blackjack

Betting

admin — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 09:09:06 +0000

On the felt in front of you is a betting circle or betting box. Place your chips in this spot to indicate how much you want to bet on the upcoming hand. You must make all bets before any cards are dealt.
After you make your bet, you aren’t allowed to add, take from, or touch the wager again. After the hand is resolved (the dealer has paid out the winners and collected chips from the losers), you may change the amount you wager for the next hand.
Ah, but of course, exceptions apply to every rule. And in blackjack you may alter your bet in two ways:
Doubling down: You double your original bet.
Splitting: You break your original hand into two separate hands.
For more information about these two lucrative options as well as other play¬ing options, check out the next section, “Playing Your Hand.”

Also try your skills at online poker in the recommended online poker rooms.

Dealing what’s in the cards

admin — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 09:08:17 +0000

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. (Check out the sidebar “Cuts and burns: Ensuring shuffling safety” for what you need to know about cutting the deck.)
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

Table tournaments

admin — Wed, 28 May 2008 15:45:49 +0000

When playing tournament table games, such as blackjack and craps, just remember one important point: Whoever finishes with the highest total of chips advances from each table. So even if you have a great run, all your “profit” is worthless unless you win your table and advance, which creates some wild and wacky finishes.
Unfortunately, no one-size-fits-all advice applies to every type of game. The tips that help you in blackjack may have no bearing at all in a Pai Gow tournament. With that caveat in mind, the following principles are helpful for craps, blackjack, and Pai Gow tournaments.
- Keep tabs on your opponents’ chips. In most craps, blackjack, and Pai Gow tournaments, in order to advance you must end the round as winner at your table. Consequently, keeping track of your opponents’ chip stacks is critical to see where you stand, especially down the stretch. Chip counting is a tough skill to master, but tournament rules do require all chips to be kept on the table in uniform stacks, making the task a little easier.
- Focus on the end play. Much of the strategy in these tournaments revolves around the end play, or the last hand, and the consistent winners are the ones who know exactly how much to bet in order to seize the lead.
- Vote conservative. At least during the early part of the tournament, adopting a conservative approach is a sound strategy that helps keep you in the game and a shot to win at the end. Watching several other aggressive players flame out early by losing their big bets isn’t uncommon. The elimination of any opponent at your table greatly increases your chance for advancing.