Blackjack Instructions For Beginners
4/13/2022by admin
Beginner’s Guide to Blackjack. The purpose of this “blackjack for beginners” page is to provide a detailed buy also easily understood introduction to the game. Too many guides to the game get really.
Yes, understanding the basics of blackjack is relatively easy. But, before you can walk away a winner, you need a deeper understanding of the nuances of the game and casino protocol.
- A Few Words about Blackjack. We assume that you opened this article because you are a beginner.
- All the card values of each blackjack hand then combine into the so-called “running count.” This essentially represents how favourable the remaining cards are. A high running count means that there.
- Blackjack is most commonly played according to the casino or legalized gambling rule set, which is what we’ll define below. These conditions for playing blackjack are the rules used by most land-based and online casinos. To begin, blackjack.
Finding a table: Strategic seating
Blackjack begins by selecting a seat at the table. Typically, a blackjack table allows for five to seven players. Whenever you see an empty seat at a blackjack table, you may assume it’s for your taking (unless chips or a coat are holding the spot for a player who just stepped away for a moment or unless some player is playing two hands). In most cases, joining a game in progress is okay, although some tables have a No-Midshoe Entry policy (usually marked by a sign at the table), which means you have to wait until the shuffle before playing.
For your first trip to the tables, you’re better off finding a nearly full table. Although the number of players at the table hardly affects the odds on your hands, the game is much quicker with fewer players. A fuller table gives you more time to think about each hand without being rushed or pressured.
Seeking single-deck tables
Without getting into a lot of math, here’s a good rule to follow: The fewer decks the casino uses, the better for you. Your chances for success increase if you can find a single-deck game. Most casinos worldwide have gone to six or more decks in an attempt to thwart card counters (skilled players who keep track of cards). But some places still deal blackjack the old-fashioned way — with one deck of 52 cards. Most of the casinos in northern Nevada (Reno, Lake Tahoe, and Wendover) still use one deck of cards at many of their blackjack tables. If you aren’t sure how many decks the casino is using, just ask.
Eyeing table bet levels
Before you actually sit down, look for the table’s minimum and maximum betting limits. Every table has these fixed limits, which the casino usually posts on a small sign located on the table to the right of the dealer.
You may sit down at a table where the placard says $5–$500, which means you have to bet at least $5 on every hand and can never bet more than $500 on any one spot. Typically, the higher the minimum starting bet, the higher the maximum bet for that table.
When you’re starting out, find the lowest minimum table in the casino and begin there. Making smaller bets keeps you out of trouble until you understand the game better — and you’re less likely to end up sitting next to a high roller (who may not appreciate a novice at his table).
Purchasing chips
After you select your seat, you need to buy chips from the dealer. Select the amount of money you want to start with and lay your cash on the felt in front of you. The dealer changes your cash into chips and slides them across the felt to you.
Don’t hand your money directly to the dealer; doing so is a breach of etiquette and brands you as a greenhorn.
.jpg "Blackjack Instructions For Beginners")
After you receive your chips, leave them on the table in front of you. Chips come in several denominations and are color-coded. Although every casino uses distinctive chips, most colors are standard.
Start off with a small amount of chips. A good approach is to cash in no more than 25 percent of your daily bankroll for chips. For example, if you budget $400 for the day, buy in for no more than $100 to start. This way, when you’re losing, you minimize the temptation to bet more than you planned. You can always buy more chips later if necessary.
Homing in on house rules
Blackjack rules are fairly similar worldwide — with a few variations. Sometimes a small placard sitting on the table indicates where the casino stands in regard to certain scenarios. If you don’t see a placard, you may ask the dealer what the house rules are, even when you’re in the middle of a hand.
Does the dealer hit on a soft 17?
A soft hand is any hand that counts an ace as 11 rather than 1. The hand is soft because it can’t bust on the next card. For example, if you hit (take another card) a soft 18 (an ace and a 7) with a 6, the ace automatically reverts to 1 (rather than 11), and the hand total is now 14 (rather than 24, which would be a bust).
Whether a dealer hits on a soft 17 is usually spelled out in bold white letters right on the felt. Normally the dealer counts an ace as 11 anytime he has a hand of 17 or more. However, about half the casinos worldwide deviate from this rule on soft 17 (an ace and a 6). In those cases, the ace counts as 1, and the dealer hits his soft 17.
Is doubling down restricted to certain card combinations?
In Las Vegas, casinos typically allow doubling down, an option that allows you to double your bet, on any two cards, but other places may restrict this move to just 10s or 11s. The placard probably won’t list restrictions to doubling down. If you aren’t sure whether restrictions are in place, don’t be afraid to ask the dealer, even if you’re in the middle of a hand.
Can you surrender?
A playing option known as surrender is an extremely profitable option for you as a player, but not many casinos offer it. When you surrender, you lose half of your initial bet and give up your hand. For example, if you bet $10 and are dealt a 16, you can surrender and only lose $5 (half your bet) rather than risk the entire $10 on a bad hand. Once again, the placard may not readily advertise this rule variation, so always ask if surrender is available.
Dealing what’s in the cards
All right, you’re situated at the table, you’ve made your bet in the betting box, and your heart is pumping like a jackhammer. The dealer flashes you a warm smile, wishes you good luck, shuffles the deck, and asks you to cut the cards.
If you’re playing a one- or two-deck game, the dealer holds the cards in his hands and deals you two cards face-down. You can pick up these cards, but make sure you only hold them in one hand.
However, the majority of blackjack games today use six or eight decks. In these cases, the dealer deals your two cards face-up from a shoe (a boxlike device that houses the cards).
Whether your cards are dealt face-up or face-down really doesn’t matter — dealers follow strict rules, and seeing the values of your cards doesn’t influence them. Dealers’ hands always start off with one card exposed and one card hidden, regardless of the number of decks.
A lot of blackjack tips pages don’t account for the skill level of the reader. You’ll find people suggesting that you learn to count cards or that you practice shuffle tracking.
This post consists of my seven best blackjack tips for beginners. To become a better blackjack player, keep reading below and start applying the following strategies and tips.
1. Master Basic Strategy
Honestly, if you ignored all the other tips on this list and just mastered basic strategy, you’d be way ahead of most other blackjack players.
What’s basic strategy? Well, it’s the mathematically optimal play in every blackjack situation.
You have the following information during each blackjack hand:
- You know what total you have.
- You know one of the dealer’s two cards.
A basic strategy table compares your total with the dealer’s face-up card to give you the mathematically best play.
In some situations, the mathematically correct decision is the one that loses the least amount of money over time. In others, the mathematically correct decision is the one that wins the most money over time.
Basic strategy doesn’t change based on your gut feelings, either. If you use basic strategy when you play blackjack, you face a house edge of between 0.5% and 1%—assuming you’re not playing in a game with a terrible set of rules (like a 6/5 game, for example).
If you ignore basic strategy, you’re probably dealing with a house edge of 3% to 4%. That’s a lot of money to lose just because you didn’t want to memorize basic strategy.
You can find basic strategy tables on hundreds of sites on the internet, but you can also find text explanations for how to play each hand correctly. You can even buy a plastic laminated basic strategy card in the gift shop at the casino.
2. Never Take Insurance
The only time that taking insurance is mathematically correct is if you’re counting cards. Since this is a list of blackjack tips for the beginner, that doesn’t apply to you.
Insurance is a side bet that the dealer has a 10 in the hole. It pays off at 2:1. The casino calls it “even money,” but the truth is, the house has a high edge on the insurance bet.
Let’s assume you’re playing in a single-deck game, and the dealer has an ace showing. You have two cards, too, and neither of them is a 10. This means you have 49 cards that aren’t accounted for in the deck. Of those, 16 of them are worth 10—all the jacks, queens, kings, and 10s.Beginners Guide To Blackjack
So, you have 33 ways to lose the insurance bet compared to 16 ways to win. The bet pays off at 2:1, which is the same as 32:16. That’s one extra way that the casino has to win means that the casino has an edge, but how much of an edge?
Let’s say you bet $100 on insurance 49 times. You’d win $200 on 16 of those bets, for total winnings of $3,200. But you’d also lose $100 on 33 of those bets, for total losses of $,3300.
That’s a net loss of $100 on 49 bets, or an average loss of $2.04 per hand. This means the house edge for the insurance bet is at least 2.04%. And that edge goes up if you have a card worth 10 in your hand, because you have more ways to lose.
It’s crazy to make a bet with a house edge of 2% in a game where the house edge is only 0.5%. Insurance is a sucker bet. Just don’t take it.
3. Play in the Good Blackjack Games
The rules from one blackjack game to another vary. You should play in the game with the best rules you can find.
What kinds of rules variations should you look for?
- Probably the best variation is a game played from a single deck. Always find the game being dealt from the fewest number of decks.
- If you can find a single deck game or even a game dealt from two decks, go for that game (everything else being equal).
- Next, look for games where the dealer must stand on ANY total of 17. If the dealer hits a soft 17, the house edge goes up.
It’s beyond the scope of this post to cover all the possible rules variations, but those are two of the biggest to look for: the number of decks and whether the dealer hits a soft 17 or not.
4. Don’t Mess With Counting Cards
It isn’t as hard as you think to learn how to count cards, but if you’re a beginner, you should focus on mastering basic strategy. If you can’t play with perfect basic strategy on every hand, counting cards won’t help you much anyway.
The concept behind counting cards is probably easy to understand. The idea is that the ratio of high cards to low cards changes because of the random nature of the game. Sometimes, the remaining cards in the deck are mostly high cards, and sometimes they’re mostly low cards.
High cards are 10s and aces, and they’re important because they increase your probability of getting a natural.
What should you do if you have a better chance of getting a blackjack? Obviously, you should bet more.
Counting cards doesn’t mean memorizing which cards have been played so that you know which cards are still in the deck. You just assign a score to each card, usually +1 or -1, and keep a running count.
But if you’re a beginner, focus on mastering basic strategy first. You can learn to count cards when you become an intermediate player.
5. Skip 6/5 Blackjack Games
A recent trend in Vegas blackjack is to offer games where the payoff for a natural is 6:5 instead of 3:2. Some casinos even brag about it as if it’s a boon to the player.
The idea is that six is a bigger number than three, so unsophisticated gamblers (beginners) will think 6/5 blackjack is a better deal. But it’s not.
It’s a terrible deal and adds 1.5% or so to the house edge. A 3:2 payout on a $100 bet is a $150 payout. A 6:5 payout on that same $100 bet is a $120 payout.
Sure, you’ll only get a blackjack once out of every 20 hands or so, but why would you want to give up $30 per hand? That $30, averaged over 20 hands, is an additional loss of $1.50 per hand.
Let supply and demand send 6/5 blackjack to the graveyard where it belongs.
6. Skip Video Blackjack
Video blackjack games vary widely. Some of them only offer even-money payouts on a natural. Obviously, you should avoid those games.
Video blackjack games generally deal from eight decks that are shuffled after every hand. The rules are usually worse than the rules at any of the table versions of blackjack.
On top of all that, video blackjack is twice as fast as playing at a table with a dealer, which means you’ll put twice as much money into action per hour.
Blackjack has the lowest edge in the casino, but it’s still an edge for the casino, NOT the player. The more money you put into action per hour, on average, the more money you lose, on average.
How To Play Blackjack For Beginners
Suppose you see 100 hands of blackjack per hour at a standard table, and you play for $5 per hand. That’s $500 in action. With a house edge of 0.5%, the house expects to win $2.50 per hour from you.
Double the number of hands per hour on a video blackjack game, and even if you’re facing the same rules, you’ll lose $5 per hand.
Why lose more money per hour playing blackjack than you have to? Just say no to video blackjack.
7. Practice Online
One of the greatest things about the internet is the availability of free games at real money online casinos. Beginners can get a feel for how the actions work in a blackjack game without having to leave their homes or taking as much risk.
Craps Instructions For Beginners
You can plop down in front of your laptop and play some of the free games at any of the casinos or gambling sites recommended on this site. You don’t have to wager a single dollar at these sites ever. If you do decide you want to play online blackjack for real money, you can do so after having practiced and getting the hang of all the actions.
Of course, knowing how to double down and split will come in handy when you play for the first time in a live casino, too.
Conclusion
This page on blackjack tips for beginners was meant to offer advice specifically to those who are just getting started. That’s why I didn’t go into detail about how to count cards or about the specifics of basic strategy.
I hope you found it helpful. If you’d like to learn more about blackjack strategies and tips on how to become a better gambler, this site offers plenty of information for you to utilize. Good luck at the tables!
Comments are closed.