Blackjack Hand Signals & Etiquette. March 27, 2019 by Staff Writer. While the casino environment is highly entertaining, we are dealing with real money and real people, and real money and real people need real rules. Casinos go to the utmost lengths to maintain control and ensure security. Casino Etiquette Blackjack. In the game of online blackjack, and in the environment of the casino, specific rules must be obeyed and specific procedures that must be followed on each side of the table. You should gain a basic familiarity with these procedures so that you don’t cause alarm when something perfectly routine occurs.
Blackjack Etiquette Vegas
Blackjack etiquette involves a certain amount of common sense, but some of the good manners of card playing involve arcane customs. These might make sense when explained, but don’t seem obvious at first. Many of the esoteric protocols in blackjack come from an attempt by the casino to stop cheaters, such as the many rules about touching the cards or the chips. If you don’t handle your cards with two hands or continually mess with your wagered chips, it’s a lot harder to make a switch. With that in mind, let’s discuss blackjack etiquette.
Touching the Cards
The less you touch your cards in blackjack, the better. In a Vegas deal blackjack game, these cards are dealt face-down and you can touch the cards as much as needed, but it’s advised you touch them once, look at them, and set them down. In a game with a London deal, the cards are dealt face-up and players aren’t allowed to touch the cards under any circumstances.
Also, even if the cards are dealt face down, it’s appropriate to use one hand to pick them up–not two. This might seem like a minor infraction, but casinos are serious about enforcement of this rule and you’re likely to be chastised if you use two hands to handle the cards.
Don’t Touch the Chips
Once you bet chips, don’t touch them again. If you decide to double a bet, don’t place the doubled bet on top of your first wager. Place those chips beside the original chip stack. Those who take insurance should place their insurance chips in the space for such bets. If no space exists on the table, place your insurance bet next to your original chip stack.
Buying and Cashing in Chips
When buying and cashing in chips, do so between hands. If you sit down at the table in the middle of the hand, it’s considered an interruption to ask to buy chips. Wait until the hand is over and buy your chips then. The same goes for cashing in. In this case, remember to have your smaller chips stacked so the dealer can change these for larger denominations.
Playing Blackjack At Casino
Signal for a Hit
The casino is noisy, so it’s better to make a hand signal than to tell the dealer you want a hit. When you want another card, tap the table or brush the table lightly with your fingers. At tables where players are allowed to touch their cards, tapping the bottom of the cards or brushing them across the felt gently also suffices.
Be Pleasant to Players
Apply the golden rule when dealing with other players. Treat them how you prefer to be treated, which is politely. If they get a blackjack, it’s a good idea to congratulate them on their good fortune. Compliment them when they make a good play.
At the same time, don’t call a fellow player out when they make a bad play. This is true even when they ask for a card they shouldn’t have and end up taking the card you needed. One statistical analysis of a billion hands of blackjack showed that “bad play” didn’t hurt a player’s chances of winning–it’s the luck of the draw. If that isn’t motivation enough to pipe down, remember that casinos can throw out guests who are rude to fellow players. It’s bad for business.
Don’t Drink to Excess
Along the same lines, it’s best to avoid drinking too much. The free drinks are a temptation, but the casino considers those drinks an investment as much as they are a courtesy. Alcohol impairs your judgment. That might be fine for the sake of the game, but some people aren’t happy drunks. If you tend to have trouble when you’ve been drinking a little too much, then don’t drink to excess. A casino is a bad place for an intoxicant.
Tip the Dealer
When you hit a blackjack, tip the dealer a bit. When you have a winning session, tip the dealer for their trouble. These are simple acts of courtesy and etiquette. An occasional gratuity shows you appreciate their hard work dealing cards to you hour after hour. If you have a losing session, tipping isn’t required in that instance. Misery loves company at the blackjack table.
When you’re have a cold streak, don’t take it out on the dealer. Once again, they are only doing their job. This dealer isn’t the reason you’re losing. Even if they were, calling them names and making nasty comments would do you no good. Those who are playing online blackjack don’t have to worry about leaving a tip, since you’re dealing with blackjack software and not a real person. When playing live dealer blackjack online, stick with the advice above, if a tipping function is offered.
Don’t Ask the Dealer
Don’t ask the dealer for advice on how to play their hand. They probably know the right move, but don’t want to be blamed if they give you tips which lose you money. When a person does inevitably asks, the answer is almost certain to be vague and useless.
Learn the Rules
While the dealers and the other players tend to be patient with new players who don’t know the rules, it’s mannerly to learn the rules before you sit down at the blackjack table. The rules of twenty-one are easy to learn, so there’s no reason you can’t study them beforehand. Game guides are found throughout the casino. Even if you don’t know the basic strategy, you should have some understanding of the basic rules, terminology, and betting patterns.
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Sometimes, blackjack etiquette can be more important than the way you play your cards. Depending on the venue you’re playing in, and the kind of players you’re surrounded by, the manner in which you handle yourself at the blackjack table will go a long way toward determining how much fun you have.
Finding the Right Blackjack Table
Obviously, the best way to have fun at the blackjack table is to win money. But since that’s not always under your control, the next best thing is to try to get along with your fellow players and get a few laughs, no matter how the cards are running for you. And the fact you’re all rooting against the dealer can create a sort of camaraderie at the table, with everyone rooting for one another to pull of a victory.
The first step in ensuring a good time is to survey the possibilities. Whether you’re in a brick and mortar casino or playing online, you’ll have the opportunity to observe the flow of play in various games.
When deciding on a table to join, find one where the players seem to be on a hot streak. Again, winning money is the ultimate form of enjoyment when gambling, and the best way to win at blackjack is to end up at a hot table. See if you can’t pick one out just by taking a few minutes to survey the options.
Finding a hot table, or knowing how to pick one, isn’t always easy, or even a possibility. That means, while you’re looking for the seat that will lead to a pocket full of chips, you should also try to find a place where the other players at the table seem friendly.
Failing that, try to find a table that works for your style of play. If you’re a quiet player, you might look for a hushed table. On the other hand, maybe it suits you to sit in the weeds, in which case you’d be looking for something a little more boisterous. Experience and observation will help you pick out the table that’s right for you.
You’ll also want to consider your level of play. Beginners can often become overwhelmed by the vocal negative reaction they receive from more experienced player when they make a move that veers from the textbook. In order to avoid that fate, if you’re just starting out, try to avoid tables that look like they’re full of grizzled blackjack veterans.
Finally, if you’re playing at a casino, take a look at the dealer. Sometimes just having a good feeling about the person passing out the cards can be enough to make you feel comfortable and confident at the table.
Getting Comfortable at Your Blackjack Table
Once you’ve found your seat, there are any number of spoken and unspoken rules that you’ll have to follow in order to properly obey blackjack etiquette and keep from turning your table into a nightmare experience.
If you’re still a novice player, trying choosing a middle seat at the table until you know your way around.
If you’re relatively new, or not particularly confident in your skills, you’ll want to choose a middle seat. Whether it’s true or not, many players believe that the first and last positions at the table determine the flow of the cards. If you aren’t an experienced player, it is probably best to avoid those seats.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of playing blackjack is the interaction you can have with your fellow players and the dealer. If possible, try to introduce yourself to the people sitting around you, and remember your dealer’s name. If you treat a blackjack game like sitting at your favorite bar and talking to the local regulars, the experience, and your expression of blackjack etiquette, will be greatly enhanced.
Blackjack Table Etiquette
In blackjack, much of the etiquette comes from how you play your cards. For those who are new to the game, or unfamiliar with “textbook” play, check out some of the other tutorials to get insight into the basics.
The first piece of table etiquette is to be aware when it’s your turn and to act as quickly as possible. The fast pace of blackjack is one of its most enjoyable aspects. You don’t want to muck that up by having your head in the clouds or being completely indecisive. Stay ahead of the action as best you can and pull the trigger as quickly as you feel comfortable.
Failing that, there are pocket-sized cards available that can coach you on your best move, at least according to the game’s inherent odds, for each situation. Learning and memorizing those standard plays will be the biggest step you can take in becoming a master of blackjack etiquette.
Once you have a basic understanding of game play, you’ll want to add some more advanced thinking to your game that should benefit you both monetarily and in terms of how you get along with your tablemates. Part of that more advanced play is just an intuitive understanding of the way the cards are rolling out.
If a dealer is on a streak of busts, when you’re confronted with a tough hit or stay decision you should err on the side of caution, allowing that run to continue. And if another player at the table is in the midst of a big hand – say they have a couple of splits and a double-down in play – you should also try to be as passive as possible so you can let that hand play out. Most players notice those things, and will reward you with gratitude when you don’t disrupt a winning streak.
The Key to Blackjack Etiquette – Have Fun
Ultimately, the best way to exercise proper blackjack etiquette is to enjoy yourself without getting in other people’s way. If you’re having fun, and are trying to get other people in on the action, as long as you aren’t being overbearing, you should be able to avoid any major faux pas.
Since blackjack is essentially a game of luck, with a reasonable amount of skill thrown in, one of the most important things to understand when you sit down at a table is that your fate is in many ways at the whim of the proverbial gambling deities. If you can accept that to a certain extent, the pain and anger that can come along with a run of tough beats will dissipate at least a little, and then you, and the players around you, can settle in for an enjoyable evening of blackjack.