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Proper Blackjack table etiquette?

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so tonight i went to one of them "injun casinos" to blow some $$$ on a few games of blackjack. So at the table i end up at, im sitting inbetween what appears to be a drunk couple (on my right) and this fatass middle aged dude (on my left). A few hands in, the couple on the right is hitting like crazy. on 14, 15, 16...they just keep hitting and getting good cards in small numbers like 2s and 3s and shit. When it comes time for me, im sitting with a Queen and a 3, and figure after all those hits, i figure a fuckin face card is due so i stand. and what do you know? Fatass dude hits, gets a face card, busts. Dealer hits, gets a face card, busts. The fatass dude turns fuckin beet red and starts grumbling some shit and tapping his fingers on the table. Then he looks at me and is like "you shoulda fuckin hit!" and i sort of laugh it off like he was joking, but apparently he wasn't. then he gets up and says "god fucking dammit" and grabs all his chips and takes off to another table. And the whole time he's like eyeballing me from the table. I could care less. I ended up turning $25 into $100 on the night, so it was all good for me.

anyway, wtf is with people getting mad when you play blackjack like that? I hate that shit where you are supposed to play for the whole table. I play for ME. I'll hit and not hit as i fuckin please.
 

miyuru

Member
Eh, that's never happened to me when I haven't hit and it's screwed other people. You don't play for the table, you play for yourself. Fuck the fatass man, if there was a problem for real, your dealer would've said something.
 

KingV

Member
And you're damned right to do it. I hate that at Blackjack too. It's a game of chance, you hitting could've screwed him just as easily as you not hitting. Constructive advice is good, but chewing people out at the table for not being "good" is not. I'm not a great Blackjack player, and I appreciate people who are better explaining when it's good to hit or bad to hit, but I've been in the same situation you were in and have no problem telling that other guy to fellate a dog.
 
thats whats wierd. I've had people get mad because i hit and "took their card", but this fucker got mad cause i DIDN'T hit and bust. and even if i did he would have busted anyway cause the next card was still a face. Ah well, i just hate all that shit. Im not gonna bother worrying about everyone else at the table. Even if i fucking have a 16 or 17, if i think the dealer has a 3 im gonna hit, i could care less about everyone else.
 

shoplifter

Member
^^dammit! beaten while typing

What's even more hilarious is that if the order was correct fat guy would STILL have busted since there were two face cards in a row.

I urge you to count cards next time, just don't get caught or they might throw your ass out. Lots of casinos play 6 decks in their BJ now though, which makes it extremely difficult to do. 4 is much more doable.
 

KingV

Member
It's playing odds, but there are certain situations where splitting, hitting, and doubling down are not the extremely obvious choice, but the most probabilistically advantageous choice.
 
D

Deleted member 1235

Unconfirmed Member
the man was probably mad at himself for being so stupid.

25 into 100 proves you did it the right way.
 

marko

Member
KingV said:
And you're damned right to do it. I hate that at Blackjack too. It's a game of chance, you hitting could've screwed him just as easily as you not hitting. Constructive advice is good, but chewing people out at the table for not being "good" is not. I'm not a great Blackjack player, and I appreciate people who are better explaining when it's good to hit or bad to hit, but I've been in the same situation you were in and have no problem telling that other guy to fellate a dog.


Right, you could of just as well helped him as hurt him. I used to go to a casino with my one friend, and he'd play all sorts of crazy hands. Hit when he shouldn't, stand when he shouldn't. People would get so mad, and I'd just laugh at them. Cause it does not matter. And when he did make a bad play, and save the table, no one was ever really like great play, way to go. They would still shake their heads.


I also remember one time I was ready to leave the casino. Think i was about even and wanted to end up either up or down, so I placed one $80 bet. Just joined the table, plopped the money down mid shoe. Well, I got blackjack, dealer got 20, and everyone else lost. Man, people were pissed that I jumped in like that and messed them up. I laughed.
 

sc0la

Unconfirmed Member
I never figured out why counting cards was "bad" It gives you information that you can use to your advantage which obviously the house hates, but I always thought of monitoring pieces in any type of game (from Dominoes to Scrabble) was just part of the game play.

Stupid ass house
 
How high was this guy betting? And what was the minimums at the table? For the most part, you look out for #1, and if you're that worried, sit in seat #1 so you control your own destiny.
 
John Carmack says...

"Having a reasonable grounding in statistics and probability and no belief in luck, fate, karma, or god(s), the only casino game that interests me is blackjack.

"Playing blackjack properly is a test of personal discipline. It takes a small amount of skill to know the right plays and count the cards, but the hard part is making yourself consistantly behave like a robot, rather than succumbing to your "gut instincts"."
 

golem

Member
man i had a terrible time last weekend in vegas with double downs... think i probalby only hit 1 or 2. doesnt mean you shouldnt do them however ;)

if someone is playing something close to basic strat, im cool with it... but if they're clueless, hopefully at the very least theyre asking for advice or i usually move to another table
 

SyNapSe

Member
I hate this too. :( I understand the basic rules of when to hit based on my cards vs. the dealers, when to double down and when to split, but HEY I'm playing for FUN. I don't gamble professionally.

Sometimes, I'm in the same situation... I see 3 or 4 straight low cards come out.. I expect a good chance of a Face card and I'll pass on something I should have hit. Some people get so angry about this.

The last two times I've gambled (once in las vegas and once at the boats here) someone got angry about it.

At the boats this last time, some shithead kid comes up to the table sits down and says something like "Yeah, I lost most of my money over their because those stupid assholes dont know how to bet.. Everyone here knows how to play, right?" My friend said yes, and so did some other guy.

The first hand, I think I had a 14 and the dealer was showing a face and I stayed. lol, I got lucky and won because the dealer ended up busting. The kid gave me a dirty look, got up and left. Who the fuck are these people?

It was a $5 damn table.. if your some gambling elitist or professional go play at a table where there are going to be more serious gamblers.
 

Grifter

Member
Interesting. I never knew that people at casinos expect you to play Blackjack for the table. That doesn't make much sense to me compared to playing your odds and card counting.
 

DarienA

The black man everyone at Activision can agree on
Screw the basic rules my missus and I played Blackjack on our cruise to Nassau at the beginning of July... we and actually the rest of the table for that matterwere simply f'n amazed by the dealers' ability to regularly hit 20 and 21's... and we both consider ourselves to be decent blackjack players. We did not play blackjack against that specific dealer for the rest of the cruise, some of the other dealers were a bit more manageable.... a bit.. not much, just a bit.
 

BojTrek

Banned
I agree and disagree with a lot of the statements above...

At the $5.00 table, deal with it... but I normally play $25 and up... so if people don't know when to hit or not hit... I get the fuck off the table or wait for them to lose all their money.

It is all about odds, but when everyone plays consistently... you can win big...

The most I have won in one trip (normally 3 days in Vegas) is $5000.

I have had winning of $5000, $4000, $3000, and a ton of $800-$1500 days...

My wife and I play very similar, we play consistent. So if the dealer is showing a 4-6 and we receive a 10-11 we double-down. If the dealer has a 7 and we have 12-16 we will hit.

I disagree/agree that you are there for yourself... because if you hit and don't hit consistently it throws off the deck and cards for other players...

I normally sit with me and the dealer rather than sit at a $5.00 table with "fun" people.
 

DarienA

The black man everyone at Activision can agree on
BojTrek said:
I disagree/agree that you are there for yourself... because if you hit and don't hit consistently it throws off the deck and cards for other players...

No where in any rules or etiquette have I EVER seen it written that you are responsible for the well being of the blackjack player that follows you. I'm not going to take a hit when I think a face card is coming just so the bloke next to me can get the 4 he needs to go blackjack. F*ck that.
 

BojTrek

Banned
That's cool... that is why I won't sit with you... you bastage...

I will win my $1000-$5000 on another table...
 

marko

Member
The play of any single player, no matter how bad, just does not affect the odds of winning for the whole table. You might remember the bad hits from that player that did the table in, but you rarely remember the bad hits that help the table. I understand not wanting to play at a table without the crazy players, that is fine, but just don't think you will do any better because you are at a table with good player, because that is not true. Just search good for "blackjack bad players".


I don't think I would double down on an 11 with an A showing personally, but that might be basic blackjack strategy.
 
Well, there is an absolute "correct" way to play. If the dealer was showing a seven or higher, you should have hit. Of course, the two people that played before you sound like they didnt really know what they were doing so the dude maybe should've been made at them. It is a game of chance, but you need to play the right way or you really do fuck up everyone else at the table. Really though, i wouldnt get mad at what you did. Now if you were one of those fucking idiots that splits tens...well, just dont be that guy.
 
Comfort_Eagle said:
Well, there is an absolute "correct" way to play. If the dealer was showing a seven or higher, you should have hit. Of course, the two people that played before you sound like they didnt really know what they were doing so the dude maybe should've been made at them. It is a game of chance, but you need to play the right way or you really do fuck up everyone else at the table. Really though, i wouldnt get mad at what you did. Now if you were one of those fucking idiots that splits tens...well, just dont be that guy.

There IS a correct way to play, but you DONT screw up anyone else at the table if you don't!

For every incorrect hit that hurts the next guy, there's an incorrect hit that HELPS the next guy!
 

SyNapSe

Member
Mister Zimbu said:
There IS a correct way to play, but you DONT screw up anyone else at the table if you don't!

For every incorrect hit that hurts the next guy, there's an incorrect hit that HELPS the next guy!

Exactly. The rules are to increase your odds.. now if you hit on something that "the rules" say you shouldn't and get a low card, and the next card happens to be high and that person hits and busts then it hurt him, obviously.

However, the next card could have just as easily been another low card. It seems silly these people are getting angry thinking "that should have been my card". None of these people remember the time you pull a 10 and bust, and they pull an 8 and get 20. It apparently wasn't "their card" that time...
 
Ninja Scooter said:
so tonight i went to one of them "injun casinos" to blow some $$$ on a few games of blackjack. So at the table i end up at, im sitting inbetween what appears to be a drunk couple (on my right) and this fatass middle aged dude (on my left). A few hands in, the couple on the right is hitting like crazy. on 14, 15, 16...they just keep hitting and getting good cards in small numbers like 2s and 3s and shit. When it comes time for me, im sitting with a Queen and a 3, and figure after all those hits, i figure a fuckin face card is due so i stand. and what do you know? Fatass dude hits, gets a face card, busts. Dealer hits, gets a face card, busts. The fatass dude turns fuckin beet red and starts grumbling some shit and tapping his fingers on the table. Then he looks at me and is like "you shoulda fuckin hit!" and i sort of laugh it off like he was joking, but apparently he wasn't. then he gets up and says "god fucking dammit" and grabs all his chips and takes off to another table. And the whole time he's like eyeballing me from the table. I could care less. I ended up turning $25 into $100 on the night, so it was all good for me.

No you did exactly what you were supposed to do. Q and 3 is a bust card hand. The if fatass hit when he was showing a 10 and 2,3,4,5, or 6 that's his problem. The only time you really are in a forced position to hit is when the dealer is showing a 8 or higher. You aren't supposed to take a bust for anyone. Besides if you did you would have busted he would have busted. If the dealer is showing a 2,3,4,5, or 6 you stay if you have a 10 an any combination of those hands. Double down on 10 and 11 (sometimes 9).

anyway, wtf is with people getting mad when you play blackjack like that? I hate that shit where you are supposed to play for the whole table. I play for ME. I'll hit and not hit as i fuckin please.


On a good table blackjack is a silent team game. Everyone "works" the table for the players to gain an advantage you played correctly he didn't.


marko said:
I don't think I would double down on an 11 with an A showing personally, but that might be basic blackjack strategy.

Are you daft man!

1. The odds of a 10 showing is greater than any other card.
2. You can't bust on an 11.


shoplifter said:
I urge you to count cards next time, just don't get caught or they might throw your ass out. Lots of casinos play 6 decks in their BJ now though, which makes it extremely difficult to do. 4 is much more doable.


An Indian casino is going to use a six deck. Making counting cards almost impossible for the average player. It would be better to bet on the odds of any one card showing up at anyone time.


Basically I know that there are 96 10 value cards in a 6 deck and 24 of any other value in the deck. That means to me that there is a 1 and 4 chance of any given card being a 10 card. That knowledge doesn't improve my odds just helps in my guessing.
 

SyNapSe

Member
Tommie Hu$tle said:
you played correctly he didn't.

He didn't tell us what the dealer had. If the dealer was showing 7 or above, the general rule is your supposed to take a hit (when you have a hard 13).

Chances are the dealer was showing a high or face card and that's why the guy got angry.
 
I don't think that most of you in this thread have really, REALLY played blackjack beyond the $5 tables.

I'm not saying that fatass should've yelled at you, Ninja Scooter, but if I was at the table you were playing at, I would've totally left after that hand. The drunk couple shouldn't have taken all those cards, the fatass shouldn't have hit, w00t there it is.

In fact, after reading your story again, you were the ONLY person at the table who did the right thing by standing. Bravo!
 
SyNapSe said:
He didn't tell us what the dealer had. If the dealer was showing 7 or above, the general rule is your supposed to take a hit (when you have a hard 13).

Chances are the dealer was showing a high or face card and that's why the guy got angry.


Well he said the dealer hit and busted with a face card so that tells me that it was a 2 thru 6.
 

DarienA

The black man everyone at Activision can agree on
Tommie Hu$tle said:
Well he said the dealer hit and busted with a face card so that tells me that it was a 2 thru 6.

Correct IIRC rule says if the dealer shows a 2-6 you stand because they odds say they'll bust.
 

Malakhov

Banned
I used to be a blackjack dealer for the montreal casino and believe me, oh high betting tables, you better play for the table.
 
Saint Cornelius said:
I don't think that most of you in this thread have really, REALLY played blackjack beyond the $5 tables.

I'm not saying that fatass should've yelled at you, Ninja Scooter, but if I was at the table you were playing at, I would've totally left after that hand. The drunk couple shouldn't have taken all those cards, the fatass shouldn't have hit, w00t there it is.

I don't understand WHY, though.

WHY does MY making a correct move affect YOUR chances of winning? Does a wrong move on my part magically change the next card in the deck so that you'll lose too?
 
DarienA said:
Correct IIRC rule says if the dealer shows a 2-6 you stand because they odds say they'll bust.


If and only if you have a 10 and a 2 -6 or 10 and 7 or greater. If you have less than 12 then I would double down on a 9, 10, or 11 (my assumption is that I'll hit 21 on an 10 or 11) and he will bust anyways.

Mister Zimbu said:
I don't understand WHY, though.

WHY does MY making a correct move affect YOUR chances of winning? Adequately explain that to me.

Simple the more people on the table means that the cards are better dispursed. That reduces the amount of smaller cards offered to the dealer. Increasing the chance that he will show get a 10. On the flip side that means he has an opportunity to hit more 20s but, so do you. Players hitting correctly doesn't cost you. The dealer hitting correctly does.
 
Mister Zimbu said:
WHY does MY making a correct move affect YOUR chances of winning? Does a wrong move on my part magically change the next card in the deck so that you'll lose too?


Yes. There's nothing magical about it.
 
Tommie Hu$tle said:
Simple the more people on the table means that the cards are better dispursed. That reduces the amount of smaller cards offered to the dealer. Increasing the chance that he will show get a 10.
My original reply: But... as long as things are fairly evenly shuffled, wouldn't the probability remain about the same?

However, I now think I'm understanding. Since they can keep adding up without going over 21, a person should be able to take out more small cards than large cards... thus changing the probability.

Surely there's a site someplace that actually shows how the probabilities change for cases like this. *searches*
 
JoshuaJSlone said:
My original reply: But... as long as things are fairly evenly shuffled, wouldn't the probability remain about the same?

However, I now think I'm understanding. Since they can keep adding up without going over 21, a person should be able to take out more small cards than large cards... thus changing the probability.

Surely there's a site someplace that actually shows how the probabilities change for cases like this. *searches*



The probablity will remain the same. But, I know for me I'd rather play with 5 people at the table rather than the dealer and I one on one (assuming I have a table of 5 reasonable players). I will always walk from a table when someone is spending 10 times the min on a table.
 

marko

Member
Mister Zimbu said:
I don't understand WHY, though.

WHY does MY making a correct move affect YOUR chances of winning? Does a wrong move on my part magically change the next card in the deck so that you'll lose too?


Don't let any of these guys dissuade you from what you know is correct. Your incorrect move is just as likely to help as it is to hurt (don't listen to that card dispursal talk either, that is not true). Over the long run your odds are the same whether the person next to you plays the horribly, or perfect blackjack strategy. Just because people have more money to bet at higher limit tables, does not mean they understand this any better.

All my searching of google suggest what I am saying above is true, and I could not find one link to suggest that poor players do affect your odds at the table.

But don't get me wrong, I can understand why people do not want to play with someone that does not know what they are doing. It is like watching someone throw away money. I can accept that their play does not affect me though.
 
I disagree. When people know how to hit properly it does help the table. Again in the initial example the fatass screwed himself Ninja had nothing to do with it.

If I have a 13 and the guy next to me is showing an 11 and the dealer is showing a 6. What good is it for me to hit? Me staying possibly helps me and the guy next to me. In the long run the odds are the odds and we are both out. But, when you know how to hit correctly that can help others.
 

DarienA

The black man everyone at Activision can agree on
Tommie Hu$tle said:
I disagree. When people know how to hit properly it does help the table. Again in the initial example the fatass screwed himself Ninja had nothing to do with it.

If I have a 13 and the guy next to me is showing an 11 and the dealer is showing a 6. What good is it for me to hit? Me staying possibly helps me and the guy next to me. In the long run the odds are the odds and we are both out.But, when you know how to hit correctly that can help others.

Why should help I person next to me win? Boj you are just too l33t for me. :rolleyes
 
DarienA said:
Why should help I person next to me win? Boj you are just too l33t for me. :rolleyes



I'm there to look out for me. I'm not going to take one for the team, but if your play helps someone else to get some cash then why not? Playing with basic BJ rules will do that anyways.
 

DarienA

The black man everyone at Activision can agree on
Tommie Hu$tle said:
I'm there to look out for me. I'm not going to take one for the team, but if your play helps someone else to get some cash then why not? Playing with basic BJ rules will do that anyways.

You answered it in your first statement. I'm not at the blackjack table to help someone else win some cash.
 

BojTrek

Banned
My rule of thumb... I am there to win money... not give my money to the casino.

When people don't play toward the recommended rules on when to hit... they cause me to lose money. So, I look for tables that have higher stakes and sometimes watch how people play.

Someone with a 13 and the dealer showing a 7 has to hit... who cares if they think a 10 is coming... your 13 cannot beat a 17, so you are wasting money sitting there already on a losing hand.

Just let know what l33t means... here is what I think of this topic...

6ae07dcb33ec3b7c814df797cbda0f87.jpg
 
BojTrek said:
Someone with a 13 and the dealer showing a 7 has to hit... who cares if they think a 10 is coming... your 13 cannot beat a 17, so you are wasting money sitting there already on a losing hand.


That's obvious. Wow, such mastery of blackjack you should write a book.
 

DarienA

The black man everyone at Activision can agree on
BojTrek said:
Someone with a 13 and the dealer showing a 7 has to hit... who cares if they think a 10 is coming... your 13 cannot beat a 17, so you are wasting money sitting there already on a losing hand.

That's a crappy example.
 
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