hi

[WaS is all i need]

I'm new to playing blackjack at casinos, been to only one, and I just read up on the rules of BJ.. I read on a site that you should throw down your cards face up in front of your bet if you want to double down or split.. So how does the dealer know which you want? Does he just split only when you have a pair, or do you signal for a double down and split differently?

Also wondering if anyone knows the table rules for BJ at Morongo, which is the nearest casino for me..
# decks at each table?
Dealer stands or hits on soft 17?
Doubles any card or 9/10/11 or 10/11?
Double after split allowed?

Thanks.

[radioguy21]

If you're playing a pitch game (single or double deck), yes, you toss the cards lightly in front of your initial bet, then push out the correct number of chips to double your bet. Sometimes it's obvious what you want to do; for instance, you have a 9,2 or 8,3.

If you have 5,5, the dealer will most likely ask you whether you want to split or double down ("Just one card?")

[Sonny]

Originally Posted by WaS is all i need

Also wondering if anyone knows the table rules for BJ at Morongo, which is the nearest casino for me..

Morongo is terrible. They only have 8-deck games without surrender. You can find much better games elsewhere, depending on what you’re looking for.

-Sonny-

[gobbledygeek]

Where I play (all cards dealt face up), placing your additional bet beside your initial bet means you want to split vs placing your additional bet behind your initial bet means you want to double down.

[Mikeaber]

Originally Posted by Sonny

Morongo is terrible. They only have 8-deck games without surrender. You can find much better games elsewhere, depending on what you’re looking for.

-Sonny-

Sonny,

I have encountered only a couple of 8-deck games in my limited Casino travels. But by the Edge Calculators, 8-deck has very little degredation from 6-deck. Is there some other reason you consider 8-deck to be that bad? Not challenging you, just curious. My preference is Double Deck or Single deck anyway.

[Cass]

Originally Posted by Mikeaber

Sonny,

I have encountered only a couple of 8-deck games in my limited Casino travels. But by the Edge Calculators, 8-deck has very little degredation from 6-deck. Is there some other reason you consider 8-deck to be that bad? Not challenging you, just curious. My preference is Double Deck or Single deck anyway.

I think he is referring to the amount of time it takes for a 8 deck to become positive. Sitting through 2 or 3 negative shoes betting min. would be horrible. Double deck and single deck games are a lot faster action.

[Sonny]

Originally Posted by Cass

I think he is referring to the amount of time it takes for a 8 deck to become positive.

Exactly. Sitting through neutral counts without chaning your bets or plays can get very boring. You're right that the 8-decks aren't much worse than 6-decks (all things being equal). You may get 2-3 less +EV hands per hour, but not much.

The main thing is that Morongo does not offer surrender while some other places do. That one rule is often enough to make me pass up a shoe game. The benefits of surrender are simply too tempting.

The nice thing about Morongo is that they are HUGE and full of terrible players. If you want to play for decent stakes and not get any attention, that is the place to go. It would be the perfect place to pull off a mid-stakes team scheme.

-Sonny-

[Mikeaber]

Okay, I can certainly understand and agree with that (working through 8 decks with negative counts). It's not only boring but can get costly.