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We get a lot of questions on our forum about basic strategy. Here are some of the common ones and their answers: When you're done splitting, each of your hands will be treated separately, meaning that you will take cards to your first hand until you stand or bust, and then carry on with the next hand. If the dealer goes bust, all players who are left in the game win. Otherwise players with higher point totals than the dealer win, while players with lower totals than the dealer lose. For those with the same total as the dealer the result is a push: their stake is returned to them and they neither win nor lose. The Theory of Gambling and Statistical Logic, Richard A. Epstein, 2009 (1967), ISBN 978-0-12-374940-6, doi: 10.1016/C2009-0-20160-7, 265–286 In team play, it is common for team members to be dedicated to only counting a side bet using a specialized count.

In most places, players can take as many cards as they like, as long as they don't bust, but some casinos have restrictions regarding this. The Dealer's Turn Whether you’re someone who occasionally likes to play casino games or you’re a passionate gambler, you’re bound to find a great read on the subject in our list of the top gambling books of all time below. 1. Bringing Down The House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions – Ben Mezrich If you have a bad hand compared to the dealer's hand (judging from what you can see of it,) you can give up the hand and reclaim half your bet. The casino keeps the other half uncontested. You need a really bad hand match-up for a surrender to be profitable, such as 16 vs the dealer showing a 10. Bringing Down The House is based on a true story, but claims have been made that so many liberties are taken to protect the identities of those in the book, that it crosses the line from truth into fiction. Regardless, it’s still a smashing tale that was turned into not one, but two hit films, and is enjoyed by readers around the world. Once you learn this chart you will have to learn additional rules and deviations that relate to the specific rules of the games you will be playing. The better you learn basic strategy the easier it will be to transition to the other rules-specific charts.After the initial two cards, the player has up to five options: "hit", "stand", "double down", "split", or "surrender". Each option has a corresponding hand signal. Super fun 21 allows a player to split a hand up to four times. If the player has six cards totaling 20, they automatically win. Wins are paid 1:1. If the dealer doesn't have a natural, he hits (takes more cards) or stands depending on the value of the hand. Contrary to the player, though, the dealer's action is completely dictated by the rules. The dealer must hit if the value of the hand is lower than 17, otherwise the dealer will stand. From stories about MIT graduates who test out their mathematical skills in Vegas, to a heartfelt biography of one of the greatest card players of all time, books about gambling cover a broad range of topics. Many reveal how much gambling isn’t just about honing your skills and playing games, but is also an intricate part of our human history. 6 of the best gambling books available today An example of a basic strategy is shown in the table below, which applies to a game with the following specifications: [15]

Note: Where changes in the house edge due to changes in the rules are stated in percentage terms, the difference is usually stated here in percentage points, not a percentage. For example, if an edge of 10% is reduced to 9%, it is reduced by one percentage point, not reduced by ten percent. Doubling down. The third card is placed at right angles to signify that the player cannot receive any more cards. Wondering when it’s best to surrender, hit, double down, stand, or split? You’ll find all of the answers and then some in this book. Most certainly a good read for new players. Jones, Charles (1800). Hoyle's Games Improved (New, considerably enlarged, revised and correcteded.). London: Ritchie. If you’re interested in watching the cinematic adaptations of this read, watch 21, which stars Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth and Kevin Spacey, and The Last Casino – a French-Canadian adaptation (referred to in French as La Mise Finale), which stars Charles Martin Smith, Katharine Isabelle and Kris Lemche. 2. Titanic Thompson: The Man Who Bet on Everything – Kevin CookIf you’re a fan of historical nonfiction and biographies, and are interested in betting history, you’ll appreciate this book. 3. Scarne’s New Complete Guide to Gambling – John Scarne TL;DR – Our chart is based off of the more common “H17 game.” Memorize our chart, then learn card counting and the deviation chart for the game you will most commonly be playing.

It makes hitting safer, since the only way of going bust is to draw a 10, and this is less likely with a 10 already in the hand.

Signal: Place additional chips beside the original bet outside the betting box and point with one finger. Fontbona, Marc (2008). Historia del Juego en España. De la Hispania romana a nuestros días. Barcelona: Flor del Viento Ediciones. p.89. ISBN 978-84-96495-30-2. Gamblers Anonymous – This national organization helps people connect with local GA groups or virtual meetings. Use their hotline directory to find a hotline in your state. Parlett, David (1990). The Oxford guide to card games. Oxford [England]. ISBN 0-19-214165-1. OCLC 20852782. {{ cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher ( link)

Double down: Increase the initial bet by 100% and take exactly one more card. The additional bet is placed next to the original bet. Some games permit the player to increase the bet by amounts smaller than 100%, which is known as "double for less". [12] Non-controlling players may or may not double their wager, but they still only take one card. The insurance wager equals your original bet and is used to cancel out the likely loss of this bet. A winning insurance bet will be paid at odds of 2:1, and since you lose your original bet, you'll break even on the hand. Strategy guides tend to advice against taking insurance. Surrender Hard totals: A hard total is any hand that does not start with an ace in it, or it has been dealt an ace that can only be counted as 1 instead of 11. Why? The classic text that many early card counters were taught by including myself. Contained nice color charts that made it easier to memorize basic strategy. Included four counting systems developed by Lawrence Revere with computer simulation data from Julian Braun.You then decide whether you want to draw another card or stand. Standing is usually a good idea if your cards value 17 or more, as the odds of you going over 21 are high. As someone who knew the industry inside out, and even consulted governments on their gambling strategies, Scarne also played his fair share of games and met some interesting people along the way. With this kind of experience, you can imagine that this author has many relevant and interesting stories to share! In addition, where You play any game, or place a bet using the Services, or otherwise use the Services, You agree to be bound by: In case you’re not a visual learner these simple phrases might help you commit these rules to memory. The goal with remembering phrases is to be able to look at your hand total and immediately recite the rule in your head, without having to see what the dealer has. That way when you’re at the table and you look up to see what the dealer has, you already know how it relates to your hand and you can make your decision in a split second. Memorizing these phrases will make you much faster and have fewer mistakes.