Table and Seat Selection in Blackjack

22 May 2021

By John Marchel

When playing blackjack and using basic strategy it really does not matter what seat a player sits at. However, there is a slight advantage playing at or near the “third base” position. Sitting at or near the last player to play before the dealer, will allow more time to analyze the hand and the dealers up card before making a playing decision.

The “first base” position is the opposite extreme. Being the first player who requires to take immediate action after the deal, time will be short, and a rushed action might cause a mistake on the part of the player.

An experienced basic strategy player will not have any trouble setting at any position.

However, keep in mind that experienced dealers, pit bosses and casino management, know card counters like to sit at third base, so they watch that position more closely. If you count cards, beware of this fact. Playing in seat 3, 4, or 5 will require moving your head, looking back and forth to see all the other hands. This action by you, could alert the pit boss that you are trying to see all the cards played, and you might be a card counter.

When it comes to choosing a blackjack table, there are a number of things you should look for. First, don’t look for the first open seat. Take your time; walk around the blackjack pit. Observe what is going on at the various tables.

Look at the table placard to learn what the low and high limits are for specific tables. Observe how many decks are in play (the least amount is best, avoid 8 decks). How many players are at each table (three, including you, is the maximum).

Are some of the chip racks in the dealer’s tray empty or very low (they went to the players; or a full rack means they are going to the dealer). Do some tables sound happy (winning tables or lots of moaning; a losing table)? Are some tips observed for the dealer? (only winners tip dealers, not loses)?

BET YOU DIDN'T KNOW

• In June 1976 Robert Pittman won a seat on the city council of Show Low, Arizona. He had tied the mayor, David Foil, during the recent election. A deck of cards was then used to determine the winner. This method was based on a re-enactment of how the town got its original name. Pittman won after drawing a deuce of clubs.

• King Henry IV of England was a degenerate gambler, who also cheated. He would use a professional gambler to cheat his nobles at various games.

• When a blackjack dealer shows a 10 up-card he/she have a 77 percent chance of getting a final winning hand that totals from 17 through 21 and only a 23 percent chance of busting.

• President George Washington was a dedicated gambler. Besides taking a big gamble by leading American rebels against the mightiest army in the world at the time, he took many other risks. He liked to play cards for money and had racehorses and was a racing steward of the Alexandria Jockey Club in Virginia.

• A contest was held in Las Vegas to “Name the Castle” for a new casino on the Las Vegas Strip. On September 28, 1988, the name “Excalibur,” was selected and a $25,000 prize was awarded to the person who had submitted it.

• When Charles V, King of France, (1364-1380), army besieged the city of Orange, his commanding general gambled away the pay of his soldiers and had to surrender to the city he was besieging.

• Compulsive gambling was recognized as an official mental disease by the American Psychiatric Association in 1990.

• At one-time Howard Hughes was the largest land holder in Nevada, after the Federal Government. Hughes renamed the Husite property west of Las Vegas that he had brought, after his great and favored Aunt, Amelia Summerlin.

• In 1980 census takers in Tunica Mississippi found it to be the poorest county in America, with 52 percent of all residents living below the poverty line along with a 15 percent unemployment rate. The Tunica area today is now the third-largest gaming region in the United States, after Las Vegas and Atlantic City.

• Las Vegas has become known as the nation’s plastic surgery Mecca. More than 65 cosmetic surgery clinics and physicians are available in town.