GamingTips

Alright.  Many card counters have developed different systems for counting cards.  This, however, is the simplest to do, and the method depicted in 21.  Each card has a value.  2-6 are +1, 7-9 are 0, and 10, face cards, and aces are -1.  The concept to remember here is that you’re actually counting the number of “extra” large cards in the deck.

As cards are dealt, the counter keeps a “running count” using the values above.  It is actually easier to wait until the hand is fully dealt out, and play begins to count the cards.  Each player now has a pair of cards which range in value from +2 to -2.  The player then counts individual cards as players “hit,” as well as counting the dealer’s hand when it is exposed.

The “true count” is where experience in blackjack comes in handy.  The true count is the running count divided by the estimated number of decks still left in the shoe.

The common misconception is that strategy significantly changes when counting cards.  This is not actually true.  First, players who play with the level of strategy of most card counters would be very easy to notice changing their strategy according to the count.  For instance, if there is a very low count, meaning a lot of small cards remain in the shoe, it may make sense to hit against a bust card.

Where counting comes in is money management.  When the true count is 2 or more, there are a lot of face cards left in the shoe.  Remember that basic strategy is based largely on the assumption that any card you cannot see is a 10.  With a high count, this is even more true.  So a card counter increases their bet dramatically when the true count is 2 or more, and plays the hand with perfect strategy.

On the other hand, when the count is extremely low (-2 or lower), there are few face cards and a lot of small cards in the shoe.  Assumptions like the dealer busting if they show a 6 go out the window, and the game becomes less predictable.  At this point, a counter is likely to decrease their bet, or sit out entirely.

Alright.  In my next post I’ll get into the mechanics of how card counting actually works, for those that are curious though.  First though, I want to address some common questions about it.  Card counting is a popular subject after the movie “21″ came out, and one of Vegas’s big mysteries.  It is not for nothing that it is a popular subject.  Counting cards is the only way, in blackjack or any other casino game, to shift the odds into the player’s favor without cheating.

But isn’t card counting both cheating and illegal?  According to Nevada gaming law, no.  As long as there is no collusion between the dealer and players, players can use whatever information is made available in the course of play while deciding their next bet or move.   This includes cards that were dealt or discarded face up in previous hands.  On the other hand, casinos have the right to refuse service to anyone, and many will exercise that right with card counters, particularly greedy ones.

What else can casinos do to stop card counters?  Well,  much of the way blackjack is played today stems from this.  Mulitple decks, dealing from a shoe, burning a card before dealing, and dealing single and double deck pitch face down are all attempts by casinos to make card counting more difficult.

If card counting is so great, why doesn’t everyone do it?  Well, first of all, it’s not that easy.  Card counters still need to play with perfect strategy in order to gain an advantage.  The player edge is tiny, so any mistake can easily allow the house to regain its advantage.  They also need to watch every single card that is dealt to every player, and the dealer.  Blackjack dealers are trained to move quickly specifically to make this difficult.  Finally, they need to adjust their basic strategy, both in terms of play and strategy, based on the count, again with 100% accuracy, all without being detected.  Also, I’ve tried casually to do this before, and although you tend to make more money, it is not as fun as relaxing and playing the game for the game’s sake.

So, do casinos really beat people up for this?  According to several security and casino executives I’ve spoken to, absolutely not.  First of all, the scene from 21 is very “old school” Vegas, and is not how things are handled.  Second, the casinos are less strict than they could be on card counters.  First of all,  as I’ve addressed in another post, casinos and their employees actually like for some people to win.  Second, it’s still gambling, and the odds are tilted so slightly that it is still possible that the casino will win.  On the other hand, there are both computers and people working for the casinos counting cards themselves, and evaluating players.  When it gets out of hand, casinos will step in and remove someone.  Moreover, with the number of casinos that are either corporately or tribally owned, the possibility of bans from multiple casinos exists.

Finally, as a disclaimer, the information on the legality of card counting is based on Nevada gaming regulations.  Although Nevada tends to set the trend on these things, it is possible that the laws differ on riverboats, in Missississipi, Detroit, Atlantic City, and especially on tribal lands.  Remember, gaming is not federally regulated.  Although Indian casinos do need to ensure that the games are fair, they are allowed to apply tribal law, meaning that what is allowed at one casino could be disallowed two miles down the road at a casino belonging to another tribe.

Blackjack is a game where the house edge is very small.  People often attribute that to the ability of the player to decide what to do with their cards, while the dealer has set rules to follow.  This is not true.

The reality is that the house advantage is narrowed (or eliminated by card counters) largely because of the “special” rules.  That is, the 3:2 payout on blackjack; splitting; and doubling down.

That being said, table choice becomes a major factor in winning blackjack strategy.

First, make sure  look at every operating blackjack table, or at least every table with an open seat, for the best rules before you sit down.  Often, the ones meant to attract a lot of attention (single or double deck pitch, very low or very high limits, and flashy side bets) often have the least friendly rules.  This is especially true of single and double deck pitch tables.  Because of the ease of card counting, they alter the rules so that anyone who knows the game well enough to count would not be dumb enough to play at those tables.

The most important factor is the payout on a blackjack.  The payout should always be 3:2.  Often, casinos will put a 6:5 payout on otherwise attractive games.  If you plan on winning money, don’t ever play these tables.  Here’s why.   This is possibly the largest   advantage a player has.  When you get 21 on your first two cards, you win an extra 50% of your bet.  When the house gets BJ, you don’t have to pay the extra 50%.

Second is doubling.  The ability to double down is  huge player advantage in blackjack.  I have never seen a table which outright banned doubling down.  BUT, a lot of tables only allow doubling on a 8,9,10,11;9,10,11; or even 10 and 11 only.  A huge money maker is doubling decent hands against a dealer bust card.  For instance, many players will double a soft 16 against a dealer 6, or certainly an 8 or 9 against a dealer 5 or 6.  Some bold player will double anything below a 12 against a 4, 5, or 6.  These hands are another way that the house advantage is dramatically cut.

In short, try to always play tables which pay 3:2 on blackjack and allow unrestricted splitting and doubling (other than the 1 card restriction when splitting Aces).  Other than that, table choice should not make a huge difference unless you are counting cards.

One final note.  While almost all casinos now limit players to one card when splitting Aces, a few do not.  If you find a table which meets the listed criteria which also allows a player to take unlimited cards after splitting Aces, by all means you should play it.

A lot of people (including myself) are tempted when they first see video blackjack to play.  If you’re a table games kind of person, why not play blackjack at the local bar, right?

Wrong!  Video blackjack has terrible odds, and tricks you so you don’t see this.

Whenever anything pays “X for Y, it means that if you collect the full X, they keep your original bet of Y.  So it’s really not a X to Y payout.  It’s an (X-Y) to Y payout.  For instance, if a bet pays 5 for 1, it pays 5, but they keep 1, so it’s really a 4:1 payout.

Video blackjack machines pay 2 for 1 on a blackjack.  So they really pay 1:1, just like on any other winning hand.  This is one of the major advantages at a real blackjack table, taken away.

Another thing which allows players at live BJ to get an edge is that they can double on any hand.  With video blackjack, most machines limit doubling to 10 and 11; 9, 10, and 11; or 8, 9 10, and 11.

So video blackjack is not a good game.

That being said, this applies to the video blackjack you find on the bar, sharing machines with keno and video poker.

Some casinos now have computerized versions of table games, which follow the same rules as the live games.  I know I’ve played an electronic game of blackjack at the Venetian, and I’m sure other casinos have the same.  These are fine, as long as you a) double check the payouts and rules, b) don’t mind a faster paced game, and c) won’t miss the social interaction of the dealer and other players.

So here’s the blackjack betting strategy that I’ve been using lately, including online, and made quite a bit of cash using.  It is risky, and very aggressive, so if you’re a nervous gambler or sweat the money, it may not be the right strategy for you.

It’s actually a combination of progressive and reverse progressive betting.  Basically, I sit down at the table with $100.  We’ll use the $1 table as an example, since that’s what I was starting at online.

I bet the table minimum ($1).  If I win a hand, I bet progressive.  I go up a little.  Actually, on the first hand, I double my bet (since I don’t like betting change).  If I lose a hand, I double my bet.  So, regardless of the outcome (other than a push), I double my bet after the first hand.  Then, if I win, I go from $2-3.  If I lose I go from $2-4.  I continue to raise in dollar units after winning until I have $10 or more bet, then I go up to $5 chips.  When I get to $50 or more, I go up to $25 increments.  $200 or more, I go up to $100 increments.

 Basically, I keep betting this way (raising a little after a win, doubling after a loss) until the amount that I should be betting is either a) more than I have, or b) more than the table limit.  Most of the time, I wind up losing a little money (between $20-50) in a relatively short period of time.  BUT, because of the reverse progressive, even if you lose a big hand, you can quickly wind up back where you started, and even up.  In fact, a short hot streak using this method definitely makes up for (at least it did for me) the several losing sessions.

Alright.  This is the other very common betting system in blackjack. I’ve heard it called by another name, but I can’t think of what that name is at the moment.  I’ve always called it reverse progressive.

 This betting system works almost exactly the opposite of progressive betting.

The basics.  Start off with a minimum bet, or whatever you decide your base bet is.  Then, each time you lose a hand, double your bet.

The theory.  Each time you play, you’ll be shooting for the same amount of money.  That is, if you start out betting $5, with $100, you’re aiming for $105 on the first hand.  If you lose, you have $95, and bet $10.  Now you’re shoting for $105 again.  You can’t lose every hand, right?  This way, you can always walk away after winning any given hand up for the night.

The details.  Unlike regular progressive, here it is very important that you bet exactly or at least double your original bet.  Otherwise this theory doesn’t work.  on a $5 table, the progression should be $5,$10,$20, etc. unlike in progressive, where it should be $5, $7, $10, $15, or something similar.  When you push, you should bet the same.  When you win, you can either hold your bet or drop back down to your base bet.

The problem.  Again, eventually, you either a) run into the table limit, or b) run out of money.  While it is true that you will eventually win a hand, if you play enough hands, remember that luck is blind.  Just as tables get hot, they can get cold.  If you sit down with $100, and you lose just 4 hands, you’re done.  This is a big part of the reason that casinos have table maximums.

The advice:  This can be fun, and if you plan on playing for short periods of time, with a relatively large bankroll, this can be a great strategy.  Sometimes I even combine it with progressive, so that my bet goes up on each hand except a push, just varying how much it goes up by.  But, like progressive betting, this is not the holy grail of blackjack as its supporters would have you believe.

Alright.  Here’s a post on one of the two common blackjack betting strategies.  It is known as progressive betting.

 First, the basics.  Start out at the table minimum, or whatever you decide your base bet will be.  Then, each time you win a hand, you increase your bet slightly.  Every time you lose a hand, you go back to your base bet.

 The theory.  The theory behind this is that you can increase your winning potential without actually increasing your exposure, since every time you increase the bet, you’re actually betting more money that you just won, not your own money.

The details.  Progressive betting really only works if you increase the bet by less than the previous bet.  That is, you can’t double your bet.  So, when you bet $5 and win, you should bet $6 or 7.  If you win again, go up to $10, then $15, etc.

The problem.  The problem with progressive betting is that it doesn’t take into account the possibility of losing multiple hands.  That is, if you are already down when you start winning, you are still increasing your bet, but increasing it with your money, not the house’s.  For example, you sit down at a $5 table with $100.  You win one hand, so you are now up to $105, and you bet $6.  You lose.  You’re now down to $99.  You bet $5 and lose again.  You are down to $94.  You bet $5 and win.  This time, you go to $99.  You now bet $6 and lose.  You are down to $93.  Even though you have won several hands.

The verdict.  Great if you hit a hot streak, but not the “cure all” people think it is.  A fun way to bet, and a pretty basic strategy for money management.

Okay, so I mention this in my basics of blackjack post, but it’s an important enough point that I figured I’d give it its own post, to explain the logic behind this, but also to give people an opportunity to debate this, ask questions, etc.

 My obsession with this stems largely from the fact that I am sick of people who think they know blackjack strategy getting upset when I play these hands correctly.  Remember that the low house advantage in blackjack is based on the idea that you play each hand with perfect basic strategy.  This is one of those areas that is a common, but huge, mistake.

 When the dealer has a 2 or a 3 showing, it is not a dealer bust hand.  Yes, if the dealer has a ten showing, and draws a 10, they will bust.  Yes, 10 is the most common value of any card.   But, the chances of them actually busting are slim to none.  Ignoring all the cards out on the table, in the discard, and behind the cut card, as well as the number of decks, etc., let’s look at the odds.  There is a 4/13 chance that the dealer’s down card will be a 10.  We’re already batting less than .500 on the dealer busting.  Now, basic statistics tell us that the chance of them drawing two 10s are 4/13 times 4/13, or 16/169.  That’s less than a 10% chance that the dealer will actually bust with a two showing.  And that’s ignoring all the cards already out of the shoe, behind the cut card, and in the discard.  Now, keep in mind that the odds of the dealer drawing two 10s in a row are actually lower than this, because once they draw the first 10, there is one less 10 to be drawn.

 The odds against a 3 are only slightly better.  Now, the dealer needs to draw no less than a 19 to bust.  There is a 5/13 (again, ignoring cards behind the cut, on the table, and in the discard) chance of the dealer hiding either a 9 or a 10 on.  There is then either a 5/13 or a 4/13 chance of them drawing the needed card.  (If they hide a 10 on the first hand, it is 5/13, since a 9 or 10 will still bust them, if they have a 9, they need a 10).

This explains why you should always hit to 14 against a dealer 2 or 3.

So to continue on the blackjack thought stream, here’s an important issue.  Remember that splits and doubles are what lowers the house advantage the most.  That in mind, this is a far stretch from a complete guide to splitting.  Instead, it’s going to be a focus on two simple rules to remember: Always split Aces and Eights and Never split anything that starts with an “F.”

First, when to split.  Aces and 8s.  The logic here is actually pretty simple.  Let’s start with Aces.  You have a 2 or 12.  Far from terrible hands.  But, you are more likely to get a 10 than anything else.  That means that the first time you hit, you will most likely wind up with a hard 12.  Hitting again is more likely to give you 22 (bust) than any other single point total.  The alternative is to split and have two Soft 11s.  Again, the most likely single value to come out of the shoe is 10.  Which means that you are more likely to get 21 than any other point total.  And, remember, you can’t bust on one hit.  Even if you don’t get a 9 or 10, you can still draw again safely.  Two 21’s are better than one 22.  Just remember, your first two cards were Aces.  What this means is that even if you pull two tens or face cards, and get two two card 21 hands, you don’t have blackjacks.  You have 21.

A lot less people realize why they should always split 8s.  If the dealer is showing a bust card, with 16, your best bet is to stay.  But, what if the dealer has something other than a 10?  Even if the dealer has an ace or two under their 6, they beat you.  16 is probably the worst point total in the game.  If you split, you now have two 8s, and, more likely than any other point total, will draw to have two 18s.  And, again, you can’t bust on your first draw.  Even if you draw a 2 or 3, you now have 10 or 11, and can hit again, hoping for 20 or 21.  If the dealer is showing a 7-A, you still want to split.  Remember, you want to hit to 17, or hard 18.  Now, if you hit a 16, you will probably bust.  If you hit an 8, however, you cannot bust, and are quite likely to wind up with a decent, if not good, hand.

 So, always split Aces and eights.

Now, for the bad splits.  Anything that starts with an “F,”.  That is, fours, fives, and faces.  Also, this rule covers 10s, which have the same value as a face card.  Fives, tens, and faces are fairly obvious.  You have either 20, or a 10, which, when hit, will likely turn into a 20.  If you have a 5 and hit, you will likely wind up with fifteen, which is one of the worst hands in the game.  Sometimes people get greedy and split 10s or faces against a bust card.  Again, remember that even with a 6 showing, there is a decent chance that the dealer does not have 16, or that even if they do, they will not bust.  Only so much can be predicted.  You are also not guaranteed to draw two more tens.  Why give up the second best point total?  You are almost guaranteed to win, or at least push, with a 20.

Fours are a little trickier for most people to understand.  Especially against a bust card.  If the dealer is going to bust, why not turn one winner into two winners?  Well, again, the dealer is never guaranteed to bust.  Remember, 18 is a pretty good hand.  Most likely, by hitting this hand, you will get 18.  18 is likely to win, even if the dealer does not bust.  Now, say you split.  You likely get two 14s, which, with the dealer having a bust card, you will hold.  The dealer doesn’t bust.  Your 14s lose.  If you are looking for a way to increase your winnings with a 4/4 against a 4, 5, or 6, double instead of splitting.  Doubling an eight against a bust card is an acceptable move.  Splitting an 8 for two fours is not.

This is probably a weird way to start out, since I’m going to cover blackjack rules differently than I will other games.  With other games, I will explain the rules in one post, then come back to strategy.  Because your play at a blackjack table affects other players, however, I’m going to cover the rules and some very basic strategy in the same post here.  There’s no law that says that if you’re walking slowly on a sidewalk, you should move over for faster walkers, is there?  But there should be.  Blackjack is the same way.

 First, the object.  The object of blackjack is simple.  Players play only against the dealer, not against other players.  The goal is to get as close to 21 as possible without going over.  For the purposes of simplicity, I will use the most common form of blackjack here, ignoring bonus bets of any kind.  That is, I will explain the game as it is played from a 4, 6, or 8 deck shoe, with blackjacks paying 3 to 2.  Be aware, some games are played differently, and I will try to address those in upcoming posts.

The steps to blackjack

Step one: bet

Players who wish to play the game may join at any time, although in some parts of the country, it is rude, and in some variations, against the rules, to join mid-shoe (the shoe is the plastic box from which the cards are dealt, but in this sense, is the group of cards contained within the deck).   There will be a box or a circle in front of each player.  Many players assume this is for the cards.  It is not, it is for their bets.  Place your bets in the box before the dealer sweeps her hand across the table twice (once each way) to be dealt in on the hand.

Step 2: Dealing

The dealer will now deal each player two cards, one at a time, going clockwise starting to his or her left.  The players’ cards and one of the dealers’ cards are dealt face up.  The dealer’s second (or in some casinos first) card is dealt face down.

Step 3:

Play.  Each player, starting to the dealer’s left, is given several options.  For now, we’ll stick to the basics, of hit or stay.  With the exceptions of some special bets which will be discussed later, a player may hit as few or as many times as they’d like, until they go over 21.  The goal, again, is to get closer than the dealer to 21, without going over.  If you get 22 or higher, you automatically lose.  This is called breaking or busting.

If a player’s first two cards equal 21 (An Ace and either a ten or a face card), the player has blackjack and wins an immediate 3 to 2 payout (at most casinos, at most tables; though sometimes blackjacks pay 6 to 5, mostly on single or double deck pitch tables).

After all players have acted, the dealer will expose their down card, and play according to set rules.  The dealer always hits to 17, and then stays.  The only variation in this is that some casinos have the dealer hit on a “soft” 17 (A/6, which can be a 7 or a 17), and others have them stay.  The table should say either “Dealer stands on all 17s” or “Dealer must hit on soft 17.”  If the dealer breaks, everyone who did not already break wins.

 Now, some details

Cards 2 through 10 carry their usual values.

Face cards are always worth 10 points.

Aces can be worth 1 or 11 points, and that choice is always the player’s to make when deciding whether to hit or stay.

To hit, a player should tap or lightly scratch or brush the felt of the table.  To stay, a player should wave one hand over the felt parallel to the table.

The basics of strategy

Yes, I said the basics of strategy, not basic strategy, which I will cover in a separate post.

If played ideally, and without counting cards, the advantage on blackjack is about 0.26%.  That means that for every $100 played, the casino should keep just over one quarter.  This is a deceptively low number unless you are used to thinking in terms of casino holds for three reasons:  First, this is assuming that a player makes no strategic mistakes, which is much harder than most players think.  Second, it is on all money played, not on the player’s buy in.  That is, if you buy in with $100, but win some, and actually play 6 $25 hands, your money played is actually $150, not the $100 you bought in for.  Make sense?  Third, luck is blind.  Just because there is a 0.26% hold does not mean that you will only lose 26 cents every hand that you play $100.  It does not even mean that you will only lose 26 cents per every $100 that you play that night.  For that matter, it does not even mean that you will only lose 0.26% over your career.  It means that in the long run, all the people who play perfect strategy should average giving the casino about 0.26%.

 My recomendation to everyone who wants to do well at blackjack would be to purchase a strategy book or card, or sometimse the used decks casinos give out or sell have a strategy card in them.  Please read this at home, before you get to the table.  Nothing annoys me more than someone sitting at a blackjack table and reading their card before every single hand.  Keep it with you to consult on the tough hands, but you should have the basics down before you sit.

 Now, the basic idea of the game is that there are 4 ways to pull a 10 at any given time, versus one way to pull a card of any other value.  This means that you should generally assume that any card that you cannot see will be a 10.

In blackjack, the dealer’s “up card” is at least as imortant as the player’s two cards in determining how to play. There are four basic scenarios.

1) The dealer has a 7-10 showing.  In this case, you assume the dealer has a 17, 18, 19, or 20.  Hit until your cards total 17, or soft 18.  Soft hands are hands which use an ace.  For instance, a hand with a 7 and an A is a “soft 18.”  Some players will call these hands 8 or 18 as well.  NOTE:  A 7/10/A hand is NOT a “soft 18.”  It is a hard 18, because using the ace as an 11 would cause the dealer to bust.  One of the most common, and unexcusable mistakes, is to stand on a 16 against a 7.  But won’t you bust if you have a 16?  First of all, yes, you are more likely to bust.  Ignoring all the cards on the table and in the discard, you have an 8/13 chance of busting, and a 5/13 chance of not busting.  But, remember that the dealer has a 4/13 chance of having a 17, and an enormous chance of having a 17, 18, 8, 9, 10, or 11.  All of these hands beat a 16.  If the dealer almost certainly has you beat, it makes sense to risk busting because you still have a 5/13 chance of improving your hand and possibly beating the dealer.  So, although it is tough until you get used to it, you should always hit a 16 against a dealer 7.  This is the most obvious tell of whether someone is an ameteur or a regular player.

2) The dealer has a 4-6 showing.  These are known as bust cards, because the dealer is statistically very likely to bust.  With a 6, for instance, again, ignoring all cards in the discard and on the table, there is an 8/13 chance that the dealer will bust.  With a 4 showing, it is still a 6/13 chance.  This is not accounting for the possibility that they do not bust or pull at least 17 on the second card.  In this case, they are again likely to bust.  In these cases, hit only to hard 12.  Soft hands are more discretionary.  This scenario is the main reason I am including any strategy at all in the basic rules information.  Not only are you likely to lose if you hit a 12 against a 6, but, you are likely to lose the rest of the table money, and piss the whole table off.  For instance, if you hit your 12, draw a 10, and get a 22.  You bust, losing your bet.  Everyone else stays.  The dealer has 16, as expected, and hits.  They now draw a 5.  If you had played according to strategy, the dealer would have had  10, and busted with 26.  Instead, they have 21.  You just lost the entire table money.  Never hit a hard 12 or higher against a 4, 5, or 6.

3) The dealer shows a 2 or 3.  I will do a whole separate post explaining this one in detail.  This is tricky and really depends on the number of decks, what blackjacks pay, and other factors specific to the table.  The basic rule, however, is to hit to hard 14 against a 2 or a 3.  Again, I will explain the logic and math of this in another post.  This is another sure tell of when someone is a rooky versus an experienced player.  A lot of mid-level players will actually yell at other players for “taking the dealer’s bust card” by hitting a 12 or 13 against a dealer 2 or 3.  They are wrong.  2’s and 3’s are not bust cards.

4) The dealer is showing an ace.  This scenario should be played very similarly to scenario 1, but is a little bit trickier because once the dealer confirms that they do not have a blackjack, you have no idea what the dealer has, other than that it is not a face card.  All other cards have equal probabilities.

Now, for the complicated bets, which will make more sense when we cover strategy.  You should know these, in case they come up in play.

First, insurance and even money.  If the dealer has a 10 or an A for an upcard, they will check to see if they have blackjack before players act.  With a 10, players have no options.  With an Ace, however, players are offered insurance and even money.  Insurance is available to any player, and is a bet equal to half of the player’s main bet.  The bet is actually a bet that the dealer does have blackjack.  The idea here is that a player is given the opportunity to lower their bet.  If the dealer has blackjack, they lose their main bet, but win half of it back.  If the dealer does not have blackjack, and the player beats them, the player still wins, but only half of what they otherwise would.  Insurance is not a wise bet because there is a third possibility.  The dealer could not have blackjack, but still beat the player.  Then the player lost extra money.  Even money is only available to players with blackjack.  This is an opportunity for players to win 1 to 1 on their bet instead of pushing.  The problem is, the 3 to 2 payout is a major reason that the house advantage on blackjack is so low.  Yes, winning something is better than winning nothing.  But, given that there is a 4/13 chance of the dealer having blackjack (approximately) and a 9/13 chance of them not having blackjack, they are more than twice as likely to not have a blackjack.  And remember, unless the dealer gets 21 on their first two cards any player who has blackjack gets paid 3 to 2.

Splitting.  Splitting is an option when players have two cards which match in value.  That is, two cards of the same rank, or two face cards.  When players split a hand, they must put a second bet out, equal to the value of their original bet, and hold two fingers out (for the surviellance cameras).  The dealer will then move their cards apart, and instead of, for instance, an 8/8 (16) hand, the player will now play two separate hands, each starting with an 8.  Strategy for splitting will be discussed later.  Importantly, however, you should see if there are any special rules about splitting before you attempt to split.  The standard rule is that players may split any pair, but may only draw one card on an A.

Doubling.  The rules for this bet vary from casino to casino and table to table.  In general, a player is allowed to double any hand they would like.  I will discuss when it is wise to do so in another post.  Some casinos, however, only allow a player to double on 8, 9, 10, or 11.  Doubling allows the player to increase their bet, but in return, they may only draw one more card.  The player puts an additonal bet behind their original bet (not on top of it).  They then hold out one finger to signify to the dealer and the camera that they want to double.  They are given one card (sometimes face up, sometimes face down), and may not draw again.  It is legal to double for less than your original bet, but it is not advised.  That is, you are technicaly allowed to bet an additional $3 if your original bet is $5.  It is not smart, though.

Surrender.  Surrendering is an option in some (I believe it is fewer than it used to be) casinos.  This option allows a player who believes that their hand is too bad to play to discard their cards and keep half of their original bet.

 Sorry this post was so long.  If anyone has any advice about formatting or making these posts more readable, please let me know.  My guess is that most of the game intros will be long like this.  When I do strategy, however, I’ll likely focus in more specifically.