How to play blackjack

The roughest table in the house, that's what it is. Getting a good long streak in blackjack is harder to come by than any other game on the floor. People play it because they love the game and think it is beatable just because they can count to 21 and can name the four suits in a deck, without a prompter card.

 Well, I might as well go all the way back to square one with an explanation about the game, in the chance that a couple of you are getting your feet wet for the first time. In the last chapter I gave you the Basic Strategy Chart and explained that it was the breakdown of all possible combinations you can be dealt and bow to handle them.

There is room for seven players at the table and after you buy in, the dealer will give you chips with usually a value of $1 for white chips, $5 for red chips, and $25 for green chips. The $100 chips are usually black. Any other denomination that you yourself might use is on the casino's color chart. But if you're into those higher amounts, what are you reading an article on basic blackjack strategy  for??

The game begins when you place a chip, we'll say $5, in the space provided in front of you. Some casinos will have the dealers deal from their hands, and this would usually be a single deck game, while other casinos go for the shot method explained above.

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 Whatever the dealing procedure, players are forbidden to put their hands on the cards, either face down with both of them or one face down and the other up. In Atlantic City, the dealer deals both cards face up and players are forbidden to put their hands on the cards. This is to eliminate any chance of a player marking the cards.

The dealer then gives herself a card down, a card up. This up card is the one we base all of our betting decisions upon, because it is the only one we can see. The dealer then starts from her left and plays out each person's hand, before moving to the next spot. You do not speak to the dealer regarding the drawing of a card or not drawing.

If you want a card, you make a sweeping motion toward yourself, either over the cards or on the table next to your hand, to indicate: "Give me a card." You do this each time you want a card. When you no longer want a card, you wave your hand over the dealt cards, indicating to the dealer that you are done.

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