BLACKJACK CUSTOMS

There are numerous customs and procedures that vary widely among the casinos. And while not strictly parts of the rules, these practices can have a decided effect on the players' prospects of winning. Two of these customs or of particular importance to the expert player. They are shuffling and barring.

Shuffling

All casinos reserve the right to shuffle their cards, at their discretion, between Hands. However, the dealer may not shuffle during play of a hand, unless the deck is exhausted. Because expert play is most effective near the end of the deck(s), early shuffling can seriously decrease the player's rate of winning. For this reason, it is important to avoid those casinos with unfavourable shuffling practices.

Barring

If a casino deals on honest game, with reasonable rules, there is only one reliable way to prevent an expert player from winning; this is simply to bar him from play at the blackjack tables. Although this is an extreme action, of questionable legality, many casinos, nevertheless, do exclude suspected experts from playing twenty-one. In fact several, Las Vegas casinos are currently facing multimillion dollar lawsuits for just such barrings. When these lawsuits eventually find their way into Federal courts, outside Nevada jurisdiction, the general consensus is that such practices will be abolished throughout the United States. In the meantime it is important to avoid being detected as an expert player. As for myself, I find this little game of cat and mouse at least half the fun!good this