Casino Barcelona Blackjack Rules

• Casino Barcelona Blackjack Rules
• Casino Barcelona Blackjack Rules Poker
• Casino Barcelona Blackjack Rules Game

• Appendices
• Miscellaneous
• External Links

Speaking of BlackJack, each casino has its rules: in Casino Barcelona there is no surrender, but you can secure half of your bet if the dealer's card is an ace. And you can double with 9, 10 or 11 as they are the best combinations to double. If you can find Spanish 21 games at your casino, then it is worth giving them a try. The game is a close cousin of blackjack and offers increased payouts but with a novel twist – all the 10 cards are removed from the deck. This article will look at the rules of Spanish 21, the odds, and your best strategy. Blackjack rules are pretty standard throughout Europe, as follows: Six decks on a continuous shuffler. Dealer stands on soft 17. Dealer does not take a hole card. It follows the standard rules of Blackjack, but alters the payout for players who reach 21 with two cards of different suits. A Blackjack with two black cards pays 2 to 1, or $20 for a $10 bet.

Rules

I overhear a lot of bad gambling advice in the casinos. Perhaps the most frequent is this one, 'The object of blackjack is to get as close to 21 as possible, without going over.' No! The object of blackjack is to beat the dealer. To beat the dealer the player must first not bust (go over 21) and second either outscore the dealer or have the dealer bust. Here are the full rules of the game.

1. Blackjack may be played with one to eight decks of 52-card decks.
2. Aces may be counted as 1 or 11 points, 2 to 9 according to pip value, and tens and face cards count as ten points.
3. The value of a hand is the sum of the point values of the individual cards. Except, a 'blackjack' is the highest hand, consisting of an ace and any 10-point card, and it outranks all other 21-point hands.
4. After the players have bet, the dealer will give two cards to each player and two cards to himself. One of the dealer cards is dealt face up. The facedown card is called the 'hole card.'
5. If the dealer has an ace showing, he will offer a side bet called 'insurance.' This side wager pays 2 to 1 if the dealer's hole card is any 10-point card. Insurance wagers are optional and may not exceed half the original wager.
6. If the dealer has a ten or an ace showing (after offering insurance with an ace showing), then he will peek at his facedown card to see if he has a blackjack. If he does, then he will turn it over immediately.
7. If the dealer does have a blackjack, then all wagers (except insurance) will lose, unless the player also has a blackjack, which will result in a push. The dealer will resolve insurance wagers at this time.
8. Play begins with the player to the dealer's left. The following are the choices available to the player:
   • Stand: Player stands pat with his cards.
   • Hit: Player draws another card (and more if he wishes). If this card causes the player's total points to exceed 21 (known as 'breaking' or 'busting') then he loses.
   • Double: Player doubles his bet and gets one, and only one, more card.
   • Split: If the player has a pair, or any two 10-point cards, then he may double his bet and separate his cards into two individual hands. The dealer will automatically give each card a second card. Then, the player may hit, stand, or double normally. However, when splitting aces, each ace gets only one card. Sometimes doubling after splitting is not allowed. If the player gets a ten and ace after splitting, then it counts as 21 points, not a blackjack. Usually the player may keep re-splitting up to a total of four hands. Sometimes re-splitting aces is not allowed.
   • Surrender: The player forfeits half his wager, keeping the other half, and does not play out his hand. This option is only available on the initial two cards, and depending on casino rules, sometimes it is not allowed at all.
9. After each player has had his turn, the dealer will turn over his hole card. If the dealer has 16 or less, then he will draw another card. A special situation is when the dealer has an ace and any number of cards totaling six points (known as a 'soft 17'). At some tables, the dealer will also hit a soft 17.
10. If the dealer goes over 21 points, then any player who didn't already bust will win.
11. If the dealer does not bust, then the higher point total between the player and dealer will win.
12. Winning wagers pay even money, except a winning player blackjack usually pays 3 to 2. Some casinos have been short-paying blackjacks, which is a rule strongly in the casino's favor.

Wizard's Simple Strategy

I've been preaching for years that to play blackjack properly requires memorizing the basic strategy. However, after pitching the basic strategy for 20 years, I've learned that few people have the will to memorize it. In my book, Gambling 102, I presented a 'Simple Strategy,' which is seven simple rules to playing blackjack. The cost due to incorrect plays with the Simple Strategy is 0.53%, under liberal Vegas Strip rules.

Ever since my book was published it has bothered me that the cost in errors to my Simple Strategy was too high. So in September 2009 I developed the following 'Wizard's Strategy.' The cost due to imperfect plays is 0.14% only, relative to liberal Vegas Strip rules. That is the cost of one hand for about every 12 hours of play. Compared to the 250 cells in the Basic Strategy, the Wizard's Strategy has only 21, as follows.

Let me be perfectly clear that this strategy is not right 100% of the time. I continue to get Emails saying that when this strategy was used with my practice game, the player was corrected for following it. For example, my simple strategy says to stand on 12 against a 2, when it is mathematically better to hit. If you want to learn a strategy that is correct all the time you should use the appropriate basic strategy for the set of rules you are playing.

Here are some comments of clarification.

• A 'hard' hand is one that either has no aces, or has aces that are forced to count as point, lest the hand bust. A 'soft' hand is one with at least one ace, which may still count as one or eleven points.
• With a hard 10 or 11, double if you have more points than the dealer, treating a dealer ace as 11 points. Specifically, double with 10 against a 2 to 9, and with 11 against 2 to 10.
• If the strategy says to double, but you have three or more cards, or table rules don't allow soft doubling, then hit, except stand with a soft 18.
• If the strategy says to surrender (16 vs. 10), but you can't for whatever reason, then hit.
• If the strategy says to 'not split,' then treat the hand has a hard total of 8, 10, or 20, according to the pair in question.

A reader named Jeff provided another table of my simple strategy, with exceptions in small print. Details about the Wizard's Simple Strategy can be found in my Blackjack appendix 21.

Basic Strategy

For the appropriate basic strategy for just about any set of rules, please visit my basic strategy calculator. I still have my traditional charts too:

House Edge

See my Blackjack House Edge Calculator to determine the house edge under 6,912 possible rule combinations.

Rule Surveys

Las Vegas: I'm proud to feature up date blackjack rules for every casino in Las Vegas. The list is updated monthly, based on Stanford Wong's Current Blackjack Newsletter. Effective November 2009 the survey has been moved to my companion site, WizardOfVegas.com.

Rule Variations

Following is a list of some common rule variations and the effect on the player's expected return compared to standard U.S. rules (8 decks, dealer stands on soft 17, double after split allowed).

Rule Variations

Rule	Effect
Single deck	0.48%
Early surrender against ten	0.24%
Player may double on any number of cards	0.23%
Double deck	0.19%
Player may draw to split aces	0.19%
Six-card Charlie	0.16%
Player may resplit aces	0.08%
Late surrender	0.08%
Four decks	0.06%
Five decks	0.03%
Six decks	0.02%
Split to only 3 hands	-0.01%
Player may double on 9-11 only	-0.09%
Split to only 2 hands	-0.10%
European no hole card	-0.11%
Player may not double after splitting	-0.14%
Player may double on 10,11 only	-0.18%
Dealer hits on soft 17	-0.22%
Blackjack pays 7-5	-0.45%
Blackjack pays 6-5	-1.39%
Blackjacks pay 1 to 1	-2.27%

I also have a longer list of rule variations.

Beware Short Pays on a Blackjack

More and more tables are showing up that pay less than the full 3 to 2 on a blackjack. Most of these tables pay 6 to 5, but some even money and 7 to 5 tables are known to exist. I would estimate that 10% of '21' tables in Las Vegas now pay less than 3 to 2. In my opinion, only games that pay 3 to 2 deserve to be called 'blackjack,' the rest fall under '21' games, including Super Fun 21 and Spanish 21. Regardless of the other rules, you should demand nothing less than 3 to 2 blackjack. You should always check the felt to be sure, and if the felt doesn't say, look for a sign. If nothing says the win on a blackjack, then ask.

Articles about 6-5 Blackjack:

• Taking a hit: New blackjack odds further tilt advantage toward the house, Las Vegas Sun, Nov. 13, 2003.
• Tighter blackjack rules would hurt players' bankroll, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Feb. 4, 2011.

Bad Strategies

Three popular bad strategies encountered at the blackjack table are: never bust, mimic the dealer, and always assume the dealer has a ten in the hole. All three are very bad strategies. Following are my specific comments on each of them, including the house edge under Atlantic City rules (dealer stands on soft 17, split up to 4 hands, double after split, double any two cards) of 0.43%.

Never bust: For my analysis of this strategy I assumed the player would never hit a hard 12 or more. All other decisions were according to correct basic strategy. This 'never bust' strategy results in a house edge of 3.91%.

Mimic the dealer: For my analysis of this strategy I assumed the player would always hit 16 or less and stand on17 or more, including a soft 17. The player never doubled or split, since the dealer is not allowed to do so. This 'mimic the dealer' strategy results in a house edge of 5.48%.

Assume a ten in the hole: For this strategy I first figured out the optimal basic strategy under this assumption. If the dealer had an ace up, then I reverted to proper basic strategy, because the dealer would have peeked for blackjack, making a 10 impossible. This 'assume a ten' strategy results in a house edge of 10.03%.

Play Blackjack

Practice your blackjack game using my two training tools.

Practice Basis Strategy

Practice Card Counting

Written by: Michael Shackleford

You probably already know how to play blackjack, but do you know how to beat blackjack? Only a few blackjack players know the secrets needed to play winning blackjack.

Casino Barcelona Blackjack Rules

Not every blackjack game is the same. And if you don’t know which blackjack tables offer the best rules, you’re not going to win.

You also need to know what to do on each hand and what not to do. These things are what separate the blackjack winners and losers.

Here are five secrets about real money blackjack that the casinos hope you never learn. You can’t win without these secrets.

Only Play 3:2 Blackjack Tables

I’m going to start with a quick example. This example is so important that if you don’t learn what it means, you’re never going to bet blackjack games.

You have the choice between playing at two different blackjack tables. The first table has better overall rules than the second table, but the first table pays 6:5 when you get a natural 21. The second table doesn’t have bad rules, but they’re not quite as good as the first table rules. The second table pays 3:2 for a natural 21.

On each table, you have the same odds of getting a natural 21. When you compare the other rules at each table, you see that the return to player percentage on the first table is a little better. But here’s what the different return for a natural 21 does on each table.

You’re betting $50 on every hand. And when you get a 21 on the first table, you win $60. But when you get a 21 on the second table, you win $75.

Here’s what you need to understand clearly. No matter how much better the other table rules are, they can’t overcome the difference between the 21 payments. You can’t afford to give up the extra $15 in profit for the better 21 payment and hope to win.

Here’s a trick that casinos use to get more players to play blackjack on the tables that pay 6:5. The casinos make the table minimum bet $10 on 6:5 tables and $20 on 3:2 tables.

Low rollers want to play with the lowest wager as possible. And this isn’t a bad strategy. But you actually have a better chance to win at the $20 tables than at the $10 table. In fact, you’re going to lose more at the $10 table in this example than you’re going to lose at the $20 table.

You have to play on 3:2 blackjack tables to have any chance to beat blackjack.

The Cost of Insurance

Insurance pays 2:1 when the dealer has a natural 21. When this happens, you lose your opening wager and break even because the rules of the insurance wager ends up giving you the same amount as your opening wager.

The ratio needs to be the same for it to be a good risk. This means that the odds of the dealer getting a blackjack either need to be 8:4 or better, or the pay for the bet needs to be 2.25:1. These are the reasons why insurance costs you money.

Before you move to the next section, there are a few special circumstances when taking insurance is the correct play. Most blackjack players never get in these situations because they don’t use the ultimate blackjack secret you’re going to learn in the final section in this article.

You just learned that when the ratio of cards is 9:4 that insurance costs you money. But when the ratio falls to 8:4 or lower, insurance becomes a good bet. Learn how to know when the ratio is favorable in the last section in this article.

You Have to Master Casino Blackjack Rules

When you play blackjack, there are two things that influence your wins and losses. The first thing is how you decide to play your hands. I cover this in the next section.

In this section, you’re going to learn about the other factor that influences your wins and losses. The rules at the blackjack table play an important part in your wins or losses.

You already learned the importance of the payout for a natural 21. But other rules are important, too. All blackjack rules either help or hurt your overall results.

Whether or not you can split pairs, and how many times you can split pairs, changes your return. What cards you can double down on and when you can double down changes the return.

Whether or not you can surrender changes your return. Whether or not you can double down after splitting a pair also plays a big part in your return.

You need to spend some time learning everything there is about rules to avoid bad blackjack bets. Find out how each rule changes your expected return so that you can find the blackjack tables with the best rules.

Playing Perfect Blackjack Strategy

When you learn how to find the blackjack tables with the best rules, your job is only halfway done. The second part of the equation is learning the best blackjack strategy.

Do you know the best way to play a hard 14 against a dealer 6? What about against a dealer 9? Do you split 4s?

You can figure out the best way to play each blackjack hand by running numbers based on every possible outcome. This is how they used to do it. Or you can use a computer program to do all of the hard work for you.

But there’s an even easier way than this. All you have to do is get a blackjack strategy chart or card. A card or chart has all of the proper plays listed based on computer analysis that someone else has already completed.

The Ultimate Blackjack Secret

If you want to know the ultimate secret to beating blackjack, you’re in luck. You can beat blackjack in the long run, and it all starts with what you’ve already learned in this article. But you have to do one other thing to get over the top.

The ultimate blackjack secret is learning how to count cards. Counting cards is easier than most blackjack players think. Most players think it’s going to be too hard, so they never try.

You can learn how to count cards in a few hours. And you can learn how to do it good enough to beat the casinos if you practice enough. You might need to practice for 100 hours, but once you master counting, you’re going to make money when you play blackjack.

In other words, even if it takes you 100 hours to master card counting, it’s worth it in the long run because you’re going to profit from your new skills for the rest of your life.

Take a look at the KO counting system and the Red 7 counting system. These are both good systems that are easy to learn and use. Start learning how blackjack card counting works and begin practicing today.

Use These Gambling Secrets to Win at Blackjack

Blackjack is one of the easiest casino games to play, but it’s hard to beat. It’s an impossible game to beat if you don’t know the right secrets.

Casino Barcelona Blackjack Rules Poker

Beating blackjack starts with how much the casino pays for a natural 21. If they don’t pay 3:2, you can’t win in the long run.

The next secret is that you should skip the insurance wager close to 100% of the time. Some blackjack rules are better than others, and if you don’t know which ones are the best, you can’t win.

Casino Barcelona Blackjack Rules Game

Use the ultimate blackjack secret revealed in this article to beat blackjack games consistently.