Two things made it fun: When my blackjack table was filled with people who were there to have fun and I was doing my best to make sure they had fun, it was great. It was like being the host of a. All right, now, let's think about the American rules. Blackjack is the same, all other things being equal in the US and Europe if the dealer's showing a two through nine because there's no chance a dealer can have a blackjack, so we can just refer to the European numbers for two through nine. Let me add another row here for the total. Watch and Learn. Nick, who ran his own training school, says, “One thing I always told my trainees is, don’t assume I’m the best blackjack dealer just because I say so. Watch other dealers and decide for yourself. Ask experienced dealers who they think’s best, then study their technique. Work out why they’re good – then improve on.

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Michael Shackleford: Hi, this is Mike with the Wizard of Odds. The purpose of this video is to create the blackjack basic strategy from scratch in Excel starting with just a blank spreadsheet.

Why am I doing this? Because I'm getting a little tired of hearing dealers say that the basic strategy is a myth, that it was created by Ed Thorp, Beat the Dealer fame back in 1962 on an old UNIVAC computer or whatever and he must've made a mistake somewhere and this mistake has been repeated for decades by other gambling writers who never once thought to confirm his work and we've all just been repeating his work like parrots.

Number one I'd like to correct something is actually, Ed Thorp was not the first person to publish the basic strategy. There were four guys in the army in the 50s who did it before him and published it in the American Statistical Journal. However, Ed Thorp was the first one to write a book about it including addressing card counting and broke all kinds of new ground in the game.

I might also add that blackjack analysis has been repeated over and over by lots of gambling writers, including myself, and we all-- all the legitimate writers basically agree with each other.

Nevertheless, dealers will continue to say, 'Well, I've seen players play by the book and lose lots of times.' Well, of course, it's a game of luck and bad players who don't follow the basic strategy lose, too. But, as I always say, the more ridiculous a belief is, the more tenaciously it tends to be held, but let's quit talking and actually show you the basic strategy starting from nothing.

I'm going to use an assumption of an infinite number of decks of cards for the sake of simplicity. The mathematics of the game are not tremendously different between eight decks and an infinite number of decks. The basic strategy will be different in a couple borderline plays as we'll see later. But let's jump in, shall we?

Let's call the first sheet in the spreadsheet, 'the dealer sheet.' This is going to show the probability of every possible outcome for the dealer according to all possible 10 up cards.

So, one of these things are going to happen to the dealer; he could bust, he could end up with 17, 18, 19, 20, or 21, and we're going to do this by American rules where the dealer peeks for blackjack and he exposes it, if he doesn't-- if he has it otherwise, the player is not drawing dead to a handy can't be. We will factor in the blackjacks later on in another video where I show you how to calculate the house advantage.

There's 10 possible up cards the dealer can have, which we'll put across the first row. This table up here will represent the possible probabilities under the American rules. Again, it's a little tricky because in the-- again, because of this peeking rule. So, let's do it underneath here according to the European rule where the dealer doesn't peek for a blackjack and let's consider all the possible totals all the way up to 31 which will make-- doing the spreadsheet a little bit easier and we also will look at the soft totals and we'll start there from a 12, also up to a 31. What's a soft 31, you might ask? That's the same thing as a hard 21. For a soft 22 or more, just subtract 10 and it's the same thing as a hard total.

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All right, if the dealer has a-- that's the 17. There's a 100% chance he will end up with a 17 because he's going to stop and same thing with an 18 through a 21. The dealer ends up with a 22 or more. There's a 100% chance he's going to bust.

With the soft hands, let's assume the rule that the dealer stands on a soft 17. We can do the same thing there. With a soft 22, that's going to be the same thing as a hard 12.

Okay, let's start with looking at what is the probability of the dealer getting a 17 if he starts with a two? Well, the next card could bring him up to a four all the way up to an 11, each with equal chance. There's 4 chances he could end up with a 12 because there's four ranks in the deck that are 10 points, and one chance he could get to a soft 13. We divide by 13 because there's 13 ranks. This same formula is going to work all the way up to 16 for all the other possible totals.

Now, let's work on the soft hands. The dealer starts with-- hit's a soft 12. He could end up with a 13 up to a 21 each with equal chance, and four chances at a 22, copying paste that down.

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Let's take the total to make sure it adds up to one. Good, it does. Let's make sure it does for all the other outcomes. Looks good so far.

All right, now, let's think about the American rules. Blackjack is the same, all other things being equal in the US and Europe if the dealer's showing a two through nine because there's no chance a dealer can have a blackjack, so we can just refer to the European numbers for two through nine.

Let me add another row here for the total. For the 10 and the ace, there's no chance the dealer has a blackjack because he already peeked for it and again, we'll adjust for that later on when we figure out the house edge. But if the dealer has a 10 showing and when he hits that, that could leave him with a 12 up through a 19, each with one chance and four chances of the 20, and we divide it by 12 because there's 12 ranks, not counting the ace. Similar kind of logic with the ace, but there you can end up with a soft 12 up to a soft 20 and divide by 9, because there's only nine ranks that won't give them a blackjack.

There are all your dealer probabilities. Let's save this before I forget. We'll just call this 'basic strategy.' Now, we're ready to start talking about the player. Let's make our next sheet called 'stand.' This is going to show the players expected value of standing for any possible scenario.

Let's do everything by the 10-possible dealer up cards. Let's do all the player sheets according to having anywhere from a hard four all the way to 31 and a soft 12 all the way to 31.

Let me make the screen a little bigger for you. I hope that helps so you can see what I'm doing. All right. What if the dealer stands on a four against a two? The only way he's going to win is if the dealer busts. His expected value is the probability of the dealer busting minus the probability of anything else happening.

So, he can expect to lose by standing on a four against a two of about 29.3% of his bet. That's the same number for standing on everything all the way through a 16 because a 16 is no better than a four or a zero.

Things start to get better with a 17 because now, a 17 is going to turn from a loss to a push, so the expected value there is the probability of the dealer busting minus the probability of an 18 through a 21. We can ignore the dealer getting a 17 because that's going to result in a push with a player. Eighteen, expected value is the probability of the bust or 17 minus the probability of a 19 to21.

With a 19, expected value is the probability of a dealer having a bust 17 or 18 minus a 20 or 21. With a 20, it's a bust through a 19 minus a 21 and with a 21, it's anything except another 21 which would be a push.

So, the expected value of a 17 against a two is a expected loss of about 15.3% of the bet; with an 18, it's positive 12.2; with a 19, positive 38.6; with a 20, positive 64.0% and with a 21, positive 80.2%. If the dealer gets to 22 or more, these loss's expected value is negative one.

So, let's copy and paste that all over through to an ace. Now, with the soft totals, it doesn't help the player if it's soft if he's just going to stand on it. We can just refer to the hard totals. Soft 22 is the same thing as a soft 12 and expected value for standing. There's our expected values of if the player stands.

Let's talk about hitting next. We'll make a sheet called 'hit' and let's also make one called 'HS' which will represent the expected value of the better choice between hitting and standing because the player should make the choice with the higher expected value at every stage of the game. Let's zoom this so you can see it better.

Okay. For the hit stand sheet, at any given stage of the game, the expected value is going to be the higher of the expected value for that state between hitting and standing. We're going to need to reference that sheet when we talk about hitting because after the player hits, he can still keep hitting.

So, if the player hits a hard four against the two for example, he might be left with anywhere from a six through a 13, each with equal chance, four chances at a 14 and one chance at a soft 15 and divide it by 13 and just copy and paste.

The player hits a 21, he's going to bust, so his expected value is negative one, or if the player hits a soft 12, well, then he can have anywhere from a soft 13 to 21, four chances at the soft 22 which is the same thing as a 12, and again, divide by 13. Copy and paste that down through 21. As usual, a soft 22 is the same thing as a 12, so we can refer to the hard totals there.

So, there's our expected values for hitting. Now, let's see what the basic strategy looks like if the player is only limited to hitting and standing which is the case with three or more cards. If this greater expected value is the same as standing, let's put an S, otherwise an H for hitting.

Now, let's color that in. Blackjack writers seem to always use red for hitting, I think it comes from Lawrence Revere, and yellow for standing. Here's what it looks like. Take it from me, this is correct. Any legitimate blackjack book will show you this is the correct strategy for hitting and standing for any possible situation.

Let's talk about doubling next. Let's make a new sheet called 'double.' Let's make this bigger for you again. The doubling sheet is going to be based on the stand sheet, because when you double, you get one card only. There's no option to hit after that.

So, if the player doubles on a four against the two, he could end up with a six through a 13 or four chances at a 14 or a soft 15 and we divide it by 13. Let's multiply all this by two because now, the player asked to double his bet. We can simply copy that down through the 11. With the 12, it gets a little bit different because now the ace is going to count as-- it must count as a one.

So, we just adjust the formula a little bit like that. There are all your expected values for doubling for hard totals. Now, let's do it for the soft totals, start out by with the two because again, the player's doubling his bet.

If the player starts with a soft 12, his next card could give him anywhere from a soft 13 through 21, and four chances at a soft 22, which, again, is the same thing as a hard 12 and divided by 13. A soft 22 is again the same thing as a hard 12, so there's all your expected values for doubling.

Now, let's make a sheet. We'll call it 'HSD' for Hit Stand Double, which is going to represent the expected value of the best choice between hitting, standing, and doubling. So, this is going to be the maximum of hitting, standing, and doubling.

Let's adjust this little sheet here, 'the basic strategy,' to show the best choice between hitting, standing, and doubling. Voila, and let's color all this in-- color in all the doubling squares blue because everyone seems to use blue for doubling.

Here's our basic strategy for doubling. Again, take it from me, you'll see this same chart in any legitimate blackjack book, and here it is for the soft totals. Now, here are the couple differences between four to eight decks and infinite decks. These are two very borderline situations.

With four to eight decks, you're also going to double a soft 15 against a four and you're going to double a soft 13 against a five. Again, the only reason these are different is because of the infinite decks. There, we have doubling.

Next, let's talk about surrendering. Surrendering is really easy. Let's call this 'SUR' for surrender. The expected value of surrendering-- sorry, let me make this bigger for you again. It keeps changing. The expected value of surrendering is negative 0.5 for any situation where the player hasn't busted yet, because the player, by definition of the game, is losing half his bet and he doesn't have to play his cards out.

Let's make another sheet. We'll call this one 'HSDR,' that's going to represent the maximum expected value between hitting, standing, doubling, and surrendering. Why do we use an R for surrender? Because S was already taken for standing. Why does this zoom keep changing?

All right. So, the expected value between all those four choices is the maximum of hitting, standing, doubling, and-- oops. Surrendering. You can see right here, it's only optimal to surrender if the player has a 16 and the dealer is showing a 9, 10, or ace, or a 15 against the dealer 10. Let's update our chart here. I hope my wife gets that. I guess she's not. I hope it wasn't too important. There you see the four surrenders that I just set.

Finally, let's talk about splitting. The player could have a pair of anything from a two through 10s or two aces. Okay, what's the expected value if the player splits a pair of twos against a two? Well, first, let's put a two because the player has a double as a bet, and after splitting that, each hand could be anything. After he hits each one, it could be anywhere from a four through an 11, four chances at the 12, and one chance at a soft 13.

By the way, I am assuming that the player may only split once, no re-splitting, just to keep things simple. We copy and paste that. Things are different with aces. With aces, we're going to go to the stand sheet because the way blackjack is played is you only get one card after splitting aces.

So, after splitting an ace with each ace, you could have it anywhere from a 12 through 20 and four chances of the 21. Here's your expected values for splitting. Well, let's see when those are better than the best alternative.

Down here, let's look at the better value between, for example, with a pair of twos against the two, the higher of the splitting expected value or a hard four. With a three, it's going to be greater of the expected value of splitting the threes or a hard six, so, we're going to have to alternate the rows in the standing sheet.

For the pair of twos, we looked at cell B2 in the sheet for hitting, standing, or doubling. For a pair of threes, we're going to look at cell B4; for the fours, D6; for the fives, B8; and so on.

Okay. With aces, it's going to be the greater of splitting the aces or playing it out as a soft 12. Copy and paste it for the other dealer up cards. Now, let's make a little chart to show when it's best to split.

So, if the best expected value equals the splitting expected value, we'll put a Y for 'Yes, you should split,' otherwise put a, 'No.' Copy and paste that down and let's color it in.

If it's equal to a Y for 'Yes, we should split,' let's use green. Here, we have the splitting basic strategy. Take it from me, look in any blackjack book and it's going to tell you that you should split in these situations with four or more decks or 48 decks and the dealer standing on a soft 17.

So, there's your basic strategy. Here's this basic strategy for splitting. Here's a basic strategy for all your hard totals and your soft totals. Again, all that starting from just a blank spreadsheet. It wasn't all that complicated. I hope you understood this. I'm going to put this spreadsheet in Google Documents so you can look at it more closely on your own if you want to.

In my next video, I'm going to expand on this one to show you how we go from all these expected values to the actual house advantage of the game.

Thank you and I hope that wasn't too boring.

Michael Shackleford: Hi, this is Mike with the Wizard of Odds. The purpose of this video is to create the blackjack basic strategy from scratch in Excel starting with just a blank spreadsheet.

Why am I doing this? Because I'm getting a little tired of hearing dealers say that the basic strategy is a myth, that it was created by Ed Thorp, Beat the Dealer fame back in 1962 on an old UNIVAC computer or whatever and he must've made a mistake somewhere and this mistake has been repeated for decades by other gambling writers who never once thought to confirm his work and we've all just been repeating his work like parrots.

Number one I'd like to correct something is actually, Ed Thorp was not the first person to publish the basic strategy. There were four guys in the army in the 50s who did it before him and published it in the American Statistical Journal. However, Ed Thorp was the first one to write a book about it including addressing card counting and broke all kinds of new ground in the game.

I might also add that blackjack analysis has been repeated over and over by lots of gambling writers, including myself, and we all-- all the legitimate writers basically agree with each other.

Nevertheless, dealers will continue to say, 'Well, I've seen players play by the book and lose lots of times.' Well, of course, it's a game of luck and bad players who don't follow the basic strategy lose, too. But, as I always say, the more ridiculous a belief is, the more tenaciously it tends to be held, but let's quit talking and actually show you the basic strategy starting from nothing.

I'm going to use an assumption of an infinite number of decks of cards for the sake of simplicity. The mathematics of the game are not tremendously different between eight decks and an infinite number of decks. The basic strategy will be different in a couple borderline plays as we'll see later. But let's jump in, shall we?

Let's call the first sheet in the spreadsheet, 'the dealer sheet.' This is going to show the probability of every possible outcome for the dealer according to all possible 10 up cards.

So, one of these things are going to happen to the dealer; he could bust, he could end up with 17, 18, 19, 20, or 21, and we're going to do this by American rules where the dealer peeks for blackjack and he exposes it, if he doesn't-- if he has it otherwise, the player is not drawing dead to a handy can't be. We will factor in the blackjacks later on in another video where I show you how to calculate the house advantage.

There's 10 possible up cards the dealer can have, which we'll put across the first row. This table up here will represent the possible probabilities under the American rules. Again, it's a little tricky because in the-- again, because of this peeking rule. So, let's do it underneath here according to the European rule where the dealer doesn't peek for a blackjack and let's consider all the possible totals all the way up to 31 which will make-- doing the spreadsheet a little bit easier and we also will look at the soft totals and we'll start there from a 12, also up to a 31. What's a soft 31, you might ask? That's the same thing as a hard 21. For a soft 22 or more, just subtract 10 and it's the same thing as a hard total.

All right, if the dealer has a-- that's the 17. There's a 100% chance he will end up with a 17 because he's going to stop and same thing with an 18 through a 21. The dealer ends up with a 22 or more. There's a 100% chance he's going to bust.

With the soft hands, let's assume the rule that the dealer stands on a soft 17. We can do the same thing there. With a soft 22, that's going to be the same thing as a hard 12.

Okay, let's start with looking at what is the probability of the dealer getting a 17 if he starts with a two? Well, the next card could bring him up to a four all the way up to an 11, each with equal chance. There's 4 chances he could end up with a 12 because there's four ranks in the deck that are 10 points, and one chance he could get to a soft 13. We divide by 13 because there's 13 ranks. This same formula is going to work all the way up to 16 for all the other possible totals.

Now, let's work on the soft hands. The dealer starts with-- hit's a soft 12. He could end up with a 13 up to a 21 each with equal chance, and four chances at a 22, copying paste that down.

Let's take the total to make sure it adds up to one. Good, it does. Let's make sure it does for all the other outcomes. Looks good so far.

All right, now, let's think about the American rules. Blackjack is the same, all other things being equal in the US and Europe if the dealer's showing a two through nine because there's no chance a dealer can have a blackjack, so we can just refer to the European numbers for two through nine.

Let me add another row here for the total. For the 10 and the ace, there's no chance the dealer has a blackjack because he already peeked for it and again, we'll adjust for that later on when we figure out the house edge. But if the dealer has a 10 showing and when he hits that, that could leave him with a 12 up through a 19, each with one chance and four chances of the 20, and we divide it by 12 because there's 12 ranks, not counting the ace. Similar kind of logic with the ace, but there you can end up with a soft 12 up to a soft 20 and divide by 9, because there's only nine ranks that won't give them a blackjack.

There are all your dealer probabilities. Let's save this before I forget. We'll just call this 'basic strategy.' Now, we're ready to start talking about the player. Let's make our next sheet called 'stand.' This is going to show the players expected value of standing for any possible scenario.

Let's do everything by the 10-possible dealer up cards. Let's do all the player sheets according to having anywhere from a hard four all the way to 31 and a soft 12 all the way to 31.

Let me make the screen a little bigger for you. I hope that helps so you can see what I'm doing. All right. What if the dealer stands on a four against a two? The only way he's going to win is if the dealer busts. His expected value is the probability of the dealer busting minus the probability of anything else happening.

So, he can expect to lose by standing on a four against a two of about 29.3% of his bet. That's the same number for standing on everything all the way through a 16 because a 16 is no better than a four or a zero.

Things start to get better with a 17 because now, a 17 is going to turn from a loss to a push, so the expected value there is the probability of the dealer busting minus the probability of an 18 through a 21. We can ignore the dealer getting a 17 because that's going to result in a push with a player. Eighteen, expected value is the probability of the bust or 17 minus the probability of a 19 to21.

With a 19, expected value is the probability of a dealer having a bust 17 or 18 minus a 20 or 21. With a 20, it's a bust through a 19 minus a 21 and with a 21, it's anything except another 21 which would be a push.

So, the expected value of a 17 against a two is a expected loss of about 15.3% of the bet; with an 18, it's positive 12.2; with a 19, positive 38.6; with a 20, positive 64.0% and with a 21, positive 80.2%. If the dealer gets to 22 or more, these loss's expected value is negative one.

So, let's copy and paste that all over through to an ace. Now, with the soft totals, it doesn't help the player if it's soft if he's just going to stand on it. We can just refer to the hard totals. Soft 22 is the same thing as a soft 12 and expected value for standing. There's our expected values of if the player stands.

Let's talk about hitting next. We'll make a sheet called 'hit' and let's also make one called 'HS' which will represent the expected value of the better choice between hitting and standing because the player should make the choice with the higher expected value at every stage of the game. Let's zoom this so you can see it better.

Okay. For the hit stand sheet, at any given stage of the game, the expected value is going to be the higher of the expected value for that state between hitting and standing. We're going to need to reference that sheet when we talk about hitting because after the player hits, he can still keep hitting.

So, if the player hits a hard four against the two for example, he might be left with anywhere from a six through a 13, each with equal chance, four chances at a 14 and one chance at a soft 15 and divide it by 13 and just copy and paste.

The player hits a 21, he's going to bust, so his expected value is negative one, or if the player hits a soft 12, well, then he can have anywhere from a soft 13 to 21, four chances at the soft 22 which is the same thing as a 12, and again, divide by 13. Copy and paste that down through 21. As usual, a soft 22 is the same thing as a 12, so we can refer to the hard totals there.

So, there's our expected values for hitting. Now, let's see what the basic strategy looks like if the player is only limited to hitting and standing which is the case with three or more cards. If this greater expected value is the same as standing, let's put an S, otherwise an H for hitting.

Now, let's color that in. Blackjack writers seem to always use red for hitting, I think it comes from Lawrence Revere, and yellow for standing. Here's what it looks like. Take it from me, this is correct. Any legitimate blackjack book will show you this is the correct strategy for hitting and standing for any possible situation.

Let's talk about doubling next. Let's make a new sheet called 'double.' Let's make this bigger for you again. The doubling sheet is going to be based on the stand sheet, because when you double, you get one card only. There's no option to hit after that.

So, if the player doubles on a four against the two, he could end up with a six through a 13 or four chances at a 14 or a soft 15 and we divide it by 13. Let's multiply all this by two because now, the player asked to double his bet. We can simply copy that down through the 11. With the 12, it gets a little bit different because now the ace is going to count as-- it must count as a one.

So, we just adjust the formula a little bit like that. There are all your expected values for doubling for hard totals. Now, let's do it for the soft totals, start out by with the two because again, the player's doubling his bet.

If the player starts with a soft 12, his next card could give him anywhere from a soft 13 through 21, and four chances at a soft 22, which, again, is the same thing as a hard 12 and divided by 13. A soft 22 is again the same thing as a hard 12, so there's all your expected values for doubling.

Now, let's make a sheet. We'll call it 'HSD' for Hit Stand Double, which is going to represent the expected value of the best choice between hitting, standing, and doubling. So, this is going to be the maximum of hitting, standing, and doubling.

Let's adjust this little sheet here, 'the basic strategy,' to show the best choice between hitting, standing, and doubling. Voila, and let's color all this in-- color in all the doubling squares blue because everyone seems to use blue for doubling.

Here's our basic strategy for doubling. Again, take it from me, you'll see this same chart in any legitimate blackjack book, and here it is for the soft totals. Now, here are the couple differences between four to eight decks and infinite decks. These are two very borderline situations.

With four to eight decks, you're also going to double a soft 15 against a four and you're going to double a soft 13 against a five. Again, the only reason these are different is because of the infinite decks. There, we have doubling.

Next, let's talk about surrendering. Surrendering is really easy. Let's call this 'SUR' for surrender. The expected value of surrendering-- sorry, let me make this bigger for you again. It keeps changing. The expected value of surrendering is negative 0.5 for any situation where the player hasn't busted yet, because the player, by definition of the game, is losing half his bet and he doesn't have to play his cards out.

Let's make another sheet. We'll call this one 'HSDR,' that's going to represent the maximum expected value between hitting, standing, doubling, and surrendering. Why do we use an R for surrender? Because S was already taken for standing. Why does this zoom keep changing?

All right. So, the expected value between all those four choices is the maximum of hitting, standing, doubling, and-- oops. Surrendering. You can see right here, it's only optimal to surrender if the player has a 16 and the dealer is showing a 9, 10, or ace, or a 15 against the dealer 10. Let's update our chart here. I hope my wife gets that. I guess she's not. I hope it wasn't too important. There you see the four surrenders that I just set.

Finally, let's talk about splitting. The player could have a pair of anything from a two through 10s or two aces. Okay, what's the expected value if the player splits a pair of twos against a two? Well, first, let's put a two because the player has a double as a bet, and after splitting that, each hand could be anything. After he hits each one, it could be anywhere from a four through an 11, four chances at the 12, and one chance at a soft 13.

By the way, I am assuming that the player may only split once, no re-splitting, just to keep things simple. We copy and paste that. Things are different with aces. With aces, we're going to go to the stand sheet because the way blackjack is played is you only get one card after splitting aces.

So, after splitting an ace with each ace, you could have it anywhere from a 12 through 20 and four chances of the 21. Here's your expected values for splitting. Well, let's see when those are better than the best alternative.

Down here, let's look at the better value between, for example, with a pair of twos against the two, the higher of the splitting expected value or a hard four. With a three, it's going to be greater of the expected value of splitting the threes or a hard six, so, we're going to have to alternate the rows in the standing sheet.

For the pair of twos, we looked at cell B2 in the sheet for hitting, standing, or doubling. For a pair of threes, we're going to look at cell B4; for the fours, D6; for the fives, B8; and so on.

Okay. With aces, it's going to be the greater of splitting the aces or playing it out as a soft 12. Copy and paste it for the other dealer up cards. Now, let's make a little chart to show when it's best to split.

So, if the best expected value equals the splitting expected value, we'll put a Y for 'Yes, you should split,' otherwise put a, 'No.' Copy and paste that down and let's color it in.

If it's equal to a Y for 'Yes, we should split,' let's use green. Here, we have the splitting basic strategy. Take it from me, look in any blackjack book and it's going to tell you that you should split in these situations with four or more decks or 48 decks and the dealer standing on a soft 17.

So, there's your basic strategy. Here's this basic strategy for splitting. Here's a basic strategy for all your hard totals and your soft totals. Again, all that starting from just a blank spreadsheet. It wasn't all that complicated. I hope you understood this. I'm going to put this spreadsheet in Google Documents so you can look at it more closely on your own if you want to.

In my next video, I'm going to expand on this one to show you how we go from all these expected values to the actual house advantage of the game.

Thank you and I hope that wasn't too boring.

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Introduction

For those who have never played a table game before, this section is for you. It will benefit everybody if you know the basics of gambling protocol before you sit down for the first time. Few things are more annoying than a beginner at a table who doesn’t know what to do and has to be told everything several times by the dealer. Before your first time at a table game ask if your casino offers gaming instructions. At specific times of the day many casinos will give a tour of all the major games, explaining the rules and how to play. Some casinos offer a designated table where people can play with play chips to get their feet wet. If none of these options are available, then I would suggest watching a game from behind for a few minutes before sitting down. Notice the procedure and when you sit down try not to disrupt it. Following are some pointers which you can learn now or learn the hard way:

• Understand the rules before you sit down.

• Buy or cash in chips between hands only. If you sit down while a hand is in progress, wait patiently for the conclusion of the hand then buy in. Use this time to get your money ready.

• Know that red chips are $5, greens are $25, and blacks are $100. At the table you may ask the dealer to make change for a large denomination chip, but don't ask to exchange small denomination chips for large ones.

• When you cash out, the dealers prefer for you to trade in smaller denominations of chips for large ones. Between hands, give the dealer neat stacks of chips and let him/her count them and change them in.

• In some games the cards are dealt face up. If this is the case, never touch your cards.

• If the cards are dealt face down, then only touch your cards with one hand only! If you break this rule you will almost always get a sharp rebuke. Be gentle with the cards; don't bend them or put drinks on them. Some players have tried to cheat by bending specific cards slightly, for example the aces, and the dealers have to guard against this. I’ve seen new players told repeatedly to only touch their cards with one hand. If you can't seem to break the two-hand habit then sit on one hand if you have to. In some games, like Caribbean Stud Poker, you may not even touch your cards until the dealer signifies that you may by turning on a light.

• Never touch your bet once the first card has been dealt. Wait until after the hand is over.

• Do not drink excessively. Much worse than a new player is a drunk.

• Speaking as a non-smoker, if you must smoke please try to maximize the time between cigarettes. When you exhale do not do so in the face of other players or the dealer. When you are done with your cigarette please fully put it out, not letting it emit smoke from the ash tray. I respect your right to smoke, even at my table, but try to make it as painless for me as possible.

• In blackjack do not rebuke another player for the way they play their hand. There is a mistaken belief that unnecessary hitting causes everyone to lose at blackjack. This is addressed in more depth in my blackjack FAQ.

• Do not ask the dealer for advice. Dealers do not want to be blamed if you follow their advice and you lose so they will usually give a vague answer if you ask. An exception is pai gow and pai gow poker, where you may ask the dealer how he would play his hand according to the 'house way.'

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• Do not ask for pity if you have a bad hand, it happens to everyone. Numerous times I have seen a player hit a stiff hand in blackjack and get an additional small card but still be in the 12-16 point range. When this happens some players will often show their cards to the dealer, make a big sigh, and expect some sympathy for having to make another decision. Nobody cares about your hand but you, make a decision quickly and do not hold up the game.

• Tipping is more open to your judgement than the other rules of etiquette. In my opinion you should tip 2/3 based on how friendly and helpful the dealer is and 1/3 on how much you are winning/losing. Even if you are losing you should still tip if the dealer has been trying to make the experience more fun.

• Some games, especially blackjack, involve hand signals to signify how you want to play your cards. You must use hand signals, verbal instructions are not enough. Please know them before you sit down, it is very annoying when a new player has to be instructed over and over. Here are the hand signals in blackjack when the cards are dealt face up:

  • Hit: Tap the table.
  • Stand: Wave your hand, palm open, parallel to the table.
  • Double/Split: Place your matching bet next to, never on top of, your original bet. If you have two fours or two fives, you should hold up one finger if you are doubling, and two fingers if you are splitting.

  Here are the hand signals in blackjack when the cards are dealt face down:

  • Hit: Lightly scrape the corner of the cards against the felt.
  • Stand: Slide your cards under your bet. Do not lift your chips in the process.
  • Double/Split: Place your cards face up on the table, just above your bet. Then place your matching bet next to, never on top of, your original bet. If you have two fours or two fives, you should hold up one finger if you are doubling, and two fingers if you are splitting.

  If you bust then lay down your cards face up by your bet. Do not throw them in disgust, as it is very rude. If you can’t handle losing, then don’t play at all.

• If you plan to play craps please visit my section on craps where I give specific craps etiquette suggestions.

Tipping

“Thou Shalt Tip” is one of my Ten Commandments of Gambling. This includes tipping dealers and cocktail waitresses. In my opinion dealers should be tipped 2/3 according to their service and 1/3 according to how much you are winning or losing. There is no firm social norm but I suggest about one half your average bet per hour. The smaller your average bet the greater the ratio of tip to bet should be. Cocktail waitresses should get $1 per drink, and water counts. I highly recommend CocktailDoll.com for more information on proper cocktail waitress etiquette. Tipping in electronic games, namely slots, video poker, and video keno, is a matter of much debate with no firm social norm. After discussing this with a number of experts in this area I think a good rule of thumb is to tip 0.5% to 1.0% on any jackpot requiring a hand pay. The smaller the jackpot the larger the percentage.

In an earlier edition of my etiquette tips I incorrectly said the player should only feel obligated to tip if the dealer is friendly and they are winning. Here is what some dealers had to say:

Love your page and agree with almost all your opinions I’ve read with the notable exception of tipping. As a person with years of experience dealing, I take exception to your advice in regards to not tipping unless you are winning. We dealers work just as hard for you regardless of your good fortune or, unfortunately more often, your bad. I, and most other dealers I know, feel that after any length of time at a table a tip should be offered occasionally even when losing. Now don’t get me wrong. If you were to sit down and lose continuously, obviously I wouldn’t think a tip would be forthcoming (I also think a change of tables, games, casinos or plans for the day would be in order). Since tips are given in return for a courteous service provided, tips shouldn’t be withheld based on gambling success.

Thank You, Dave

Here is what another dealer said:

I appreciate that you provided a rebuttal for your tipping policy. Playing at a table with a friendly efficient dealer and failing to tip because you didn’t win is the same as receiving good service from a restaurant and not tipping the wait staff because you didn’t like the flavor of the soup. The waitress and dealer serve, with the understanding that you will tip if the service is good, they don’t cook the food or decide the outcome of the game. If you can’t afford the food and the tip for the server, eat at home. If you can’t afford to gamble and tip the dealer, play at home. A tip is the price of the service, not tipping is stealing the service.

Brian
Casino Dealer

In the spirit of providing dealer comments here is another one:

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I get so tired of being blamed for people losing, for being called names and for people getting so mad when they lose. I am also tired of dealing to drunk people. I work the graveyard shift and have for years now. I deal to intoxicated people often and it’s no fun at all. In my opinion, the best player is the one who comes for fun and has a good attitude. If my cards aren’t friendly, then move on to another table. We as dealers are teased a lot about being mean and taking people’s money and while a lot of it’s fun (we tease back too!!)..the player that gets too mad & frustrated because he’s losing shouldn’t be there at all!

S.R.
Biloxi Blackjack Dealer

Here are some more comments from a dealer about the etiquette of tipping:

I’m glad someone is curious about the topic of tipping. Dealers make minimum wage, plus tips. As dealers, we want all of the players to win so that they will come across with tips. Remember that pit bosses, hosts, and mangement want the players to lose because they are accountable for the “hold” to the owners (who give out bonus checks). The bottom line is that dealers are the only friends the players have when playing table games. It’s time for more players to treat dealers like friends. I can say with great confidence that less than 40% of the people who play blackjack tip the dealer. God bless the people who do tip!!!

Most casino dealers share tips, but the one I work for, and a few others keep their own tips. Players can always ask the dealer how tips are handled. Players will generally get better service in a casino where dealers keep their own tips. Regardless of which casino players are in, tipping is greatly appreciated because we depend on tips to survive. Being a dealer is much like being a waiter or bartender. Most people won’t go out to eat if they can not afford to tip the food server; the same should apply to gambling in casinos. We dealers call tippers “Live” or “George,” and we call non-tippers “Stiffs.” I don’t mind dealing to Stiffs as long as they don’t expect me to do anything but deal the game. There’s nothing worse than dealing to a table full of Stiffs who want to be catered to, entertained, and talked to for the entire hour, but none of them are courteous enough to tip. Most Stiffs just don’t know the etiquette of tipping because management doesn’t allow dealers to encourage players to tip. A George is a high-roller who hands out hundred, five hundred, and thousand dollar chips to dealers. Georges are rare, but they’re out there and are held in the highest regard by dealers. These are the players who make pit bosses wish they were still dealers. If a player wants to be considered Live, all they have to do is put the dealer up for .50 cents or a dollar on most hands they play (doesn’t seem like much, but it adds up quickly). Don’t hand the money in; bet it for the dealer. Players can ask the dealer how to bet the tip if they don’t already know. Players should definitely not wait until the dealer goes on break before they finally give a tip; this isn’t a cab ride, it’s per-hand service. Bottom line: Don’t be Stiff, be Live, and your casino experience is guaranteed to be much more enjoyable.

Chuck
Dealer

The following letter expresses another point of view regarding some of Chuck’s comments:

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Dear Wizard,

After reading a posted letter from a Dealer (Chuck) in your Gambling Etiquette section concerning tipping, I had to comment on a few of his statements. I have been in the casino business for 14 years at 8 different casinos (all in the Table Games department) and am currently an Assistant Manager in Tucson, Arizona.

Although I agree with Chuck the Dealer that guests should tip Dealers, I don’t agree with the implied assumption that guests should tip all Dealers. Tipping, as you have pointed out, should be based on guest service. Most casinos in Arizona (as well as most of the west coast) are “keep your own” so we deal with the entitlement issue every day. Although our Dealers do very well, there are always some who are never happy with how much they make. These seem to be the ones who have the attitude that they are entitled to more, even though their guest service (or dealing) skills are less than acceptable. If a Dealer, like any other service industry employee, wants to improve their bottom line, they should work to enhance their guest service skills. Remember, as a Dealer, you are a front line employee and there for the guest.

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I also don’t agree with Chuck’s statement, “I don’t mind dealing to Stiffs as long as they don’t expect me to do anything but deal the game.” As Table Games Management, we expect all Dealers to both deal their games to procedure as well as deliver excellent guest service regardless of the amount of tips they receive. I doubt Chucks employer would care much for his attitude. It sounds as though he is shooting himself in the foot--remember Chuck, all guests are potential tippers! Why would a guest tip you if you are doing nothing but “dealing the game?” Even though it’s an easy job, you still have to work.

Chuck is also quite misdirected with the statement that Pit Bosses, Hosts and Management want the guests to lose. On the contrary, we like nothing more than to see guests win and leave happy. It is not a question of wanting them to lose (remember, the odds are stacked in our favor). We don’t want the guest to lose--they will lose. Gone are the days of the “old school” casinos where they sweat the money and look at every guest as a potential cheat. The new casino attitude is not “us against them,” but “how can we make the guests experience more enjoyable?” As the Wizard can tell you, the numbers will take care of themselves.

Chuck mentions that Management does not allow Dealers to encourage players to tip, implying that we don’t want our Dealers to make money. Casino Management does not allow Dealers to ask for tips (or hustle, as in hustling for tips) for obvious reasons — we don’t want beggars dealing our games. Imagine how a guest would feel if their Dealer tried to “shame” them into tipping. I have never been to a restaurant and had the waiter/waitress tell me how to tip and how much I should give them for their service. As mentioned before, the guest should tip based on service and not because they were pressured into it by a greedy Dealer.

I’m very glad that the subject of tipping has come up on your website so that players can become more educated on how and why they should tip. I have never worked with anyone in casino management who does not want their front line employees to be successful financially. On the contrary, I want our Dealers to be successful! If they are making lots of tips that means that our guests are happy and enjoy their experience in our casino and with our staff. That also means they will return to our casino and not go to our competitors. In both a management and front line sense, that is job security!

Thank you,
G
Tucson

This section is dedicated to Brian Coppersmith, a decent gambler but a habitual violator of gambling etiquette.