Do You Give Advice?

7 December 2023

By Royal Flushes

CINDY: Never give other players advice at the tables or machines. I’ve done it and it rarely ever comes out right – for me that is. If my advice didn’t help the player (even if it did!) I looked like a fool for that player – even though I am not.

ABBY: Agreed. I’ve done it too and invariably you give the absolute perfect advice; the player uses it and guess what? The player loses when he uses your advice. Your advice was right but even playing perfectly, come on, you win some and you lose some.

CINDY: This is especially true of blackjack. Every hand has an optimum way to play it but no matter whether you play it right or not, there is the possibility that the player can lose that hand. Or make less money.

ABBY: So, what are the hands that blackjack players most often ask for help in playing? A player’s 12 or 13 against the dealer’s two or three, that’s a biggie. Do you hit? Do you stand? Splitting 8:8 against a 10 dealer up-card. Split or not? Taking insurance when the player has a blackjack and the dealer is showing an ace. Yes? Or no? That can even cause a debate amongst the players at the table.

CINDY: Tell a player not to take insurance when a dealer shows an ace and the dealer turns over a blackjack and the player figures he lost out on some money and it is your fault for giving such incorrect advice. He didn’t because the more you play blackjack that taking of insurance can be a crippling effect. But it doesn’t look so at that moment and the player gets annoyed that he followed your advice.

ABBY: I find that at craps I just keep quiet when a player asks me what the best bets are. I used to give the right advice – bet the pass and come with odds when the bet goes up on a number. One time the dealer corrected me and told me that was a stupid bet. What should I have done? Should I argue with the dealer? This dealer even said he was an expert. Oh, man, that was the last time I gave advice at a craps table.

CINDY: I know. Now we just say to ask the dealer. I say, “The dealer is the expert.”

ABBY: Is the dealer the expert? More often than not, the dealer is not an expert in how to play but only in how to deal, play his or her cards according to the house rules, and pay out bets properly. The dealer does not have to know the ins and outs of basic strategy for blackjack. Or what are the best bets at craps? Unless the dealer really is an expert I am guessing the dealer will give advice that is often off.

CINDY: What should players who are lost in their strategies do? Simply answered. Buy a book by a good author and learn the correct strategy for the game you wish to play.

ABBY: Maybe read a few books or go to web sites that give you good information.

CINDY: This would be true for every casino game. The money spent on learning the proper way to play will be saved by you losing less over time.

ABBY: That’s the way to go.

CINDY: And my advice is not to give advice!