Blackjack Etiquette

about more specific games such as poker and roulette, each of which are played with a certain style and rules.  Blackjack is one more game which deserves its own guide to etiquette.  One of the original casino games, its long history has given it ample opportunity to refine itself into a very singular game with very singular behavioural expectations.  Here’s a quick guide to Blackjack etiquette:

• Always be polite, for example when approaching the table ask the dealer if it’s OK to sit down.  Politeness costs nothing.
• Don’t touch the cards.  The cards in Blackjack are dealt face up so there is no need to touch them.  It can also look suspicious to onlookers.  Of course you can touch any further cards dealt to you face down.
• After your wager has been placed, don’t be tempted to fiddle with the chips. Historically, a common method of cheating was to try and surreptitiously add more chips to your pile after being dealt a strong hand so pit bosses are understandably suspicious if anyone is seen tampering with the chips.
• Don’t be rude to other players.  Blackjack is a game in which there is a feeling that a poor player can steal good cards from a following player by playing poorly (for example hitting when they should be standing).  This is completely bogus however, they may be wasting a bad card.  Anyway, however bad a player is, berating them is completely unacceptable.  You won’t be popular.
• Always respect the staff – they are almost certainly on a fairly low wage and will not appreciate being treated disrespectfully by any players.  However they will appreciate a tip, especially if you’re on a winning streak.  Tipping will also be appreciated by the waiting staff.
• Keep up with play.  No one appreciates an inattentive player and the dealer doesn’t want to have to keep reminding you when it’s your play.

Respect the staff.

environment and perhaps it’s even more applicable here where money is won and lost, tensions rise and nerves get frayed.  If you’ve read our guide to casino etiquette and poker etiquette then you’ll already be aware of what’s expected of you inside a casino and at a poker table.  In this article we’ll have a quick look at roulette etiquette and how a beginner should behave.

• First, you need to obtain some chips.  For roulette, each player has his own colour chips to avoid any confusion.  When you’ve finished playing, change the chips back into regular casino chips.
• The betting period is the most important roulette rule by which to abide.  When the previous spin has finished and bets have been paid out, the croupier will let all players know when new bets can be placed.  The next spin will begin and shortly afterwards the croupier will say “no more bets’ or something similar, ending the betting for that spin.
• Try and avoid drinking or (if it’s still legal) smoking over the table.  These tables are expensive items and any spillages which cause damage may well be charged back to you.
• Treat all the other players at the table with respect and don’t touch anybody else’s chips.
• On occasion you may not be able to reach the required betting zone.  Don’t be tempted to fling your chips in that general direction, ask the croupier to do it for you.  Throwing chips around can also dislodge those of other players.
• Tips are always appreciated by croupiers (and of course other casino staff) but casino policy can be particularly strict in relation to roulette.  It’s not permitted in most European countries but the ‘tipping’ of the United States means it’s more widely practised there.

Again, nothing too mysterious there, just behave politely and respectfully and you and everyone else will enjoy your casino visit and roulette experience.

It’s a little complicated so we’ll try and briefly explain the rules here.  It helps to view the table so here’s what the layout looks like:

Three Card Poker table.

The playing positions are clearly marked, the yellow spots are the ante bet and the red are the pairs plus bet.  There are two facets to the game, playing against the dealers hand and playing separately to match your hand against a poker rankings chart as shown.  Note that unlike general poker rankings, a straight beats a flush.

The game begins with players laying down their ante bets, pairs plus bets or both then the dealer deals three cards to each player, including himself.  If the player thinks the hand will beat the dealer’s, they double the existing bets.  If they feel they will lose, they can fold and lose their bets.

Hands are now revealed and the dealer must have at least a Queen to continue, otherwise the players are paid their winnings at even money.  If the dealer does have a Queen, winning hands are noted and also paid at even money.

In the second facet of the game all hands, whether beaten by the dealer or not can win by having a pair or better.  If they have bet on pairs plus, they win according to the pay table below.  The ante bonus also comes in effect and hands are paid also according to the following table:

Sometimes it’s difficult to imagine that ‘spit and sawdust’ games such as Five & Seven Card Stud come complete with their own etiquette guidelines, but when you’re playing for money, everyone wants a level playing field, even those early practitioners of the game such as cowboys and gold miners.

These rules are in no particular order:

• Make sure you are aware of the particular house rules pertaining to your game.  For examples some casinos feature slightly different varieties of Seven Card Stud and Blackjack can easily vary from venue to venue.  Avoid confusion and embarrassment by getting it all straight beforehand.
• Keep the table in front of you tidy.  This means only put there what is required – cards, chips and a drink.  You don’t need your phone of your cigarettes.  The dealer needs to concentrate on chip counts and cards, not try and work out what is important in that pile of junk in front of you.
• Speak clearly and act clearly.  Make sure the dealer can hear you if you’re calling, raising and by how much.  He/she doesn’t want to ask you to repeat yourself. Similarly, although it may be tempting to fling your chips, movie style, into the pot, don’t do it.  Place them neatly.
• Always speak the language of the casino at the table.  Not a problem for most of us but if you’re in Vegas at a table with two Russian friends and speaking Russian to each other, it may look suspicious and it’s certainly rude.
• Don’t do anything before its your turn.  This means if you want to fold, wait until it’s your play.  Tossing your cards away face up before it’s your go can give players an advantage who should not be receiving one.  It will not go down well.

Most rules are just the normal acceptable behaviour that one would abide by anyway, so there’s no reason to be nervous about your first visit.

Be nice to the ladies....

casino to try out your new found skills.  If you’re playing online etiquette can take something of a back seat as your interaction with other people is limited.  At a live casino though, it’s real life and there are real people there, also looking forward to to a night (or day) or gaming.  So there are a few guidelines which will make your trip a smooth, enjoyable one – for you and for everybody else.

Don’t Get Drunk – or if you do like a drink, make sure you can handle your alcohol.  Cheap or free drinks are a great addition to a night out but you won’t be popular if you act like a drunken halfwit.

Don’t Wave Your Money Around – everyone appreciates a winner, but not one who shakes their wads of cash in everyone else’s faces.  If your luck’s in, be subtle.

Respect The Staff – in particular the waitresses, they may be pretty but most likely earn minimum wage and won’t appreciate your alcohol fuelled advances.  They will however appreciate a small tip when you order a drink.

Make Your Breaks Short- if it’s a busy night then everyone is waiting to get on the Blackjack tables.  It’s fine to reserve your seat while you dash to the toilet but it’s just rude to wander off on some other mission while people are waiting.

Respect The Locals – there will be plenty of people here who play regularly and may have been doing so for years.  The casino likes them and everyone knows them so if you encounter them, be polite.

Respect The Dealer – the dealer is a professional, they do this every night.  They’ve heard every piece of small talk you can possibly imagine so try to be imaginative if you’re going to make conversation.  Don’t blame them if you start losing – it’s bad luck or just your bad play.  What they’ll really respect is a small tip every so often, especially if you’re winning.

Check back soon for our specific game etiquette guides.

It’s a game which can be played with two or more players although the numbers will be limited by the number of cards in this one deck game.  As with other poker variants the aim is to achieve the best five card hand according to general poker rankings.

It starts off easily enough – the dealer is one of the players and this task rotates clockwise after each hand.  Five Card Draw features the blinds system of betting so the player to the left of the dealer lays the small blind and the next player lays the big blind. Five cards are then dealt face down to each player.

We now have one round of betting in which players can check, fold, raise or call and following this round, if two or more players remain in the hand, each remaining player can request to replace up to five of their cards.  The cards to be discarded are laid to one side and the replacement cards are dealt from the top of the deck.

Another round of betting now occurs and, as before, if two or more players remain in the hand, we now see the showdown in which all players still in the game reveal their hands.  And that’s it!  Bluffing is of course an important part of Five Card Draw but unlike, say, Texas Hold’em, players only have two opportunities to go for the bluff.  As a beginners game, it’s an entertaining way to learn about bluffing and hand rankings, and also to be educated about some of the finer points of more complex poker games.

Not this one...

invented for the whole purpose of allowing the inventor out their names to a new poker variant.  One of these is Let It Ride, a strange little beast, played in very few places but which at least is a new concept.  The other is Vegas Double Action, again a fairly innovative game but a rarely seen animal.

The focus of this article is Follow The Queen and this game takes the premise of tweaking a popular game in a minor way to hopefully provide a new poker experience.  If you’ve been reading our articles you should be able to spot which game Follow The Queen is based on.

It’s a stud game and can be played with no more than eight players.  The dealer rotates amongst the players and deals each player two face down cards and one face up. The player with the lowest ranking face up card must bet the bring in and everyone’s aim is to get the best five card poker hand according to poker rankings.

Seven cards (← clue) are dealt in total to each player assuming that they are still in the game.  After the original deal and after each subsequent card dealt to each player (the fourth card is the fourth street, the fifth card is the fifth street and so on) there is a round of betting where players can call, raise, fold or check as normal.  Cards three to six are all dealt face up.

So what is the difference between Follow The Queen and Seven Card Stud, you say?  Right, there’s an additional rule that whenever a face up card is dealt, if that card is a Queen, the following card becomes a wild card – a significant advantage for that player.  If the final face up card (sixth street) is a Queen, then all Queens are wild.  No Queens means no wild cards.

If the game makes it as far as the showdown, the winner is then determined.  As this is a game usually seen in home competitions, rule variations are common.  For example some games will assign the wild ranking to the entire suit which follows the Queen.  Make sure you know which rules you’re playing.

Vegas Double Action appears to be one such game, a strange combination of community and stud games which utilises very little, if any, skill on the part of the player or the dealer.

Ultimately the player is trying to obtain the best five card hand ranking possible according to a ranking chart designed specifically for this game.  It’s features the word double because the player is also able to bet on the dealer’s hand (which are also the community cards).

Ok so far then.  Before any cards are dealt the player bets an amount up to $5 on the outcome of his own hand.  He also has the option to bet an amount up to $5 on the outcome of the dealer’s hand – this is the stud bet.

Starting from the left the dealer then deals five cards face down to each player.  After this deal each player may discard up to five cards from his hand but he does not get any replacements.  If all five cards are discarded, the player is obviously treating the community cards as his hand.

Stud Hand Payout Table

Now the dealer lays out the five community cards and at this point the first winnings or losses are judged according to the chart on the right.  Everything with a lower ranking than a pair of sixes loses.  Two sixes get you a win at even money and the rest win as shown.

Now, one by one, the players hands are revealed and the dealer determines the best hands

Player Hand Payout Table

which can be made using the players remaining cards and an appropriate number from the community cards.

The player needs at least two pairs to win even money but one pair of jacks or better will retain your stake.

You may have to search long and hard to play this game in a casino but if you find it, let us know how you get on.

Customers tend to like them because they avoid the face to face intensity of playing against a real life dealer or other people.  The casinos like them because once the machine is bought or leased, it’s a money maker.  There’s no dealer to pay and it takes up very little room.  One of the first companies to mass manufacture Video Poker was Si Redd’s Coin Machines (SIRCOMA) which eventually became International Game Technology.

The usual game played on Video Poker machines will be Five Card Draw or some variant.  From a software development point of view it’s a relatively easy game to develop – there’s just one deck of cards used and the rules of Five Card Draw won’t demand to much processing power.  Of course these factors do not matter anymore but Five Card Draw still remains the Video Poker game of choice.

Briefly, you place your bet (after inserting your coins or tokens) and then you are dealt five cards, your aim being to obtain the best five card hand according to standard Draw Poker rankings.  At this point you get the opportunity to swap any cards in your hand with new ones from the unused deck.  What you end up with here is your final hand and you win according to the table below.

Similar to slot machines, there are regulations governing the standards and payout levels of Video Poker machines.  These are to ensure for example that random number generators are indeed random.  An interesting quirk that differs Video Poker from slot machines is that payout levels can occasionally be more than 100%. As unlikely as this sounds, if you play Video Poker using optimum decisions (and you need to be experienced to do this), you can sometimes expect a payout level of just over 100%.

So what are we going to write about in this article then?  A quick glance at the title will of course provide you with the answer – we’re going to relate the background and rules of The Wheel of Fortune, also known as the Big Six Wheel.  There are a couple of variations of The Wheel of Fortune, the first is the money wheel and is probably the most commonly spotted specimen.  A wheel, similar to the one on the right, is segmented into a number of equally sized segments marked by a cash amount.  The recurrence of the numbers is proportional to the value of the segment – for example the $1 prize will occur most often, providing odds of just less the 2:1 for a wager of $1.  Segments with higher values will appear less often, the odds and the prize increasing proportionately.  Usually a dealer will spin the wheel and a pointer will slow the rotation down by touching the edge of each segment.  The segment the pointer stops on is the winner.

The second variation is based on the roll of three dice.  There are 216 possible outcomes of rolling three dice and the wheel is marked into 216 segments – each featuring a picture of each outcome.  Players pick one number and the win is based on the amount of times that number appears in the chosen segment.  If the number appears once in the segment you win at 1:1, if it appears twice you win at 2:1 and three times – yes, you guessed it – 3:1.

There are also international variations but the differences are minor.  The United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and the United States are all keen players.

Lastly it’s worth noting that, for the player, the house odds are some of the worst you can find in any casino.  If you find a better edge than between 7% and 8% you’ll be doing well.