| On the surface black jack looks fairly easy
and I suppose it is if you don't care about the finer points of the game. Some
players are students of the game and play it like an art form. There are some
basic rules that should be learned before sitting at a black jack table. The
following information and links are intended to provide this knowledge.
The black jack dealer deals two cards to each player including himself and the players
hit (Take a card) and bust (go over 21) or hit and stay. The rules are
simple but the strategy is a little more complicated. Black Jack consists of
a Dealer, a table with room for seven players and a shoe. A shoe? Yes a shoe
but a special shoe, one that holds about six decks of cards. The dealer
shuffles the cards and deals them, one at a time from the special shoe in
a multiple deck game or from his hand in a single deck game.
Everybody starts with two cards inblack jack, including the dealer.
The Rules; Black Jack Rules are quite easy to
learn, since are not a whole lot of them. The general rules for requesting
cars is to sweep your hand, palm down, towards you once or twice. This signals
to the dealer that you want a hit or a card. If you don't want a card you
simply wave your hand across you cards with the palm facing downwards, this
tells the dealer you will stay with what you have. Now that's not hard is it?
Words can be misunderstood, hand signals are more precise. Often the down
card is used to signal for a card in the same way the hand is used. The card
is swept forward for each hit, don't bend it or the dealer will yell at you,
when a player has had enough cards the signal card is slipped under the face
up cards.
The dealer; controls the game, makes
change, deals the cards and pays the players or collects the bets. He should
be efficient and reasonably cordial to the players, that's not always the
case, but mostly it is.
The table; The Black Jack table is built with
room for seven players who sit in the front of the dealer on high stools.
The dealer can play with one to seven players depending on the action.
In front of each player there is circled area on the layout indicating where
the player places his/her bet. The table is covered with with a felt material, often
green in color or some other easy on the eyes color.
The shoe; The shoe holds the cards the dealer
deals out. It is specialy built and chained to the table, to prevent cheaters
from switching shoes, yes it has happened. The front features an opening from
which the cards are slipped one at a time. The deck is visible to the players
at all times, and players can see how many cards remain, not by actual count
but by the thickness of the deck in the shoe. Don't worry about being cheated,
at least not in the better Casinos, in black jack the house has the winning edge without
resorting to cheating.
The game;
Each player is dealt two cards, one
face down and one face up. There are variations where both cards are face up.
These rules sometimes apply to both dealer and player. Depending on what the
player has, in terms of the total count against the dealer, 21 being the goal,
he will stay as his hand was dealt or he will ask for cards until he is
satisfied with the count or he has "busted". See strategy section.
A simple wave of the hand, palms down tells the dealer your hand is good as
it stands. Just a simple wave you're not trying to signal a freight train
The signal to take a card is to brush your hand toward you once or twice,
don't do this if you don't want a card. Verbal comminication can be
misunderstood but hand signals are positive and the the accepted norm.
This is not good. When you "Bust" you
have gone over 21 and have no chance in hell of winning.
The term "Bust out Gambler" means the guy has lost all his money. If you are
unable to count your cards the dealer will surely let you know when you bust.
Objective;
The object of the game as
stated before is to reach 21 or to have a greater count under 21 than the dealer.
Over 21 is not good. Not good for you and also not good for the dealer,
should he get over 21. Over 21 and you lose the game, if the dealer goes
over 21 the remaining players are paid off. If the dealer's cards count
sixteen or under the dealer
MUST take a card. If the dealer has seventeen or over
he CAN NOT take a card. These are two hard and
fast rules of the game in any Casino I've played in.
See strategy section for more.
Basic strategy;
There are some basic
rules that will give you a better chance in the long run. These rules have
beem devised over the years and found to be well worth using. Considering the
dealer must hit 16 and stand on 17 ot more, the player's strategy should
usually be: Always stand on 17 or higher and stand on any number from 13 through
16 if the dealer's showing card is 6 or lower, but hit if dealers card is 7
through Ace. The idea of when to hit and when to stay pat is based entirely
upon the dealers up card
The theory is that the player must always assume theBlack jack dealer has a ten as his
down card. This being the case, if the dealer has six or less showing, he
must take a card. You will notice when this situation arises all players will
stay with a low count, they know he must take a card and are banking on a
bust hand for the dealer. He doesn't always bust, but it happens often enough
that the players use this strategy.
You may have heard about the card counting method of playing Black Jack, and
it works, and it gives the counter a slight edge. There are two basic
problems with card counting. One; you need to be very, very astute in your
card counting and your play. Two; You will quickly be recognized as a counter
and either asked to leave the Casino or be assisted out the door. Although it
is not cheating to count cards, the Casino frowns on it mightily.
What it means is simply keeping track of the aces and face cards thereby
having a probability edge on the house by knowing when theblack jackdeck is rich with
aces and face cards and betting accordingly. This in essence is what card
counting is about.
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