Posts Tagged ‘Players’

How to Play Blackjack With Other Players

February 11th, 2011

Contrary to the opinion of many players, Blackjack is actually a team sport! If the table works together to bust the dealer you dramatically increase your chances of winning. Although many players only pay attention to their hand and the dealers hand, this poor blackjack strategy inevitably causes others to lose and usually ends up with the dealer making their hand.

The casinos are happy to see players vying against each other in blackjack as the house knows that when a player does not play basic blackjack strategy, the house actually gains a higher percentage edge. For example, when the dealer is showing a 6 up and a player holding 14 hits, he is more likely to take the bust card away from the dealer and allow the dealer to draw to a potential winning hand.

Proper blackjack etiquette is to work with your table mates and ask for advice when you are in a situation where you are not sure what to do. Never be afraid to ask anyone what you should do, as this invites the table to interact and potentially gain an edge against the house by having more players in concert working to bust the dealer.

Avoid the ‘hero’ mentality of taking cards when you should not and in the same respect do not play scared money and stand when you know basic blackjack strategy dictates you should hit. Furthermore, shy away from the temptation to get greedy and split 10’s, as this in most all cases will result in a loss for you and potentially a loss for the table when the dealer makes his hand. If you want to be greedy, sit at a table by yourself and play heads up against the dealer. That way you will not affect the play of the cards of your table mates.

Because Blackjack is a game in which the decisions of all players will affect the eventual outcome of each hand as well as future hands, you should always play well with others, respect the players at your table and use basic blackjack strategy.

Learning to do this and encouraging your table mates to play basic strategy will ultimately lead to each player making a profit at the table. It is proven that when one or two players take the game as a single player game against the house without considering the other players, that there will be more losses to the players and the house will have a higher percentage of making hands.

Consider for a moment, that every player at a table sticks to the proper blackjack game plan and implements basic strategy, that each player will have a greater chance to win more often. If you find yourself at a table where there are several players not using basic blackjack strategy, you should pick up your chips and leave. As the play will eventually change the outcome of future hands and ultimately break your blackjack bankroll.

Keep blackjack a team sport and work together with other players to help bust the dealer. Stick to basic blackjack strategy and do not be afraid to politely tell others if they are making a mistake, or to ask others for advice. These tips will make you a better player and in the long run will help you increase your profits in blackjack.

Discover more free blackjack tips and strategy to win! Go to Free Blackjack Guide and download your free strategy and tips for winning blackjack.

Watch the author as he wins more than $7,000 in ten consecutive blackjack sessions using the Blackjack Game Plan.

Blackjack Tips Used by Professional Players

January 26th, 2011

Many of today’s blackjack tips can be traced to the period of time from the 1960 to the 1990s when blackjack was the most popular casino card game in the world. Thanks to televised tournaments beginning in the 1990s the popularity of Texas Hold ‘em soon grabbed the attention of gamblers worldwide, but winning blackjack tips are still coveted by the fans of this legendary game.

The first forms of blackjack began in France in the 1700s. The game was imported into the United State after the French revolution and its popularity spread quickly throughout the country. With gambling prohibited in the early 1900s blackjack became an underground phenomenon so that by the time Las Vegas legalized gambling in 1931 the game had become popular throughout the country.

The ultimate of all books on blackjack tips was published in 1962 when Professor Edward Thorp used his skill in mathematics to create a card counting strategy that was outlined in his best selling book Beat the Dealer. Afraid of suffering losses thanks to the book’s revelations, casinos across the country changed many of the rules of blackjack to counteract the strategy. But when gambling revenues dropped sharply as a result of their action the casinos gradually restored the more favorable rules and blackjack remains a casino favorite today.

The concept behind the card counting strategy is that by calculating the number of cards remaining to be dealt and the ratio of the cards within that remaining count an experienced player can actually determine when the odds to win are in the player’s favor. At those times, the player will dramatically increase the amount of the bet to capitalize on the favorable situation.

Most of the best blackjack tips take advantage of this same concept, even in basic strategies designed for beginning or novice players. Like all games of chance, players will lose more hands than they win at blackjack. The key to having financial success lies in the players’ ability to bet more money on hands they’re likely to win and less money on hands they’re likely to lose. If you are counting cards, you know before a hand is dealt if you have better or worse odds of winning that next hand. But if you are merely playing a simple basic strategy, that knowledge comes only after the hand has been dealt.

The most important of all blackjack tips, then, deal with ways in which the player can add more money to his wager after he sees the cards that are dealt. As a player you should first memorize the correct ways to play a hand in terms of when to hit and when to stand. But to convert that knowledge into winning money at blackjack, tips regarding the player’s ability to put more money on the table at the right time are just as important.

Splitting pairs and doubling down are the two keystones to placing larger wagers on favorable hands. As an example, when the dealer is showing a 4, 5 or 6 the player has a distinct advantage. Similarly, depending on the dealer’s card, when a player is dealt cards totaling 10 or 11 the dealer may be at a disadvantage. It is at times such as these that the player must use the rules allowing splitting pairs and doubling down to increase the money wagered on what is now an advantageous situation.

Cary Clark is an avid traveler & prolific writer who has written extensively for newspapers & travel magazines. For the more on online blackjack, official blackjack rules blackjack tips and strategies, visit Casino Affairs.com.

Blackjack Guide – A Must Read For Beginners and Advanced Players

September 5th, 2010

Before entering a casino, you should know how to play blackjack. It is one of the timeless and most exciting games that man has ever developed, and you will surely enjoy playing blackjack every time you visit a casino. Blackjack game is also called twenty-one. Casinos usually mix several international 52-card decks that have no jokers into a single group called a shoe. A half-circle table is used in the blackjack game. You and the other players will be sitting across the curve of the table while the dealer will sit directly on the opposite side of the table. There is a betting circle in the table for each of the players. Only the chips that you put within the circle count as your bet.

You have to understand that you only have a single goal every time you play blackjack and that is to beat the dealer. There are two ways in which the dealer could lose. If your set of cards yields a value closer to 21 than the dealer’s cards then you win. It is important, however, that you do not go over the value of 21. Otherwise, you’ll get busted and lose the game. You may also win if the dealer gets busted while you don’t.

The next important thing that you should know about the blackjack game is the card value for each given card. Numerical cards are calculated at face value regardless of their suit. Meanwhile, all face cards in the deck are equivalent to the value of ten, while the ace can correspond to the value of one or ten.

You and the other players will be dealt with two cards facing up while the dealer is dealt with one card facing up and another one facing down. Your decision will primarily depend on the cards that you are holding and the single up card of the dealer. Using non-verbal signals, you will let your decision be known. The general basic premise for beginners is to assume that the down card of the dealer corresponds to the value of ten. This does not happen all the time; however it becomes easier to decide on your move when you adopt this premise.

There are six possible actions that you can pursue after being dealt with your hand. You may stand, hit, split, bet insurance, double down, and surrender. When you decide to stand, it means that you are already satisfied with your hand and will no longer take another card. However, when you hit, this means that you want to be dealt with one more card. On the other hand, you may split, when you have two equivalent cards on your hand. Doubling down means doubling your original bet and receiving another card; after this, you have to stand. When you surrender, it means that you are forfeiting your hand upon seeing your first cards. You get only half of your bet, and the dealer gets the rest. You have the option to take insurance bet if and when the up card of the dealer is an ace. If the dealer’s hand yields a natural blackjack, then you win.

If you know how to play blackjack, then it can be the best game that you will ever play in the casino. Likewise, if you play the game with no or little knowledge on how to play blackjack, then you may just encounter one of the worst games in your casino experience.

Check out free blackjack games and learn how to win at blackjack at our site.

Blackjack Quick Tips – A Mini-Education For Casino Players

August 16th, 2010

This lesson serves as a mini-education offering strategies, rules and game terms delivered in quick informational bites.

1) Blackjack: Play ‘Dealer must stand on ALL 17’s tables.

2) Best: single deck tables, no double down restrictions. Re-splitting and surrender allowed.

3) You only have to beat the dealer: you can win with a 13 or 14 hand and a dealer bust.

4) Master the hit/stand strategies and true count system for card counting.

5) Snag the third base seat to survey all the cards on the table before your decision.

6) Watch for dealer ‘tells’. Signs that can give away hands.

7) Don’t take Insurance.

8) Don’t play blackjack at a table where player’s blackjack pays 6-5 or even money.

Stick with the standard 3 to 2 payout.

9) Pass up blackjack tables that utilize a continuous shuffling machine where cards are returned to the shuffler after each round.

10) A Quick Tip Blackjack Strategy follows:

Your Hand against Dealer Upcard (D)

12 to 16: (D) stand on 2 to 6, hit on 7 to ace

17 to 21: (D) stand

10 or 11: (D) double down on 2 to 9

Soft 13 to 17: (D) hit except double down on 5, 6

Soft 18 to 21: (D) stand except double down on soft 18 and 5, 6

2,2; 3,3; 6,6; 7,7; 9,9: (D) split on 2 to 7 but stand on 9,9 against a 7.

5,5; 10,10: never split

8,8; A,A: always split

Blackjack Terms:

Action: Blackjack or 21 is a game where the player’s goal is to get closer than the dealer to 21 without going over. Blackjack pays 3 to 2 or $3 for every $2 bet.

Anchor: Player to the right of the dealer receiving the last card. Aka Third Base.

Burn Cards: number of cards casino discards at the beginning of a new shuffle.

Bust/Busted: Total count is over 21. This is a losing hand even if the dealer also busts.

All players whose count is less than 21 win if the Dealer Busts.

Double Down or Doubling Down: Doubling the bet before being dealt one additional card. Blackjack rule for Doubling Down is that the player receives only one card after a DD decision. Player may bet up to his/her original bet, but not more and places this second bet behind the original bet. Some casinos allow Double Down only with a count of 10 or 11.

Five-Card Charlie: 5-card Blackjack that totals 21 or less.

Hard Hand: a hand that does not include an ace.

Hit: dealt additional card(s) to the 2 cards already dealt originally. Aka Draw, Draw Card or Hit Card. The decision to hit is indicated by a sweeping motion on the felt by the player or tapping the felt in a Face Up game.

Hole Card: Dealer’s card dealt face down.

Multiple Decks: four or more decks played in a game, always dealt face up.

Paint: Term for face cards-Jack, Queen and King.

Push: same count as the dealer or a tie. No money is exchanged, you don’t win or lose.

Soft Hand: a hand that includes an ace in first two cards dealt. It has two values, depending on whether you use the ace as 1 or 11. A five and an ace would be 6 or 16.

Split or Splitting Pairs: splitting a matched pair to play separately. The extra bet is placed on one of the split cards. If a third like card is dealt, that too can be split based on casino rules.

Stiff Hand: a potential bust hand, such as a 13 or 14. Also, a hard 15 or 16.

Surrender: Choose surrender after receiving first two cards and you lose only 50% of the bet.

Toke: Tip to the Dealer.

Twenty-One: Term for the game of Blackjack.

If you play blackjack with poor strategy or instinct, you give the casino an advantage of over 5%.

A final Quick Tip: I suggest you print out this Blackjack mini-education for future use.

Gayle Mitchell and a team of gaming pros teach lessons for Learn To Play Blackjack program at the Free learning center, Gambling Teachers.com

GamblingTs, Learn to Win programs and blog include 300+ lessons for all casino & skill games taught by professional gamblers. Another popular stop at GT is Learn to Play Craps

Winning Tips For Beginner Poker Players

July 17th, 2010

Poker is quite trendy now-a-days. Although this fantastic card game has been around for quite a while, but it has become a great game to learn and a fun way to make some handsome income as well. This article suggests some handy tips and tricks that will help beginner poker players in mastering the game of poker.

1. Remember that poker and any other betting game can be addictive and what the bad about it, is that, you need money to play. Hence, before you begin with this addictive poker game and before you will start losing your hard-earned money, always ensure that you are willingly prepared on what you will go through.

2. Only wager an amount that you can afford to lose. If you wager all you have to poker, you may lose it promptly and you will be left with nothing. Hence, it’s quite important not to think about investing whatever you have. Consider Poker as a fun and don’t let be something that you enjoy today or feel sorry later.

3. Don’t be scared to fold early. It’s not compulsory to play all the hands, if you are in poker. Poker experts know you can lose if you play all the hands. In fact, to become a winning poker player, you don’t need to be a part of the action always. Fold if you think your hand has little chances of hitting everyone. Actually, this one of the most important poker tips that beginner poker players must always remember.

4. Keep your poker strategies unpredictable and don’t follow the style of play if you aspire to a winning poker player. It’s quite significant that your poker strategy is unpredictable and unreadable from other player’s point of view. Keep in mind that your opponents are trying to read your betting style and your play, and if they succeed, you will ultimately be doomed to lose.

5. Keep a close watch on the table cards as well the betting styles of your opponents. You must learn to “read” the cards in your opponent’s hands. It doesn’t mean that you must have some psychic power to read your opponent’s hands. A close watch on their betting styles as well as their reactions on the table can be your biggest hints in reading the cards they have.