receive royalties (e.g. a player is dealt four sevens; he may use three of them for a three of a kind in the front, and one as part of a straight in the middle). Some rules say that players are only allowed to claim one royalty per hand.
Royalties must be declared prior to the revealing of the hands.
Some hands and combinations of hands that are commonly awarded royalties are listed:
* Straight flush
* Four of a kind
* Full house or better in the middle
* Three of a kind in the front
Naturals are special types of royalties where if dealt to a player, the player is rewarded immediately (prior to anyone surrendering), and the player does not set their hand.
* Three straights
* Three flushes
* Six pairs (counting all three hands)
* 13 unique cards (i.e. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A)
Surrendering
If a player chooses to surrender his hand, he will pay an amount greater than the amount paid when losing 2 out of 3 hands, but less than the amount paid when getting scooped (losing all three hands). When surrendered, a player is not required to pay any royalties to his opponents. In some variations surrendering is not an option.
Mis-set Hand
If a player mis-sets his hand (e.g. he puts three of a kind in the front, but only two pair in the middle) then he must pay each of his opponents still in the hand (players who have not surrendered) an amount equal to being scooped. In some variations players are still required to play their hands.
Where played
Chinese Poker is often played as a side game in large poker tournaments, particularly at the WSOP. Typical stakes are $25, $50 and $100 per unit. Some high stakes poker players are known to play as high as $500 or $1000 per unit. Chinese poker is usually played when there are not enough players to have a full Stud, Texas hold ‘em, or Omaha hold ‘em game.
The Bellagio and the Wynn in Las Vegas, Nevada have recently been known to spread a Chinese poker game.
Variations
* Low in the middle — In this variation the middle hand is played as a Deuce-to-seven low hand.
* Criss Cross — This variation is played heads up: each player is dealt two 13 card hands and plays each of their hands against each of their opponents’ hands. Players’ hands are to be treated as two independent hands, they cannot exchange cards between the two hands.
* In this variation The Wheel (A, 2, 3, 4, 5) is the second highest straight. Therefore it is ranked above a 9, 10, J, Q, K straight, but below a 10, J, Q, K, A straight.
Caribbean stud poker
January 27, 2008
Caribbean stud poker is a casino table game with rules similar to five card stud poker. However, unlike standard poker games, Caribbean stud is played against the house rather than against other players (and, like most such games, it cannot be beaten in the long run). There is no bluffing or other deception. For these reasons, most poker players do not consider it to be a form of poker. (They do not necessarily feel that it should not be called “poker” at all, but that the unqualified term “poker” does not include this game. For instance, a gambler might say “I played poker” if he played seven card stud, but probably would not if he played Caribbean stud.)
Rules
The following rules are typical of U.S. casinos, but some of the details (the payouts and limits) vary from casino to casino.
To play, every player places his ante on the layout where indicated; all ante wagers must be placed prior to the dealer announcing “No more bets”. Each player and the dealer will then receive 5 cards, face down. The dealer will turn over one of his cards, then push the cards toward the players, after which the players may look at their cards. They may only look at their own cards, and may not discuss what they have with any other player at the table.
Players have the option to play or fold; if they choose to play, they place their bets (twice the amount of their respective ante) in the bet box. If they choose to fold, they forfeit their ante. After all the players have made their decisions, the dealer reveals his hole cards. The dealer only plays with an ace/king or higher; he then compares his cards to the players’ cards (individually, right to left), and the best poker hand wins.
There are some major rules in Caribbean Stud Poker that must be observed at all times while playing:
* Only one hand per player. Players cannot hold or wager on multiple hands at the table.
* Players choosing to play the Progressive Payout feature are responsible for ensuring their $1 wager has been inserted into slot and the “Indicator Light” is ON.
* Players may not exchange or communicate information regarding their hands to other players or the dealer. Player violation will result in a dead hand and forfeiture of all wagers.
* Incorrect amount of cards to the player constitutes a dead hand (or push) for that player only.
* The decision of the table/casino supervisor is final.
* If the dealer is dealt four cards of the five-card hand, the dealer shall deal an additional card to complete the hand. Any other misdeal to the dealer shall result in all hands being void and the cards shall be reshuffled.
* Each player shall be required to keep the five cards in full view of the dealer at all times. Once each player has examined his or her cards and placed them face down on the layout, they may not touch the cards again.
* If a hole card is exposed prior to the dealer announcing No More Bets, all hands shall be void.
Payout
If a player’s cards beat the dealer’s cards, the player will receive even money (1-1) on the ante, and the following on his bet (with a maximum payout of $5,000 U.S. Dollars per hand on each bet wager):
Royal flush 100 to 1
Straight flush 50 to 1
Four of a kind 20 to 1
Full house 7 to 1
Flush 5 to 1
Straight 4 to 1
Three of a kind 3 to 1
Two pair 2 to 1
One pair or less 1 to 1
If the dealer does not have at least ace/king, all bet wagers will be void, and players will receive even money on their ante bet only. If the dealer’s cards beat a player’s cards, the dealer collects both the ante and bet.
In addition, in Caribbean stud poker, players can also bet on their poker hands and win the “progressive feature”; this is done by dropping a 1.00 dollar (or $20 HKD/MOP in Macau casinos) gaming chip into the chip acceptor on the table after placing the ante. Players with a flush or higher win, regardless of the outcome of their table bets:
US Payout Macau Payout
Royal Flush 100% of Progressive Meter 100% of Progressive Meter
Straight Flush 10% of Progressive Meter 10% of Progressive Meter
Four-of-a-Kind $500 $5000
Full House $100 $1500
Flush $50 $1000
Winning progressive payout hands are paid in accordance with the amount on the meter when it is the player’s turn to be paid. However, if more than one player at a table has a royal flush progressive payout hand, each player shares equally in the amount on the meter when the first player with a royal flush is to be paid.
Caribbean Stud Poker in the United Kingdom
Caribbean Stud Poker differs slightly in the United Kingdom, and most parts of Europe, from the US. The game is officially known as “Casino Five Card Stud Poker”, and not all casinos have the jackpot prize. Those which do have the prize, usually the large chain groups, officially call the game “Casino Jackpot Five Card Stud Poker”. In both instances, the game is commonly referred to as “Casino Stud Poker”.
The basic rules are the same in the UK as the US, although the payouts differ - the maximum bet is generally £100 on the ante and £200 on the raise, and all payouts are paid on the raise, meaning the maximum payout can potentially be £10,000 (a Royal Flush pays at the same odds, 50:1, as a Straight Flush).
Casinos offering the jackpot generally have the card shuffled by a card shuffling machine - the cards are then removed and dealt out by the dealer, or croupier. Independent and small casinos generally have the croupier shuffle the cards by hand.
British casinos do not use the chip dropper system; instead, a £1 chip is placed on a small plastic circle on the table, which lights up. The croupier then presses a button on a panel in front of them, which keeps the lights lit up once the chips are removed. The dealer removes the chips, and can then tell which players are playing the jackpot game and which are not.
If the dealer does not show an Ace/King, hands playing the jackpot must be turned over, face up, and shown to the dealer and table. If the player is not playing the jackpot prize, the cards are not shown.
Player Strategy
Using optimal strategy the house edge is 5.224% of the player’s ante bet. This strategy can be complicated and does not lend itself to practical use in a casino. Using a strategy of raising with Ace/King/Jack/8/3 or better the house edge is 5.316%, very close to the optimal strategy house edge.
Knowledge of what other players hold can decrease the house edge. It has been estimated with the knowledge of 6 other player’s hands (30 cards) and associated optimal strategy the player can gain an edge of 2.3%. Given that sharing information is against the rules and that a computer would be needed to calculate the appropriate strategy it is unlikely this could ever be achieved in a real life casino.
Baccarat
January 27, 2008
Baccarat is a casino card game. It is believed to have been introduced into France from Italy during the reign of Charles VIII of France (ruled 1483-1498), and it is similar to Faro and to Basset. There are three accepted variants of the game: baccarat chemin de fer (railway), baccarat banque (or à deux tableaux), and punto banco (or North American baccarat). Punto banco is strictly a game of chance, with no skill or strategy involved; each player’s moves are forced by the cards the player is dealt. In baccarat chemin de fer and baccarat banque, by contrast, both players can make choices, which allows skill to play a large part.
Baccarat (pronounced bak?ra?) is a simple game with only three possible results - ‘Player’, ‘Banker’ and ‘Tie’. The term ‘Player’ does not refer to the customer and the term ‘Banker’ does not refer to the house. They are just options on which the customer can bet.
Valuation of hands
In Baccarat, cards 2-9 are worth face value, 10’s and face cards (J, Q, K) are worth zero, and Aces are worth 1 point. Players calculate their score by taking the sum of all cards modulo 10. Simply, when the total value of cards in a hand equals or exceeds 10, the tens digit is dropped. For example, a hand consisting of 2 and 3 is worth 5 (2 + 3 = 5). A hand consisting of 6 and 7 is worth 3 (6 + 7 = 13 = 3) - the first digit is dropped because the total is higher than 10. A hand consisting of 4 and 6 is worth zero, or Baccarat (4 + 6 = 10 = 0). The name “Baccarat” is unusual in that the game is named after the worst hand, worth 0. The highest score that can be achieved is 9.
Blackjack
January 13, 2008
Blackjack (also known as Twenty-one, Vingt-et-un (French for Twenty-one), or Pontoon) is one of the most popular casino card games in the world. Much of blackjack’s popularity is due to the mix of chance with elements of skill, and the publicity that surrounds card counting (keeping track of which cards have been played since the last shuffle). Not to get confused with the non casino version of blackjack
History of blackjack
Blackjack’s precursor was vingt-et-un (”twenty-one”), which originated in French casinos around 1700, and did not offer the 3:2 bonus for a two-card 21.
When 21 was first introduced in the United States it was not very popular, so gambling houses tried offering various bonus payouts to get the players to the tables. One such bonus was a 10-to-1 payout if the player’s hand consisted of the ace of spades and a black Jack (either the Jack of clubs or the Jack of spades). This hand was called a “blackjack” and the name stuck to the game even though the bonus payout was soon abolished. As the game is currently played, a “blackjack” may not necessarily contain a jack or any black cards at all.
How to play blackjack
The hand with the highest total wins as long as it doesn’t exceed 21; a hand with a higher total than 21 is said to bust or have too many. Cards 2 through 10 are worth their face value, and face cards (jack, queen, king) are also worth 10. An ace’s value is 11 unless this would cause the player to bust, in which case it is worth 1. A hand in which an ace’s value is counted as 11 is called a soft hand, because it cannot be busted if the player draws another card.
Each player’s goal is to beat the dealer by having the higher, unbusted hand. Note that if the player busts he loses, even if the dealer also busts. If both the player and the dealer have the same point value, it is called a “push”, and neither player nor dealer wins the hand. Each player has an independent game with the dealer, so it is possible for the dealer to lose to some players but still beat the other players in the same round.
Example of a Blackjack game. The top half of the picture shows the beginning of the round, with bets placed and an initial two cards for each player. The bottom half shows the end of the round, with the associated losses or payoffs.
The minimum bet is printed on a sign on the table and varies from casino to casino and table to table. After initial bets are placed, the dealer deals the cards, either from one or two hand-held decks of cards, known as a “pitch” game, or more commonly from a shoe containing four or more decks. The dealer gives two cards to each player including himself. One of the dealer’s two cards is face-up so all the players can see it, and the other is face down. (The face-down card is known as the “hole card”. In European blackjack, the hole card is not actually dealt until the players all play their hands.) The cards are dealt face up from a shoe, or face down if it is a pitch game.
In American blackjack, if the dealer’s face-up card is an ace or a ten-value, the dealer checks his hole card to see if he has blackjack. This check occurs before any of the players play, but after they have been offered insurance (if the face-up card is an ace). If the dealer has blackjack, all players lose their initial bets, except players who also have blackjack, who push. (In some American casinos, the dealer does not actually check the hole card until after the players have all played. At that time, if the dealer turns out to have blackjack, all players who did not have blackjack lose their bets, and players who increased their bets by doubling or splitting lose only the original bet, and have the additional bets returned to them; thus, the end result is precisely as if the dealer had checked the hole card before playing.)
A two-card hand of 21 (an ace plus a ten-value card) is called a “blackjack” or a “natural”, and is an automatic winner (unless the dealer has blackjack as well, in which case the hand is a push). A player with a natural is usually paid 3:2 on his bet. Some casinos pay only 6:5 on blackjacks; although this reduced payout has generally been restricted to single-deck games (Current Blackjack News, Pi Yee Press). This reduced payout for a natural increases the house advantage over a player by as much as 1000 percent. The move was decried by longtime blackjack players.
Player decisions
The player’s options for playing his or her hand are:
Hit: Take another card.
Stand: Take no more cards.
Double down: Double the wager, take exactly one more card, and then stand.
Split: Double the wager and have each card be the first card in a new hand. This option is available only when both cards have the same value.
Surrender: Forfeit half the bet and give up the hand. Surrender was common during the early- and mid-20th century, but is no longer offered at most casinos.
The player’s turn is over after deciding to stand, doubling down to take a single card, or busting. If the player busts, he or she loses the bet even if the dealer goes on to bust.
After all the players have finished making their decisions, the dealer then reveals his or her hidden hole card and plays the hand. House rules say that the dealer must hit until he or she has at least 17, regardless of what the players have. In some casinos a dealer must also hit a soft 17 (a combination of cards adding up to either 7 or 17, such as an ace and a 6).
If the dealer busts then all remaining players win. Bets are normally paid out at the odds of 1:1. Players who push (tie) with the dealer receive their original bet back.
Rules variations
Some common rules variations include:
Only one card for split Aces: a single new card is added to each Ace and the turn ends. They are thus regarded as 11-point cards. No other denomination is subject to this process.
Multiple splits: If a player splits 2 cards and receives a third card of identical value, the hand can be split again, resulting in 3 hands. However, some casinos only allow a single split of the first 2 cards.
Early surrender: Player has the option to surrender before dealer checks for Blackjack.
Late surrender: Player has the option to surrender after dealer checks for Blackjack.
Double-down restrictions: Double-down may only be allowed on certain combinations of cards (usually totaling 9, 10 or 11).
Double-down after split: Double-down may not be allowed after splitting cards. The split hands are played normally otherwise.
Split any tens: Players may split any 2 cards which are both worth 10 points, such as a Jack and Queen. This rule is rarely used, since 20 is a very strong hand which is unlikely to be split.
European No-Hole-Card Rule: the dealer receives only one card, dealt face-up, and does not receive a second card (and thus does not check for blackjack) until players have acted. This means players lose not only their original bet, but also any additional money invested from splitting and doubling down. A game that has no-hole-card doesn’t necessarily mean the player will lose additional bets as well as original bets. In some Australian casinos for example, a player beaten by a dealer blackjack may keep all split and double bets and lose only the original bet, thus the game plays the same as it would if there were a hole card.
Each blackjack variation has its own set of rules, strategies and odds. It is advised to take a look at the rules of the specific variation before playing. Many countries have legal acts and laws, which determine how a casino game of Blackjack must be played. Over 100 variations exist.
Insurance
If the dealer’s upcard is an Ace, the player is offered the option of taking Insurance before the dealer checks his ‘hole card’.
The player who wishes to take Insurance can bet an amount up to half his original bet. The Insurance bet is placed separately on a special portion of the table, which usually carries the words “Insurance Pays 2:1″. The player who is taking Insurance is betting that the dealer was dealt a natural, i.e. a two-card 21 (a blackjack), and this bet by the player pays off 2:1 if it wins. It is called insurance since if the dealer has a blackjack, the bet wins the same amount of the player’s Blackjack wager, such that if insurance is taken and the player doesn’t have blackjack but dealer does, no money is lost. Of course the dealer can end up not having blackjack and the player can still win or lose the blackjack bet.
Insurance is a bad bet for the non-counting player who has no knowledge of the hole card because it has a house edge of 2 to 15%, depending on number of decks used and visible 10-cards. Essentially, taking insurance amounts to betting that the dealer’s hole card is a ten or face card. Since in an infinite deck, 4/13 of the cards are tens or face cards, an unbiased insurance wager would actually pay 9:4, or 2.25:1; since the bet only pays 2:1, the house has a strong advantage. However, if the player has been counting cards, he may know that more than a third of the deck is ten-value cards, in which case insurance becomes a good bet.
If a player has a natural (an ace and a ten or face-card) and the dealer is showing an ace, the dealer usually asks the player “Even money?” instead of offering insurance. If the player accepts the offer, he is immediately paid 1:1 for his natural, regardless of whether the dealer has blackjack. Thus, accepting “even money” has exactly the same payout as buying insurance: if the dealer does not have blackjack, the player would forfeit the insurance bet and win 3:2 on the natural, thus receiving a net payout equal to the original bet; if the dealer does have blackjack, the player would push on the natural and win 2:1 on the insurance wager, again receiving a net payout equal to the original bet. Since taking “even money” is equivalent to buying insurance, it is likewise a bad choice for the player, unless he has been counting cards and knows the deck has an unusually high proportion of ten-value cards.
In casinos where a hole card is dealt, a dealer who is showing a card with a value of Ace or 10 may slide the corner of his or her facedown card over a small mirror or electronic sensor on the tabletop in order to check whether he has a natural. This practice minimizes the risk of inadvertently revealing the hole card, which would give the sharp-eyed player a considerable advantage.
Card counting
Basic strategy provides the player with the optimal play for any blackjack situation based on millions of hands played in the long run. However in the short run, as the cards are dealt from the deck, the remaining deck is no longer complete. By keeping track of the cards that have already been played, it is possible to know when the cards remaining in the deck are advantageous for the player.
Card counting creates two opportunities:
- The player can make larger bets when he or she has the advantage. For example, the player can increase the starting bet if there are many aces and tens left in the deck, in the hope of hitting a blackjack.
- The player can use information about the remaining cards to improve upon the basic strategy rules for specific hands played. For example, with many tens left in the deck, the player may double down in more situations since there is a better chance of making a strong hand.
Virtually all card counting systems do not require the player to remember which cards have been played. Rather, a point system is established for the cards, and the player keeps track of a simple point count as the cards are played out from the dealer.
Depending on the particular blackjack rules in a given casino, basic strategy reduces the house advantage to near 0 with some single-deck games, and less than one percent in a multi-deck game. Card counting, if done correctly, can give the player an advantage in the other direction, typically ranging from 0 to 2% over the house. To counter card counting, many casinos switched from a single deck to multiple decks, with the cards dealt out of a container known as a “shoe”.
In most US jurisdictions, card counting is legal and is not considered cheating. However, most casinos have the right to ban players, with or without cause, and card counting is frequently used as a justification to ban a player. Usually, the casino host will simply inform the player that he is no longer welcome to play at that casino. Players must be careful not to signal the fact that they are counting. The use of electronic or other counting devices is usually illegal.
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- See also: Martingale (betting system)
Composition-dependent strategy
Basic strategy is based on a player’s point total and the dealer’s visible card. A player’s ideal decision may depend on the composition of his hand, not just the information considered in the basic strategy. For example, a player should ordinarily stand when holding 12 against a dealer 4. However, in a single deck game, the player should hit if his 12 consists of a 10 and a 2; this is because the player wants to receive any card other than a 10 if hitting, and the 10 in the player’s hand is one less card available to cause a bust for the player or the dealer.
However, in situations where basic and composition-dependent strategy lead to different actions, the difference in expected value between the two decisions will be small. Additionally, as the number of decks used in a blackjack game rises, both the number of situations where composition determines the correct strategy and the house edge improvement from using a composition-dependent strategy will fall. Using a composition-dependent strategy only reduces house edge by 0.0031% in a six-deck game, less than one tenth the improvement in a single-deck game (0.0387%).
Basic Blackjack Strategy Matrix
Enter in your cards and the dealers up card and this matrix will tell you what action you should take
Shuffle tracking
Techniques other than card counting can swing the advantage of casino blackjack towards the player. All such techniques are based on the value of the cards to the player and the casino, as originally conceived by Edward O. Thorp. One technique, mainly applicable in multi-deck games, involves tracking groups of cards (aka slugs, clumps, packs) during the play of the shoe, following them through the shuffle and then playing and betting accordingly when those cards come into play from the new shoe. This technique, which is admittedly much more difficult than straight card counting and requires excellent eyesight and powers of visual estimation, has the additional benefit of fooling the casino people who are monitoring the player’s actions and the count, since the shuffle tracker could be, at times, betting and/or playing opposite to how a straightforward card counter would.
Arnold Snyder’s articles in Blackjack Forum magazine brought shuffle tracking to the general public. His book, The Shuffle Tracker’s Cookbook, mathematically analyzed the player edge available from shuffle tracking based on the actual size of the tracked slug. Jerry L. Patterson also developed and published a shuffle-tracking method for tracking favorable clumps of cards and cutting them into play and tracking unfavorable clumps of cards and cutting them out of play. Other legal methods of gaining a player advantage at blackjack include a wide variety of techniques for gaining information about the dealer hole-card or the next card to be dealt.
Variants
Pontoon is an English variation of blackjack with significant rule and strategy differences. However, in Australia and Malaysia, Pontoon is an unlicensed version of the American game Spanish 21 played without a hole card; despite the name, it bears no relation to English Pontoon.
Spanish 21 provides players with many liberal blackjack rules, such as doubling down any number of cards (with the option to ‘rescue’, or surrender only one wager to the house), payout bonuses for five or more card 21’s, 6-7-8 21’s, 7-7-7 21’s, late surrender, and player blackjacks always winning and player 21’s always winning, at the cost of having no 10 cards in the deck (though there are jacks, queens, and kings).
21st Century Blackjack (also known as “Vegas Style” Blackjack) is commonly found in many California card rooms. In this form of the game, a player bust does not always result in an automatic loss; there are a handful of situations where the player can still push if the dealer busts as well, provided that the dealer busts with a higher total.
Certain rules changes are employed to create new variant games. These changes, while attracting the novice player, actually increase the house edge in these games. Double Exposure Blackjack is a variant in which the dealer’s cards are both face-up. This game increases house edge by paying even money on blackjacks and players losing ties. Double Attack Blackjack has very liberal blackjack rules and the option of increasing one’s wager after seeing the dealer’s up card. This game is dealt from a Spanish shoe, and blackjacks only pay even money.
The French and German variant “Vingt-et-un” (Twenty-one) and “Siebzehn und Vier” (Seventeen and Four) don’t include splitting. An ace can only count as eleven, but two aces count as a Blackjack. This variant is seldom found in casinos, but is more common in private circles and barracks.
Chinese Blackjack is played by many in Asia, having no splitting of cards, but with other card combination regulations.
Another variant is Blackjack Switch, a version of blackjack in which a player is dealt two hands and is allowed to switch cards. For example, if the player is dealt 10-6 and 10-5, then the player can switch two cards to make hands of 10-10 and 6-5. Natural blackjacks are paid 1:1 instead of the standard 3:2, and a dealer 22 is a push.
Recently, thanks to the popularity of poker, Elimination Blackjack has begun to gain a following. Elimination Blackjack is a tournament format of blackjack.
Many casinos offer optional side bets at standard blackjack tables. For example, one common side-bet is “Royal Match”, in which the player is paid if his first two cards are in the same suit, and receives a higher payout if they are a suited queen and king (and a jackpot payout if both the player and the dealer have a suited queen-king hand). Another increasingly common variant is “21+3,” in which the player’s two cards and the dealer’s up card form a three-card poker hand; players are paid 9 to 1 on a straight, flush or three of a kind. These side bets invariably offer worse odds than well-played blackjack.
Blackjack Hall of Fame
In 2002, professional gamblers around the world were invited to nominate great blackjack players for admission into the Blackjack Hall of Fame. Seven members were inducted in 2002, with new inductees every year afterwards. The physical hall of fame is located at the Barona Casino in San Diego, California. Members include Edward O. Thorp, author of the 1960s book Beat the Dealer which proved that the game could be beaten with a combination of basic strategy and card counting; Ken Uston, who popularized the concept of team play; Arnold Snyder, author and editor of the Blackjack Forum trade journal; Stanford Wong, author and popularizer of the “Wonging” technique of only playing at a positive count, and several others.
