If you’re a newbie blackjack player who has mostly practiced the game at home or online and you finally feel confident enough in your skills to hit the casino, then you should also know how to pick the right table.
And the right one is the one that best matches your level of experience, strategy, and bankroll and also has the lowest possible house edge and the best odds.
Casinos like to set traps for their patrons at every corner that inexperienced players can easily fall into. While most of these traps are there to prevent cheating and advantage play, they can turn a newbie’s first moments on the gaming floor into a complete nightmare.
In this article, we offer a set of important tips that can help players in their search for the right table and advice on what to look for and what to avoid.
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Choosing the Right Table Limit
Casinos nowadays offer different blackjack experiences based on the number of decks the game is played with, the rules that apply at a particular table, and the shuffling procedures that are implemented. All these affect the house edge.
The table’s limit, that is the minimum and maximum wager a player can place, doesn’t change the house’s advantage over the player. It will thus have no impact on your playing strategies, but you should always check the table limits written on a placard usually placed at the dealer’s right before buying into a game as this will certainly save you a lot of trouble and money.
If you are new or relatively new to the game, you should probably go for the lowest-limit table. And of course, the size of your bankroll will always be a key factor when you are looking for the right game to play.
You should have at least 20 or even 40 betting units as you buy into a game. If your bankroll totals $100, picking a table at which the minimum bet is $25 is not a good idea as you’ll likely have one very short game.
There’s usually less pressure at low-limit tables, everyone is more relaxed, and the speed of play tends to be quite slow at times because players often banter with each other and the dealer. As you become more proficient and your bankroll allows it, you will probably move to higher limits.
If you are a beginner card counter and you are using simple systems such as The Knockout and the Red 7, low limits are one good way to practice and improve your skills.
However…
… as you master your count of choice, you will certainly want to make the most of it. As a general rule, card counters expect to make a profit of about 1% of their overall bets per every hour of play.
So, if you play at a table with a minimum limit of $10 and a maximum limit of $100 and your average wager is $35, then you could make between $25 and $50 if you count cards properly. This will certainly attract unwanted attention. You can even be asked to leave the casino, if you get caught. While card counting is not considered cheating, no gambling establishment will let you deploy it and improve your edge.
At high-limit tables, players are usually more experienced. They know what they do and what they want, which results in more hands being played. We don’t advice switching to these tables too soon, even if your bankroll allows it. Build your skills gradually and move to high-limit play only when you are confident enough that your actions won’t result in significant losses.
Number of Decks
Another important thing that you need to take into account is the number of decks the game is played with as this affects the house edge against a player who follows basic strategy rules. The general rule is that the more decks a blackjack game is played with, the greater the house edge will be.
So, you will definitely want to know what game you will be playing at the table you are about to sit at. Sometimes, the placard at the dealer’s right would say whether it’s a single- or a double-deck blackjack that is played at the table. However, it would rarely reveal whether it’s a four-, six-, or an eight-deck game.
In most cases, dealers deal the cards in multi-deck games from a shoe. If you’ve spent a little bit of time on the gaming floor, you will be able to determine the number of decks used by looking at the dealer shuffling the cards or at the stack of cards in the shoe immediately after they have been shuffled. You can also always ask the dealer how many decks are involved.
Rules Favoring the Player vs Rules Favoring the House
Blackjack tables at the casino come with several different sets of rules. Some of these are more favorable to the player, others not so much. There are also certain rules that should always, we repeat – always, be avoided by newbies and probably by experienced players, as well.
The mix of rules applied at a table determine the house edge. Some of these are designed to reduce the house edge a bit, while others increase it significantly. Every player should know the difference between a good rule and a bad one.
Generally, rules that are favorable to the player include surrender, early surrender, late surrender, doubling down on any initial two cards, doubling down on all soft hands, doubling down after a pair is split.
You should also better scout for single- and double-deck games, although these seem to be more difficult to find at gambling establishments these days.
Tables that permit re-splitting of pairs, including Aces, are also considered more favorable to the player. And finally, the choice of table should also always be based on how much a blackjack is paid at. Ones that pay 3:2 or 2:1 for a blackjack are the best possible option.
While 3:2 is a very common payoff, 2:1 is a rare find these days. The reason behind this is because such a payoff reduces the house edge by approximately 2.3%. And no casino will ever gladly offer a game whose overall expectation for a basic strategy player is quite positive.
On the other hand, tables that pay a blackjack at 6:5, 7:6, or even money should be avoided at all cost. In addition, games that don’t allow doubling down after a pair is split or doubling down on soft hands, or permit doubling down only on hands totaling 10 and 11 are not so favorable to the player. The same goes for games that don’t allow players to re-split Aces.
A newbie player should also avoid six- and eight-deck games as well as ones where the dealer hits on soft 17 (a highly unfavorable rule) and surrender is not an option at any point throughout the game.
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How Do Rules Affect the House Edge?
Each of the above rules can swing the edge in the player’s favor and some of them have a considerable negative impact on the player’s or the house’s advantage.
For example…
… the house edge increases around 0.2% when rules specify that the dealer hits on soft 17. When players are not allowed to re-split non-ace pairs, the house edge increases about 0.05%. On the other hand, being allowed to re-split aces gives the basic strategy player advantage of roughly 0.06%. The edge grows to 0.07% if players can re-split twice.
Early surrender is also a favorite rule as it causes the house edge to drop by about 0.6%. However, this option is rarely offered at tables.
Games that pay 6:5 for a blackjack increase the house edge by nearly 1.39%. As we mentioned above, you should never play such games.
All rules, good or bad, affect basic strategy principles. And the effect caused by some is greater than the others. In addition, the effect may vary depending on the number of decks used. It should also be noted that some of the above rules are more common than others.
You can use this calculator on the Wizard of Odds site to estimate the house edge or use these basic strategy charts for any possible mix of blackjack rules that you can come across at the casino.
The Shuffling Method Also Matters
The way cards are shuffled also affects player strategy, so this is one more thing you need to take into consideration when searching for the right table.
Single- and double-deck games are usually hand-shuffled by the dealer, which is really favorable to players, including card counters.
However, with multi-deck games, dealers will usually use automatic card shufflers, since shuffling the cards manually would take quite some time. There are different types of automatic shufflers and players find one of them particularly dreadful.
The Continuous Shuffling Machine (CSM) is the one that you should really stay away from. It combines features of an automatic card shuffler and a dealing shoe. Dealers usually place five decks into the CSM and after each betting round ends, they will collect the played cards and insert them into the shuffling machine where they are randomly shuffled with the rest of the decks.
This shuffling method increases the house edge by approximately 0.1% in a six-deck game. While some players would think this is not so bad, they should know that their basic strategy would be further impacted by the fact that a CSM-dealt game never stops as cards are constantly being shuffled without the need for the dealer to be engaged in the process.
This results in one or even two additional betting rounds being dealt (if the dealer is really skilled and fast) per hour, which is up to 20% more hands being played per hour. For players, these additional hands would increase their theoretical loss per hour compared to hand-shuffled games.
CSMs were introduced to prevent card counting as one of the most effective strategies used by players to turn the odds in their favor.
Automatic shufflers don’t have any significant effect on the house’s odds against players when they are used in multi-deck games. With such games, dealers usually have two separate sets of the same number of decks. One of the sets is used by the dealer in the game, while the other is being shuffled. When the cut card pops up, the decks in play are placed in the shuffler, while the just-shuffled decks are taken by the dealer to be used in the game. This results in about 65% to 80% of all decks being used before the entire set is reshuffled.
Final Thoughts
If you don’t have much experience playing blackjack at a land-based casino, finding the right table for you would be a bit of a challenge. However, take your time because the choice of table will affect your basic strategy, the casino’s edge against you, and ultimately, your profit from the game (we say profit because every player sits at the table with hopes to leave it with more money than what they originally had).
Take a good look at the placards listing most of the rules of a particular table as well as the minimum and maximum wager allowed. Pick a table that best matches your bankroll, that is how much you are willing to spend playing at that particular moment.
Low-limit tables are usually the liveliest as players frequently interact with each other and the dealer, so if you don’t mind a little bit of distraction, you’ll certainly enjoy spending your time at such tables. However, if you’re in for more serious experience, you’ll probably quickly switch to higher limits once you’ve gained enough confidence and have polished your skills.
You should also try to pick the game that offers the most favorable mix of rules. And assuming rules are the same at all tables and they only differ in the number of decks used, as a beginner you’d probably be better off playing single- or double-deck games. However, these are found more rarely nowadays.
Speaking of decks, you should remember that assuming all other rules are the same, the more decks are involved in a game, the higher the house edge goes.
It is also a better idea to play at a full table rather than one with just a couple of players or even worse a table where it is just you and the dealer. This is particularly important if your bankroll is limited. When there are more players, you’ll get fewer hands and play is typically slower. This will significantly decrease your bankroll’s exposure to the house edge. And you’ll definitely want this, especially if you’ve somehow ended up at a table with a set of unfavorable rules.
And one last thing…
… if you feel that brick-and-mortar casinos are not your thing, playing blackjack at online casinos or via mobile apps can, too, be extremely entertaining while you are also offered the calm and quiet and comfort of your home or the opportunity to play whenever and wherever you want.
Many of the tips offered in this article apply to online play, as well. But be sure to check the rules of your blackjack game of choice at your digital casino of choice before you start playing. Only this way you can make the best of your playing session.
