In the last column I told you the biggest sin in blackjack is that of socializing while playing blackjack and not watching the table as a consequence. If you did that at a poker table, you’d quickly get nasty stares and sharp criticism. Poker players understand the need to watch the cards and concentrate.
Shame blackjack players don’t have the same etiquette and common sense. Gabbing is a distraction for both the players who are talking and for the others at the table who are trying to concentrate. This causes everyone to play more poorly.
Let’s look just some game aspects players will miss if they’re chatting up their pals. Let’s use the card situation pictured as an example.
The first baseman; should he have split those Aces? If he wasn’t chatting up his buddy (and he was a smart, state-of-the-art player), he might not have – especially if this is the first round. The cards dealt are mostly dealer bust cards. The cards the dealer will likely get therefore favor the dealer’s achieving a healthy score. Why split in this situation – especially since you get just one more card on each Ace? (Think this player’s likely to win? He’s now got two likely losing hands.)
The player with the 8s; should she have stood on the 12-point hand, after getting the 4? If she wasn’t gabbing with her girlfriend (and she was a smart, state-of-the-art player), she might have recognized the dealer was highly likely to score this round and would have hit the 12 point hand, knowing she could not win with a 12.
Gabbers would also not notice that there are four Aces on the table nor would they notice where the dealer placed those Aces in the discard rack.
Why would that matter?
My research has shown you do worse when Aces are overdue than when they’re not likely to come in the next round (a highly favorable situation). The dealer’s just as likely to get one of the Aces, and when the dealer gets an Ace, his or her busting rate is extremely low (about 8 percent) and he or she will also get his or her share of blackjacks, which trump just about every player hand.
A smart, state-of-the-art player notices such patterns on the table and pays attention to them so that they can: 1) follow the Aces through the shuffle and know where they are when the cut card is being placed in the cards by a player; 2) cut the Aces out of the action if they get the cut card; 3) know whether the Aces are coming into play based upon how the player who got the cut card cut the cards; and 4) adjust his or her bet appropriately, depending on when those Aces are likely to be dealt again after the shuffle (if at all).
Another important factor distracted players will miss is how their betting spot is doing. What is their table winning percentage and the repeating pattern of cards coming their way (my research has proven that many of the same cards tend to be dealt to the same betting spots from shuffle to shuffle)? They’ll never know. They’re gabbing.
Let’s bring the poker etiquette of player politeness and silence to the blackjack table – at least while the cards are in play.
P.S. I’m giving a blackjack seminar in the southwest, possibly even in Denver, this fall. Let me know now whether you’re interested in attending. Tickets will be limited.
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Richard Harvey is a world renowned blackjack researcher and innovator, expert player, blackjack coach and professor, columnist and bestselling author of Blackjack The SMART Way (the NEW Gold Edition), Cutting Edge Blackjack (the NEW Third Edition), NEW Ways To Win MORE at Blackjack and the audio book Richard Harvey’s Blackjack PowerPrep Session. Have blackjack questions? Send them to rharvey2121@netscape.net. For more info see http://www.blackjacktoday.com.
